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TO  BE  CONTINUED  OCCASIONALLY, 


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AN  AVERAGE  OF  FOUR  NUMBERS  ANNUALLY. 


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PRINTED  BY  A.  I.  VALPYy  RED  LION  COURT,  FLEET  STREET. 

SOLD  BY  SHERWOOD  AND  CO. ;  BLACK,  KINGSBURY. 

PARBURY,  AND  ALLEN;  LONGMAN  AND   CO.;    SIMPKIN 

AND     MARSHALL;     W.   CARFBNTER ;    LONDON — 

PARKER,  OXFORD — BARRET,  CAMBRIDGE — 

MACEEDIB  AND  CO.  EDINBURGH — CUM<* 

iflNG,   DUBLIN"— AND    ALL  OTHER 

BOOKSELLERS. 

1824. 


.    •• 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  XLV. 


PACE 

L  Letter  to  Sir  John  Cox  Hippisley^  Bart,  on  the 
Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-Wheel,  as  an 
Instrument  of  Prison  Discipline.  ByJoHNMASON 
GaoD,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  Second  Edition,  with  addi-^ 
tions • 1 

i  II.  An  Appeal  to  the  People  of  Great  Britain  on  the 
subject  of  Confederated  Greece.  By  Tho- 
mas, Lord  Erskine •••     37 

III.  An  Appeal  and  Remonstrance  to  His  Holiness 
Pope  Pius  VIL   Bythe  Rev.  Charles  O'Conor, 

D.  D.     Second  Edition,  with  additions    ••••••••••     4S 

IV.  The  remarkable  Trial  and  Defence  of  Eugene         ' 
Aram,  of  Knaresborough,  for  the  Murder  of  Dan  i  el 
Clark  ;  committed  on  the  8th  of  February,  1744-5      65 

■J   V.  La  GRicE  en  1821  et  1822.---<]!orrespondance  Po-  . 

litique  publi6e  par  un  Greg •  •  •  • 07 

VI.  Principles  of  the  Kantesian  or  Transcen- 
dental Philosophy.    By  Thomas  Wirgman    151 

VII.  On  the  Nobility  of  the  British  Gentry,  or 
the  Political  Ranks  and  Dignities  of  the  British  Em- 
pire compared 'with  those  on  the  Continent,  for  the 
use  of  Foreigners  in  Great  Britain  and  of  Britons 


IV  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

abroad ;  particularly  of  those  Who  desire  to  be  pre- 
sented at  foreign  courts,  to  accept  foreign  military 
service,  to  be  invested  with  foreign  titles,  to  be  admit- 
ted into  foreign  orders,  to  purchase  foreign  property, 
or  to  intermarry  with  foreigners.  By  Sir  James 
La  wren  ce,  Knight  of  Malta.     Original •  •  •   159 

VIII.  An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks;  with  a  Letter 

from  Lord  Erskine  to  Prince  Mavrocordato  207 

IX.  On  the  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.  By 
Charles  Butler,  Esq.  F.S.A.  Third  Edition, 
with  additions,  partly  by  honp  SkVhwiCH 225 


CONTENTS  OP  NO.  XLIV. 


I.  On  the  Appointment  of  the  Bt.  Hon.  George  Canning  to  the  Foreign 
Department;  and  its  Effect  on  the  State  of  Society  in  England,  and  on  Eu- 
rqpeaa  Politics^  &c.    By  L.  Goldsmith. 

II.  1a»  Cabinets  et  les  Peuples,  depuis  1815  jusqu'^  la  fin  de  1822.  Far 
Jf.  Bif^n. 

in.  To  the  Mistresses  of  Families,  on  the  Cruelty  of  employing  Children 
to  sweep  Chimnies.    With  Wood-cuts.    By  J.  C.  Hudson. 

IV.  Enchiridion;  or,  A  Hand  for  the  One-handed.  With  Wood-cuts. 
By  Capt  Derenzy. 

V.  Analysis  of  the  House  of  Commons,  as  at  present  constituted ;  exhi- 
biting the  Nature  and  Extent  of  the  SuffragefPatronage,  and  Population,  in 
every  County,  City,  and  Borough.    With  the  Votes  of  every  Member. 

VI.  Leading  Principles  of  a  Constitutional  Code,  for  any  State.  By  J. 
Bentham.    Original. 

VU.  Recognition  of  Columbia  by  Great  Britain.    By  J.  Lowe. 

VIII.  Prosecutions  of  Infidel  Blasphemers  briefly  vindicated.  By  the 
Rev.  W.  B.  Whitehead.    Second  Edition,  with  Corrections. 

IX.  Unchristian  Perfidies  of  the  Most  Christian  Cabinet  of  France  towards 
free  Spain.    By  a  British  Traveller  in  the  Peninsula. 

X.  Report  on  the  present  State  of  the  Greek  Confederation,  and  on  its 
claims  to  the  support  of  the  Christian  World.    By  Edward  Blaquier^  Esq. 

f 


n. 


CONTENTS  OF  NO.  XI<VI.   : 


FAOX 

I.  Some   Account  of  the  State  of  the   PRa»oNS   in 
SpAii^  andPoBTUGAi/.-  By  JoHN.Bo.w^smG^Esq.  289 

11*  Relation  des  Ev^iiemens  Poliiiquea  dt  Militaires  qui  ^ 
onteu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1820  ei  I8£)^  adress^f  d 
S,  M^  le  Roi  des  Deux  Siciles,  ^par  ^  G£k£ral 
6uiLLAv.iiB  P£p£;  avec  des.  Remarquts  el  des 
Cxplioatknis  sur  la  conduite  des  Napolitains  «n  g6n6- 
r^\,  et  sur  celle  de  PAuteur  en  particulier^  pendant 
ce^te  £poaue;  saivie  d'un  Recueil  de  Docunp^ens  Offi- 
iciels,  la  pluparf  ki&iits ,,•...  ^  ♦'•  •  •...•  ^  •  •  309 

III.  Remarks  on  SuiciD^«  *ByTHOMA,s  CfiEVAi^ipRi      . 
Esq.     [Orfgiiwf]. .-•%.. ..v-.-f....... ...•.• 

IV*  A  Short  View  of  the  Prpoaedings  of  4be  several  Com- 
-  nnttees  and  Meetings  held: in.  consequenoe  of  the 
intended  Petition  to  Paf iiamieotj  from  Ihe  county  of 
Laucoln,  lor  a  limited  ExpoiiTATsaN  of  WoaL^  in 
the  years  1781  3od  1782;  tpgefher .  mth.  Mi.  R. 
Glovbr's  Letter  on  thatauhject:  ta  wliich  is  added 
a  list  of  the  Panpphlets  on  'Wool  lately  puhlisbed,  srith 
some  extracts.    By  Edmund  Turnor,  Esq.    ••••  375 

V.  On  the  Efficacy  of  White  Mustard  Seed  taken 
internally  as  a  cure  for  various  complaints     ••••••••  385 

VI.  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Society  for  the  relief 
of  Distressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa: 
with  the  Resolutions  passed  ifcid  Speeches  deUvered    ' 
at  a  General  Meeting,  held  at  Cape  Town^  17tli  Sept    .    ; 
1823.    To  which  is  subioiped  an  Appendix  of  Letters  '  ' 
and  other  Documents,  illustrative  of  the  present  eoii* 
ditio*!  of  the  Settlers  ...•••  •••t**.. f^«  SQt 

^    VU.  A  Sketch  of  the  Character  of  the  late  Lord 

Erskine    ••••♦^ .•♦,•••• ••»:•••   419 

VIIL  A  Treatise  on  the  Principles  of  the  Usury  Laws;       ^ 
with  disquisitions  on  the  arguments  adduced  against 
ifaem  by  Mr.   Bektham  and  other  writers;  and  a. 
Review  of  the  Authorities  in  their  Aivor.     By  Rob  BRt 
Mauoham    .f ••^•.•••••.^ 421 


•• 


11  CONTENTS, 


PAGE 


IX,  Ethics,  or  the  Analogy  of  the  Moral  Sciences 
Indicated.  Comprehending  Morals,  Politics,  and 
Theology.     By  G.  Fi  e ld     [Originaf] 447 

X.  An  Appeal  to  the  British  Nation,  on  the  Humanity 
and  Policy  of  forming  a  National  Institution,  for  the 
Preservation  of  Lives  and  Property  from  Ship- 
wreck. By  Sir  William  Hillary,  Bart. 
Second  Edition  •.............••••.•... 477 

XI*  Summary  of  the  Report  of  a  Select  Committee,  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  causes  which  have  led  to 
the  extensive  reduction  in  the  Remuneration  for 
Labor,  in  Great  Britain;  and  the  extreme  privation 
and  calamitous  distress  consequent  thereon    495 

XII.  The  Opinions  of  the  late  Mr.  Ricardo  and  of  Adam 
Smith  on  some  of  the  leading  Doctrines  of  Politi- 
"  caiI  Economy  stated  and  compared    ^Original]  ••  517 

XIII.  Reform,  in  two  Parts.  The  first  contains  an  Intro- 
ductory Letter  addressed  to  J.  G.  Lambton,  £sq. 
M.  P.  with  the  form  of  a  proposed  Bill  for  a  Ge- 
neral Reform  in  the  Commons  House  of  Parlia- 
ment. The  second,  or  the  Touchstone,  contains 
some  prefatory  observations  on  the  present  system  of 
Elections,  a  proposed  Petition,  and  form  of  a  Bill 
for  the  Reform  of  a  Borough;  with  General 
Remarks.     By  Philo-Junius     [Ongiwa/]  ......   527 


CONTENTS  OF  MO.  XLV. 


I.  Dr.  Mason  Good,  to  Sir  J.C.  Hippisley,  on  the  Tread-Wheel.    Im- 
proved Edition. 

II.  Lord  Erskine  on  the  Cause  of  Greece. 

III.  Dr.  O'Conor's  Appeal  to  Pius  VII.  against  Bishop  Poynter.    Im- 
proved Edition. 

IV.  Trial -and  Defence  of  Eugene  Aram,  executed  for  Murder  in  1745. 

V.  La  Grece  en  1821-2.    Par  un  Grec, 

VI.  Principles  of  the  Kantesian  or  Transcendental  Philosophy.    By  T. 
Wireman. 

VII.  Sir  J.  Lawrence*s  Comparison  of  rank,  titles,  &c.  in  the  different 
countries  of  Europe. 

VIII.  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks. 

IX.  Mr.  U.  Butler  on  the  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.    Improved 
Edition,  with  additions  by  Lord  Sandwich. 


LETTER 


TO 


SIR  JOHN  COX  HIPPISLEY5  BART, 


ON  THE  MISCHIEFS  INCIDENTAL  TO  THE 


TREAD-WHEEL, 


AS  AN  INSTRUMENT  OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 


By  JOHN  MASON  GOOD,   M.  D.   F.  R.  S. 


SECOND  EDITION  WITH  ADDITIONS. 


LONDON : 

1824. 
VOL.  XXIII.  *        Pam,  NO.  XLV. 


COPY  OF  A  LETTER, 


I  AM  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  retorn  to  the  Tread-Mill  ;  for 
I  have  already  been  drawn  much  further  into  the  subject  than 
I  intended  when^  at  your  request^  1  first  submitted  to  you  my 
opinion  professionally  ;  but  which  I  could  not  refuse  to  do  after 
a  friendship  resulting  from  that  unreserved  and  cordial  connexion 
which  ought  ever  to  subsist  between  a  constituent  and  his  represen- 
tative in  Parliament^  and  now  of  more  than  thirty  years'  duration.* 
But  as  the  Official  Circular  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Home  Department,  addressed  to  the  visiting  Magis- 
trates of  the  several  Jails  and  Houses  of  Correction  where  Tread- 
Wheels  have  been  established,  baa  limited  its  inquiry  to  the  parti- 
cular point  which  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  notice,  while  all  the  other 
parts  of  the  comprehensive  and  important  question  you  have  brought 
forward  seem  to  be  left  untouched  on,  1  feel  compelled  to  make 
a  few  rem^ri^s  Qvi  ^e  Commuoicatioios  which  have  been  returned 
to  the  official  letter. 

As  a  whole  I  cannot  but  think  these  Communications  are 
written  with  great  fairness  and  candor,  a  due  allowance  being 
made  for  the  pre-occupation  of  the  public  feeling  on  the  subject, 
and  for  the  very  heavy  expense  which  has  already  been  incurred  iu 
carrying  this  bulky  machinery  into  execution. 

As  these  Communications  iare,  in  several  instances,  at  variance 
with  each  other,  they  must  necessarily,  in  some  cases,  be  at  vari- 
ance with  the  views  which  I  have  ventured  to  offer :  but  they  are  not 
more  opposed  to  these  views  than  to  many  of  the  sentiments  of  the 
Prison  Discipline  Society,  or  to  the  original  intention  of  the  Tread- 

'  It  has  been  the  good  fortune  of  the  individual  to  whom  this  letter  is 
addressed  to  have  long  lived  in  confidential  habits  with  his  professional 
friend  under  the  circumstances  above  stated.  J.  C.  H. 


3]  Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Treads  Wheel.  3 

Wheel  as  an  instrument  of  hard  labor^  and  the  only  object  for 
^hich  it  is  continued.  For  if  it  were  true  generally^  as  asserted 
by  the  Governor  of  the  Bedford  House  of  Correction^  that  this 
labor  is  not  severe  ;  or,  in  the  language  of  a  respectable  surgeon 
to  another  House  of  Correction,  that ''  after  a  few  days'  work  on 
the  Tread-Mill^  the  employment  ceases  to  be  a  punisH'*' 
ment;''  or^  as  stated  by  the  Governor  of  the  Prison  at  Exeter^ 
that  the  treads  of  the  wheel  had  actually  become  a  sort  oi  platform 
for  knitting  on,  while  the  wheel  was  still  going  on  its  round  of 
action  ' — all  idea  of  its  being  a  more  trying  and  efficacious  mode 
of  discipline  than  any  that  has  hitherto  been  invented,  a  punish* 
ment  submitted  to  with  inexpressible  terror,  and  looked  back 
on,  after  emancipation,  with  a  panic  that  bids  fair  to  deter  from 
the  re-commission  of  crime,  must  be  for  ever  abandoned ;  and  the 
Tread-Wheel  lose  the  entire  claim  with  which  it  has  hitherto 
challenged  the  support  and  approbation  of  the  public. 

But  these  deviations  from  the  common  opinion,  or  even  tbd 
professional  opinion,  which,  in  conjunction  with  many  other  medi- 
cal characters,  most  of  them  of  the  highest  distinction  and  learnii^^ 
I  have  already  laid  before  you,  are  but  few  :  and  the  general  resoft 
of  the  Official  Evidence  now  offered,  when  minutely  compared 
and  examined,  will  be  found  not  merely  to  countenance,  but  coni4 
pletely  to  confirm,  the  sentiments  of  which  you  have  consented  to 
become  the  medium. 

When,  about  a  twelvemonth  ago,  you  first  asked  me  to  acconK 
pany  you  in  examining  the  machine  in  the  House  of  Correction  lA 
Cold- Bath  Fields,  and  in  comparing  it  with  the  Hand-Crank-Mill^ 
I  confess  the  subject  was  new  to  me :  and  hence,  if  I  went  without 
information,  1  went  without  prejudice.  Yet,  on  investigating  its 
history,  I  soon  ascertained  that  it  was  itself  of  so  recent  an  origin, 
in  its  application  at  least,  that  if  I  had  travelled  over  the  ten  or 
eleven  counties,  for  there  were  not  more,  in  which  the  Treads 
Wheel  was  at  that  time  employed,  and  had  examined  every  prison 
separately,  its  operation  would  have  been  too  narrow,  and  of  too 
limited  a  duration,  to  have  enabled  me  to  speak  of  its  effects  with 
much  decision  from  the  evidence  of  practice,  and  have  driven  me 
to  reasoning  on  them  from  the  nature  of  its  powers^and  their  appli* 
cation  to  the  human  fi-ame. 

'  Vide  also  the  note,  in  Sir  J.  C.  Hippisley's  work^  reciting  the  dexterity 
of  a  teaman  convict,  who  had  discovered  the  means  of  converting  the  Treads 
Wheel  in  action  into  a  convenient  local  for  the  manufacture  <^  Straw  Hats,  These 
facts  are  strange  aoomalies  with  reference  to  Mr.  Cubitt's  desdriptions, 
though  it.will  be  contended,  probably,  that  these  instances  are  merely  to  be 
taken  as  excq^tioM  to  the  terror  imposed  by  the  infliction  of  the  Treads 


4  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [4 

I  well  remember  many  of  the  striking  remarks  you  made  at  the 
time  on  the  general  construction  of  the  machine,  and  particularly 
on  the  vast  extent  of  its  shafts,  and  the  enormous  weight  they  had 
to  support ;  together  with  the  fear  you  expressed  that  neither  cast 
nor  malleable  iron  would  ever  be  found  to  support  it.  The 
workers  themselves  also  minutely  occupied  your  attention,  and 
though  your  inquiries  were  cautiously  worded,  their  replies  proved, 
very  evidently,  the  distress  they  underwent  during  the  kbor ;  and 
which,  as  1  understood,  was  at  the  same  time  unequivocally  ad- 
mitted by  Mr.  Adkins,  the  governor,  who  accompanied  us,  as  well 
Bu  by  the  other  officers  of  the  prison,  both  medical  and  ministerial, 
there  being  no  difference  of  opinion  between  them  at  that  period. 
Putting  the  opinions,  however,  as  well  as  the  practice  of  others, 
on  my  first  inspection,  out  of  the  question,  1  resolved^  first  of  all, 
to  confine  my  attention  to  the  peculiar  powers  and  singular  action 
of  the  Tread-Wheel,  and  its  necessary  effects  on  the  human 
frame. 

To  this  point  1  limited  myself  on  my  first  inspection  of  it9 
structure.  From  the  tortuous  attitude  and  uneasy  motion  mani" 
festly  displayed  in  mounting  the  endless  hill  of  this  mighty  cylinder> 
on  the  toes  alone,  with  the  hands  fixed  rigidly  on  the  horizontal 
bar,  and  the  body  bent  forward  to  lay  bold  of  it,  I  could  not  but 
conclude,  not  only  that  the  prisoner  is  hereby  deprived  of  all  the 
healthful  advantage  of  athletic  exercise,  but  must  be  fatigued  from 
the  outset,  and  perpetually  in  danger  (and  with  this  limitation 
1  expressed  myself)  of  cramp,  breaking  the  Achilles  tendon,  and 
forming  aneurismal  and  varicose  swellings  in  the  legs  ;  and  that  if 
females  were  to  be  worked  at  the  wheel,  the  same  common  cause 
of  irksome  and  distressing  exertion,  operating  on  the  loins  and 
many  of  the  abdominal  muscles,  nmst,  of  necessity,  in  various 
instances,  accelerate  the  period  of  menstruation ;  and  even  where 
it  does  not  force  it  forward  before  its  proper  time,  render  it  ex- 
cessive, and  lay  a  foundation  for  many  of  the  most  serious  chronic 
maladies  with  which  the  female  structure  can  be  afflicted.  And 
on  all  these  accounts  I  ventured  to  recommend  the  Hand-Crank- 
Mill,  in  preference  to  the  Tread-^Mill,  as  affording  a  far  more 
natural  attitude,  and  hence,  a  far  more  healthy  exercise  ;  in  which 
the  greater  number,  if  not  the  whole,  of  these  predicted  evils 
might  be  avoided,  muscles  of  the  utmost  importance  to  public 
industry  be  called  into  action,  and  strengthened  against  future 
labor^  and  the  prisoner  be  hereby  far  better,  instead  of  invariably 
far  less,  prepared  for  a  variety  of  handicraft  trades,  than  before  he 
was  sentenced  to  confinement. 

The  opinion  therefore  was  not  given  absolutely  and  disjunctively  j 
but  relatively  and  comparatively  ;  and  not  in  regard  to  the  quan-- 


5]  Mischief  &  incidental  to  the  Treads  Wheel.  5 

tity  hxxt  ihe  quality  of  the  Jabor  enjoined  ;  a  remark  which  it  is 
peculiarly  necessary  to  make^  because^  in  the  course  of  the  dis* 
cussion  which  has  since  taken  place^  the  Hand-Crank-Machinery 
has  too  often  been  lost  sight  of  in  pursuit  of  the  Tread- Wheel ; 
and  it  has  sometimes  been  more  than  hinted^  that  the  effect  of 
these  strictures  would  be  to  screen  delinquents  from  hardlabor 
OENERALLY^  than  which  nothing  can  be  more  incorrect^  and  to 
take  the  wholesome  burden  of  punishment  away  from  all  their 
muscles,  instead  of  transferring  it  to  those  which  are  best  fitted  to 
bear  it  by  nature. 

Having  taken  this  view  of  the  subject  proleptically,  1  next  en* 
deavored  to  see  how  far  the  apprehensions  thus  formed  in  private^ 
of  the  effects  of  the  Tread-Wheel,  might  be  justified  by  the  opinion 
of  other  professional  characters;  and  to  what  extent  they  had 
hitherto  been  realized  in  the  House  of  Correction  from  which  I  had 
deduced  them,  affording  the  widest  field  for  observation  of  all 
the  prisons  throughout  the  kingdom  in  which  the  Tread- Wheel  has 
hitherto  become  an  inmate. 

From  each  of  these  quarters  I  found  myself  completely  upheld^ 
as  will  sufficiently  appear  from  the  extracts  you  have  given  in  your 
correspondence  ;  whilst  various  other  threatened  evils  were  hereby 
added  to  the  list,  and  correctly  so,  especially  those  of  ruptures^ 
and  injury  to .  the  respiratory  organs.  In  the  Cold-Bath  Fields 
Prison  itself,  I  found,  on  close  inquiry,  that  the  prisoners  fre- 
quently complained  of  stiffness  and  numbness  in  their  hands,  of 
pains  in  their  loins  and  in  their  legs,  and  that  they  were  thrown  into 
a  profuse  perspiration,  and  so  completely  exhausted  in  the  course 
of  a  single  round,  or  quarter  of  an  hour's  task- work,  a^ 
to  induce  them  to  drink  very  largely  of  cold  water  as  soon  as  the 
fifteen  minutes  were  completed,  aldiough  it  is  calculated  that  this 
up-hill  exercise  does  not  exceed  the  average  of  two  miles  ^in 
SIX  hours,'  and  consequently  does  not  amount  to  half  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  the  course  of  the  fifteen  minutes  to  which  the  task-time 
extends ;  evidently  proving,  that  it  is  the  nature  of  the  labor,  its 
quality f  and  not  its  quantity,  that  occasions  such  violent  effects, 
and  constitutes  the  terror  with  which  the  Tread-Wheel  is  contem- 
plated. At  this  visit  also,  it  was  not  concealed  from  me,  nor  from 
my  professional  friend,  Mr.  Cole,  who  accompanied  me,  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  nature  of  the  exertion,  prisoners  laboring  under 
consumption,  rupture,  or  a  tendency  to  rupture,  are  exempted  from 
working,  out  of  a  prudent  regard  to  the  mischief  which  might 
follow,  under  such  circumstances.  While,  in  respect  to  the  anti- 
cipated complaints. of. females,  it  was  at  length  candidly  acknowr 

'  It  jmay  be  interesting  to  anal^^ze  some  of  the  various  statements  in  thcr 
Reports  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  particularly  p.  14,  of  their  **  De- 
scription of  tl>e  Tread-Mill,  &c."  8vo.  1823. 


6  J.  M.  Good  s  Letter  on  the  [6 

l^ged^  that  those  most  likely  to  take  place  had  already  occurred 
in  various  matinees,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  male  keepers :  in- 
somuch that  at  this  very  time  the  Tread-Wheel  was  abandoned  as 
to  the  women,  though  no  other  regular  employment,  if  I  recollect 
aright^  was  allotted  to  them  in  its  stead. 

'.  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  these  maladies,  which,  from  the  recent 
use  of  the  Wheel,  could  not  be  of  long  standing,  had  produced 
any  ill  effects  on  the  constitution  of  the  prisoners^  or  permanently 
undermined  their  health.  And  it  b  necessary  to  suppose  this  is  what 
Mr.  Webbe,  the  Surgeon  of  the  House  of  Correction,  in  Cold- Bath 
Fields,  refers  to,  in  his  Official  Report,  in  answer  to  the  Official 
llequisition,  in  which  he  states  that  **  during  the  eight  months  the 
Tread-Mill  has  been  employed  at  the  House  of  Correction,  Cold- 
Bath  Fields,  1  have  never  in  any  one  instance  known  any  ill  effects 
produced  in  the  frame  of  either  tlie  men  or  women  who  have 
worked  on  tlie  Wheel;'''  for,  without  this  interpretation,  his 
report  would  be  at  variance  with  the  above  facts,  known  not  only 
to  himself  but  to  the  whole  prison  ;  and  the  chief  of  which  were 
not  only  admitted  by  him  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Cole,  but  have 
been  acknowleged  still  more  lately  in  letters  from  Mr.  Webbe  to 
yourself.  It  would  indeed,  in  my  mind,  have  been  better  to  have 
accompanied  his  summary  Statement  respecting  the  constitutional 
condition  of  the  prisoners  with  a  brief  reference  to  their  occasional, 
though  fortunately  hitherto  only  temporary,  evils  ;  but  I  have  too 
high  an  opinion  of  Mr.  Webbe's  integrity,  from  an  acquaintance 
of  many  years'  standing,  to  conceive  for  a  moment  that  he  had  any 
intention  to  mislead ;  and,  indeed,  the  brevity  and  modesty  with 
which  the  Report  is  drawn  up,  shows  evidently  that  his  mind  was 
not  decided  on  the  subject  at  the  time.  '^  I  cannot  tell,"  says  he, 
adverting  to  the  very  few  months  the  Tread-Mill  had  been  em- 
ployed in  the  prison,  '^  whether  any  {constitutiotiat)  effects  are 
likely  to  follow  on  this  kind  of  discipline."^  The  whole,  however, 
affords  sufficient  intimation,  of  which  we  have  both  had  instances 
before,  of  the  difficulty  in  which  a  surgeon  to  a  Tread- Wheel 
prison  is  sometimes  placed,  in  giving  his  opinion  publicly  on  this 
subject  under  the  circumstances  of  the  day,  while  his  private  views 
are  not  quite  consentaneous  with  those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded, 
and  for  whom  he  feels  the  highest  respect.' 

'  P.  60.  »  P.  60. 

^  Mr,  Webbe  has  more  lately  informed  me  that,  since  the  introduction  of 
the  Tread-Wheel  into  the  prison,  it  has  been  found  absolutely  necessary  to 
aHow  a  fuller  and  a  richer  diet.  This,  at  present,  consists  of  half  a  pound 
avoirdupoise  of  solid  flesh,  reduced  to  about  six  ounces  by  boiling,  three 
times  a  week,  besides  bread  or  pulse  ;  with  an  allowance  on  the  intervening 
da^s  of  good  soup,  made  chiefly  of  oi-heads  :  and  he  added,  that,  without 
this  advanced  scale,  the  prisoners  would  soon  be  in  as  bad  a  state  as  the  con- 


71  Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.  7 

To  ascertain,  however^  whether  any  actual  change  faasm  any  way 
been  prodaced  in  the  effects  complained  of  since  our  visit  of  last 
year,  I  have  once  more  accepted  of  your  invitation,  and  at  tb^ 
timie  of  writing  this,  have  just  returned  from  the  House  of  Con'eb* 
tion  at  Cold- Bath  Fields,  to  which  1  had  the  honor  of  being 
accompanied  both  by  yourself  and  Mr.  Cole,'  who  took  a  part  in 
the  examination  we  entered  into,  and  to  whom  I  appeal^  as  well 
as  to  yourself,  for  the  accuracy  of  the  following  brief  account  of  if. 
The  Wheels  were  at  work  on  our  arrival  in  all  the  yards,  still  idly 
expending  their  power,  and  that  of  their  workers,  in  the  air.* 
The  hour  was  half  past  eleven  in  the  morning,  the  thermometer  of 
the  Royal  Society  at  56^  Fahrenheit,  with  a  cool  and  gusty  br^e2e^ 
which  many  complained  of  as  being  chilly,  veering  from  north  ^ 
south-west.  We  examined  the  subterranean  machinery,  which, 
with  the  ponderous  fly  above,  was  working  at  a  fearfully  rapid 
rate,  notwithstanding  the  slow-paced  motion  of  the  principal  sfafaft^. 
The  men  were  on  duty  on  the  Wheels  in  their  respective  yarda^, 
and  the  report  is  true  that  the  shaft  has  again  broken,  forming  i, 
fifth  instance  of  failure,  and  other  workers  been  again  thrown  cfA 
their  backs  on  the  raised  platform,  and  must  in  some  instances  hafv6 
fallen  through  to  the  stone  pavement,  some  ten  or  twelve  feiet 
below,  had  not  the  present  vigilant  Governor,  in  anticipation  of 
such  an  accident,  prudently  ordered  the  middle  batch-ways  to  b6 
closed.}  I  inspected  the  men  as  they  descended  in  rotation^  fr<¥th 
the  Wheel,  at  the  end  of  the  quarter  of  an  hour's  task-work,  and 
made  room  for  fresh  relays.  Every  one  of  theni^  was  perspiring', 
some  in  a  dripping  sweat.  On  asking  them  separately,  and  at  a 
distance  from  each  other,  where  was  the  chief  stress  of  labor,  they 
stated  in  succession,  and  without  the  least  variation,  that  they 
suffered  great  pain  in  the  calf  of  the  leg,  and  in  the  ham ;  whil^ 
most  of  them,  though  not  all,  complained  of  distress  also  in  the 
instep.  On  examining^  the  bottom  of  their  shoes,  it  was  manifest 
that  the  line  of  tread  l^d  not  extended  further  than  from  the  e^^- 


victs  have  lately  been  at  the  Mill-Bank  prison.  No  comment  is  here  necessa.- 
ry.  The  facts  are  in  perfect  accordance  with  those  we  shall  have  presently 
to  notice  at  Lancaster  Castle ;  for,  id  both  places,  it  appears  that  under  the 
iofiictioD  of  the  Tread-Wheel,  nothing«but  a  high  diet  can  keep  the  prisoners 
^  from  wasting  away :  while  even  this  can  only  do  it  under  a  mitigated 
labor.  J.  M.  G. 

'  Surgeon  to  the  Northern  Dispensary. 

*  Vide  note  and  description  of  Tread-Mill,  by  the  Committee  of  the 
Society  for  the  Improvement  of  Prison  Discipline,  p.  6. 

3  The  hatch-ways  are  now  removed ^to  the  end  of  the  Galleries*  Among 
other  smaller  casualties  a  woman  fell  down  the  hatch-way,  having  previousyi 
fallen  in  a  fit,  from  the  head  of  the  Wheel  on  the  floor. 


8  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [8 

tremitj  of  the  toes  to  about  one-third  of  the  bottom  of  the  foot ; 
for^  in  several  instances,  the  shoes  were  new,  and  between  this 
line  and  the  heel  altogether  unsoiled :  a  fact,  however,  that  was  as 
obvious  from  the  position  of  the  foot  ^  while  at  work,  as  from  the 
appearance  of  the  shoe  at  rest*  Several  of  the  workers  seemed  to 
aim  at  supporting  their  weight  by  bringing  the  heel  into  action,  the 
feet  being  twisted  outwards ;  and  on  inquiring  why  this  was  not 
oftener  accomplished,  the  reply  was,  that  though  they  could  gain  a 
little  in  this  way,  it  was  with  so  painful  a  stress  of  the  knees,  that  they 
could  only  try  at  it  occasionally.  The  palms  of  their  hands,  in 
consequence  of  holding  tight  to  the  rail,  were  in  every  instance 
hardened,  in  many  horny,  in  some  blistered  and  discharging  water. 
The  keeper,  who  accompanied  us,  admitted  the  truth  of  all  these 
statenients,  and  added,  that  it  was  the  ordinary  result  of  the  labor ! 
and  that  use  did  not  seem  to  render  it  less  severe :  for  those  who 
had  been  confined  long  appeared  to  suffer  nearly  or  altogether  as 
much  as  those  who  were  new  to  the  work :  thus  confirming  a 
remark  I  long  since  took  the  liberty  of  making  to  you,  1  mean,  that 
when  an  organ  is  directed  to  any  kind  of  labor  for  which  it  is  not 
naturally  intended,  no  perseverance  will  ever  give  it  facility  of 
action,  or  take  off  the  original  distress. 

The  females  we  found  again  at  work  on  the  Wheel ;  for,  with 
a  strange  recantation  of  indulgence,  they  w^ere  again  ordered  to 
brave  aU  the  mischievous  consequences  which  had  been  proved  to 
ensue,  and  apparently  to  undergo  a  new  set  of  experiments ;  while, 
as  though  in  full  consciousness  of  what  must  follow,  the  visiting 
Magistrates  had  endeavored  to  provide  against  some  of  the  inde- 
cency heretofore  complained  of,  by  exchanging  male  for  female 
keepers,  and  raising  a  linen  screen  a  few  feet  above  the  platform, 
so  as  to  hide  the  ancles.  Here  also  the  same  effects  of  perspira- 
tion, the  same  complaints  of  pain  in  the  instep,  calf  of  the  legs  and 
hams,  were  repeated  as  in  the  nuile  side;  to  which  the  female 
keeper  added  a  very  horrible  pain  in  the  loins,  that  generally  and 
very  greatly  distressed  them ;  and  which,  she  candidly  told  us,  was 
in  most  cases  the  forerunner  of  that  morbid  discharge  I  have 
already  adverted  to ;  and  which  still,  according  to  her  own  account, 
continues  in  many  cases  to  be  forced  forward  prematurely,  and,  in 
many  cases  also,  to  be  carried  to  an  alarming  excess,  and  produc- 
tive of  considerable  weakness.  The  perspiration,  however,  ex- 
isting among  the  females,  is  often  very  oppressive :  and  one  of 
them,  not  long  since,  fell  down  to  the  platform  in  a  fainting  fit. 
The  keeper  herself  seemed  deeply  to  feel  for  them ;  her  language 
was,  that  they  often  had  not  a  dry  thread  belonging  to  them ;  and 
she  added.  You  would  be  surprised.  Sir,  at  seeing  how  often  the 
finest  of  them,  after  having  been  a  few  weeks  at  work,  are  worn 


9]  *        Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.  9 

down  and  emaciated.  I  iiujuired  «vhether  even  on  this  account  she 
did  not  feel  it  necessary  to  recommend,  at  times,  a  few  days'  re* 
taxation,  that  they  might  recover  themselves ;  and  she  admitted 
that  she  v^'as  not  unfrequently  compelled  to  do  so.  The  palms  of 
their  bands  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  males,  were  hardened,  or 
homy^  and  in  far  more  instances  blistered,  the  leathery  skin  in  some 
cases  peeling  oiF,  and  exposing  a  sore  surface  beneath.  For  all 
kinds  of  needle-work,  and  other  delicate  descriptions  of  manual 
labor,  they  seem  to  be  completely  unfitted,  and  the  keeper 
allowed  thai  they  were  almost  always  rendered  useless  for  such 
purposes. 

On  a  survey  of  the  whole,  it  was  an  instantaneous  remark  of 
Mr.  Cole,  that  the  statement  described  in  your  first  communication 
to  Mr.  Secretary  Peel,  instead  of  being  too  highly  colored,  is 
considerably  below  the  real  complexion  of  the  facts. 

As  the  medical  evils  I  bad  anticipated  are  thus  fully  supported 
by  the  short  history  of  the  Tread- Wheel  in  tlie  most  populous 
prison  of  the  country  into  which  it  has  hitherto  found  its  way,  let 
us  now  proceed  to  examine  how  far  they  are  established  by  the 
general  tenor  of  the  Official  Reports  received  in  reply  to  Official 
Inquiry  on  the  subject  under  order  of  his  Majesty's  Secretary  for 
the  Home  Department. 

The  first  mischief  of  a  serious  kind  which  I  apprehended  would 
follow  on  an  extensive  employment  of  the  machinery  before  us, 
was  a  premature  and  excessive  periodical  influence  on  females,  in 
consequence  of  the  strain  or  morbid  exertion  which  it  perpetually 
endangers  by  its  peculiar  effect  on  the  muscles  and  other  organs  of 
the  loins  and  abdominal  region.  What  now  is  the  general  bearing 
of  the  evidence  on  this  point  ?  The  Returns  to  the  Secretary  of 
State's  Office  are  from  the  visiting  Magistrates  of  twenty  distinct 
counties,  and  comprise  reports  of  twenty-four  prisons.  In. only 
afew  of  these,  whether  of  recent  or  of  earlier  erection,  are  females 
worked  at  all;  not  more  than  ^bi^r  returns  allude  to  such  an  ex- 
tension of  the  Treads  Wheel  labor,  and  there  is  reason  for  believing 
that  the  employment  of  females  has  not  hitherto  spread  further.' 
These  four  prisons  are,  the  Houses  of  Correction  at  Exeter,  Dor- 
chester, Cold-Bath  Fields,  and  Brixton.  The  report  concerning 
the  first,  by  William  Tucker,  £sq.,  one  of  the  visiting  Magistrates, 
and  to.  whose. zeal  and  activity  the  county  seems  to  be  under 
great  obligation,  while  it  informs  us  that  he  has  ^'  heard  no  com- 
plaint whatever  or  objection  from  the  females  that  had  been  sta- 

*  Vide  Sir  J.  C.  Hippisley,  note  p.  13,  respecting  the  recent  order  of  re- 
sumption of  the  labor  of  the  Tread-Wheel  for  Females,  at  Cold-Bath  Fields 
House  of  Correction. 


10  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  an  the  [10 

tioned  on  the  Wheel,  or  from  the  Governor's  wife,  who  superin- 
tends this  department/'  adds,  that  he  is  satisfied  no  danger  is  ever 
likely  to  arise  in  the  case  of  females  '^  when  they  are  properly 
attended  to  ;"  hereby  intimating  that  some  peculiar  regulations  are 
in  force  in  the  prison  in  respect  to  the  females,  without  an  atten- 
tion to  which  there  would  be  danger,  even  in  his  own  opinion* 
It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  the  women  worked  at  this 
prison  are  too  few,  and  the  employment  of  the  Tread-Wheel  of 
too  short  a  duration  to  afford  any  general  estimate  whatever ;  the 
latter  having  been  in  operation  for  little  more  than  half  a  year  at 
the  date  of  the  Return,  and,  to  adopt  the  official  language  of  the 
Governor  of  the  prison,  *'  the  proportion  of  females  being  very 
small,  not  amounting  to  more  than  ten  or  twelve,  and  generally 
not  exceeding  six  or  eight." 

The  return  from  the  Dorchester  House  of  Correction  is  signed 
with  the  distinguished  name  of  W.  M.  Pitt,  and  declares  candidly, 
and  without  reserve,  that  the  female  prisoners,  notwithstanding 
they  had  at  that  time  been  employed  at  the  Tread-Mill  for  only 
about  five  months,  '^  have  occasionally  been  subjected  to  certain 
eomplaints  which  the  Surgeon  of  the  Jail  has  attri- 
buted TO  the  working  at  the  Wheel;  and  that  in 
such  cases  the  women  so  affected  have  been  taken  from 
the  Work  till  those  complaints  have  subsided  ;"  which  Report 
is  confirmed  by  the  certificate  of  the  surgeon  himself,  Mr.  Davies, 
a  practitioner  of  highly  respectable  talents  and  experience. 

That  the  very  same  mischief  to  the  persons  of  the  female  prison- 
ers has  on  various  occasions  occurred  in  the  House  of  Correction 
ID  Cold- Bath  Fields  is  now  pretty  well  known  to  the  world,  accom- 
|»anied  with  the  very  same  necessity  also  of  their  being  taken 
FROM  THE  Wheel.  Mr.  Webbe,  indeed,  the  Surgeon,  has 
Bot  adverted  to  it  in  his  Report  on  this  prison,  but  I  have  already 
endeavored  to  account  for  his  silence ;  and  it  should  be  mentioned 
in  .praise  of  the  prudence  and  humanity  of  the  visiting  Magis- 
trates of  Middlesex,  that  female  prisoners  here  are  no  longer  con- 
signed to  this  kind  of  labor.' 

.  The  only  other  House  of  Correction  at  which  women  appear 
to  be  condemned  to  the  Wheel,  is  that  of  Brixton :  the  Report 
from  which,  communicated  by  Thomas  Harrison,  £sq.,  the  Chair- 
aian  of  the  Surrey  Sessions,  gives  a  wonderfully  different  account 
of  the  effects  of  the  Tread-Mill,  not  only  from  the  statements 
immediately  preceding,  but  from  every  other  statement  whatever. 
For,  could  the  recollections  and  the  opinions  here  advanced  be 
realized,  the  Brixton  Tread-Mill  might  be  resorted  to  by  those 

I  Vide  the  notes  in  Sir  J.  C.  Hippisley's  volume,  pp.  13  and  31. 


1  Ij        Mischiefs  incidental  to  tfic  Tread-  Wheel.  1 1 

out  of  the  prison^  as  well  as  by  those  within  it^  and  especially  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  metropolis,  as  a  convenient 
substitute  for  mineral  baths,  and  remote  watering  places ;  since, 
instead  of  being  in  any  way  injurious  to  the  female  frame,  it  has> 
according  to  these  accounts,  in  one  instance  at  least,  proved  a 
specific  to  a  rheumatism  in  a  woman  after  the  use  of  a  month's 
discipline ;  and  is  further  extolled  as  an  excellent  preventive  against 
weaknesses  and  varicose  tumors  in  the  vessels  of  the  legs,  '*  from 
the  KIND  and  the  degree  of  exercise  made  use  of/'  But  as 
these  remarks  are  so  much  at  variance  with  the  general  complexion 
of  the  accompanying  reports,  and  the  admitted  severity  of  the 
discipline,  it  is  not  necessary  to  examine  them  in  detaih 

After  this  brief  investigation  of  the  effect  of  the  Tread-Wheel  in 
the  four  prisons  in  which  alone  it  appears  to  be  actually  allotted 
to  females,  it  will  hardly  be  asked,  why  has  it  been  refrained  from 
in  the  twenty  other  prisons  whose  medical  economy  is  noticed 
in  the  communications  now  laid  before  Parliament?  and  if  it 
should  be,  though  a  special  reply  may  perhaps  be  offered  by  a  few 
of  them,  the  general  answer  would  unquestionably  be  that  of  the 
visiting  Magistrates  to  the  jail  at  Durham,  subscribed  in  their 
Official  Report  by  each  of  them,  *'  We  have  not  thought  it  advisable 
to  employ  females  in  working  the  Tread- Wheel :"  its  dangers  to 
the  female  frame  having,  doubtless,  been  sufficiently  proved  to 
them  by  the  force  of  facts  in  other  prisons,  or  by  the  professional 
opinion  of  such  discreet  and  able  practitioners  as  they  had  consulted 
on  the  occasion. 

The  view  therefore  I  ventured  to  take  of  the  Tread- Wheel  on 
the  frame  of  female  prisoners,  in  consequence  of  the  strain,  or 
morbid  and  excessive  exertion  which  it  either  actually  excites  or 
perpetually  endangers  in  the  muscles  and  other  organs  of  the  loins 
and  abdominal  region,  as  it  has  been  before  confirmed  by  the 
concurrent  sentiments  of  many  of  the.  ablest  and  most  distinguished 
physicians  and  surgeons  of  this  metropolis,  is  so  completely  es«^ 
tahlished  by  the  parliamentary  document  now  printed,  that  there  is 
no  presumption  in  believing  that  it  will  not  much  longer  be  coii'«' 
tinned  any  where  as  a  punishment  for  females. 

I  have  dwelt  the  more  at  large  on  this  subject,  because  the 
PRINCIPLE  on  which  it  hinges,  is  just  as  applicable  to  males  as 
to  females;  and  forms  the  basis  of  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
the  complaints  anticipated  on  first  contemplating  the  discipline  of 
the  Tread-Wheel.  For  if  the  muscles  and  organs  of  the  loins  and 
lower  part  of  the  body  be  urged  to  excess,  and  pressed  inta  an 
unnatural  and  distressing,  and  hence  into  a  morbid,  play  on  each 
other  in  the  case  of  the  latter,  so  must  it  also  be  in  the  case  of  the 
former.     The  greater  firmness,  indeed,  of  the  male  structure  must 


12  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [12 

necessarily  resist  its  evil  effects  for  a  longer  period  of  time,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  they  will  neither  so  soon  nor  so  frequently  show 
themselves ;  insomuch  that,  as  I  have  already  observed,  it  may  in 
some  instances  require  several  years  before  the  natural  strength  of 
the  organs  will  decidedly  fall  a  prey  in  the  contest.  But  the 
battle  is  still  waging  though  unperceived;  the  Tread- Wheel  is  still 
gaining  ground ;  and,  not  only  on  the  field  of  combat,  but  even 
afterwards,  when  released  from  it,  the  stoutest  champion  in  this 
new  system  of  warfare  may  for  the  first  time  give  palpable  marks 
of  its  mischievous  effects. 

The  documents  before  us,  narrow  as  is  their  compass,  and  as  it 
necessarily  must  be  from  the  recent  application  of  the  Tread- 
Wheel,  afford  as  decided  proofs  of  this  assertion,  as  of  the  malady 
just  adverted  to.  We  cannot  get  through  the  very  first  Report 
without  meeting  with  a  case  of  rupture  produced  in  a  prisoner, 
while  in  the  act  of  laboring  on  the  wheel.  Nor  is  the  close  oJF 
these  documents  more  fortunate  than  their  opening :  for  the  two 
last  pages  are  chiefly  devoted  to  a  complaint  of  spitting  of  blood, 
and  an  accident  of  a  bruised  ancle,  under  the  same  circumstances  ; 
while  at  Lancaster,  an  inflammation,  land  consequently  therefore  a 
tumor,  of  the  groin,  is  candidly  admitted  to  have  been  excited, 
and  is  justly  called  an  *^  injurious  effect^"  of  this  irritant  and  irk- 
some kind  of  labor.  It  is  true  that  in  this,  as  well  as  in  the 
preceding  cases,  other  means  of  accounting  for  these  charges  are 
resorted  to,  with  a  view  of  saving  the  Tread- Wheel  as  much  as 
may  be ;  and  it  is  possible  that,  in  one  or  two  instances,  such 
means  may  have  been  auxiliary ^  as  nothing  is  more  common  than 
the  concurrence  of  two  or  more  causes  in  the  production  of  a 
disease :  but  I  apprehend  no  unprejudiced  professional  authority 
can  be  appealed  to  that  will  not  at  once  regard  the  Tread- Wheel 
as  the  PRiMUM  mobile,  and  lay  the  chief  perpetration  of  the 
mischief,  in  every  instance,  to  its  account  The  case  of  the 
spitting  of  blood  is  despatched  in  a  manner  equally  unusual  and 
unsatisfactory.  The  boy  who  affirmed  himself  to  be  thus  attacked 
while  laboring  at  the  wheel,  *^  called  to  me,''  says  the  attendant 
surgeon,  to  say,  **  that  it  had  made  him  split  blood ;"  but  as  '^  £ 
was  aware  how  ready  such  people  are  to  complain,  in  order  to  get 
free  of  labor,  I  purposely  passed  him  over,  well  knowing  that 
if  he  became  seriously  ill,  I  or  one  of  my  assistants  should  sdbn 
hear  of  it.  We  heard  no  more  of  his  spitting  of.  blood/' — Now 
if  an  imposture  had  been  really  believed,  why,  instead  of  its  being 
PASSED  OVER,  was  it  not  scrupulously  followed  up  at  the  mo- 
ment, and  exposed  publicly,  which  might  have  been  done  with  so 
much  ease  i  A  spitting  of  blood  affords  a  palpable  proof  of  the 
existence. of  the  disease,  and  to  this. proof. the  boy  appeals,  and 


13)        MischUfs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel  13 

challenges  th^  surgeon's  attention,  as  well  as  that  of  his  felkw 
prisoners.  The  testimony  of  the  latter  is  not  touched  on,  nor  is  it 
any  where  said  that  there  was  no  discharge  of  blood,  but  only  that 
the  patient  was  passed  over^  and  nothing  more  Heard  of  it:  in  other 
words,  that  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  no  return  of  it^  so  as^ 
in  the  language  of  the  report,  to  ''  become  seriously  ill/' 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  single  out  particular  accidents  or 
injuries.'  The  mischievous  tendency  of  the  Tread- Wheel  machi- 
nery is  sufficiently  established  in  the  Official  Reports  from  its  ordi- 
nary action  and  effects.  Mr.  Green,  writing  from  Durham,  where 
the  mill  had  only  beeii  in  use  eight  or  nine  months,  and  females,  as 
already  observed,  are  not  allowed  to  be  employed,  recommends,  in 
regard  to  males,  a  degree  of  caution  and  a  brevity  of  labor,  that  are 
highly  creditable  to  him.  After  observing  that  he  had  not  at  that 
time  noticed  any  kind  of  injury  whatever,  be  adds,  ^'  I  am  of 
opinion,  if  persevered  in  with  prudence,  and  not  too  long  continued, 
no  SERIOUS  effects  are  to  be  apprehended  from  its  use." 

In  the  House  of  Correction  at  Exeter,  the  same  distressing  pain 
is  admitted  to  be  inflicted  pn  the  muscles  of  the  legs,  thighs,  and 
back,  of  the  prisoners,  as  we  have  already  noticed  in  Gold-Bath 
Fields :  but  then,  says  Mr.  Luscombe,  the  prison-surgeon, ''  When 
these  have  become  habituated  to  it,  the  employment  on  the  Mill 
ceases  to  be  a  punishment." 

Mere  habituation  to  this  kind  of  labor,  however,  is  by  na  means 
enough  in  the  opinion  of  other  reporters,  who,  with  the  prudence 
felt  necessary  ^t  Durham,  recommend  as  the  only  means  of  warding 
off  the  evils  to  which  the  prisoners  are  exposed  by  the  nature  of 
their  labor,  a  particular  attention  to  the  construction  of  the  machine^ 
though  they  do  not  seem  to  agree  in  the  modifications  that  are 
proposed.  Mr.  Hubbard,  surgeon  to  the  prison  at  Bury,  reconl- 
mends  an  upright  position  for  the  prisoners,  and  intimates  that 
ruptures  and  other  injuries  are  likely  to  be  produced  in  other  at- 
titudes ;  while  Mr.  Hunt,  surgeon  to  the  Bedford  House  of  Cor- 
rection, asserts  that  the  best  safeguard  against  injury  is  to  be  found 
in  an  inclined  posture. ''  When  the  hand-rail,"  says  he,  '^  was  fixed 


*  And  still  less  necessary  is  itto  travel  so  far  out  of  the  record  before  us,  as 
to  give  a  detail  of  all  those  which  have  occurred  since  the  order  of  the  House 
of  Commons  for  printing  the  official  returns,  dated  March  10,  18^3.  It 
should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  they  are  far  too  frequently  repeated. 
One  of  the  latest  examples  appears  to  have  taken  place  a  few  weeks  since 
at  Aylesbury,  and  is  thus,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe  correctly,  noticed  in  a 
periodical  paper,  without  any  party  comment: — 

''Friday  srnnightone  of  the  prisoners  in  AyUthury^^Jl  met  with  a  seri- 
6as  accident  in  leaving  the  tbead-wseel  :  his  head  was  so  much  injured  by 
being  jammed  between  the  wheel  and  the  post  that  funt  hopes  are  enter- 
tained of  his  recovery.^— JoAii  Btdl  Newspaper,  March  33, 1833. 


U  3.  U.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [14 

in  a  lioe  nearly  vertical  over  the  head  of  the  pritoner  at  work  (it) 
caused  a  pain  in  the  loins  ;  but  by  throwing  the  rail  forM^ard^  so  as 
to  give  the  body  of  each  man  at  work  the  position  of  rather  lean-- 
ingforward,  all  undue  pressure  on  the  loins  was  avoided^  and  the 
labor  became  unoppressive.'* 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  these  modifications  further,  though 
several  others  are  proposed  ;  as  long  intervals  between  the  steps, 
by  some ;  short  intervals,  by  others;  and  a  peculiar  form  of  shoe,  by 
one  or  two ;  the  charges  which  in  the  preceding  pages  have  been 
brought  against  the  Tread- Wheel,  are  in  every  respect  sufiiciently 
substantiated ;  and  the  dif&culty  of  rendering  it  a  safe  vehicle  of 
bard  labor  sufiiciently  conspicuous.  Under  these  circumstances  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  different  surgeons,  in  an  anxious 
fulfilment  of  their  duty,  should  propose  different  methods,  and 
that  the  same  method  should  fail  in  different  places.  The  fault 
lies  not  in  themselves,  but  in  the  nature  of  the  machine  they 
would  correct;  and  which,  as  already  observed,  may  be  altered 
again  and  again,  and  varied  ad  infinitum^  without  any  satisfactory 
advantage,  since,  being  founded  on  an  essentially  wrong  principle^ 
UQ  modification  whatever  can  possibly  right  it. 

Nothings  indeed,  can  more  decisively  prove  the  distress  and  un- 
due exertion  under  which  the  muscles  cbiefiy  pressed  on  labor, 
than  the  extreme  and  exhausting  perspiration  into  which,  during 
warm  weather,  the  prisoners  are  thrown*  within  a  few  minutes,  and 
which  the  mere  quantity  of  labor  is  altogether  incapable  of  ac- 
counting for.  This  is  one  of  those  evils  already  enumerated  as 
bt^ving  existed  last  October  in  the  House  of  Correction  in  Cold- 
Bath  Fields,  and  which  is  also  glanced  at  in  the  Government  docu- 
vami  by  Mr.  Tucker,  in  his  Report  from  Exeter.  *'  I  learned 
only/'  says  he,  ^*  that  the  muscles  of  the  legs  sometimes  ached,  and 
that  work  OB  the  Wheel  in  warm  weather  would  produce  a  great 
perspiration.*^  The  same  fact  is  admitted  by  Mr.  Dent,  to  whose 
active  and  praiseworthy  exertions  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire  is 
under  great  obligations.  '^  1  admit,"  says  he,  '^  that  the  employment 
nay  cause  men  to  perspire,  and  unless  means  are  taken  to  ensure 
the  freest  respiration,  perhaps  profusely.  At  first  we  found  a  tend- 
ency to  the  inconvenience  complained  of,  but  it  was  completely 
obviated  by  substituting  an  open  trellis  instead  of  closed  boards.'^' 
This,  however,  by  no  means  always  answers,  though  it  shows 
another  necessity  for  some  modification  in  the  general  system  of 
the  Tread-Wheel  discipline,  according  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  con- 
trivers.    In  the  Cold-Bath  Fields  Prison^  the  men  work  under 

*  Letter  to  Sir  J.  C.  Hippisley,  Bart.,  jfromthe  Rev.  W.  Dent,  dated  ISth 
March,  1823,  an  acting  Mi^istrate  for  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  and 
Chairman  of  the  visiting  Justices  of  the  Committee  at  Northallerton  (printed 
at  Narthalkrt0m)y  p^  9. 


15 j        Mischiefs  incidsntal  to  the  Tread*  Wheeh  IS 

yheds  in  the  open  air ;  and  yet  here  the  perspiration,  at  the  time 
referred  to,  was  pot  only  profuse,  but  highly  exhausting.     Never- 
theless, I  do  not  urge  this  as  an  objection  in  se,  nor  have  1  ever 
thus  urged  it ;  for,  Jifce  yourself,  I  am  altogether  friendly  to  h aad 
LABOR  as  such,  and  care  but  little  how  hard  it  may  be,  provided 
the  health  of  the  prisoner  is  not  hereby  put  in  jeopardy.    Cut  I 
mentioii  the  fgct  as  a  strong  and  incontrovertible  proof  of  the  trying 
^d  distressful  nature  of  the  present  labor,  whedier  hard  or  miti- 
gated ;  or  in  other  words,  as  painful,  and  therefore  morbid,  from  its 
qHfdillf  aqd  pot  frop)  its  quantity.     With  respect  to  the  latter,  I 
eotirery  agree  with  Mr.  Dent,  and  would  even  go  beyond  him,  that 
'^  the  voluntary  efforts  of  honest  industry  are  surely  not  too  high  a 
Pleasure  for  the  standard  of  compulsory  labor  : — and  where  is  the 
laborer  whose  daily  task  does  not  exceed  a  walk  of  two  mile^, 
even  adpiittipg  it  to  be  up-hill  irr-yet  this  is  as  great  a  len^h  of 
distance  as  can  be  performed  by  the  revolution  of  our  Iread- 
^heel  in  si$  hours,  the  average  of  each  man's  labor  at  it  per 
day/'      I  BOW)  however,  take  this   distinguished   and  excellent 
Magistr^tf)  on  his  own  ground,  and  ask  him,  in  reply,  where   ia 
the  hill,  with  a  path  already  cut  up  it,  in  which  any  man  in  a  state 
of  health  would  be  thrown  into  the  slightest  perspiration  in  ten  or 
fifteen  minptes,  even  admitting  it  were  covered  over  (as  in  the  case 
of  stairs  in  a  house),  whose  pace  should  only  equal  that  which  is 
here  cs^Iculated,  being  not  more  than  one  quarter  of  a  mile  in  three 
quarters  of  an  hour!     Who  does  not  see  in  this,  as  well  as  in 
every  pther  result  we  have  already  contemplated,  that  the  alleged 
cause  and  effect  are  not  compiensurate :  and  consequently  that  there 
must  b^  sopie  other  and  more  morbid  power  than  that  of  mere  pro- 
gression i     Who  does  not  at  once  dive  into  the  real  source  of  that 
secret  ^md  indescribable  horror  which  this  labor  is  universally 
allayed  to  excite,  and  which  has  never  been  satisfactorily  account- 
ed for  otherwise  i    And  who,  at  the  same  time,  does  not  enter  int# 
the  absolute  necessity,  and  admit  in  its  fullest  extent,  the  wis^ 
dom  of  those  numerp.ps  emancipations  from  labor  which  exist  in 
almost  every  prison  into  which  the  Tread-Wheel  is  at  this  moment 
introduced,  and  which  renders  it  only  available  to  considerably  less 
than  half  those  for  whom  it  was  at  first  designed?    That  it  is  to- 
tally unfit  for  WOHSK,  and  will  in  a  short  time  be  universally  aban<^ 
doned  in  respect  to  them,  does  not  how,  I  believe,  admit  of  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt.      Yet  among  males,  the  ruptured  are,  1  ap- 
prehend,  as  upiyecsally  exempted,  amounting,  according  to  the 
eSi^imate  of  Mr»  Macelwain^  surgeon  to  that  truly  valuable  associa- 
tion, the  ''  London  Truss  Society  for  gratuitously  relieving  the 
poor  that  are  afflicted  with  ruptures/'  to  not  less  that  one  in  six^ 

'  ^  The  average  number  of  individuals  afflicted  with  hernia  amongst  the 


16  J,  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  £16 

of  the  laboring  classes^  as  nearly  as  can  be  calculated.  To 
which  we  are  to  add  the  consumptivey  who  are  humanely  spared, 
us  noticed,  in  the  Cold-Bath  Fields,  and  in  various  other  prisons  ; 
and  those  laboring  under  venereal  complaints,  scrophula,  or  dis" 
eases  of  any  kind  in  the  groin^  all  of  whom  it  is  judged  proper 
to  exempt  at  Lancaster  Castle. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  prison^  in  the  kingdoni  in  which  the 
Tread-Wheel  has  been  worked  more  judiciously,  or  with  a 
minuter  attention  to  its  effects,  than  at  this  last  place  of  confine- 
ment. For  not  only  have  delinquents,  laboring  under  a  great  va- 
riety of  constitutional  affections,  been  exempted,  and  a  shorter 
daily  period  been  allotted  for  work  than  the  time  usually  assigned, 
but  the  visiting  magistrates  have,  from  time  to  time,  submitted  the 
workers  at  the  wheel  to  the  test  of  a  pair  of  scales,  and  thus 
actually  put  this  kind  of  labor  to  an  experimentum  crucis,  Mr. 
^mith,  the  surgeon,  writing  his  ofiicial  report  in  the  month  of  Fe- 
bruary, being  less  than  four  months  froni  the  first  employment  of 
the  machine,  tells  us^  and  tells  us  truly,  that  the  prisoners,  notwith- 
standing their  expression  of  dislike  to  the  work,  *^  have  gained 
ueight  since  they  have  been  so  employed."  Had  the  history  of 
this  well-conducted  prison,  however,  been  followed  down  a  little 
lower,  a  very  curious  and  important  fact,  and  a  very  different  re- 
sult, would  have  been  put  before  the  public.  From  the  kindness 
of  the  very  excellent  member  for  CockerAaouth,  W.  C.  Wilson,  Esq., 
himself  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  active  of  the  visiting  ma- 
gistrates of  Lancashire,  and  Chairman  at  the  Westmoreland  Ses- 
sions, 1  am  now  enabled  to  make  the  requisite  addition,  and  to 
bring  the  history  of  the  Tread- Wheel  in  this  prison  down  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Wilson  has  been  so  obliging  as  to  obtain  for 
me  a  letter  on  the  subject  from  the  keepbr  of  the  prison,  of  so 
late  a  date  as  May  26,  which  f  will  thank  you  to  subjoin  as  a  foot- 
note ;  and  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  will  be  found  to  form,  on 
this  contested  subject,  a  far  more  important  document  than  any 
one  whatever  contained  in  the  Government  Returns ;  affording  an- 
other proofs  if  proofs  indeed  were  yet  wanting,  how  very  unripe 

laboring  classes  cannot  be  stated  exactly,  since  no  investigation  can  be  in- 
stituted expressly  for  that  object.  The  number  of  patients  relieved  by  the 
City  of  London  Truss  Society,  who  reside  in  and  about  London,  together 
with  the  results  obtained  from  observation  of  patients  who  apply  at  the 
Finsbury  Dispensary  for  other  complaints,  shows  that  the  number  is  very, 
considerable :  and  it  may  be  fairly  anticipated  that,  on  an  investigation,  the 
proportion  among  males  would  not  be  less  than  onb  in  six.  The  compa- 
ratively greater  frequency  of  hernia  in  nude  than  infenude  subjects  is  about 
vovK  TO  ov^J^-^Extractfrom  a  Letter  to  Dr.  Good  jfrom  George  Macelwain^ 
E8q,f  Surgeon  to  the  City  of  London  Trtas  Society,  and  the  Finsbury 
Ditpentary, 


HTl         Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel         17 

tbe  present  season  is  for  casting  up  a  general  account  of  the  whole 
crop  of  evils  which  belong  to  the  Tread-Mill  machinery,  and  wilt 
probably  show  themselves  in  its  fulness  of  time. 

The  ordinary  period  of  the  day's  employment  at  the  wheel,  as 
estimated  by  the  Committee  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  is 
eleven  hours  ;  which,  allowing  for  the  intervals  of  rest  and  refresh- 
ment, they  reduce  to  seven  hours  and  twenty  minutes,  forming 
**  the  time  of  actual  labor  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  each  prisoner 
for  the  day :"'  during  which  period  he  walks  over  the  wheel,  ac- 
cording to  another  of  their  estimates,  twelve  thousand  feet,  or  about 
two  miles  and  a  furlongs  ''  which  is  the  amount  or  measure  of  la- 
bor performed  by  each  prisoner  on  the  Tread- Wheel  for  the  day  ;*' 
nearly  coinciding  with  Mr.  Dent's  calculation. 

Now  at  Lancaster  Castle^  as  we  learn  from  the  subjoined  letter, 
the  visiting  magistrates,  with  becoming  humanity,  have  adopted  a 
smaller  scale  of  labor  than  this  laid  down  by  the  Committee  of 
the  Prison  Discipline  Society;  for  they  have  never  carried  it 
higher,  in  extent  of  time,  than  to  ten  hours  and  a  half  for  the 
day's  employment,  instead  of  eleven  hours :  while,  in  the  winter 
months,  they  have  reduced  it  to  seven  hours.  In  other  words,  they 
have  never  compelled  the  prisoners  to  walk  more  than  two  miles  a 
day  ;  and,  in  short  days  and  cold  weather,  have  been  satisfied  with 
their  walking  a  mile  and  a  half  And  1  now  come  to  the  very 
extraordinary  result  which  the  letter  1  refer  to  discloses  (extraor- 
dinary 1  mean  to  those  who  have  not  duly  contemplated  the  sub- 
ject in  all  its  bearings),  by  putting  this  slow  and  snail-paced  labor 
to  the  test  of  a  pair  of  scales,  which  have  been  employed  as  a  direct 
8ARCOMETEB,  to  determine  the  amount  of  struggle  between  the 
living  powers  of  human  flesh  and  blood,  and  the  destroying  powers 
of  the  Tread- Wheel.  While  the  pace  is  only  a  mile  and  a  half)  or 
a  little  more,  for  the  day,  it  appears  that  the  strain  on  the  muscles 
has  not  hkherto  been  found  so  mischievous  as  to  make  any  inroad 
on  the  living  principle ;  so  that,  as  the  prisoners  are  humanely  fed 
upon  a  regimen  which  equals  the  richer  scale  of  diet  just  laid  down 
by  the  consulting  physicians  for  the  convicts  in  the  Mill-Bank 
Penitentiary,  the  ordinary  functions  of  the  body  have  not  been  in- 
terfered with,  and  the  workers  have  increased  in  weight  from  eight 
or  nine  grains  to  an  ounce  or  an  ounce  and  a  half  a  day.  But  the 
moment  the  measure  of  labor  is  pushed  on  to  tvoo  miles  a  day^  the 
whole  system  shrinks  before  it,  and  the  prisoners  waste  away  at 
the  rate  of  from  A  pound  to  nearly  a  pound  and  a  half 
EVERY  THREE  WEEKS.  There  are  a  few  anomalies  in  the  table, 
which  ought  probably  to  be  referred  to  the  state  of  the  weather  at 

'  Description  of  the  Tread-Mill,  &c.  p.  13.  Longman  and  Co.  1823. 

VOL.  XXIU.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  B 


18  J.  M.  Good's  Later  on  the  [J8 

the  time,  and  the  degree  of  perspiration,  sensible  or  insensible,  to 
which  the  temperature  of  the  atmosphere  must  necessarily  give  rise ; 
but  the  general  fact  is  clear  and  unquestionable ;  and  the  whole 
country  is  indebted  to  the  wisdom  and  humanity  of  the  visiting 
Magistrates  of  Lancaster  Castle  for  putting  this  machine  to  a  trial^ 
as  well  as  allowing  this  fact  to  be  given  to  the  public' 

Now,  what  other  labor  under  the  sun,  short  of  that  of  actual 
torture^  to  which  men  have  ever  been  condemned,  or  in  which  they 
ever  can  engage,  in  the  open  air,  has  produced,  or  can  be  con- 
ceived to  produce,  such  a  loss  of  fiesh  and  blood,  as  that  before  us ; 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  W.  W.  C.  WiUm,  Etq.  M,  P.  for  CockermmUh, 
to  Dr.  Good,  dated  Downing  Street,  ^8th  May,  1833. 

**  I  have  this  morning  received  from  the  keeper  of  Lancaster  Castle  the 
enclosed  letter.  Perhaps  you  may  think  it  worth  while  to  cause  a  copy  of  it 
to  be  taken." 

Copy  of  a  Letter  from  the  Keeper  of  Lancaster  Castle  to  W.  W,  C,  Wilson^ 

Esq.  M.  P. 

Lancaster  Castle,  Q6th  May,  1823. 
**  Agreeably  to  your  wish  I  beg  leave  to  send  herewith  the  average  gain 
or  loss  of  weight  of  the  prisoners  employed  at  the  Tread-Wheel.  Owing 
to  my  having  occasion  frequently  to  change  the  prisoners,  on  account  of 
their  removal  to  the  hulks,  or  discharge  from  prison,  or  to  make  room  for 
the  refractory,  I  have  not  been  able  to  bring  my  experiments  to  that  nicety 
I  could  have  wished,  and  should  have  done,  had  I  been  able  to  keep  the 
same  set  of  men  at  work  for  three  or  four  months  together. 

From  10th  February  to  19th  February,  working  7  hours  each  day, 

1  lb.  7oz.  gain  per  man. 
19th  February  to   4th  March.    (9  hours)  gain  i  oz.    ditto. 
4th  March      to  25th  March,  (10^  hours)  lost  1  lb.    ditto. 
25th  March     to  28th  April,       (ditto)       lost  f i  lbs.  ditto. 
28th  April        to  26th  May,    (10  hours)  gain  1  lb.  80s. ditto. 
'*  There  Has  been  no  alteration  in  diet.    The  prisoners  have  been  kept 
solely  on  the  prison  allowance. 

**  As  far  as  my  experience  goes,  I  am  of  optinion  that  the  employment  is 
very  healthy,  and  I  have  not  observed  that  this  species  of  labor  has  had  the 
slightest  tendency  to  produce  any  specific  complaint. 

*'  From  the  anxiety  the  prisoners  express  to  change  from  the  Tread- 
Wheel  to  am/ other  description  of  work,  from  the  inquiries  I  have  repeatedly 
made  of  those  within,  as  well  as  those  leaving  the  prison,  I  have  no 
doubt  upon  my  mind,  but  that  the  labor  is  severe — very  irksome,  and 
such  as  IS  likely  to  deter  men  from  the  commission  of  crime*  I  have  found 
the  employment  a  terror  to  the  refractory. 

**  I  am  happy  to  say  the  criminal  side  of  the  prison  is  lighter  than  it  has 
been  for  many  years)  the  debtors*  side  are  average  number. 
'*  Trusting  my  reply  will  be  satisfactory, 

^  &c.  &c.  &c. 
**  (Signed)  Thomas  H.  Hiosin. 

**  P.  S,  I  have  read  with  much  interest  the  report  of  the  physicians  at 
Mill-Bank  Penitentiary,  and  am  happy  to  find  the  diet  they  have  recom- 
mended so  very  nearly  agrees  with  that  in  use  here.'' 


10}        Mischi0  incidental  to  the  Treadr  Wheel.  18 

ivhere  the  rate  of  progressioiii  whether  up-hill^  down-hill^  or  oq 
level  ground;  does  not  exceed  two  miles  for  the  entire  day,  and  the 
laborer  has  to  carry  no.  bag  of  tools  or  weight  of  any  kind,  btti 
the  weight  of  his  own  body  f  Under  ail  the  ordinary  labors  of 
life  the  distance  is  really  laughable,  whether  for  man,  woman,  or 
child ;  and  yet  we  are  told^  and  told  most  correctly,  by  the  praise- 
worthy keeper  of  this  ?ery  prison,  that  short  as  is  this  measure  of 
progression  for  the  day,  the  prisoners  not  only  waste  away  in  fletfb 
when  this  measure  mounts  up  to  the  pinching  scale  of  two  milbs, 
but  that  at  all  times,  as  well  under  it  as  above  it,  'Miehas  no  doubt 
upon  his  mind  that  the  labor  is  severe,  very  irksomB| 
and  such  as  is  likely  to  deter  men  from  the  commission  or 
crime ;''-^that  '^  he  has  found  the  employment  a  terror  to  tba 
refractory  ;"  and  that  '^  the  prisoners  express  an  anxiety  to  phapgQ 
from  the  Tread- Wheel  to  any  other  description  of  work"  It  if 
necessary  again  to  ask  what  can  possibly  be  the  cause  of  this  sEt 

VERITY,  of  this  extreme  IRKSOMENESS,  of  this  TERROR  and 

ANXIETY  to  flee  from  the  Tread- Wheel  to  work  of  any  other  de^ 
scription,  boweve.r  hard  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  howevec 
burdensome  or  protracted?  Is  it  again  necessary  to  hold  up  bep 
fore  the  eyes  of  the  reader,  the  tortuous  attitude  in  which  the  piir 
soner  moves,  the  mischievous  distress  excited  in  the  loins  of  mali^y 
as  well  as  females,  the  perspiration  that  so  often  drips  from  binp, 
and  lastly,  the  general  sinking  of  his  frs^me,  the  yielding  of  hif 
sinews,  the  loss  of  flesh  and  blood  which  he  endures  while  ^dvancr 
ing  in  his  snail-paced  career  ? — to  say  nothing  of  the  accidents  tp 
which  the  workers  on  the  wheel  are  daily  exposed,  and  the  dang^ 
they  are  perpetually  running  of  being  thrown  violently  on  their  backi 
and  breaking  their  limbs.' 

There  is  one  morbid  effect,  however,  which  it  appears  to  myself 
and  others  that  the  Tread-Wheel  endangers,  of  which  we  have 
no  example  in  the  reports  before  us  ;  and  that  is,  aneurismal,  V0r 
ricQse,  and  nodulous  tumors  in  the  vessels  of  the  lower  limbs.  But 
these  are  in  almost  every  instanqe  of  dow  growth^  and  hence  ai?^ 
only  to  be  expected  in  those  who  have  been  sentencedto  the  Wh^ 
for  a  much  longer  period  than  the  average  term  of  its  general 
establishment ;  and  1  should  on  this  account  have  been  more  sur^ 

■  It  may  possibly  be  said,  that  a  sufficient  number  of  experiments  hav.e 
not  yet  been  made  upon  this  sabject  to  arrive  at  a  fair  result.  But  this  Is 
to  adopt  our  own  argument  as  unfolded  in  every  page  of  these  sheets.  We 
appeal  to  additional  time  and  additional  experiments,  as  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  a  development  of  all  the  evils  which  inherently  and  essentially  ap- 
pertain to  this  kind  of  discipline.  Yet,  enough  have  perhaps  been  already 
unfolded  to  satisfy  those  who  are  not  very  voracious  of  mischievous 
effects. 


90  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [20 

prised  at  meeting  with  actual  instances  of  it,  at  present^  than  at 
finding  none  have  occurred.     The  anticipation^  however,  of  such 
in  long-worked  culprits  has  as  firm  a  basis  both  in  physiology  and 
pathology  as  that  of  any  of  the  preceding  maladies  ;  and  the  dis- 
ease will  as  assuredly  make  its  appearance  wherever  there  is  a 
sufficient  opportunity  for  its  growth  and  maturity^  and  especially 
where  there  is  a  diathesis  leading  to  this  effect.     A  very  respect- 
able practitioner,  in  his  report  on  the  subject,  has  ventured  to 
assert  the  contrary,  and  to  express  a  belief  that  ^*  the  kind  and 
DEGKEE  of  exercise  made  use  of,"  on  the  Tread-Mill,  instead  of 
producing,  would  most  probably  prevent  any  such  disease.     But 
this  is  to  give  the  machine  a  salutary  power  of  which  I  am  persuaded 
he  will  never  avail  himself  in  his  private  practice.    All  severe  pres- 
sure or  over-exertion  of  the  vessels  of  the  lower  extremities  have  a 
tendency  to  induce  these  affections,  and  particularly  varices^  the 
column  of  the  veins  giving  way  in  those  parts  that  are  weakest ; 
and,  as  1  have  already  observed,  the  cure  or  the  prevention  being 
alone  accomplished  by  giving  ease,  rest,  and  support  to  the  weak- 
ened organ,  instead  of  by  urging  it  to  fresh  labor.     And  hence,  as 
your  correspondence  will  be  found  very  sufficiently  to  establish, 
this  disease,  like  rupture,  is  chiefly  to  be  met  with  among  persons 
that  are  habitually  engaged  in  such  up-hill  labors  as  make  the 
nearest  approach  to  that  of  the  Tread-Mill,  as  those  of  sailors, 
thatchers,  miners,  and  bricklayers*  hod-men.  But  in  none  of  these 
have  we  so  much  reason  to  expect  ultimately   varicose   swell- 
ings  of  the   legs   as  in  the   workers  at  the  Tread-Wheel ;  for 
in   all  the   former  the  periods  of  climbing  are  sooner  over^  and 
consequently  the  labor  is  more  equally  divided  between  different 
sets  of  muscles.    The  miner  reaches  and  rests  upon  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  the  hod-carrier  upon  the  scaffold,  the  seaman  upon  the 
yard-arm,  or  platform  of  the  mast,  and  the  thatcher  upon  the  lad- 
der itself :  while  the  worker  at  the  Tread- Wheel  has  no  rest  or  re- 
laxation whatever  till  his  assigned  period  of  climbing  is  fulfilled ; 
again,  mechanically  resuming  his  task,  as  his  turn  comes  round, 
and  persevering  in  the  same  manner  from  day  to  day. 

Yet,  it  is  curious  to  notice  the  tardiness  with  which  this  chronic 
affection  frequently  makes  its  attack  even  among  the  classes  that 
chiefly  suffer  from  it,  and  which  sufficiently  accounts  for  its  dor- 
mancy to  this  hour  under  the  Tread-Wheel  discipline.  When 
landsmen,  indeed,  suddenly  engage  in  sea-service,  the  awk- 
wardness with  which  they  tread  the  decks  and  engage  in  the 
vajrious  movements  which  that  service  requires,  produces  such 
a  partial  and  irregular  pressure,  and  consequently  such  a  strain 
upon  the  vessels  and  muscular  fibres  of  the  legs,  as  often  to 
excite  varicose  tumors  in  a  very  short  time :  and  hence  it  is 


21]  Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.        21 

observed  bj  one  of  your  naval  professional  correspondents/ 
that  of  the  cases  of  this  kind  which  have  fallen  under  his 
observation^  the  greater  part  have  appeared  hot  in  able  seamen, 
those  who  have  been  inured  to  the  service  from  youth, — but  in 
landsmen^  who  are  sailors,  but  have  not  been  regularly  bred  to  the 
sea.  On  the  contrary,  when  sailors  enter  the  service  in  their  boy* 
hood,  the  greater  pliancy  of  their  muscles,  and  hence  the  greater 
facility  with  which  they  are  enabled  to  change  from  one  attitude  or 
position  to  another,  and  thus  to  avoid  all  strain  or  partial  pressure, 
counteract  in  a  very  considerable  degree  the  natural  tendency  to  the 
same  morbid  effects^  and  postpone  their  appearance  in  some  cases 
for  a  long  term  of  years.  On  which  account  several  of  your  coi^ 
respondents  entertain  a  doubt  whether  **  the  nature  of  a  seaman's 
employ  particularly  disposes  him  to  such  an  affection"* — or 
''  whether  it  is  found  more  frequent  among  seamen  than  in  other 
walks  of  life."  For  this  reason  the  middle  and  most  active  part  of 
a  regular  seaman^s  life  is  usually  exempt  from  any  external  appear- 
ance ;  and  even  in  many  cases,  where  it  actually  shows  itself,  how- 
ever troublesome  to  the  individual,  as  there  is  little  accompani- 
ment of  pain,  no  complaint  is  made,  no  hospital  is  sought  for,  and 
it  is  passed  by  without  observation.  But  the  tendency  produced 
from  the  first  by  the  very  nature  of  the  seaman's  labor,  still  holds 
on,  and  operates,  though  in  the  dark ;  the  snake,  though  scotched,  is 
not  killed  ; — the  moment  the  constitution  begins  to  give  way  gene- 
rally, which,  from  the  peculiar  wear  and  tear  of  a  seaman's  life,  it 
commonly  does  at  a  much  earlier  period  than  in  other  occupations 
— the  organs  most  debilitated  yield  soonest ;  the  veins  of  the  lower 
limbs  become  partially  distended,  and  the  legs  are  studded  over 
with  purple  nodules.  And  hence  the  foundation  of  the  very  correct 
observation  of  another  of  your  correspondents,  who,  after  asserting 
that  '^  seamen  are  particularly  subject  to  varicose  affections,  espe- 
cially of  the  lower  extremities,"  remarks  *'  that  the  complaint  ge- 
nerally supervenes  between  the  ages  of  thirty-six  and  forty-five,  if 
the  individual  has  been  from  boyhood  to  the  sea ;  at  the  latter  pe- 
riod they  are  usually  men  of  broken  constitutions^  and  premature 
ager^ 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  upon  this  topic  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing these  valuable  communications  of  professional  naval  officers 
to  a  common  focus.  On  a  cursory  survey  they  may  indeed  seem 
to  clash  ;   but  there  is  no  necessary  incongruity  between  them  ;  and 

• 

'  Mr.  Hammick,  Surgeon  of  the  Naval  Hospital  at  Plymoutii. 

*  Mr.  Moriimer,  Surgeon  of  the  Naval  Hospital  of  Haslar. 

5  Vide  Letter,  quoted  in  the  annexed  communication  from  Dr.  Henry 
Parkin,  Physician  to  the  Naval  Infirmary  at  Woulwich,to  Sir  J.  C.  Hippi)ilejr> 
Bart. 


22  J.  M,  Good's  LeUer  on  the  [22 

they  only  vary  in  consequence  of  the  same  object  having  been  be- 
held from  a  different  point  of  view. 

Whether^  therefore,  we  examine  the  question  physiologically  or 
practically 9  directly  or  comparatively,  to  this  conchision  must  we 
come  at  last^  that  the  irksome  and  morbid  exercise  of  the  Tread- 
Wheel  gives  a  tendency  to  the  formation  of  varicose ^  and  hence  also 
of  aneuriwtal  swellings.* 

'  The  practical  evidence  here  referred  to,  and  contained  in  the  subjoined 
pages,  and  especially  in  the  postscript,  is  so  fiili  and  extensive,  that  it  seems 
almost  superfluous  to  augment  the  range  of  testimony.  Yet  from  the  pro- 
digious mass  of  documents  that  have  poured  in  upofi  the  writer,  or  rather 
compiler,  from  so  many  quarters  in  which  those  kinds  of  labor  are  chieBy 
carried  on,  which  make  the  nearest  approach  to  that  of  the  Tread-Wheel,  and 
especially  the  lahor  o^  seauien  in  some  respects,  and  that  o^ miners^  he  may 
be  excused  fur  introducing  the  following  extract  and  correspondence,  not 
merely  because  it  has  been  given  as  a  matter  of  opinion  in  one  of  the 
official  communications  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  that  such  kinds  of  lahor  would 
he  more  likely  to  prevent  than  to  produce  varicose  swellings  in  the  legs,  but  from 
the  intritisic  value  of  the  facts  tnemselves  as  matter  of  statistic  and  physio- 
logical history:  for,  it  is  probable  that  few  persons  who  are  not  intimately 
conversant  with  the  habits  of  the  Cornish  miners,  have  ever  imagined  that 
the  disease  here  chie6y  referred  to,  has  so  wide  and  indigenous  an  existence 
among  them  from  the  very  nature  of  their  occupation. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  to  Sir  J.  C.  H.  from  Mr,  Porter,  Surgeon  to  the  Leviathan 

Convict  Ship,  at  Portsmouth,  April  26, 1823. 
**  I  fully  agree  in  opinion  that  sailors  are  more  subject  to  varicose  veins 
and  HERniAS  than  any  other  set  of  men:  any  pressure  impeding  the  return 
of  the  blood  will  cause  nodulous  appearances  in  the  vessel  below  the  pres- 
sure; and,  if  the  pressure  be  continued  any  time,  a  dilatation  of  the  vessels 
and  an  enlargement  of  the  calibre  of  the  same  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
word),  as  also  a  rupture  of  the  valves,  will  ensue.  Such  we  observe  in  the 
legs  of  women  after  repeated  pregnancy,  as  also  in  veins  where  tumors  have 
been  pressing  for  some  time.  As  for  the  frequency  of  hernias  in  seamen, 
the  laborious  exertion  in  lifting  weights;  the  pressure  of  the  abdomep,  lean- 
ing over  the  yards,  4he  constant  straining  in  hauling  and  pulling,  easily  ac- 
count for  it.'' 

Extract  of  various  Letters  Jrofn  Captain  Crease,  of  the  Royal  Navy,  to  Sir  J,  C. 
Hippisley,  Bart.,  dated  Flushing,  near  Falmouth. 

Feb.  1,  1823. 
**  I  cannot  but  believe  that  it  (varicose  tumor  of  the  legs)  is  as  common 
among  miners  as  among  seamen ;  and  with  the  latter  it  is  very  common.*' 

From  the  same,     Falmouth,  Feb,  27,  1823. 
^  On  personal  inc^uiriesat  the  under-mentioned  mines,  the  case  on  which 
we  have  been  seeking  information  I  find  is  common." 

Depth.  Parish. 

The  United  Mines  215  fathoms*\        In  Gwenap. 

Dalcoth,  225  i  Camborne. 

Cranver^  above  200  r  Crowan. 

Poldice  170  >7  Gwenap. 

Consolidated  Miaes,  170  i  Gwenap. 

Pheal  Por,  185  \  Breaque. 

Cook's  Kitchen^        190  J  Illogan. 


aaj        Mischiefs  inddmtal  to  the  Tread-IVhcel  23 

it  should  be  remembered,  however^  th&ct  neither  myself^  nor  any 
die  who  has  coincided  with  me  in  opinion^  ever  ventured  to  pre- 
dict more  than  a  tendency.    We  limited  our  statements  to  a  decla* 

'*  Those  ace  some  of  the  deepest  mines  in  Cornwall,  and  all  descended  by 
ladders*  Bat  for  the  state  of  the  weather  lately,  this  information  should 
have  been  earlier  forwarded.  It  is  singular  that  some  of  the  gentlemen 
whose  habits  caused  them  to  be  a  good  deal  immediately  about  the  mines, 
seem  scarcely  to  lyive  noticed  those  raptures  of  the  smaller  vessels  of  the 
legs ;  bmtf  on  pemnal  inquiry  among  the  old  laboring  mtnert  ihemteheSf  the  cate 
it  common  J* 


Name  of,  informed 
afi^e,  and  number 
of  years  a  miner. 


Mine  or  Parish. 


United     Mines, 
Parish  , 
of  Gwenap. 


United     Mines, 

Parish 

of  Gwenap. 


United     Mines, 

Parish 

of  Gwenap. 


Joseph  Truman, 
William  Tniman, 
Bennet  Holman. 
Their  ages  from  45 
to  50,  and  miners 


Substance  of  Information* 


This  information  was  given  me  by 
Mr.  Benjamin  Sampson,  of  Perran 
Wharf,  who  has  been  from  his  youth 
brought  up  among  the  mines,  is  now 
about  50  years  of  age ;  the  men  named 
from  their  youth,  (he  personally  examined,  states  they  are 

of  robust  constitution,  have   each  of 
them  on  their  legs  at  least  20  nodes, 
some  of  them  as  large  as  small  hazel 
nuts. 

Mr.  Sampson  is  a  person  of  much 
observation,  and  states  his  opinion  that 
the  average  of  those  miners,  who  are 
affected  with  the  varicose  at  the  aget 
above  50  years,  are  at  least  30  out  of 
every  30. 

This  man  I  personally  examined, — 
of  a  strong  constitution,  one  of  his  legs 
only  affected ;  states  he  found  it  come  on 
him  from  the  exertion  of  overstepping 
himself  with  a  weight  on  his  back  on 
a  ladder,  one  of  the  steps  of  which  was 
broken. 

This  man's  son,  William  Davy,  in- 
formed me  in  the  presence  of  Matthew 
Williams  and  John  Turner,  a  very  old 


Matthew        Wil 
liams,  36  years  o\ 
age,    ^3    years  a 
miner. 


William  Davy,  of 
Redruth,  died 
about  five  years 
bince,  65  years  ot 
a^e,  a  miner  from 
his  youth. 


William  Trevena, 
Parish  of  Gluvian, 
24  years  of  age,  8 
years  a  miner. 


miner,  both  of  whom  were  well  ac« 
quainted  with  William  Davy,  senior, 
tnev  state  his  legs  were  covered  with 
nodes. 

I  personally  examined  numerous 
nodes  on  both  legs,  rather  of  a  slight 
frame;  considered  a  most  active  and  la- 
bonous  young  man» 


^  I  will  now  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  manner  attending  my  obtaining  the 
information  of  the  last  three 'persons ;  it  will  assist  yon  in  forming  your  con- 
clusions. By  appointment  1  was  this  morning  to  accompany  Mr.  Sampton 
to  the  different  mines;  on  my  arriving  at  Perran  PTAa^/ found  that  an  un* 


24  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [24 

ration  that  the  prisoner  who  is  condemned  to  the  Tread-Wheel, 
from  the  unwonted,  distressing,  and  unnatural  pressure  which  it 
produces  on  the  organs  chiefly  tried  by  its  discipline^  is  perpetually. 

expected  occurrence  prevented  bis  attending  me,  therefore  a  note  was  given 
me  to  the  two  principal  captains  of  the  United  Mines  {Capt,  Henry  TVe- 
goning  and  Capt,  Teague),  This  mine  being  one  of  the  deepest  (instead  of 
SIO  fathoms,  as  I  before  stated,  it  is,  as  they  term  it,  U90  fathoms  from 
grass:)  I  was  desirous  of  mailing  my  object  in  coming  as  near  as  I 
could  to  the  average  of  cases.  My  introduction  was  kindly  received.  They 
proffered  their  future  services  as,  I  suppose,  their  consideration  to  obtain 
every  particular  information  on  the  subject  desired.  I  directed  my  course 
to  the  hut,  where  the  miners  take  shelter  on  coming  out  from  the  mines ; 
found  sitting  by  a  fire  three  miners ;  addressed  my  subject  to  the  elder. 
His  reply  was,  *^  That  what  they  called  a  knotting  of  the  veins  of  the  calves  of  the 
legs  was  universal  among  the  miners  ;'*  but  neither  of  the  three  would  give 
any  particular  names.  After  a  little  kindness  on  my  part,  Davy  address- 
ed his  comrade  Matthew,  '*  Why  don't  you  show  the  gentleman  your  legt  you 
know  you  have  it  J*  He  pulled  up  his  trowsers;  it  was  the  case.  Having 
their  confidence,  Trevena  came  into  the  hut ;  the  old  miner  desired  him  to 
pull  up  bis  trowsers;  he  did;  the  back  part  of  both  his  legs  were  UteraUy 
covered  with  nodes,*' 

From  the  same.    Falmouth^  March  19,  1823. 

**  I  rode  this  morning  to  Perron,  knowing  Mr.  Sampson  had  information 
for  me.  As  I  before  observed,  he  is  greatly  engaged  m  the  mines — he  was 
absent  from  home.  You  shall  have  the  attestations  you  desire ;  I  am  per- 
fectly satisfied  that  the  object  of  your  inquiry  will  be  most  fully  established. 
It  is  very  probable,  and  indeed  I  know  that  in  a  very  large  part  of  the  cases, 
the  men  affected  cannot  positively  say  it  is  entirely  caused  by  the  exertions 
of  ascending  and  descending  the  ladders.  But  in  common  reason  there  is 
not  a  doubt  left  on  the  case.  No  miner  whom  you  will  question  on  the  subject 
hut  tells  you,  that  they  never  foil  of  experiencing  a  very  acute  pain  in  the  back 
part  or  calf  of  the  leg,  for  some  time  after  unusual  exertions  in  ascending  or  de- 
scending  the  ladders.  Those  nodes,  perhaps,  are  not  the  instant  effect  of  those 
strains,  or  rather  I  should  say,  do  not,  at  the  moment,  show  or  appear;  nor  am  I 
surprised  at  the  little  information  even  of  some  medical  men  on  the  veryfreqttent 
appearance  of  those  cases,  as  the  men  so  affected  experience  no  particular  tnconve- 
nience  after  those  nodes  are  formed*' 

From  t?ie  same,    Falmouth,  April  2, 1823. 

"  Mr.  Sampson  has  been  absent  these  ten  days  at  Liverpool  and  London ; 
on  his  arrival,  I  know  he  will  immediately  write  to  you;  he  is  most  sensible 
and  satisfied  as  to  the  facts.  lam  warranted  in  as  for  as  I  have  proceeded,  in 
my  entire  confidence.  A  few  days  sinCe,  on  my  ruad  to  Truro,  passing  the 
smel ting-house  at  Carlenic,  I  saw  an  aged  miner  go  into  an  adjoining  pub- 
lic-house, and  followed  him;  the  back  part  of  his  legs  was  covered  with  nodes: 
he  also  gave  me  the  name  of  another  as  much  so  afflicted  as  himself,  which 
name  you  shall  have  in  a  list  with  others  in  my  next  letter ;  and  I  liave  no 
doubt  but  the  cause  is  to  be  alone  attributed  to  the  ladders,  and  not  to  water, 
otherwise  why  are  not  fishermen  so  affected  i  nor  can  I  find  any  instances 
of  varicose  swellings  in  those  laborers  whose  work  has  been  entirely  confined 
to  stream  worh,** 


25]  Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.        25 

in  danger  of  the  present,  and  the  other  complaints  enumerated  in 
the  catalogue.  It  was  never  dreamt  of  for  a  moment  by  any  of  us 
that  they  must  necessarily  occur  at  all  times  and  in  every 

From  the  same.    Fabnouth,  April  19,  1823. 

''•On  my  return  this  day  from  the  mines,  I  hasten  to  give  you  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  cases  and  information  I  have  collected. 

Men*8  Names,  Age,  Parish.             Miners  from  yonfh. 

Thomas  Benett,  54  Gwenap  ditto. 

Samuel  Spargo,  48  Hythians  ditto. 

Nicholas  fregwidden,  46  Wendron  ditto. 

Simon  Prior,  81  Ditto  ditto, 

John  Hart,  60  Gwenap  ditto. 

John  Ustrick,  sen.  60  Camborne  ditto. 

John  Ustrick,  jun.  35  Ditto  ditto, 

William  Tregay,  sen.  43  St.  Agnes  ditto. 

James  Tregay,  jun.  89  Ditto  ditto. 

JohnTeoby,  45  Camborne  ditto^ 

Thomas  Bishop,  40  Gwenap  ditto. 

John  Scobell,  50  Ditto  ditto^'^ 

From  the  same,    Falmouth^  May  l,  1833. 

''  I  sent  off  a  note  to  Mr.  William  Davey  (SO  years  of  age,  14  years  a 
miner),  his  situation  being  a  place  of  responstbility,  being  clerk  andsuperintendant 
of  stores  on  the  spot  of  the  United  Mines,  I  also  knew  that  it  was  a  pay  dey^ 
when  miners  are  in  greater  numbers  assembled.  The  result  of  his  mqm-^ 
ries  are  inclosed ;  he  was  present  at  my  examination  of  the  men  whose 
names  I  have  already  had  the  pleasure  to  forward  to  you.  In  short,  I  am 
surprised  how  any  man  can  possibly  question  or  contradict  the  existence  of 
this  complaint  among  the  miners ;  and  I  do  consider,  from  information  and 
ACTUAL  OBSERVATION,  that  two  out  of  three  persons  {miners)  are  afflicted  with 
this  complaint.  If  I  had  wished  it,  I  might  have  forwardea  you  the  names  of 
hundreds  so  affected.  I  recommend  those  who  doubt  it  to  give  themselves 
the  trouble  of  one  day's  personal  inqttiry  at  any  of  the  mines. 

From  Mr,  William  Davey,  Clerk  and  Superintendant  of  Stores  of  the  United 
Mine,  Cornwall,  April  30,  i8S3,  to  Capt,  H.  Crease,  R.  N.  (inclosed  in  the 
above).' 
"  Sir, 

These  are  the  names  of  the  men  that  have  got  the  vomicles*  in 
their  legs ; 

Peter  Eddy,  aged  60  years ;  Parish  of  Wendron.    Miner  40 years ;  subject  to 

this  SO  years, 
Henry^Vincent,  aged  30  years  ;  Parish  of  Wendron.  Miner  15  years  ;  subject 

to  this  15  years.  i 

Thomas  Holman,  aged  35  years;  Parish  of  Gwenap.  Miner  \0 years ;  subject 

to  this  7  years. 
Wniiam  Harris,  aged  60  years;  Parish  of  Redruth.   Miner  45  years;  subject. 

to  this  ^  years. 


'  Probably  a  provincial  corruption  of  barnacles. 


26  J.  M.  Good*s  Letter  on  the  [26 

INDIVIDUAL  IN  A  PRISON^  as  SO  many  petts  or  epidemic  diseaaes : 
and  we  hereby  made  an  ample  allowance  for  all  those  instances  of 
inoccurrence  which  are  to  be  found  in  manj,  perhaps  the  greater 
number^  of  the  reports.  There  is  no  collision  whatever  between 
the  anticipation  laid  down  and  the  histories  officially  returned. 
That  the  usuries  said  to  be  threatened  or  endangered  have  taken 
place  occasionally,  and  as  far  as  the  anticipation  could  run,  is  sub- 
stautiated  by  a  cloud  of  facts ;  and  that  they  have  not  taken  place 
ill  every  inatancej  or  in  every  prison^  is  a  farther  testimony  in  sup- 
port, instead  of  in  demolition  of  the  prediction  ;  because  by  the 
restriction  with  which  it  was  accompanied,  it  left  ample  room  for 
the  cases  in  which  they  have  not  occurred.  The  station  in  life  and 
character  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  furnished  the  professional 
records,  and  let  me  add,  with  some  degree  of  pride,  the  profession 
itself  to  which  they  belong,  entitle  them  to  the  fullest  credit,  and  I 
confide  in  their  statement  of  facts  unreservedly.  The  general  re- 
Thomas  Harris,  aged  S2  years ;  Parish  of  Redruth.  Miner  19  yeart ;  subject 

to  this  7  years, 
Richard  Williams,  aged  41  years;  Parish  of  Redruth.    Miner  $5  years; 

subfect  to  this  15  yeart, 
Arthur  Oats,  aged  40  years ;  Parish  of  Gwenap.    ilimer  25  years ;  suJi^ed  to 

this  14  years. 
John  Bray,  aged  45  years ;  Parish  of  Gwenap.    Miner  30  years  ;  subject  to 

this  10  years. 
These  are  the  names  of  the  men,  and  if  you  wish  me  to  get  more  names 
of  ttie  men  that  is  subject  to  the  vomides  m  their  legs,  I  have  no  doubt  but 
I  may  get  more  if  you  wish  me.'' 

From  Mr.  W.  Sampstm^  Superintendant  of  Mmes^SfC.  to  Sir  J.  C.  H.  dated 
Perron  Wharfs  near  Truro^  April  10, 18S3. 

'*  Captain  Crease  has  informed  me  you  are  desirous  of  my  writing  you  ray 
opinion  on  the  nodular  affections  I  have  so  frequently  witnessed  among  the  min* 
ing  class  of  people;  I  do  connder  U  arises  from  the  over-exertion  of  these  men  as* 
tending  and  descending  the  ladders  of  the  deep  mines;  the  ladders  are  nearly 
upright,  and  the  miners  have  that  oart  of  the  foot  on  the  stairs  of  the  lad- 
der (nearly  or  close  behind)  the  ball  of  the  great  toe." 

From  the  same  to  the  same.    Perran  Whatf,  May  5,  1823. 

^  My  reason  for  delaying  an  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  16th  uU.  wast 
that  I  did  not,  until  Saturday  last,  see  a  professional  gentleman  who  could 
give  me  much  information,  and  very  conversant  with  the  diseases,  &c.  of 
miners.  He  says  the  nodular  affections  are  very  frequent^  and  a  majority  of  the 
miners  subject  to  them;  that  they  are  merely  an  enlargement  ofthe  /^in/)Aii/ic 
or  absorbent  vessels,  not  attended  with  any  pain  or  danger,  and  which  he  as^ 
tribes  to  climbing  the  ladders.  He  also  says,  that  sometimes  the  miners  by 
canning  heavv  harrows  of  copper  ore  up  the  heaps  of  ore,  the  exertion  and 
strain  on  the  foot  and  leg  break  off  some  of  these  vessels ;  in  that  case,  it  is 
attended  with  pain,  und  the  patient  is  obliged  to  lie  by  for  some  time.'' 


27]         Mischkfo  incidents  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.  27 

salt  of  the  inquiry  establisfaesi  incotitrovertibly,  that  the  discipline 
of  the  Tread-Mill  cannot  be  engaged  in  without  danger  ;  and  it  will 
remain  for  the  magistracy  or  for  Parliament  to  determine,  whether 
such  danger  be  sufficient  to  prohibit  its  use  altogether,  or  to  restrain 
it  in  the  manner  recommended  in  the  letter  of  your  friend  Sir  Gilbert 
Blane,  and,  I  believe,  by  some  others  of  your  correspondents,  as  a 
commutation  for  capital  punbhment,  or  such  judicial  sentences  as 
approach  nearest  to  it. 

It  should  not  however  be  forgotten,  that  the  opinion  which  I 
submitted  to  you  in  the  first  instance,  and  which,  in  fact,  pervades  the 
general  range  of  the  medical  statements  conveyed  to  you,  is  not 
disjunctive,  and  limited  to  the  Tread«Wheel  alone,  but  compara- 
tive of  the  rival  powers  of  this  machinery  and  that  of  the  Hand- 
Crank-Mill.  And  I  cannot  but  lament,  that  the  government  inquiry 
has  hitherto  apparently  been  restrained  to  the  former  altogether. 
It  is  not  to  HARD  LABOR  that  any  objection  has  ever  been  made, 
or  thought  of  by  those  with  whom  I  have  had  the  honor  of  con- 
versing in  opinion,  but  only  to  morbid  or  perilous  labor.  For  were 
there  no  risk  of  injury,  or  irregular  and  therefore  painful  straining 
of  muscles  little  fitted  by  nature  for  the  exertion  with  which  diey 
are  tried  by  the  Tread-Wheel,  we  should  readily  give  our  consent 
to  an  increase  instead  of  a  diminution  of  the  toil :  we  would  aug- 
ment the  quantity  if  we  were  allowed  to  change  the  qualitt/f  so 
that  the  punishment,  though  ap]^«td  in  another  manner,  might  be  as 
wholesome  from  its  recollection  as  from  the  mode  of  its  infliction. 
Were  there  indeed  no  other  machinery  by  which  a  commensurate 
degree  of  punishment  might  be  applied  than  the  Tread- Wheel,  such 
seems  to  be  the  necessity  for  a  castigation  that  may  sink  deep  into 
the  mental  as  well  as  the  bodily  feelings  of  the  culprit,  and  haunt 
his  memory  long  after  his  release,  that,  notwithstandmg  its  dangers, 
it  might  perhaps  be  a  question  with  a  moral  and  benevolent  heart 
whether  this  violent  and  perilous  instrument  of  reformation  ought 
not  to  be  resorted  to.  With  all  its  evils,  it  is  undoubtedly  less 
baneful  to  the  body  as  well  as  to  the  mind  than  absolute  idleness ; 
and  hence  there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  that  the  general  health 
has  in  several  prisons  been  less  trenched  upon  since  the  use  of  the 
Tread- Wheel,  than  when  its  inmates  were  utterly  abandoned  from 
month  to  month  to  a  life  of  torpid  indolence  and  inactivity.  But 
while  the  rival  instrument  of  the  Hand-Crank -Mill  is  capable  of 
effecting,  as  it  appears  to  be,  all  that  the  Tread-Mill  can  or  ought  to 
achieve,  without  the  ill  consequences  it  menaces,  it  should  seem  to 
follow,  that  the  moral  and  benevolent  heart  must  give  its  unre- 
served suffrage  to  the  former. 

It  appears  however  to  have  been  conceived,  by  a  few  individuals. 


28  J.  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  ^ 

that  the  Hand  Crank-Mill  is  as  likely,  or  even  more  so,  to  induce 
one  or  two  of  the  complaints  enumerated  above,  as  the  Tread* 
Wheel,  and  particularly  varicose  tumors  and  rupture.  1  do  not 
know  that  I  can  add  strength  to  the  arguments  your  statement  air 
ready  offers  in  direct  disproof  of  such  an  idea  :  all  the  collateral 
facts  obtained  from  every  quarter  to  which  you  have  applied,  from 
Portsea  to  the  Land's-£od,  and  given  by  practical  observers  of  the 
mischiefs  that  are,  in  some  degree  or  other,  almost  inseparable  from 
those  kinds  of  labor  which  make  an  approach  to  that  of  the  Tread- 
Mill;  as  the  op-hill  work  of  mariners,  miners,  thatchers,  hod- 
carriers,  and  other  ladder-treaders,  converge  to  a  common  focus, 
and  entirely  support  the  view  we  have  taken ;  and  that  there  is  no 
difference  of  opinion  among  the  professional  characters  of  this  me- 
tropolis upon  the  same  point  of  co-operative  danger,  I  believe  I  may 
fearlessly  venture  to  affirm,  after  an  extensive  inquiry  and  corre- 
spondence. To  load  your  pages  with  a  general  detail  of  this  coin- 
cidence of  opinion  is  unnecessary :  the  two  following  extracts  from 
the  very  many  letters  I  have  received  upon  the  subject  may  serve  as 
specimens ;  the  first  of  which  is  peculiarly  entitled  to  notice  from  the 
well-known  experience  and  distinguished  talents  of  the  writer,  and 
the  second  from  the  official  as  well  as  personal  authority  with  which 
it  is  accompanied. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Thomas  Copeland,  Esq.,  dated  Golden 

Square,  March  24,  1823. 

**  With  respect  to  the  general  causes  of  hernia  and  of  varices, 
two  very  common  and  very  important  diseases,  I  have  nothing  to 
remark  more  than  is  commonly  known  to  the  ])rofession ;  but  1 
should  think  those  diseases  much  more  likely  to  be  produced  by  the 
efforts  of  labor  of  the  tread-mill,  than  by  the  Joti^/e  labor  of 
hand  and  leg,  as  sketched  and  described  under  the  name  of  the 
HAND-CRANK-MILL,  in  the  printed  paper:  which  appears  to 
unite  the  advantages  of  healthy  exercise  with  those  of  compelled 
labor  as  a  punishment." 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  George  Macelwain,  Esq.^  Surgeon  to 
the  City  of  London  Truss  Society,  and  the  Finsbury  Dispen- 
sary, April  15,  1823. 

*^  With  reference  to  the  different  modes  of  labor,  certainly 
those  which  call  alternately  into  action  different  sets  of  muscles  are 
to  be  considered  as  most  contributing  to  the  health  and  strength  of 
the  individual  employed.     And  it   would  appear  to   me,  that  the 


29]        Mischiefs  incidental  to  the  Tread-  Wheel.         29 

HAND-CBANK  MILL  is  Calculated^  to  a  great  extent,  to  meet  the 
object^  when  employed  in  the  manner  you  propose'* 

There  is  however  another  ground,  and  of  a  still  more  important 
nature  than  any  we  have  yet  contemplated^  which  induces  me  to 
prefer  the  HAND-CRANK-MILL  to  the  tread-wheel.     While 
the  latter  is  purposely  designed  to  operate  by  terror,  and  hence 
necessarily  excites  in  the  prisoner  a  dread  and  disgust  of  labor,  and 
of  all  muscular  exertion  whatever,  by  which  he  becomes  habitually 
unfitted  for  work  of  every  kind  upon  his  discharge  from  confine- 
ment, the  former  operates  by  giving  an  insensible  invigoration  and 
facility  of  action  to  the  muscles  of  most  importance  in  all  the  call- 
ings of  mechanical  and  handicraft  industry;  and,  consequently^ 
habitually  prepares  him  for   providing  for  himself  at  the  same 
period.     We  have  here  a  moral  attribute  to  which  the  labor  can 
make  no  pretensions.     The  culprit,  just  freed  from  the  Tread- 
Wheel,  though  he  should  have  escaped  the  diseases  and  injuries  to 
which  he  has  been  exposed  while  under  its  domination,  ha^  gained 
nothing  to  facilitate  his  progress  in  any  useful  employment  ;  with 
a  greater  hatred  of  a  prison-life,  he  will  have  no  greater  means, 
and  may  perhaps  have  fewer,  of  avoiding  it:  while  the  Hand- 
Crank  man  will  find  that,  under  your  improved  machinery  and  re- 
gulations, he  has   been  serving  a  most  valuable  apprenticeship, 
and  has  become  initiated  in  the  healthful  and  vigorous   arts  of 
thrusting,  pulling,   heaving,  and   bearing   burdens;    for  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Cranks  on  the  several  muscular  positions  of  the  body  in 
effect  prepares  it  for  the  various  relative  details  of  manual  labor. 
What  was  irksome  to  him  before  he  went  to  prison,  he  now  under- 
goes with  ease  and  even  relish :  his  punishment  may  have  been 
aevere,  but  it  has  proved  wholesome :  and  the  curse  of  earning  his 
miserable  pittance  of  bread  and  water  with  the  daily  and  profuse 
sweat  of  his  brow,  is  transformed  into  a  blessing  for  which  he  will 
have  to  thank  the  magistracy,  and  the  manual  labor  of  the  crank- 
MiLL,  as  long  as  he  lives.    This  indeed  is  the  chief  point  to  which 
the  discipline  of  a  prison-life  should  be  directed,  and  which  should 
comprise,  if  not  the  whole,  at  least  the  essence  of  its  education. 
Other  branches,  and  of  a  higher  and  a  more  refined  character,  may 
be  more  fashionable  in  the  present  day,  and  some  of  them  may 
have  a  strong  claim  to  our  support ;  but  this  will  be  found  the 
most  useful :-— an  education  that  draws  forth  the  faculties  of  the 
body  without  straining  them,  imperceptibly  obtains  a  triumph  over 
habitual  sloth  and  indolence,  best  comports  with  the  discipline  of 
religious  instruction,  and  smooths  the  deserted  path  to  industry,  and 
honejBty,  and  civil  life. 

That  your  exertions  upon  a  subject  so  important  as  the  present, 
imd  in  every  respect  so  worthy  of  the  statesman  and  the^philanthro- 


30  J.  M.  Goad's  LOkr  m  the  £30 

pist,  may  b^  crowned  with  the  Ktiieeess  they  deserve,  is  the  sincere 
wish  of,  &c.  &c* 

(Signed)  JOHN  MASON  GOOD. 

Guilford  Street,  June  7, 1823. 

P.  S, — ^I  ought  not  to  allow  a  reprint  of  the  above  letter  to  be  offered  to 
the  public  without  accompanjring  it  with  the  concurrent  opinion  of  Dr. 
Paris  and  Mr.  Fonblanaue,  as  contained  in  the  following  passage  copied 
from  their  learned  and  highly  important  work  on  *'  Medical  Jurispru« 
DEMCE  ;''  published  since  this  letter  was  written,  and  consequently  with  ail 
the  information  before  them  which  the  government  reports  comprise. 

^*  On  the  subject  of  the  Tbbad>-Miix  we  are  not  enabled  to  pronounce  any 
very  decided  opinion.  The  invention  has  not  been  in  use  long  enough  to  de- 
termine, with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  its  merits  or  defects.  That  it  is  held 
in  considerable  dread  by  offenders  is  certain ;  and  the  fear  of  returning  to  it 
may  operate  favorably  on  that  class  for  which  it  appears  best  calculated, 
the  regular  vagabond.  But  it  does  not  give  any  habits  cf  industry,  or  teach  any 
mode  ^  labor  to  the  merely  idle,  or  casually  culpable :  and  therefore  ought 
not  to  be  indiscriminatslt  applied  to  all  cases. 

^  The  punishment,  too,  is  one  of  the  most  unequal  in  its  operations  that  can 
be  conceived,  A  man  who  has  been  accustomed  to  nmning  up-stairs  all  his 
life,  with  good  kings  and  muscular  legs,  will  scarcely  suffer  by  it ;  while  an 
asthmatic  tailor,  weaver,  or  other  sedentary  artizan,  wiU  be  half-killed  by  the 
exercise.  For  women  in  certain  stages,  whether  of  menstruation  or  of  preg- 
nancy, IT  IS  A  DANGEROUS  AND  INDECENT  TORTURE!  ouc  which  should  im- 
mediately be  forbidden,  if  not  by  the  humanity  of  magistrates,  by  the  wisdom 
OF  THE  Legislature.*'    MedicalJurisprudence,pVm.  Ill, f,  151, 

J.  M.  O. 

Aug,  18,  1893. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE. 

In  allowing  the  Editor  of  the  Pamphleteer  to  republish  the 
preceding  letter  in  his  valuable  collection  of  tracts^  I  cannot  avoid 
adding,  that^  since  the  above  was  written^  a  host  of  authorities  of 
the  highest  character  for  sound  judgment  respecting  both  the  moral 
and  physical  effects  of  the  Tread- Wheel  discipline^  have  united  in 
condemning  it :  while  a  redundance  of  instances  of  actual  mischief 
from  its  employment^  has  been  (umisbed  to  the  observant  eye, 
even  in  those  very  prisons  wbere  its  safety,  not  to  say  its  refresh- 
mentf  has  been  most  boasted  of. 

In  proof  of  the  former  assertion,  in  addition  to  the  passage  just 
quoted  from  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  of  Dr.  Paris  and  Mr. 
Fonblanque,  1  may  especially  advert  to  the  admirable  and  com- 
prdiensive  article  introduced  upon  the  subject  of  prison  discipline, 
mto  the  First  Part  of  Vol.  VI.,  of  the  Supplement  to  the  Encyclo- 
padia  Britannica  ;  p.  385-388  ; — to  the  able  strictures  of  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Journal^  (in  their  review  of  Sir 
John  Hippisley's  treatise,)  for  October,  1823,  p.  273,  and  follow- 


^ 


31]        Mi^ckitfj9  incidental  to  the  Tread*  Wheel.         SI 

ing ;  and  to  various  obiservatioiifl  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers  in  bis 
^^  Qhmtiun  and  Civic  Economy  of  large  Towns,'^  bearing  upon 
the  same  subject ;  and  especially  to  the  following  remark,  which 
occurs  in  Vol.  II.  No.  15.  ^^  We  have  at  all  times  eiiceedingly 
doubted  the  policy  of  those  expedients  which  are  meant  to  operate 
in  terrorem :  and  have  ever  thought  of  them  as  most  fearfully 
hazardous  experiments  on  the  principle  and  feeling  of  the  lower 
orders.  They  may  repel  some  of  those  who  are  of  a  better  and 
finer  temperament  than  their  neighbours^  but  in  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  instances^  they  will  blunt  the  delicacies  which  are  thus 
bandied  so  rudely ;  axid  the  vety  instrument,  which  they  tbou^t  to 
lay  hold  of  for  driving  applicants  away,  will  vanish  before  their 
grasp.'' 

la  regard  to  direct  instances  of  serious  evil  resulting  from  an 
employment  of  the  Tread-*Mill|  and  in  those  very  prisons  froqi 
which  the  warmest  panegyrics  have  proceeded,  as  at  the  Notting- 
hamshire House  of  Correction  at  Southwell,  that  in  Cold-«Batb 
Fields,  at  Brixton,  and  at  Guildford ;  such  panegyrics  have  of  late 
been  either  directly  controverted  by  cases  of  baneful  effects, 
admitted  into  and  interwoven  with  the«,*<'^as  in  Mr.  Hutcbin- 
aon's  Letter,  concerning  the  first  of  these,  in  the  Medicid  and 
Physical  Journal  for  the  preceding  November ;  or  have  been  ex- 
posed and  refuted  on  the  spot  by  magistrates  themselves  in  their 
own  Book^  ordered,  by  the  new  Gaol  Act,  to  be  kept  in  every 
prison  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  tlieir  occasioned  remarks  and 
animadversions*  which  mujBt  be  taken  into  consideration  at  the  en*^ 
suing  session.  And  1  now  especially  allude  to  the  Magistratea' 
Books  at  Brixton,  Guildford^  and  Cold-Balh-Fielda  :«-^in  all 
which,  while  the  public  have  been  gratified  with  information  that 
the  discipline  of  the  Tread-rMUl  has,  in  these  places  at  leaat,  m  no 
iii8t«ioe  whatever  produced  injury  to  either  oian  or  woman; 
that  its  labor  is  light  and  easy,  and  that  the  prisoners  grow  firm  and 
fleshy  upon  it«-«diere  are  grave  and  substantiated  charges,  cqllected 
by  ihe  county  Magistrateis  themselves,  within  the  prison  widls, 
brought  against  it,  of  its  deslaroying  the  health  and  undennining  the 
eonstitutioa ;  and  preventing,  in  numerous  instances,  the  wretched 
victinM  of  its  severity  from  being  able  to  provide  for  themselves 
by  honest  and  industrious  means  when  liberated  from  coHfinement^ 

Within  a  few  days  of  writing  tbeae  remarks,'  there  were  two 
womeq  in  the  gaol  at  Guildford,  with  in&nts  at  the  breast  each 
three  montha  M,  condemned  to  the  wheel  for  putting  their  ror 
speotive  parishes  to  expense,  by  tbar  inability  to  provide  for 
their  offspring,  which  of  course  are  illegitimate^    The.  cbildrou 

*  The  exact  date  reHoffred  t&,ia  December  iath,182d« 


38  3,  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [33 

^ere  miserably  pale,  emaciated^  and  crying  piteously.  One  of  them 
iiras  without  its  natural  food,  the  milk  of  its  mother  having  been 
dried  up.  The  other  was  indeed  supplied,  the  mother  being  of  a 
stronger  frame ;  but  indicating  by  its  piercing  moans,  that  the 
milk  had  lost  its  sweetness  and  nutritive  power.  Yet  with  this 
provision,  such  as  it  was,  the  woman  was  humanely  endeavouring 
to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  destitute  infant,  as  well  as  her  own. 
The^rgeon  to  this  prison  has,  indeed,  ventured  to  state,  in  an 
official  Letter  inserted  in  the  John  Bull  Newspaper,  dated  Sept. 
£nd  1823,  that  the  prisoners,  and  more  especially  the  women,  are  in 
good  health,  and  he  adds,  **  I  do  most  solemnly  declare  that  I  have 
''  as  yet  witnessed  no  bad  effects  on  the  legs,  arms,  or  bodies  of 
*'  the  prisoners  from  the  use  of  the  Tread- Wheel."  It  was  not 
long  after  this  solemn  declaration,  that  Sir  John  Hippisley  paid  a 
visit  to  the  same  prison ;  sent  for  the  same  surgeon,  who  very 
readily  attended ;  pointed  out  to  him  instances  of  both  men  and 
women  who  were  then  suffering  from  the  Tread-Mill  labour ;  and 
entered  his  protest  against  it  in  the  Magistrates'  book,  in  the  sur- 
geon's presence,  consenting,  for  the  sake  of  unity  of  opinion,  to 
adopt  his  suggestion  of  merely  varying  one  or  two  words,  of  no 
importance  to  the  general  question.  One  or  two  Magistrates  have 
since  followed  with  a  similar  protest ;  and,  in  a  few  days,  probably 
long  before  thisnumber  of  the  Pamphleteer  will  meet  the  public 
eye,  a  selection  of  cases  of  mischief  produced  by  the  exercise  of 
tlie  Tread-Mill  in  this  very  prison,  incontrovertibly  verified,  and 
fundamentally  affecting  the  constitution,  will  also  be  submitted  to 
the  public,  by  a  most  discreet  and  active  magistrate  for  the  county : 
in  one  or  two  of  which,  it  will  be  found  that  the  surgeon  has  him- 
self declared  to  the  unfortunate  sufferers,  that  he  can  do  nothing 
for  them^  and  that  their  maladies  are  the  result  of  the  Tread-MiU 
labour.  It  is  painful  to  notice  such  discrepancies ;  but  it  cannot 
be  avoided. 

At  the  moment  of  writing  this  page,  1  am  returned  from  a  visit 
to  the  Brixton  prison.  Its  cleanliness,  quietude,  and  general  order, 
are  entitled  to  considerable  praise :  but  having  gone  over  it,  with  a 
Surrey  magistrate,  with  the  governor  of  the  prison,  and,  so  far  as  re- 
lates to  the  female  prisoners,  with  the  superintendant  of  the  matrons, 
I  have  felt  myself  compelled  to  make  a  minute  in  the  Magistrates' 
book,  that,  in  respect  to  the  ordinary  ill  effects  of  the  Tread-Mill, 
I  have  witnessed  them  here,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  in  any  other 
prison:  that  with  the  exception  ofone  or  two  of  stouter  frame,  and 
whose  constitution  has  not  yet  been  broken  down  by  the  exertion, 
the  prisoners  have  uniformly,  both  men  and  women,  complained 
before  us  aU,  of  great  excitement  and  exhaustion ;  and  of  pains 
and  injuries,  varying  indeed  in  their  seat,  in  different  individuals, 


33]         Mischief s  incidental  to  the  Tread*  Wheel.  33 

but  in  almost  all  instances  producing  serious  mischief  in  the  loins, 
the  muscles  of  the  thighs^  and  the  legs  :  that  they  were  all  in  a  stato 
of  violent  perspiration  on  descending  from  their  quarter  of  an  hour's 
work  at  the  Mill,  accompanied  with  considerable  thirst  and  lan- 
guor ;  the  cheeks  of  some  flushed  and  burning,  and  of  others  pale 
and  sickly :  that  the  acceleration  of  the  pulse  was  peculiarly  re- 
markable, and  gave  the  strongest  possible  proof  of  the  degree  of 
excitement  in  which  they  are  kept  for  ten  hours  every  day :  that  out 
of  fifteen  examinations,  the  pulse  of  the  men  varied  from  108 
beats  in  a  minute  (of  which  however,  there  were  but  two  instances 
so  low)  to  142 :  the  medium  range  being  123 :  that  that  of  the 
women  varied  from  132  to  156,  the  medium  range  being  144: 
and  that  the  greater  number  affirmed,  the  distress  was  by  no  means 
diminished  by  rest,  but  often  increased  from  increasing  weakness. 

In  the  ward  of  the  infirmary  which  I  visited  on  the  men's  side, 
there  were  three  persons  confined  from  the  ill  effects  of  the  Tread- 
Mill.  One,  a  young  man  who,  having  been  subject  to  an  inguinal 
rupture  in  earlier  life,  had  it  thrown  down  on  the  second  day's 
labor  :  a  second,  who  had  entered  the  prison  with  an  injury  in  the 
groin,  but  was  made  so  much  worse  by  the  wheel- work,  as  to  be 
sept  from  the  mill  to  the  sick-ward ;  the  third,  a  young  man,  also, 
who  was  judged  fit  for  the  labor  on  his  commitment,  but  whose 
health  was  found  to  be  so  constantly  affected  by  its  use,  that^or 
three  or  four  times  in  succession  he  had  been  ordered  to  the  infirm 
mary,  after  as  many  trials  upon  the  wheel  for  a  day  or  two  at  each 
trial. 

In  the  House  of  Correction  at  Cold-Bath- Fields,  there  is  at  this 
moment,  among  other  proofs  of  the  mischievous  results  of  the 
machine,  a  youn^  woman  who  has  been  thrown  into  a  miscarriage^ 
and  is  now  in  the  infirmary  for  recovery.  The  humane  order  for 
exempting  women  from  the  wheel  having  been  rescinded,  she  was 
sent  to  it  on  her  commitment,  being  then  in  her  second  month  of 
pregnancy,  and  in  such  good  health  as  to  render  such  pregnancy 
doubtful.  The  Tread-Mill,  however,  has  at  once  removed  the 
doubts,  and  removed  the  condition  also. 

In  the  West  Indies,  or  rather  at  Trinidad,  (for  I  am  not  aware 
that  the  Tread-Mill  has  hitherto  been  extended  to  any  other  island) 
the  same  evils  have  been  found  to  follow  ;  and  their  descriptions  are 
ah  apparent  copy  of  those  which  have  issued  from  our  own  press, 
though  without  any  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  the  writers,  that 
the  machine  had  been  animadverted  upon,  or  had  ever  proved  mis- 
chievous, at  home.  The  only  difference  is,  that,  in  consequence 
of  the  higher  temperature  of  the  climate,  the  same  mischief  has 
been  much  severer  in  degree:  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  Sir  Ralph 
Woodford,  the  governor,  has  found  himself  called  upon  in  various 

VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO-  XLV.  C 


84  3 .  M.  Good's  Letter  on  the  [34 

cases  to  interpose  mstantaneonsly,  and  prevent  the  exhausted  cul- 
prits from  dropping  down  headlong  in  a  swoon,  by  ordering  them 
to  be  taken  from  the  wheel  whh  all  possible  apeed.  And  so 
v^t^ement  ^e  the  sufferings  endured  in  this  tropical  region,  tha|,  in 
one  or  two  instances,  the  workers  have  voluntarily  aHowed  their 
legs  to  be  crushed  utid  fractured  by  the  wheel,  in  order  to  avoid  a 
contimianoe  of  the  labor.  In  consequence  of  which  <i  wheel  of  a 
tiew  construction,  formed  so  as  effectually  to  prevent  Ike  culprit 
fVom  thus  maiming  himself  hereafter,  is  at  this  moment  casting  at 
Messrs.  LeeS  and  Co.*s  iron  foundry,  Winsley-«treet* 

In  effect,  wherever  this  severe  discipline  has  been  introduced,  the 
same  general  result  has  foUowed^  and  must  follow*  A  variation  itt 
the  structure  of  the  machine  will,  indeed,  be  ibund  to  produce  a 
corresponding  variation  in  the  nature  or  tlie  seat  of  its  iiiiscitief,aiid 
will  sufficiently  account  for  it.  And  heiKe  it  is  idle  to  affirm,  that 
tiiis  prisoner  l^s  no  complaint  in  his  hands,  or  that  prisoner  in  his 
l^s  :  for  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  individual,  or  IJhe 
construction  of  the  wheelwork,  sometimes  the  legs  and  sometimes 
the  palms  of  the  hands  suffer  most ;  sometimes  the  loins ;  and 
«on»etimes,  as  especially  at  Newport,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  chest 
But  a  release  to  one  organ  is  only  obtained  by  a  <tfan^r  of  the  in* 
fiiction  upon  another. 

It  is  in  vain  therefore  for  the  advocates  of  this  machiae  to  con- 
tend that  its  iafoor  is  light,  unoppressive,/A^()eiitW,  and  engaged  in 
>wkhout  TERROR,  or  even  rehictance.  Yet,  cguid  they  even  sub- 
stantiate such  an  assertion,  they  would  gain  nothing ;  since  •  they 
would  hereby  just  as  much  controvert  its  utility,  as  by  the  fullest 
admission  of  its  baneful  effects.  It  was  introduced  as  an  in^ 
strument  of  terror  ;  and  as  an  instrument  (^ rtEHHon  it  must 
be  supported,  if  it  be  supported  at  all.  The  grand  and  founder- 
ing difficulty  is  to  account  for  its  terror  wiobout  inv>olving  its 
iNjURiocsNESS;  to  reconcile  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  sinews 
with  the  pitifukiess  of  the  achievement.  For  if  we  compare  the 
mighty  effort  of  mechanical  and  muscular  force  hourly  called 
into  combined  operation,  the  sweat,  the  heat,  the  languor,  the 
pulse  of  130  or  140  beats  in  a  mimite,  with  the  exjrfoit  actually 
{>erfornied,  the  result  is  truly  ridiculous.  It  is  the  mountain  in 
labor  of  a  OKKtse  :«— -a  mile  «nd  a  half  or  two  miles  of  ground  ac- 
complished in  a  day  and  night.  And  it  is  ^bere  that  either  the 
iiand-Crank  or  the  Capstan  Mill  affords  an  incalculably  preferable 
employment.  TheiR  produce  is  hard  i.abor  in  the  strict  and 
legal  sense  of  the  term.  The  quality  of  the  labor  being  different 
and  more  wholesome,  the  quantity  may  be  carried  to  a  much 
greater  extent  without  injury,  or  even  without  repining.  In  this 
respect  the  opinion  «oftlie  chairman  of  the  Cooimittee  of  the  Mill- 


S&j^       Mischiefs  incidental  t6  the  Tread-  Wheel.  S& 

bank  Penitentiary,  (George  Holford,  Esq.  M«  P.)  as  delivered 
before  a  late  Committee  of  the  House  of  Gommoiid,  is  jperfecfl^ 
correct,  and  of  no  sman  importance ;  though  he  does  not  seem  to 
be  aware  of  the  morbid  ^ects,  that  are  inseparable  from  the  lighter 
labor  of  which  he  speaks.  ^'  Considered,*'  says  he,  **  as  a  means  of 
exercise,  I  do  not  apprehend  the  Tbead-Mill  to  be  any  thing 
Kke  BO  good  as  the  Crank-Mill.  I  npjn'ehend  that  the  exercise 
Qsed  at  the  Crank-MHl  is  much  greater  thsLU  that  produced  bt 
tbe  Tread^Mill.'*' 

To  the  «aaie  efiect,  but  more  explicitly  given^  and  from  a 
wider  range  of  tlone  and  personal  observation,  is  the  following 
passage,  wbich  I  copy,  with  great  pleasure,  from  the  Magistrate^* 
Book  in  tbe  jail  at  Guildford,  enteredlhere  by  J.  I.  BrisjQoe,  Esq. 
of  Edwarde^-street,  Portman-^square^  in  the  character  of  a  magis-^ 
trate  for  the  county  of  Surrey,  and  bearic^  date  December  fidtfa, 

ISQiS,    •"  J.    1.  B has  taken  great  pains  to    inquire    into 

the  nature  and  effects  of  the  punishment  of  the  Tread- Wheel 
in  various  bouses  of  correction ;  and  feels  it  his  duty  to  state  hif 
opinion,  that  in  all  cases  it  reduces  the  strength,  and  impairs  the 
eonslitiflionof  the  prisoner;  and,  if  long  contiTtmed,  that  it  tends  to 
disable  him,  at  the  expiration  oif  bis  sentence,  from  obtaining  % 
livelihood  bv  his  future  labor  ;  thus  irreparably  injuring  the  pri<p 
soner  as  well  as  society. 

^*  Convinced,  however,  as  he  is,  that,  without  hard  and  irk- 
some LABOR,  no  banian  means  can  be  successfully  used,  either 
fbr  the  prevention  of  crime,  or  the  reformation  of  the  offender, 
be  recommends  the  Capstan-Mill,  and  the  Hand-Crankf-Mill ; 
both  of  which  he  has  seen  in  operation  with  the  happiest  effects. 

'^  In  making  4&ese  observations  he  is  actuated  solely  by  a  de»re 
to  promote  what  he  believes  to  be  the  best  interests  of  the  commu* 
nity :  and  he  presumes  not  to  use  the  language  of  complaint  towards 
those  from  whom  he  may  differ  in  opinion*  But  havmg  been  him* 
sdf  led  to  diink  very  favorably  of  the  Tread-Mill,  wmch  can  yet 
hardly  be  regarded  otherwise  than  as  an  experiment,  from  the 
comparatively  short  time  of  its  introduction  into  our  prisons,  he 
conceives  il  possible  that  others,  toO|  m^  have  erred  with  the  moat 
apiigbt  inteotions/' 

J.M.O. 
January  10,  \B^4. 
Gm^ard-sireet,  Russell^quure. 


'  Report  of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commoni^  &c.  p«  76. 


36  J.  M.-  Good's  Letter,  ^c.  [36 


P.  S.    Since  writing  the  above  I  find,  by  a  statement  in  the  newspapers, 
apparently  furnished  from  authority,  that  the  professional  visit  at  Brixton 
prison  above  described,  has  been  a  cause  of  offence  to  the  visiting  magis- 
trates for  the  time  being,  and  particularly  the  minute  recorded  in  the  Prison 
Journal ;  and  it  has  been  directly  asserted,  that  leading  questions  were  put 
to  the  prisoners  examined,  and  remarks  made  tending  to  excite  a  spirit  of 
insubordination.  I  have  reason,  however,  to  hope,  that  before  this  time  the 
quarter  from  which  this  statement  has  issued  is  perfectly  sensible  of  hav- 
ing been  imposed  upon  ;  and  is  fully  persuaded  that  neither  leading  ques- 
tions nor  improper  remarks  of  any  kind  were  either  attempted  or  thought 
of.    In  entering  the  minute,  as  I  have  already  informed  the  distinguished 
chairman  of  the  Surrey  session  referred  to,  I  was  merely  urged  by  a  desire 
of  communicating  an  important  ^t  that  had  then  fallen  under  my  own 
eyes,  and  for  which  I  had  hoped  the  magistrates  would  have  been  obliged 
to  me.    As  it  was,  I  refused  at  first,  in  consequence  of  my  being  merely  a 
visitor ;  and  only  consented  on  being  told  by  the  governor  of  the  prison, 
that  it  was  usual  for  visitors  to  record  their  opinions,  and  that  the  magis- 
trates were  desirous  of  intelligence  thus  conveyed  to  them.    I  have  never 
acted  otherwise  than  professionally,  and  when  called  upon  by  magistrates 
of  the  highest  character  for  talents  and  honor.    I  have  not  an  angry  feel- 
ing at  this  moment  upon  the  subject,  and  most  truly  lament  that  such 
should  at  any  time  have  existed  on  either  side. 

Having  indeed,  in  an  early  period  of  my  life,  been  appointed  to  the  medi- 
cal superintendance  of  the  Middlesex  House  of  Correction  in  Cold  Bath 
Fields,  by  far  the  largest  in  the  kingdom  ;  having,  at  that  time,  drawn  up, 
at  the  particular  request  of  the  magistrates  then  most  active  in  its  concerns, 
the  dietary  table  for  the  prison,  and  the  table  of  regulations  for  the  in- 
firmary wards ;  and  having  given,  as  a  consequence  hereof,  a  considerable 
proportion  of  my  time  and  attention  to  the  general  subject  of  the  discipline 
and  management  of  prisons  and  poor-houses ;  and  published  my  thoughts 
upon  the  same  in  two  successive  dissertations,  on  a  unanimous  request  of 
the  Medical  Society  of  London,  and  of  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Arts,  Commerce,  and  Manufactures;  I  have  felt  a  stronger  interest  in  the 
inquiry  now  going  forward,  than  other  professional  individuals  may  have 
done  who  have  never  expressly  studied  it.   The  experience  hereby  obtained 
has  long  familiarized  me  with  such  a  mode  of  examining  prisoners  as  to 
conceal  from  them  the  immediate  drift  of  an  inquiry  into  the  actual  condition 
of  their  health ;  and  I  adhered  to  it  on  the  present  occasion  with  the  utmost 
strictness.    Yet  no  line  of  inquiry  could  alter  the  state  of  the  piilse,  of  the 
perspiration,  or  of  the  exhausting  heat  produced  by  the  Tread-Wheel  labor. 
And  unless  the  visiting  magistrates  had  been  able  to  invalidate  the  facts 
upon  these  points  recorded  in  their  Journal  by  any  counter-testimony  fur- 
nished by  the  prison  surgeons,  or  by  any  other  practitioners,  which  it  is  ob- 
vious they  had  every  inclination  to  do,  as  well  as  every  facility,  all  other 
animadversions  might  have  been  spared  as  divergent  and  unavailing.     It 
was   admitted   by  the  governor  of  this  very  prison,  that  the  prisoners 
usually  fell  away  in  flesh  in  about  three  weeks  or  a  month  from  the  timeof 
being  put  upon  the  wheel ;  and  that  he  then  found  it  necessary  to  supply 
them  with  toUd  meat  and  beer,  at  his  own  discretion,  an  unrestricted  order 
having  been  given  to  him  to  this  effect. 

J.  M.  G, 
Feb.  3,  X834. 


A^r 


APPEAL 


TO  THE 


PEOPLE    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN 


ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 


CONFEDERATED  GREECE. 


BY  THOMAS  LORD  ERSKINC. 


LONDON : 


1824. 


AN  APPEAL, 


i' 


Several  humane  and  eloquent  writers  in  our  public  journals, 
sympathizing  with  the  sufferings  of  the  Greeks^  have  of  late  very 
naturally  expressed  their  surprise  and  concern^  that  so  little  had 
been  done  in  this  country  to  support  them.' 

This  however  may  be  accounted  for  without  ascribing  it  to 
any  departure  from  our  benevolent  characteristic,  or  from  our  dis- 
tinguished zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  dispensation, 
which  has  been  unremittingly  and  systematically  promoted  beyond 
all  example  in  our  own  times. 

The  Greek  Committee  of  London,  often  injuriously  or  mis- 
takenly misrepresented  as  acting  upon  party  principles,  have  made 
the  most  faithful  and  disinterested  exertions— They  invited  all 
persons  of  property  without  distinction  to  act  with  them :  wealthy 
and  public-spirited  men  (whom  I  only  do  not  name  lest  I  should 
offend  them)  have  given  large  donations ;  and  the  free  public  press, 
the  pride  and  safeguard  of  all  our  privileges,  or  powers  of  doing 
good  to  others,  has,  without  regard  to  political  partialities  or 
opinions,  universally  concurred  in  the  support  of  tlus  interesting 
and  meritorious  people :  but  with  all  these  advantages,  great  dii£ 
ficulties  could  not  but  attend  an  inmiediat^  successful  result. 

When  a  great  and  well-attested  calamity  befalls  any  deserving 
individual  amongst  us,  how  instantaneous  and  overflowing  is  the 
charitable  relief  I  But  indimdaal  charity  can  be  but  of  small 
avail  in  a  case  like  this^  because  it  is  a  rfaticn  thai  is  in  Want. 
When  Hyder  Ali  made  his  dreadfully  memorable  irruption  into 

'  See  a  most  excellent  letter  on  the  subject,  signed  Sperans,  in  The. 
Morning  Herald. 


3]    Lard  KuHncs  A]^p€Qi  oh  behalf  of  ik^  Greeh.     39 

die  Qdm«|icj  aweepiag  /twfore  him  tb9  whol^  of  ih^  un^iappy 
pi^ulatioiif  '^  ^^  well  ol^Aervf  4  by  Mr*  Burke,  that  the  humanity 
of  the  settlement  did  ^1  that  hum^ity  cpuld  dq^  <<  InU  that  it  was 
4  Jfatim  tb^t  stfetiQhed  f<Mrth  Us  hands  for  relief/'  Just  tio  heiie  : 
the  murderous  arm  of  desolation  and  blood  has  long  laid  ws^st?  the 
filire^C  provmc^  of  tb^  earthy  wbefe  Christianity  was  first  planted 
and  florished ;  ibe  accidental  wcombined  aid  of  scattered  iadi- 
Tiduals  could  not  deal  with  an  ^vU  of  such  e^itept  \  the  uciani- 
mous  systeoutic  support  of  our  whole  Christian  people  becopnes 
i«kdisp«iisfible* 

ScQming  the  sqoflF  of  i^gdebty,  X  maintain,  in  the  face  of  the 
world,  that  we  second  the  Divine  Providence,  which  by  human 
flneaos  often  accomplishes  the  most  momentous  events,  when  we 
protect  the  Greeks-^^Their  heroic  exertions  when  unarmed  and 
abnoat  naked,  against  barbarous  and  disciplined  invaders,  and  their 
?irtuQiis  persevefauce,  amidst  seemingly  incredible  disasters,  in 
organizing  a  vireU^poised  Christian  Government,  appealing  so 
aSeotingly  a9  tibey  have  dc>ne  to  the  Almighty  (Jod  to  advance 
through  tbeiff  humble  efforts  the  pi^c^niied  blessing  of  a  Christian 
vorld,  proclaim  aloud  a  solemn  requisition  to  this  Christian  nation, 
estalted  for  ages  in  power  and  pre-eminence,  io  do  it$  part :  and- 
wh^t  n  that  pavt  i  Not  to  run  before  the  appomted  authorities 
c^  our  Govemm^tit,  involving  perhaps  the  country  in  war,  nor  iii 
any  manoer  to  endanger  the  advantages  of  peace,  but  by  the  con- 
ijnuaiiee  (mly  and  the  more  combined  exertion  of  the  very  same 
relief  which  with  universal  approbation  has  been  dispensed  already, 
iMit  advancing  at  the  same  time,  in  the  ripened  state  of  the  con- 
testt  the  most  manifest  interesu  of  the  State.  Tou  are  not  called 
vpon  to  do  what  Government  refused  to  do,  but  what  it  could  not 
do,  and  even  yet  cannot  either  so  immediately  or  so  beneficially 
aocon^liab. — I  disavow,  upon  my  honor,  evevy  p^iiical  bias  or 
feeling  in  any  thing  I  have  written  on  the  subject  of  the  Greeks,, 
or  in  what  1  am  now  writing. 

But  the  main  object  of  this  short  address  is  yet  untouched^ 
Tbeie  must  he  a  well  considered  method  in  the  aid  which  is  spught 
fip^Tf  and  which  has  not  yet  been  sufficiently  pursued*  The  muUi' 
tude^  m  my  seufle  of  the  expression,  cannot  be  effectually  reached 
by  the  ordinary  modes  of  soliciting  charitable  contributions  :  re- 
Qpurae  ought  to  be  had  to  successfully  tried  means,  of  bringing 
home  the  necessities  of  this  illustrious  people  to  every  religious 
boaom  in  Great  Britam. 

.  The  astcmishing  efforts  in  this  country  for  the  propagation  of 
the  Gospel,  have  extended  and  are  still  rapidly  spreadmg  over  the 
fiuce  of  dbe  eartibt  (  so  that  even  in  one  age  we  niay  be  said  to 
have  seen  the  clearest  dawn  of  ofur  Saviour's  cUme  prediction  and 
prmmse^  npr  can  the  wofld  evef  go  backt  qt  w^mmm  topaiiae 


40    Lord  Erskines  Appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks.       [4 

again  in  its  progression,  without  the  bitterest  reproach  of  those  on 
whom  Providence  has  bestowed  such  a  distinction  as  to  have  lived 
in  the  age  and  in  the  country  which  we  inhabit. 

Ttie  Bible  Societies  have  had  a  pre-eminent  share  in  all  the  good 
that  has  been  accomplished. 

I  say  nothing  of  the  higher  classes,  who  have  so  nobly  pa- 
tronised them ;  without  which  they  must  have  come  to  nothing. 
Human  praise,  had  I  the  eloquence  to  reach  even  comilion  jus- 
tice, to  their  deservings  would  be  like  the  dust  under  their  feet. 
They  must  look  for  their  reward  to  Him  whose  word  they  have 
diffused,  and  whose  promised  blessings  they  are  still  almost  mi- 
raculously bringing  to  pass. 

Thb  Multitude,  (still  speaking  of  them  in  my  sense  of  the 
word)  with  whom  those  good  men  have  acted,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  same  superiors  whom  they  trust  in,  can  alone  act  with  any 
adequate  effect  in  this  great  Christian  cause.  I  can  no  otherwise 
reach  them  but  by  what  I  am  now  writing,  and  I  address  them 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart. — I  know  from  experience^  how 
universally  and  how  speedily  any  danger  to  the  religious  world  may 
be  circulated  and  repelled  ;  I  only  pass  by  a  more  distinct  allusion 
to  it,  and  the  expression  of  my  grateful  remembrance  of  a  confi- 
dence once  reposed  in  me,  lest  I  should  be  charged  with  a  wish  to 
create  disunion  when  all  are  sincerely  united  in  Christian  charities, 
and  are  at  peace. — I  write  with  confidence  to  the  whole  people  of 
this  land,  but  more  especially  to  the  clergy  of  the  established 
church,  and  to  the  numerous  members  of  those  religious  congre- 
gations, who,  though  differing  from  them  in  some  doctrinal  ex« 
positions  of  Scripture,  as  the  laws  recognise  and  sanction  such 
differences,  are  yet  sincerely  united  in  performing  the  duties  of 
Christian  teachers,  and  in  maintaining,  by  their  instructions  and  in- 
their  lives,  the  innumerable  benefits  which  follow  from  the  Chris* 
tian  faith. 

For  my  own  part^  I  pretend  to  no  superior  sanctity :  on  the 
contrary,  though  bom  of  parents  and  of  a  family  in  all  times  emi- 
nently religious,  I  am  fully  conscious  of  many  errors  and  imper- 
fections ;  but  I  can  affirm  with  truth,  that  no  man  was  ever  more 
deeply  impressed  with  the  truths  and  the  value  of  divine  revelation, 
as  throughout  this  nation  the  Scriptures  are  in  all  essentials  inter-^ 
preted,  and  as  far  as  relates  to  the  feelings  of  humanity  which  I 
now  seek  to  awaken  in  others.  I  cannot  charge  myself  with  in* 
difference  to  the  wrongs  of  any  human  being,  or  even  to  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  most  helpless  creature  that  crawls  upon  the  earth,  to 
whom  God  has  given  life. 

Nothing  now  remains  but  the  consideration  of  the  best  means  of 
giving  effect  to  what  o/Z  must  wish  to  do.    - 

In  (every  city^  towd,  and  village,  m  Great  Britain,  there  are,. 


5]     Lord  Erakint^^  Appeal  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks.      41 

besides  the  presence  and  active  offices  of  many  pious  and  learned 
persons  of  the  national  church,  numerous  societies  for  Christian 
worship,  superintended  by  many  shicere,  zealous,  and  enlight- 
ened men.  Under  the  influence  of  all  such  classes,  the  Bible  has 
been  published  in  almost  every  living  tongue ;  and  the  same 
small  mites  that  have  raised  this  immortal  monument,  the  raising 
of  which  will  be  remembered  and  rewarded  when  all  human 
works  of  art  and  science  have  returned  to  the  dust,  might,  under 
the  same  patronage  and  in  the  same  manner  collected,  without 
even  being  felt,  complete  the  deliverance  of  the  confederated 
Greeks :  and  if  this  be  so,  what  is  it  that  would  be  accomplished  ? 
I  take  upon  me  confidently  to  assert,  as  in  my  published  Letter  to 
the  Earl  of  Liverpool  I  have  before  asserted,  that  as  an  immediate 
consequence  of  this  happy  event,  on  all  other  accounts  so  desirable, 
the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  civilization  of  mankind,  would, 
by  its  reception  in  the  vast  surrounding  regions  now  and  for  cen- 
turies past  under  the  shadow  of  a  portentous  eclipse,  be  more 
rapid,  more  extensive,  and  would  lead  to  results  more  universal, 
than  all  that  the  unexampled  exertions  in  the  Christian  cause 
have  hitherto  produced  in  Great  Britain :  and  this  great  work  the 
same  excellent  persons,  were  it  now  begun,  in  the  approaching 
winter  might  triumphantly  finish,  before  the  baffled  Ottomans, 
fast  approaching  the  crisis  of  their  destiny,  could  strike  another 
blow  against  the  Greeks. 

I  feel  the  greater  confidence  in  the  course  which  I  have  hum* 
bly  recommended,  from  the  spontaneous  exertions  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  whose  succors  have  been  so  early,  so  critically  season- 
able, and  so  important^  as  to  entitle  them  to  the  highest  admiration 
and  respect. 

For  all  the  facts  connected  with  this  important  subject,  which 
ought  to  be  universally  known ; — for  the  exertions  which  the 
Greeks  have  already  made,  and,  with  the  assistance  prayed  for, 
are  capable  of  making ; — for  the  most  unanswerable  refutations  of 
all  the  calumnies  against  them  ; — for  the  details  of  their  present 
condition,  their  just  expectations  if  duly  protected,  and  their  im- 
minent perils  if  neglected— I  refer  to  Mr.  Blaquiere's  most  valua- 
ble Reports,  as  printed  in  the  Appendix ;  which  being  derived 
from  certain  information  collected  by  him  recently  on  the  spot, 
every  word  I  could  add  to  them  would  be  useless,  as  indeed  with- 
out them  I  should  not  have  ventured  to  address  you. 

Not  presuming  to  trust  to  my  own  opinions,  I  have  delivered 
this  to  the  Greek  Committee,  leaving  it  to  their  discretion  to  sup- 
press or  to  publish  it. 

ERSKINE. 


AN 


APPEAL  AND  REMONSTRANCE 


TO 


HIS  HOLINESS 


POPE    PIUS    VIL 


'■■'  ■  ■        '^  ^ « 


BT   THE 


REV.  CHARLES  O'CONOR,  D.  D. 


SECOND  EDITION,  WITH  ADDITIONS- 


Wfaoewr  iisiras  Gdnsttrest  wilhont  mHihoiities  to  8upp<Mrt  them,  (a  foftiori>  calMMmi- 
does  not  publish  yrhat  deserves  the  naiBe  of  Censuies,  but  what  ought  to  be  con- 
lideied  Bibaldij^.  We  fear  not  those  who  charge  us  with  heresy  or  schism ;  but  we 
much  fear  for  the  fate  of  those,  who  think  they  may,  with  impunity,  violate  ChrUtian 
charity y  and  ecelesuutieal  maty,  by  their  wanton  Interdiots. — ^Bossuet,  Defens.  CUri 
UalEc  Dissert,  Pr»Iim«  c  M. 


LONDON. 


18S4. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  following  Appeal  W2is  first  written  in  English,  in  July,  1818< 
A  free  Italian  version  of  it  was  presented  to  his  Holiness  Pope 
Pius  VII,  by  Dennis  O'Conor,  of  Belanagare,  Esq.  in  September 
following,  when  it  was  most  graciously  received.  A  note  from 
Cardinal  Gonsalvi  states  that  the  Pope  read  it ;  and,  after  reading 
it,  submitted  it  to  a  congregation  of  Cardinals,  desiring  that  they 
should  with  all  expedition  pronounce  judgment  on  it,  as  an  afiair 
of  considerable  importance. — It  is  now  published  from  the  author's 
original  English  draught,  and  has  been  forwarded  to  His  Holiness 
in  print|  addressed  to  the  Cardinal  delta  Somaglia. — ^The  author's 
object  in  printing  it  is  to  show,  that  attempts  are  made,  on  pretence 
qfjRetigionf  to  put  down,  by  unfounded  calumny,  all  Catholic  au- 
thors, who  dare  to  point  out  the  abuses  of  spiritual  power,  and  the 
laws  by  which  such  abuses  may  be  restrained  by  the  civil  power. 
For  the  fact  that  the  doctrines  imputed  to  Columbanus  by  Dr. 
Poynter  were,  to  his  certain  Jcrumlege^  falsely  imputed,  even  before 
he  issued  his  interdict,  I  refer  not  only  to  this  Appeal ^  page  47,  but 
also  to  the  Protest  prefixed  to  the  Third  Number  of  Columbanus, 
published  in  1812,  before  that  Interdict  appeared. 

This  Appeal  has  been  witheld  now  four  years,  lest  the  writer  of 
it  should  be  accused  of  throwing  impediments  in  the  way  of  the 
Catholic  Question ;  whilst  his  object  is  only  to  restore  to  legal  and 

'  canonical  restraint,  the  now  lawless  exercise  of  the  spiritual  power, 
and  to  satisfy  his  friends  that  the  imputation  of  heresy  to  him  is 

.  not  only  groundless,  and  grossly  calunmious,  but  that  it  was  known 
to  be  so  by  the  very  persons  who  issued  their  interdict  against  him^ 
even  before  they  issued  it,  and  that  their  object  is  to  put  down  all 
inquiry  that  may  lead  to  restrain  the  abuses  of  their  spiritual  juris- 
diction, or  to  control  the  principle  of  implicit  submission  to  their 
will. 


AN 


APPEAL    AND    REMONSTRANCE, 


Sfc»  Sfc. 


To  Pius  VII,  the  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Guardian  of 
the  Laws  of  that  Church,  invested  by  Divine  right  with  Spiritual 
Jurisdiction  to  enforce  her  laws,  or  to  dispense  in  them  zs  the 
Canons  prescribe,  the  Ret.  Charles  O'Conor,  descended  of  a 
family,  through  a  long  series  of  ages  illustrious,  once  powerful, 
always  Catholic,  humbly  ventures  to  renew  the  Act  of  Appeal  and 
Remonstrance^  which  he  made  to  your  Holiness  three  years  ago, 
addressing  himself  once  more,  with  the  most  profound  respect,  to 
the  Successor  of  St.  Peter,  to  whom  he  prays  many  years,  and 
eternal  happiness,  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Most  Holy  Father; 

1.  More  than  three  years  are  now  elapsed,  since  first  the  writer 
of  this  Remonstrance  took  the  liberty  of  representing  to  your 
Holiness,  the  great  injustice  done  him  by  your  Holiness's  English 
Vicars,  Drs.  Poynter  and  Milner,  who,  violating  rules  which  are 
indispensably  prescribed  by  the  Canons,  have  calumniously  inter- 
dicted him,  on  pretence  of  heretical  doctrines,  which  he  not  only 
never  maintained,  but  he  solemnly  disavowed^  from  the  very  first 
day  that  Dr.  Poynter  imputed  them,  in  his  Letter  of  9th  June, 
181^.« 

Your  Holiness  will  find,  in  perusing  the  following  statement, 
that  its  writer  uses  no  artifice,  that  he  seeks  no  evasion,  that  he 
shelters  himself  under  no  ambiguities,  and  above  all,  that  he  studies 

*  Sec  Dr.  P.'i  Letter,  in  Columbanus,  No.  6,  and  the  Reply  in  No.  7. 


46  An  Appeal  and  Remonstrance  to  £4 

not  to  misleady  either  by  afiected  juetj^  or  by  that  eloquence 
which  is  80  natural  to  the  oppressed.  Though  provoked  by  the 
unfounded  attack  made  on  hiis  character^  to  use  such  strong  lan- 
guage as  the  nature  of  that  attack  appears  to  demand,  your  Holi- 
ness will  find  that,  in  every  page  of  this  Remonstrance,  he  erects 
a  barrier  agsdnst  all  impetuosity  of  speech,  confining  himself  to  a 
simple  exposition  of  facts  which  are  not  denied  because  they  are 
notorious,  and  of  principles  of  probity,  equity,  and  jusdce,  which 
are  admitted  as  indispevaable  by  the  Holy  See. 

3.  It  is  a  well  knowd  maxim,  admitted  oi  indispensable  by  that 
See,  that  no  author  can  be  deprived  of  his  right  to  the  Christian 
Sacraments,  unless  canonicaUy  convicted  of  heresy  or  schism, 
contumaciously  persevered  in,  after  three  charitable  monitories 
from  his  superiors  ;  or  for  immoral  conduct,  unbecoming  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel." 

S.  It  is  also  a  well  known  maxim,  and  a  Canon  universally 
received,  and  enforced  by  the  Holy  See,  that  previously  to  pro- 
ceeding tp  the  last  extremi^  agsunst  any  audior  (and  the  last  ex- 
tremity is  refusal  of  sacraments),  it  is  essentially  necessary  to  t)ie 
v^di^  of  such  an  awful  interdict,  that  that  author  should  be 
heard  in  his  asm  dtfence.    The  reason  of  this  law  is,  that  men 

^  See  the  Index  to  Grati&D^s  Capon  Law,  word  Excommunicatio,  **  Quod 
Eicomrnvnieationeiii  trina  nuntHio  debeat  jn'scedere.''  2.  ilaaest*  1,  Canon 
Dens  emnipotens^  edit. jussii  Gregerii  'Papse  tciii.  Lu^ni,  M.  iJSB^.  p.  699b 
lUbaiik,  TraUi  dm  MmMrvt,  and  Fienry, Hist  Eed.  p.  167,  ed.  P«fts,a«rtt. 
17^.  TJheJ*ope*s  Roman  ecUtoxs  decligr^,  in  their  AiiDotations»  that  even 
though  the  Beatence  should  hejutt,  y^t  if  issued  without  three  previaut  monp- 
toriet,  having  competent  intervals  between  eachy;ihe  Bishop  who  issues  that 
sentence  incurs  an  Interdict;  tbev  add  that,  even  though  three  competent  Mo- 
nitories should  have  preceded  the  Inrerdict,  and  though  the  sentence  ^h«itM 
in  other  respects  be  ever  so  just,  yet  unless  three  other  conditiont  are  observed, 
Ate  laterdicting'Btsfaop  incurs  an  Interdict.  The  three  additional  requisites 
fi»ftke  validitj  of  an  taendict,  are,  that  It  sbould  l»e  Issiied  for  «  m»tt/egt 
critftey/or  tfa  ^emihnms  orime,  4uid  for  aoniummiwt  iiersevieraace.  DecreteL 
part  %  e.  41,  pag.  938,  and  c  43.  lb.— Gralian  adds,  that  tftie  whole  of  4his 
doctrine  applies  even  to  sentences  oth^vr'iBejmt.  But  that^  wkh  jegard  te 
ttnfittt  sentences,  issued  in  vioiation  of  the  jm^  prescrtbed  by  the  Cftnon$^ 
iMy  mm  ituU^  iond  -^tai  to  he  dbeyed.  **  Oe  •eoatumacieus  praamissae  arsctotiiat^ 
ioqitunlMr*  nob  demote  aufif^entis.''  In  the  approved  Diaionnaire  deiCam 
de  Qmickmce^  compiledHiiy  Pantas  and  CoUel^  they  ^declare  thus — **  Q»eltgu9 
jttf^equeparoisse  un  sujet  d'excommunication,  elle  est  toujours  injuste  etnuUfy 
si  elle  est  prononc6e  sans  avertir  et  citer  troisjbit  le  coupable  enperuwnef' 
Bd.  Pi^ft^7Q|,«6tti.  4.  v^^t9;«nd  agmn,p.SBO:-^'<LeMoiiitoire8edoit 
piiblier  ea  tisois  ^Sfiprmm  jmvm  de  DinuinAe  eeneteiicifs'et  iporttr  im  tertne 
l^pr^  le  Sme  JMonkoife."  lb.  4omu  %.  ^Motfd  Monitwre^  The  title  firefoid  ^ 
the  16th  chapter  of  the  Treatise  ^  De  Appellationibus,'*  in  the  above  ap- 
proved  edition  of  Gxatian,  is — ^  Excommunicatutptfmfenfe  eogwtUme  4f9^^ 
tionis,  absolvi  potest  ad  cautelam,  et  si  apparet  cum  legitime  appellasse,  non 
punitur  proeo  quod  interim  celebravit  Divina."  Decretal,  vol.  9.  ed.  Lugduni 


5]  His  mimm  P(^  Pms  riL  47 

cStm  ini8mteq;)ret  and  misundcntand  oae  anotbery  ^^ther  from 
stupidity,  or  from  passioii,  or  from  design,  especiaUy  on  «peculatife 
questioas  i  and  cotisequently  that  mutual  exjplanations  are  neoess^ 
to  determine  meanings  onl>otli'8tdes,  and  to  fix  obstinacy,  or  volun^ 
tary  contumacy,  on  the  person  accused  4  that  living  authors  are 
the  legitimate  and  best  interpreters  of  their  own  meanings ;  that  it 
is  impossible  they  can  hold  doctrines  which  they  disawm  ;  and 
that  it  would  be  an  outrageous  act  of  injustice,  to  deprive  them  of 
the  benefits  of  the  Christian  religion,  on  account  of  strained  inter* 
pretation6,Pharisaical  splitting  of  hairs^or  the  invidious  orsialiciouB 
constructions  of  their  enemies,  in  d^cmce  4^  their  own. 

Against  this  rule  the  Pharisees  sinned,  accusing  oar  Savioar  of 
blasphemy.  They  con^ipired  to  blindfold  the  ignorant,  and  ^ontrinred 
a  colored  pretence  for  putting  him  to  death,  because  he  had  eis- 
posed  their  design  of  establishing  an  impmum  in  imperiof^sskfrc^ 
fence  of  religion. 

4.  Now,  may  it  please  your  Holiness,  to  the  only  letter  I  evar 
received  fsom  Dr.  Poyater,  previously  to  his  Interdict^  I  aBswere4, 
without  the  least  1ieskaiion$  by  return  of  posl«  10th  Jmne»  1<812, 
the  very  next  day  after  that  tetter  was  written,  not  only  disavowixijg 
the  doctrines  he  imputed,  but  solenmly  protesting  that  if  they 
coidd  bonajide  be  found  In  wj  works,  t  would  myself  be  the  fiait 
to  •destroy  them ;  and  in  order  to  remove  all  doubts  on  this  aulject, 
I  added  mese  wordis: — « I  am  one  of  diose  Catholic  authors  who 
adhere  to  the  Canonical  laws  which  are  commonly  called  Liberii^ 
of  tie  Gattican  Churchf  as  explained  by  Natalis  Alexander,  De 
Marca,  Archbishop  of  Paris^  IPleury,  Bupin,  Bahiziusy  GessoOy 
Chancellor  of  the  Sorbonne,  all  admitted  as  orthodox  Catholic 
authorss  and  1  never  mecmt^  and  neoer  do  meaa^f  to  assert  ai^ 
pnnciplct,  or  to  neudntaia  any  doctrine,  but  what  they  have  asserted 
and  maontained.^ 

£.  Kotwithstanding  this  solemn  dedaratioD^i  wluch  lit^  Poj^tsr 

1584,  coluihQ  ^7.  Gregorins  non  dicit  sententiain  lYJuste  latam  esse  temath' 
dxan,  sfd  timendntn;  sicift  €1  Urbanus.  Timenda  est«rgo/i<]  est,tion  6X  super- 
bia  4:onteinttidnda«  fteliquie  vero  audtorhates^^e  excoinrmutiica!}i<R  toqtmtitur, 
^i  vM  4t>€atiiad%n0dum  venire  contempseruot,  &g.  f).  056,  9Sf^  **  Hkno 
excommunicahdui  niti  pro  contumaciam  *\bi^»  **  Nitn  eii^UmdaAb»oUdio4sum  imqma 
fettur  tententia.**  ib.  ca^.  46.  ^  Cui  «st  illata  sententia  (jtista)  drponat  erro- 
tem,  df  mctm  csf  ;  sed  Hi  injustae^,  taato  earn  curare  ndn  debet^  quarto  ftpud 
D^uiii  <8t£ec^^afaejas»«etinBemf(u^«t  mtqaagraraK  senteiKia.  Its  ergo  aa 
IK  nm  akokniemdertif  qua  4M  nuUitBanstperipicit  •eraecfUq^aetum/'  ib*  |k  VB* 

''  Sive  Crimea  sit  parvuniy  siwe  Aiaii^iuun,  fiua^uam  est  escemfunakaaias 
Ahi  CcmtomaxT'ih,  p.  993.;  agaii^  937-^. 

Benedict  XIV.  expressly  says  that  Interdiat  atiA  EkCommunlcalioas 
ittMiea  h^e'eMwmmf\s'ni9<^mfAe%,m^%n»a}id;  andlie  qaoftes  mprDOfyU 
great  number  of  the  roost  learned  Divines — *<Nec  vaUde  nee  prudenter.'' 
De  Syaodo  Dioeces.  a.  xn,  c.  8.  Jjo^mn^  1763,  vol.  %,  f.  480,461.  See  the 
Ap()endix»  at  tbe  <iMi. 


48  An  Appeal  and  Remonstrance  to  [6 

cannot f  and  dbes.not  deny  his  haying  received  ne1«t  day  (11th 
Jiine,  1812),  without  further  explanation  of  any  kind,  he  issued  his 
Interdict  in  the  same  month,  forbidding  the  benefits  of  Christian 
Sacraments,  and  Communion  in  Divinis,  not  only  to  me,  but  to  all 
those  who  should  dare  to  communicate  with  me  in  religious  con- 
cerns. 

Against  this  proceeding.  Most  Holy  Father,  I  solemnly  appeal, 
not  only  as  grossly  calumnious  and  sinful,  but  as  a  direct  violation 
of  those  Canonical  laws  above  mentioned,  (No.  2.  and  3.  page  46) 
which  are  acknowleged  essential  to  the  validity  of  an  Interdict, 
and  also  as  an  infringement  on  the  just  rights  and  liberties  of  all 
Catholic  authors. 

6.  I  might  rest  my  defence  on  the  very  grossness  of  the  impu- 
tations themselves,  which  are  so  monstrously  absurd  as  to  bid 
defiance  to  credibility  ^for  who  can  heWeve  against  mi/  own  solemn 
protestations  (ab  initio,  et  in  limine,)  that  I  renounce  the  autho- 
rity of  all  the  general  Councils  of  the  Christian  Church,  both  in 
» doctrine  and  discipline  j  that  I  am  an  Avian;  that  I  renounce 

your  Holiness's  spirittuzl  supremacy,  as  Head  of  the  Catholic 
Church  r 

The  grossness  of  these  imputations  betrays  the  object  for  which 
they  were  devised ;  to  overwhelm  Cdlumbanus  by  falsehood,  since 
he  could  not  be  defeated  by  argument ;  and  to  prevent  his  exposing 
'with  effect  a  system  of  lawless  authority, .  repugnant  to  the  most 
sacred  laws  of  the  Catholic  Church. — As  well  might  he  be  charged 
with  Atheism; — If  these  doctrines  could  be  fairly  imputed  to  him, 
^he  professing  Catholicity  externally,  they  would  imply  both  per- 
jury and  atheism ;  perjury  because  (as  Dr.  Poynter  well  knows), 
^iivhen  Columbanus  took  out  his  degrees,  he  took  Paul  IVth's  oath, 
by  which  the  very  doctrines  thus  imputed  to  him  are  expressly 
condemned  :  Atheism^  because  no  man  externally  professing  Catho- 
licity,  could  hold  such  doctrines  internally,  without  an  atheistical 
scepticism  respecting  the  attributes  of  an  all-seeing  Divinity. 

7.  It  is  objected  by  the  reverend  persons  who  have  thus  grossly 
violated  the  laws  of  their  own  Church,  that,  the  writer  of  this  Re- 
monstrance violates  the  laws  of  the  same  Churchy  by  officiating 
ever  so  privately  on  the  Lord's  day." 

It  is  very  true,  that  in  compliance  with  a  divine  precept,  he 

^  presumes  to  offer  up,  with  a  contrite  heart,  his  short  and  humble 

prayer  for  the  conversion  of  his  calumniators,  for  the  happiness  of 

his  friends,  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  his  country. — But,  may 

It  please  your  Holiness,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  good,  wise,  and 

.holy  men,  have  not  only  pursued  the  same  course,  in  similar  cir- 

« 

^  See  the  note  above  at  pages  46,77,  where  this  objection  is  answered  by 
anticipation,  and  compare  Pope  Bened.  XIV,  de  Sjrnodo  index,  word  MonHe- 
fium. 


7]  Hu  Holmss  PpptPius  VII.  49 

CBODitaiicedt  but  they  have  moreover  Justified  that  course  .bv  the^Jr 
immortal  writings.  I  pass  by  Father  Cfarron's  celebratal  f  <  Jxeman* 
^antia  Hibernorum!*  and  Father  Walsh's  "History  of  the  Loyal 
Formulary/'  and  his  <<  Causa  Falesianat^  to  quote  ^a  name  whic^ 
vfill  ever  be  dear  to  the  Christian  Church ;  I  mean  Qerso^^  the 
Author  of  the  <«  Imitation  of  Chrisii'  and  Chancellor  of;  the  Spr- 
bonne.  He  says  that  Interdicts^  which  are  repugnant  to  truth  and 
justices  and  issued  without  the  previous  charitable  explanations,  or 
monitories,  which  are  prescribed  by  the  Canons,  are  not  to  be 
obeyed:  that  to  submit  to  them  would  be  to  substitute  the  doc- 
trine of  blind  Mahometan  submission,  for  Canonical  obedience  | 
.that  this  would  annihilate  the  very  nature  of  Christian  obedience^ 
mkick  implies  truth  andjustice^  and  pervert  it  into  a  vile  subser- 
viency, the  parent  of  hypocrisy,  of  lying,  and  deceit  %  that  it  would 
also  be  an  intolerable  yoke  on  the  professors  of  Christianity,  by 
enabling  Bishops,. on  pretence  of  religion,  to  establish  any  despotic 
servitude  they  pleased.' 

8.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  inform  your  Holiness,  that  by  means 
of  this  doctrine  of  blind  obedience  to  Bishops  and  Nuncios,  united 
with  the  refusal  of  Sacraments,  and  the  abuse  of  Confes^on,  not 


*  **  ContemptuB  clavium  debet  investigari  ex  potestate  legitima  et  tiiu 
Ugitimo  potestatis  istius,  qui  prscipiendo  excommunicato  vel  irregularitatem 
comminatur.  Alioquia  Prslati  possent  inducere  qualemcumque  vellest 
super  alios  Mervituttm,  si  suis  sententiis  iniquis  et  erroaeis,  semper  esset 
obediendum:  et  ita  patet  quod  hoc  commune  dictum. — ^Sententia  PraeUti, 
vel  Judicis,  etiam  injusta  timenda  est — indiget  glossa;  alioquin  non  est 
generaliter  verum,  si  dicatur  timenda.  Imo  in  casu  pati  illam,  esset 
Jiunina  patientia,  et  timor  L^porirm*.**  Gerson  de  Excom.  ed.  Venet.  1675, 
Consid.  7ma.  pag.  10. 

He  adds — **  Contemptns  clavium  magis  invenitur  quoad  culpam,  in  Prse- 
lato,  talJter  (ut  prsmittitur)  abutente  tua  potestaUf  quam  in  non  obediente.  Est 
igitur  qiiandoque  meritorium  et  Aonor{/?ca<ivt£m  Ecclesiastics  polestatis,  quod 
tali  Praelato  in  faciem  resistatur,  cum  appositione  inculpatae  tutelae,  quemad* 
modum  restitit  Paulus  Petro.'^  lb.  pag.  9.— For  Gerson's  Character  and 
Wofics,  see  Natalis  Alexander,  Dupin,  Launoius,  and  even  Beilarmine's 
Catalogue  of  Authors  of  the  15th  century. 

Gerson  repeats,  that  all  persons,  lay  or  Ecclesiastical,  who  connive  at 
unjust  excommunications  or  Interdicts,  knowina  them  to  be  unjust,  are 
pulty  of  the  same  grievous  ^^n  of  calumny  and  injustice  with  him  who 
issues  the  sentence,  and  of  opposing  all  just  and  necessary  reform  of  the 
spiritual  power,  by  conniving  at  the  greatest  of  all  its  abuses,  *^  Contemptua 
clavium  dicendus  est  magis  foveri  quam  tolU,  dura  dehentes  abusui  Clavium 
redstere,  dividuntur  inter  se,  et  impediunt  se  vel  per  stultitiam,  vel  per  igno- 
rantiam,  ne  coromuni  consensu,  fiat  ambulatio  in  Ecclesia  Dei,  dum  fkUi 
faoent  abusibus,  alii  tollere  vblunt.  Veritas  est  quod  omnis  via  favorabilis 
ethumilis  tentanda  est  cum  Summo  Pontifice,  dum,  male  informatus,  fert 
per  se,  vel  per  suos,  injustas  sententias,  quod  desistat,  et  reformet.  Sed  si 
nihil  prodest  humili8  8edulita8,arr£peit<iae«^ammofaXt6ertos.''    Ibid.  p>  14. 

VOLxXni.  Pam.  HO.  XLV.  D 


40  An  Appeal  and  Rcmamtrdnce  to  [fi 

WAf  dib  &K«e^te  rabbte,  but  many  of  the  better  tort  of  Itidh  Clergy 
^siiia  lAiifhvrB  been  stilhulated  to  rebel  against  their  legitimate 
fetlpetidns,  dUfihg  the  whole  period  from  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ki^ 
(gbisife^  to  the  Rerolutioh  y  and  that  chiefly  to  this  fatal  source, 
iiid  h&t  to  th^  intolerance  of  the  laws,  which  was  not  a  came  of 
perseciitidil,  but  a  consequence  of  rebellion,  is  to  be  ascribed  the 
i^ttenhihatSng  spirit  of  the  Penal  Code. 

g.  And  yet>  may  it  please  your  Holiness,  it  is  not  so  much  the 
pblitical  danger  of  this  doctrine  that  I  object  to,  as  to  its  utter 
faiisehood,  its  uhcatholicity,^  its  baSe  servility,  and  direct  tendency 
to  subvert  the  whole  venerable  system  of  Christian  morality,  by 
substituting  treacherous  subserviency,  and  hypocritical  compliance, 
fbr  Canonical  rules  ;  making  ignorance  of  our  duties  a  passport  €0 
^e  Sacraments,  and  a  high  road  to  preferment,  and  branding 
knowledge  of  our  duties  as  an  object  of  excommunication  !  thus 
placing  me  Christian  Church  in  an  attitude  of  hostility  to  the  lave 
qf  truth. 

Fortitude  in  defence  of  truth  is  one  of  the  car^nal  virtues ;  but 
tf  this  system  of  proceeding  by  blind  obedience  is  to  be  enforced^ 
if  the  argamentum  baculinum  of  an  Interdict  is  substituted  for 
charitable  discussion,  then  the  spirit  of  truth,  the  knowledge  of 
duty,  the  rewards  held  out  to  us  for  the  cultivation  of  our  talents, 
must  make  way  for  the  pliancy  of  a  base,  sycophant,  and  hypiocriti- 
cal  mind.  If  this  system  prevails,  there  is  no  Interdict,  ever  so 
calumnious,  that  may  not  be  enforced.  Experience  shows  that  eveii 
the  good  may  be  intimidated  by  refusal  of  Sacraments^  and  the 
liiost  insidious  and  Machiavellian  attempt  to  crush  innocence>  may 
be  consecrated  by  the  name  of  religion. 

The  very  Catechism  for  children  (published  in  London,  181S| 
br  Keatmg  and  Co.)  informs  thepi  that  diey  are  not  to  obey  even 
intir parents  in  what  is  sinful  or  unjust :  (p.  28.)  that  the  most 
solemn  oaths  are  not  binding  if  unjust:  that  secrets  the  most  so- 
lemnly enjoined  must  not  be  observed,  if  the  observance  of  them 
ttods  to  tne  perpetration  of  a  crime :  clear  proofs  diese  that  even 
children  are  not  bound  to  blind  obedience^  but  are  to  use  dieit 
facilities  zi  far  as  their  capacities  admit,  and  to  impraoe  the  talent 
committed  to  their  care,  in  discerning  hetwtenjustice  and  injustice f 
between  truth  and  &lsdhood :  and  mough  instigated  even  by  pa- 
rental authority,  to  whidi  the  fourth  commandment  enjoins  obe- 
diencei^  yet  are  they  to  resist  that  authority,  rather  than  pursue 

■  'Ao  Catholic  will  deny  that  St.  Paul  was  a  model  of  humility;  and  yet 
he  enjoins  that  our  obedience  be  ratumal^  f^Rationabile  tU  ohsequium^ 
l^Mn.  i.  He  adds  that  he  resisted  St.  Peter  to  his  face,  *<restiti  in  faciem 
ejus  ;*' and  why?  because,  says  he,  St.  Peter  did  not  proceed  according  to  the 
rul<M  of  the  Go^p^l.  filing!  obedience,  therefore,  was  not  the  £)ctnnt 
of  St.  Paul.  / 


83  ffk  ffffimcis  Fope  Pm  VlJt.  5i 

my  cpuf^  iq  which  th^^  t^ve  r^spn  tg  puspeqt  f^s^^opd^  or 
ipji^ic?  pf  mj  kind,  ua^il  their  si^spicipos  are  rendoyed :  bPW 
iniycli  more  ther^ore  are  Clergymen  m  duty  t>Q^nd  to  examiPf^f 
I9irhether  d^e  orders  pf  ^eir  superiors  are  just  QT  UPJujst)CaI|imn}ou$ 
PT  otherwise,  tP  eiLf^rgise,  with  con§cientipU8  d}SceTpm^ilf»  th^ 
power  that  God  has  (entrusted  to  their  i^arfs  ?* 

Your  Holipe^s's  predecessors  St.  Gfelasius  1*9  whps^  virtues  hav^ 
^prplled  his  name  in  the  Calendar  oiF  Saints^  ap4  whose  learning 
im^bled  hUn  tP  preserve  for  us,  in. the  5th  century,  pne  pf  th$ 
pldest  and  best  Catalogues  now  extant  of  the  saqred  boc^s  of  ik^ 
Pld  and  N.  T.,^  expressly  declares  that  unjust  excommnmcaticHi$ 
deprive  us  of  no  right,  and  are  not  to  6e  obeyed^'r^^^  Si  injusta  le^t 
9entenjtia',  tantP  curare  earn  non  debet,  qu^ntp  apud  Peum  et  ejus 
Ecdesiam»  neminem  pote^  iniqua  gravare  sententia^  |ta  ergo  ^ ' 
^  nonabsoloi  desideret,  qua  se  nullatenus  prospe/cit  ess^  obliga- 
tum/'^  The  very  title  prefixed  to  part  ii.  Causa  11.  Qusest  9f  C* 
45,  of  Pppp  Gregory  Xlllth's  Collection  of  the  Decretals,  is  % 
*^  Non  est  petenda  absolutio,  cum  iniqua  fertur  sentential'— The 
I6itth  chapter  is  intitled,  « Is  in  quem  Canonica  non  fertur  sen- 
tentia,  poenam  non  debet  subire  Canonicam/'  The  Canpn  theit 
follows  in  the  words  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  thus : — <^  Non  4^bet 
pcenam  sustinere  Canonicani,in  cujus  damnatione  non  est  Canonica 
prolata  ^ententia.''  Homil-  27.  Gratian's  annotation  is,  <<  lEx  hi9 
datur  intelligi,  quod  injusta  sententia  nullum  obligat,  apud  Deum, 
lut  ejuS'Ecclesiam,  si  aliquis  gravatur  iniqua  sentipnti^^  ^icut  ex 
Gelasii  papite  habetur.  Non  ergo  ab  ejm  Communione  abstinen-^ 
dum  est.    Nee  ei  ab  officio  cessandum.  4 

»  «  VsB  iUi§  qui  dicuDt  inJMstum  justum.''  Isai. 

*  The  most  ancient  MS.  containing  a  Catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
ind  New  Testament^  is  that  of  Dionysius  Exiguus^  wliich  Baluzius  receiy.ed 
from  D'Acherius,  No.  S65y  S.  Germain  des  prls. 

Tl)e  mdst  ancient  MS.  collection  of  CanoDS  in  England,  is  preserve^  in 
Trinity  CpUegey  Cambridge.  It  was  conveyed  to  England  from  Bee  Abbeys 
b^r  S.  Lanfranc  The  former  contains  Gelasius'^  Canpn  of  the  sacred  boofi^, 
}fnth  hijB  na^e  prefixed. 

3  J^ope.Greg.  XUIth's  ed.of  Gratian's  Canons,  Canon  ii.  C^p.  ^*Cuiil- 
UtfLfyerit  iiijutta  sentenUaJ*  X^yons  ed.  1584,  vol.  2.  p.  938. — In  support  of 
Una  do^tiiiif ,  Gratian  quotes  th^  words  of  St.  Augustin,  De  Verbo  I>pm.  c. 
1#. '^^cepisti  habere  fratrem  tuum  tamquaip  PubUcanum,  LJgas  ilium  iii 
terra,  sed  utiuste  alliges  vide. — Nam  injusta  vincula  disrumpitjusfitia.'*  lb. « 

♦  The  76tn  Canon  in  Pope  Gregory  Xlllth's  Gratian  is — 

^  Eomm  qui  aocusantur  causas  discutere  non  licet,  priusquam  et  Canonice 
vocati  ad  Synodum  veniant,  et  praesens  per  prssentem  agnoscat  yeraciter, 
etintelligat  quseeiob^iuntur,  quod  bene  et  per  sapientiam  Salomonis  dici- 
lur,  Autequam  sf^ruterisi  ne  reprehendas :  et  licet  apertissima  sit  contrario- 
rum  repr:ehensio,  veruiiitamen  oportet  ab  his  qui  dati  sunt  ad  eorum  €xami^ 
nationfimt  ordinem  servari,** 

Tb^  Sr.tli  Ca])on  is  intided — **  Injuste  aliquem  aoatheipatizans^  sibi  non 
dUi  nocet,**  pag,  952. 


52  An  Appeal  and  Remonstrance  to  [10 

10.  l^rom  these  elementary  principles  of  equity,'  thus  recog^ 
iiised  by  your  Holiness's  predecessors,  it  follows  tnat  the  question 
between  Dr.  Poynter  and  me,  so  far  from  being  a  question  of  any 
difficulty,  lies  within  the  reach  of  the  meanest  capacity.  It  is  si 
question  not  of  doctrine^  or  of  literary  criticism,  but  of  mere 
matter  of  fact.  It  is  not  whether  the  doctrines  imputed  by  Dr. 
Poynter  are  heretical  or  not,  but  whether  I  disavowed  them  or  not 
ab  initio  ?  This  is  not  a  matter  of  laborious  or  speculative  inquiry. 
It  demands  neither  Greek  nor  Latin  criticism.  My  immediate 
Disavowal  is  printed  in  Columbanus,  No.  vii.  If  I  avowed  the 
imputed  doctrines,  I  became  a  member  of  some  other  communion ; 
if  I  disavowed  them,  I  remained  in  my  own. 

And  yet,  the  worst  punishment  that  the  Church  can  inflict  for 
the  worst  of  crimes,  that  punishment  which  St.  Paul  inflicted  on 
the  incestuous  Corinthian,  was,  without  any  further  explanation, 
iliflicted  by  your  London  Vicar  upon  me  !  My  repeated  represen- 
tations on  this  subject  were  treated  with  silent  contempt !  In  defi- 
ance of  my  humble  letter  of  10th  June,  1821, 1  was  pointed  out 
to  all  the  Laity  and  Clergy  of  my  own  Communion,  as  <<  a  wolf 
in  sheep's  doming ;"  and  nothing  remained  for  me  but  either,  in 
hypocritical  subserviency,  to  acknowledge  that  truth  was  falsehood, 
£md  injustice  justice ;  or  to  resist.  I  had  no  alternative.  After 
patiently  submitting  nezrlj  three  months^  I  chose  the  latter :  <<  Vim 
vi  repellere,  non  scripta  sed  nata  lex."  * 

•  The  Fathers  agree  that  the  Divine  Precept  is  to  be  always 
obeyed,  except  when  a  Legitimate  impediment  intervenes  ;  that  if 
any  scandal  arise  from  the  performance  of  sacred  functions,  under 
such  circumstances,  it  is  better  that  scandal  should  arise,  than  that 
truth,  justice,  and  the  laws  of  the  Church  should  be  thus  out- 
rageously trodden  under  foot:  that  in  cases  of  injustice,  pride  is  to 


The  89th  Canon  is— <''  Viribut  caret  sententia  injuste  prolata ;''  and  the 
Roman  annotation  is — ^  Quod  si  Prslatus  prsecipiat  malum  subditissuisysub- 
diti  ei  obedire  non  debent,  quod  probat  Gratianus. — Cum  ergo  subditi  ex- 
Gommunicantur,  ideo  quia  ad  malum  cogi  non  possunt,  tune  sententia  non  est 
obediendum,  quia,  juxta  illud  Gelasii,  nee  apud  Deum,  nee  apud  Ecclesiam 
ejus,  quemquam  gravat  iniqua  sententia. — Quod  autem  supra,  communi- 
cantes  Excommunicatis  de  Ecclesia  abjici  jubentur,  non  de  quoUbet  modo 
commwueantihus  ifaelU^ndum  est  J'  (Sed  de  communicantibus  cum  juste  et 
canonice  ejectis.)  Gratian,  pag.  953-4. 

'  '*  Les  Canons  qui  renferment  les  premiers  principes  de  la  morale,  sub- 
iisteront  ^jamais,  ce  qu'ils  contiennent  ^tant  invariable^*  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl. 
t.  xxxiiT.  pp.  31.  and  34.  8vo,  Paris,  1734. 

*  **  Jure  naturali  vim  vi  repellere  licet,  sic  quod  impetitus  aliquis  a  qua- 
cumque  persona,  cujuscumque  Dignitatis,  etiam  Papalis,  via  facti,  et  non 
habens  juris  remedium,  fas  habet  injurianti  de  facto  resistere^  secundum  qualita- 
tem  injuriae,  scilicet  quantum  requiritur  et  sufficit  contra  ilium,  ad  sui  tuta- 
mentum  ab  hac  via  foetu''  Gereon  De  Regulii  Moral.  Htulo  De  Pneceptis 
Decalogi. 


%ll  .  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  VII.  W 

lie' imputed  to  the  p^rtv  usurping  undue  authority,  and  exercising 
flower  unjustly  over  others^  and  not  to  those  who  suffer  by  that 
enormous  abuse  j  <<  Melius  est  quod  scandalum  oriatur,  quam 
quod  Veritas  deseratur ;''  that  persons  who  are  either  really  or 
afiectedly  scandalised  at  the  performance  of  religious  fimctions, 
under  such  circumstances)  must  be  instructed  and  admonished ; 
that  the  abuses  of  the  Interdicting  power,  in  all  the  Catholic  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  not  only  in  the  middle  ages,  but  down  to  our  own 
times,  must  be  pointed  out  to  thiem  ;  and  that  if,  after  such  cha? 
fttable  admonition,  they  persevere  incorrigibly  in  blind  adherence  to 
injustice  and  calumny,  they  are  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  act- 
i^  bona  fide,  but  Pharisaically,  not  from  ignorance,  but  from  a 
spirit  of  party  and  design.  ^ 

11.  Having  thus  far  stated  to  your  Holiness  the  facts  and  the 
principles  on  which  I  proceed,  and  having  supported  those  princi- 
ples by  abundant  references  to  authorities  admitted  by  the  Holy 
See,  I  beg  to  apologise  for  dwelling  so  long  on  this  part  of  my 
subject.  I  fear  it  may  appear  presumption  in  me  to  collect  so 
much  evidence  in  support  of  so  simple  a  proposition  as  this-^that 
if  blind  submission  is  to  be  substituted  for  Canonical  obedience, 
then  the  whole  Canon  Law  may  be  abrogated  at  once,  the  Catholic 
Church  will  be  a  lawless  conventicle,  and  Laws  and  Canons  will 
be  empty  sounds,  <<  aes  sonans— cymbalum  tinniens.''  The  merit 
of  Christian  obedience  cannot  surely  consist  in  stultifying  or  bru- 
talising  the  faculties  which  the  Almighty  Being  has  ordered  us  to 
improve.  If  so,  there  would  be  no  more  merit  in  Christian  obe- 
dience than  in  the  mute  subserviency  of  an  ox,  or  in  the  fawning 
servility  of  a  dog.  All  those  venerable  Canons  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  laid  the  foundation  for  legal  government  in  Europe, 

a,  may  be  annihilated  as  waste  paper,  if  we  are  to  be  governed 
s  herds  of  cattle,  by  the  argumentum  baculinum  of  excommu^ 
nication.  It  will  then  be  meritorious  to  obey  any  Interdicts,  how- 
ever insidiously  calculated  they  may  be  to  oppress  innocence,  to 
put  down  trutn  and  justice,  and  to  compel  us  to  trudge  back  again 
into,  the  blindness,  the  ignorance,  and  the  barbarism  of  the  iron 
age.  Having  repeatedly  represented  these  matters  to  your  Holi- 
ness's  London  Vicar,  and  having  in  return  experienced  no  sort  of 
diaritable  approximation  on  his  part,  but  only  a  haughty  and  dis- 
dainful silence,  I  feel  entitled,  in  virtue  of  this  appeal,  to  withdraw 
entirely  from  his  jurisdiction.    The  learned  Petrus  Paludanus,  of 

I  <<  Verumtamen  expellenda  est  talium  stultitia  per  informationes  idoneas, 
qui  si  nolunt  acquiescere,  ipsi  jam  sunt  judicandi  de  scandalo  non  dato  sed 
accepto,  hoc  est  de  Scandalo  PhariscBontm,  et  ex  maliiia,  non  pusilloruiBi  et 
ex  iimplicitate  vel  ignorantia.''    GersoQ  de  Excopn.  ed.  Venet.  p.  IS. 


64  An  Appeal  an^  Rmomtrmce  to  ^12 

mhicM  orthdddxy  there  tmn  be  no  queetidti  at  Rotne,'  ^gyeei  with 
G^fsd^  thait  an  appeal  to  yOur  Holine88|  via  facti,  undet  «tldl 
mdtHr  of  fact  circumstandesi  is  sufficient  to  justify  the  exercise  of 
l^desiastical  functionsi  even  though  the  Interdict  should  have  bettll 
pubiiely  promulgated>  Gerson  is  so  clear  on  &e  subject  of  with«« 
dittoing  from  the  Jurisdiction  of  a  Vicar,  who  so  grossly  abuses 
his  spiritual  powet*^  that  I  beg  leave  to  dose  the  argumentative 
l^att  of  thii  R(6mohStkrance  wim  his  words  t"«  Quod  si  sit  aliquis 
ijui  totam  Praesideiitiam  suam,  et  Papatem  dignitatem,  convertere 
Vdit  in  Insttumentum  nequitiae  et  destructionis  alicujus  partis 
Sf^elesiaSi  in  temporalibus  vel  spiritualibus,  nee  pateat  sufficiens 
^mediuni  aliud,  nisi  subducendo  se  ab  obedientla  talis  PoteStadS 
saevientis,  et  seipsa  abutentis,  et  hoc  ad  tempus,  Vel  quousque 
Ecclesia  vel  Concilium  pioviderit,  hoc  fas  erit."  ^ 

Upon  these  j^tiiidples,  and  the  facts  above  Stated,  to  the  truth 
ef  Which  (already  sufficiently  notorious)  I  Solemnly  ptedge  my 
faiths  I  hereby  withdraw  frdm  Dn  Pbynter's  Jurisdiction,  appending 
«tS  I  have  already  appealed,  with  all  due  respeet,  and  aU  due  sub^ 
tnission,  to  the  Holy  See.  ^  SaMs  tam^  catetis  Juribus  meh^** 
I  entreat  of  Vout  Holiness  to  believe  that  personal  affiK>nts  do  liot 
tnove  me  td  this  ^ppeal^  so  much  as  the  grievous  indignity  th^t  li 
o^red  to  ^e  Catholie  Religion,  by  Saddling  it  with  blindfolding 
miaxbns,  and  principles  bf  Worldly  dominion  which  are  hostile^  not 
only  to  the  glotious  Qvil  Constitution  of  the  British  Islands^  but 
€6  every  rational  systen^  of  legal  government,  and  to  the  Canonical 
rights  and  privileges  of  every  Catholic  author,  and  would  reduce 
IliS  to  such  an  alternative,  that  we  could  nO  longer  be  Catholics^ 
^ihout  cedsiHg  to  be  JEnglishmeH. 

12.  Tour  Holiness  need  not  be  informed  that,  even  if  the  dOG«^ 
btnes  imputed  to  me  could)  botiajldef  be  found  in  my  works,  yet^ 
as  I  had  soleitinly  disavowed  those  doctrines  in  limine,  protesting 
lily  readiness  to  suppress  or  destroy  those  works,  if  any  doctrine 
tepugnattt  to  Catholic  faith  or  morals  could  be  fairly  discovered 
in  them,  my  person  was>  by  that  sblemn  disaxxnml^  placed  under 
tiie  protection  of  the  sanctuary,  whatever  might  be  the  fate  of  rttj 
PFor^s. 

*  ^  Scrif>sit  PelniB  Paludaniis  Tract<^m  egregium  ie  causa  immediata 
•Ecclesiastics  Potestatis/'  &c.    fieikrmin.  de  Sori|>toribus  £cck  ed.  1631, 

fag.  270.  '  /  • 

*^*'Qui  nulliler  excommunicatus  publice  denunciatur,  ila  ex  advcrso  ipse 
publicet  causam  Quare  sententia  non  valet,  puta  uppellationemy  vel  aliam  jus- 
tam  causam^quo  facto  amplius  nod  est  scandalum  pusilloriini,  sed  Pharrss- 
orum — unde  contemnendudi.''    Paludanos  iv.  Dist.  18.  Quaest.  1. 

^  Gerson  libro  de  Apost.  Pet.  Consilio  xiv ;  also  his  book  de  Unit.  £cc1. 
Consil.  X. 


)3j  mff(Uimt  Pop»  FiutVIJv  (^ 

•  9f  Budong  that  persangi^  which  was  onlf  a  q«eatiQni|f  crUk^, 
mquiryt  Pr.  Poynter  has.  aimed  a  blow,  through  my  person,  al: 
tte  wepf  Sanctuaty,  ^t  the  Jiibcirti^s  of  the  Galilean  Chuixii^  ^ 
the  GecBons,  the  Bo^suets,  the  Fleurys,  fie  The  just  libertisfi 
of  all  Catholic  writers  are  involved  in  the  Interdict  thus  precm^ 
tstfflf  issued  against  the  person  of  Col^mba^us*  Had  I  originaU^ 
avowed  ihe  doctrines  imputed  to  qie,  and  contHmaeicmhf  <^  cp(i«^ 
tenptnously  persevered^  in  defiance  of  regular  Canonical  admoni- 
^QS»  to  maintain  themi  then  indeed  he  would  have  beep  justified 
in  proceeding  to  the  last  extremities ;  but  there  is  not  an  instance 
ki  the  whole  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  of  so  gross  a  prftH 
ceediog,  so  long  persevered  in,  as  that  against  which  the  writer  of 
this  Appeal  begs  leave  to  remonstrate. 

IS.  Dr.  Poynter  has  thought  proper,  in  his  own  defence,  tq 
obtain  the  signatures  of  the  Catholic  Nobility  of  England,  to  be 
affixed  to  a  pompous  Eulogy  of  his  piety,  his  learning,  his  pastoral 
virtues,  &c^  By  what  manoeuvre  this  document  was  obtained^ 
future  Historians  will  hardly  condescend  to  inquire.  Socumei|tf( 
pass  for  surreptitious,  when  diey  have  been  obtained  pnder  false 

idlegations* 

Entertaining  great  respect  for  the  Catholic  Nobility,  I  belie^re 
their  own  assertion  that  this  Paper  was  signed  by  them,  because 
they  had  heard,  ^'  that  endeavours  have  been  made,  and  are  now 
saa&ing,  tp  prejudice  the  mind  of  your  Holiness,  and  the  Cardiqajl 
Prefect  of  the  sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  ^idSf  against 
one  of  our  venerable  Pastors,  Dr.  Poynter,  &c. ;  and  that  theif 
have  been  and  still  are  projects  to  induce  your  Holiness  to  retj^trpf^ 
this  excellent  PreUttei^  &:c. 

Now  your  Holiness's  reply  states  expressly,  that, — <<  We  never 
entertained  respecting  the  Bishop  of  Halia  (Dr.  Poynter)  the 
suspicion  of  which  you  are  apprehensive,  and  much  less  have  %i^ 
tver  thought  of  temaoing  him.** — Tour  Holiness's  statement  must 
be  trucjuand  consequently  every  assertion  opposed  to  it  must  be 
false.'  At  all  events,  dus  precious  Eulogy  cannot  afiect  the  truth 
of  notorious /actst  stated  in  this  Aj^al)  and  how  those  facts  can 
he  reconciled  with  that  Eulogy,  it  will  be  somewhat  beyond  the 
reach  of  Dr.  P/s  abilities  to  demonstrate. 

'  Whether  die  good  Bishops  of  the  golden  days  of  the  Church 
ever  applied  to  Laymen  for  Testimonials,  I  presume  not  to  say.* 
But  your  Holiness  will  infer  from  the  following  fact,  how  far  such 
pauegyrics  can  be  considered  of  the  least  weight  in  the  scale  of 

*  St.  Maximus  reprobated  6uch  vain-glorious  api)lause,  as  better  suited  to 
the  pride  of  the  amphitheatre.  "  Dicit  sermo  Divinus  ne  laudes  homiDem 
in  vita  sua/'  &cc.    Homil.  59. 


SQ  Ag^  Aji^pefif  and  fimonst^v^  U  ^16 

^  Sed  -  ^ooniam  luec  salobeniin  BKNiita  «  memoria'  cfitoMbriiDt 
quorumdam  ficcleske  Prttlatorumy  qui  frequenter,  ob  culpas,  «  notf' 
kves,  minus  tanen  graves,  anathematis  gladio  suaa  ovea  perceile* 
hant,  de  quo  saepius  cooquestus  est  infra  allegandus  Joannes  Ger^ 
sfttt  ;  ideo  Concilium  Provinciale  Coloniense  i.  anni  1^36,  part,  13, 
cap.  5,  torn.  9,  Collect.  Harduiniy  Col.  £025,  ilia  renovare,  atqye 
ID  omnium  P^latorum  memoriam  redigere  curavit,  ita  decernens* 
Gum  Ekcommunicatio  poena  sit,  qua  nulla  major  €$t  in  Eccl^fui, 
nee  sit  excommunieandi^s  quis  nisi  prp  peceato  kthali,  quod  Ana- 
thema sit .  setemae  mortis  damnatio,  nee  infligenda  veoiat  ^i^i  bis,. 
qm  alitwxorrigi  non  poivint,  debebit  Judex  non  ante  excommu- 
nicare  quempiam,  quam  cognoverit  id  vel  cmw  gravitat^m,  ye| 
ejus  qui  extra  communionem  ponendus  est,,  apertam  contumaciam, 
prxcepiojusto  acquiescere  noientis,  exi^ere.  . 

*^  Quse  porra  de  excommunicattone  dicta  sunt,  intelligi  etiam  de« 
bent  de  suspensione  et  Interdicto^  ut  recte  tradit  Suarez  de  Censu- 
ris  Disp.  4,  Sect.  4,  QUm*.?^  et  Disput.  36,  Sect.  3,  num.  2.— -Vas« 
quez  in  c.  2,  rDifiy;>at.  138,  npm*  49,  X^ayman,  1. 1.  Tbeolog.  Mo- 
raU  Tract*  d,  par4  3,  cap*  3,  num.  9,\  et  part.  4,  c.  4,  num.  4,  docent 
suspensioniem'^  a  Divini8,'8eu  ab  officio  et  beneficio,  ad  longum  tern- 
pus,  atque  Interdictum  etiam  personale,  nisi  partiale  sit,  sed  inte- 
grum et  totale,  nee  valide,  propter  culpam  levem,  nee  prudenter, 
propter  lethaleni,  quse  gravioribus  non  accenseatur  irrogari." 

'*  Quod  si,  omnium  Doetorum  consensu,  grave  et  enorme  crimen 
requiritur  ad  irrogandam  censufam,  etiam  quam  vocant  commindtori" 
am,  et  ferendas  sententue,  muito  saae  gravius,  et  execrabilius  esse 
oportet  delictum,  ob  quod  infligitur  Censura  latae  sententise,  qua  ni- 
iliirum  homo,  per  solam  Legis  transgressionem,  nulla  praevia  moni- 
tione,  ejusdem  legis  ministeno  statim  perstringitur."  lb.  - 
y  ^'  Nod  improbantur  a  Gersone  £xa>aununicatioiies  latae  senten- 
tise, sed  ad  eas  requiri  ait  sententiam  declaratoriam  criminis,  qus^ 
utique  est  neces$ariu  proforo  externa,  in  quo  nemo  est  reputandus 
censura  innodatus,  nisi  legitime  probetur  reus  criminis^  cm  est  cen- 
aura  jure  ipso  alligata."  Bened.  xiv,  ib.  1.  x,  c.  1,  No.  2,  vol.  %, 
p.  480— 484. 

,,  Papas  Gregorii  XlII.  X>ecret.  pars  2,  Cajusaxxiii,  Q.  3,  c.  iv, 
V«)I.J,>.  1418. 

^*  Si  quis  non  recto  judicio  eorum  qui  prsesunt  Ecclesiae,  de  jp^\^ 
latur,  et  foras  mittatur.  Si  ipse  non  ante  exiit^  hoc  est  si  non  ita 
egit,  ut  meveretlir  exire,  nihil  laditur  in  eo,  quod  non  recto  Judicio 
ab  hominibus  videtur  expulsus,  et  ita  fit,  ut  interdum  ille  qui  foras 
iliittitur  intut  sit,  et  ille  foris,  qui  intus  retineri  videtur.'' 
.  This  Canon  is  preserved,  in  uncial  letters  of  the  7  th  century,  in 
a  fine  MS.  containing  the  works  of  Qptatus  of  Milevi,  in  the  J>- 


I7j  Hu  HoUnas  Pdpc  Fws  FIL  68 

hnarf  of  St.  Oermain  des  Vrkn,  No.  718.  Seie  N.  Tmt6  de  Diplbm. 
t.  3,  p.  45,  46,  and  149. 

Ex  Decretal.  Gregorii  IX.  a  Gregorio  XIII.  suae  integritati  re- 
stituU  lib.  V,  tit.  39. 

''  Excommunicans,  sine  trina  admonitione,  etiam  sijusta  sit  sen- 
tentia,  per  unum  uiensem  ab  ingressu  Ecclesiae  noverit  se  suspen- 
suni." — De  sentent.  Excom.  Canone  Sacro.  lb.  p.  1839,  ct  in  In- 
dicc,  Voce  Excommunicans" 

**  Excommunicatio  major,  lata,  non  prsemi^a  admonitione,  in, 
participantes  .cum  Excom municatis,  non  tenet,"  lb.  p.  710,  et  in 
Indice. 

^^  Excommunicationis  sententia  suspenditur  perAppellationem.'' 
lb.  p.  1836,  et  in  Indice. 

Again,  pag.  1839,  c.  48.  '^  Sacro  approbante  Concilib  (gene- 
rali  Lateran.  c.  470  prohibemus  ne  quis  in  aliquem  Excommuni- 
cationis  sententiam,  nisi  compeienti  admonitione  pramissa^  etperso* 
nis  prasentibus  idoneis,  per  quas,  si  necesse  fuerit,  possit  probari 
monido,  promulgare  praesumat.  Quod  si  contra  praesumpserit^ 
etiam  sijusla  fuerit  excommunicationis  sententia,  ingressum  Eccle* 
sias,  per  mensem  unum  sibi  noverit  interdictum,  alia  nihiiotninus 
poena  mulctandus,  si  visum  fuerit  expedire;  Caveat  etiam  diligent 
ter,  ne  ad  excommunicationem  cujasquam,  absque  mamfestAf^^ 
rationabile  causa  procedat." 

The  annotation  bv  the  Roman  editors  is^--'^  Competent!  admo- 
nitione, id  est  trina"  This  they  repeat  at  page  895,  1.  fi,  tit. 
48,  c.«6. 

^  ^'  Statuimus  nt  nee  Praelati,  nisi  Canonica  comminatione  pite- 
missa,  ^uspensionis  vel  excommunicationis  sententiam  prbferant  im 
Bubjectos.'* — The  Roman  Annotation  is—**  Canonica ^^trina  9tVfir 
cet,  ilia  enim  dicitur  Canonica.'*  xvi.  Q.  7.  Omnes  Decimal,  et 
XVII.  Q.  4. 

^  De  Canonida  admonitione  babes  (S.  de  Jud.  c.  novit^  et  Q.  9^ 
1.  Si  peccatierit.) — Si  quis,  ea  omissa,  ali^uem  excommunicaverit*, 
per  unum  metisem  ingressum  Ecclesiae  sibi  iioverit  interdictum. 
(Infra  de  sentent.  Excom.  Sacro,  &c.)  Iti  odium,  id  est  poenam, 
sive  coercitionem  Praelatorum,  <qni  excommunicabsiity  non  praemis- 
"Sa  admonitione,  contra  istud  Concilium,  emanavit  itia  Constitutio 
Sacro,  8cc.  qua?  itnpotnt,  ipso  jure,  poenam  iHam  Praelatis." 

Again,  pag.  60£.  "  Notandum  quod  si  diffiiiitiva  sententia  foe- 
Tit  lata,  oraisso  ordine  juris  (i.  e.  temammiitione)ip90  jvtre  nulla  esfj 
•ut  infra,  eadem  qu^stione  vi.  §  DiflSnitrva. — H<)c  tamen  scia«  quod 
duplex  est  ordo  Juris.  Udus  qui  est  de  natura,  sive  de  aubstailtta 
Judiciorum,  scilicet,  ut  quis  post  citationem,  habeat  Inducias,  ut 
fiat  £^19  con^es^n^Jo,  et  testes  recipiantur,  et  quod  sententia  feratur 
in  scriptis.   Si  cotitra  hunc  ordinem  feratur  sententia,  non  tenet" 


dO  An  Appeal  atui  Renumrtrance  io  [18 

'  Again,  pag.  680.  *^  Sententia  lata  contra  solitum  ordiheiii  judicio^ 
rum,  nulla  est  ipso  jure" 


APPENDIX.— No.  II. 

DR.  ©'CONOR'S  SECOND  LETTER  TO  POPE  PIUS  VII. 

Humbly  presented  to  him  by  Denis  O' Conor,  Esq.  in  the  Month 

of  June,  1819/ 


Stowe,  iBth  Feb.  1819. 

HOST  HOLY  FATHER, 

Six  months  are  now  elapsed,  since  Denis  O'Conor,  Esq,  the 
writer's  nephew^  had  the  honor  of  laying  at  your  Holiness's  feet 
Jus  most  humble  Appeal  and  Remonstrance  against  the  calumnious 
Interdict  issued  by  your  Holiness's  London  Vicar,  in  the  memora-r 
ble  year  1812.  Painful  as  the  necessity  is  of  troubling  your  Holi- 
pess  with  reiterated  complaints,  the  persecution  raised  against  the 
writer,  on  pretence  of  heresy,  being  most  cruel,  inasmuch  as  it  u 
levelled  directly  against  his  best  interests,  by  refusal  of  Sacraments, 
he  dares  to  hope  that  your  Holiness  will  forgive  him,  if  the  anxiety 
he  feels,  daily  increasing  in  proportion  as  he  approaches  the  tomb, 
compels  him  to  apply  to  your  Uoiiness  once  more;  and  the  more 
particularly,  because  it  is  precisely  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  the 
abuses  of  the  spiritual  power,  that  your  Holiness  is  by  Divine  right 
Guardian  pf  the  Canons,  and  Pastor  of  the  Pastors  themselves. 

£.  The  above-named  Mr.  O'Conor,  being  now  about  to  return 
to  his  native  country,  is  instructed  to  throw  himself  at  your  Holi- 
ness's feet,  on  behalf  of  the  writer,  in  order  to  inform  you  that  be 
has  not  yet  had  any  answer  to  his  Appeal ;  and  that  now,  after  a 
fruitless  lapse  of  six  months,  despairing  of  any  favorable  result  to 
his  most  just  representations,  he  humbly  implores  your  Holiness 
will  condescend  to  order  that  that  Appeal  may  be  returned  to  him. 

3.  At  the  same  time  your  Holiness  will  permit  him  to  express, 
that  in  thus  taking  leave,  he  retires  with  deep  regret  that  you  should 

'  Translated  from  the  original  Italian,  vrbicb  see  in  the  Italian  edition  of 
his  Appeal,  printed  by  Seeley,  Buckingham,  \b%%i  Appendix. 


WJ  HUmiMessPj>pePmsyiL\  a% 

bive  deemed  it  prudeot  <o  long  to  defer  an  Imswer  t6hi»  moatjiist 
and  Canonical  petition.     Old  age  steals  upon  him  apace,    lime 
lifts  up  every  day  a  portion  of  that  awful  curtain,  which  hides  from 
our  anxious  minds  a  view  into  endless  eternity ;  and  the  more  we 
advance  to  that  hour,  which  must  bring  Kings  and  Emperors  to  a 
level  with  the  poorest  of  their  subjects^  the  more  we  are  persuaded 
of  the  necessity  of  coming  to  a  final,  precise,  and  public  decision  on 
a  subject,  so  directly  affecting  our  happiness  in  a  state  of  endless  im- 
mortality.— If  the  writer  has  violated  the  laws  of  bis  Church,  his 
error  ought  to  be  clearly  stated  in  the  face  of  that  Church*     If  his 
crime  is  rebellion  to  legitimate  authority  legitimately  exercised,  the 
example  is  pestiferous  to  the  young  men  who  are  educated  for  that 
Church.     If  he  has  calumniated  the  orthodox  faith  of  any  man,  in 
defiance  of  the  orthodox  explanation  of  that  accused  person,  an 
explanation  humbly  and  respectfully  given  in  limine,  if  he  has  suf- 
fered himself  to  be  hurried  on  by  pride,  or  by  any  other  passion,  to 
refuse  sacraments  to  persons  calling  out  for  the  bread  of  life,  and 
this  too  on  a  calumnious  pretence  of  heresies,  which  were  rejected 
from. the  very  first  day  they  mere  imputed,  rendering  your  Holiness's 
spiritual  authority  instrumental  to  bad  passions,  and  assuming  abso- 
lute authority  over  Sacramental  institutions,  of  which  he  is  only  an 
humble  minister  according  to  canonical  rules,  then  it  is  high  time 
that  Peter  speak  out  to  the  Christian  world,  and  as  St.  Jerome  writes 
of  another  irishman,  (Celestius)  **  high  time  that  he  be  levelled  to 
the  ground  by  the  Spiritual  Club,  like  another  Cerberus,  and  con- 
demned, with  his  master  Pluto,  to  eternal  silence  and  disgrace." ' 

4.  But  if,  instead  of  being  guilty  of  such  detestable  pride,  the 
crime  of  Lucifer, — the  writer  of  these  lines,  though  accused  of  he- 
resies which  amount  to  Atheism,  abstained  from  all  irreverent  words 
in  his  Reply,  protesting  solemnly,  and  in  limine,  his  readiness  to  re- 
tract the  heresies  imputed,  if  they  could  bona  fide  be  found  in  his 
works ;  and  if  your  Holiness's  Vicar,  instead  of  receiving  these  so- 
lemn protestations  with  gladness,  meekness,  and  charity,  as  he  was 
by  every  obligation  bound,  allowed  himself  to'  be  transported  by  a 
spirit  of  domination,  so  far  as  to  hurl,  without  further  discussion, 
against  the  writer's  person,  that  thunderbolt, 'which  destroys  those 
who  dare  illicitly  to  wield  it,  it  is  high  time  that  your  H«  should 
compel  him  to  render  homage  to  Catholicity,  to  justice,  and  to  truth. 

5.  A  proposal  has  been  made  to  the  v/riter,  on  the  part  of  the 
London  Vicar,  on  St.  Michael's  Day,  1817,  to  resume  the  exercise 
of  all  his  ecclesiastical  functions,  sacramental  jurisdiction,  rights, 
and  privileges,  on  condition  of  making  a  new  Profession  of  Faith,  to 

*  See  St.  Jerome's  Account  of  Celestius,  in  the  Rer.  Hibern.  Scriptores 
Vet.  voL  i.  Indexes,  word  Ce2ei4tttf. 


Cd  Ah  Appearand  Remcmtnmu  Jo  [BO 

MtUfy  tkepubKc;  and  the  Gentlaman  wbojnade  this  proposal  oii 
his  partjf  engaged' ibat  this  act  so  proposed^  riuiuld  be  z  profound 
#ecre^^  knowii  to  the  Viear^  to  him,  and  to  the  writer  exclusivefy^ 
FroToked  by  a  proposal  so  unworthy  of  a  Clergyman,  the  writer 
'  indignantly  called  for  the  post  chaise  in  which  be  came,  and  put 
an  end  to  the  conference. 

'  ($•  The  Canonical  obedience  that  is  due  to  your  Holiness  is  a 
sublime  sentiment  of  piety,  which  touches  the  heart  of  him  who 
offers  it,  because  he  knows  that  in  paying  due  obedience  to  your 
Holiness,  his  offering  is  a  sacrifice  to  the  Almighty  Being  who 
ordained  it.  But  true  humility,  like  all  the  Christian  duties,  is  not 
a  solitary  virtue,  which  abandous  the  heart  a  prey  to  adulation ;  it 
sanctifies  no  falsehood,  it  canonises  no  hypocrisy.  The  Christian 
virtues  go  hand  in  hand,  humility  with  f ortitude,  and  siucenty^  and 
the  love  of  truth.  The  Arab  bows  down  with  the  most  profound 
apparent  subserviency,  adoring  the  very  person  whom  he  intends,  as 
aoon  as  he  can,  to  assassinate,  betray,  or  cajole;  and  Judas  was 
never  more  apparently  humble  than  when  he  betrayed  Christ !  But 
the  Redeemer  informs  us,  by  a  formidable  denunciation,  that  there 
shall  be  mercy  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  rather  than  for  the 
hypocrite. 

7.  The  writer  of  these  lines,  may  it  please  your  Holiness,  took 
Paul  IVth's  Oath,  when  he  took  out  his  degree,  under  the  Presi- 
dency of  Cardinal  Antonelli,  in  1786 ;  and  having  never  violated  that 
Oath,  he  loudly^ protests  against  the  above  proposal.  It  is  a  pro- 
posal which  is  made  only  to  returning  Apostates!  These  are  com* 
pelled,  before  they  are  received,  to  sign  an  Act  avowing  their  apos- 
tacy,  and  to  submit  to  Canonical  penance ; — but  who  ever  heard 
of  such  a  proposal  as  this  f  It  is  an  innovation  in  the  Christian 
Church  which  might  extricate  Dr.  Poynter  from  difficulties ;  and 
probably,  if  the  writer  were  capable  of  so  base  an  act  of  hypocrisy 
and  treachery,  by  which  he  would  betray  the  best  interests  of  truth, 
iie  might  obtain  the  sacraments,  and  other  benefits  of  his  religion ; 
%ut  he  is  persuaded  that  by  such  base  compliance  he  would  incur 
•an  effectual  Excommunication  in  the  eye  of  a  God,  who,  in  the  very 
first  Commandment  is  styled,  a  Godjealotis  of  truths 

There  are  in  England  who  inculcate,  that  to  adore  the  host  con- 
-secrated  by  an  Interdicted  Clergyman,  is  an  Act  of  Idolatry. — 
Against  this  doctrine  the  writer  appeals,  as  heretical.  As  well 
rnisfat  we  say  that  the  English  or  the  Greek  Clergy  are  invalidly 
tordained,  because  those  who  ordained  them  were  also  Interdicted. 
Even  though  an  Interdict  should  be  ever  so  just,  or  valid,  it  could 
not  affect  the  power  conferred  vi  ordinis,  the  character  being  inde- 
lible:  nor  is  the  Jurisdiction  itself  of  a  Clergyman  entirely  lost, 
even  by  zjust  Excommunication,  exceptions  being  specified  by 


21]  His  HoUncss  Pope  Pius  VIL  63 

the  Canons^  in  cases  of  necessity,  when  no  other  Clergyman  can 
be  found  to  oflBciate.  Now  if  this  is  true,  as  it  most  unquestiona- 
bly is,  even  in  cases  of  just  and  valid  censures,  how  much,  a  for- 
tiori, in  cases  calumnious  and  invalid  ipso  jure  ?  *• 

Finally.  Throwing  himself  at  your  Holiness's  feet,  the  writer 
of  this  Letter  renews  his  appeal,  praying  for  Justice,  and  for  hia 
rights  as  a  Christian,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Invisible 
Head  of  the  Church ;  and  so,  confiding  in  God's  Providence,  and 
in  the  justice  of  his  cause,  he  promises  never  more  to  trouble  your 
Holiness  on  this  subject.  Mean  time,  he  most  humbly  prays  for 
your  Holiness's  long  life,  and  happy  death. 

And  has  the  honor  to  be, 

With  the  most  profound  respect, 

Your  Holiness's  most  devoted  Servant,  ' 

CHARLES  O'CONOR. 


•  Fleury  observes,  that  the  Canons  enjoiQiDg  three  Monitories  were  re- 
newed in  the  Council  of  Basle,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Poissy,  in  15<&1« 
See  the  ItaJian  edition  of  this  Letter. 


THE 


REMARKABLE  TRIAL  AND  DEFENCE 


or 


EUGENE    ARAM, 


OF  KNARESBOROUGH, 


XtSCVTED   FOB 


tHE  MURDER  OF  DANIEL  (^ARk; 


COHHITTSO   ON    TBB   8tH.  FEB.  1744-5. 


.4-h- 


1^  case  and  the  defence  of  a  late  unfortunate  victim  to  -the  laws  of  hti-  cpufMiy 
ariiig  made  a  great  impression  on  the  public  mind,  we  have  been  iequl^ne^  ;4>t 
hat  of  OUT  riders  to  repabliA  those  of  Eugene  Aram.  Hia  defence  pMi^ 
ibeds  in  plawibility  and  iugenuitjr  every  simUar  production  within  our  mcnorj^ 


/ 


LONDON: 


I6S4. 
70L.  XXIII.  Pom.  NO.  XLV.  E 


THE 


TRIAL  AND  DEFENCE, 


S^c.  Sfc. 


^Daniel  Clark,  the  deceased,  had  been  newly  marriedf  and  under 
the  color  of  having  received  a  good  fortune  with  his  wif  e,  entered 
into  a  confederacy  with  Aram  and  Houseman,  a  flax-dresser,  to  de- 
fraud several  persons  of  great  quantities  of  plate,  and  other  goods, 
which  Clark  was  to  borrow  from  his  friends  and  acquaintance,  to 
make  a  first  appearance  in  the  marriage  state.  This  Chik  eSicU 
ually  did,  and  borrowed  goods  of  great  value,  such  as  linen  and 
woollen  drapery  goods,  besides  three  silver  tankards,  fofor  silver 
mugs,  one  silver  milk*pot,  one  ring,  set  with  an  emerald  and  two 
brilliant  diamonds,  another  with  three  rose  diamonds }  a  third  vndl 
an  amethyst,  and  six  plain  rings,  eight  watches,  two  snuff-boxeSy 
&c.  all  these  in  a  private  manner,  and  from  difierent  people. 
Clark  having  fraudulently  obtsuned  these  goods,  the  place  of  dis- 
tribution was  fixed  at  Aram's  house.  Chrk  soon  after  was  miss- 
ing, and  upon  his  intimacy  with  Aran>  and  Houseman,  a  suspidon 
arising  that  thev  might  be  concerned  in  the  fraud,  search  was 
made,  some  of  tne  goods  were  found  at  Houseman's,  and  odbers 
dug  up  in  Aram's  garden ;  but  as  no  plate  was  found,  it  was 
believed  that  Clark  had  gone  off  with  that,  and  the  business  was 
dropt  till  the  month  of  June  1758,  when  Aram  was  found  to  be 
at  Lvnn  in  Norfolk,  where  he  was  usher  of  a  school,  and  arrested 
for  tne  murder  of  Clark. 

The  wife  of  Eugene  Aram,  after  his  departure  from  her,  had 
intimated  her  suspicion  of  Clark's  being  murdered,  having  seen 
her  husband  and  Houseman  in  a  close  conference,  and  on  missing 
Clark,  asked  what  they  had  done  with  him.  She  overheard  their 
concern  at  her  suspicion,  on  which  Aram,  her  husband,  said  to 


3]  lYial  and  Defence  of  Eugene  Aram.  67 

Housemaxiy  that  he  would  shoot  heVf  and  put  her  out  of  the  way  ; 
and  after  their  departure,  she  went  down  and  found  several  pieces 
and  shreds  of  iiaen  and  wooUen,  which  she  suspected  to  be 
Clark'a  wearing  apparel. 

This,  smd  other  testimony,  wag  given  before  the  inquest,  at 
which  Houseman,  being  present,  showed  all  the  marks  of  guilt,  as 
trembling,  paleness,  stammering,  &c.  On  the  skeleton's  being 
pvodoced.  Houseman  also  dropt  this  unguarded  expression:; 
taking  up  one  of  the  bones,  he  said,  <<  This  is  no  more  Dan. 
Clark^s  bone  than  it  is  mine,"  which  showed,  that  if  he  was  so 
sure  that  those  bones  before  him  were  not  Daniel  Clark's,  he  must 
know  something  more,  as  indeed  he  did ;  for  these  were  not  the 
bones  of  Clark,  but  an  accident  designed  to  bring  the  real  body  to 
light  I  which,  Houseman,  after  some  evasions  in  his  first  deposi- 
tion, discovered  to  be  in  St.  Robert's  cave,  near  Knaresborough, 
where  it  was  found  in  the  posture  described;  he  then  was  ad^ 
mitted  king's  evidence  against  Aram,  and  brought  in  one  Terry, 
as  ap  acQomplice  in  the  murder.  Houseman  gives  his  deposition 
as  foUowd : 

<<That.Paniel  Clark  was  murdered  by  Eugene  Aram,  l^e  of 
Knaresborough,  a  schoolmaster,  and  as  he  believes,  on  Friday  the 
8th  of  February,  1744^-5 ;  for  that  Eugene  Aramr  and  Danid 
Clark  w^e  together  at  Aram's  house  early  that  morning,  and  that 
lie  (Hmuiemm)  left,  the  house,  and  went  up  the  street  a  Httte 
before,  and  tl^y  called  to  him,  desiring  he  would  go  a  little  w^y 
with  ^m$  iind  he  accordingly  went  s^ng  with  them,  to  a  ^place 
called  S^  Robert's  Cave,. near  GrimUe  Bridge,  where  Aram  and 
Clark  ftoppedf  and  there  he  saw  Aram  strike  him  several  times 
over  the  breast  and  head,  and  saw  him  faUi  as  if  he  was  dead,  on 
which  he  came  away  and  left  theQi : .  but  whether  Aram -used  any 
weapon  or  not  to  kill  Clatk  he  oould  nottell ;  nor  does  he  know 
what  h^  did  with  the  body  afterwards,  but  believes  that  Aram  left 
it  at  the  mouthy  of  the  cave ;  for  that,  seeing  Aram  do  this,  lest  he 
might  shave  t^  same  iite,  he  made  the  best  <rf  his  way  from  faim^ 
apd.gotto  ihs  bridge-end  r  where,  looking  back^  he  saw  Aram 
^ommg'tlKfak  the  cave  side,  (which  is  in  a  private  rock  adjoining 
tbe  rim)  aiid  cquld  discern  a  bundle. in  his  tliandjbut  did  not 
lunw:  wmt.it  was ;  on  this  he  hasted  away  to  the  town,  without 
either  joining  Aram,  or  seeing  him  again  till  the  next  day ,^^  and 
from  toat  time  to  this,  he  never  bad  any  private  dtacourse  with 
iiim.  -Afterwards^  however.  Houseman  said,  that  Clark's  body 
was  buried  in  St.  Robert's  cave,  and  that  he  was  sure  it  was  theki 
there ;  but  desired  it  might  remain  till  such  time  as  Aram  should 
\^  taken.  He  added  fiurther,  that  Ckrk's  head  lay  to  the  right^ 
^1  t^e  t|irn  at  theentr^ince  of  the  cay?*'* 


G8  Trial  and  Defence  [4 

Aram  being  thus  accused  by  Houseman,  w^3  taken  in  t&^ 
schdol  at  Lynn  in  Norfolk,  and  after  some  evasions  oh  hid  fitst 
examination,  signed  the  subsequent,  as  fdllows :  <^  That  he  Win 
at  his  own  house  the  7th  of  Feb.  1744-5,  at  flighty  iitrhen  Riirhard 
Housemaii  and  Daniel  Clark  came  to  him  with  B6tn&  plat^,  and 
both  of  them  went  for  more  several  titties,  and  came  baek  With 
several  pieces  of  plate,  of  which  Clark  was  endeavoring  to  defraud 
bis  neighbors :  that  he  could  not  but  observe,  that  Housenflah  Was 
all  that  night  very  diligent  to  assist  him,  to  the  utmost  of  his 
powers  and  insisted,  that  this  was  Houseilian's  business  fUat 
night,  and  not  the  signing  any  note  or  instrument,  as  is  pr^teddM 
by  Houseman.  That  Henry  Terry,  then  of  Knaresbbroiigh,  sde- 
keeper,  was  as  much  concerned  in  abetting  the  said  frauds^  a^ 
either  Houseman  or  Clark ;  but  was  not  now  at  Atom's  hdUse, 
because,  as  it  was  market  day,  his  absence  from  his  gUeSts  might 
have  occasioned  some  suspicion :  that  Terry,  notwithstahdi^g, 
brought  two  silver  tankards  that  night,  on  Clark's  account,  which 
had  been  fraudulently  obtained  v  ^nd  that  Clark^  to  far  ftMi 
having  borrowed  20Z.  of  Houseman,  to  hisknowlege  neVerI>orrbWA 
ed  more  than  9/.  which  lie  had  paid  him  again  before  that  night. 

«  That  all  the  leather  Clark  had,  which  amounted  to  a  c<m«def^ 
^ble  value,  he  well  knows,  was  concealed  under  flax  in  Housemati  s 
house^  with  intent  to  be  disposed  of  by  little  and  little,  in  order  to 
prevent  suspicion  of  his  being  concerned  in  Clark's  fraudulcfiit 
practices. 

«  That  Terry  took  die  plate  in  a  bag,  as  Clark  and  Housemaii  did 
the.  watches,  rings^  and  several  small  things  of  value,  and  carried 
them  ioto  the  flat,  where  they  and  he  (Aram)  went  together  to  St. 
Robert's  cave^  and  beat  most  of  the  plate  flat.  It  was  theft 
thought,  too  late  in  the  morning,  bein^  about  four  o'cloick,  6tk  die 
8th  of  Feb.  1744*55  for  Clarit  to  go  otf  sa  as  to  get  to  ahy  dis^ 
lance;  it  was  therefore  agreed  he  diduld  stay  there  till  the  ilight 
following,  and  Clark  accordingly  staid  there  all  that  day,  as  h^ 
lldieves,  thev  having  agreed  to  send  him  victuals,  which  Was  ciairi 
ried  to  him  by  Henry  Terry,  he  being  judged  the  most  likely  pet^ 
eon  to  do  it  vrithout  suspicion,  for  as  he  was  a  shooter,  he  iMght 
go  thither  lUider  the  pretence  of  sporting:  that  th^  liext  nighty 
in  order  to  give  Clark  more  time  to  get  ofi^,  Henry  Terry,  Richm 
Houseman,  and  himself^  went  down  to  the  cave  vdry  early  $  h^t 
he  (Aram)  did  not  go  into  the  cave,  or  see  Clark  at  all  i  that 
Richard  Houseman  and  Henry  Teirry  only  Went  iiito  the  cave,  Ki^ 
Staying  to  watch  at  a  litde  distance  on  the  outtide,  lest  any  bMy 
IMuld  surprise  them. 

<^  That  he  believes  they  were  beating  cADme  plate,  for  he  faeai^ 
them  make  a  noise;  they  staid  there  about  an  Mour,  and  then 


5]  of  Eugene  Aram.  69 

came  out  of  th^?  cave,  and  told  him  that  Clark  was  gone  off.  Ob- 
serving a  bag  they  had  along  virith  them,  he  took  it  in  his  hand^ 
an4  saw  that  it  .contained  plate.  On  asking,  why  Daniel  did  not 
tafce  (^e;  plate  along  with  him  I  Terry  and  Houseman  replied,^ 
that  they  bad  bought  it  of  him,  as  well  as  the  watches,  and  had 
given  lilim  money  for  it,  that  being  more  convenient  for  him  to  go 
off  witjb|  ^8  less  cumbersome  and  dangerous.  After  which  iiMsf 
a|li  thr^e.  w^nt  into  Qouseman's  wardbouse  and  concealed  the 
patches  with  the  $iiiaU  plate  there,  but  that  Terry  carried  away 
)|vith  him  the  great  plate :  that  afterwards  Terry  told  him  he  car* 
ried  it  to  ^ow-^ill|  and  hid  it  there,  and  then  went  into  Scotland^ 
and  disposed  of  it :  but  as  to  Clark,  he  could  not  tell  whether  he 
^a^  n^urdered  or  Apt :  he  knew  nothing  of  him,  only  that  they 
tol4  him  he  was  gone  off." 

After  he  ha4  signed  his  confession,  he  was  conducted  to  Tork^ 
Qistle,  where  be  and  Houseman  remained  till  the  assizes. 

ijProm  th^  above  lexamination  of  Aram  there  appeared  great  rea-^ 
son  to  suspect  Terry  to  be  an  accomplice  in  this  black  affair  \  a 
warrant  was  therefore  granted,  and  he  likewise  was  apprehended 
and  committed  to  the  Castle*  Bills  of  indictment  were  found 
again^  tb^m :  but  it  appearing  to  the-  court  on  affidavit,  that  the 
pros^Cjtttor  could  not  be  fully  provided  with  his  witnesses  at  that 
times  4ie  trial  was  postponed  tUl  Lammas  assizes. 

On  the  3rd  of  August  1759,  Richard  Houseman  and  Eugene 
Ajram-  were  Iffought  to  the  bar.  Houseman  was  amugned  on 
hi^  former  indictment,  acquitted,  and  admitted  evidence  against 
Aramt  VJbo  was  thereon  arraigned.  Houseman  was  then  called 
opi  irho  deposed,  <<  That,  in  the  night  between  the  7th  and  8d& 
of  February  1744*5,  about  11  o'clock,  he  went  to  Aram's  house:: 
tl)^f  aftftr  two  hoursy  and  upwards,  spent  in  passing  to  and  fro 
between  ^tbeir  several  houses,  to  dispose  i^  various  goodis,  and  to 
se^e  9iem^  Qot^is  concerning  them,  Aram  proposed,  first  to  Clarki 
ain4  tb^  to  Houseman,  to  take  a  walk  out  of  town  :  that  when 
tbey  c^n^e  to  the  field  where  St.  Robert's  cave  is,  Aram  and 
Cl^ir)^  we^t  into  it  over  the  hedge,  and  when  they  came  within  six 
Of  flight  yards  of  the  cave  he  saw  them  quarrelling:  that  he  saw 
A<mi  strike  Clark  several  times,  on  which  Clark  feU,  and  he 
npiyer  sjtw  him  rise  again :  that  he  saw  no  instrument  that  Anutt 
^d>  iand  knew  not  that  he.  had  any :  that  on  this,  without  anf 
mterppsitioa  or  alann>  he  left  them  and  returned  home :  that  the 
next  mpmii:^  he  went  to  Aram's  house,  and  asked  what  business 
1^  h^  iivith  Ckrk  last  nighty  and  what  he  had  done  with  him  ? 
AptfD  rjQpljfid  not  tp this- question ;  but  threatened  him  if  he  spoke 
q|  hi^  \4xi%:  iu  Park's  company  that  night ;  vowing  tevengey 


70  Trial  and  Defence  [6 

•  _ 

ckher  by  himself  or  some  other  person,  if  he  mentioned  any  thing 
relating  to  the  a&ir." 

Peter  Moor  (Clark's  servant)  deposed,  «  That,  a  little  time  be- 
fore his  disappearing,  Clark  went  to  receive  his  wife's  fortune : 
that  on  his  return  he  went  to  Aram's  house,  where  Moor  then 
was :  on  Clark's  coming  in,  Aran!  said,  H<m  do  you  doy  Mr* 
Clark?  Tm  glad  to  see  you  at  home  again,  pray  *mhat  success? 
To  which  Clark  replied,  /  have  received  my  wfes  fortune^  and 
have  if  in  my  pocket ,  thotigh  it  ivas  with  difficulty  I  got  it.  On 
which  Aram  said  to  Clark  (Houseman  being  present)  Let  us  go 
up  stairs ;  accordingly  they  went ;  on  which  this  witness  returned 
home." 

Mr.  Beckwith  deposed,  <<  That  when  Aram's  garden  was 
searched,  on  suspicion  of  his^being  an  accomplice  in  the  frauds  of 
Clark,  there  were  found  several  kinds  of  goods,  bound  together  in 
a  coarse  wrapper^  and,  among  the  rest,  in  particular,  a  piece  of 
cambrick,  which  he  himself  had  sold  Clark  a  very  little  time  be- 
fore." 

Thomas  Bamet  deposed,  «  That  on  the  8th  of  Feb.  about  one 
in  the  morning,  he  saw  a  person  come  out  of  Aram's  house,  who 
had  a  wide  coat  on,  with  the  cape  about  his  head,  and  seemed  to 
ahun  him;  whereon  he  went  up  to.him,  and  put  by  the  cape  of 
his  great  coat ;  and,  perceiving  it  to .  be  Richard  Houseman, 
wished  him  a  good  night,  alias  a  good  morning." 

John  Barker  the  constable,  who  executed  the  warrant  granted 
by  Mr.  Thornton,  and  indorsed  by  Sir  John  Turner,  deposed, 
«  That,  at  Lynn,  Sir  John  Turner,  and  some  others,  first  went 
into  the  school  where  Aram  was,  die  witness  waiting  at  the  door. 
Sir  John-  asked  him  if  he  knew  Knaresboroogh  ?  He  replied,  No* 
And  being  further  asked.  If  he  had  any  acquaintance  with  one 
Daniel  Clark?  be  denied,  that  he  ever  knew  such  a  man.  The 
witness  then  entered  the  school,  and  said.  How  do  you  do,  Mr. 
Aram  ?  Aram  replied,  How  do  you  do,  Sir?  I  dofCt  know  you. 
What!  said  the  witness,  don^t you  know  me ?  Don*ty&u  reniem- 
ber  that  Daniel  Clark  and  you  always  had  a  spite  against  fne  wlhen 
you  lived  at  Knaresborough  ?  On  this  he  recollected  the  wit- 
ness, and  owned  his  residence  at  Knaresborough.  The  witness 
then  asked  him.  If  he  did  not  know  St.  Boberfs  cave?  He  an- 
swered, Yes.  The  witness  replied,  Ay,  to  your  sorrow.  That, 
on  their  journey  to  York,  Aram  inquired  after  his  old  neigh- 
bors, and  what  tney  said  of  him.  JTo  which  the  witness  replied, 
that  they  were  much  enraged  against  them  for  the  loss  of  their 
goods.  That  on  Aram's  askings  if  it  was  not  possible  to  make 
up. the  matter  ?  thc^  ii^tness  answered.  He  believed  he  imght  save 


7]  of  Eugene  Aram.  71 

himself,  if  he  woald  restore  to  them  what  they  had  lost.'  Aramr 
answered^that  it  was  impossible ;  but  he  might  perhaps  find  them 
an  equivaJent.'^ — Aram  was  then  asked  bv  the  judge.  If  he  had 
anything  to  say  to  the  witness  before  him  r  He  replied.  That,  ta 
the  best  of  his  knowlege,  it  was  not  in  the  schbol,  but  in  the 
room  adjoining  to  the  school^  where  Sir  John  Turner  and  the  wit- 
ness were,  when  he  first  saw  them. 

The  skull  was  then  produced  in  court,  on  the  left  side  of  which 
there  was  a  fracture,  that  from  the  nature  of  it  could  not  have! 
been  made  but  by  the  stroke  of  some  blunt  instrument ;  die  piece 
was  beaten  inwards,  and  could  not  be  replaced  but  from  within. 
Mr.  Locock,  the  surgeon,  who  produced  it,  gave  it  as  his  opinion. 
That  no  such  breach  could  proceed  from  any  natural  decay ;  that 
it  was  not  a  recent  fracture  by  the  instrument  with  which  it  wat 
dug  up,  but  seemed  to  be  of  many  years'  standing. 

It  should  seem,  that  Houseman  and  Aram  murdered  Clark,  and 
did  jointly  drag  his  body  into  the  cave,  where  it  was  fc^d  in*  the 
posture  described  by  Houseman,  and  that  they  returned  home 
with  the  clothes,  which  they  burnt,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Aram's  wife,  who  found  the  shreds,  and  overheard  tjheir  confer- 
ence. Aram  being  asked  what  motive  could  induce  him  to  com- 
mit the  murder,  answered,  that  he  su^ected  Clark  to  have  had  a 
criminal  correspondence  with  his  wi^.  It  appeared  further  on 
the  trial,  that  Aram  possessed  himself  of  Clark's  fortune^  whidt 
he  got  with  his  wife,  a  little  before,  about  160/.  And  thus,  after 
fourteen  years'  concealment,  this  notable  discovery  was  made  by 
two  skeletons  being  found  much  at  the  same  time.  Having,  thus, 
in.  brief,  given  the  substance  of  the  trial  and  conviction  of  Aram, 
we  shall  give  his  defence,  which  he  delivered  into  the  court  in 
writing. 

^<. First,  my  Lord,  the  whple  tenor  of  my  conduct  in  life  contra- 
dicts every  particular  of  this  indictment.  Tet  I  had  never  said 
this,  did  not  my  present  circumstances  extort  it  from  me,  and 
seem  to  make  it  necessary.  Permit  me  here,  my  Lord,  to  call 
upon  malignity  itself,  so  long  and  cruelly  busied  in  this  prosecu- 
tion^ to  charge  on  me  any  immorality,  of  which  prejudice  was 
not  iSt»  author.  No,  my  Lord,  I  concerted  not  schemes  of  fraud, 
projected  no  violence,  injured  no  man's  person  or  property.  My 
days  were  honestly  laborious,  my  nights  intensely  studious.  And 
I  numbly  conceive,  my  notice  of  this,  especially  at  this  time,  will 
not  be  Uiought  impertinent,  or  unseasonable;  but,  at  least,  de- 
serving some. attention :  because,  my  Lord,  that  any  person,  after 
a  temperate. use  of  life,  a  series  of  th^lking  and  acting  regularly, 
and  widitat.one  ^in^edemtion  from  sobriety,  should  plunge  into 
the  very  depth  of  profligacy,  precipitately  and  at  once,  is  alt^;ether 


72  Trial  and  Defence  C8 

• 

Improbable  and  unprecedented,  and  absolutely  inconsistent  with 
the  course  of  things.  Mankind  is  never  corrupted  at  once ;  til« 
lany  is  always  progressive,  and  declines  from  right,  step  by  step^ 
till  every  regard  of  probity  is  lost,  and  every  sense  of  all  mc^rai 
obligations  totally  perishes. 

«  Again,  my  Lord,  a  suspicion  of  this  kind,  which  nothing  but 
malevolence  could  entertain,  and  ignorance  propagate,  is  violently 
opposed  by  my  very  situation  at  that  time,  with  respect  to  heakh : 
for,  but  a  little  space  before,  I  had  been  confined  to  my  bed,  and 
sufiered  under  a  very  long  and  severe  disorder,  and  was  not  aUe, 
for  half  a  year  together,  so  much  as  to  walk.  The  distemper  lefic 
me  indeed,  yet  slowly  and  in  part;  but  so  macerated,  so  enfeebled, 
that  I  was  reduced  to  crutches ;  and  was  so  far  from  being  weO 
about  the  time  I  am  charged,  with  this  fact,  that  I  never  to  this 
day  perfectly  recovered.  Could  then  a  person  in  this  condition 
take  any  dung  into  his  head  so  unlikely,  so  extravagant  ?  I,  past 
the  vigor  of  my  age,  feeble  and  valetudinary,  with  no  inducement 
to  engage,  no  ability  to  accomplish,  no  weapQii  wherewith  to  per- 
petrate such  a  iztt'j  without  interest,  without  power,  without 
motive,  without  means. 

<<  Beddes,  it  must  needs  occur  to  every  one,  that  an  action  of 
this  atrocious  nature  is  never  heard  of,  but,  when  its  springs  are 
laid  open,  it  appears  that  it  was  to  support  some  indolence,  ov 
supply  some  luxury ;  to  satisfy  some  avarice,  or  oblige  some  ma^ 
Ece;  to  prevent  some  real,  or  some  imaginary  want :  yet  I  lay 
not  under  the  influence  of  any  one  of  these.  Surely,  my  Lord,  i 
may,  consistent  with  both  truth  and  modesty,  aflirm  thus  much ; 
and  none  who  have  any  veracity,  and  knew  me,  will  ever  question 
tins. 

<<  In  the  second  place,  the  disappearance  of  Clark  is  suggested 
as  an  argument  of  his  being  dead :  but  the  uncertamty  of  such  an 
inference  from  that,  and  the  fallibility  of  all  conclusions  of  sudi 
sort,  from  such  a  circumstance,  are  too  obvious,  and  too  notori* 
ous,  to  require  instances :  yet,  superseding  many,  permit  me  to 
produce  a  very  recent  one,  and  that  afforded  by  this  castle. 

<<  In  June,  1757,  William  Thompson,  for  all  the  vigilance  of 
this  place,  in  open  day-light,  and  double-ironed,  made  his  es-i 
cape ;  and,  notwithstan4iog  an  immediate  enquiry  set  on  foot, 
the  strictest  search,  and  all  ^advertisement,  was  never  seen  nor 
heard  of  since;  If  then  Thompson  got  off  unseen,  through  all 
these  difficulties,  how  very  easy  was  it  for  Clark,  when  none  of 
them  opposed  him  I  But  what  would  be  thought  of  a  prosecution 
commenced  against  any  one  seen  last  with  Thompson  ? 

<<  Peinmt  me,  next,  my  Lord,  to  observe  a  little  on  the  bones 
wliich  have  bi>en  discovered.    It  is  ^id,  i^hich  perhapis  is.  saying 


; 


9}  of  Et^ene  Antm.  73 

yery*  i^9  that  these  are  the  skeleton  of  a  man.  It  is  possible  in- 
deed it  may:  but  is  there  any  certain  known  i:riterion»  which 
incontestibly  distinguishes  the  sex  in  human  bones  I  Let  it  be 
considered)  my  Lord,  whether  the  ascertaining  of  this  point  ought 
not  to  precede  any  attempt  to  identify  them. 

^*  The  place  of  their  depositum  too  claims  much  more  attention 
than  is  commonly  bestowed  on  it :  for  of  all  places  in  the  world, 
none  could  have  mentioned  any  one,  wherein  there  was  greater 
certainty  of  finding  human  bones^  than  a  hermitage ;  except  he 
should  point  out  a  church-yard ;  hermitageS)  in  time  past,  being 
not  only  places  of  religious  retirement^  but  of  burial  too.  And  it 
has  scarce  or  e?er  been  heard  of,  but  that  every  cell  now  known, 
contains,  or  contained,  these  relics  of  humanity  j  some  mutilated^ 
and  some  entire.  I  do  not  inform,  but  give  me  leave  to  remind 
your  lordship^  that  here  sat  solitary  sanctity,  aiid  here  the  hermit, 
or  the  anchoress,  hoped  that  repose  for  their  bbnes,  when  dead, 
they  here,  enjoyed  when  living. 

,  <<  All  tjhis  while,  my  Lord,  I  am  sensible  this  is  known  to  yout 
lorddiip,  and  many  in  this  court,  better  than  I.  But  it  seems 
necessary  to  my  case  that  others,  who  have  not  at  all,  perhaps^ 
adverted  to  things  of  this  nature,  and  may  have  concern  in  my 
trialil  should  be  made  acquainted  with  it.  Sufier  me  then,  my 
Lord,  to  produce  a  few  of  many  evidences,  that  those  cells  were 
used  as  repositories  of  the  dead^  and  to  enumerate  a  few,  in  which 
human  bodies  have  been  found,  as  it  happened  in  this  in  question : 
lest|  to  some,  that  accident  might  seem  extraordinary,  and^  conse- 
quently,  occasion  prejudice^ 

^  1.  The  bones,  as  was  supposed,  of  the  Saxon,  St.  Diibritius^ 
were  discovered  buried  in  his  cell  at  Guy's  cliflF,  near  Warwick,  as 
appears  from  the  authority  of  Sir  William  Dugdale. 

<<  S»  The  bones,  thought  to  be  those  6f  the  anchoress  Roda^ 
were  but  lately  discovert  in  a  cell  at  Royston,  entire,  fair,  aiid 
undecayed,  though  they  must  have  lain  interred  for  several  centu« 
ries,  as  U  proved  1>y  Dr.  Stukely. 

«  S.  But  our  own  country,  hay,  almost  this  neighbodiood,  'siip- 
pfies  another  instance:  for  in  January,  1747,  was  found  by  Mr* 
Stovin,  accompanied  by  a  teverend  gentleman,  the  bones,  in  partj 
of  some  recluse,  in  the  cell  at  Lindholni)  near  Hatfield.  They 
were  believed  to  be  thds<e  of  William  of  Lindholm,  a  hermit,  who 
had  long  made  this  cave  his  hs^itatioo. 

f<  4.  In  February,  1744,  part  of  Wobum  abbey  being  pulled 
down»  a  large  portion  of  a  cbrpse  appeared,  even  with  the  fileahon^ 
and  which  bore  cutting  with  a  knife  ;  though  it  is  certain  this  had 
lain  above  100  years,  and  ho\kr  much  longer  is  doubtful }  for  this 
ai>bey  was  founded  in  1145,  and  dissolved  in  1588  or  9.: 


74  Trial  and  Defence  [id 

<<  "ttllml  would  have  been  said,  what  believed,  if  this  had  beeii 
an  accident  to  the  bones  in  question  i 

«  Turther,  my  Lord,  it  is  not  yet  out  of  living  memory,  thai  a 
little  distance  from  EInaresboroUgh,  in  a  field,  pan  of  the  maiio# 
of  the  worthy  and  patriot  baroi^et,  who  does  that  borough  the  ho- 
nor to  represent  it  in  parliament,  were  found,  in  digging  for  gravel, 
not  one  human  skeleton  only,  but  five  or  six  deposited  side  by 
side,  with  each  an  urn  placed  on  its  head,  as  your  lordship  knows 
was  usual  in  ancient  interments. 

^<  About  the  same  time,  and  in  another  field,  almost  close  to 
this  borough,  was  discovered  also,  in  searching  for  gravel,  another 
human  skeleton ;  but  the  piety  of  the  same  worthy  gentleman 
ordered  both  pits  to  be  filled  up  again,  commendably  unwilling  to 
disturb  the  dead. 

« Is  the  invention  of  these  bones  forgotten,  thea,  or  indus** 
triously  coiicealed,  that  the  discovery  of  those  in  question  may 
appear  the  more  singular  and  extraordinary?  whereas,  in  fac^ 
there  is  nothing  extraordinary  in  it.  My  Lord,  almost  every  place 
conceals  such  remains*  In  fields,  in  hills,  in  highway  sides,  in  com- 
mons, lie  frequent  and  unsuspected  bones.  And  our  present 
allotment  for  rest  for  the  departed,  is  but  of  some  centuries. 

«  Another  particular  seems  not  to  claim  a  little  of  your  lord- 
ship's notice,  and  that  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury;  which  is, 
diat  perhaps  no  example  occurs  of  more  than  one  skeleton  being 
found  in  one  cell;  and  in  the  cell  in  question  was  found  but  one: 
agreeable,  in  this,  to  the  peculiarity  of  every  other  known  cell  in 
Britain.  Not  the  invention  of  one  skeleton,  then,  but  of  twoi 
would  have  appeared  suspicious  and  uncommon. 

<<  But  then,  my  Lord,  to  attempt  to  identiify  these,  when  even 
to  identify  living  men  sometimes  has  proved  so  difficult,  as  in  the 
case  of  Perkin  Warbeck  and  Lambert  Symnel  at  home,  and  of 
Don  Sebastian  abroad,  will  be  looked  on  perhaps  as  an  attempt 
to  determine  what  is  indeterminable.  And  I  hope  too  it  .will  not 
pass  unconsidered  here,  where  gentlemen  believe  with  caution, 
think  with  reason,  and  decide  with  humanity,  what  interest  the 
radeavor  to  do  this  is  calculated  to  serve,  in  assigning  proper  per* 
sonality  to  those  bones,  whose  particular  appropriation  can  only 
appear  to  eternal  Omniscience. 

**  Permit  me,  my  Lord,  also  very  humbly  to  remonstrate,  that^ 
as  human  bones  appear  to  have  been  the  inseparable  adjuncts  of 
every  cell,  even  any  person^s  naming  such  a  place  at  random  as 
containing  them,  in  this  case,  shows  him  rather  unfortunate  than 
conscious  prescient,  and  that  these  attendants  on  every  hermitage 
accidentally  concurred  with  this  conjecture.  A  mere  casual  coii^- 
cidence  of  words  and  things. 


11]  of  Eugene  Aranu  75 

<<  But  it  seems  another  skeleton  has  been  discovered  by  some 
laborer,  which  was  fidl  as  confidently  averred  to  be  Clark's  as 
this.  My  Lord,  must  some,  of  the  living,  if  it  promotes  some 
interest,  be  made  anjsweriible  for  all  the  bones  tl\at  earth  has  con- 
cealed, and  chance  exposed  ?  And  might  not  a  place  where  bones 
hiy  be  mentioned  by  a  person  by  chance,  as  well  as  found  1)y  a 
kmorer  by  chance?  Or,  is  it  more  criminal  accidentally  to  name 
where  bones  lie,  than  accidentally  to^nd  where  they  lie  ? 

<<  Here  too  is  a  human  skull  produced,  which  is  fractured ;  but 
was  this  the  cause f  or  was  it  the  consequence  of  death  ?  was  it 
owing  to  violence,  or  the  effect  of  natural  decay  ?  If  it  was  vio- 
lence, was  that  violence  before  or  after  death  ?  My  Lord,  in  May, 
1752,  the  remains  of  William  Lord  Archbishop  of  this  province 
were  taken  up,  by  permission,  in  this  cathedral,  and  the  bones  of 
the  skull  were  found  broken  :  yet  certainly  he  died  by  no  violence 
offered  to  him  alive,  that  could  occasion  that  fracture  there. 

'^  Let  it  be  considered,  my  Lord,  that,  upon  the  dissolution  of 
rel^ous  houses,  and  the  coipmenpement  of  the  reformation,  the 
ravages  of  those  times  both  affected  the  living  and  the  dead.  In 
seardi  after  imaginary  treasures,  coffins  were  broken  up,  graves 
and  vaults  dug  open,  monuments  ransacked,  and  shrines  demo- 
lished.; your  lordship  knows  that  these  violations  proceeded  so  far, 
as  to  occasion  parliamentary  authority  to  restrain  tnem  %  and  it  did, 
abo^  the.  be^nning  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  I  entr^tf 
¥Oiir  )of44&lp»  suffer  not  the  violences,  the  depredations,  and  the 
miquities  of  diose  times  to  be  imputed  to  this. 

^'Moreover,  what  gentleman  here  is  ignorant  that  Knaresbo- 
Tough  had  a  castle ;  which,  though  now  run  to  ruin,  was  once 
considerable  both  for  its  strength  and  garrison  ?  All  know  it  was 
vigoioinly  besieged  by  the  arms  of  the  parliament :  at  which  siege, 
in  sallies,  conflicts,  Rights,  pursuits,  many  fell  ixk  all  the  places 
round  it  \  and  where  they  fell  were  buried ;  for  every  place,  my 
Lord,  is  burial  earth  in  war  \  and  many,  questionless,  of  these  rest 
yet  imknown,  whose  bones  futurity  shall  discover. 

**  I  hope,  with  all  imaginable  submission,  that  what  has  been 
said  win  not  be  thought  impertinent  to  this  indictment ;  and  that 
it  will  be  far  from  the  wisdom,  the  learning,  and  the.  integrity  of 
this  place,  to  impute  to  the  living  what  zeal  in  its  fury  may  have 
done,  what  nature  mav  have  taken  off,  and  piety  interred  %  or  what 
war  alone  may  have  destroyed,  alone  deposited. 

<<  As  to  the  circumstances  that  have  been  raked  together,  I 
have  notUng  to  observe  \  but  that  all  circumstances  whatsoever 
areprecarious, and  have  been  but  too  frequently  found  lamentably 
bSmUs ;  even  the  strongest  have  failed.  They  may  rise  to  the 
utmost  degree  of  probability  \  yet  are  they  but  probability  still. 


76 — 96    Trial  and  Defence  of  Eugene  Aram.  [12 

Why  need  I  name  to  your  lordship  the  two  Harrisons  recorded  in 
Dr.  Howel,  who  both  buffered  on'  circumstanced,  because  of  the 
sudden  disappearance  of  their  l()dger,  who  was  in  credit,  had  con* 
tracted  debts,  borrowed  money,  and  went  off  unseen,  and  returned 
again  a  great  many  years  after  their  execution  ?  Why  name  the 
intricate  af&irs  of  Jacques  de  Moulin,  under  King  Charles  IL 
related  by  a  gentleman  who  was  counsel  for  the  crown?  aiid  why 
the  unhappy  Coleman,  who  suffered  innocent,  though  convicted 
Upon  positive  evidence,  and  whose  children  perished  for  want, 
because  the  world  uncharitably  believed  the  father  guilty  ?  Why 
mention  the  perjury  of  Stnith^  incautiously  admitted  king's  evi- 
dence ;  who,  to  screen  himself,  equally  accused  Faircloth  and 
Loveday  of  the  murder  of  Dunn ;  the  first  of  whom,  in  1749,  was 
executed  at  Winchester;  and  Loveday  vras  about  to  suffer  at 
Reading,  had  hot  Smith  been  proved  perjured,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  court,  by  the  surgeon  of  the  Gosport  hospital  ? 

<<  Now,  my  Lord,  having  endeavored  to  show  that  the  whole  of 
this  process  is  altogether  repugnant  to  every  part  of  my  life ;  that 
it  is  inconsistent  with  my  condition  of  health  about  that  time ; 
that  no  rational  inference  can  be  drawn,  that  a  person  is  dead  who 
suddenly  disappears  ;  that  hermitages  were  the  constant  repbsito* 
ries  of  the  bones  of  the  recluse;  that  the  proofs  of  this  ate  well 
authenticated ;  that  the  revolutions  in  religion,  or  the  fortune  of 
war,  has  mangled,  or  buried,  the  dead ;  the  conclusion  remains, 
t>erhapS,  no  less  reasonably  than  impatiently  wished  for.  I,  last, 
after  a  year's  confinement,  equal  to  either  fortune,  put  myself 
upon  the  candor,  the  justice^  and  the  humanity  of  your  Ibrdshipi 
and  upon  yours,  my  countrymen,  gentlemen  of  the  jury/' 


LA    GRteCE 


EN    1821  £T  1822. 


€ORB£SPONDANC£     POLITIQUE 


FUBLIEE 


PAR   UN.  OREC. 


r  • 


Notre  foi  est  le  gage  de  notre  salut.— — ('JLefire  12*^ 


IMPRIM&  A  PARIS. 


r£iMPR1ME  a  LONDRES:  1823. 


VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.         G 


AVERTISSEMENT. 


Les  Lettres  tjue  nous  offrons  au  public  aurontoclles  le  sort  de 
tant  de  brochures  ^ph^m^res  qu'on  lit  pour  oublier  llienre  qu'il 
est,  et  que  Ton  oublie  aussitdt  apr^s  les  avoir  lues  i  Nous  osous 
esp^rer  le  contraire.  L'auteur  ^le  cette  Correspondance  ecrk 
avec  connaissance  de  cause ;  il  communique  d  ses  lecteurs  une 
foule  d'id^es  neuves  et  de  particiilarites  peu  connues  sur  Tbistoire 
d'une  nation  qui  fixe  en  ce  moment  les  regards  de  la  chr6tient6. 
L'esprit  reiigieux  et  le  patriotisme  dont  il  est  anim6,  lui  tiennent 
souvent  lieu  d'^loquence ;  et  I'ardeur  de  son  zele  ne  nuit  aucune* 
ment  a  Timpartialit^  de  ses  opinions.  Une  aussi  belle  cause  que 
celle  de  la  Grice  m^ritait  un  apologiste  6clair6^  qui  ne  tint  A  au* 
cun  parti,  et  qui  fftt  capable  de  repousser  la  calomnie  ainsi  que  les 
^loges  k  contre-sens.  Telle  est  la  t&che  honorable  que  l'auteur 
de  ces  Lettres  s'est  efforc6  de  remplir.  C'est  au  public  k  decider 
s'il  y  a  r6u8si.  Ceux  m^me,  parmi  nos  lecteurs,  qui  ne  trouve- 
raient  pas  les  raisonnemens  de  r6crivain  assez  d^monstratifs,  ne 
pounpnt  s'emp^her  de  rendre  justice  d  la  puret6  des  principes 
qull  professe.  lis  apprendront  k  mieux  connattre  la  grande  ques- 
tion que  le  monde  agite  et  que  Dieu  a  r^solue.  Les  ev^nemens 
ne  peuvent  manquer  d'achever  leur  conversion* 

L^^DITEUR. 


LA    G  R  £  C  E 


EX  1831  ET  1822. 


LETTRE   PREMI&RE. 


S*«««     d      li•^••^ 


V  ous  me  demandez,  mon  noble  ami^  des  nouvelles  de  ma  patrie 
en  p€ril.  II  y  a  deux  ans  que  ce  nom  si  doux,  quoique  grave 
dans  le  fond  de  mon  ^me,  ne  m'eftt  pas  sufiisamment  expliqu6 
votre  pens6e.  En  e£fet,  je  me  souviens  qu'sl  cette  6poque  je  n'avaii 
encore  qu'une  terre  natale,  mais  point  de  patrie.  La  Gr^ce  qui 
m'a  donn6  le  jour,  I'^glise  qui  m'avait  conf6r6  le  8acr6  caractere 
ducbr6tien,toutes  deux  vivantesdans  lefonddu  tombeau,  m'61oi- 
gnirent  ft  Fenvi  de  leur  sein  maternel^  afin  de  m'6Iever  k  la  dignit6 
d'homme,  vivant  en  s6ci6t6  avec  Dieu  et  avec  ses  semblables* 
Aujourd'bui  tout  est  cbang6  ;  ces  temps  affreux  ne  sont  plus.  La 
Grece  se  reveille  d'une  lethargie  de  quatre  si^cles :  le  sang  des 
martyrs  a  coul6  par  torrens.  Ici  commence  une  nouvelle  vie  na- 
tionale ;  un  peuple  ray6  de  la  liste  des  iiations  regoit  des  mains 
de  son  Dieu  une  nouvelle  existence.  En  vain  la  politique  du  si^le 
se  r^crie  centre  un  tel  prodige ;  ce  n'est  point  un  incident  passager 
Sans  les  annates  de  notre  globe :  c'est  vainement  que  la  prudence 
bumaine,  appu;^6e  sur  le  t^moignage  de  Texperience^  r6voque  en 
doute  la  possibility  de  notre  r6g6n6ration  politique ;  j'en  conviens 
avec  elle :  cet  £v6nement  n'a  point  son  pareil  dans  Thistoire ;  et 
je  vais  accumuler  les  preuves  de  mon  assertion,  afin  de  fournir  d 
mes  adversaires  des  armes  centre  moi.  Cependant,  le  croiriez- 
vous,  mon  noble  ami !  Thistoire,  en  d^posant  contre  la  vraisem- 
blance  d'une  resurrection  que  la  cbr6tient6  appelle  de  tons  ses 
voeux,  he  servira  qu'd  mieux  r6v6Ier  la  certitude  de  cette  grande 
metamorphose.  Ecoutez-moi  avec  attention ;  je  vais  vous  d6voiler 
Pin6branlable  fondement  de  nos  esp6rances^  et  lorsque  vous  aurez 


100  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grke  M 

ipprofondi  ce  mystdre,  je  vous  entretiendrai  du  faits,  de  I'^Ut  r^l 
de  ma  patrie,  den  vraies  causes  de  la  involution  qui  s'y  opire,  ainsi 
que  dee  probabilit^s  de  son  aveuir. 

Rien  dc  nouveau  sous  le  soleil,  hormis  les  deatio^  progrei- 
sivea  de  la  religtoii  cbr^tie^ne.  Tput  d^qrit  un  cerde  ici-bas;  le 
christianisme  seul  except^.  Sa  marche,  louvent  difficile  i  suivre, 
est  toujoun  ce  qu'il  y  a  de  nouveau  &  chaque  siicle,  &  chaqm 
p^riode  de  I'liisloire  du  moode.  Soit  qu'on  I'eiivinee  dani 
rancienne  loi,  soit  que  I'on  reinoDte  aux  temps  de  la  loi  wm 
^crite,  soit  eufin  que .  I'on  reilescende  Sl  I'^poque  de  la  i^emp- 
tion,  on  retrouve  toujours  dans  la  vraie  religion  cet  essor  mya- 
t^eux  qui  n'ob^it  point  au  coiirs  uniforme  des  ^T^neineni. 
L'6glise  patriarcale,  celle  du  d^rt  et  de  la  loi  6crite,  celle  des 

tiropb^tes  avant  et  apr^s  la  captivit^,  celle  des  Maccbab^ea,  dans 
eur  progressitm  souyent  imperceptible,  mais  toujoura  constante, 
ii'^laient  A  I'histoire  du  reate  de  la  terre,  que  ce  que  le  grain  de 
s^nev^  est  i  une  immeuse  forSt.  Tout  n^anmoins  coocourait 
aveugl£ment  Sl  f£cander  ce  genue  ignor^,  Bieutdt  apris  le  ber- 
ceau  de  la  loi  devient  un  temple ;  I'Evangile  est  port£  i  toute  la 
cr^tion.  I^es  sidles  se  succddenl,  ils  passeut,  et  leurs  ombna 
fugitives  86  projettent  sur  les  tables  vivantes  de  I'eterqelle  W 
L'enceinte  du  vrai  temple  s'£l^v«,  malgr^  le  d£lire  des  pawioos  ie 
lliomme  ;  et  cheque  si^cle  voit  uue  nouvelle  face  de  I'etiifice,  nui 
pouvoir  en  mecotinattre  Tunit^  et  ridentit^.  II  s^ffira  de  cotnpa- 
rer  notre  ai^cle  ^  toua  ceux  qui  Tout  pr^c^fii^.  pour  ae  connincre 
intimement  d'une  v^rit^  sussi  consolante.  L^bservateur,  en  m^- 
ditant  avec  recueillement  ce  faint  cantique  de  Thiatoire,  ne  tardera 

ftaa  A  d^couvrir  que  tout,  en  effet,  lilcrit  un  cercle  ici-bas,  except^ 
a  religion  ^tenielle.  La  croix  est  Yfxe  de  la  sphere,  que  nous 
appeldns  ^tnow^e  mora/,-  c'est  lui  qui  avaiice:  la  sphere  ne  se 
meut  qu'en  roulant  sur  etle-m(ime.  Or,  il  est  des  evlnemens  qui 
lieuneDt  aux  vicissitudes  mondaineg  et  politiques :  ceux-Ii  u'oiFrent 
Jamais  rien  de  vraiment  nouveau ;  et  pour  les  juger,  I'hiatoire  de- 
meure  un  oracle  infaillible,  qui  ue  trompe  jamais.  C'est  tout  autre 
cbose,  lorsqu'une  revolution  se  ratlache  aux  destinees  du  christie- 
nisme :  telles  soot,  par  exemple,  la  chute  du  peuple  d'tsrael,  sa  dis- 
persioD,  sa  conservation  mir^culeuse,  qui  se  rit  de  loutes  les  combi- 
naisons  bunwines.  Cyrus,  Alexandre,  Julien  I'aposiat,  aoiit  des  pfa^- 
nom^nes  dans  I'histoire,  parcequ'ilsont  it^appeles^  iiilluer  sur  les 
destines  de  la  religion  ^teroelle.  1«b  Croisades  ne  sont-eUeapa* 
un  monument  incomparable  dans  les  anualesdes  nations  ?  Les  ^^i- 
gralioDs  des  peuples  barbares,  accourant  des  bouts  de  Tiuiiyerf 
bour  fl^chir  le  genou  devant  la  croix,  et  renverserle  Capitple,  enfiit 
la  naissance  et  I'accroisiemeut  du  mah9rantisn]e,  s6nt-ce  ht  efes 
^v^nemens  que  rexperience  ait  jamais  pu  pr^voi^,  mesurer  de 


5]  en  1821  et  1822.  101 

roeTif,  embrasserdaAs  leurs  r^sultats,  6otuparer  ^  quelque  revolution 
ant6rieare  ? .  •  •  Non,  san^  doute.  De^  peuphtdes  obscures  s'61d- 
veront  eificore  i  la  dignit^  de  nations;  des  empires  nattronff, 
8%l^veront  avec  gloire,  d^clineront  aviec  ra^idit6 :  tout  c^la  est 
dairi  Toirdre  de  la  nature;  mais  une  monarchie  uniTerselfe,  d!ds  mi- 
grations uaiyerselles^  nn^'  dispersion  uynverselle^  comtne  ceRe  dti 
people  juify  n'6  s^'  riSpiferont  plus  ;  ces  6V6nenienB  irin  rnres,  d'un 
orcfre  8up6neur,  dibotocerterbnt  toujours  nos  calcnls^  feront  le  d6-' 
ne^pdir  de  nds  conjectures  les  pins  raffin^es.  Le  r6veH  de  la  na- 
fioh  g^eque  appai^tient  A  cette  clause  d'6v6fiemien8.  Si  ce  n'6tait 
poiht  une  6poofjUe'  tttnt^fdie,  pr6destin6e  dans  rhfstoire  du  chris- 
(ianismVii^  la  namh  grecque,  depuis  long-temps  n'existerait  plus  ; 
ou  bien  elie  succbiroerdiit  dans  le  moment  present ;  elle  s'efiace- 
rail  sans  r^tour,  comMe  ces  fleuves  qui  se  perdent  daiis  les  sables, 
avant  d'avoSf  atteitit  Tbc^n.^  Vous  saisissez  mainteiianrt  mon 
id6ei  tout  entiire,  cfaer  ami;  D'autr^s  Taijiypelleront  une  abstrac- 
tion sterile ;  its'  troikveront  que  je  Tai  d6velopp6e^  avec  trop  d^6ten- 
dtie,  et  tfit  c*6tait  m'6loigner  du  sujet,  sans  y  r6pandre  la  moindre 
clar^.  Cependanty  j'ose  esp6rer  que  la  suite  de  notre  corr^spon- 
daitiee  proutvera  le  contraire ;  elle  sefvira  i  di^montr^r  que  la  p6li- 
tiique  dd'  jouf  se  mdprend  sur  Finsurrection  grecque,  parce  qu*elle 
rcstiffeiile  atrx  aiitr^s  revolutions.  Or,  il  j  a  pfui^:  Ferreur  que 
je  rignsfcyet  don^  j'indfquerai  plus  tard  toutes  les  consequences, 
est  hiberente  k  la  nature  de  cette  gi^de  metamorphose;  elle 
eat  date  les  desscfins  de  Dieu ;  elle  s^etaye  en  partie  des  interfrts 
inconciliables  du  moment ;  et  j'avouerai  m^me  q;u'elle  a  pour  elle 
le  tenioigmige  de  Texperience.  En  effet,  citez-moi  un  peuple  dont 
la  regeneration  puisse  fttre  comparee  i  celle-  de  lia  Gr^ce.  Plon- 
gez  dans  le  dedale  du  passe,  consulted  le  present,  vous  he  trouverez 
lien  de  semfolable.  N'omettez  aucune  page  de  I'histoire.  Lies 
Babvlohieils,  les  Assyrians  et  les  Mides  ont  fleurr  un  instant,  et 
ifeiiistent  plus  que  de  noni.     Que  sont  devenus  I'es  empires  cre6s 

rrepee  d*Alexandre  i  L'Egypte,  une  fbis  nrarquee  du  sceau  de 
{reprobation  divine,  a-t-elle  jamais  pu  renaitre  d  elle-mfeme,  et 
aecouer  le  joug  des  dominateurs  etrangers  i  Oil  sont  les  Romains, 
lea  Partbes,  les  Gaulois,  les  babitansf  de  la  Betiqiie  et  de  Fanlique^ 
Loaitafiie  ?  Toutes  ces  regions,  une  fois  subjuguees,  ont  change  de 
nature;  de  langu6,de  moeur8,et  de  nom.  SiF£spagne,apr^unelutte 
de  tept  cents  ana  avec  les  Maures,  pent  faire  exception,  c'est  parce 
qu^^lle  a  conserve  tbuioursf,  au  fond  des  Asturies,  un  point  de  ral- 
liemient  national,  oil  Fautel  et  le  trdne  furent  soustraits  au  droit  de 
coaqoSte  et  preserves  de  la  sujetion.  11  eh  est  de  m^me  de  la 
Rdiiiste  :  envahie  par  les  Tartares,  elie  ceda  i  Fimpetuosite  du  tor- 
rent>  inais  consem  toujours  une  existence  natiottale  distincte,  des 
princes  indiginies,  des  r^ions  inaccessibles  aux  ihvasiohs  de  ses 


102  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grece  [d 

oppresseurs.     Dans  ces  temps  de  malheur^  la  Rassie  combattit 
encore  la  Suide  avec  gloire^  efc  ne  se  laissa  arracber  ni  sa  religion, 
ni  sa  languej  ni  son  nom  reserv6  k  de  plus  grandes  destinies. 
Me  citerez-vouSj  mon  noble  ami,  la  Perse,  Tlnde  et  la  Chine? 
Ces  exemples  sont  tons  contre  nous.    En  Perse,  ce  n'est  plus, 
le  m&me  peuple,  le  m6me  idiome,  la  m^me  religion.    L'Inde, 
ce  berceau  de  tant  de  nations,  cette  region  pleine  d  attraits  pour 
les  conqu6rans  et  les  pontes,  n^est  plus  qu'une  vaste  mine  d'or,ex- 
ploit6e  m^thodiquement  par  des  sp^culateurs  arm6s.    Le  soleil 
de  rindependance  n'y  p4nitre  plus ;  et  tant  de  richesses  prodigu6es 
d  r£urope,  ne  lui  ont  pas  valu  en  ^change  le  don  pr6cieux  des  v6- 
rit6s  6ternelles.     La  Chine,  toujours  passive,  absorbe  les  peuplea 
qui  Tenvahissent,  se  soumet  paisiblement  aux  Mandjours,  s'isole  da 
reste  du  monde.    Egalement  incapable  de  d^choir  et  de  se  r^g£-- 
n6rer,  elle  est  aux  autres  soci6t6s  humaines,  ce  qu'une  momie,  bra* 
vant  les  si^des,  est  -k  des  corps  pleins  de  vie.     A  ces  titres,je 
crois  de  bonne  foi  devoir  exclure  la  Chine  de  nos  rapprocfaemens 
historiques.     II  u'en  demeure  pas  moins  suffisamment  d6montr6, 
qu'd  I'exception  du  peuple  d'Israel,  qui  surv^cut  d  deux  captivit6s, 
et  se  r6g6n6ra  deux  fois  par  une  dispensation  sp6ciale  de  la  Provi*. 
dence  divine — qu'd  I'exception  d'Israel,  dont  la  renaissance  future- 
nous  est  pr6dite  pour  la  fin  des  temps,  I'histoire  ne  nous  foumit. 
aucun  exemple  de  r6v6nement  miraciileux  qui  s'accomplit  au«: 
jourd'hui  sur  le  sol  de  la  Gr^ce:  ce  qui  m'est  une  preuve  irrefra- 
gable du  lien  mysterieux  qui  rattacbe  le  sort  de  cette  poign6e  de, 
cbr6tiens  pers6cut6s,  aux  desseins  de  Dieu  sur  son  6glise.     Oui  1 
le  christianisme  ne  d^crit  point  un  cercle,  d  Tinstar  des  combinai- 
sons  purement  terrestres ;  il  avance,  il  entratne  avec  lui  les  obsta* 
cles  qui  s'opposent  k  sa  marche  glorieuse  ;  il  se  fait  jour  au  milieu 
de  ses  ennemis;  et  les  revolutions  qu'il  fait  nattre,  n'ont  rien  de. 
commun  avec  ces  oscillations  uniformes  des  616mens  sociaux,  que 
Montesquieu  a  d6sigu6es  en  disant,  *^  que  toute  vari6te  est  unifor*: 
mite,  tout  changement  en  elles  est  Constance." 

La  Grece,  au  contraire,  oubliee  du  reste  des  hommes,  mats  tou- 
jours pr6sente  k  la  m^moire  de  celui  qui  frappe  et  qui  console,  est 
reside  fidele  d  sa  religion,  k  sa  langue,  k  ses  moeurs,  k  ses  souve- 
nirs, sous  le  jpug  le  plus  dur,  le  plus  avilissant,  et  cela,  durant 
quatorze  generations,  nees  et  eteintes  dans  la  servitude.  Oh !  que. 
de  sujets  de  gloire  pour  Dieu^  d'admiration  et  de  recueillement 
pour  i'homme,  pendant  cette  longue  periode  d'epreuves^  qui  de- 
vaient  amener  notre  a£franchissement,  et  le  triomphe  de  la  croix 
long-temps  fouiee  aux  pieds  par  le  mabometisme !  II  ne  s'agit 
point  ici  d'une  charte  constitutionnelle,  aux  prises  avec  une  auto- 
rite  absolue  ;  c'est  la  religion,  ce  legs  du  ciel  a  la  terre,  cette  sainte.- 
constitution' des  etres  pensans,  refouiee  en  Europe  par  la  doctrine; 


TF  en  1821  et  1622.  lOS 

dn.fisiuxfNroph^te, qui, apr&i  avoir  terrass^  en  France  son  ennemi 
le  plua  dongereox,  f*6lance  maiotenant  avec  une  nouvelle  vigueur 
contra  Fariamsnie  grossier^  raviaseur  de  son  antique  patrimoine^ 
c'eat  Dieu  lui-m^me,  excitant  une  peiiplade  m^pria^e^  maia  chr6ti^ 
enne,  d  aecouer  le  joug  de  la  berbarie  et  de  I'erreur ;  doonant  le 
premier  eaaor  aux  reactions  bienfoiaaintes^  qui  doivent  aignaler  ues 
Hiia^ricordea;  ofirant  i  T  Europe  un  gage  de  saluti  unique  moyen 
qni  puiase  aauver  aes  habitana  de  leura  fureura  auicidea.  C'eat  le 
tSeigneur  qui  dai|;ne  ae  aervir  du  r6veil  de  la  nation  grecque^  comme 
d'une  premiere  impulsion  vers  un  but  encore  plus  relev^ ;  et 
pour  que  la  sagesse  humaine  n'eftt  point  d'ezcuse,  il  a  permis  qu'un 
ai  grand  £v6neaient^  miniatre  dea  justicea  du  Tris-Haut  i  I'egard 
d'une  puissance  anticbr^enne  et  antiaociale,  a'annon^&t  pr6cis6- 
ment  a  une  6poque,  oil  les  souverains  de  TEurope,  instruita  k  T^cole 
4t  radveraitc^  unia  entre  eux  par  lielirs  revers^  comnie  par  leura 
Iriomphes,  n'out  qu'i  vouloir,  pour  ex6cuter  ce  que  veut  leur 
mattre  et  le  ndtre. 

J6  mer^sMme:  la  conservation  miraculeuse  du peuple grec  sous 
le  joug  ottoman,  joug  terrible,  auquel  tant  de  nationa  ont  auccom- 
hi,  devait  faire  pr^sager,  dia  long-temps,  une  renaissance  non 
moina  roiraculeuae.  £lle  Test  etfectivement,  parce  qu'elle  de- 
mieilre  preaque  aana  exemple  dana  lea  annates  du  globe.  Cepen- 
dant,  6n  ne  saurait  en  d6duire  Timpossibilit^  de  la  r6g6n6ration  po- 
litique de  la  Gr^ce ;  car  il  est,  nous  le  r6p£tons,  des  6v6nemens 
d'un  ordre  aupineur,  des  lois  d'exceptiou  dans  le  systime  du 
nionde. 

-  Ce  aont  lea  moyens  dont  Dieu  se  sert  pour  faire  prosp^rer  aon 
eaUvre  ici-bas.  La  religion  chr^tienne  posside  aeule  le  don  mystd* 
rieux  de  faire  6clore  au  sein  des  soci^tes  bumaines,  des  combinai- 
aoos  toutes  nouvelles*  On  en  voit  des  exemples  dans  Thistoire  du 
peuple  juif,  intimement  li6e  aux  accroissemens  de  Tempire  remain, 
et  ^  aa  decadence  acc£16r6e  par  les  invasions  dea  peupies  barbares. 
Lea  croisades,  les  guerres  de  religion,  le  protestantisme,  la  revolu- 
tion frin^aiae,  et  en  dernier  lieu,  la  dissolution  de  Tempire  ottoman^ 
aont  des  faita  qui  appartiennent  au  m6me  ordre  de  cboaes,  et  que 
par  contH^quent  aucupe  force  d'intelligence  ne  pent  ni  contraner, 
ni  pr^venir.  Que  scmt,  en  efiet,  lea  autres  revolutions,  compar^es 
k  cea  grandes  ^poques  i  Abus  du  pouvoir,  excis  du  luxe,  v6tust6 
de  quelques  institutiqns,  rivalit^s  vulgaires,  intir^ts  aordides,  cal- 
cula  ing^nieux  qui  ne  produiaent  6temellement  que  lea  m^mea  r^- 
aultats.  11  en  est  de  ce  cours  ordinaire  des  choses  au  moral,  comme 
du  mouvement  de  notre  -  aystime  plan^taire :  cette  circonvolu- 
tioQ  unifornie  n'exclut  pas  le  mouvement  retrograde  du  syst^nie 
universe],  pjificourant  le^b  sigqea  du  zodi^que,  et  s^eiangant,  par  des 
gradations  lentes,  vers  i^  orient  6ternel. 


i04  Correspanddnce  politique  sur  la  Grice  [& 

Ne  tiotis  hfttbtis  doitc  pdnt,  ihon  noble  ami^  de  porter  an  jiige- 
nient  sur  la  revolution  de  la  Gr^ce^  d'apr^s  des  affinity  iUugoires. 
La  v6rite  n'est  point  d  la  superficie  des  choses,  elle  gtl  au  fond  du 
pvAts,  comme  le  disait  un  philosppfae  aincien. 

M6ditez  sur  cette  lettre  que  ma  conviction  m^a  dict^*  J'attends 
votre  r6ponse^  pour  donner  suite  d  un  6cfaange  d'id^es  si  n^cesaaire 
d  mon  &nie,  Je  soufire  cruellement  des  maux  qu'endurent  ines 
frires  ;  et  il  n'appartenaitqu'd  une  sympatfaie  telle  que  la  vdtre,  de 
me  faire  i^ompre  le  silence  du  recueillement  et  de  la  douleur. 


LETTRE  IL 

BEPONSE. 

MoN  digne  ami!  dans  chaque  gland  vous  voyez  un  cbtee. 
Votre  esprit  s'^levant  sur  les  ailes  d'une  foi  contemplative,  inter- 
roge  le  pliss^,  et  plonge  dans  Tavenir  avec  une  bardiesse  qui  m'6^ 
tonne.  II  m'a  faliu  rlfl6chir  miirement,  avant  que  d'avoir  appro- 
fondi  toutes  vos  id^es.  Cependant,  j'acquiesce  sans  h6siter  i  la 
distinction  entiirement  neuve  que  vous  etablissez  entre  les  revolu- 
tions, fruit  du  cours  ordinaire  des  cboses^  et  celles  qui  se  rattachjent 
afux  destinies  du  cbristianisme.  L'bistoire  appuie.  vos  tb^ories; 
et  celle^-ci,  d  leur  tour,  expliquent  bien  des  6v6nemens  qui,  bors 
de  Id,  demeurent  inaccessibles  d  nos  conjectures.  Souffrez  n6an- 
moins,  qu'avant  d'admettre  Tapplication  que  vous  faites  de  ces  v^ 
rit^s  au  r^veil  prodigieux  de  la  nation  grecque,  je  vous  offre  pr6ala- 
blement  quelques  questions  d  r6soudre.  Tant  que  leur  solution  ne 
m'aura  pas  satisfait,  je  ne  saurais  adopter  vos  inductions,  et  tons 
les  presages  heureux  qui  en  r^sultent  pour  Tavenir  de  votre  patrie. 
^b !  croyez  qu'en  traitant  aussi  firoidement  ce  grand  sujet,  je  feis 
violence  d  mon  coeur ;  il  est  tout  entier  pour  la  cause  de  la  Ghr6- 
tient^  souffrante :  j'ai  besoin  de  tout  Tempire  que  la  raison  pent 
donner  sur  les  aflfections  de  T&me,  pour  oublier,  en  vous  6crivant, 
que  c'est  du  triomphe  de  la  religion,  de  la  chute  du  maboro^tiame, 
qu'il  Skagit  en  ce  moment  solennel.  Je  vois  encore  d'ici  mon  p^ 
et  mon  aieul,  dans  le  fond  de  leur  cU^eau,  an  milieu  des  fpr^ts  de 
la  Germanic,  fiddles  d  une  pieuse  tradiition,  prier  tons  les  jours 
avec  ferveur,4)dur  Texpulsion  des  Turcil,  bors  des  limites  de  b 
chr6tient6.  Que  les  temps  sont  cbang^s !  serait-ce  done  sans 
retourf.... 

Revenonsd  I'objet  principal  de  notre  correspondance.  Je  vous 
disais  qu'il  me  faut  des  solutions^  avant  que  d'admettre  sans  restric- 


9]  en  1831  et  1822.  100 

don  Vbs  magnifiqaes  cobjedtures.  Voici  nies  prbbl^es ;  r6poii. 
dez-maiy  Dieu  nous  entend.    Ne  cfaerchons  qu«  la  v6rit6. 

La  rhxdte  peut'tlle  jamais  itre  Usitime  ? 

Dieu  sotUient-il  une  cause  iniuite  f 

Pariant  de  Id,  Fentrenrise  aes  Greespeut-elle  riussir  f 

''  Les  Grecs  sont-ils  a  P^gard  de  la  Porte  ottomane,  dani  les 
rapports  de  8uj6tion  qui  unissent  les  peuples  de  TEurope  k  leo'rt 
souveraiQs  respectifs  :  oui  ou  non  ?  £t  d^s  lors,  comiheiit  doit-on 
juger  lenr  insarrection,  contre  le  pouvoiir  pr6pond6rant,  ou  su« 
prfemer  ' 

Tout  ce  que  ron  a  ^crit  pour  ou  contre  ces  theses  d^licates, 
m'est  parfaitement  connu^  et  ne  m'a  jamais  satisfait ;  car  nous  vi- 
vons  dans  des  temps  de  corruption  et  de  trouble^  oiii  la  pens6e  est 
v^nale,  et  Tesprit  de  parti,  un  tyran.  Je  m'adresse  done  k  voub, 
avec  confiance  en  votre  bonne  foi.  Vos  lumiires,  cher  ami,  et 
plus  encore  la  s6v6rit6  de  vos  principes,  Ine  sont  un  sftr  garant  que 
vous  discuterez  les  questions  que  je  vous  propose,  avec  toute  Pirn- 

Eartialiti  dont  rhonnfete  homme,  le  vrlai  chr4tien,  est  capable.  N'al* 
sz  pas  croire  cette  analyse  superfine.  Ne  n^ligez  pas  d'exami- 
ner  k  fond  des  v6rit6s  qui,  peut-£tre,  vous  paraissent  6vidbntes, 
nuns  qui  oe  le  sont  point  encore  k  mes  yeux.  Je  d^ire  recueillir 
de  vos  r^exions  quelque  chose  de  plus  que  ce  oui  du  ccenr,  dost 
r^sprit  ne  sait  souvent  se  rendre  compte.  R6pandez,  de  grftce, 
dana  mem  esprit  eombattu,  cette  lumi^re  viire  et  douce  d'une  coo* 
vietion  inditerable.  Songez  que  la  religion  et  la  politique  sont 
6galemenC  iat^ress^et  au  triompbe  d'une  cause  si  puissamment  of- 
fusqu^e  par  les  passions  du  moment.  Rappelez-vous  ce  que  p6ut 
de  BOS  jours  ropinion  publique.  II  est  beau  de  r6ussir  k  la  rallier 
autoilr  cPon  mi^me  centre,  sans  la  flatter,  ni  la  pervertir. 


LETTRE    III. 

VoTBE  lettre  a  6clatr6  mon  esprit ;  elle  a  toucb6  mon  coeur. 
Combien  je  vous  sais  gr£  de  votre  sympathie  pour  le  malheur,  de 
votre  amour  pour  la  justice,  de  ce  respect  pour  la  v£rit6  qui  se 
mtAiifeste  par  un  doute  equitable,  et  appelle  a  soi  la  conviction ! 

Voiia  m'avez  rameii^  en  effet  au  vrai  point  de  depart  de  tout^ 
question  morale  et  politique.  Je  vais  Taborder  sans  h6siter ;  car 
ce  n'est  pas  pour  la  premiere  fois  que  je  Penvisage ;  j*ai  aussi 
doUt6  k  mon  tour :  et  dis  Tinstant  oik  le  soleil  de  notre  liberty,  en- 
vironni  de  nuages  sangland,  se  fut  lev£  s^Phorizon,  lorsque  des  cris 
d^enthousiasme  ou  de  fureur  retentissaient  de  toutes  parts  pour  le 


100         Correspondance  poUtiqm  sur  la  GrSce  [liff 

salaer  ou  le  niaudire,  lorsque  le  sommet  du  croissant^  s'inclhuiiit 
comme  ua  signe  de  mort^  eut  commence  k  frapper  sen  victimes^' 
que  j'entendis  le  marteau  de  la  per86cutioii  d6molir  noa  temples^ 
et  la  hacfae  du  bourreau  moissonner  parmi  nous  toiit  ce  qu'il  y 
avait  de  r6v6r6  et  d'fllustre ;  le  croiriez-vous  i  j'eus  encore  la  force 
d'ihterrbger  ma  conscience,  la  parole  de.Dieu  et  Itiistoire^  afin  de 
m'assurer  si  le  bon  droit  6tait  de  notre  cdt^,  qu  bien  si  lea  yen-; 
geances  des  Turcs  6taient  legitimes- 

Je  crois  avoir  ni6rit6,  i.  ce  titre,  toute  la  confiance  que  vous  me 
t^moignez^  sentiment  qui  de  nos  jours  est  devenu  aussi  pr6cieux 
qu'il  est  rare, 

Vous  me  demandez,  mon  noble  ami^  si  la  revoke  pent  jamais^ 
iire  legidime?  La  question  ainsi  pos6e  en  termes  g^neraux,  avezf- 
ifous  -lamais  pens6  que  je  balancerab  un  instant  d  r6pondre,par  la* 
negative  i  Lf^  parole  de  Dieu  est  precise  k  cet  6gard.  *^  Que 
toute  &me/'  dit.  saint  Paul^  ''se  soumetteaux  autorit^s  supr^mes;*' 
et  cela^  non  par  crainte,  mais  par  conscience.  Vient  ensuite  Iad6-r 
finition.du  pouvoir  '^  qui  n'est  pas  redoutable  aux  bons^  mais  doit 
&tjre  la  terreur  des  m6chans/^  C'est  done  de  la  m^me  loi  que  d6- 
coule  le  droit  de  commander,  et  Toblieation  d'ob^ir.  La  r6volte. 
n'est  jamais  legitime,  de  m^me  que  1  abus  du  pouvoir  ne  Test  ja- 
mais. Dieui  source  de  toute  puissance  ici*bas,  a  d6parti  le  pouvoir* 
i^ttx  individusy  comme  il  a  donn6  le  libre  arbitre  i  Tesp^e ;  s'en- 
suit-il  que  Dieu  autorbe  Tabus  de  Tun  et  de  Fautre  ?  Aussi>  sou-- 
vent  que  I'bomme  s'6carte  des  pr6ceptes  de  la  loi  divine,  il  se 
plonge  volontairement  dans  I'^tat  de  native  brute,  qui  n'est  qu'un 
^tatde  guerre,  d'action  et  de  reaction. 

Cest  ce  que  noua  vojrons  se  reprpduire  sans  cesse  dans  Tordre 
social  et  politique.  C'est  ce  dont  les  traditions  sacr^es  nous  four* 
nissent  mille  exemples.  La  resistance  ne  pent  devenir  legitime, 
que  lorsque  le  pouvoir  cesse  de  P6tre ;  que  lorsqu'il  force  Tindi- 
vidu  ou  la  nation  qui  ob6it^  de  recourir  k  la  defense  naturelle.  Je 
conclus  de  ces  reflexions,  que  la  r^volte  contre  le  pouvoir  legitime 
n'est  jamais  legitime,  mais  que  la  16gitimite  ne  reside  pas  en  entier 
dans  forigine  du  pouvoir :  elle  doit  &tre  sanctionn^e  par  Texercice 
de  la  puissance ;  car,  il  n'est  donn^  k  aucun  &tre  moral  de  se  prd- 
valoir  d'une  loi  quelconque  pour  Tenfreindre.  Je  suis  loin  de  par-* 
tager  le  dogme  favori  de  notre  siicle,  qui  fait  d6river  Tautorit^ 
supreme  d'un  pacte  librement  consenti.  Les  consequences  de 
cette  doctrine  si  s^duisante  pour  notre  orgueil,  sont  aussi  funestes 
qu'elles  sont  incalculables.  J'admets  au  contraire,  d'apris  les  t^-* 
moignages  de  Thistoire,  et  Tautorite  de  la  religion,  que  le  pouvoir 
soi|verain  tire  son  origine  du  pouvoir  paternel.    Dieu  n'abandonna 

r>int  k  rhomme  d^chu  le  soin  de  cr^er  un  gouvernement  propre 
conserver  Tordre  social.    La  long6vite  des  premiers  hommes  fut 


11  e»1821eM&22.  107 

au  contraire  Taocre  de  salut  de  toutes  les  soci^t^s  naiagantes ;  et,. 
jusqu'aux  temps  oii  v4cut  Hom^e,  on  ne  trouve  presque  aucuoe 
trace  de  r6publique  dans  les  annales  du  genre  bumain,  Cependant 
les  droits  de  la  paternity,  les  plus  sacr^s  de  tons,  peuvent-ils  &tre 
d^clar^s  fllimit&i  i  s'ils  ne  le  sont  pas,  la  puissance  souveraine  pr6- 
tendrait-elle  d  des  pouvoirs  plus  ^teadus  i  voudrait-elle  se  consti- 
tuer  arbitre  sans  appel,  dans  sa  propre  cause,  et  soutenir  que  les^ 
droits  qu'elle  tient  effectivement  de  Dieu  m&me,  ne  sont  point 
liniit6s  par  des  devoirs  ^galement  inviolables  i  S'arr^ter  un  seul 
moment  k  cette  supposition,  serait  faire  injure  aux  souverains  qui 
gouvement  aujourd'hui  TEurope  chr6tienne. 
;  £tes-vous  encore  dans  le  vague  i  ^coutez-moi.  II  existe  trois 
esp^ces  de  resistance  i  Tautorit^.  La  premiere  est  un  devoir,  la 
seconde  est  une  erretir,  la  troisiime  un  sacrilege ;  je  vais  vous  en 
citer  des  exemples.  Daniel  et  les  trob  jeunes  hommes  resistant  aux> 
ondres  impies  du  roi  de  Babylone,  remplissaient  un  devoir.  Les 
sages-femmes  d'Egypte,  di^jouant  les  ordres  homicides  de  Pbaraon,. 
remplissaient  nn  devoir.  Si  je  frappais  les  satellites  d'un  tyran,  qui, 
viendraient  m'enlever  ma  femme  ou  ma  fille,  pour  Timpioler  a  ses- 
volupt^s;  si  je  d68ob6issais  i  des  ordres  de  sang,  si  je  repoussais. 
riojonction  du  parjure  ou  de  la  perfidie,  je  remplirais  un  devoir. 
En  un  mot,  dans  le  conflit  des  devoirs,  le  plus  sacr6  Temporte.  Lst, 
seconde  esp^ce  de  resistance  est  un  crime  pour  I'individu;  car,  U 
doit  sacnner  sa  fortune  et  m&me  sa  vie,  plutdt  que  de  donner. 
I'exemple  de  la  rebellion.  Pour  une  nation,  c'est  le  plus  souvent 
une  erreur  funeste ;,  car  les  avantages  de  la  rebellion  ne  contreba-; 
lancent  presque  jamais  ceux  de  Tobeissance.  Mais  nous  Tavons, 
dit :  lorsque  Tabus  du  pouvoir  est  pouss6  d  son  comble,  il  necessite 
la  defense  naturelle ;  alors  I'auteur  du  crime  n'est  pas  celui  qui  le 
commet.  A  Dieu  ne  plaise,  n^anmoins,  que  je  me  declare  lapo- 
logiste  deces  reactions  en  masse,  toujours  d^plorables  dans  leurs 
r^siiltats,  et  si  souveot  r^prehensibles  dans  leur  principe.  Quand 
les-besoins  sont  en  conflit  avec  les  devoirs,  ces  demiers  doivent 
Temporter,  d'apr^s  Tint^r^t  bien  entendu  des  societ6s  humaines. 
Mais  Tesprit  de  reVolte  ne  s'arrSte  pas  Id.  11  se  nourrit  de 
cbim^res  dangereuses;  ^gar^  par  les  suggestions  perfides  de. 
quelques  individus,  il  s'etance  d^ns  la  carri^re  sanglante  des  revolu- 
tions, y  pourpuit  avec  ardeur  le  vain  faut6me  des  reformes  radicales, . 
renverse  les  tr6nesy  apris  avoir  profane  les  autels,  et  ne  s'arr&te  sur 
le  bord  de  Tabtme,  que  pour  le  mesurer  de  To&il,  et  s'y  precipiter 
sans  retour.  Telles  sont  les  revolutions  que  j'appelle  des  sacri- 
leges ;  elles  prennent  leur  source  dans  le  mepris  des  institutions 
divines,  et  finissent  par  un  suicide  national. 

Maintenant  j'en  appelle  d  vous,  mon  noble  ami:  oii  placerez- 
vous  rinsurrecdon  des  Grecs  centre  la  Porte  ottomane  ?  Une 
autorite  que  quatre  si^cles  n'ontpu  reconcilier  avec  ses  tributaires  ; 


iai  Carrespondance  politique  sur  la  Grece         [12 

iitie  autorit6  qui,  pendant  trois  cents  ans,  n^a  ctssi  fTenlef er  1^ 
eofiinil  i  leurs  p^res,  pour  cr^r  cette  horrible  milice  qui  £Ieva  et 
|i#£cipitera  le  tjran ;  une  autoriti  dont  le  dogme  fondamental  i 
l'%ard  des  chrfitiefis  se  r6duit  i  ce  mot  affineux,  Vaposiasie  on  h 
fetbitude  ;  one  antorit^,  enfin^  dui  ne  respeete  ni  la  religioD,  ni  h 
vie,  ni  lltonneur,  ni  la  propri6te  de  ceux  qu'elle  gouveme,  peut- 
elle  jamais  fl^arroger  le  sacr^  caract^  de  la  Kgitimit6  i  Or,  il  j  a 
plus  encore,  lei,  j*atx>rde  voire  seconde  question :  Les  Grea 
mmt-ih  suj^s  de  la  Porte,  dans  le  sens  juridique  ei  chrUienl 
Jugez-en  vous-m^e;  je  soutiens  qu'ib  ne  le  sont  pas : 

1^.  Parce  qu'ils  ne  prdtent  jamais  serment  defid61it6i  la  Porte. 

€f^.  Parce  que  ceDe'ci  n'en  ezige  jamais  aucun  de  leur  part. 

3^.  Patce  que  les  efaritiens  rachitent  annuellement  lenr  vie, 
roojfennant  le  naratch  ou  tribut :  c'est  une  ran^n  qull  est  impossi-^ 
He  d'acqnitter. 

4^^.  Le  sultan  tient  si  pen  i  Texercice  des  droits  inh6reus  i  la 
aonveraineti  legitime,  les  Orecs,  k  leur  tour,  sont  si  loin  de  la  re- 
connidtre,  qoe  radministration  de  la  justice  se  trouve  de  fait  dk^xit 
mix  ^v^ues.  Server,  P^j^  ob&ssex,  telle  est  la  condition  de  leur 
existence;  tdle  est  la  loi  dictie  aux  dir^tiens. 
-  5^.  Les  Grecs  n'ob^issent  point  au  gouvemement  turc;  ils 
cMent  k  la  preponderance  armee  du  peuple  cruel  qui  les  dCvore. 
Or>  h  domination  d'un  peuple  sur  un  autre  n^est  jamais  legitime, 
k  moins  qu'un  pacte  d'adoption  sociale  n'ait  sanctionni  la  fusion 
des  cfeux  races,  et  fait  disparaitre  h  drvendt^  d'orimne,  en  la 
HK^tant  par  la  parity  de  droits.  C'est  aihsi  que  les  Cfainois  co- 
existent avec  les  Mandjours;  ainsi  les  Oaules  devinrent  la 
France ;  ainsi  les  anciens  habitans  de  la  Grande- Bretagne  s'assimi- 
lAreht  par  degr&  aux  Anglo-Saxonn  et  aux  Normands  leurs  vain- 
queurs.  Partout  oik  cette  fusion  des  races  ne  8'o|>^e  point,  les 
droits  des  anciens  possesseurs  demeurent  imprescriptibles ;  leur 
rebabilitatibn'  souvent  tardive,  mais  sftre  comme  la  justice' divine, 
s*accompiit  i  Fheure  marquee,  afia  que  Tunivers  sache  qu'entre 
nations  ind6pendantes  et  distinctes  il  ne  peut  y  avoir  de  lien  durable 
que  dans  une  entiire  fratemiti.  Je  ne  conteste  done  point  le  droit 
de  conquftte,  lorsqu'une  adoption  sociale,  fruit  de  r6quit6  et  du 
temps,  I'a  consacre ;  mais  je  nie  que  les  Grecs  soient  sujets  du 
sultan,  parce  qu'ils  ne  sont  consid^res  que  comme  les  tributaires  et 
les  ilotes  de  ses  viritables  sujets  musolmans.  Mahomet  II,  en 
s'emparant  de  Constantinople,  conclut  une  capitulation  formelle, 
avec  la  majeure  partie  de  cette  grande  cit^,  qui  avait  encore  les 
armes  i  la  main.  II  promitrint6grit6  du  culte ;  mais  ses  successeurs 
s'enipress^nt  de  violer  un  pacte  qui  g&nait  leur  avarice  et  leor 
fanatisme ;  its  profan&rent  sans  bonte  tons  les  temptes  que  le  con- 
qu^rant  avait  respect6s ;  ils  ne  laissirent  aux  chrettens  que  quei- 
ques  ^glises  tombant  en  ruine,  et  se  flalt^rent  qu'avec  le  temps,  la 


IS)  en  1821  et  1822.  lOP 

derni&vpierre de ces  augustes  Edifices, qu'il fut d6£endu  deripver, 
icraserait,  en  tombantp  le  dernier  des  cnr^tiens.  Dieu  ne  Ta  pa9 
penais.  C'est  en  Tain  ^ue  les  f&roces  osmaidis  appegantiMent 
feurs  bras  stir  leurs  tributaires ;  c'ett  en  vain  que,  durant  tro^  vMc^# 
lb  s'adiam^nt  i  corrompre  lea  gindradona  naiasantea,  en  leuir 
faiaant  aucer  Terreur  avec  le  lait;  c'eat  k  poiie  perte  qu'Sa  eocQipr 
ragent  Tapoataaie  au  point  d*acoorder  la  vie  an  plua  grand  criminely 
dka  qu'ii  abjure  aa  foi ;  lea  inununit^,  lea  volupt^,  lea  ricbef  «ea^ 
lea  signea  eit&rieura  du  pouvoir,  Taffireuse  prerogative  de  rimponitl 
m6me^  tous  cea  biena  tmpura  aont  le  p9Jrta|;e  de  Fapoatat  et  d^ 
traitrej  et  n^anmoina,  Dieu  de  bont6,  uieu  invincible  dlana  Tfucr 
compliaaement  de  tea  volont^  auprfeioea !  loreqi^  dea  penplea 
entiera  d^aertuent  h  bauniire  immorteUe  de  la  croix !  Ipraqiie  tf^ 
lea  Ofytw  venaieiit  ae  d^cbatner  4  f  envi,  et  frapper  ton  bumble  bi- 
ritagei  tu  daignaa  te  choi9ir  iin  petit  nombre  d  61uf ;  ^u  milieu  dea 
grandes  d6fectiona  qi^i  menaga^nt  d'ej&cer  papni  nous  iuaqu'ay 
aojvyenir  de  ton  aaint  nqm  blaqpfa^^ ;  aix  mitlipjoa  de  c&Wjan^ 
n'ajant  plua  d*autre  patrimoine  que  Taiitel,  restirent  fidMes  A.  leuff 
voeux ;  iis  vivent  au  scjin  de  Foppressioiiy  iis  adorent  la  main  puisr 
aante  qui  lea  humilie  et  lea  aou^ent  tour  i  tour ;  que  dia-je  i  ila 
renaiaaent  par  de^pr^a  k  Teapoir  d'un  avour  plua  l^eureu^,  pt,  tons 
lea  joiura  plua  d^laiaa^s  par  leurs  frisres,  leura  allies  naturela|ilan'eQ 
aont  paa  moins  animis  d'one  merveilleufe  confiance  en  ta  misiri- 
corde.  C'est  ainai  que  leiB  portea  de  Tenfer  ne  aauraient  jfraaia 
pr^valoir  contre  Ion  ^(iae ;  c  eat  par  de  tela  miraclea  que  a'accom^ 
plit  cette  parole  qui  ne  paaaera  point  avec  la  terre  et  lea  cieuz. 

Frapp^des  v6rit£B  quej'^once,  vous  n'avez  plus,  mon  noUe 
ami,  que  pen  d'objectiona  a  me  faire.  Je  croia  d  pen  pr^a  dev|ner 
votre  penaee.  Quoi !  me  direz-vous,  le  Grec^  que  la  Porte  cour 
atitue  dipoaitaire  de  aon  aiitorit6,  ceux  qu'elle  61^e  i  la  cfiaige 
d'interpf^te^  dekapi-k^haii,  ila  d}gnit6  de  bospodara,  cea  Greca ne 
aont  point  lea  aujeta  de  la  Porte  I  Oui,  aans  doute,  ila  le  aont,  tapt 

Sii'ib  portent  le  poida  de  cea  dignity  igiiominieuaea,  avant-cpureiurp 
,  e  leur  spoliation  et  de  leur  mort ;  ila  le  sont,  parce  qu'un  aerajien^ 
tacite  unit  toigoiirs  le  aeryiteur  i  aon  maitre,  et  Toblige  d  le  aevyir 
fid^ement  tant  qu^il  le  aert.  Maia  une  foia  rentr^  dana  la  cal%ori? 
dea  autrea  ilotea,  le  Grec  rompt  toua  lea  liena  qui  runiasent  augpu* 
vemement  oppreaaeur,  k  ce  nouveau  Satume  piditique,  qui  d^vore 
aea  propre?  enfkna.  J'en  conyiena,  me  direz-voua :  la  diatioctiioip 
eat  rieile ;  cependant  oaez-voua  lever  les  jenx  sur  cea  fiddles  dea 

Eremiiera  ai^ea  de  1'^  cbr^Uem^e,  qui,  non  moins  pers&ut^?  que 
»  Greca,  ae  aoumettaient  sans  murmure  aux  autoritis  pa'yyiyiei^  et 
n'easayaient  de  disarmer  leur  baine  qu'4  force  de  patience  et  de  re- 
signation ?  jponiibien  je  voua  aaia  gr^,  mon  noble  ami^  jde  pette 
oJ^ection  formidable !  jElle  ne  servifa  qu'd  riSpandre  un  plus  grand 


1  lb  Correspondence  politique  sur  la  Grece  {H 

joar  8ur  la  question  que  nous  exaniinons  ensemble.  II  est  cerfoio 
que  les 'persecutions  du  pagdni3nie  contre  les  premiers  chr^tiens, 
-depttis  le  r^gne  de  N^ronjusqu^i  celui  de  Diocl^tien  et  Gaierins, 
-surpassirent  tons  les  m^ux  que  Iliomme  puisse  faire  k  Hiomnjej  et 
combl^rent  la  mesu're  des  epreuves  impos6es  i  la  foi.  La  phis 
terrible  de  tontes  £tait  de  rester  dans  une  parfaite  ob^issance  envers 
•une  autorit6  monsthieuse.  Cependant,  d'une  persecution  d  une 
autre^  il  y.eut  souvent  d'assez  longs  intervalles.  D'ailleurs  les 
't;br6tiens  faviaient  des  prbseivtes;  dans  les  temps  de  repos^  ils 
'  ^ient  admisaux  dignit^s  de  retat,  formaient  des  corps  d'arm6e^  e^ 
plus  que  tout  cela^  Fabondance  des  miracles^  la  profusion  des  graces 
divines,  leur  offraiient  d'efficaces  compensations  d  tant  de  catamites. 
Quoi  qu^l  en  soit,  nous  ne  balangoiis  pas  k  Tavouer ;  humilions- 
nous  deyant  ces  modules  de  perfection  cbr6tienne :  ne  leur  compa- 
Tons  pas  les  Grecs ;  quel  peuple  de  nos  jours  bserait  souteiiir  le 
)parallile  ?  Nous  ne  rougissons  done  pas  de  reconnattre  en  tout 
point  la  superiorite  de  nos  p^ires :  ils  ont  vaincu  le  mal  par  le  bien, 
fa  superstition  par  la  foi,  et  toutes  les.fureurs  de  Pesprit  de  t^nibres, 
par  leur  in^puisable  cbarit6.  Cependant,  la  justice  exige  que  je 
ftisse  valoir  ici  une  distinction  inapergue,  mais  essentielle.  Les 
Chretiens  des  premiers  si^cles  itaient  les  novateurs ;  les  Grecs,  au 
contraire,  ne  le  sont  pas ;  la  religion  qu'ils  professent  est  celle  de 
leurs  anc&tres ;  le  sol  qu'ils  arrosent  de  leurs  larmes  et  de  leurs 
aueurs,  contient  les  cendres  de  leurs  aieux ;  ils  ne  doivent  rien  i  ce 
peuple  usurpateur  qui,  depuis  quatre  cents  ans,  d^vore  d  loisir  leur 
antique  patrimoine,  et  n'aspire  au*ii  6teindre  la  race  des  opprimes. 
Les  chf6tiens  des  premiers  si^cles  formaient  une  classe  de  citoyens 
n^s  dans  la  religion  de  Tempire ;  si  toutefois  rapothdose  de  Torgueil 
et  de  la  luxure  merite  ce  nom.  Des  citoyens  qui  abjuraient  solen- 
nellement  les  doctrines  religieuses  et  sociales  de  la  majority,  et 
confondaient  tour  &  tour  Tidol&trie  et  le  judaisme,  par  la  sublimit^ 
tie  leur  croyance  et  la  puret6  de  leur  vie ;  ces  Chretiens  blessaient 
I'orgueil  du  pouvoir,  en  proscrivant  le  culte  monstrueux  que  Ton 
rendait  aux  empereurs  romains ;  ils  se  suscitaient  enfin  des  ennemis 
acbames  parmi  les  pr^tres  du  d^mon,  et  s'attir^rent  la  haine  de 
toutes  les  professions  qu'alimentaitle  polytbeisme.  Les  institutions, 
les  lois,  les  passions  et  les  inter^ts  devaient  done  necessairement  at 
liguer  contre  eux,  et  travailier  d  les  detruire.  En  Gr^ce  rieu  de 
semblable.  Les  Turcs  sont  les  novateurs,  et  de  plus,  spoliateurs  et 
tyrans.  Tout  musulman  se  croit  une  parcelle  du  pouvoir,  dans 
ses  moindres  rapports  avec  les  Grecs.  Le  gouvemement  donnant 
le  pr^cepte  et  Texemple  de  ce  syst^me  d'hostilite  perpetuelle,  en- 
courage les  delations,  tolire  le  rapt  et  le  brigandage,  reint  de  per- 
mettre  I'exercice  du  culte,  dans  la  vue  de  Tassujettir  k  de  plus 
graves  impdts,  et  consacre  le  principe  de  toutes  les  injustices,  eo 


15)         -  :    tn  1821  rf  1022.    ;  411 

raeteht  le  t^moignage  %  cfaargedds  chri^tieiis  contre  leiTurcs.  i)ei 
-vmest  du  premier  ordre,  telles  que  Larissa,  ont6t6  privies,  pendant 
treote  ana,  du  libre  exercice  de  Ie(ur  religicfn^  parce  qne  la  seiil^ 
4gliae  ^u*eii88ent  encore  les  chr^tieni,  tombait  en  rumea,  e|t  qo'oii 
^xigeait  dea  sommea  ^normea  pour  la*  aeule  peniiisaion  de  la  recon-; 
a^ruife.  L'individu  le  plus  paisible  n'eat  jamaia  d^  i'abri  dW  coup 
de  fen  ou  de  poignard.  Poor  le  perdre,  il  existe  encore  un  moyen 
sikr:  c'eat  de  d£cTan^  en  justice  ^'il  a  t6moigu6  vouloir  abjnrer  aa 
foi ;  81  Taccua^  le  nie^  il  eat  livr^  au  glaive,  et  la  couronnedu  mar^ 
4yre  devient  auaaitdt  le  prix  (de  sa  fermet^ :  voili  pour  lea  individual; 
conaid^rona  lea  masses.  Partout  le  plus  .vil  satellite  d'un  pacba  init 
trembler  des  villes,  des  provinces  enti^res ;  Tabus  est  devenu  la  loi ; 
la  s&;ttrit6,  une  chimire ;  la  ricbesse,  un  brevet  de  mort ;  et  de 
crainte  que  ces  calamit6a  aociales  ne  iipient  pas  aasez  actives  & 
d^truire  Tinfortun^  raiaj  voyez  ce  gouvemement  ignare  et  f6roce 
appeier  d  son  aecours  la  paste,  les  incendies,  la  famine,  les  vjces  les 
plus  bonteux,  et  i  leur  suite,  la  st6rilit£  et  la  desolation  !     O  vous, 

Jui'raiaoniiez  froidement  sur  le  droit  que  peuvent  avMf  vosfrires 
iiecotieir  le' joug  qui  les  6crase,  &  bnser  le  sceptre  homicide  qm 
lea  d^cime*  cfaaque  jour ;  que  le  spectacle  de  tant  de  maux  voua 
^mfeuve !  craignes  ce  Dieu  qui  sonde  les  coeura  et  confond  les  ao- 
phumeli  de  Findiff^rence.  Ne  souillez  pas  votre  bouche  par  dea 
blaapb^ea  contre  une  cause  qui  est  celle  de  J^sus-Christ;  ^ai 
Voua  ne  pouvez  aecourir  un  peuple  chr^tien  en  presence  du  tripai^ 
apprenez  du  moina  i  respecter  sea  malbeurs. 

Lea  Greca,  ainsi  que  Ta  noblement  ^nonc6  le  gouvernement 
proviaoire  de  la  Gr^ce,  et  c'est  une  v6rit6  historique,  out  cooaUan**- 
meat  protest^  par  le  fait  contre  la  dombation  ottomane.  Depaia 
la  prise  de  Constantinople  jusqu'si  tios  jours,  vous  ne  citerez-paa 
une'aeule^poqueoilles  resistances  partielles  et  locales  k  Tusurpation 
aient  enticement  cesa^  dans  toute  T^tendue  de  la  Gr^.  Lea  Ma^ 
niatea,  lea  Sphakiotes  dans  I'tle  de  Cr^te,  les  courageux  d6fen*» 
aeura  de  Sulli,  et  plusieurs  autres  peuplades  de  montagnards,  ont 
toujoura  eu  lea  armea  k  la  main,  et  Tamour  d'une  liberty  l^gidme 
dana  le  cceur.  Jamais  ce  colosse  sanglant,  que  Ton  d6core  du  nom 
d'empire,  etqui  projetait  naguire sur  I'Europe  son  ombre  effrayante, 
n'a  pu  parvenir  d  soumettre  on  d  exterminerquelques  poign6es 
£|)arae8  de  cbr6tiens.  Sans  le  fl^au  destructeur  des  grandea  apos* 
taaiea,  qui  affaiblirent  la  bonne  cause,  la  tyrannic  aurait  d6ji  sue*)* 
comb^ ;  le  feu  aacr6  de  Tind^pendance,  bri^lant  dans  les  antres  dea 
inontagnes,  eikt  caus^  un  embrasement  g^n^ral,  que  toutes  les  com- 
binabons  de  la  politique  et  de  Tesprit  mercantile  n'auraient  pas  eu 
la  force  de  mattriser.  Mais  les  enfans  d'une  m&me  religion  aont 
solidaires  les  uns  envers  les  autres ;  nous  avons  dfi  nous  ressentir  dea 
prevarications  de  uoa  peres  et  de  celles  de  nos  contemporains ; 


1  IS  Correspondence  poUtiqm  mr  la  Greet         [16 

trop  hmiraax  encore  d'avoir  i\k  nourriis  du  paio  de  la  wAc%i  k 
Tombre  dea  autek^  nous  somni^s  redevablea  de  notre  sahit  a  b JiK>- 
tedion  matenieile  de  I'iglise ;  de  notre  laoguei  au  ouke  du  JDitii 
yivaifdfc;  de  la  pureti  de  notre  c^use,  4  ime  leUgion  qui  ne  fat 
januus  I'aUi^  de  I'uaurptftion  et  de  riojustice;  enfin  nous  rena»- 
aons  sk  respoir  d^une  regeneration  aocuJb^  a^s  exeaople  daiui  te 
faatei  da  mondei  parce  que  le  noyau  de  la  niiUon  a  fitiiktk  aa  fm  A 
.toua  lea  airantagea  p6riaaablea  que  lui  offiait  rapOataaie.  Note 
cauae  eat  aussi  jiiate  que  la  diaaolution  de  Tempire  turc  eat  certeine. 
Voiidoip^tfon  noua  conteater  encore  le  prix  quie  Dieu  accorde  tdt  on 
tardiila  fidelity? 


LETTRE  IV. 

•  ■ 

V4>ua  avez  vaincn,  jifon  d^e  ami^.et  je  b6oia  ma  d^ftite.  Ouij 
la  caoae  dea  Greca  eat  juate^  k  bon  droit  eat  de  leur  c4t4 :  il  doit 
triompher  t6t  ou  tard.  Toua  med  doutea  aqnt  evatipuia^  grftce  A 
rintr^pidite  avec  laquelle  voua  avea  diacute  lea  objectiona  lea  pbla 
twlotttablea.  Je  voua  le  ij^te :  je  ne  cooaenre  plUa  le  HMwidie 
dontc^  quant  k  la  queation  de  droit ;  aoaia  une  f oule  d'auMl  dSffi- 
cultia  ae  pr6aente  auaaitdt  i  mon  eaprit.  Que  penaez-vpua  de  la 
fatale  coincidence  dea  troublea  de  TOrieat  avec  ceux  du  Midi  |^ 
TEurope  i  "oe  aontrce  paa  lea  mlmea  cauaea  motricea  qui  ont«aieo6 
cea  granda  bouleveraemena  i  et  ai  lea  droits  aont  differena^  lea  iaih 
pulaiona  ne  apnt-ellea  paa  parties  de  la  mfeme  main  i  Pouvezrfoua 
nier  Texiatence  d'un  eaprit  re^olutionftaire  planant  aur  tolite  TPu- 
Tope,  acbam6  k  aoulever  lea  peufdea,  i  les  agiter  et  k  detruina  lauis 
antiques  institutions  i  Or,  ai  cet  eaprit  de  vertige  et  de  rebellion 
exiate^  s'il  tend  k  runiversalite,  comnent  admettre  qi^'fl  n*a  psumH 
aucupe  influence  sur  la  Gr^,  lorsqu'on  a  vu  ce  potiple  s'^omivoir 
tout  k  coup,  conune  k  un  signal  donni,  et  cftKiiau' preckimeiit 
Flipoque  si  decisive  de  la  reunion  dea  aouverains  de  TEuiiope  k 
Iroppau  et  Laybacb  i  C'^tait  6videB^ent  une  diversion,  an  i|ioj«i 
de  laquelle  on  ae  flattait  de  les  diaunir  et  de  fmre  ecbouer  leura 
projeta  de  r^presaion  k  regard  de  Naples,  du  Pi6niont  ^  el;  da 
TEspagne.  Le  texte  mSme  dea  premieres  proclaodatiQna  publiiea 
park  prince  Ypsilanti,  n'a  que  trop justifi^  de  senaMablea  aupppaitiona. 

J'entrerob  n6aninoina  ce  que  Ton  pourrait  y  oppoaer.  Maii^  ioin 
qnede aimplea  inductiona  puiaaent  me  aatiafaire,  j'attienda  de  Voua, 
mon  digne  ami,  une  analyse  approfondie  de  cette  grande  diapate 
politique,  EUe  aervira  k  noua  6clairer  aur  la  conduite  que  lea  car 
\mtt$  dp  TEurope  ont  tenue^  sur  celie  qu'ils  auraient  dfii  tenir  4 


17]  en  1821  et  1822.  113 

rigiutl  de  la  Porte  ottotnune  et  de»  Grecs.  Let  faits  seuls,  et  non 
les  reflexions  abstraites,  peuvent  siir  ce  point  constater  la  vMi€,  et 
la  d^ag^r  de  tout  allii^  de  prevention  ou  d'erreur.  Sonffrez 
<ioiie  que  je  pose  les  theses  k  r^aoudre  de  la  maniire  suivailte : 
~  1®.  Qaellen  sont  les  vraies  causes  de  ridentit6  nationale  des  Grecs, 
<xrti8erv6e  dnranC  quatre  siicles  de  la  plus  dure  servitude  i 
'  ^*  Quelles  ftont  ensuite  les  causes  reelles,  efficientes,  dont  la 
aoccession  a  occasiotin61e  soul^v^ment  general  de  la  nation  grecque, 
A  r^poque  prtdse  oh  il  a  ^dat^  i 

'  Si  vous  parvenee  k  estpliquer  ces  deux  ev^nemens  ^galement  mi- 
raculeux,  par  des  faits  ind^pendans  de  la  grande  conjuration  contre 
I'ordre  r6tabli  en  Europe,  ou  si  du  moins  vous  me  prouvez  que 
Tesprit  du  si^cle  n'a  exerc^  sur  les  destinees  de  la  Gr^ce  qu'une 
influence  tr^s  secondaire>  alors  je  n'h6siterai  point  d  confesser  le  peu 
de  solidit6  des  accusations  que  I'on  fait  peser  sur  voire  patrie  ;  j'en 
conclurai  que  les  apparences  6taient  trompeuses,  et,  ce  qui  vaut 
mieux  encore,  je  saurai  juger  d  fond  du  caract^re  diatinctif  de  la 
revolution  qui  fixe  en  ce  moment  les  regards  de  la  chretlente. 

Ah !  moa  ami,  pourquoi  faut-il  que  des  apologistes  de  mauvaise 
fed  se  soii^nt  ietis^  k  corps  perdu,  sur  un  sujet  que  leur  plume  d^- 
iftatare  ou'  dlsbonore !  Ces  dedamateurs,  dont  I'esprit  est  aussi 
fkox  que  leufs  priticipes  sont  erron6s,  font  plus  de  mal  i  k  cduse 
dts  (mCB,  par  leur  zile  hypocrite,  que  la  rage  impuissante  des 
barbttes  n'a  pu  lui  en  faire.  Tons  ces  6crivains,  a  quelques  except 
ti[0in  pris,  et  celles4i  sont  honorables  et  frappantes,  i'ous,  dis-je, 

Edfiteut  avidement  des  avautages  immenses  que  leur  oflre  la  cause 
s  Grets,  pour'  combattre  h  politique  des  principaux  eabdnets 
avec  tmisuceis  irresistible;  et  Ce  sont  Ik  des  armes  qu'on  leur  a 
itiises  k  la  main.  D^  Finstant  oik  les  monarques  alBes,  cedant  k 
deirmshittatrons  mensongires,  peut-etre  mfime  k  la  force  des  pre- 
laai&ttB  impressions,  enrent  assimiie  leur  propre  legitimite  k  celle  de 
la  Pdrfe  ottomaue,  it  etait  k  prevoir  que  le  parti  de  ^opposition  se 
J^teVAudraft  eil  tout  pays  d'one  concession  aiissi  daffgereuse,  pour 
actiever  de  Confondre  les  idees,  d'envenimer  les  defiances,  et  de 
MoiUo'  pau*  des  mpprocfaemens  temeraires  dne  cause  si  differente 
deioutes  eeiles  qinfs  defendent.  Une  errenr  n'est  jamais  sterile, 
comme  un  malbeur,  dit*on,  ne  vient  tamais  seiil.  De  Ik,  ce  choc 
pfodigiettx  d'opinions,  ce  melange  deplorable  du  vrti  et  du  faux, 
Mtf  une  jiuestion  i  laqtielle  la  chretiente  aurait  dt  repondre  par  un 
tti  miautise  if]]idig;ilatioil  et  d'entfaousiasme  religieux.  De  Ik,  ce 
apectacle  ^kfiHgeafit,  que  Funivers  comemple  avec  stupeoi*,  que  h 
(Nxterice'traitera  de  vain  prestige,  spectacle  oil  Fon  voit  des  autorites 
itMpectabfes,  protectr ices  nees  de  ropprime,  et  fieaux  de  FoppreS- 
seun  s'eitiployer,  k  Fenvi,  k  etoufTer  la  voii  du  fkible,  le  condamner 
VOL.  XXIII.  Pom.  NO.  XLV.  H 


114  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grece  [18 

sans  reserve,  et  donner  par  1^  gain  de  cause  aux  ennemis  infatiga- 
bles  de  la  paix  et  de  la  tranquillity  des  nations ! 

Entrez  done  en  lice,  mon  ami,  pour  faire  triompher  la  v6rit6  que 
les  uns  m^connaissent,  et  que  les  autres  s'efforcent  d'obscurcir. 
Chercliez-la  dans  le  fond  de  votre  conscience ;  interrogez  soigneuse- 
ment  le  pass^ ;  scrutez  le  present ;  plongez,  s'il  le  faut,  dans  I'avenir. 
Jie  d^guisez  point  les  cdtis  faiblesde  la  cause  que  vous  6tes  appel6 
Sl  d^fendre.  Vous  d6plairez  k  la  majority  de  vos  lecteurs ;  car  ces 
lettres  ne  resteront  pas  ma  propri6te :  mais  vous  persuaderez  les 
esprits  droits,  et  vous  ferez  la  volont6de  celui  qui  nous  demandera 
conipte  un  jour  de  notre  inaction  et  de  notre  silence. 


LETTRE    V. 

O  •  •  •  •    d    Xj  •  •  •  • 

La  coincidence  des  faits  est-elle  jamais  une  preuve  suffisante  de 
lenr  affinit6  ?  Pouvez-vous,  mon  noble  ami,  donner  k  un  indice  tout  le 
poids  d'une  demonstration  ?  J'attends,  par  consequent,  de  requite 
de  mes  jnges,  qu*ils  suspendent  leur  arret,  jusqu'a  ce  quej'aie  eu 
le  temps  de  recueillir  et  de  d^velopper,  dans  leur  enchainemeot 
nature),  toutes  les  causes  inun^diates  et  locales  qui  ont  a^men^  Hn- 
surrection  des  Grecs.  Si  Texpos^  de  ces  causes  est  reconnu  suffisant 
pour  expliquer  P^poque  et  la  tendance  du  soul^veroent  de  la  nation, 
je  me  croirai  autoris6  d  r^cuser  toute  autre  influence  roalfaisante, 
qui  pent  avoir  agi  sur  quelques  individus,  jamais  sur  la  Grdce  en 
general.  Je  vous  sais  gr6  d'ailleurs  de  Tordre  historique  et  logique 
dans  lequel  vous  avez  pos6  vos  theses :  en  effet,  des  deux  pheno- 
lA^nes  moraux  que  vous  d^sirez  comprendre,  le  plus  extraordinaire 
n'est  pas  celui  qui  paratt  tel  d  nos  yeux.  Quiconque  admire  le  r^- 
veil  prodigieux  de  la  nation  grecque,  devrait  s'^tonner,  i  plus  juste 
titre,  de  sa  miraculeuse  conservation  sous  le  joug  ottoman.  Jetez 
les  yeux  sur  Pespace  6norme  qui  s6pare  Tan  1453  de  rann6e  1821 ; 
consid^rez  la  superiority  militaire  des  Turcs  sur  toutes  les  nations 
chretiennes  aux  quatorzidqne  et  quinzi^me  si^cles ;  calcule^  la  pre- 
ponderance de  leurs  forces,  I'ascendant  irresistible  de  leur  fanatbme  ; 
coptemplez  la  serie  eUouissante  de  leurs  triompbes,  et  voyez  TAsie^ 
Mineure,  la  Syrie,  le  Pont,  la  Perse,  la  Palestine,  TEgypte^U 
Lybie,  les  cdtes  de  TAfrique  et  le  midi  de  TEspagne,  k  genoox 
devant  I'Alcoran,  courbees  en  masse  sous  le  glaive  des  osmaidis  et 
des  Maures,  abjurant  jusqu'au  souvenir  de  leur  grandeur  passee^  et 
le  berceau  de  Tancien  monde  etonne  de  n'&tre  plus  cbretien.  C'est 
dans  ce  moment  terrible,  oh.  le  soleil  de  verite  presque  eclipse  i 
notre  horizon,  ne  repandait  sur  I'Europe  qu'une  lumiire  p&Ie  et 


i 


19]  e»1821  CM822.  J15 

tremblanfe;  c'est  alors/dis-je,  que  Constantinople  totnbe  au  pou- 
voir  des  musultnans.  Le  dernier  reste  du  grand  empire  disparait : 
lea  savans,  les  liommea  de  lettres  nous  abandonnent^  et  cherchent  un 
asile  en  Italie.  L'univers  s'^crie  que  la  Gr^ce  etTEglise  d'Orient 
ont  cess^  d'exister.  Ici  tout  est  miracle ;  une  nation  entiire  se  r6- 
fug[ie ^  Tombrede  la  croix  chancelante.  Mahomet  II.  profane 
Sainte-Sophie ;  mais  il  n'ose  renverser  la  religion  eile-meme;  it 
transige  avec  ses  ministres^  et  semble  renouveler  i.  nos  yeuz  la 
myst^rieuse  histoire  de  Job^  dont  ie  corps  fut  livr6  i,  I'esprit  de 
t6ndbreSy  avec  defense  de  toucher  d.  sa  vie,  k  son  &me,  au  sanctuaire 
de  la  divinit6.  Les  successeurs  de  Mahomet  firent  plus  de  mai  aux 
Grecs  que  le .  Gonqu6rant  lui-m^me.  Leur  sceptre  pers6cuteur 
enleva  ^  la  vraie  foi  des  peuples  entiers.  Cepfsndant  le  flambeau 
de  ia  lumi&re  6temeiie  continua  de  briiler  sur  I'autel ;  il  ne  s'6teignit 
point  au  milieu  des  t^n^bres.  Depuis  Gennadius  jusqu'd  J6r6miej 
et  de  1^  jusqu'aux  premiers  symptdmes  de  notre  renaissance,  plus 
d'iin  pasteiir  z616  et  fiddle  honora  le  si6ge  patriarcal.  Les  sultans, 
entrain^s  de  guerre  en  guerre,  furent  forces  d'accorder  un  sursis 
d'existence  aux  malheureux  raias.  Aux  prises  avec  les  Moldaves 
et  les  Valaques,  s'^Ian^ant  tour  d  tour  sur  la  Hbngrie,  la  Pologne 
et  I'Autriiche,  cortibattant  Venise,  infestant  la  M^diterran6e,  et  do^ 
tDinaDt  par  fapiraterie  jusqu'au  d^troit  de  Gibraltar,  ils  se  content 
tirent  d'6craser  les  Grecs  sous  le  poids  du  m6pris  et  d'une  affreuse 
oppression,  s&rs  de  les  voir  s'^teindre  par  degr^s,  et  se  perdre 
corooie  tant  d'autres  provinces  de  leur  empire,  dans  I'oc^an  du  ma- 
faoni^sroe.  Les  barbares !  ils  ne  se  trompaienl  pas  humainement, 
Toutes  les  lumiires  emprunt^es  de  ce  monde  nous  manquaient ; 
notre  langue  se  corrompait  et  s'appauvrissait  de  plus  en  plus ;  notre 
populaUon  se  fondait  au  souffle  br&lant  de  la  tyrannic :  les  apos- 
tasies, la  peste,  la  st6rilit6  s'6taient  conjur^es  contre  nous.  Depifls 
J453  jusqu'i^  1720,  que  I'on  me  montre  dans  I'histoirele  protecteur 
terrestre  de  I'Eglise  et  de  la  nation  grecque :  6tait-ce  I'einpire 
d'Allemagne  i  mais  il  tremblait  pour  sa  propre  8&ret6 ;  Venise  i 
mais  elle  i^rdait  ses  conquStes  les  unes  apris  les  autres.  Seraient- 
ce  les  chevaliers  de  Rhodes  et  de  Malte,  trop  heureux  de  se  maiufo 
tenir  encore  sur  leur  rocher  i  La  France,  qui  s'^tait  alli6e  intinie- 
ment  i  la  Porte  ottomane,  et  donnait  Texemple  de  ce  honteujc 
d^lit  politique,  qui  n'a  trouv6  depuis  que  trop  d*imitateurs  ?  La 
Rossie,  dernier  asile  de  la  communion  orthodoxe,  avait  d6jsL  assez 
de  peine  si  tenir  t^te  aux  gardes  avanc6es  de  Tislamisme ;  je  veux 
dire  les  Tartares  de  Crim6e  et  les  Cosaques,  plus  d'une  fois  soutenus 
pmr  la  Pologne.  Aussi  les  tzars  se  bom^rent-ils  &  offrir  quelques 
pieux  secours  aux  couvens  du  Mont'^Athos,  du  Sinai  et  du  Saint- 
S6pulcre.  L'univers  nous  avait  oubli^s;  nos  fr^res  de  Russie 
plearaient  avec  nous.    Dans  ce  d61aissement  incomparable,  jusqu'^ 


1 16  Correspon(kince  ppUttquc  9ur  la  Grece  [90 

1720^  je  ne  vois,  mon  npble  ami,  qu^une  seyle  fcrnse  de  notre  coq? 

servatiop,  et  je  Vador^,    Je  vpis  un  torrent  de  vi<?,  une  aQi|r(Cf 

cach^  de  inisi^ricorde,  ^'^paochjer  siir  nous  du  bai^t  de«  icifi|](| 

coopine  ces  ros^es  nocturnes  qui  tiennent  lieu  d^  pluie,  e(  fecp/Mtenf 

1^8  plaines  ait^r^es  du  desert.    Tout  vrai  chi!6ti^0y  qui  fut  k  a^j^im 

de  conteippler  de  pr^  ce  miracle,  pressentit  nptre  renaisssniG^^  et 

desceodit  console  au  tonibeau.    Cependant,  k  dater  d^  preuiijiref 

collisions  entre  leg6nie  de  Pierre-le-Grand  et  celuidumalipm^tiaQMSi 

pons  apercevons  des  causes  secondaires,  qui  s'associfeiil  au  prior 

cipe  gen6rateur  de  notre  existence  nationale,  et  pr^sagept  au^  4^ 

tinges  de  la  Gr^ce  la  plus  rapide  progression.     Quoique  (e  r^for^ 

mateur  de  la  Russie  ait  failli  succomber  k  la  pr^pi^id^ran^e  d§| 

forces  ottomanes,  n6anmoins  il  est  vrai  de  dire  que  la  p^  f)e 

Faltch6  fut  comme  le  premier  signal  d'une  longue  lutte,  cit  dp  b 

renaissance  d'abord  imperceptible  des  Grecs,     Presque  iU  ni|$me 

%K>queylec61^bre  Panaghiotis,  Maurocordato,  D^^triusCanUpiir, 

§'61ivent  les  premiers  aux  emplois  d'un  ordre  sup6rieiir,  .e|  fon^ep^ 

pour  ainsi  dire,  le  tyran  k  mendier  Iq  secoursde  leur^  liimi^j^ 

En  roi^me  temps,  c^s  savans  se  forment  ai|  seia  du  sacerdpfr^j 

X)osith6^,  patriarche  de  J6rusaleiD^  ^crit  Thistoire  de  9onsii^Q^ 

Cbrysanthe  Notaras,  son  successeur,  voyage  en  Earpro^  poiv} 

acqu6rir  des  connaissances,  sans  6changer  toutefpis  la  fenit^  ^P^tfti 

Terreur ;  M616tius,  arcbev^ue  d'Atb^nes,  public  une  Hisjboird  di 

)'£glise ;  le  prince  Cantimir,  cet  illustre  exil£,  empruQt^  aui^  bi^t^^ 

neos  turcs  les  traits  caracteristiques  de  la  decadence  de  leur  eonp^ ; 

d'autres  6pureDt  la  langue  vulgaire,  et  font  retentir  la  cbaire  4q<I  xfr 

rites  de  r£vangile;  un  Maurocordato  eq  accomplit  les  pr^opi^ite^ 

en  determinant  lef  boyars  moldaves  k  conc6der  la  lit^erte  iffdiyi^M^ 

elle  k  leiirs  vassaiix :  tout,  en  ua  inot,  an^once  une  nomviellfs  ^l^i 

qui  commence  au  m$me  instant  pour  la  Russje  ^%  ppur.  Ifi  Grdcf^ 

Cependant,  le  gouvernement  turc,  tpujours  redojutaple  au  dejbpf^ 

s'afiaiblissait  au  dedans.  Arier6  de  trois  si^cles  dam  la  ^anj^iredsf 

sciences,  ^e^  lettrea  et  de  I'arl  milijl^re,  U86  par  les  dj^bsipc^Qf  .4^ 

l^ambittpp,  menac6  de  loin  par  sa  terrible  rWal^  <;barg£  d^  fliri^ 

dictions  de  rbumanit6  souffrapte  et  dp  I'l^lisf^  ep  (^yiiy  cp  pp^ir^ 

das  true  teur  peochait  vets  sa  (iiivp,  ^t  ne.cpnservait  un  r§s^4§  4n;c^ 

que  gf&ce  &  la  disunion  de  ses  enneoi^.    I^a  qp^tipp  grefiqnfiftfi 

r^veillait  par  de^6s  d^uu  asspupiss^ment  mpttel*    tf^  h^ffifff 

4^  marque  du  Pbanal,  que  Ton  ft  si  souyent  ao^ns^a  ^  pervfrf^fi^ 

e%  d'indiff6rence  pour  leurs  fr^res,   rendirept  p^iipippHiaJfi^  d^ 

granda  servicea  k  leur  patrie.     Lety  cr^diit  6ph6ip4rp  ^upf^  W  ill 

Porte  qttQoiaoe  contribua  beaui;pup  k  amortir  ou  k.  c)^tpi|ipfr  ii^ 

p«rs6cutioQs  d'une  tyrannie  ayeugle  et  sa^uip^ire^  fopcpU  t^f 

nipyens  da  fonder  des  Scples,  dp  restaurer  l«s  ^U^ps^^t  t^WI\  ^ 

esp^rai^cea  de  la  nation.    Enfip  i'^l^VatipD.  des  Gitegs  4  \k  PSWf^. 


si]  m  1821  et  1832;  11^ 

ptut^  Ad  Moldotke  et  de  Valachie  multiplis  touti  coOp  les  retsdorces 
dtt  peut>le  opprhn^^  et  fraya  des  routes  noovelles  4  rinstroctkin; 
i  riniluMrie  et  aox  arts;  Ges  pays  devinrent  I'asiie  des  hbaiines  d^ 
letQ^y  le  poidt  de  contact  ieplus  assort  airec  la  Russia  et  I'Elurope  ; 
M  u)»  moty  siniB  les  deux  prineipa^t&iy  ok  la  Grice  e&t^ile  pHs 
Fsr^enty  le  cr^it  et  les  relations  ext^ieures  qui  lui  manquateat  pour 
pt^paffer  l-e^yre  de  sa  delivraoc^  i  Ces  avantages  immeiises  et 
peil'  appr6ci£s  par  les  observateurs  superficiels^  furent  mfel^s,  ii 
^t  vrai,  de  beaucoup^  d'inconvi^niens  graves ;  car  une  perspective 
d^midbitioti)  offtrte  i  d^  bbmuies  qui  n'ont  qu'elle  pour  sordrde 
I'obecUrit^'  et  de  la  misire^  ne  peut  manquer  de  donner  I'essor  a 
I'eqprit  d^itttrigae.  De  toutes  les  ^preuves,  la  plus  dangereuse,  sans 
centvMit;  est  le  conflit  entre  les  besoins  et  les  devoirs.  Dix  d  douz^ 
fiuuiltetr  gree^oes,  sup^rieures  au  gouvernement  turc  par  lenrs 
himiikes^  aaservies  k  mis  Tolont^s  par  leur  position,  contraintes  de 
rivadiser  entre  eltes,  parce  qti'elles  avaient  i,  parvenir  au  viAme  but, 
aarroify  ia  charge  de  grand-interpr^te  et  les  deux  principaut6s ;  des 
finniUe^  ainsi  plac^es  devaient  t6t  ou  tard  devier  de  la  lignedroite^ 
s^^gstrer  et  se  oombattre  mutuellement,  impliquer  les  chefs  de 
r&Hse  dans  leurs  discordes  politiques,  dont  la  diplomatie  6trang^ 
autlson took' profiter.  L'inconcevable  v6naiit6  des  niinistres  ottomans^ 
lenr  copidi^  satis  homes,  les  speculations  toutes  p^cuniaires  des 
a^ens  subalternes  de  la  politique  europ^enne,  toutes  ces  causes  per-^ 
neianentes  traasforhiirent  bientdt  la  Phanal  et  P6ra  en  un  th^&tre 
d'iirtr^es  acham^es,  de  corruption  et  de  mort.  Ce  qu'il  y  eut  de 
I^iiS'affligeant  dans  cette  lutte  d'int^r&ts,  suscit^e  par  Fimp^rieuse 
ii^Cesnti^  d'une  part,  de  I'autre,  par  la  barbaric  et  la  soif  de  IW, 
cVit^qise  phis  d'4in  abus  s'introduisit,  si  la  faveur  du  d6sordre,  dans 
les^timtitulionsde  FEgike;  ce  que  je  vais,  mon  noble  ami,  vousex* 
pos^'  aviec  line  parfaite  caadeur. 

On  a  b^miccfup  d^clam^  centre  le  sacerdoce,  chez  nous  comme 
partoiit  ailieurs.  Voici  les  faits.  Depub  I'Spoque  oil  le  saint 
patriarche  G^nnadius,  s'interposant  entre  une  nation  captive  et  ses 
Aroaches  oppresseurs,  e6t  obtenu,  par  une  force  qui  lui  venait  d'en 
faan^  certakies  eonditons  d'existence  en  faveur  de  FEglise,  noub 
a#O0S'Vu  eonstamment  la  religion  prot^ger  les  chr6tien»  d'Orient, 
learalHer  autour  de  la  croix,  leur  inspirer  la  resignation,  racheter 
pslr  di^s  sacrifices  continuelfr  I'int^ite  du  culte  veritable,  et  ne  con- 
s)nnnef,>poar  ainsi  dire,-  q«e  le  pain  qu'elle  consacre  sur  ses  autels. 
Sojeffet^  josqu^tl  1766,  les  chr6tiens  d'Orient^  comme  je  vous  Tad 
dSji'iiut  observer,  n-eurent  point  de  protecteur  temporel.  Mais  en 
exer^avt  ^^e  mioistire  de  paix,  en  se  roidissant  secr^eraent  centre 
tes  apostjisies^*eii'traDsigeant  avec  douleur  sur  les  droits  de  la  reli^ 
gsonf>ei  de  ^faikitaanite  ;  meaacee  par  le  sabre,  VEglise  a  d&  tol^rer 
des'abiis  ^'elle  deplore,  mais  doot  elle  ne  sera  jamaia  compliee 


118        '  Correspondance  politique  sw  h  GrSce  [22 

volontaire.  Cn  voici  plusieurs  exemples*  *  Le  patriarcat  de  Cod* 
staatiBople  et  le  synode  qui  y  sii^ge  est  flus  qu'une  autorit6  spiFU 
Inelle.  C'est  mie  ihstitution  politiqui^  une  banque  nationale/oft 
cbacuB  depose  sea  6pargnes ;  une  bayHtfi  cour  de  justicet  enfiii  une 
deputation  permanente  aupris  de  ipt  Porte,  de  la  part  d'un  peuple 
opprimi.  Or  il  lui  fiaut  de  grandf  moyens  picuniaires  pour  assouvir 
eu  toute  occasion  la  cupidit6  ottonoane.  Ct  d'oii  Tfiglise  emprun- 
terait-eUe  ces  ressourcesy  ij  ce  n'est  en  mettant  d  conlaributioD 
r^piscopat,  I'ordre  monasiique,  la  pr&trise^  et  la  niasiie  g^misaantt 
desilaiques?  Ailleurs  on  dote  les  6vteb6s;  en  Turauie,  il  fiiut 
qu'ils  racbitent  la  permission  de  subsister  encore.  Telle  e8t>  mon 
noble  ami,  la  cause  toujours  renaissante  de  ce  qu'on  appelle  v6ia« 
lit6  parmi  les  cbefs  de  I'figlise ;  de  cette  Eglise  contrainte  de  ne- 

focier  sans  rel&che  avec  le  g6nie  du  mal,  acham^  k  la  proftner  ou 
la  d^truire.  Je  doute  fort  qu'aucune  80ci6t6  cbr6tienne  e&t  mieux 
soutenu  I'^preuve  qui  nous  est  impos^e.  M^fiez^vous  d'aiHeurs  de 
toutes  les  imputations  dingoes  contre  I'Eglise  orthodoxe,  parce  que 
tons  les  observateurs  Strangers  qui  en  ont  parl6  se  rahgent  sous 
Irois  categories  distinctes.  La  premiere  se  compose  de  ceuz  qui 
atkibuent  tons  les  maux  de  1' Eglise  et  de  la  nation  k  sa  separation 
du  si6ge  de  Rome,  lis  voient  une  paille  dans  reeil  de  leurs  fr^res^ 
et  la  poutre  qui  est  dans  le  leur  demeure  un  secret  pour  ieux.  La 
seconde  i:omprend  tons  les  arnarchistes  en  mati^re  de  religion,  qui 
s*indignent  et  s'irritent  de  voir  le  principe  de  I'autorite  spirituelle 
si  religieusement  maintenu  en  Orient.  La  troisiime  et  derniire 
categoric  d'observateurs  prevenus,  embrasse  tons  les  anarchistes 
pratiques,  qui  voudraient  faire  accroire  A  la  nation  grecque  et  k 
j'univers  entier  que  c'est  le  clerg^  d'Orient  qui  tient  son  troupeau 
sous  le  joug.  De  ces  trois  points  de  vue,  egalenient  faux,  partent 
toutes  lesexag6ration$  calomnieuses  que  Ton  entasse  contre  TEglise; 
et  r  Eglise  n'y  r^pond  qu'en  priant  et  en  offrant  tons  les  jours  le 
saint  sacrifice  pour  la  reunion  de  tous  ceux  qui  la  jugent  sans  la 
connaitre,  ou  qui  la  persecutent  sans  pouvoir  r6branler« 

Enfin  Catherine  II.  monte  sur  le  trdne  de  Russie.  Unegrande 
force  d'esprit  et  de  volonte  presage  toujours  de  formidables  r^ac- 
jtions  dans  Tordre  politique  et  moral.  La  Russie  se  trouve  engag^e 
dans  une  triple  lutte  avec  la  Su^de,  la  Pologne  et  la  Ttirquie« 
•Elle  atterre  par  des  coups  redoubles  i'orgueil  insens^  de  la  Porte^ 
■appelle  d  Tappui  de  sa  propre  cause  tous  les  chr^tiens  d*Orient,, 
met  aux  Grecs  les  armes  k  la  main,  exalte  leurs  esperances  legi- 
times, leur  revile  le  secret  de  leur  force,  place  Tennemi  du  nom  chre-* 
lien  entre  deux  abinies,  et  deploie  dans  I'Archipel,  en  Moree,  sur 
la  mer  Nokre  «t  sur  les  cimes  de  THemus,  I'etendard  victorieux  de 
la  cFoix.  C'en  etait  fait  du!  trdne  des  sultans.  Mais  la  Russie, 
pressee  de  toutes  parts,  accorda  la  paix  i  son  ennemie,  etraoinistie 


23]  en  1821  et  1822.  H9 

qu'elte  stipula  en  faveur  de  ses  adherens  ne  servit  qu'^  exalter 
davantage  I'esprit  de  p^rfidie  et  de  vengeance  du  gouvernement 
turc.  Les  maHieureux  habitans  du  P6loponn^8e  furent  passes 
au  fil  de  r6p^e.  Tout  y  p6rit  ou  fut  r^duit  en  esclavage.  Deux 
cent  inille  victimes  purent  k  peine  assouvir  la  rage  des  ifioustrea 
nos  pers^cuteura.  Quelle  dette!  elle  p^se  encore  sur  la  Russie. 
Gependantles  Grecs  n'en  restirent  pas  la  :  Timpulsion  6tait  donn6e. 
Li'jiurbre  d'un  nouveau jour,  quoiqiie  environn^e  de  nuages  sanglans^ 
avait  ^knr6  ^horizon  de  la  Gr^ce;  et  la  Gr^ce,  victinie  du  plus 
g^o^reux  enthbusiasme^  prit  une  seconde  fois  les  armes  d  la  voixde 
la  souveratue  du  Nord ;  ses  efforts^  quoique  partiels^  marquirent 
toujours  le  mfeme  entratnement  religieux,  et  prouvdrent  d  I'Europe 
6tonn6e  que  la  religion  seule  forme  des  liens  indissolubles.  La  paix 
de  Jassi  (1792)  assura^  la  Russie  de  nouvelles  conqu^tes^  et  con^ 
solida  ses  droits  de  protection  sur  les  chr^tiens  d'Orient^  droits 
^tablis  par  le  irait^  de  Ka'inardg6.  L'exercice  de  cette  influence 
bienfoisante  et  formellement  reconnue  consola  les  Grecs  des  maux 
qu'ils  avaieht  soufferts^  autorisa,  pour  ainsi  dire,  toutes  lears  esp6- 
rances^  offrit  aux  deux  principaut^s  un  point  d'appui  solide,  et  viyifia 
lea  provinces  m^^ridionales  de  la  Russie,  jusqu'alors  enti^rement  d6- 
aertes^  en  donnant  au  commerce  de  cet  empire  un  essor  prodigieux. 
Les  Grecs  sentirent  ce  qui  leur  manquait  pour  ^tre  au  niveau  de 
leurs? destinies  futures,  lis  recherch^rent  avec  ardeur  Tinstruction, 
se  livrirent  k  la  navigation,  au  commerce,  &  I'industrie,  avec  un 
succ^s  itonnant,  sous  r6gide  du  pavilion  protecteur.  Rien  ne  put 
les  arr^ter ;  ils  serrirent  leurs  rangs,  et  marcb^rent  au  but  dans 
un  profond  silence,  tandis  que  la  r^i^olution  fran9aise  absorbait 
I'attention  de  tons  les  trdnes  menaces,  et  pr6sageait  d'affreuses 
commotions  d  I'Europe  et  d  I'univers.  Telles  sont  les  vraies  causes 
de  la  conservation  miraculeuse  des  Grecs  pendant  quatre  si^cles  de 
pers^ution  et  de  servitude.  Je  m'arrSte  ici,  nion  noble  ami ;  ma 
prochaine  lettre  r6pondra  k  votre  seconde  th^se:  vous  y  verrez  les 
▼rais  mobiles  qui  ont  d6termiii6  T^poque  et  le  mode  de  notrasou- 
Uvement  national. 


LETTRE   VL 

*  Nous  vbilft  parvenus^  une  nouvelle  ^re.  La  revolution  fran- 
^aise  a  cbang6  la  face  du  globe.  Elle  a  6tendu  son  influence  aux 
deux  hemispheres.  De  la  Terre-de-Feu  jusqu'A  Moscou  en  cen- 
dres,  des  bords  du  Nil  jusqu'aux  extr^mites  de  la  Lapbnie,  le  genre 
fanmain  s'est  ^mu,  il  s'est  lev6  en  masses,  lea  antiques  institutions 


120  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grece  (24 

ae  dont  ^Croul^es^  de  oouvelles  combinaisons  sociales  86  sont  form&a 
au  milieu  des  ruines ;  le  dernier  simulacre  de  Teinpire  romaio  a. 
dispara,  et.la  vraie  religion  est  seule  restee  debout  aur  lea  d6com- 
brea  des  asaociationa  politiques.  Je  ne  m'arr&terai  paa^  mon  noble 
ami^  d  voua  tracer  le  tableau  de  la  in^tamorphoae^  pour  ainai  direi 
univeraelle,  ijui  a'accomplit  aous  noa  yeux.  La  vaate  6tendu€  du 
aujet  noua  entrainerait  loin  de  celui  que  je  me  auiaoigag^itraiter. 
Qu'il  noua  auffiae  d'obaerver  que  lliomme  du  coui^rpux  divio  oaaajar 
de  diriger  le  torrent  revolutionmure  vera  lea  r^giona  du  Levant* 
Son  expedition  d'£gypte  6branla  Tempire  ottoman,  aana  lui  porter 
d'atteinte  mortelle,  et  ne  servit  qu'sl  consolider  la  domiuatioa  dea 
Ariglaia  aur  la  M6diterran6e«  La  revolution  ae  m%>rit  de  route; 
au  lieu  de  frapper  I'empire  ottoman  au  coeur,  d'entratner  dana  aa 
cause  tout  TOrient  chr6tien^  elle  alia  a'^puiaer  en  vaina  efforta,  k 
Tombre  dea  pyramides.  £t  cette  erreur  fut  Teffet  d'une  providence 
apdciale^  qui  pr6aerva  notre  sainte  Eglise  et  la  nation  grecque  de 
toute  participation^  m^we  involontaire,  d  une  cause  antichr6tieniie» 
Or&cea  en  aoient  rendues  au  souverain  arbitre  de  nos  de8tin6ea« 
Cependant,  le  croiriez-vous  f  la  revolutions  et,  en  dernier  lieU| 
Taventureuse  expedition  d'Egypte,  produisirent  une  secouaae  daw 
lea  espritSy  mSme  parmi  les  turcs.  Quelquea  Greca  instruita  et 
entreprenaos,  tels  que  I'infortune  Rigas,  devor^s  du  d^air  de  bftter 
raffranchissenient  de  leur  palrie^  travaillirent  d  cette  ^poque,  avec 
un  z^le  sans  exemple>  d  propager  lea  lumiirea  parmi  leura  coo^mi* 
trio  tea,  et  A  inspirer  leurs  proprea  aentimens  k  quiconque  etait 
capable  de  aeconder  leura  projets.  L'enthousiasme  de  la  liberty  lea 
aeryit  mal  neanmo]n9>  parce  qu'il  tenait  trop  de  Tenivrement  du 
aiicle,  et  parce  que  (I'on  ne  aaurait  aaaez  le  r^peter)  Dieu  ne  permit 
point  qu'une  cause  qui  6tat  la  sieime,  f&t  jamais  redevable  de  aoA 
triompbe  si  aucun  prtnpipe  aubversif  de  I'ordre  religieux  et  aoc^L, 
Durant  le  coura  de  ces  tentatives  prematur^es,  la  nation  grecque 
eut  la  douleur  de  voir  sa  protectrice  naturelle  devenir  un  mom^t 
TaUiee  de  la  Porte.  En  effet  la  glorieuse  banqiire  de  Saint-Geoige^ 
associee  aux  enseignes  ottomanes^  flotta  dans  les  mers  louienqes^  et 
rerection  de  la  r^publique  Septinsulaire  servit  de  compensation  k  ce 
grand  scandale  politique.  Les  Grecs,  inipatiens  de  briser  leur  joug, 
ne  savaient  plus,  dans  la  confusion  gen6rale  des  principes  et  dea  re- 
lations sociales  en  Europe,  oil  placer  leurs  esp^rances.  La  France 
et  ie  conqu^rant  qui  la  gouvernait  fix^rent  quelque  temps  leura  re- 
gards :  mais  ce  prestige  dura  pen  ;  et  jamais  les  honmies  sup^rieurs* 
qui  trav^illaieiit  k  reg6n6rer  la  nation,  ne  partag^rent: /cette  illuaion 
dangereu^e.  Le  plu^  illustre  de  tons,  le  plus  infatigable^  le  prince 
D^mj^trius  Mourouzi^  dont  la  memoire  sera  ch^re  d  noa  demiera 
neveux,  cet  homme  qui  ne  v^cut  que  pour  I'avenir  de  aa  patrie,  se 
d^clara  ouver tement  Tadversaire  du  syst^me  de  Napoleon,  et  p^rit 


2SJ 


en  1821  et  1822.  121 


victiaie  de  )see  resse&timeos.  Ce  fot  peut-dtre  la  drn'oi^e  t&te 
iUustre  immol^e  par  le  despotisme  universel.  Le  prince  Mourou^i 
fut  matsacr^  k  Scbomla,  vers  la  fin  d'octobre  1812^  graces  aux 
noires  intrigues,  de  Tambassadeur  de  France :  et  dejsL  son  mattra 
fayait  lei  mwns  incendi^s  de  Moscou  ;  d^jsl  la  justice  divine  pour-« 
suivait  ^e  grand  coupable^  et  donnait  k  Tunivers  la  plus  terribk  de 
tottles  les ]e9on8.  Les  ev^emens  prodigieux  qui  suivirait sont  pn^eot 
i  noire  minoire.  L'admirable  cooduite  de  Tenapereur  Alexandre^ 
fmrmi  les  cbaacea  d*une  lutte  opiniitre,  et  au  milieu  des  teaeils 
d'une  coalition^  imprima  4  ce  moaarque  le  sceau  radieux  d^une 
Election  toute  divine.  Aussi  la  nation  grecque,  toujours  pr&te  ^ 
chdrir  el  k  renouer  ses  liens  avec  la  Russie,  touma  unanimemeut  sea 
esp^rances  et  ses  regards  vers  le  lib^rateur  de  tant  de  natioils :  et 
qiioideplus  naturel!  la  fermet6  d* Alexandre  venait  die  sauver  la 
Rusue,  et  la  plus  vaste  portion  de  TEglise^de  ravilissement  leplus 
affireux.  Ses  armes  victorieuses  avaient  fait  contempler  k  TEurope 
itoon^  les  pompes  graves  et  ^difiantes  de  notre  culte>  8ana>  cesse 
|)enouvel4es  sur  tous  les  champs  de  bataille,  depuis  les  rives  de 
rOder  jus^u'aux  plaines  de  LeipsiC|  et  de  Ujusqu'slcette  place  de 
la  Revolution,  oii  nos  priires  solennelles  et  rhyrone  de  la  r^snrrec- 
tioo,  eotonn6  par  nos  pr&tres,  semblaient  destines  k  expier  le  sup^ 
pUce  du  roi  martyr !  Quiconque  a  vu  de  pris  Tattacbement  exmlt^ 
dea  Grecs  pour  le  culte  de  leurs  p^res,  pent  seul  se  faire  nne  juste 
id4e  de  leurs  aentimens,  d  une  6poque  oik  tout  les  encourageait  i 
espirer  k  leur  tour  une  prompte  amelioration  de  leur  sort.  J'ca 
appelie  k  voire  6quite«  Les  Grecs,  ainsi  raraen^s  k  leur  tendasce 
naturelle,  par  des  6v£nemens  miraculeux,  spectateurs  de  la  r6g6n6<^ 
mlion  politique  de  tant  d'6tats  europ^ens  rendus  k  I'ind^pendance, 
pouvaienl-ils  ue  pas  se  tenir  pr&ts  k  agir,  k  profiler  de  la  premiere 
coDJoncture  favorable  i  Or,  il  y  a  plus  :  TEurope,  plac6e  sous  la 
garantie  du  trait6  de  Paris  du  -^  novembre  1815,  et  sous  ceHe 
d'une.  alliance  toute  chr6tienne,  rendit  Tempereur  Alexandre  k  ses 
ilaJts,  k  ses  relations  imm6diates ;  et  d^s  lors  ce  monarque  voua 
une  attention  particuli^re  aux  affaires  du  Levant*  La;  Russie  avail 
k  se  plaindre  de  plusieurs  infractions  au  trait6  de  Bukarest.  De 
aon  cdt^,  elle  avail  sursis  k  I'execution  d'une  des  clauses  de  ce  traitd^ 
qui  Tobligeait  a  restituer  aux  Turcs  plusieurs  points  fortifies  du 
littoral  asiatique  de  la  mer  Noire.  La  Porte,  k  son  tour,  avail 
violi  Tamnistie  stipul^e  en  faveur  des  sujets  respectifs  des  deux 
puissances,  en  s^vissant,  avec  sa  perfidie  accoutumie,  contre  plu^ 
sieurs  individus  cbr6tiens  et  musulmans,  en  commettant  des  atro«- 
cit6s  sans  nombre  dans  la  malheureuse  Servie.  Elle  s'6tait  permis 
plus  d'un  empi^tement  sur  la  ligne  fronti^re  du  Danube.^  Une  foule 
de  vexations  k  i'^gard  du  commerce  russe  demeundent  sms  ripara^- 
lion.     Enfin  Timmunit^  de  trois  ans,  stipuI6e  ea  faveur  de   la 


122  Correspondance. politique  sur  la  Grice  |26 

Moldavie  et  de  la  Valachie,  fnt  viol6e  aussitot  aprds  la  restitutson 
des  deuic  principaut^s  d.  leur  suzeraine.     Tel  est,  en  peu  demots, 
I'aper^u  des   griefs   r^ciproques.      Quatre   ans  de   n^gociatiens 
iDfructueuseSy  depurs  1812  jusqti'sL  1816^  n'avaient  servi  qu'i  leal 
aggraver.     .Uenipereur,  guid6  paries  vues  les  plus  pacifiques, r6- 
solat  d'envoyer  un  nouveau  niinistre  k  Constantinople,  muni  d'in- 
structions  qui   ne   respiraient  que  la   paix.     L'orgueil-  ottomaiii 
toujours  aveugle  et  intraitable,  m^connut  entiirement  les  motilv  de 
rextrdnie  moderation  que  montrait  la  Russie.     La  Porte  rattribua 
peut^&tre  d  des  embarras  domestiques,  ou  d  des  engagemens  pris  k 
rext6rieur.     £Ue  pr^ta  I'oreille  d  des  suggestions  maiveillantes,  et 
se  roidit  avec  une  obstination  audacieuse  contre  tous  les  efforts 
conciliatoires  que  le  baron  de  Stroganoff  renouvela  sans  cesse 
aupr^  d'elle,  durant  le  long  intervalle  de  cinq  aun6es  cona^cutives. 
£n  un  mot,  la  Porte  ne  c6da  jamais,  parce  que  la  Russie  ne  yonlut 
jamais  employer  la  menace  d  I'appui  de  la  persuasion.  Quedevait- 
il  r^sulter  de  cet  6tat  >pr6caire  ?     Les  Grecs,  spectateurs  inquiets 
d'une  nigociation  interminable,  voyant  tous  les  points  en  discusaion 
demeur^s  ind^cis,  ne  devaient-ils  pas  s'attenare,  d'un  instant  d 
Tautre,  k  voir  6clater  une  rupture  entre  deux  puissances,  dont  Tiine, 
pr6pond6rante  de  droit  et  de  fait,  n'avait  qu'un  seul  coup  k  frapper 
pour  obtenir  justice,  et  la  faire  rendre  k  ropprim^ ;  Tautre,  £uble 
et  d6sorganis6e,  semblait  entraln^e  par  son  aveuglement  k  une 
perte  inevitable.     Aussi  plus  la  n^gociation  se  prolongeait,  et  plus 
la  fermentation  augmentait  parmi   les  Grecs.     Les   probabilttis 
etaient  toutes  pour  une  guerre,  et  la  nation  6tait  r^solue  de  la  rendre 
decisive,  en  y  coop^rant  de  tous  ses  efforts.    Moins  de  patience  de 
la  part  du  cabinet  de  Saint- P6tersbourg,  e&tsans  contredit  ameui 
un  accommodement  d^finitif  avec  la  Porte;  et  raffermissemenl^ de 
la  bonne  harmonic  entre  les  deux  empires  eiit  d^s  lors  ajoum6^  les 
esp6rances  de  ma  nation,  ainsi  que  les  projets  et  les  pr6paratifs  de 
ses  chefs.    Or  il  arriva  pr6cis6ment  le  contraire.    La  sagesse  divine 
£t  servir  sL  ses  desseins  tous  les:  m6nagemens  de  la  prudence  hu- 
maine.     £Dtin  le  gouvernement  turc  lui-m&me  travailla  de  toates 
ses  forces  k  saper  les  fondemens  de  son  pouvoir/  a  frayer  les  voies 
k  rinsurrection ;  verit6  importante,  que  Ton  a  m6connue  jtisqu'ici, 
etdont  je  vais,  mon  noble' ami,  vous  fournir  toutes  les- preuves. 
£coutez-moi  avec  attention. 

Le  sultan  Mahmoud,  d^s  son  av6nement  au  trdne,  se  mootra 
Avided'or  et  de  pouvoir.  Son  favori,  le  trop  fameux  Halet-ElFendi, 
fonda  son  systime  d'admiuistration  sur  les  passions  dominantes  de 
son  mattre.  Pour  enrichir  le  p6cule  du  tyran,  il  fallut  rangonner 
et  d^pouiller  tous  les  seigneurs  turc»  les  plus  marquans .  par  leur 
credit  et  par  leurs  richesses.  C'6tait  en  m^me  temps  le  meilleur 
moyea  d'^carter  des  rivaux,  et  de  s'assurer  d^  lui-m&me  une  faveur 


27]  en  1821  et  1822.  tSS 

sanis  partage.  Pour  caresser  le  despiodmie  dfe  MAmothd,  ii  faltait 
rentndiier  dass  im  BftAme  ^Immililli  yerpitmUe  d  regard  des 
sranda  fendatairat  de  aa  couronne:  Haiet  y  r6ussit  parfaitement. 
mat  ^prdttxte  de  r6duire  des  rebelles,  il  d^termina  le  sultan  d  diriger 
tootes  868  forces  centre  les  Aians  et  les  pachas  lea  plus  redout6s  de 
rAimtdlie  et  de  la  Gr^ce.  Or  ces  Aians  6taient  tous  chefs  de  dy- 
nasties indig^nes^  puissamment  enractn^es  dans  les  pajB  qu'iis  p08-» 
s^daient  de  tongue  main.  Sou  vent  indociles  aux  ordres  de  la  Porte^ 
cea  tyrans  subalternes  6taient  K^6anmoins  les  plus  fernies  soutiena  de 
sa  tyranni'que  supr6matie.  Leurs  int^rfets^  leura  relations  locales> 
constituaient,  pour  ainsi  dire,  la  derni^re  force  de  cohesion  et  de 
resistance  d'un  empire  monstrueux.  Toutes  les  fois  que  le  sultan 
s'applaudissait  d'avoir  r6duit  un  rebelle,  il  abattait  sans  a'en  douter 
une  des  colonnes  de  son  trdne ;  son  autorit6  nominale  s'^tendait  en 
apparence,  mais'  le  pouvoir  r6el  des  osmanlis  s'affaiblissait  sans 
retour.  Partout  les  nouveaux  pachas  rench^rissaient  sur  les  vexa- 
tions de  leurs  devanciers^^  qui  connaissaient  mieux  qu'eux  les  res- 
sources  du  paySy  et,  pour  ainsi  dire,  les  limites  naturelles  de  la 
tyrannie.'  iJe  pareils  succ^s  ^taient  autant  de  plaies  incurables. 
MJEihmoud  en  eut  beaucoup,  car  un  Dieu  vengeur  le  poussait  k  sa 
mine,  par  le  sentier  des  victoires.  Une  foule  de  rebelles  dompt6s 
de  toutes  parts,  en  Asie  comuie  en  Europe,  enfia  prodigieuseaient 
aon  orgtieil.  II  veut  porter  le  dernier  coup,  ceiui  qui  devait  le 
faire  riSgner  sans  partagc  sur  tant  de  regions  d6soI6es ;  il  s'attaque 
i,  Ali-Pacha  de  Janina,  le  plus  puissant  de  ses  feudataires.  Cette 
demi^re  faute  decide  irr^vocablement  la  perte,  et  accomplit  les 
sdmlMres  destinies  de  Tempire  ottoman.  Je  vous  invite  d  lire  la  vie 
de  ce  monstre  sous  forme  humaine,  dans  Tadmirable  ouvrage  de 
Pouqueville/  Vous  y  verrez  I'^norme  puissance  qu'Ali-Pacha 
s'^tait  acquise,  et  qu'il  avait  su  consolider  par  trente  ann6es  de 
politique  ustucieuse,  de  perseverance  et  de  forfaits;  11  n'a  man- 
que  d  Ali-Pacba  que  le' glaive  d  deux  tranchans  de  la  civilisation 
inodeme,  pour  devenir  un  Napoleon  ou  un  Attila.  La  Grice 
presque  entidre  ^tait  courb^e  sous  sa  verge  de  fer ;  il  teuait  les 
r^nes  du  pouvoir  d^uie  main  ferme,  exerc6e  d  commander;  il 
dominait  specialement  sur  les  regions  habitues  par  les  peuplades  les 
plus  belliqiieuses  de  la  Turquie.  Indifferent  k  toute  religion^ 
n'ayaht  de  foi  que  dans  les  richesses  et  ia  puissance,  Ali-Pacha 
laissait  croire  aux  Chretiens  indigenes  qu'il  terminerait  sacarrt^re 
par  une  abjuration  de  Tislamisme,  et  il  acbetait  au  poids  de  Tor 
ceux  que  cette  esperance  ne  pouvait  seduire.  Si  le  sultan  M  ah- 
moud.  ayait  ete  mieux  conseilie,  il  e&t  menage  un  tyran  septuage- 
naire^  qii'il  ti'etait  pas  s6r  de  vaincre,  mais  dont  llieritage  lui 

'  Voyage  dans  la  Gr^e,  par  M.  Pouqueville,  5  voUn^Qvo.,  FarUf  1820. 


124  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grece  [28 

appartendit ;  car  les  fib  d'AIi^  heritiet^  de  tous  les  vices  de  leQr  p^^ 
ne  posa6daient  aucune  de  sea  qnaiit^  ^minentes ;  la  Porte  lee.eiit 
tenasa^s  sant  effort. 

Mais  h  haine  personnelie  de  Halet  pour  AinPacha,  TattrttC 
irresistible  des  tr^sors  que  Ton  supposait  k  ce  dernier,  I'orgtieil  de 
tant  de  siico^  obtenus  Mur  d'autres  rebelles,  tout  concourut  i  to* 
trainer  Mahmoud  dans  uoe  entreprise  qui  formates  Grees  de  coarir 
aux  armes ;  et  j'en  appelle  au  ciel  et  i,  la  terre :  que  restait-il  k 
fiure  i  la  nation  f  Les  tyrans  ^taient  aux  prises ;  fallait-il  attendve 
Tissue  de  la  lutte  dans  une  l&che  inaction  f  Quel  qu'e&t  ^t^  k 
vainqueur,  le  sort  r6serv6  si  la  Gr^ce  6tait  ^galement  deplorable; 
car  le  suitan  une  fois  d^barrass^  de  son  feudataire  le  plus  dangereux, 
eftt  donoe  aux  Grecs  dix  tyrans  au  lieu  d'un,  et  Toppressioa  sous 
laquelle  ils  g6niissaient  e^t  6t6  aggrav^e  par  le  cUsordre  et  par 
Tanarchie.  La  victoire  enfin  se  diclarait-alle  pour  Ali-Pacba? 
malbeur,  alors,  maUteur  k  ses  esclaves  !  la  dynastie  du  monstre  se 
f&t  conselid^e  pour  longtemps,  et  nous  n'aurions  eu  qu'sL  pleurer 
sur  les  destinies  des  generations  futures. 

Tellefutlacausedirecte,  immediate,  quinecessita  un  soul^venent 
national.  C'est  la  Porte  ottomane  eile-m^me  qui  lui  donna-  l-ioi- 
pulsion»  Ce  gouvemement  barbare  est  I'artisan  de  ses  prc^res*  d^- 
sastres,  le  premier  nioteur  de  la  revolution  grecque/  non  semment 
par  son  aveugle  obstination  k  rejeter  et  d  combattre,  pendant  cinq 
ans,  toutes  les  demandes  de  la  Russie,  mais  aussi  par  Timpre* 
voyance  avec  laquelle  il  entrepritderenverserledonunateur  dePAlba*' 
nie  et  de  la  Gr^e  continentale.  Ce  dernier  parti  hftta  de  beauconp 
le  moment  de  Tinsurrection.  Elle  e&t  edate  immanquablement> 
par  suite  de  la  rupture  entre  Ali-Pacha  et  la  Porte,  qiiand  bieii 
m^e  ^invasion  du  prince  Ypsilanti,  en  Moldavie,  n'eiit  pas  purlieu. 
La  probabilite  toujours  imminente  d'une  guerre  avec  la  Russie> 
exaltait  et  nourrissait  depuis  cinq  ans  tons  les  projets  de  soul^e* 
raent  des  Grecs.  Dans  cette  disposition  des  esprits,  Ali-Pacfaa 
acme  contre  le  sultan,  il  appelle  les  chredens  ison  secours ;  il<offre 
Tapp&t  de  sa  conversion  a  plusieurs  evfeques  ;  mais  ou  se  defie  de 
ies  promesses,  et  Ton  se  Uent  pr&t  si  tout  evenement.  Cedx  dodt 
hiraisoD  etait  edairee  paries  lumi^res  de  la  f(»,  repugnaieat A 
croire  que  ia  Providence  eiit  choisi  un  monstre  execrable  pour  deve* 
uir  le  liberateur  d'une  ns^ion  cbretienne,  apr^s  en  av6ir  ete  k 
bourreau.  Gependant  la  foule  s'emeut ;  quetques  chefs  de^  parti 
en  profitent  pour  donner  I'essor  k  des  esperances  ildttantes ;  la 
Moree  et  la  Cr^e,  lasses  d'une  oppression  pire  que  celle  d'Aii^ 

*  II  la  rendit  plus  gen^rale,  en  achevant  d'indisposer  les  chefs  de  baadlj^ 
armies  que  la  Porte  appela  ^  son  secours  contre  Ali.  Apr^s  s'Stre  servi  de 
leurs  bras,  elle  leur  retira  les  immunites  dont  ils  avaient  constamment  joui 
souk  le  satrape.— (JVofe  de  PEditeur.) 


fSO]  m  18^1  et  1832.  125 

^'Agitent  60urdein«nt,  Quelquea  booiaies  audacieux^  ae  cotiwani 
clu  piestige  d'uoe  >hiitairie^  ou  gociel(S  toutenoaninale^fonteavisi^er 
I'appui  de  la  Bussie  comme  certaio.  An  m&me  instant,  le  prince 
¥p«lantiy  oubUaut  ses  devoirs .  positifs,  et  se  flattant  de  soufteiiir 
cffioacament.  I'tnairrection  devenue  inevitable  en  Gr^cei  s'^lance  d 
taut.bfsard  nur  la  Moldavie.  Le  bruit  en  reteutit  jusqu'aux  extr6^ 
mit^s  dtt  P^lopona^se.  l^es  Turcs  menacent  dVrlter  tons  lea 
BotaUba  de.Ia  p^Dlnsiile:  ceox-ci  se  bsltent  deles  pr6venir,  etio 
/coup  eat  porti^.  I^es  Greca  et  les  Oamanlis  se  sont  diclari  une 
guerre  ouverte,  une  guerre  i  mort.  . 

.  FarleQE^  mon  nobie  ami^  r6pondez-inoi  bientot.;  les  faits  que 
j'^BOOceen  toute  v6rit6  n'acquiib'ent-ils  pas  si  vos  yeux  les  caract^res 
de  r<§vidence.?  en  fitut-il  davantage  pour  convaincre  tout  observa- 
teor  de  boope  foi  i  J'ignore  si  d'autres  causes  ^ekugae^s,  probi6» 
madquefl^  ont  influ^  sur  le  changement  dont  la  Gr^e  est  le  tJb6&tre ; 
Ubre  ^  chacttB  d'aeoumulcr  de  vaines  conjectures  au  gr6  de  ses  pr6- 
yisntpons :  quant  aux  faits,  les  viold  dans  leur  enchidnement  r^I^ 
Hrr^cusable*  lis  suffisent  pour  expliquer  la  ri&?olution  si  faussement 
jug^  pair  I'espnt  de  parti.  Que  d'autres  hsaeni  boimtur  de  eette 
grande  m^morpbose  au  comiti  directeur  de  Parts^  i  d'autiea 
aoei&^oecultes,  aux. carbonari  d'ltalie;  de  mSme <|u:'on  attiibii^ 
d'ordinaire  la  mort  subite  de  tons  les  faomoiea  puisaan%  au  £er  on 
au|ioisa9,:  je  ne  Tois  dans  ces  imputations  arbitrairesquedesaffir- 
maticHif  saais  preuve,  qu'un  langage  artisteaent  combing  par  la 
jaknirie  polkiqiie,  la  passion  et  I'^goisme.  Quiconque  a  ^ti^daii^e 
d^obsei^trer  les  inquietudes  d^vorantes  de  plusieurs  cabtnetst,  k  la 
S6«le  id4e  d'un  semblaUe  evenementy  et  oela  depuis  pr^  d'un 
jdeikii-siicle,  cdui^^,  dis-jej,  ne  sera  paa  surpris  de  voir  les  efforts 
prod^eux  de  I'esprit  d'intrigue,  tous  dirig6s  contre  une  cause  qui 
iBst  c^le  de  Dieu  mdnoie.  Ajo«ite7  k  ces  motife  la  malbeureuae 
co'inoidence  de  potre  soul^vement  avec  lea  troubles  de  Tltalie,  el 
voas  w'aurea^  pfaw  lieU  de  vous  ^toDner  que  la  r6voIutioa  grecque 
ait  domiik  lani  de  prise  ii  la  eabronie.  Les  d^lita  graves  du  prince 
¥p8ilanti|  la  teneur  de  ses  proclamations^  sa  conduite  dans  les  deux 
pMn^ipaulis,  tout  conoqurul  i  denaturev  une  entrepsise  dont  les 
causes  6laient  in^endantes  du  caprice,  ou  d»  la  pefversk^  de  ceiw 
ttijiim  boipipieSb  CTest  eci  queFgii  s'obstin&i  mecoosattie;  c'estoe 
que  111  sagesse  diving  nous  d6tQilera  plcinementun  jpttP« 

CependanS,  ase  diri9*vous,  qui  sont  les  motew»y  lea  d^sfs 
JMsaiMtsls  d6  FinswrimlsoB  des  Greee  i  commeiit  Jiustifier  nikairie^ 
set  oofjpli4es  et-  ses  propagatews  i^  Vous-  le  dirai-je>  mon  noble 
atnif  fes  ohefW  cN»  l^entreprise  ^taienl  des  hommes  d^gus  par  une 
AiMse  esp^ranqe^  paf»  une  tradition;  fort  aneienne:  J'entends  par  Ht 
I'apptii  de  la  Rujfsie.  lis  ne  sotft  que  les  b^ritiers  a  on  sorstime  d^ 
regeneration  nationale,  cr^e  par  Catherine  IL     La  memoire  des 


126  Corrt^Hmdanee  politique  sur  la  Grice  [30 

peifktet  est  autre  que  celle  des  individus;  sans  die,  il  n*y  aurait 
iioiiit  d'identit^  nationale.  Les  guerres  de  1769>  de  1786,de  1806y 
r6rection  de  la  r6puUique  Septinsulaire,  les  corps  de  troupes  dis- 
ciplines que  Ton  licencia  depuis,  et  qui  inond^rent  le  soi  de  la 
Gr^e,  loutes  ces  choses  furent  autant  de  preludes  de  la  revolution 
que  ron  d^iore  philanthropiquement  aujounPbui.  Quant  d  Th^- 
tairie^Je  ne  sanrais  nier  qu'elle  comptait  parmi  ses  niembres  plu- 
sienrs  individus  sans  aveu,  des  hommes  peu  dignes  de  la  confiaoce 
de^Ieurs  compatriotes.  Mais  la  soci6tl  eHe^rn&me  6tait  devenue 
un  mal  n6eeM«ep  par  des  raisons  dont  la  justesse  ne  pent  manquer 
de  vous  frapper.  iJtm  voici:  tout  devient  myst^re,  Thopneur,  la 
probit^  vsAme,  sous  une  «itoril6  telle  que  le  ^ouvemement  turc; 
Nos  6coles,  nos  biblioth^quesy  bos  entreprises  htt^raires  et  scienti- 
fiquesy  tout,  jusqu'aux  relations  indispensables  entre  I'Eglise  m^ 
et  celle'de  Russie,  devaient  Stre  envefopp^es  d'un  voile  epais^  afin 
d''6cbapper  d  Fanimadversion  de  nos  oppresseurs.  Ainsi  done,  une 
soci6t6  secrete  ne  saurait  fetre  jug^e  ou  condamn^e  en  Turquie, 
comme  elle  e&t  m^rit^  de  I'^tre  partout^illeurs.  Comment  r£- 
proover  le  mystire  dans  un  pays  oik  tout  sentiment  noblej;  toute 
institution  nationale,  ne  subsiste  qu'd  I'ombre  du  mystire  i  c'est  ae 
jouer  des  expressions  et  s'obstiner  d  confondre  des  choses  quin'oot 
rieK  de  commun  entre  elles .  que.  leur  denomination. 

II y  a  plus;  les  guerres  cons^cutives  que  je  vous  ai  cities  tou(-d«. 
rheure,  formirent  parmi  les  Grecs  une  classe.  d'hommes  expatn^ 
errans,.  d^laissis  par  leur  protecteur  naturel,  incapables  de  se  plier 
une  seconde  fois  au  joug  ottoman ;  des  hommes  d^sesp^r^s,  en  un 
mot,  qui  ne  pouvaient  se  flatter  de  rallumer  le  foyer  6teintdeleurs 
pires,  qu'en  excitant  un  embrasement  g6n6ral  en  Turquie.  Leur 
dc^mier  asile  6tait  la  r^publique  lonienne.  Le  trait6  de  Tilsit  la 
raya  de  la  liste  des  £tats  europ6ens.  Celui  de  Paris,  1815,  b  fit 
passer  sous  la  domination  de.  la  Grande- Bretagne.  Paiiga  fut 
livr^e  aux  vengeances  d'Ali-Pacha;  il  semblait  alors  que  Tunivers 
se  f&t  conjur6  pour.disputer  aux  Grecs  le  dernier  coin  de  terre  oik 
ils  respiraient  encore  en  liberty*  Mais  Theure  avait  sonn6.  L'ind^r 
pendance  de  la  nation,  proscrite  et  comprim^e  en  tout  lieu,  fut 
declar^e  au  centre  m&me  de  la  Gr^ce.  L'hetairie,  que  Je  n'ai  connue 
que  par  ses  crimes  et  par  ses  fautes,  n'eut  pas  le  gloneux  priviliffe 
de  donner  le  signal  du  soul^vement ;  tons  ses  plans  sur.  Constanti- 
nople 6cbouirent«  Dieu  suscita  notre  oppresseur  Iui4ii4me :  et 
Mahmoud,  en  attaquant  Ali-Pacha,  donna  le  signal  derinsurrectioD. 
nationale.  Je  suis  intimement  convaincu  que  rexp^dition  d'Ypsi-. 
lanti  n'a  fait  qu'acc616rer  le  d^veloppement  de  la  revolution,  qui  e&t 
6clat6  sans,  elle  ;  mais  alors  I'entrepriseefitmarch^pluslentement, 
peut-^tre  plus  sftrement,  et.surtout  elle  aurait  livre  4  la  rage  des. 
Turcs  raoins  de  victimes. 


31  :  ^1821  et  l«5i.  )  127 

Oui,  mon  noble  sini,  consoltez  tous  le$  observateurs  6clai#68  ^f 
ont  parcouru  la  Grice,  pendant  le»  dix  demi^res  ann^es :  ils  vous 
dirout  qoe  le  g^nie  malfaiaanty  ontis  vtgoureux,  d'Ali-Pacha  conte^ 
nait  aeul  one  population  fatigti^e  de  souffrir,  d'esp^rer  et  de  crain- 
dre  ;  .Hs  voos  dkont  que  la  mort  on  la  chute  de  ce  tjran  habile  6tait  i 
elle  aeole  nne  r6volutiM  pour  la  Gr^ce  continentale.  Dieu  ne  to 
ystgt^  pas  digne  d'en^fttre  le  moteur ;  mais  en  lui  faisant  snbir  la 
peine  due  i  sea  crines,  la  providence  voulut  qu'il  senrtt  d'instMH 
ment  passif  i  Fitttvre  de-  notre  d61ivrance.  Hunii)ions«nou8  devant 
cette-sagesae  impenetrable  qui  fait  toumer  le  mal  au  profit  du  bien^ 
Ali-Pacbm  et  sa  labuleuae  conversion,  Fhetairieet  sea  combioaisoas 
t6nieniir«a  n^existent  plus  quedenoin  ;  n»is  Toeuvre  de  ikiiseneorde 
que  Dieii  prepare  et  dirige,  s'accomplit  inriaiatibicinie&t,  parce 
qu'elle^porte  Tempreinte  radieuse  de  sa  voloat6  toute^puissante; 

Jf6  crois  avoir  6puis6  le  sujet,  et  je  roe  bornerai  d  ajouter  aux 
pfenves  de  faits  une  derni^re  induction^,  qui  n'est  pas  sans  impor- 
Utnce.  JVdmettons  pour  un  in»taht  ce  qui  est  enti^rement  ^ux^ 
savoir,  que  la  revolution  grecque  est  Toeuvre  des  societ6s  revolu« 
tionnaires  de  France  et  d'ltalie.  Dans  cette  hypothise,  comment 
se;  fait-il  que  la  Griee  ne  regorge  point  jusqu'ici  d'homroea  eiev^a 
i  la  grande  ecoie  des  insurrections  ?  comment  le  pen  d-etrangers^ui 
s'y  rendent  sontrils  si  mal  appuy^s,  si  froidementaccueillis  par  leura 
disciples  ?  OA  sont  les  signes  de  reconnaissance  qui  devraient  lea 
faire  pcMer  snr  les  bras  i  oik  sont  les  tr^sors  qu'tb  apportent,  les 
retatioaainitimes  qu'ils  etablissent entre la  Gr^e et  1' Europe ?  tout 
au  ^ontnure,  rien  n'est  pr^vu,  concerte,  organist.  La  compassion 
s'dnieot  en  Allemagne,  en  France ;  mais  elle  t&tonne^.et  ne  sait  oik 
adreaser  ses  secours.  Sur  miUe  etrangers  qui  sont  all^s  chercher 
fortune  en  Grice,  il  n'y  en  a  pas  cinquante  qui  aient  trouv^  de 
Temploi)  et  cela,  k  force  de  perseverance  et  de  merite  personnel; 
En  verite,  les  fauteurs  de  notre  soulivement,  que  Ton  cberche  k 
Paris,  d  Tubingue  et  d  Naples,  paraissent  jouir  d'un  bien  faible 
credit. auprisde  leurs  adeptes;  et  si  cette  ir^ence  existe,  il  faut ' 
aYouer  que  des  deux  cdtes  Ton  joue  merveilieusement  la  surprise. 
Jamais  le  soleil  n'a  edaire  un  tel  chef-d'oeuvre  de  dissimulation.    • 

Adieu ;  j'attendrai  votre  reponse  k  mes  deux  lettres.  J'espdre 
qu*elle  m'encouragera  k  continuer  une  correspondance  dont  le  sujet 
offre  un  si  grand  inter^t* 

LETT  RE    VIL 

B  •••  •  •  a  S  '•  •  •  • 

LA.verite,  mon  digne  anii,.a  guide  votre  plum^,  parce  que  vous      " 
Tavez  chercbee,  meditee,  approfoodie.    Puisse-t-elle  reussu*  k  con* 


1 38  Correspondanoc  politique  sur  la  Grice  [32 

• 

cilier  taut  d'opinioiu  dnrergeotes,  comme  eUe  a  fim£  la  mienne,  sur 
le9  vraias  cauaea  de  la  conservadoo  et  du  r^Teil  de  h  aatioD  grecqoe ! 
P«ut-6tro  avez-vous  i  lutter  cootre  des  pr^endoiia  incarables^ 
parce  qo'elles  ae  fondeot  aur  det  iniiriis  :  maia  encore,  Tooa  four- 
niuea  des  matiriaux  pricieux  k  rhiatoire.  Voua  reodez,  en  ootre, 
MXk  service  essentiel  k  notre  aiicle  :  car  ie  plus  triate  aymptAme  de 
cormption  eat  Ie  r&giie  aba^Ju  de  I'errear,  loraqu'eDe  n'eat  comlMittue 
que  par  d'autrea  errenra  non  moina  dangereoaea,  loiaque  la  ^ttnXk 
iw  ae  rencontre  nuUe  part.  Ce  n'eat  paa  k  dire  pour  ceh  qu'elle  soit 
bannie  dea  r^giona  oik  a'agite  Teap^e  hunuune,  maia  die  r6aide  chns 
uo  juste  milieu  6galeme&t  61oign6  de  toua  lea  eirtr&mcay  et  par 
consequent  inaccesaible  aux  passions  du  moment.  Je  ie  rfep^te, 
vous  persuaderez  un  petit  nombre  d  esprits  droits^  voua  d^plairez  k 
la  va9L}on\Jk  de  tos  lecteurs ;  mais  que  ceia  ne  tous  d^courage  point. 
Vous  aTCz  d6jd  6ciair6  et  convaincu  un  faomoie  qui  ne  ajmpatkise 
gu^  avec  les  revolutions,  qui  bait  lea  sod^t^s  secretes,  et  qui  pe 
fait  gloire  de n'appartenir  qu'd  fEgbse,  k  t  Eiat,  elk  la  Famiue*  Je 
vous  croia  parvenu  au  terme  de  votre  interessante  apologie.  U  me 
tarde  mainteoant  de  connattre  vos  id^es  quant  au  d^vdoppement 
ttherieur  de  la  r6volution  grecque.  Tracez*moi,  de  gr&ce,  Ie  tableau 
aucdnct  dea  exploits  de  vos  compatriotes,  des  fautes  et  dea  crimes 
de  leura  oppreaseurs.  Signalez  les  ^cueils  que  les  Greca  out  M^ 
ceux  qui  les  menacent  encore ;  suivez  la  politique  du  jour  dans  ses 
progr&,  comme  dana  sea  ecarts.  Placez  enfin  votre  ami  k  la 
bauteur  requise  pour  d^couvrir  de  Ik  les  perspectives  brillantead'nn 
avenir  consolateur.  Je  peoae  avec  vous  que  la  Gr^  n'eat  qu'une 
porte  etroite,  par  oik  Ie  Seigneur  se  prepare  k  rentrer  dana  aon  an* 
tiqne  patrimoine.  L'Asieet  FAfriqne  m*apparaisaent  dana  un  loin- 
taiu  obscur :  je  vois  des  peuples  entiers  secouerle  jougdela  fausse 
religion  et  de  la  barbarie ;  ce  que  la  dvilisatioa  et  Ie  commeree 
n'oot  stt  faire,  est  une  oeuvre  6videmment  r6servee  k  la  citMx.  Si 
rAm^rique  a  devanc6  Ie  berceau  de  Taneien  monde,  celui-d,  k 
son  tour,  n'est-il  paa  appel^  k  jonir  de  compensatiooa  jJus  amplcs  I 
Ah!  je  n'oaerai  ea  douter  un  instant  La  justice  de  0ien  ne 
trompe  iamaia* 


LETT  RE    VIII. 

VotRE  demi^re  lettre  contient  autant  d'id6es  que  de  mots.  Je 
Paurais  desir6e  moins  laconique ;  mais  puisque  vous  vous  obstinez 
k  roe  c^der  la  parole,  it  fiiut  bien  que  je  la  reprenne,  en  suivant 
totttefoia  Ie  plan  que  voua  avez  en  la  haiki  de  m  indiquer.  Lor^^ 


83]  en  1821  et  1822.  129 

je  Taurai  es6qut6  tant  bien  que  mal^  la  t^che  que  je  me  suis  impos6e 
sera  remplie. 

Ne  vous  attendee  pas  cependant  k  un  recit  exact  des  priiicipaux 
^v^nemens  de  la  revolution  grecque.  Ce  serait  t6m6ritl  et  sottise 
que  de  Tentreprendre  d  une  6poque  oik  la  s^rie  des  faits  nous  est  si 
imparfaitement  connue.  Un  peintre  habile  se  place  &  une  grande 
hauteur  pour  esquisser  le  tableau  d'une  bataille^  de  crainte  que  la 
fam^,  la  poussi^re  et  les  d6touations^  messag^res  du  carnage,  ne 
lui  fassent  voir  les  objets  sous  un  faux  jour.  Je  me  bornerai  done 
d  caract6riser  les  6v6nemens  dont  nagu^re  j'expliquais  les  causes, 
et  je  vous  promets  de  me  taire  sur  ce  que  j'ignore. 

%e  prince  Ypsilanti  franchit  le  Prutb,  le  23  f^vrier  (7  mars)  de 
Tann^e  1821.     Son  escorte  6tait  aussi  peu  nombreuse  que  son  en^ 
treprise  nyal  combin^e;  il  entra  d  Jassi,  plut6t  comme  un  batteur 
d'estrade,  pr6c6dant  une  grande  arni^e^que  comme  le  chef  supreme 
d'une  grande  insurrection.     Ceci  contribua  k  d^cevoir  les  habitans 
et  k  Ie9  enivrer  de  vaiines  esp^rances.     Le  prince  Sutzo  et  ses  nii^ 
nistres,  ioduit^  en  erreur  par  des  n^gociations  pr^alables^  re^iirent 
Ypsilanti  4  bras  ouverts.  Ses  proclamations  indigestesetambigues 
eurent  les  ^ucc^s  brillans^  mais  ^ph^m^resj  du  niensonge.     Elies. 
avaient  pour  but  de  cacher  aux  Moldaves  etaux  Valaques  les  vraies 
causes  de  Tiuvasioni  qui  n'6tait  qu'un  parti  d4sesp^r6.    £n  efFet,  le 
prince  Ypsilanti  m^ditait,  depuis  long- temps,  la  m^me  apparition 
subite  ^r  le  sol  de  la  Gr^ce ;  mais  un  de  ses  6missaires  ay  ant  6t6 
arr&t6  en  Servie,  il  craigiiit  que  tons  ses  plans  ne  fussent  decouverts. 
La  Valacbie  4tait  d^jd  en  proie  k  une  guerre  intestine ;  envabir 
uiopio^nHnt  les  deux  principaut^^  6tait  un  moyen  de  donder  le 
change  aux  Turcs  9ur  les  vraies  intentions  de  la  Russie.     L'exp6- 
ditioo  fut  d&:id^ ;  elle  eut  lieu :  entreprise  avec  d^loyaut^i  avec 
imprudence,  elle  fut  conduite  sans  la  moindre  habilet^.  Le  d^saveu 
Cormel  de  Tempereur  i^lexandre  atterra  le  prince  Ypsilanti ;  et  il 
alia  se  consumer  i  Tergovist,  saii^  avohr  signals  sa  course  rapide  par 
le  moindre  fait  d'armes  honorable.     Une  foule  de  jeunes  Grecs 
6taientaccourus  de  toutes  parts  se  ranger  sous  les  drapeaux  d' Ypsi- 
lanti ;  presque  tons  p^rirent  k  Dragoschan,  dignes  d'un  meilleur 
sort.     Leur  chef  se  constitua  le  suppliant  de  TAutriche^  et  devint 
aussitdt  son  prisonnier.     Les  autres  chefs  d'Albanais,  ou  de  milice 
indigdn^,  tels  que  Wladimiresco  et  Savva,  p6rirent  victimes  de  leur 
disunion.     Georges  Olympios  seul,  brave  et  vaiilant  capitainr, 
surv6cut  au  d6sastre  g6n6ral  qu'il  avait  pr^vu  et  vainement  essa3e 
de  pr^venir.     Avec  une  poign6e  de  braveS)  -il  harcela  et  d6fit  les 
Turcs  en  plusieurs  rencontres,  repassa  de  Valachie  en  Moldavie, 
toujours  ppursuivi  par  un  ennemi  sup6rieur  en  nombre,  et  terniina 
glorieusement  sa  carri^re  dans  le  monast^re  de  Cosia,  dont  les 
ruines  ensevelirent  sa  d^pouille  cribl^e  de  blessures,  sans  pouvoir* 

VOL.  XXin.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  i 


130  CofTespondance  paUtigtce  sur  la  Grece    ^     [34 

effacer  le  noble  souvenir  de  son  nom.'  Un  autre  d^tachement  de 
troupes  grecques,  sous  les  ordres  du  prince  Georges  Cantacnz^e^ 
^nvoy6  au  secours  de  la  Moldavie,  occupa  Jassi  un  instant, T^vaeua 
peu  apr^s,  se  replia  sur  le  Pruth  vis-si- vis  de  la  quarantaine  de  Scou^ 
\k\\i,  s'y  retraucba  dans  une  position  d^savantageuse :  apris  six 
heures  d'un  combat  opini&tre^  i'artillerie  des  Turcs  6crasa  les  Grecs, 
en  les  prenant  en  flanc  et  i  revers.  Cantacuz^ne  et  plusieurs  aatres 
furent  cbercber  un  asile  sur  la  rive  oppos6e ;  leurs  subordonn^s 
tinrent  ferme :  ils  firent  des  prodiges  de  valeur,  sous  les  yeux  de 
plusieurs  milliers  de  spectateurs  group6s  de  Tautre  cdt6  du  fleuve  ; 
enfin  ils  succomb^rent  avec  gloire.  Un  petit  corps  de  cavalerie  qur 
venait  se  joindre  d  eux,  arriva  trop  tard^  fut  disperse  et  taill6  en 
pieces.  Les  Turcs  rest^rent  ^es  mattres  des  deux  principaut6s,  et 
firent  peser  sur  une  population  passive  et  d6sol6e,  tout'l^  poids  de 
leurs  farouches  ressentimens.  Les  cruaut6s  et  les  exactions  de  toute 
esp^ce  qui  se  sont  commises  depuis  lors,  dans  ces  malheureux  pays, 
en  contravention  aux  traites  les  plus  soiennels,  pourraient  fouroir 
Biati^re  k  de  bien  tristes  reflexions.     Je  passe  i  la  Grice. 

Lanouvellederirruptiond'Ypsilanti  en  Moldavie  arriva  prompte- 
ment  a  Constantinople,  et  de  li  en  Mor6e«  Les  deux  peoples  y 
^taient  d^jsi  en  presence,  car  les  troubles  de  PEpire  y  agitaient 
puissamment  les  esprits.  Les  babitans  de  la  p^ninsule  se  mettaient 
en  defense  sur  la  foi  de  quelques  ^missaires  du  prince  Ypsilanti,  et 
les  beys  du  pays  m^ditaient,  d  leur  tour,  un  acte  de  repression. 
Pour  y  r^ussir,  ils  eurent  recours  k  la  periidie.  Les  plus  con8id6r6& 

tiarmi  eux,  s'etant  rassembles  it  Tripolitza,  adress^rent  une  circu- 
aire  d  tous  les  6v&ques,  et  aux  notables  grecs  (proesti),  parlaquelle 
ils  les  invitaient  'k  se  r6uuir  dans  le  chef-lieu  de  la  province,  pour  y 
deiib^rer  sur  les  int^r&ts  cobimuns  de  la  population,  eruellement 
vex6e,  disaient-ils,  et  aiin  d'obtenir  du  sultan  quelque  soulagement 
k  tant  de  maux,  lors  de  la  nomination  d'un  nouveau  pacba,  Plu- 
sieurs ev^ques  et  proesti  donn^rent  aveugl6ment  dans,  le  pi6ge:  ils 
partirent  sur-le-champ  pour  Tripolitza,  et,  k  peine  arrives,  fure«t 
jet6s  dans  un  cachot.  Germain,  arcbev^que  de  Patras,  devina  le 
stratag^me ;  trop  penetrant  pour  mecounaitre  les  intentions  des 
Turcs,  il  en  avertit  k  temps  ses  confreres,  et  concerta  avec  eux  les 
moyens  de  d^jouer  les  sinistres  projets  de  leurs  oppresseurs.  ^l^an- 
nioins  il  fallait  faire  mine  d  ob6ir.  On  se  met  en  marcbe,  Tarcbe- 
v^quede  Patras,  ses  suffragans,  les  notables  du  lieu,  Turcs  et  Grecs ; 
la  caravane  s'arr&te  k  Calavrita,  bourg  eloigne  de  seize  beures  du 
gouffre  qui  d^vait  les  engloutir.     C'6tait  le  lieu  du  rendez-vous 

^  C*etait  un  horome  d'un  exterieur  simple  et  modeste.  II  avait  fait  ses 
premieres  armes  romme  volontaire  au  service  de  Russie.  II  prit  part  avec 
(listinctiop  a  plusieurs  assauts  durantla  derniere  gue  rre  de  Turqnte. 


SS]  m  \82letlS22.  I3l 

pour  )e»  aiitres  d^put^s.  Ici,  Germanos  feint  d'etre  malade :  on 
s'an^te  par  6gard  pour  lui ;  il  profile  du  moment  pour  fabriquer 
una  lettre  qu'il  se  fait  remettre  le  lendemain^  en  presence  de  toute 
la  caravane,  par  un  paysan  cens6  venir  de  Tripolitza.  11  Touvre  ; 
G'6tatt  un  TurCy  craignant  Dieu  et  ami  du  pr61at,  qui  le  conjure  de 
ne  point  se  rendre  d  I'invitation  des  beys^  parce  qu'il  est  certain 
que  i'oti  en  veut  i  sa  vie  et  k  celle  de  ses  collogues.  Germanos 
delate  en  reproches  amers^  les  autres  Grecs  se  joignent  'k  lui  poar 
declarer  qu'ils  n'iront  pas  plus  avant;  les  Turcs  sont  atterr^s^ 
iraitentla  lettre  de  calomnie,  et  se  h(\tent  d'en  donner  avis  d  Tri- 
politza.  Grande  rumeur  parmi  les  beys ;  ils  s'accuseht  mutuelle- 
ment  de  trahison:  la  querelle  s'^chauffe,  la  discorde  est  au  combie, 
et  la.  caravane  de  Calavrita  saisit  ce  moment  pour  se  dissoudre; 
chacun  regagne  ses  foyers^  decide  k  prendre  les  armes.  Cepen^ 
dant  la  garoison  de  Patras,  excit6e  par  les-  bruits  de  guerre  venus 
de  Constantinople,  se.jette  tout  d  coup  sur  les  habitans  paisibles; 
ceux-<:i,  soutenus  par  une  poign6e  de  septinsulaires  plus  aguerrid 
qu'eux,  repoussent  I'agression  ;  la  ville  est  en  flammes.  Le  consul 
de  Russie  est  oblig^  de  fuir,  les  Turcs  sont  battus  et  enferm^s 
dans  la  citadelle;  pris  au  d^pourvu^  ils  songent  d  se  rendre,  lors^ 
que  Youssouf,  pacha  de  Lepaute,  averti  par  I'agent  d'une  puissance 
6trangire,  accourt  avec  ses  troupes,  rentre  k  Patras,  d6gage  la  cita->> 
delle.  Les  Grecs  venus  du  dehors  se  retirent  devant  un  ennemi 
superienr;  et  Tune  des  plus  florissantes  Echelies  du  Levant  n'est 
d6jsL  plus  qu'un.  monceau  de  mines ! 

Telles  sont  lesvraies  causes  et  les  particularites  peu  cohnue^ 
du  premier  soul^vement  des  P61oponn6siens.  Tout  ceci  se  pas- 
sait  au  commencement  d'avril ;  et  tandis  que  les  primats  du  pays 
h^sitaient  encore  k  agir  avec  6nergie,  un  bruit  de  mort,  parti  de 
Constantinople,  retentit  dans  tons  les  coeurs.  Le  saiiit  patriarche 
Gr^oire  n'est  plus :  on  la  arrache  d  Tautel,  le-  jowr  de  la 
Piques ;  les  6v^ques  d'Eph^se,  de  Nicom^die  et  d'Anchiale,  Font 
suivi  dans  la  prison,  y  ont  6te  tortures  avec  lui,  et  ces  quatre  princes 
de  TEglise  ont  subi  d  la  meme  heure  le  supplice  le  plus  ignomi- 
nieux.  Quelles  victimes  !  combien  d'autres  les  suivent  au  mar- 
tyre  !  Quelle  perspective  aflFreuse  pour  toute  la  nation  !  C'est  aiors 
jjue  la  lutte  s'engage  sur  tons  les  points  de  la  p^nin^ule.  La  Crete 
imite  son  exemple ;  Monembasia  et  Navarino,  deux  places  fortes 
de  la  Mor6e,  sont  emporl6es.  Tune  par  capitulation,  Tautre  pai: 
surprise.  Les  Laliottes,  peuplade  turque,  fort  redout^e  par  sa 
f6rocite  el  sou  courage,  sont  attaqu6s  dans  leurs  repaires  par  uit 
corps  d'indig^nes  et  d'loniens  ;  ils  cedent  apr^s  un  coAibat  opini- 
^Ire ;  les  debris  de  leurs  forces  se  r6fugient  k  Patras.  Au  moigr 
de  septembre,  Tripolitza  est  prise  d'assaut;  le  centre  dugouverue- 
nient  ^ombe  au  pouvoir  des  opprimes.     Le  pillage  de  cette  viUo 


1 32  Correspondance  politique  iur  la  Grice  t36 

f  ut  adcompagn^  de  beaucoup  d^exc^s ;  Inhabitant  des  campagnes, 
dev^nu  soldat,  se  livra  aux  fureurs  de  la  vengeance ;  car  les  Turcs 
a'^taient  d6faits  des  prisonniers  qu'ils  avaient  attir6s  dans  le  pi6ge. 
Les  cruaut6s  inouies  dont  Constantinople  6tait  le  tli^^tre,  exal* 
threat  le  ressentiment  des  Grecs ;  ils  oubli^rent  un  instant  qu'ils 
itaient  chr6tiens^  et  redevinrent  hommes  naturels.  Loin  de  tou- 
loir  les  excuser,  je  me  borne  d  indiquer  les  causes  d'une  exasp6* 
ration  funeste^  que  des  philanthropes  &  gages  nous  ont  si  am^re- 
ment  reproch6e.  Leur  indignation,  leur  piti6  est  legitime ;  mais 
4]u'ils  sachent  que  la  civilisation  et  la  discipline  militaire,  dont  on 
fait  tant  de  bruit,  ne  pr6servent  pas  les  nations  de  semblables  6carta. 
Jjb  sac  de  Magdebourg  par  Tilly,  le  ravage  du  Palatinat  par  Tu*- 
renne,  au  dix-septiime  si^cle ;  les  assauts  d'lsmael  et  du  faubourg 
de  Prague  au  dix*huiti^me ;  le  massacre  de  Madrid  au  dix-neu^* 
vi^me,  suffisent  pour  nous  couvaincre  d'une  v6rit^  que  m^connatt 
ootre  orgueil.  Le  feu  de  Finsurrection  eut  bientdt  gagn6  TAcar-^ 
nanie,  TEtolie,  la  B6otie  et  I'Attique ;  partout  les  Turcs  s^enfer^- 
maient  dans  les  places  fortes  :  leur  flotte  sortit  des  Dardanelles, 
afire  de  porter  aux  Grecs  un  coup  mortel ;  mais  elle  rencontra 
partout  les  batteries  ail^es  d*Hydray  Spezzia  et  Psara,  qui  la  har^- 
cel^rent  dans  tons  les  parages,  et  finirent  par  lui  brfiler  un  vaissean 
de  ligne  dans  la  rade  de  Mityl^ne.  Ce  fureut  les  pr6mices  de 
plus  grands  succ^s.  Le  gouvernement  turc,  mal  servi  dans  ses 
projets  de  r6pre8sion,  poursuivait  neanmoins,  avec  une  fureur  sans 
Igaie,  le  cours  affreux  de  ses  assassinats.  II  congut  le  dessein 
d'abattre  en  Gr^ce  toutes  les  t^tes  61ev6es  au-^essus  du  vulgaire, 
D6j^  le  ministre  de  Russie  avait  quitt6  Constantinople,  apris  avoir 
d6ciar6  aux  Turcs,  que  s'ils  ne  changeaient  de  syst^e,  la  Russie 
ae  verrait  forc6e  d'accorder  aux  Grecs  asile,  protection  et  assist 
tance/  Cette  menace  ne  r6veilla  pas  la  Porte  de  son  enivrement ; 
elle  n'y  r^pondit  que  par  des  insultes  :  elle  alia  jusqu'sl  revendiquef 
audacieusement  les  victimes  6chapp6es  d  sa  rage  ;  et  tandis  que  les 
puissances  europ^ennes  n^gociaient  avec  elle,  T^lite  du  clerg6  or« 
thodoxe,  les  principaux  seigneurs  du  Phanal,,  ceux  m&me  qui 
8'6taint  d6vou6s  aux  int^r^ts  de  la  Porte,  enfin  des  populations  en^ 


'■  Note  remise  par  M.  le  haron  dB^.Strogonoffy  ambanadeur  de  JUttiie,  au  Dhan, 

**  II  ne  resterait  plus  h.  TEnipereur  qu*a  declarer  d^s  h.  present  sk  la  d.  P, 
qu'eile  se  constitue  en  ktaX  d'ho^(iIit<^  oiiverte  cofttre  le  roonde  chr^tita  ; 
qu'elle  legitime  la  defense  des  Grecs,  qui,  d^s  lors,  combattraient  uniqiie- 
ment  pour  se  soustraire  k  une  perte  inevitable;  et  que,  vu  le  caract^re  de 
cette  lutte,  la  Russie  se  trouverait  dans  la  stride  obligation  de  leur  offirif 
asile,parce  qu'ilsseraient  persecutes;  protection,  parce  qu'elle  en  aurait  le 
droit ;  assistance  conjointement  avec  toute  la  Chretiente,  parce  qu'elle  ne 
pourrait  livrer  ses  fr^res  de  religion  k  un  aveugle  fanatisme/*  (voyez  let 
Cabinett  ei  les  Feupkiy  par  M.  B/|7ion,page  418.) 


37}  m  laiV  et  IQ^.  133 

tidres,  telles  que  Cydonie  et  Cassaidniy  p^risssuent  chaque  joon 
sous  la  liache  du  bourreau^  ou  sous  le  sabre  des  brigands.  Dieu^ 
acGorda  aux  TurcSi  durant  cette  premiere  campegne^  deux  succ^s^ 
6clataDBy  qui  achev^rent  de  les  aveugler.  La  d6faite  d'Ali-Paeha 
renferm^  dans  le  ch&teau-fort  de  Janina,  et  celle  d'Ypsilaod,  firent 
croire  au  sultan  que  le  g6nie  de  son  empire  I'emportait  encore  une 
fois  sur  la  cause  des  chr^iens,  et  faisait  reculer  devant  lui  la  Russie 
et  TEurope.  L'hiver  se  passa  en  pr^paratifs.  Les  Grecs,  guides 
par  Alexandre  Maurocordato,  Dem6trius  Ypulanti  et  Thlodore- 
Megrisy  proclam^rent  un  gouvernement  provisoire^  dont  les  institu-; 
tions  f^d^ratives  avaient  pour  but  de  rallier  progressivement  autour 
d'un  m&me  centre  les  diverses  parties  de  la  Grice,  et  principaler 
ment  la  force  maritime,  qui  devait  en  ^tre  le  boulevard.  Les 
TurcSy  de  leur  c6t6,  pr6par^rent  une  double  expedition,  destin^e  4 
^eraser  leurs  enneoiis.  L'une  se  dirigea  sur  le  golfe  de  L^pante, 
au  commencement  de  f6vrier  1822,  dans  la  vue  de  ravitailLer  Pa- 
tras,  et  d'op^rer  un  d^barquement  en  Moree ;  1  entreprise  4choua 
compl^tement,  mais  ce  n'^tait  que  Tayant-coureur  d'un  p6ril  plus 
imminent*  La  grande  flotte,  command^e  par  un  amiral  c^i^bre, 
le  moinsignare  des  marins  turcs,  s'appr&te  si  sortir  de  rHellespont; 
I'Archipel  est  saisi  de  terreur,  le  Peloponn^se  chanc^le  et  craint 
d'etre  attaqu6  de  toutes  parts ;  il  ne  faut  pas  moins  qu'ua  miracle 
pour  nous  sauver :  il  a  lieu.  Les  Samiens  envabissent  imprudem** 
ment  Topulente  Chio,  jusqu'alors  docile  k  la  Porte ;  la  fureur  du 
tyrao  j'allume,  il  oublie  son  plan  de  campagne,  et  n'aspire  qu'4> 
<^itier  des  rebelles.  Aussitdt  la  flotte  turque  d6barque  tons  ses 
sicaires  d  Chio,  triomphe  sans  resistance,  fait  main  basse  sur  les 
habitans,  sans  distinction  de  sexe  ni  d'ige ;  une  foule  d'Asiatiques : 
attires  par  le  butin  se  joignent  aux  troupes  du  capitan  Pacha  ;  on 
br&le,  on  saccage,on  immole,  on  fait  trafic  de  cbatr  humaine  ;  six. 
cents  6glises  et  chapelles  sont  profan6es  et  d^molies  ;  on  entasse . 
d^combres  sur  d^combres ;  les  £cbeUes  du  Levant  se  peuplent 
d'esdaves*  Sur  cent  mille  chr^tiens,  vingt  mille  tout  au  plus 
echappent  au  carnage,  4  la  servitude,  k  I'apostaaie ;  et  Cbio,  ainsi 
que  nous  Tatteste  le  Spectateur  Oriental,  et  ce  sont  ses  propres 
paroles,  n'est  plus  qt/un  monument  funhbre  !! ! 

Peuples  Chretiens,  I'avez-vous  entendu  ?  c'est  un  musulman  ctvi^ 
lis^  qui  vous  TannoBce !  •  •  •  • 

Cependant  la  catastrophe  de  Chio  sauva  la  Gr^ce  continentale. 
Ce  fut  un  sacrifice  kumain,  accompli  paries  Turcs,  un  holocauste. 
qui  fut  compt6  au  reste  de  la  nation,  et  qui  anima  pour  nous  la 

{'ustice  et  la  mis6ricorde  divine.  L'Arcbipel  connut  le  sort  qui 
'attendait.  Le  gouvernement  provisoire  eut  le  temps  de  se  recon- 
naitre;  Corinthe  et  Atbines  tomb^rent  au  pouvoir  des  Grecs,  et, 
durmit  ce  long  intervaUe,  le  capitan  Pacha  demeura  comme  en- 


134  Corresponddnce  politique  sur  la  Grkce  l38 

c^atn^  au  th^dtre  de  ses  crimes;  il  y  attendit  dans  une  inactioii, 
dans  une  stupeur  inexplicable,  le  moment  fatal  oik  la*  vengeance  de-? 
vait  le  frapper.  La  flotte  grecque  Tobserve  et  l-6pie ;  «nfin  les 
Psariotes  saisissent  Tinstant  favorable ;  ils  lancent  deux  brdlots 
Gontre  Tescadre  ottomane,  et  les  dirigent  contre  le  bord  du  grand- 
amiral,  et  celui  de  son  lieutenant.  Le  premier  s'attache  k  sa  proie, 
et  bient6t  ce  beau  vaisseau  de  quatre-rvingt-quatre  canons  saute  en 
I'air  avec  deux  mille  hommes  d'6quipage-;  le  capitan  Pacha  vient 
expirer  sur  la  cdte  qu'il  a  jonch6e  de  tant  de  cadavres^  et  abreuv£;e 
de  tant  sang. 

Cependant  le  vainqueur  d'Ali-Pacha^  le  redoutable  Hourscbid, 
s6rasquier  de  Rom61ie^  s'appr^te  k  tenter  tine  expedition  contre  le 
Peloponn^se.  Si  elle  e^i  coincide  avec  Tapparition  dea  deux  es- 
cadres  ottomanes,  e'en  eht  6t6  fait  de  la  cause  des  Grecs  ;  mais  on 
perdit  beaucoup  de  temps  k  assieger  Ali-Pacha,  k  le  r^duire  et  sL 
J'assassiner.  Ce  succ^s  obtenu,  il  fallait  justifier  I'emploi  de  ses 
tr6sors.  Uourschid  reunit  k  force  d'argent  une  arni6e  d^e  trente* 
cinq  mille  hommes.  C6dant  k  des  instigations  6trang^res  qui  avaient 
pour  but  d'an6antir  les  Grecs  avant  la  reunion  du  congr^s  de 
Verone,  le  pacha  se  hate  d'attaquer  les  Grecs  sur  plusieurs  points. 
Une  partie  de  son  arm^e  passe  le  Sperchius^  et  p6n^tre  en  B^otie ; 
l-autre  franchit  les  Thermopjles^  restees  presque  sans  defense  :  le 
fameux  Odyss^e  se  replie  sur  TAttique,  et  semble  vouloir  susciter 
des  embarras  au  gouvernement  central,  dont  il  rejette  Tautorit^. 
Les  Turcs  s'emparent  des  d6fil6s  de  Tisthme  de  Corinthe,  Bur- 
prennent  la  citadelle,  sp  dirigent  rapidement  sur  Argos  et  Nauplia, 
qui  avait  d6jd  capitul6.  Mais,  en  avangant,  le  torrent  se  d^borde.; 
les  Turcs  se  r6pandent  dans  les  campagnes  pour  y  chercher  des 
subsistances,  ils  y  trouvent  la  mort.  Colocotroni,  Pierre  Mauromi- 
halis,  Demetrius  Ypsilanti,  et  Nikitas,  surnomm6  I'lnvincible,  ral- 
lient  leurs  forces  «dispers6es,et  partout  font  face  ^I'ennemi.  11  faut 
de  grands  exploits  pour  effacerde  grandes  fautes.  Toutes  les  disuni- 
ons entre  les  chefs  s'6vanouissent ;  on  bat  les  Turcs  en  detail ;  on 
ieurenl^ve  munitions  etbagages.  Youssouf-Pacha,  qui  avait  francbi 
le  golfe  de  L^pante,  est  oblig6  defuir;  la  garnison  de  Patras  se 
retire  derri^re  ses  cr^neaux.  Quinze  k  vingt  mille  Turcs  p^rissent 
dans  les  combats,  le  reste  se  retranche  autour  de  Corinthe^  et 
Hourschid  va  cacber  sa  honte  et  sa  d6tre$se  dans  le  fond  'de  la 
Thessalie.  Le  mois  d'aodit  s'6coule  k  peine,  que  le  Peloponn^se 
et  tout  le  pays  jusqu'aux  Thermopyles  sontd6jd  sauv6s. 

La  crise  avait  6t6  terrible  ;  c'etait  la  troisi^me,  depuis  T^poque 
du  premier  soul^vement.  La  chute  d'Ypsilanti,  celle  d*Ali-Pacha, 
et  rinvasion  que  je  viens  de  d6crire,  menac^rent  la  Grece  d'une 
parte  inevitable.  Aussi  Tev^nement  couvrit-il  chaque  fois  d'une 
confusion  indicible  plus  d'un  oracle  menteiir.     Cependant^  ilfsmt 


3d]  en  1821  et  1S22.  135 

Tavptier^  de  telles  lemons  6taient  n^cesWires  aux  Grecs  :  leurs  chefs 
avaient  besom  d'apprendre  k  connaitre  par  ie  fait  leur  propre  in- 
suffisance,  la  frivolity  de  leurs  calculs^  le  danger  de  leurs  discordes 
particuli^res,  et  surtout  la  fid^lit^,  et  )a  sagesse  infiiiie  du  Tout- 
Puissant.  Je  me  reserve  de  vous  montrer  plus  tard  quel  fut  Teffet 
de  ces  revers  et  de  ces  succ^s  inesp^r^s^  quant  d  la  politique  euro- 
p6enne. 

Souffrez  que  je  me  li&te  d'achever  maintenant  ma  narration.  La 
flotte  turque^  6gyptienne  et  barbaresque  (car  elie  r6unissait  tons  les 
^l^mens  destructeurs  du  mahom6tisme)  partit  apr^s  coup  pour  la 
Mor6e;  elie  croisa  inutilement  dans  la  merlouienne^jeta  quelques 
renforts  dans  Tile  de  Cr^te^  et  se  dirigea  tout  d  coup  sur  Nauplia. 
Le  nouveau  capitan  Pacha,  que  Ton  6tait  all6  chercher  d  Patras, 
essaya  de  p6n6trer  dans  le  goife,  afin  de  ravitailler  le  Gibraltar  du 
P^loponnese ;  mais  la  flotte  grecque  mauoeuvra  si  babilement 
qu'elle  d6joua  tons  ses  efforts,  et  r^ussit  d  intercepter  les  navires 
charges  de  vivres  que  la  garnison  de  Nauplia  attendait.  Aussitdt 
Tescadre  ottomane,  craignant  de  s'engager  entre  des  bas-fonds  et 
des  briilots,  prit  le  large.  La  saison  avanc6e  (on  6tait  au  mois 
d'octobre),  le  mauvais  6tat  des  Equipages  et  des  agres,  I'invitaient  d 
regagner  le  port ;  elie  arrive  en  effet  aux  Dardanelles,  jette  Tancre 
en  vue  de  T6n6dos,  en  attendant  les  ordres  du  sultan:  ils  tardent, 
et  une  nouvelle  catastrophe  se  pr6pare«  Les  Grecs  suivent  leur 
ennemi  de  loin ;  d,  la  faveur  d'un  vent  du  midi,  ils  d^tachent  trois 
brdlots,  les  lancent  contre  la  flotte  turque,  briilent  le  vaisseau  ami- 
ral  et  une  frigate,  en  font  6chouer  trois  sur  la  c6te,  et  s'empai'ent 
d'un  navire  de  guerre  de'  36  canons.  La  terreur  et  le  gros  temps 
dispersent  une  partie  de  la  flotte  ottomane ;  sur  trente-cinq  bdti- 
mens,  dix-huit  seulement  rentrent  aux  Dardanelles.  Les  barques 
ajm6es  des  Grecs  restent  mattresses  de  la  mer/et  les  colosses  flot- 
tans  des  Turcs  fuient  et  se  cachent  d  leur  aspect. 

La  campagne  est  finie  k  I'avantage  du  faible.  La  Gr^ce  n'a 
qu'une  seule  perte  sensible  k  deplorer:  ce  sont  les  Snliiotes. 
Presses  par  la  disette  de  vivres,  induits  en  err^ur  par  de  faux 
bruits  sur  les  d^sastres  de  la  Mor6e,  ces  braves,  que  leurs  anciens 
exploits  contre  Ali  avaient  rendus  c61^bres,  d6sertent  une  seconde 
fois  leurs  rochers  inaccessibles ;  ils  capitulent  avec  Omer-Vrioni, 
successeur  d'Ali,  lui  remettent  Sulli,  et  se  retirent  au  nombre  de 
dix-huit  cents  dans  les  iles  loniennes. 

Les  Albanais  musulmans,  encourages  par  uu  tel  succes,  s'a- 
vancent  vers  Messo^Longhi,  sous  la  conduite  d'Omer-Vrioni.  Le 
p6ril  '6tait  extreme;  car  plusieurs  capitaines,  ou  condottieri  d'AI- 
banais  chr^tiens,  intimid^s  par  la  chute  de  Siilli,  venaient  de  faire 
leur  paix  s6par^  avec  les  Turcs.  Mais  le  prince  A.  Maurocorda^ 
to^  president  du  pouvoir  ex6cutif,  soutenu  par  Marc  Bozzari^  et 


136  Correspondafice  politique  sur  la  Grhce         [49 

tine  poign6e  de  braves^  tieiit  t&te  d  Omer  Pacha;  il  le  repousse 
avec  grande  perte,  sauve  Messo-Longhi^  d^tache  du  parti  des 
Turcs  plusieurs  capitaines^  rallie  autour  de  lui  toutes  les  forcet  de 
rAcarnatiie  et  de  TEtolie,  menace  de  tous  c6t6s  iios  fiers  ennemis, 
et  n'attend  plus  qu'un  renfort  de  six  mille  P61oponn6sieiis^  sous 
les  ordres  du  prince  de  Sparte,  pour  reprendre  partout  Toffeasive. 

Cependant  la  garnison  de  Nauplia^  priv6e  de  tout  espoir  de  se- 
coursy  depuis  que  le  blociis  est  en  vigueur,  songe  k  capituler:  on 
ne  leur  en  donne  plus  le  temps.  Dans  la  nuit  du  SO  novembre, 
jour  consacr6  par  TEglise  k  la  ni^moire  de  I'apotre  saint  Andr6y 
patron  di\  P61oponn^e^  quelques  femmes  turques  sorties  de  la  cita- 
delle^  appeI6e  Palamidi,  sont  prises  par  ude  garde  avanc^e  des  as* 
si6geans ;  on  les  interroge,  et  Ton  s'assure  que  les  Turcs,  pr6pos6s 
d  la  garde  du  fort,  sont  descendus  dans  la  ville  basse  pour  y  d61i- 
berer  avec  le  reste  de  la  garnison.  A  Tinstant  m^me,  on  plante 
les  6chelles  ;  I'imprenabie  Palamidi  est  escalade  ;  les'  Grecs  trans- 
port's de  joie  lui  donnent  le  nom  de  fort  Saint  Andr6.  Le  jour 
luit^  et  ia  garnison  de  Nauplia  se  voit  prise  au  depourvu  :  oa  traite 
avec  elle  k  coups  de  canon,  jusqu'd  ce  que  les  commissaires  da 
gouvernement  arrivent ;  ils  tardent,  et  la  ville  est  prise  d'assaut. 
Douze  cents  Turcs  y  perissent  les  armes  k  la  main,  le  reste  est 
epargn6  et  transport'  en  Asie.  Le  boulevard  du  Peloponn^  est 
d'sormais  au  pouvoir  des  chr'tiens. 

Ici  finit  pour  moi  Thistoire  bien  constatee  des  'v'nemens  mili- 
taires  de  1 822 :  au-del^,  tout  est  du  ressort  des  gazettes.  Uvi  nar-^ 
rateur,  ami  de  la  v'rit',  doit  se  retirer  pour  laisser  le  champ  libra 
k  leurs  defis,  d  leurs  dementis  perp'tuels. 


LETTRE    IX- 

13  •  •  •  •    Ct     o  *-*  *  * 

Vous  m'aviez  effray6,  roon  digne  ami^  en  me  declarant,  d^s  le 
debut  de  votre  derni^re  lettre,  que  vous  n'auriez  pas  la  t6m6rit' 
d'6crire  Thistoire  des  6v6nemens  militaires  en  Gr^ce.  La  lecture 
de  votre  apergu  m'a  neanmoins  beaucoup  rassur'.  J'y  ai  trouv' 
de  quoi  satisfaire  ma  curiosity  sur  mille  choses  qui  ni'etaient  pett 
connues.  J'ai  surtout  admir6  la  fid61it6  avec  laquelle  vous  suivez 
la  marche  de  la  Providence  dans  cette  guerre  d'extermination  ^t  de 
r'g'n'ration.  Les  trois  phases  ou  'poques  critiques  que  vous 
signalez,  m'ritent  une  attention  particuli^re,  je  dirai  m&me  relt- 
gieuse.  Le  prince  Ypsilanti  et  son  arm6e  ne  sont  plus ;  Ali* 
Pacha  succombe,  et  ses  tr'sors  sont  au  pouvoir  des  Turcs ;  enfiu 
la  Mor'e  est  envahie,  Corinthe  ne  fait  pas  la  moindre  r'sistance ; 
le  gouvernement  provisoire  des  Grecs  parait  dissous,  les  fameux 


41]  et»iQ2tet  1822.  137 

SulUotes  cedent  aux  Turcs  leur  imprenable  atilei  I^put6  le  deftiier 
refuge  de  b  libert^ ;  et  n^anmoins  les  Grecs  Temportent ;  tous 
les  caicttls  de  la  prudence  humaiBe  demeurent  €l6jou6s  et  confon- 
dus4  Ce  n'esC  pas  tout ;  ceschoses  merveilleusea  s'accompUssent 
aaos  ^'un  deul  homwe  sup^rieur  se  soit  eocore  6Iev6  parmi  Jes 
Grecs^  sauB  que  la  puissance  d'un  g6uie  extraordinaire  ait  6t6  ap* 
pel6e  k  coutrebalancer  la  preponderance  d'uii  vaste  empire,  et  les 
combinaisoos  actives  d'uoe  politique  presque  universelle  d6cid6e  k 
le  soutetiir  d  tout  prix«  J'estime  le  courage,  la  perseverance  d< 
tous  ceux  qui  se  devouent  au  service  de  leur  patrie  menacee,  oiais 
je  n'admire  qiie  Dieu  senl,  Lui  seul  est  grand,  lui  seul  est  visible 
dans  les  progr^s  surprenans  des  Grecs.  Quel  homme  oserait'  s'at^ 
tribuer  la  conduite  d'une  entreprise  aussi  merveilleuse  ? 

Et  que  cela  ne  nous  e tonne  point.  Notre  si^cle  a  deji  et^  le 
t^moin  de  plusieurs  manifestations  semblables  de  la  majesty  divine, 
devaot  qui  toute  grandeur  humaine  rentrc  dans  le  neant.  La  chute 
de  Napoieon  n'est  I'ouvrs^e  d'aucun  homme  ;  il  en  sera  de  mime 
de  la  deiivraoce  de  la  Gr^ce :  car  la  portion  du  genre  humain,  que 
nous  appelons  le  monde  civilise,  apr^s  avoir  ete  ch&tiee,  a  besoin 
d'etre  humiliee,  L'orgueil^  cet  acte  primitif  de  l^se-majeste  divine, 
ce  vice  superbe  qui  se  nourrit  de  vertus,  ce  penchant  destructeur 
qui,  semblable  au  serpent,  se  roidit  contre  la  main  qui  le  frappe, 
I'orgueil,  dis-je,  est  sans  contredit  la  maladie  dominante  de  notre 
si^cle ;  ce  qui  le  prouve,  ce  sont  les  moyens  dont  Dieu  se  sert  pour 
humilier  la  presomption  humaine  et  nous  ramener  k  lui.  Etudiez, 
je  vous  €n  conjure,  les  ecarts  monstrueux  de  Torgueil  dans  la  aerie 
d'attentats  qui  a  signaie  le  cours  de  la  revolution  frangaise ;  passes 
de  Id,  k  repoque  des  reactions,  au  despotisme  universel  de  Bona- 
parte, cet  homme  que  Dieu  forma  d'une  trempe  plus  dure  que 
celle  de  son  esp^ce,  afin  qu'il  piit  servir  long-temps  k  frapper  les 
rob  et  les  peuples  avant  que  d'etre  brise  comme  un  instrument 
inutile ;  observez  la  mediocrite  de  ses  adversaires,  la  facilite  de  ses 
Ifiomphes,  et  tout  k  coup  le  deiire  qui  s'empare  de  cette  tite 
superieure,  son  invasion  en  Russie,  les  six  semaines  qu'il  passe  k 
Moscou  occupe  k  se  perdre,  les  fleaux  qui  le  poursuivent  et  I'at- 
tdgnent  dans  sa  fuite  ;  enfin,  les  annees  1813,  1814  et  1815>  oil  le 
colosse  de  sa  puissance  s'ecroule,  se  relive,  et  disparait  sous  les 
coups  redoubles  de  la  vengeance  celeste,  armee,  pour  ainsi  dire, 
de  Bos  faiblesses  et  de  nos  erreurs !  Napoleon  est  tombe,  parce 
qu'une  seule  fois  Dieu  lui  retira  son  genie :  ce  fut  en  18l£ ;  et  une 
seoonde  fois  lui  6ta son  courage:  ce  fut  k  Fontainebleau,  en  1814^ 
afin  que  le  grand  homme  survec&t  k  sa  propre  grandeur. 

Voyez  depuis  ce  moment  les  agitations  sans  nombre  qui  tour- 
Rientent  et  divisent  I'Europe  au  sein  de  la  paix:  ces  peuples  qui 
cr4>ient  devenir  plus  libres  qu'ib  ne  meritent  de  T^tre ;  ces  rois  qui 


138        Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grice  {42 

fie  flattent  d'arr^ter  de  front  rimp6tuosit6  du  torrent^  au  lien  de 
r^purer  dans  sa  source,  ou  de  diminuer  par  des  6coulemens  salu* 
taires  la  masse  toujours  croissante  de  ses  eaux  ;  m^ditez  enfin  sur 
les  ecarts  d'une  politique  erron^e  qui  ne  fait  qu'attiser  le  feu  de 
Tinsurrection  sur  le  sol  de  la  Gr^ce  en  croyant  I'^teindre;  et  con- 
venez  que  Dieu  seul  est  grand,  que  lui  seul  est  visibiie  au  seiti  des 
conunotions  qui  nous  environnent ;  avouez  que  I'homme  est  bien 

fetit,  alors  m&me  qu'il  seconde  machinalement  les  desseins  de  la 
^rovidence ;  jugez  de  ce  qu'il  est^  de  ce  qu'il  doit  craindre  lors* 
qu'il  tente  de  leur  r6sister« 

Je  me  suis  laiss6  entrainer  par  mes  reflexions,  mais  leur  cours 
me  ram^ne  k  I'objet  de  notre  correspondance.  Votre  r^cit  m'a 
fait  penser :  c'estle  triomphe  de  r^crivain.  Veuillez  maintenant 
reprendre  la  plume ;  et  puisque  vous  approuvez  le  plan  que  je 
vous  ai  trac6  dans  ma  derni^re  lettre,  6noncez-nioi  vos  id6es  sur 
la  politique  des  cabinets  de  r£urope,  dans  ses  rapports  avec  les 
destinies  de  la  Gr^ce :  c'est  le  seul  point  de  vue  que  vous  ayiez 
omis  jusqu'ici  dans  vos  lettres ;  il  est  temps  d'aborder  la  question. 
Nous  ne  pouvons  que  travailler  d  T^claircir^  c'est  d  d'autres  d  h 
resoudre.     Adieu, 


LETTRE    X. 

S» •  •  •  u  B* •  •  • 

.  M  ON  nobl^  ami,  la  religion  cbr6tienne  est  le  seul  fondement  solide 
du  syst^me  politiqi^  de  1' Europe.  Tous^les  accessoires  de  ce 
grand  Edifice,  qui  n'ont  pas  la  religioux  pour  base,  sont  b&tis  sur  le 
liable  mouvant  des-  int6r^ts.  L'6quilibre  lui-mSme,  envisag6 
comme  priucipe  vital  de  nos  rapports  politiques,  suppose  des  col- 
lisions perp6tuelles,  jamais  le  repos  ;  car  les  forces  materielles  des 
6tats  peuvent  se  balancer,  mais  il  n'en  est  pas  de  m^me  de  leur 
force  morale,  qui  ne  pent  jamais^tre  soumise  au  calcul.  La  sta- 
tistique  moderne  essaierait  vainement  de  nous  fournir  le  tableau  conn 
paratif  des  talens,  des  occasions,  et  du  g^nie ;  l'6quiiibre  politique 
n'est  done  qu'un  cri  d'alarme,  un  mot  de  ralliement  contre  le  plus 
fort.  Pourquoi  la  paix  de  Westphalie  a-t-elle  eu  des  r^sultats  si 
durables  ?  c'est  parce  que  ce  fut  une  paix  de  religion.  Pourquoi 
la  revolution  fran^aise  a-t-elle  d6truit  ou  confondu  tons  les  rap«> 
ports  existans  entre  les  ^tats  ?  pourquoi  a-t-elle  vio]6  les  maximes 
du  droit  des  gens,  les  droits  des  neutres  ?  pourquoi  a-t-elle  tout  ef- 
face, tout,  Jusqu'^  I'urbanite  de  nos  haines  ?.  • .  Comment  se  fait-il 
qu'elle  a  reintroduit  les  guerres  d'extermination,  et  faillit  replonger 
VEurope  dans  la  barbarie  ?  c'est  que  la  revolution  ^tait  antichre* 
tieune  par  son  essence.     Qui  dit  antichretien,  dit  antisocial.    Le 


4SJ 


en  1821  et  1822. 


1159 


inohde  devenii  chr6tieii  chercberaitvainetnent  la  civilisation  liors  de 
I'enceinte^  du  christianistne ;  de  m^me  qu'un  individu  n6  chr^tien 
n)e  sera  jamais,  de  bonne  foi,  ni  musulman,  ni  idol^tre  ;  ou  bien 
s'il  pouvait  devenir  tel,  son  esprit  serait  stationhaire,  et  le  ram6ne* 
fait  insensiblemerit  &  la  barbarie.  Je  me  fonde  sur  ces  v6rit^s 
6videntes  poiir  aoutenir  que  Tempire  ottoman  ne  fait  point  partie 
du  syst^me  politique  de  Pfiurope,  attendu  que  ce  syst^me,  d^s  qu'il 
outrepasse  les  limites  de  la  famille  chr6tienne,  cesse  d'exister. 

Aussi  les  trait^s  de  paix  et  d'amitie  avec  la  Porte  ne  sont-ils  que 
des  treves.  Ce  gouvernement  fanatique,  docile  si  la  voik  du  h\xK 
prophi^te,  se  reserve  constamment  le  droit,  et  se  reconnait  ie  de* 
voir  de'revenir  sur  toutes  les  clauses  on^reusesqui  lui  ont  6t6  arra* 
ch6espar  la  force;  il  se  fiatte  que  le  Bannat,  la  Hongrie,  la  Bu« 
chovine,  la  Nouvelle-Russie,  et  la  Crim^e,  repasseront  tdt  ou  tard 
sous  lejbug  du  coran.  Le  sultan,  en  sa  quality  de  calife,  de  posses- 
seur  de  la  Mecque,  allie  la  tiare  de  I'imposture  au  sceptre  de  la 
ty raiinie  :  il  est  chef  d'une  '  religion  hostile  et  d'une  souverainet^ 
guerriJre,  destin6es  k  conqu6rir  Tunivers.  Zelateurs  ardens  du 
droit  du  plus  fort,  du  fatalisme  et  de  la  volupt6,  les  Turcs  sont  par 
cela  m^me  les  ennemis  n6s  de  notre  religion,  de  nos  lois,  de  nos 
moeurs,  et,  de  notre  bien-^tre.  lis  m6connaissent  notre  droit  des 
gens,  prot^gent  la  piraterie,  favorisent  I'extension  de  la  peste,  s'ap- 
pliquent  au  commerce  des  esclaves,  et,  r6duits  depuis  un  demi- 
si^cle  ^  Timpuissance  de  nuire  ouvertement,  its  nous  menacent  sans 
cesse  de  tons  les  fl6aux,  brayent  qotre  superiority,  et  rejetent  par 
instinct  tbiite  association  i  nos  rapports  politiques.  'Telle  est  1  at- 
titude de  I'empire  ottoman  ^  regard  de  ['Europe  chr6tienne.  Ce 
n'est  pas  tout :  le  pouvoir  supreme  en  Turquie  u'est  legitime  que 
pour  les  musulmans ;  il  est  usurpateur  et  tyrannique  d  regard  de 
onze  millions  de  chr^tieds  qui  peuplent  et  vivifieiit  encore  ses  vastes 
possessions.  Oppresseur  aveugle  et  incorrigible,  le  gouverne- 
ment turc,  comme  je  I'ai  demontr^  ailleurs,  n'aspire  qu'd  eteindre 
la  race  de  ses  esclaves  ;  et  il  est  si  loin  d'adopter  les  maximes  fon- 
damentales  du  syst^me  auquel  on  pretend  Tassocier  malgr6  lui, 
qu'on  n'apergoit  pas  le  moindre  adoucissement  dans  ses  institutions 
civiles  et  politiques,  depuis  quatre  si^cles  qu'il  d^vorela  plus  belle 
partie  de  notre  continent. 

li'Europe  n'est  done  tenue  envers  la  Porte  qu'aux  seuls  devoirs 
de  justice  et  d'humanite  chr^tiennes,  qui  nous  obligent  indistincte- 
ment  envers  tous  les  hommes,  sans  exx:epter  les  anthropophages : 
au-deld,  tout  est  erreur,  chim^re,  et  crime  de  1^8e-humanit6.  Toute 
alliance  avec  la  Turquie  est  monstrueuse,  toute  assimilation  de  la 
l^gitimite  de  la  Porte  ii  celle  de  nos  souverains,  upe  profanatioq 
des  principes  coiiservateurs  sur  Icsquels  repose  notre  6dificQ 
social. 


140  Correspondance  politique  mr  la  Grece  [44 

Cependanty  me  direz-vous,  que  devaient  faire  les  sonverains  de 
TEurope  r6unis  i  Laybacb^  lorsque  rinsurrection  des  Grecs  6clata  I 
Pouvaient-ils  approuver  ce  mouvemeBt  r^volutionDaire,  loraqiie 
tous  leurs  efforts  6taient  dirig6s  contre  les  troubles  de  Tltalie  I 
Ecoutez-moi :  le  congr^s  de  Lay  bach  n'6tait  pas  tenu  de  se  pro- 
noncer  sur  ua  6v6Dement  que  la  Porte  a  tonjours  soustrait  depuii 
k  rinfluence  de  notre  politique.  L'empereur  de  Bussie  6tait  seal 
9bl]g6  de  rompre  le  silence ;  il  devait  condamner^  comoie  il  Y9, 
fait,  la  coupable  entreprise  d'Ypsilanti,  a£n  de  dissiper  d'injurieux 
soupgons.  Mais  en  d6savouant  un  chef  de  parti,  infid^e  i  ses  de- 
voirs, I'Empereur  n'^tait  nuUement  tenu  de  se  prononcer  sor  le 
soul^vement  de  la  nation  entiire^  soul^vement  doni  on  ignorait  les 
vraies  causes,  la  tendance,  et  les  r6sultats»  C'etait  d'ailleurs  parler 
un  langage  inintelligible  k  la  Porte,  que  d'appliquer  i  I'entrqprise 
des  Grecs  des  principes  qui  ne  sont'pas  les  siens.  Quant  k  la  coik 
nivence  des  r6volutionnaires  d' Europe  avec  les  Grecs,  risquait-on 
quelque  chose  k  suspendre  un  arr^t  que  la  suite  des  6v6nemens  e&t 
servi  du  moins  k  motiver  ?  A  partir  de  ce  premier  nu>ment  de  sur* 
prise,  les  cruautes  inouies  de  la  Porte  forewent  les  puissances 
europ6ennes  d^tervenir  dans  la  querelle.  L^empereur  a  Autridie 
alia  m^^e  jusqu'd  declarer  k  la  Porte,  qu'il  coosiderait  le  massacre 
du  patriarche  et  des  6v@ques  comme  si  c'e&t  6t6  un  attentat  commis 
sur  la  personne  du  premier  pasteur  de  son  Eslise.  Ici  la  question 
se  d^veloppe  dans  toute  son  6tendue ;  je  vais  la  poser  de  la  mani^ 
suivante, 

II  n'y  avait  que  deux  mani^res  d'envisager  insurrection  des^ 
Grecs ;  d'apris  certains  principes,  vrais  ou  faux,  n'importe ;  ou  bieo^ 
d'apr^s  les  int6r^ts  des  principales  puissances  de  TEurope. 

Sont-ce  les  principes  qu'on  avait  si  fort  k  cceur  i  la  Porte  6tait- 
elle  effecUvement  une  souverainet6  legitime,  mats  d£compos6e  et 
pr^te  k  se  dissoudre  ?  un  pouvoir  qui  ne  r6sistait  k  la  rebellion  que 
par  des  mouvemens  suicides  et  convulsifs  i  Eh  bien  !  toutes  les 
puissances  alli^es  de  la  Russie  auraient  dd  lui  d6f6rer  le  soin  de 
couper  le  mal  dans  sa  racine,  EUe  serait  intervenue  k  main  arm6e ; 
et  son  intervention  franche  et  decisive  edt  fait  cesser,  d'une  part, 
les  atrocit6s  de  la  Porte  ;  elle  e&t  6touff6,  de  I'autre,  tous  les  germes 
r6volutionnaires  sur  le  sol  de  la  Gr^ce.  En  effet  les  prot6g6s 
de  I'Europe  souveraine  auraient  d&  renoncer  k  I'appui  des  fauteurs 
de  troubles ;  et  un  pacte  territorial  entre  la  Turquie  et  les  Grec8„ 
ecrit  k  la  pointe  de  I'^p^e,  aurait  sauv6  I'humanit^  souffrante  et 
d6jou6  la  revolution.  J'ose  r6pondre  de  la  prompte  efficacit6  du 
remade;  II  e&t  6t6  infaillible,  parce  que  son  application  aurait  it6 
la  suite  d'un  accord  parfaitentre  les  grandes  puissances  de  TEurope. 
Mais  si  des  int^r^ts  divergens,  des  apprehensions  funestes,  des 
m^fiances  vagues,  ont  seuls  determine  la  conduite  des  principaux 


463  tn  1Q21  e(  tQ22.  i41 

^abinets^  dans  one  conjoncture  aussi  difficile;  si  I'on  n*a  eu p6ur 
but  que  d'emp^cher  ragrandissemerit  moral  et  materiel  die  la  Russie, 
motifs  qu^une  saine  politique  ne  saurait  enti^rement  d^sapprouver ; 
alors  pourquoi  reculer  devant  un  probl^me  dont  la  solution  n*est 

fu'ajourn^e,  tandis  que  cet  ajournement  pusiUanime  prepare  i 
Europe  de  plus  grands  dangers  i  Je  m'explique  :  Tentreprise  des 
Grecs  doit  reussir  ou  6chouer.  Si  elle  prosp^re^  les  heureux  auront 
tdt  ou  tard  des  amis,  des  protecteurs ;  et  d^s  lors,  la  disunion  que 
Ton  aura  vouiu  6viter,  s'introduira  sans  faute  entre  les  puissances  de 
PEurope.  Si  les  Grecs  sont  vaincus  et  soumis^  la  decision  de  leur 
sort  nW  %alement  que  differ6e;  parce  que  la  nation  grecque 
renatt^  et  que  le  pouvoir  qui  T^crase  tombe  en  mines.  Peut-on, 
dans  cette  triste  hjpoth^se,  pr6voir  et  determiner  le  moment  oil  la 
seconde  insurrection  6clatera  i  Ne  pourrait-elie  pas  coincider  avec 
le  regne  d'un  souverain  moins  gen^reux,  moins  indiffiSrent  i  la  gloire 
des  conqi^&tes  que  ne  Test  Tempereur  Alexandre  i  £n  faisant  des 
▼oeux  pour  que  ses  successeurs  soient  aussi  les  h^ritiers  de  ses  vertus 
^mineutes,  ne  peut-on  pas  supposer,  avec  raison,  qu'sL  une  6poque 
plus  ou  moins  recul6e,  Tintimit^  de  la  Russie  avec  rAutriche  et 
d'autres  puissances  ne  sera  plus  la  m^me  i  Alors,  que  pourrait-il 
arriver  i  une  guerre  d'envahissement  conduite  avec  la  rapidit^  de 
r^clair;  le  r6veil  subit  de  tout  TOrient,  la  preponderance  de  la 
Russie  devenue  irresistible.  Tons  ces  dangers  on  les  e&t  conjures, 
en  abordant  aujourd'hui  la  question  avec  franchise,  avec  energie. 
Le  cabinet  de  Saint- Petersbourg,  provoque  par  les  insultes  de  la 
Porte,  autorise  i  la  ch&tier,  par  des  motifs  de  droit,  de  religion, 
de  dignite  nationale,  ce  cabinet,  ou  pour  mieux  dire,  I'empereur 
Alexandre,  n*e&t-il  pas  offert  et  accepte  les  conditions  les  plus 
favorables  aux  inter^ts  des  allies,  dans  la  seule  vue  de  deiivrer  ses 
correligionnaires  d'un  joug  impur,  I'Europe  du  fieau  de  la  peste,  les 
Musulmans  eux-m^mes  d'une  autorite  insensee,  dans  le  sublime 
espoir  d'agrandir  le  r^gne  de  Jesus-Christ,  et  de  rendre  d  la  vraie 
foi  tant  de  belles  regions,  qui  furent  autrefois  son  apanage  ?  Les 
Grecs  auraient  obtenu  le  bienfait  de  Tindep'endance ;  le  gouverne- 
ment  turc  e&t  ete  seul  expulse  de  T Europe,  qui  le  repousse  de  son 
sein.  L'Angleterre,  la  France,  TAutriche,  et  la  Russie,  eussent 
concilia  leurs  inter^ts  respectifs,  sans  prejudice  de  notre  integrite 
nationale ;  le  reste  de  PEurope  eftt  recueilli  de  ce  changement 
salutaire  tous  les  avantages  d'un  commerce  paisible ;  PAsie-Miueure 
et  PEgypte  auraient  absorbe  la  surabondance  d'activite  qui  agite  les 
nations  europeennes ;  les  Barbaresques  n'auraient  pas  tard6  d  se 
resseiitir  de  la  chute  de  leur  suzefame,  et  le  principal  aliment  de 
discorde  entre  les  puissances  chretiennes  se  serait  transforme 
en  principe  d'union  et  de  prosperity  commune.  Oui,  j'ose 
Paffii[mer,  voild  ce  que  commandait  Pinter^t  general,  Pint^rSt  bien 


ta  Correspondance  politiqice  sur  la  Greet  [46 

entendu  de  la  8oci6t6 ;  voild  les  grands  r6sultats  qu'une  politique 
tortaeuse  a  fait  6vanouir  presque  sans  retour. 

Mais  il  y  aurait  eu^  me  direz-vous^  de  grandes  difficult6s  ^ 
6'entendre  sur  un  aussi  vaste  partage  et  sur  la  formation  d'un  6tat 
grec  ind^pendant.  Beaucoup  moins  que  vous  ne  pensez^  mon  noble 
ami,  griice  k  l'6l6vation  de  sentimens  qui  distingue  I'empereur 
Alexandre,  gr&ce  'k  Tamiti^  qui  unit  entre  eux  les  principaux  souve- 
rains  de  TEurope.  L'Angleterre  elle-m&me,  sous  i'iufluence  d'ua 
ininist^re  eclair^,  n'eiit  pas  tarde  ^  reconnaitre  la  necessity  d'utt 
arrangement  6ventuel  avec  ses  allies ;  parce  qu'alors  le  probl^me 

Ju'offre  la  Turquie  n'eftt  pas  6te  imprudemment  ^onfondu  avec. 
'autres  questions  politiques,  siir  lesqueliesle  cabinet  de  Saint-James 
s'est  d6j^  prononc6  iso16ment,  depuis  le  congr^s  de  Laybach.  En 
persistant  i  g6n^raliser,  com  me  on  vient  de  le  faire  i  V6rone,  Ton 
iie  fait  que  multiplier  les  germes  de  division  entre  les  grands  6tats. 
Un  avenir  prochain  justitiera  peut-etre  cette  assertion  affligeante. 

Quoi  qu'il  en  soit,  je  consens  k  ^carter  toute  esp^ce  de  presage ; 
je  me  borne  d  raisonner  sur  le  present.  Repondez-moi  en  consci- 
ence :  avez-vous  quelque  chose  d  opposer  k  mon  bumble  dilemme  l 
Peut-on  agir  autrement  que  par  principe  on  par  inter^t  ?  Eh  bien ! 
je  soutiendrai  que  le  seul  moyen  de  d6truire  la  contagion  r6voIu- 
tionnaire^  que  Ton  suppose  avoir  infect6  la  Gr^ce,  6tait  Tinterven- 
tion  militaire^  pr6alablement  concert^e,  d'une  puissance  legitime  du 
premier  ordre  dans  les  troubles  de  TOrient.  C'eAt  6l6  pratiquer  et 
faire  triompher  des  maximes  que  Ton  se  borne  d  redire  ;  c'eiit  6t6s 
le  moyeii  de  concilier  la  justice  et  la  piti^,  les  sentimens  et  les  de* 
toirs.  Enfin  ne  voulait-on  consulter  que  les  int6r^ts,  et  les  emp^- 
cher  de  se  combatlre ;  alors^  au  lieu,  d'attendre  les  6v6nemen8  qui 
nous  entrainent  et  nous  entrechoquent  aujourd'hui^  au  lieu  d'ajourner 
la  difficult6^  et  d'abandonner  au  plus  clairvoyant  tons  les  avantages 
d'une  protection  exclusive,  il  eiit  6t6  prudent  de  d61ier  d'un  commun 
accord  ce  noeud  que  le  glaive  va  trancher,  au  prejudice  de  notre 
union  politique.  Jamais  plus  belle  occasion  de  servir  la  cause  de 
Dieu,  en  conciliant  tons  les  iut^r^ts  humains,  ne  s'est  present6e  au\ 

puissances  chr6tiennes  ;  elles  Tout  repouss6e il  semble  que 

la  bonne  foi  et  le  courage  d'esprit  n'aient  pas  pr6sid6  a  leurs  conseils. 
C'en  est  fait ;  le  moment  propice  ne  reviendra  plus.  Dieu  agi| 
pendant  que  nous  d6lib6rons;  le  souffle  de  son  esprit  tout-puissant 
dmonc^le  les  orages  sur  nos  t^tes ;  ceux  que  le  monde  d6daigne 
sont  appel6s  k  accomplir  les  d6crets  immuables  de  la  Providence ; 
et  lorsque  sa  volont6  aura  vaincu  tous  les  obstacles  que  I'homme 
croit  lui  opposer,  le  soleil  de  v6rit6  luira  tout  k  coup  au  milieu  de& 
t^n^bres,  et  nous  apercevrons,  mais  trop  tard,  que  nous  sommes  lea 
Artisans  de  nos  propres  malheurs. 

Je  dis  ce  que  je  pense,  avec  une  affliction  sincere.     Incapable 


4Tf]  en  1821  e/  1822.  143 

de  d^guiser  nion  opinion^  j^ai  cxamin^  la  politique  du  jour,  sans  me 
perdre  dans  un  dedale  de  conjectures  et  de  recriminations  inutiles/ 
Si  je  me  suis^  tromp^,  c'est  de  bonne  foi ;  si  mes  raisounenietis  sont 
faux,  je  crois  du  moins  avoir  ^nonc^  ckirement  mon  erreur.  Le 
probieme  politique  que  vous  avez  d6sir6  voir  ^clairci,  me  paratt 
r^uitisa  plus  simple  expression,  Je  ne  sais^  mon  noble  ami,  si 
Yous  serez  satisfait  de  ma  mani^re  d'analyser  les  subtilit^s  diploma- 
tiques;  mais  je  suis  siir  que  vous  appr^cierez  la  respectueuse 
franchise  dont  je  me  suis  fait  une  loi,  en  pari  ant  desactesde  I'auto- 
rite.  Je  hais  les  adulateurs  des  peuples  autant  que  les  adulateurs 
des  rois.  Ces  deux  factions,  6galement  dangereuses,  n'ont  jamais 
exerc6  d'empire  sur  ma  pens^e^  qui  ne  reconnalt  d'autre  joug  que 
la  religion  et  le  devoir. 


LETTRE    XL 

S  •  •  •  •     Q      S  *'*  *  * 

La  politique  des  priucipaux  cabinets  de  TEurope  aurait  done 
inarch^  dans  un  sens  oppos^  au  but  qu'elle  se  flattait  d'atteindre. 
Pouvez-vous^  mon  digne  ami^  en  dire  autant  de  TAngleterre  ?  La 
ihort  tragique  du  marquis  de  Londonderry  a-t-elle  6t6  la  seule  cause 
du  changeraent  que  I'on  aper^oit  dans  la  conduite  du  minist^re 
britannique^  ^  I'^gard  des  Grecs  i  ou  bien  ce  gouvernement,  plus 
clairvoyant  que  ses  allies,  a-t-il  cess6  de  vouloir  rimpossiblef  d^s 
rinstant  oil  il  s*est  convaincu  que  la  nation  grecque  devait  tdt  ou 
tard  Temporter  sur  ses  tyrans  ?  voil^l  de  ces  doutes  que  I'avenir  seul 
6claircira.  Bornons-uous  d  rendre  hommage  d  la  prudente  6quit6 
que  montre  aujourd'hui  le  cabinet  de  Saint-James.  Ilrespecte  le 
blocus  declare  par  les  Grecs,  force  par  Id  les  autres  puissances 
fnaritimes  d  suivre  son  exemple  ;  et  sa  neutrality  est  d'autant  plus 
irr^procbable^  que  les  Turcs  h'ont  jamais  accept^  Tintervention  des 
puissances  europ^ennes  dans  les  difP6rends  entre  eux  et  les  Grecs. 

Quant  d  1^  Porte  ottomane,  il  faut  avouer  que  son  impuissance 
seule  fait  tout  le  ridicule  de  sa  politique  ext6rieure.  Reportez-Isi 
un  moment  aux  temps  prosp^res  de  Soliman  II,  et  son  insolence 
sera  de  la  dignity,  son  aveugle  obstination  de  T^nergie,  son  langage 
sec  et  pr^ijomptueux  nous  paraitrait  heroique.  C*est  bien  de  ce 
gouvernement  que  I'on  pent  dire,  qu'en  vieiliissant  il  n'a  rien  appris 
ni  rien  oubli6.  Ses  pompes,  ses  cruaut6s,  ses  maximes  hostiles 
envers  les  chr^tiens,  sont  demeur^es  invariables ;  mais  sa  force  s'est 
^vanouie :  '  c'est  le  cadavre  d'un  monslre  qui  menace  encore^i 
lorsqu'il  a  cess6  de  vivre.  Inutiles  efforts  d'une  politique  ^go'iste 
ou  pusillanime,  vous  ne  r^ussirez  point  d  le  ranimert    Qu'on  le 


144  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grice  148 

soutienne  ou  qu'on  le  ffappe,  il  sufBt  de  toucher  ce  corps  putr6fi£, 
pour  le  r^duire  en  poudre.  D'ailleurs  se  peut-il  que  Ton  tank 
encore  d  reconnaitre  la  cause  de  Dieu  dans  celle  de  la  Grice,  d  k 
resistance  qu'elle  ^prouve  i  Ah !  si  c'6tait  une  simple  combinaisoM 
de  Tesprit  du  si^cle,  vous  verriez  I'entreprise  que  nous  combattons, 
marcher  au  but  d  pas  de  g^ans,  et  ne  produire  que  des  r^sultats 
6ph6ai^res;  et  ce  sont  de  bons  souverains  qui  accueillent  une 
erreur  aussi  funeste,  et  se  roidissent  contre  I'oeuvre  de  Dieu !  Leur 
demi^re  circulaire  6man6e  de  V6rone,  celle  que  TAngleterre  et  k 
France  n'ont  point  sign^e,  ne  nous  permet  plus  de  conserver  sur  ce 
point  le  moindre  doute  consolateur.  Tout  ce  qui  porte  les  couleurs 
du  systime  repr^sentatif,  s'isole  plus  ou  moins  de  toute  participa* 
tion  k  un  arr^t  peu  Equitable ;  et  qu'en  r6sulte-t-il  i  une  grande 
scission  politique^  au  lieu  de  I'uuion  que  I'on  veut  maintenir ;  une 
effrayante  confusion  d'id6es  et  de  principes ;  car  il  est  Evident  que 
TAngleterre^  puissance  pr6pond6rante^  en  refusant  d'acc6der  k  la 
declaration  de  V6rone,  est  cens6e  d^sapprouver  6galement  tout  ce 
qu'elle  contient  de  relatif  k  TEspagne  et  k  Tltalie.  Nul  ne  pent 
discemer  le  vrai  et  le  faux  ;  les  mesentendus  entrainent  d'ordinaire 
les  m6sintelligences  ;  Ton  b^te  k  tout  prix  ce  que  Ton  veut  6viter. 
Mais  tr^ve  de  r6flexions  affligeantes.  Je  vous  ai,  mon  digne  ami^ 
des  obligations  essentielles  ;  mettez-y  le  comble^  en  6puisant  le  sujet 
de  notre  correspondance  par  quelques  considerations  sur  la  Gr^ce 
et  sur  son  avenir. 


LETTRE    XII. 

Je  ne  poss^de  pas  le  don  de  prophetic ;  et  sans  cette  lumiire 
surnaturelley  comment  essaierais-je  de  soulever  le  voile  qui  couvre 
I'avenir  i  Souffrez  donc^  mon  noble  ami,  que  je  me  borne  k  de 
simples  conjectures,  ou  pour  mieux  dire^  k  des  voeux  fervens  pour 
la  f61icit6'de  ma  patrie  jenaissante,  k  quelques  conseils  quej'oserai 
adresser  k  mes  compatriotes.  U  Europe  trouvera  dans  I'expressioo 
de  mes  craintes  et  de  mes  espdrances  une  nouvelle  garantie  de  la 

f)uret6  des  principes  que  professent  les  Grecs,  et  de  la  modestie  de 
eurs  d^sirs. 

'^  Le  premier  devoir  d'une  nation  est  de  ne  point  se  d^naturer,  et 
de  rester  elle-m&me/^  a  dit  un  ^crivain  grec'  **  Le  second  est  de 
marcher  de  front  avec  le  genre  humain."  II  semble  que  la  divine 
providence  se  soit  plu  k  nous  faciliter  Faccomplisisemeht  de  ce 

1  CoDsideratiuns  sur  TEglise  orthodoxe.  1  vol.  in-Bvo.y  Weimar,  1816. 


49]  en  1821  et  1822.  146 

immier  devoir.  En  effet^  si  notre  afFranchissement  avail  iii 
'puvrage  d'une  puissance  europ6enne^  il  nous  e&t  6te  plus  difficile, 
I^ut-^tre  hi^me  impossible^  de  raster  Grecs  et  de  conserver  notre 
caractire  national.  Les  sacrifices  p6nibles,  les  efforts  prodigieux 
iju'exige  la  conqu^te  de  notre  independance  raniment  et  fortifienC 
pArmi  nous  ce  sentiment  de  dignit6^  sans  lequel  il  n'y  a  point  d'unit6^ 
ni  de  puissance  nationale.  Mais,  d  la  veille  de  nous  associer  k  la 
grande  famille  des  peuples  europeens,  nous  avons  un  second  6cueil 
S  eviter ;  il  reside  dans  Taccomplissement  de  notre  second  devoir- 
Appel6s  si  profiter  des  bienfaits  de  la  civilisation  chr^tienne,  k 
eultiver  de  nouveau  les  lettres^  les  sciences  et  les  arts,  qu'ont  ch^ris 
et  fait  fleurir  nos  anc^tres,  en  un  mot,  d  marcher  de  front  avec  nos 
contemporains,  quelle  masse  effrayante  d'erreurs  n'avons-nous  pas 
i  6carter,  autant  que  possible,  de  notre  territoire !  Quelle  dette 
6norme  de  reconnaissance  n'avons-nous  pas  contract6e  envers  notre 
r4g6n6rateur  supreme  !  Quels  nouveaux  droits  ce  Dieu  propice  k 
nos  misdres  nVt-il  pas  acquis  k  notre  inviolable  fid61it6  ! 

Consid6rons  les  616mens  constitutifs  de  toute  soci6te  humaine^ 
afin  de  mieux  determiner  le  syst^me  que  les  Grecs  ont  d  suivre, 
pour  concilier  et  accomplir  le  double  devoir  qui  est  impost  k  la 
nation,  non  seulement  durant  le  cours  de  la  lutte  qui  doit  assurer 
son  independance,  mais  aussi  lorsqu'elle  sera  parvenue  k  I'^tat  de 
stability  et  de  pais. 

Toute  sociitfe,  quelle  que  soit  la  forme  de  son  gouvernement,  se 
compose  de  trois  616men8  primordiaux:  PEglise,  l^Etat,-  et  la 
Famille.  Ce  sont  leurs  rapports  mutuels  qu'il  est  essentiel  de 
maintenir  et  de  perfectionner  sans  les  d6naturer  ni  les  confondre. 

L'£glise,  d6positaire  de  la  croyance  publique,  nous  a  tenu  lieu, 
pendant  qualre  si^cles,  de  toute  institution  sociale.  Elle  s'est 
ihterpos^e  entre  nous  et  nos  tyrans :  c'est  k  elle  seule  que  nous 
somdies  redevables  de  notre  conservation.  Que  cette  v6rit6  demeure 
pi^esente  d  la  m6moire  des  Grecs,  soit  qu'ils  combattent  pour  leur 
nberte,  soit  quails  reposent  sur  les  lauriers  de  la  victoire.  La  legis- 
lation n'est  que  la  pbysionomie  des  peuples ;  la*  religion  est  leuf 
pensee,  le  pnncipe  conservateur  de  leur  existence :  la  ndtre  en  est 
nme  preuve.  Nous  serious  done  insens^s  et  criminels,  si  nous 
▼oulions  adopter  sur  ce  point  les  doctrines  favorites  de  notre  siicle, 
81  nous  osions  ravaler  I'Eglise  jusqu'^  en  faire  un  departement  dani 
le  sjst^me  de  notre  administration  nationale. 

C'est  retat  qui  est  dans  TEglise,  et  non  TEglise  dans  r6tat.  Lc 
pouvoir  spirituel  ne  doit  point  empi^ter,  il  est  vrai,  sur  le  pouvoir 
temporel ;  mais  que  celui-ci  se  garde  bien  d  son  tour  d'usurper  des 
attributions  qui  lui  sont  etrang^res.  Une  telle  injustice  est  bientdt 
veng6e :  car  dds  que  l'autorit6  de  TEgltse  est  m6connue  et  asservie, 
Fordre  social  redevient  un  6tat  de  guerre  et  d'agitation  perpetuelle. 

\OU  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  K 


1^46  Correspondance pelitifHt  iur  la  Grice  [M 

La  raison  en  est  6vidente^  La  religion  est  le  seul  pouvoir  in6dia< 
tear  entre  ceux  qui  gouvernent  et  ceux  qui  ob^issent.  On  est  alon 
i  trois  dans  Tordre  social,  et  par  consequent  il  peuty  avoir  assimi- 
lation et  harmonie.  £cartez  r^l^ment  ro^diateur,  faites-en  une 
simple  abstraction,  vague  et  st^rile^  que  Ton  appelle  de  aos  jours, 
sentiment  reUgieux,  aussit6t  un  dnalisme  funeste  s'introduit  dans 
r^difice  politique ;  c'est  i  qui  I'eroportera^  du  pouvoir  ou  de  Tob^is* 
sance :  cbacun  pretend  &tre  Oromaze ;  et,  dans  lefait,  c'est  toujours 
Arimanes^  ou  le  gknie  du  mal  qui  pr6vaut  et  d6vore  la  society.  Je 
te  r^pdte^  nous  risquerions  d'expier  plus  durement  que  tout  autre 
peuple,  Une  erreur  contre  laquelle  les  fastes  lugubres  de  noire 
bist<Mre  doivent  nous  avoir  |pr6munis. 

Que  le  gouverne»ent  laisse  k  r£glise  le  soin  de  reformer  les  abas 
de  dbcipliae  qui  peuvent  s'&tre  introduits  dans  son  sein^  durant  une 
longue  captivil^  ;  qu'il  se  borne  d  y  coop^rer  de  tout  son  pouvoir, 
^t  continue  &  professer  la  m&me  r^rve  rcspectueuse,  quant  aus 
actes  arrach^s  par  la  violence  au  piftriarche  et  au  synode  revfitu^en 
mati^re  religieuse,  de  la  supreme  autorit6.  Loin  de  coavoiter  les 
biens  des  couvens  et  du  clerg^  en  g6n6ra],  que  le  gouvernemeat 
sache  qu'il  ne  pent  r^clamer  que  ce  qui  lui  appartient,  je  veux  dire : 
Tadministration  de  la  justice,  d^f^r^e  aux  ^v^ques  jusqu'ddea  temps 
plus  henreux.  Alors  m&me  il  faudrait,  en  les  iiberant  de  ce  fardeau, 
leur  conserver  une  jurisdiction  de  conscience,  etles  constituer  juges* 
arbitres  de  tons  les  diif6rends  que  les  chr6tiens  voudraient  souoiet- 
tre  k  leur  d^dsion.  11  est  ^galement  essentiel  quele  clejig6,  coaime 
preitiier  corps  de  T^tat,  et  corame  propri^taire,  soit  admis  d  la  n^ 
presentation  nationale  ;  c'est  un  droit  social  dont  on  ne  saurait  lui 
iHterdire  I'exercice.  11  n'en  est  pas  de  m6me  des  fonctions  execu- 
tives qui  ne  peuvent  que  d^naturer  son  ministdre  pastoral.  Ls 
pr&tre  du  Tr^s-Haut  ne  peut  6tre  I6galement  ni  juge>  ni  guerrieri 
ni  administrateiir ;  parce  qu'il  est  plus  que  tout  cela,  et  parce  que 
son  exemple  autoriserah  riciproquement  les  autres  vocatioas 
SQciales  d  usurper  le  sacerdoce;  ui^is  il  peut  repr^senter  ses  cob^ 
tjOj^ens,  parce  qu'il  est  citoyen  eonnnie  eux ;  parce  quetoute  asseipH 
bl^e  fed6rale  ou  representative  doit  compter  parmi  ses  aiembm 
des  bommes  appel^s  k  d^fendre^  avec  connaissance  de  cause,  ki 
debits  de  la  religion  et  de  Thumatiite  soufiWinte ;  des  hommes  4ml^ 
k  niandat  soit  slir  ce  point  irr€vocable. 

Les  deux  points  de  cohesion  intiBie  entre  Tetat  et  l'£glis^,  soot 
k  bulte  i^uUic  iet  I'education.  Quaint  eu  premier  point,  tt  doit  4tre 
regie  de  Dkani^re  i  ce  que  ks  maximes  d'une  sage  tolerance  anient 
mibes  en  vigueur  k  I'e^utl  dOs  lautres  cidtes  chretiens^  Cepeadaa^  ^ 
c^tte  tolerance  ne  doit  point  degeaeter  en  indifference :  la  feligioa  ^ 
de  retat,  son  culte  Msetf  miitistt^s,  doivent  jouir  d'une  preenHaeacs 
marquee  et  bien  deieroiittee  par  la  toi ;  tion  par  Mgaeu^  maia  feifi 


^1]  mimi^n^n^  147 

V'mik^t.  h\pu  ^^n^v^  d^  la  soci/§t^y  qui  doit  prpf^s^er  coUectivemeot 
upe  crpjfance  pof Uiye^  d^  m^iue  qu'^lj^  a  une  constitution^  des  Ipisi^ 
des  iisagie^,  et  une  langue  it  elle.  Pemr  ce  qui  copcerne  Teducatiop 
nationally  Bourse  de  fSlicit^  ou  4^  tnalb^urs,  selon  qu'elle  est  biep. 
QH  iiial  dirigee,  la  Gx^qe  a  ti'o^  maxim^s  fondam^ntalaa  d  observer 
4  C^t  ^ipard.  L'^du^ation  ser^  retigieuseg  naiionaie,  et  adapUej  d^ 
le  prinpipei  ai|x  premi(srs  besoins  d'un  peupie  qui  sort  de  la  toi^be, 
fans  reqb^rcber  )e  Ipxe  de  la  sqienc^,  qui  ept  1(b  fruit  tardif  d'up^ 
jQivilisaUon  av^uc^e.  Pour  parvenir  d  la  r^d'^  religieuse^  et  4  ep 
i^artcar  tout  germ^  d'impitt^^  que  r6ducation  du  clerge  spit  1^ 
j^ir^aiier  ob)et  de  notrs  aollicitude,  et  que  renseigDement  ^l^memtair^ 
parmi  le  peiuple  lui  spit  cpiifi6.  C'est  ain^i  que  Ton  eclairp^  et  q|i^ 
Pod  ^l^]^e  le^  nations  ;  toute  autre  m^tbode  dHnstruction  publiqueest 
dai^ereiise  et  superficielle.  Gardons-nops  enstii^  d'iriger  d'pa  tra^t 
d^,  plunie  r^difice  pompeux  de  rinstructipp  natipna|e,  d'ap^i^s  d€^8 
mod^ey  Strangers.  11  nous  faut  de  bons  pr^tre^^  de?  maitres  d'^cole> 
dea  guerri^rs,  des  navigateurs  et  que)qM<^s  hommes  de  loi.  Satisfaire 
<:ea  premiers  besoin?  de  la  80ci^t6  nais^ante,  c'est  ^vifer  T^cueil  d^ 
r^ruditipn  ^cyclop^dique,  I'^talage  d^  la  sqience^  pt  tons  le§  faa- 
iu^WL  {^arjts  de  la  pbilosppbie  ipoderne.  L'ej^prit  des  Qr^^s,  rendu 
i  aia  lepdance  naturelle>  pe  s'y  liyrera  d£j4  qu'avec  trop  dWdeuf. 
Jl  IIQP9  faut  autant  de  brapjches  d'enseignenif^nt  qu'ii  y  a  de  vocations 
SQCialea^  indispen^ables  sL  notre  r6g6n6ration  ;  le  reste  est  de  trpp. 
iQue  peux  qui  gpuyemeut  la  nation  se  persuadent  quline  massjB 
j^nonne  d'idees  vague^^  venant  d  inonder  tput  i  coup  le  sol  de  \^ 
Gr^ce  «t  iea  ^sprits  de  ses  habitaqs,  nous  perdrons  imipanqpable- 
ment  notria  caract^re  national^  notre  intlgrit^  religieuse^  notre 
iod^pendance  intellectuelle^  roriginaHt6  de  notre  langpe^  et  T^ne^- 
gique  simplicity  de  pos  moeurs.  A  quoi  npus  seryirait  alors  I'ind^* 
pendancy  politique,  qui  n'l^st  qu'une  chim^re  ^au?  le?  condijtioqs* 

^esaeotieUes  que  je  vieps  de  citer? 

L'tot  se  CQPstituera  pa^  degrj^s  de  la  mani^re  1^  pli^s  epnibro^i^ 
A  1ft  position  g^ographique  du  pays,  et  au  caracjt^e  des  Qrec?> 
pourvju  que,  dis  A  pr^si^ot,  I'autorit^  prpvisoire  qm  nous  guidjs 
a'Atlacfae  i  pe  jao^ais  perdre  d$  vue  |es  principes  indiqui^s  ci-dessps. 
JLica  foianes  de  gouverpfement  ^^'adapteront  d'eljes-nij^ipes  i  ^esprit 
bi^n  dirig£  d^  )a  Action  grecque.  Quell^s  seroot  ces  formes  i  p'est  ce 
4ue  rgyenir  dj^cidera*  Je  me  boro^rai  s^  observer  qpe  I'ordrp 
monarchique  fi$t  saps  CQPtjredi^  le  pin?  prgpre  'A  donn,er  de  la 
joosaialipce  ^  une  fiociii6  naissante.  Mais  ce  sopverain,  capable 
lif  plunder  d^  ms  deato^e9»  qpi  poua  le  pipptrer^  i  a^ra-ce  up 
prjnoa  itrangerf  noips  devrqni^  jp^rti  nops  ^sspci^r  ^u^l  combi- 
saiflops  politique?  d'upe  puiasapce  ^trang^r^^  et  cppaptjer  panni  lea 
•attftrea  b/uuicQup  d'epue:P9»s.  &eraiti-ce  un  de  no?  cpp)p9jtriot^?f  jl 
im.tuU  un  ^iui^  aup^riejyur>  e^  p§  9f^e^u  de  h  ppissapQe,  qju^  Qieu 
Mfuk  ff^  dooper ;  car  un  bpmme  m^dipcre  ne  pept  japnaii  dfvj^pir 


148  Correspondance  politique  sur  la  Grece  [62 

■  * 

le  chef  d'une  dynastie  durable,  II  faut  que  sa  sup6riorit6  personnelle 
compense  rinf6riorit6  de  son  origine,  et  surtout  raffaiblissement  da 
pouvoir,  qui  est  une  suite  naturelle  de  toute  Election.  Jusqu'a  ce 
qu'il  plaise  au  Seigneur  de  r6soudre  une  difficult^  insurmootable 
pour  rhomme,  contentons-nous  de  mettre  en  vigueur  le  regime 
f6d6ratif  qui  nous  gouverne  pr6sentement^  et  qui  a  tantd^afl[init6  avec 
le  caract^re  des  Grecs^  leur  position  et  leurs  raoeurs.  Cette  forme 
de  gouvernement  est  aujourd'hui  la  seule  qui  nous  convienne^  parce 
qu'elle  excite  moins  d'appr6bensions  au  dehors,  et  n'usurpe  point 
les  droits  de  Dieu  sur  nous.  En  effet  la  Gr^ce  a  6t6  pendant 
plusieurs  si^cles^  et  sera  encore  long-temps  une  merveilleuse  theo- 
cratic. C'est  Israel  sortant  de  la  captivit6  d'Egypte,  parcourant  un 
desert  peuple  d'ennemis,  et  oil  Dieu  seul  le  guide.  Nous  devons 
nous  constituer  et  nous  administrer  nous-m^mes ;  mais  c'est  le 
Seigneur  qui  nous  gouverne.  II  est  dans  nos  camps  ;  il  preside  i 
nos  conseils ;  il  soutient  nos  fr^les  esquifs  ;  il  veille  sur  nos  rem- 
parts.  C'est  lui  qui  confond  nos  fiers  ennemis,  qui  arme  de  leurs 
ddpouilles  nos  bras  fagonn6s  aux  corv6es  de  la  servitude.  C'est  sa 
volont6  qui  rend  les  puissances  de  la  terre  immobiles.  C'est  son 
esprit  qui  subjugue  nos  dissensions  6ph6ro^res,  et  qui  m^dite  de 
briser  le  sceptre  des  musulmans  afin  de  d6chirer  plus  promptement 
le  bandeau  qui  leur  derobe  la  lumi^re  de  sa  loi.  Nos  armes  teintes 
du  sang  d'une  race  indocile,  frayent  une  large  route  d  de  plus 
paisibles  conquetes  ;  car  toutes  les  religions  fausses  s'appuient  sur 
un  pouvoir  temporel :  elles  succombent  lorsque  leur  base  est 
d^truite.  Brisez  le  pi^destal  de  la  statue,  le  faux  dieu  est  renverse. 

P6n6tr6s  de  ces  v6rit6s  consolantes,  que  les  chefs  de  FEtat  se 
souvienneut  encore  que  le  rayon  vivitiant  qui  nous  illumine  aujour- 
d'hui, parti  du  haut  de  Tautel,  s'est  conserve  long-temps  comroe 
I'aube  d'un  beau  jour  dans  le  sanctuaire  des  families,  L'Etat  se 
place  maintenaut  entre  la  Famille  et  VEglise^  qui  ont  subsist^  sans 
lui :  que  ce  soit  pour  les  unir  et  non  pour  les  s6parer.  Les  bonnes 
mceurs  sont  I'unique  source  des  bonnes  lois ;  que  .  Tautorit^ 
patemelle,  la  saintet6  du  mariage  fassent  I'objet  des  plus  vives 
sollicitudes  du  gouvernement :  qu'il  medite  d'avance  sur  les  moyens 
d'arreter  les  progres  du  luxe.  Un  peuple  commergant  a  besoin 
de  lois  somptuaires ;  mais  elles  n'auront  de  force  qu'autant  que 
I'E^lise  les  soutiendra  par  la  doctrine  des  moeurs,  par  robservance 
scrupuleuse  de  ses  propres  disciplines  et  de  ses  lois. 

Ne  redoutons  pas  la  diversity  des  usages,  qui  caract^rise  et 
semble  diviser'enti^  eiuc  les  moindres  cantons  de  la  Gr^e.  Le 
Cr^ateur  Ta  voulu  aiosi,  puisqu'il  a  empreint  notre  sol  natal  de 
tant  de  ligoes  de  demarcation  inefiiai9ables.  Nous  ne  serons  jamais 
parlaitement  homog^nes ;  mais  la  religion,  Tesprit  national,  la  cohe- 
sion des  int^rfits  respectifs,  I'unite  de  langue,  forment  et  cimentent 
des  liens  plus  durables  que  roniformite^  qui  n*est  point  Fapanage 


53].  en  1821  et  1822.  149 

des  corps  pleins  de  vie.  Incapable  de  nuire,  mais  vigilante  et  pr^te 
d  repousser  toute  esp^ce  d'agression^  que  notre  f6d6ration^  amie  de 
tous  les  peupies  chr^tiens,  constamment  neutre^  hormis  pour  la 
cause  de  Dieu  seul^  s'avance  avec  courage  vers  le  but  que  la  Pro- 
vidence iui  montre  de  loin^  d  travers  les  dangers  les  plus  imminens. 
Nous  nie  p6rirons  point ;  ilfaut  vivre  et  vainer e ;  le  pass6  nous 
r6pond  de  Tavenir,  et  notre  foi  est  le  gage  de  notre  salut. 

La  lutte  terrible  que  nous  avons  d  soutenir  pent  durer  long- temps : 
le  jeune  homme  qui  Iui  survivra  ne  reposera  peut-^tre  sur  le  chevet 
de  ses  p^res  qu'une  t^te  blanchie  dans  les  combats.  Mais  un  tel 
avenir  peut-il  nous  intimider  i  Nous  nous  souviendrons  toujours 
du  voeu  solennel  que  nous  avons  pronohc^,  d  la  face  de  la  chr6tient6, 
le  £9  ao&t  1821  ;*  nous  avons  fait  voeu  de  vivre  et  de  mourir 
Chretien  set  litres  par  la  seule  force  de  notre  Seigneur  JSsus-Christ  ; 
il  nous  a  entendus,  et  sa  misericorde  a  b6ni  notre  resolution.  Qui 
s*y  opposerait  f  Le  Seigneur,  i  qUi  toute  puissance  a  Ste  donnee, 
est  au  milieu  de  nous;  il  exauce  et  accomplit  notre  pri^re  ;  il  pre- 
pare des  compensations  abondantes  aux  generations  qui  doivent 
naitre ;  nous  transmettrons  ses  ineffables  bienfaits,  avec  notre  re- 
connaissance^ d  une  post6rit6  recuI6e.  Puissent  nos  descendans, 
plus  heureux  que  leurs  p^res,  obtenir  le  prix  de  notre  sang  et  de  nos 
larmes !  puissent-ils  rester  6ternellement  fiddles  au  Dieu  dont  la 
mis6ricorde  passe  d'dge  en  age  d  celui  dont  le  souffle  est  notre  vie^ 
et  dont  le  bras  nous  a  sauv6s  !  Adieu. 

'  Declaration  officielle'  du  goiivernement  prnvisoire  de  la  Gr^ce,  aux 
monarques  reiinis  en  congres  k  Verone ;  acte  dat^  d^Argos,  le  29  aoiit  1822 
(yieux  style),  et  signe  par  les  membres  du  pouvoir  ex^cutif. 


TABLE  DES  MATIERES. 

Page 
Lettre  premiere.  Caract^re  distinctif  de  la  revolution  grecque, 

mis  en  evidence  par  des  rapprochemens  historiques  ••••••      99 

Lettre  II.     Reponse  sur  le  m^me  sujet.     Theses  k  resoudre 
sur  la  legitimite  du  soul^vement  des  Grecs  •••#•#••••*•    104 


160  Tabk  des  Matiires.  [&4 


Lettre  III.  De  la  resistance  au  pouvoir ;  ill6gitimii6  de  celui 
des  Turcs :  les  Grecs  ne  sont  point  sujets  de  la  Porte,  dans 
le  sens  juridique  europ6en  •••••••••••••••••••-•••••••   105 

Lettre  IV.  R6ponse.  Acquiescement  aux  m^mes  principes. 
Imputations  dirig^es  contre  les  Grecs  :  quelles  sont  les 
vraies  causes  de  leur  soulivement ••••••••••••••••••••   112 

Lettre  V.  Causes  de  la  iniraculeuse  conservation  des  Grecs 
pendadtquatresiicleisde  servitude ••• ••••    114 

Letti^e  VI.  Causes  directes  et  locales  qui  expliquent  P^poque 
et  le  mode  de  leur  soul^vement  actuel.     Refutation   de 

!|uelques  id6es  fausses  sur  la  connivence  des  Grecs  avec 
es  fauteurs  de  troubles  dans  le  midi  de  I'Eurbpe*  •••••••    1 1^ 

Lettre  VII.  R^ponse  anx  dieux  pr6c6dentes,  Aveu  d'ane 
parfaite  conviction.  D6sir  de  mieiix  coHnlattre  les  ^riuci[yaux 
eV^nediens  de  la  guerre  entre  les  Grecs  et  letirs  oppfessdiirs  127 

Lettre  VI I L  Apergu  fapide  des  6v6nemens  de  cette  guerre 
jusque  vers  la  fin  de  1822« • 128 

Lettre  IX«  R6ponse.  !l^6flexions  sur  le  iti&itie  sujet  et  sur 
la  marche  visible  de  la  Prbvideiice  datis  les  6v£nemei3S  du 
si^cle.  D6sir  de  voir  trailer  la  question  politique  qu^ 
pr^sente  la  lutte  de  T Empire  ottoman  avec  les  Grecs* •••    136 

Lettre  X.  Analyse  de  la  question  politique.  Opinion  sur  la 
conduite  qu'ont  tenue  les  grandes  puissances  de  TEurope 
par  rapport  si  la  Turquie  et  aux  Grecs,  jusqu'au  congris 
de   V6rone   inclusivement******  ••••• •• •••••    138 

Lettre  XI.     R^ponse.     Observations  sur  le  mSme  sujet  •••  •  143 

Lettre  X^.  et  deroi^re.  Considerations  sur  I'avenir  de  la 
Gr^ce    • 144 


PRINCIPLES 


OF   THS 


^ya'^' 


>KANT£8IAN 


OR 


TRANSCENDENTAL    PHILOSOPHY. 


By  THOlfAS  WIR6MAN, 

AUTHOR  OF   THE  ARTICLES 

IN  THE  ENCYCLOFJEDIA  LONDINENSIS. 


LONDON : 


1834. 


The  reader  who  if  .desirous  of.  further  infonnation  on  this  subject, 
is  referred  to  the  articles  Kant,  Logic,  Metaphysics,  Moral 
Philosophy,  and  Philosophy,  in  the  Encyclop€Bdia  Londinensis* 

The  above  articles  are  to  be  obtained  separately  at  the  Encyclopse- 
dia  Office,  No.  17,  Ave-Maria>lane,  or  of  any  Bookseller,  at  the  fol- 
lowing prices. 

Kant,  with  two  colored  plates 
Logic,  with  four    do.         do. 

Metaphysics 

Moral  Philosophy,  four  colored  plates 
Philosophy,  three  colored  plates 
Or  the  whole  together 


•• 

d. 

3 

6 

4 

0 

4 

0 

4 

6 

10 

0 

28 

0 

♦^*  The.  Author  of  these  Principles  is  preparing  for  the  Press,  a  faith- 
ful Translation,  from  the  original  German,  of  Kant's  celebrated 
Work,  entitled  «  THE  CRITIC  OF  PURE  REASON.** 


Sense. 

A  Receptivitv  it  'P/i/s/veFaat/fy. 

mirimr//ji/f  //if/iar^. 

Internal  Seiist^    '<v^i^>s 


UNDERSTANDING. 

A  Spontaneity  t>r    O  irfhr  Ftfcf/J/y. 

■nMi^ Aiet^MSiYoYVa.  ot  Ullity  /y  rtw»«*-/»*^/rime,alid  Space  aavn/tits  Of 
Mf  cXTEGORtES  <,/  ' 

Quantity  Quality  Relalion  Modality 


REASON. 

A  Spontaiieitjyi«-/(v«  Tunc  .-nid  Space 

/i/ttft^  ff/r/ff^j  Me  Categories /*/<'/-^^   IDE  AS  y" 

•k  iJ  -U  ii 

Totitiify.  Luiii/ntten  SttSarl/t/ur;  Xn^ 


XEMENTS  OF  TRANSCENDENTAL   PHILOSOPHY. 


THE  MIND. 


■ '  1   ■  I 


SENSE. 

2  Receptivities. 

A___ 


Time. 


Space. 


ANTITY. 

»ity, 

altitade, 
itality. 


UNDERSTANDING. 

12  Categories. 

QUALITY.  RELATION.          MODALITY. 

Reality,  .  Sabstance  and  Accident^    I^ossibility, 

Negation,  Cause  and  Effect,          Existence, 

Limitation.  Action  and  Re-action.    Necessity. 


bsolute 
'otality. 


Absolute 
Limitation. 


REASON. 

6  Ideas. 

Absolute 
Substance, 

Absolute 
Cause, 

Absolute 
Concurrence. 


Absolute 
Necessity. 


^TUITION, 

present  in 

ME  and  Space. 


RESULTS. 

CONCEPTION, 

absent  in 

Time  and  Space. 


IDEA, 

out  of 

Time  and  Space. 


Axioms  DIP  TRAKS^CENDENTAX 
PHILOSOPHY. 


1,  CoNSCiousHSSS  is  tbe  pawer  to  distmgaish  oarselvei 
ftom  suntnmOiDg  vbj^sta,  and^from  our  own  thoughts. 

'S.  Time  is  the  Porm  of  Internal  Sensr. 

i&.  Space  is  the  Porm  of  External  Sense. 

4.  £cMs »•« '•  ^  anaisM iNsuiTieNS. 

•16.  tlNDERSTANDiNG.  makes Conceptions. 

16.  Reason    makes* •••••Ideas. 


i^ai«»*i 


nJEPINITIONS  OF  TRANSOBNIMENTAL 

PHILOSOPHY. 

1.  Intuition— every  thing  present  in  Time  and  Spac^; 
Ihat  we  feel^  see,  hear,  taste,  or  smell. 

!S2.  CoNCEVTiOV'-r^nmv  liUng  absent  in  Time  and  SpAcq; 
that  we  think  of  only,  but  do  not  touch. 

'is.  Idea— eyery  ihihg  out  ojrTiME  and  'Space  ;  thai  wie 
itunk  of  only,  but  wmch  never  can  come  into  I^ime 
and  Space. 

4.  'Knowledgj?  is  '7i#u£^im ^ompfbhended  binder  XJmcep' 
tion, 

<5.  ^nofuwit  is  Concqvlfm  joined  tb  Conception. 


&]  Wirgman's  Prktciples,  Sfc.  156 

PRINCIPLES  OF  TRANSCENDENTAL 

PHILOSOPHY. 

THE  MIND. 
SENSE. 
1.   EvBRY  Thing  in  nature  has  matter  9iadform : 

2«  The  matter  of  the  thing  is  the  parts  of  tirhich  it  is  com- 
posed; 

^.  Hbefofm  (oiC^e  tiiui^  is  ifae  ktrangemMt  dT  the  paarts. 

4.  As  we  do  not  create  the  matter^  it  mast  be  gtveii* 

6.  As  the  matter  Is  ^foen^  iftQ  must  ftUve  a  laddtyto  receive 

it : — a  Receptivity. 

ft  The  GIVBK  If  A^TTBR  Is  of  fm  IcifiiAs: 

7.  Parts  in  Extension^; 

8.  Parts  in  SuooESBioK. 

9.  Parts   in  Extension   are    the   exact   representation  of 

Space ; 

10.  Parts  in  Succession  are  the  e±act  re)[>tesi6nl:ation  t>f  Time. 

11.  As  the  given  matter  is  t>f  two  kinds,  so  We  hwe  TtTO 

Kinds  t)f  RECfEPTiviTY  : 

12.  A  Receptivity  for  parts  in  Extension  i 

13.  A  Jiec^rtt^'^  to  ifdsrtB  In  SWecMfVii. 

14.  H<m  Sp^^Ib  4s  a  Reel^tiv^  for  mittetln  £i3Hh(«rtdJ6)i> 

15.  And  Tini  E  >is  a  Red^tivity  lor watteri  in  SuceeBsim : 

16.  nierefore^  Time  and  Space  wb  Mental  Receptivities, 

and  constitute  the'Sfii^tTiVE  Faculty. 

1^.  Hence  all  matter  in  Time  and  Space  can  be  nothing  but 
Sensation. 

18.  S'BNSIEE,  ther^ftii^,  te  a  Passive  RmOty,  whi«fti'%Ms  Two 
Receptivities,  TiMlb  and  Space. 


16©  Wirgman's  Principles  [0 

.  UNDERSTANDING. 

19.  Though  we  are    passive  ia    receiving  matter^  we   still 

evince  an  activity/ ; 

20.  But,  as  this  activity  does  not  create  matter,  it   can  only 

unite  its  parts— that  is,  give  it  a/or/w  : 

21.  The  form  of  the  given  matter,  therefore,  is  produced  by 

the  Mind. 

0 

22.  Now  the  form  of  every  thing  in  Nature  has  the  proper- 

ties of  Quantity,  QualitV,  Relation,  and  Mo- 
dality. 

23.  With  respect  to  Quantity,  the  thing  must  be  either 

One,  Many,  or  All:  that  is,  it  must  be  determinable  by 
Number. 

24.  With  respect  to  Quality,  the  thing  must  be  a  Reality 

surrounded  by  Negations ;  which  produce  Limitation : 
that  is,  it  must  be  determinable  by  Degree. 

25.  With  respect  to  Relation,  the  thing  must  be  a   Sub- 

stance, the  Effect  of  a  substance,  and  Part  of  a  Whole  : 
thus,  it  must  be  Permanent  in  Space,  Successive 
in  Time,  and  have  its  place  in  Space  Determined 
BY  Other  Substances. 

26.  With  respect  to  Modality,  the  thing  may  exist  in  Jny 

Time,  in  A  Certain  Time,  or  in  All  Time :  that  is,  it  is 
either  Possible,  Actual,  or  Necessary. 

27.  Thus,  the  given  matter  is  formed  into  a  whole  by  the  IIn- 

DERSTANDING,  and  bccomcs  an  intelligible  object. 

28.  UNDERSTANbiNG  is,   therefore,  an  Active    Faculty   or 

Spontaneity,  strictly  limited  to  Time  and  Space; 
it  consists  of:twelve  species  of  activity  : — the 

12  CATEGORIES. 

QUANTITY.        QUALITY.  RELATION.  MODALITY. 

1  1  1  1 

Unity,  Reality,       Substance  and  Accident,  Possibility, 

2  2  2  2 
Multitude,  •  Negation,          Cause  and  Effect,  Existence, 

3  3  3  3 
Totality.  Limitation.       Action  and  Re-action.  Necessity. 


7]  of  Kanis  Philosophy.  '  157 

29.  The  form  of  every  Object  in  Nature,  therefore;  is  pro- 

duced by  the  Understanding  ; 

30.  And  Experience  is  a  collection  of  Phenomena  in  Time 

and  Space,  to  which  the  Understanding  has  given 

determinate  forms ; 

31.  Hence  the  Laws  of  Nature  originate  in  the  Mind  alone* 

REASON. 

32.  But,  besides  our  Knowledge  of  Objects  in  Nature, 

we  have  also  Ideas  of  Objects  Out  of  Nature:  for  in- 
stance, of  the  Soul^  of  a  First  Cause,  of  God,  o^  Moral 
Laws,  &c. — The  faculty  which  forms  Ideas  is  Reason. 

33.  The  Ideas  formed  by  Reason,  such  as  the  Soul,  a  First 

Cause,  God,  Moral  Lazvs,  &c.,  neither  occupy  any  part 
of  Space,  nor  fill  up  any  portion  of  Time;  neither 
can  they  be  ranked  under  the  Categories:  for  it 
would  be  absurd  to  say  that  God,  or  that  the  Soul,  is 
either  an  Extended  Substance,  the  Effect  of  such  a  sub- 
stance, or  a  Part  of  Nature. 

34.  We  can  no  more  divest  ourselves  of  the  Ideas  of  Reason 

than  of  the  consciousness  of  our  own  existence  ;  and 
it  is  as  impossible  to  prevent  Reason  from  forming 
Ideas  as  to  prevent  the  Sensitive  Faculty  from 
receiving  impressions. 

35.  Reason  forms  the  Idea  of  the  Soul,  or  of  a  Substance 

Out  of  Nature,  by  connecting  Substance  and  Acci- 
dent into  Infinite  or  Absolute  Substance. 

36.  Reason  forms  the  Idea  of  a  First  Cause,  or  of  a  Cause 

Out  of  Nature,  by  connecting  Cause  and  Effect  into 
Infinite  or  Absolute  Cause. 

It 

37.  Reason  forms  the  Idea  of  God^  or  of  a  Supreme  Intelli- 

gence Out  of  Nature,  by  connecting  Action  and  Reac- 
tion into  Infinite  or  Absolute  Concurrence. 

38.  The  Ideas  of  the  Soul,  of  a  First  Cause,  and  of  God, 

must  also  be  ranked  under  those  of  Absolute 
Totality,  Absolute  Limitation,  and  Absolute 
Necessity. 


158 


Wirgman's  Principks,  S^c. 


18 


39.  Reason,  t}ierefore^  is  i^  Spontaneity  or  Active  Facul- 
ty, Free  from  Time  and  Space  ;  it  unites  the  Cate- 
gories, which  are  themselves  Out  of  Time  and 
Space,  into  the 


Absolate 
Totality. 


6  IDEAS. 


8 

Absolute 
Limitation. 


Absolute 
Substance, 

4 

Absolute 
Cause, 

5 
Absolute 
ConcorrenGe. 


6 
Absolute 
Necessity. 


4Q«  As  the  Laws  of  Nature  Hre  founded  on  the  Categories 
of  the  Understanding,  so  the  Laws  of  Morals  are 
founded  on  the  Ideas  of  Beason,  ^d  constitute  the 
internal  basis  of  Beligion. 

41.  Reason  is  divisible  into  Speculative  and  Practical : 

42.  Speculative  Reason  strives  to  give  unity  to  our  Know- 

ledge ; 

48.  Practical  Reason  strives  to  give  unity  to  our  De- 
sires. 


THE    NOBILITY 

BRITISH    GENTRY. 

OB 

THE   POLmCAL   SANKS   AND    DIGNITIC? 

THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE, 
COMPARED  WITH  THOSE  ON  THE  CONTINENT, 

FOR    THE   USE   OF    FOREIGNERS   IN    GREAT  BRITAIH 
AND  OF   BRITONS  ABROAD ; 

PARTTCULABLY  OF  THOSE  WHO  DESIRE  TO  BE  PBESENTED  AT 
FOREIGN  COURTS,  TO  ACCEPT  FOREIGN  MILITARY  SERVICE,  TO 
BE  INVESTED  WITH  JOREIGN  TITLES,  TO  BE  ADMITTED  INTO 
FOREIGN  OKDERS,  TO  PURCHASE  FOREIGN  PROPERTY,  OR  TO 
INTERMARRY  WITH  FOREIGNERS. 


C*li«  «pn  LtHMm. 


By  sir   JAMES    LAWRENCE, 
KNIGHT  OP  MALTA. 


LONDON :— 18M. 


ON  THE 


NOBILITY  OF  THE  BRITISH  GENTRY, 


&c.  &c. 


It  has  been  asserted  by  envy  or  ignorance^  that  the  peers  are 
the  only  nobilit]^  in  the  Britiah  empire.  This  assertion  has  been 
repeated  on  the  continent,  and  particularly  in  France,  by  those 
\vho  wish  to  inculcate  the  inutility  of  the  ancient  noblesse.  This 
assertion,  however  unfounded,  has  done  injury  to  individuals,  and 
is  derogatory  to  the  honor  not  only  of  the  gentry,  but  of  the  peers 
themselves.  For  the  gentry  being  the  nursery  garden  from  which 
the  peers  are  usually  transplanted,  if  the  peers  were  to  date  their 
nobility  from  the  elevation  of  their  ancestors  to  the  upper  house, 
what  upstarts  would  their  lordships  appear  in  the  opinion  of  the 
pettiest  baron  on  the  continent ! 

Russia  is  said  to  contain  580  thousand  nobles ;  Austria  on  a 
late  enumeration  239  thousand  male  nobles;  and  Spain  in  1785 
contained  479  thousand  nobles  ;  and  France  at  the  revolution  365 
thousand  noble  families,  of  which  4120  families  were  of  ancient 
gentility. 

A  French  author  has  asserted  there  are  only  about  300  nobles 
in  Great  Britain.  Had  he  said,  there  are  only  300  peers,  he  might 
have  been  tolerably  correct ;  but  there  are,  according  to  the  state- 
ment produced  in  1798,  when  the  subject  of  armorial  bearings  was 
before  parliament,  in  England  9458  families  intitled  to  bear  arms, 
in  Scotland  4000 ;  now  all  these  families  are  noble.  *'  Nobiles 
sunt,  (says  Sir  Edward  Coke)  qui  arma  gentilicia  antecessorum 
suoTum  proferre  possunt/' 

Gentility  is  superior  to  nobility;    gentility  must  be  innate^  no- 


3]  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Covjitries,  S^x.  161 

bility  may  be  acquired ;  noblemen  may  be  only  persons  of  rank 
and  distinction ;  but  gentlemen  must  be  persons  of  family  and 
^ality ;  Fit  iiobUiSf  nascitur  generosus. 

JNobility  means  notability ;  noble  is  worthy  of  notice^  or  of 
being  kno>K'n.  Any  individual,  who  distinguishes  himself,  may  be 
said  to  ennoble  himself.  A  prince,  judging  au  individual  worthy 
of  notice,  gave  him  letters  patent  of  nobility.  In  these  letters 
were  blazoned  the  arms  that  were  to  distinguish  his  shield.  By 
this  shield  he  was  to  be  known,  or  nobilis.  A  pleWan  had  no 
blazonry  on  his  shield,  because  he  was  ignobiliSf  or  unworthy  of 
notice.  In  an  age  when  a  warrior  was  cased  in  armor  from  head 
to  foot,  he  could  only  be  known  by  his  shield.  ■  The  plebeian, 
who  had  no  pretension  to  be  known,  was  clypeo  igpobilis  albo. 
Hence  arms  are  the  criterion  of  nobility.  Every  nobleman  must 
have  a  shield  of  arms«  Whoever  has  a  shield  of  arms  is  a  noble- 
»ian.  In  every  country  in  Europe,  without  eisception,  a  grant  of 
arms  or  letters  of  nobility  are  conferred  on  all  the  descendants. 
In  the  northern  countries,  Germany,  Hungary,  Russia,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  the  titles  also  of  baron  or  count  descend  to  all  the  male 
posterity,  and  to  all  the  unmarried  females  of  the  family :  but  in  the 
southern  countries,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Great  Britain,  the 
titles  of  duke,  marquis,  count,  viscount,  or  baron,  descend  only 
according  to  the  rules  of  primogeniture.  In  Italy  the  titles  con- 
ferred by  the  Emperor  descend  in  the  German  fashion  to  all  the 
branches  of  the  family ;  those  conferred  by  the  *Pope,  and  the 
Jungs  of  Naples  and  Sardinia,  descend  only  to  the  eldest  sons  in 
succession ;  but  the  cadets  of  all  these  houses,  though  they  possess 
neither  the  same  titles  not  privileges,  are  nor  less  noble  than  the 
beads  of  their  respective  houses. 

-  The  British  gentry  have  not  only  been  distinguished  by  coats  of 
arms,  but  have  given  liveries  to  their  retainers  from  time  imme- 
morial. When  Henry  the  Fowler  wished  to  polish  the  Germans, 
be  sent  commissioners  to  England  to  observe  the  regularity  and 
order  with  which  the  tournaments  there  were  conducted ;  and 
jdiey  brought  back  with  them  the  rules  of  the  tournaments  almost 
word  for  word  translated  into  German.  These  rules  may  be  found 
in  Edmondson's  Heraldry,  and  in  Ruxner's  Tumierbuch.  In 
Riixner  is  the  list  of  all  the  combatants  at  the  grand  national 
tournaments  in  Germany,  and  every  German  gentleman  is  not  less 

'  The  saiiire  was  not  less  noble  than  the  knight,  and  changed  not  his 
helmet'oD  oeing  knighted.  Armor  was  expensive,  and  lasted  not  only  dur- 
ing the  life  of  the  warrior,  but  descended  troxn  father  to  son ;  but  a  squire, 
having  distinguished  himself  by  some  brilliant  action,  opened  his  vizor  to  be 
identified,  before  bis  chief  conferred  on  him  s  the  honor  of  knighthood* 
Hence  the  helmet  of  the  squire  is  painted  with  the  vizor  closed,  and  the 
helmet  of  the  knight  with  the  vizor  open. 

VOL.  XXllI.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  t 


162  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Onmtries  £4 

proud  in  showing  the  name  of  his  ancestors,  in  these  lists,  than 
our  families  of  French  origin  at  finding  their  names  on  the  roll  at 
Battle  Abbey.  Every  German  or  English  gentleman,  who,  without 
being  able  to  prove  his  descent  from  four  grand  parents  of  coat  ar- 
mor, or,  as  the  Germans  express  it,  to  prove  four  quarters,  should 
offer  himself  as  a  combatant,  was  obliged  to  ride  the  barriers 
among  the  hisses  of  the  populace,  as  the  punishment  of  bis  pre- 
sumption. The  English  gentry  were  knights  Templars,  and  till 
Henry  VIII.  abolished  the  English  Tongue,  every  English  gentle- 
man of  four  quarters  was  admissible  in  the  order  of  Malta,  or  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  In  Portugal  and  Italy  also  only  four 
quarters  were  requisite ;  though  in  Germany  sixteen  quarters  were 
required.     The  English  knights  of  Malta  were  chosen  among  the 

f entry  ;  the  prior  of  England  had  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
n  Germany  the  knights 'were  chosen  among  the  barons,  or  no*- 
biles  minores ;  and  the  prior  of  Germany  had  a  seat  in  the  Diet 
of  the  Empire.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  Sir  Richard  Shelley 
was  the  last  grand  prior  of  England. 

In  later  times  the  British  gentry  have  produced  admirals,  gene- 
rals, governors.  They  have  held  noble'  posts  at  the  court  of  Saint 
James,  and  have,  as  ambassadors,  represented  their  sovereign  at 
foreign  courts.  They  therefore,  even  if  they  had  never  been 
styled  nobility^  as  they  possess  all  the  essential  qualities  of  nobi- 
lity, might  be  considered  on  a  footing  with  the  noblesse  of  the  con- 
tinent. But  numerous  quotations  will  show  that  they  are  not  only 
noble  infact  but  in  name ;  and  as  those  officers,  who  are  autho- 
rized by  law,  still  pronounce  them  noble,  they  have  never  ceased 
to  be  so. 

But  it  were  the  height  of  absurdity  to  deny  the  nobility  of  a  class 
in  society,  to  record  whose  births,  alliances,  and  deaths^  the  He- 
ralds' Office  was  established.  In  every  country  plebeians  are  be- 
low the  notice  of  a  court  of  honor. 

The  landed  proprietors  are  in  every  country  the  natural  nobility; 
hence,  in  the  opinion  of  the  genealogist,  those  families  who  are 
named  alike  M'ith  their  estates,  such  as  the  Hoghton  of  Hc^hton, 
the  Ratcliffe  of  Ratcliffe,  the  Fitzakerly  of  Fitzakerly,  and  the  long 
list  of  landholders  that  appears  in  Gregson's  Antiquities  of  Lan* 
cashire ;  and  the  Wolseley  of  Wolseley,  the  Wrotesley  of  Wrotes- 
ley,  the  Brogham  of  Brogham  ;  and  the  Scottish  families  of  the  ilk; 
and  the  German  families  von  und  zu  (of  and  at),  as  the  von  und  zu 
Hardenberg,  the  von  und  zu  Hahnstein,  &c.  are  the  noblest  fami- 
lies in  their  respective  provinces.  Could  any  title  of  the  peerage 
add  to  the  nobility  of  the  Hampden,  upon  whose  sarcophagus  is 
inscribed — **  John  Hampden,  24th  hereditary  lord  of  Great  Hamp- 
den?'' 

Under  the  feudal  system  there  were  immense  privileges  attached 


5}  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  143 

to  the  soil ;  and  consequently  the  sovereign,  in  granting  a  fief, 
granted  nobility  with  it*  At  that  period  there  was  no  necessity  for 
letters  patent.  The  proprietors^  when  summoned,  must  appear, 
cased  in  arms  from  head  to  foot ;  and  in  this  military  masquerade 
the  herald  could  only  distinguish  the  individual  by  the  blazonry 
on  his  shield.  But  when  the  sovereign  had  no  more  lands  to  grant, 
he,  either  to  reward  services,  or  as  a  financial  speculation,  granted 
letters  patent  of  nobility,  with  a  coat  of  arms  described  therein. 
When  in  Latin,  the  words  were,  In  signum  hujus  nobilitatis 
arma  damns :  when  in  French,  Nous  donnons  ces  armes  en  signe  de 
noblesse. 

In  England  these  patents  were  styled  letters  of  nobility  or 
grants  of  arms  indifferently.  Several  books,  containing  a  series  of 
them  by  either  name,  are  in  the  British  Museum.  They  are  in 
Latin,  French,  or  English.  The  following,  which  is  also  in  Rymer, 
V.  132,  is  from  a  Harl,  MS.  (1507.) 

Ann.  D.  1444.  An.  2^  H.  VL  ras.SS  H.  VL  m.  8. 

Hex  omnibus,  ad  quos,  8cc.  salutem. 

Quia  principibus  cujuscumque  interest  suos  subditos,  praecipue 
illos,  qui  servitia  eis  impendant,  gratiis,  libertatibus,  privilegiis,  et 
immunitatibus  prasmiere,  ut  ad  hujusmodi  servitia  impendenda 
promptiores  valeant  et  citius  animentur. 

Hinc  est  quod  nos  considerationem  habentes.ad  bona  et  gra- 
tuita  servitia,  quae  fideles  legii  nostri,  Amaldus  de  Bordeu  et  Gri* 
mondus  de  Bordeu  ejus  filius,  burgenses  civitatis  nostras  Burdega- 
lia&,  diversi  modi  nobis  impenderunt  et  impendant  in  futurum. 

Eosdem  Arnaldum  et  Grimondnm  et  eorum  procreatos  et  pro* 
creandos,  de  gratia  nostra  speciali,  nobilitamus  et  nobiles  facimui 
et  creamut. 

Et  in  signum  hujusmodi  nobilitatis  arma  in  hiis  literis  nostris 
pateatibus  depicta,  cum  libertatibus,  privilegiis,  juribus  et  insigni- 
biM  veris  oobilibus  debitis  et  consuetis  eis  damns  et  concedimus 
per  praesentes.    in  cujus,  &c. 

Teste  Rege  apud  Westmonasterium  vicesimo  octavo  die  Mar- 
tii-^ Per  breve  de  privato  sigillo  et  de  data  praedicta,  &c. 

The  same  Harl.  Ms.  No.  1507,  contains  the  following : 

.  <'  To  all  Christian  people  these  present  letters  reading,  hearing, 

or  seeing,  I .  Richmond  Clarenceux,  principal  herald  and  king  of 

arms  of  the  south  part  of  this  realm  of  England,  send  due  and 

bumble  reco^mmendation  and  greeting. 

,,  '^  J  the  said  king  of  arms,  not  only  by  common  renown,  but  ajiso 


1 64  Hank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [6 

by  my  own  knowledge^  and  report  of  many  other  credible  and  no- 
ble persons^  verily  ascertained  that  Nicholas  Mattok  of  Hicbim  in 
the  county  of  Hertford  hath  well  and  honorably  guided  and  go- 
verned himself,  so  that  he  hath  deserved  and  is  right  worthy,  be 
and  his  posterity,  to  be  in  all  places  qf  worship  admitted,  re- 
nowned, accounted,  numbered,  accepted,  and  received,  unto  the 
number  and  into  the  company  of  other  ancient  gentle  and  noble 
men  perpetually  from  henceforth  ;  and  for  remembrance  and  con- 
sideration of  the  same  his  gentleness,  virtue,  and  ability,  by  the  au- 
thority and  power  of  my  office,  I  the  said  king  of  arms  have  de- 
vised, ordained,  and  assigned  unto  and  for  the  same  Nicholas  and 
for  his  posterity  the  arms  here  following :  [Here  the  arms  are  de- 
scribed] as  more  plainly  it  appearetfa  in  the  margin  depict. 

^'  In  witness  thereof,  I,  the  said  king  of  arms,  have  signed  the 
same  presents  with  my  own  hand,  and  sealed  the  same  with  my 
seal  of  authority,  at  London,  23rd  day  of  July  in  the  ninth  year  of 
the  reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  King  Henry  the  Seventh. 

'*  Per  me,  Richmond,  Roy  d'Armes  dit  Clarencieux/' 
It  may  be  observed  in  the  above  that  gentlemen  are  placed  be- 
fore noblemen,  but  in  more  modern  patents  noblemen  are  placed 
the  first.     Places  of  worship  signified  places  where  the  nobility 
assembled. 

The  land-holders  considered  these  patents  of  nobility  an  innova- 
tion and  dangerous  stretch  of  prerogative,  and  affected  to  look  down 
with  contempt  on  those  who  built  their  pretensions  on  a  sheet  of 
parchment.  Yet  landed  property  was  still  so  far  considered  an 
essential  to  nobility,  that  the  new-made  noble  endeavored  imme- 
diately to  purchase  a  manor,  and  this  manor  he  either  named  after 
himself,  or  named  himself  after  this  manor. 

Those,  who  possessed  not  an  acre  of  land,  endeavored  to  pass 
for  land-holders  by  tacking  in  Germany  von,  in  France  de,  be- 
fore their  names.  This  was  frequently  absurd  in  the  extreme. .  An 
individual  named  Taylor,  Smith,  or  Miller,  called  himself  as  it  were 
Mr.  of  Taylor,  of  Smith,  or  of  Miller,  as  if  Taylor,  Smith,  or 
Miller,  were  the  name  of  a  manor;  or  endeavored  to  lessen  the 
absurdity  by  adding  to  his  mechanical  name  a  local  termination^ 
Hence  in  Germany  the  ennobled  Mr.  Schneider  (Taylor)  called 
himself  Baron  von  Schneidersdorf  (Taylor's  thorp  or  village) ; 
Mr.  Schmidt,  Baron  von  Schmidtfelt ;  Mr.  MuUer,  Baron  von 
MuUersbach  (Millersbrook),  and  so  forth ;  though  it  would  have 
puzded  them  to  say  in  what  circle  of  the  holy  empire  Schneide^- 
dorf  or  Schmidtfeld  or  MuUersbach  were  to  be  found.  In  some 
provinces  in  Germany  nobles  only  are  permitted  to  purchase  noble 
estates,  or  knights-fees  {rittergat).   In  other  provinces  a  plebeian 


7]  in  Euf'ope  compared  and  explained.  Id5 

purchaser  must  have  himself  ennobled.  And  in  the  course  of 
things,  to  those  fa^milies  in  America,  that  have  inherited  landed 
property  from  generation  to  generation,  will  be  paid  that  respect, 
which  will  compensate  for  the  European  system  of  nobility. 

During  the  feudal  system  all  countries  were  divided  into  £efs, 
and  these  again  into  arriere-fiefs.  In  Germany  the  holders  of  the 
first  are  styled  princes,  of  the  second,  barons.      Spain  had  its 

frandees  and  hidalgos — Hungary  has  its  magnates  and  e^uites. 
h  J&ance  and  England  the  graud  vassab  of  the  crown  or  the 
greater  barons  (afterwards  peers)  composed  the  first ;  and  the 
lesser  barons  (afterwards  knights  and  squires)  the  second  order. 
Tn  all  these  countries  the  second  class  are  styled  noble  as  well  as 
the  first.  At  wh^t  period,  or  for  what  reason,  have  our  gentlemen 
ceased  to  be  so  i  The  following  citations  will  prove  their  rights^ 
which  may  be  dormant,  but  cannot  be  lost. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith,  died  1577. 

**  The  Commonwealth  of  England,  compiled  by  the  Honorable 
Sir  Thomas  Smith,  knight,  one  of  the  principal  secretaries  unto 
two  most  worthy  princes,  King  Edward  and  Queen  Elizabeth  : 
printed  1601.  « 

**  The  first  part,  of  gentlemen  of  England,  called  nobilitas  major. 

**  The  second  sort,  of  gentlemen,  which  may  be  called  nobilitas 
minor. 

''  Esquire  betokeneth  scutiferum  or  armizerum,  and  be  all  those, 
which  bear  arms,  which  is  to  bear  as  a  testimony  of  the  nobility,  or 
race  from  whence  they  do  come. 

''  Gentlemen  be  those,  whom  their  blood  and  race  doth  make 
noble  or  known.  The  Latins  call  them  all  nobiles,  the  French  no-^ 
bles. 

'^  Gens  in  Latin  betokeneth  the  race  and  surname*  So  the  Ro- 
nuifls  had  Cornelios,  Appios,  Fabios,  iE^milios,  Pisones,.  Julios, 
Brutos,  Valerios.  Of  which,  who  were  agnali  and  therefore  kept 
die  name,  wxre  also  gentiles,  and  retaiiling  the  memory  of  the 
glory  of  their  progenitor's  faqie,  were  gentlemen  of  that,  or  that 
face. 

''  Yomen  be  not  called  masters,  for  that,  as  I  have  said  befpre, 
pertaineth  to  gentlemen,  but  to  their  surnames  men  add  Goodman. 

''  Wherefore  to  speak  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  it  is 
(governed  by  three  sorts  of  persons;. the  prince,  which  is  called  a 
Jong  or  queen — the  gentlemen,  which  are  divided  into  two  parts, 
the  baronie  or  estate  of  lords,  and  those  which  be  no  lords,  as 
knights,  esquires,  and  simple  gentlemen. — The  third  and  last  sort 
of  persons  are  named  the  yomeu." 


166  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [8 

Sir  John  Ferne. 

*'  The  Blazon  of  Gentry  and  Nobility  divided  into  two  parts,  tbe 
Glory  of  Generosity  and  Lacyes  nobility,  compiled  by  John  Peme, 
gentleman,  for  the  instruction  of  all  gentlemen  bearers  of  arms, 
vhom  and  none  other  this  work  concerneth. — Printed  1586. 

*^  If  a  duchess,  countess,  or  baroness,  marry  with  but  a  simple 
gentleman,  she  loseth  her  dignity ;  we  say  the  reason  is  this, 
Quandofamina  nobilisnupserit  ignobili^  desinit  essenobilis  ;  but  in 
8o  doing  we  misquote  the  text,  which  means  that  if  any  gentle- 
woman, which  in  our  laws  is  called  nobilis,  do  marry  a  man  of  no 
coat  armor  (whom  also  we  call  ignobilem),  her  state  and  title  of 
gentleness  is  in  suspense,  and  no  man  knoweth  where  it  is ;  but 
yet  the  law  preserveth  the  same,  until  God  send  her  a  husband  of 
a  better  kind,  and  then  it  shall  appear  again.  In  the  time  of 
Queen  Mary  (continues  Sir  John  Ferne,  whose  language  I  shall 
take  the  liberty  to  modernize),  the  lawyers  in  two  cases  consulted 
with  the  heralds,  if  the  widows  of  peers,  being  married  to  gentle- 
men, might  retain  their  names  and  titles  of  dignity.  The  law  hav- 
ing said,  Quando  famina  nobilis,  8^e,  but  the  heralds  answered, 
that  they  misquoted  the  law ;  but  that  nevertheless  these  widows 
must  lose  their  titles,  though  not  from  any  want  of  nobiiity  in 
tfieir  second  husbands,  for  no  one  without  injustice  ooold  deny 
that  they  were  gentlemen,  being  eoregtstered  as  such ;  but  tbe 
reason  why,  is  deducted  from  nature :  and  it  were  monstrous,  if 
a  wife,  in  the  enjoying  of  titles,  should  be  superior  to  her  husband, 
who  is  her  head ;  and  this  would  be,  if  the  wife  be  honored  as  a 
duchess,  and  the  husband  be  entertained  but  according  to  his  in- 
ferior state." 

Such  was  the  opinion  of  the  heralds.  The  law  of  arms  and 
the  law  of  the  land  judged  with  reason  on  their  side.  But  the 
courtesy  of  England  is  not  less  complaisant  than  the  second  husband, 
who,  by  permitting  his  other  half  to  bear  the  title  of  bis  predecessor, 
acknowledges  himself  the  acquirer  of  only  second-hand  goods. 
Great  is  the  astonishment  of  foreigners  at  this  custom.  They 
know  not  which  most  to  admire,  the  want  of  dignity  in  the  hus- 
band, or  of  delicacy  in  the  wife.  So  much  for  the  second  mar- 
riages of  dowagers.  Of  the  misalliances  of  damsels.  Sir  John 
Feme  says : 

*'  It  were  well,  if  gentlewomen  of  blood  and  of  inheritance  would 
have  better  regard  to  their  matching ;  for  by  marrying  with  a 
gentleman,,  she  is  a  help  to  sustain  his  noble  house :  but  by  mar- 
rying a  churle  she  barreth  both  herself  and  her  progeny  of  noble- 


ness.'^ 


Lord  Chief  Justice  Sir  Edward  Coke,  died  1634. 
The  above  quotation  from  Sir  John  Ferne  explains  the  only  pas- 


9]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  167 

sage  ia  Coke  upon  Lytteltoh,  which  might  lead  one  to  imagine 
that  this. great  law  autboM|fcy  confined  the  nobility  to  the  peerage  of 
England  ;  whereas  in  dp  other  volumes  of  his  Institutes^  he  says 
that  all  who  bear  arms  are  noble. 

Statutum  de  Militibus,  anno  primo  Edw,  2. 

''  Me  that  is  destrained  ought  to  be  a  gentleman  of  name  and  bloody 
claro  loco  natus.  Of  antient  time  those^  that  held  by  knight's  ser- 
vice, were  regularly  gentile.  It  was  a  badge  of  gentry.  Yet  now 
tempera  mutaniuTf  and  many  a  yoman,  burgess^  or  tradesman^  pur- 
chasetb  lauds  holden  by  knight's  service^  and  yet  ought  not,  for 
want  of  gentry^  to  be  made  a  knight.  At  this  time  the  surest  rule 
is,  Nobiks  sunt  qui  arma  gentilicia  ahtecessorum  suorum  prqferre 
possunt.  Therefore  they  are  called  scutiferi  armigeri, 
.  **  A  knight  is  by  creation,  a  gentleman  by  descent,  and  yet  I  read 
of  the  creation  of  a  gentleman.  A  knight  of  France  came  into  Eng- 
land, and  challenged  John  Kingston,  a  good  and  strong  man  at 
arms,  but  no  gentleman,  as  the  record  saieth,  ad  certa  armorum 
puncta,  SLc.perficienda,  Rex  ipsum  Johannem  ad  ordinem  genero^ 
sorum  adoptavit,  et  armigerum  constUuit,  et  certa  honoris  insignia 
concessit.'*  * 

So  great  an  interest  was  attached  by  our  ancestors  to  every  cir- 
cumstance of  chivalry,  that  this  anecdote  of  John  Kingston  has  been 
reported  by  a  variety  of  writers.  Selden,  however,  in  his  Titles  of 
Honor,  says  not,  that  he  was  created  a  gentleman,  but  that  he  was 
received  into  the  state  of  a  gentleman,  and  made  an  esquire.  This 
might  be  done  by  giving  him  a  coat  of  arms.  A  king  might  thus 
ennoble  him,  but  in  those  days,  when  the  word  gentleman  was  so 
well  understood,  he  would  no  more  have  thought  of  creating  him  a 
gentleman  than  of  creating  him  a  giant.  We  shall  in  another  place 
hear  the  opinion  of  James  the  First  on  the  subject. 
^  The  Lord  Chief  Justice  continues.  ^*  And  great  discord  and  dis- 
contentment would  arise  within  the  realme,  if  yeomen  and  tradesmen 
were  admitted  to  the  dignity  of  knighthood,  to  take  the  place  and 
the  precedency  of  the  antient  and  noble  gentry  of  the  realme. 

*'  It  is  resolved  in  our  books  without  contradiction  that  a  knight 
bachelor  is  a  dignity,  and  of  the  inferior  degree  of  nobility^  Brit- 
ton  styleth  a  knight  honorable,  and  in  the  record  9  Edw.  I.  Sir  John 
Acton,  knight,  hath  the  addition  of  nobilis  ;  but  gentlemen  of  name 
and  blood  had  very  ri^rely  the  addition  of  generosus  or  armiger, 
being  sufficiently  distinguished  by  their  knight's  service  from  yo- 
men,  who  served  by  the  plough.  But  it  was  enacted  by  the  statute 
of  1  Hen.  V.  that  in  every  writ  original  of  actions,  personal  appeals, 

>  The  King  made  him  no  knight,  as  his  adversary  was,  because  he  was  no 
gentleman. 


168  Rank  and  Titks  of  the  Countries  [10 

and  inditetnents^  to  the  name  of  the  defendants,  addition  be  made 
of  the  state,  or  degree,  or  misterie;  aod^reupon  addition  wa» 
made  of  generostis  or  armiger.  ^^ 

**  An  unmarried  gentlewoman  is  impropcarly  stjfled  spinster ;  she 
ought  to  be  st>led  generosaJ' — 2  Institutes  668. 

In  tbe  fourth  volume  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  quotes  Cicero  and 
Pliny,  Nobilis  est  qui  sui  generis  imagines  projerre  potest :  and 
adds,  that  what  images  were  to  the  Romans,  coats  of  arms  are  to 
us — Arma  seu  insigma  gentilicia  ex  antiquo  habuerunt  locum  ima- 
ginum :  so  now  the  best  way  of  discussing  of  antiquity  of  gentry  is 
per  insigma. 

He  says  that  all  disputes  about  precedency  among  Peers  must  be 
decided  in  tbe  house  of  Peers;  that  the  hke  disputes  among  the 
members  of  the  lower  house,  must  be  decided  in  the  lower  house : 
but  that  such  disputes  among  all  others  must  be  decided  before 
the  Lord  High  Constable  or  blarl  Marshal. 

He  ends,  as  the  subject  would  carry  him  too  far,  by  referring 
the  reader  to  the  works  of  Camden,  and  particularly  to  the  series 
ordinum  or  table  of  precedency  therein. 

They  must  be  ignorant  indeed  of  the  laws  of  honor,  and  of  the 
nature  of  nobility,  who  could  suppose,  that  any  ignoble  persons 
would  presume  to  refer  their  disputes  to  the  Constable  or  Earl 
Marshal. 

In  France,  before  the  revolution,  all  disputes  among  gentlemen 
were  referred  to  the  Marecbaux  de  France. 

Camdbn,  Clarenceu^  King  of  Arms,  died  l6£d.  He  wrote 
his  Britannia  in  Latin;  it  afterwards  appeared  in  English.  He  says : 

''  JNobiles  vero  nostri  dividuntur  in  majores  et  minores.  Nobilei 
minores  sunt  equites  aurati,  armigeri,  et  qui  vulgo  generosi,  et  gen" 
tiemen  vocantur. — Tbe  lesser  noblemen  are  the  knights,  esquires, 
and  those  whom  we  commonly  call  gentlemen." 

In  his  History  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  Camden  says : 

'^  By  her  mother's  side  her  descent  was  not  so  high,  albeit  noble 
it  was  :  her  great  grandfather  was  Sir  Je£Fry  Bolen,  a  man  of  noble 
birth  in  Norfolk,  Lord  Mayor  of  London  1457  ;  who  matched  his 
daughters  into  the  noble  houses  of  the  Cheineys,  Heydons,  and 
Fortescues;  his  grand-daughters  married  to  Shelton,  Cartfaorp, 
Clere,  and  Sackvill,  men  of  great  wealth  and  noble  descent.. 

'^  In  1559  some  noblemen  voluntarily  departed  the  kingdom,  oE 
whom  those  of  better  note  were  Henry  Lord  Morly — Sir  Er^ncis 
Englefield,  Sir  Robert  Peckham,  Sir  Thomas  Shelley,  and  Sir 
John  Gage." 

Thus  Camden  not  only  considered  the  above  knights  as  noble 
men,  but  nobiles  melioris  nota. 


1 1]  in  Europe  c&njipared  and  explained.  )69 

A  Harleian  manuscript  (no.  1359)  contains  a  confirmation  by 
Camden  of  twenty  quarterings  to  Sir  Ralphe  Boseville  of  Bradborne 
ill  Kent^  a  *^  gentlemam  of  quality,  bloody  and  fair  and  ancient  coat 
armor,  and  of  pure  and  undoubted  lineal  descent,  and  an  unin« 
terrupted  derivation  from  auncient  nobility^  and  from  divers  noble 
knights  and  esquires  of  this  kingdom,  his  ancestors,  as  well  of  his 
own  surname,  as  also  of  other  noble  surnames,  and  right  worthy 
families,  as  appeareth  by  the  quarterings  of  this  achievement. 

^'  Wm.  Camden  alias  Clarencieux  Rex  Armon 

«  20th  Sept.  1621." 

Thomas  Milles  published,  1 608,  his  Nobilitas  Politica  et 
CtnVi5,  and  1610  his  Catalogue  of  Honor,  which  is  the  translation. 
He  says: 

*^  The  division  of  the  orders  and  degrees  of  men  which  the  Eng- 
lish commonwealth  or  empire  well  beareth,  is  exceedingly  well  set 
down  by  those  who  have  divided  the  same  into  a  king,  into  nobi« 
litie  of  the  greater  and  of  the  lesser  sort,  citizens,  men  liberally 
brought  up,  and  labourers. 

^*  These  are  the  orders  and  degrees  of  both  our  sorts  of  nobility^ 
named  and  unnamed  (titled  or  untitled.)" 

In  the  table  of  precedency  follow  in  degree 
'^*  26.  Esquires. 
27.  Gentlemen/* 

He  describes  the  order  of  the  procession  at  the  coronation  of 
Edward  Vf . 

First  of  all,  the  king's  messengers,  two  and  two  together :  deinde 
nobiies  minor um  gentium,  vel  generosi  bini. 

The  esquires  of  the  king's  body :  nobiies  corporis  Regii  cus- 
todes,  quos  pro  corpore  armigeros  nuncupamus. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  privy  bedchamber :  nobiies  Regi  in  pri- 
vato  cubiculo  astipulantes. 

The  gentlemen  pensioners  :   stipendiarii  nobiies. 

This  series  ordinum,  cited  by  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke,  and 
inserted  by  so  many  writers  two  centuries  ago,  constitutes  the  table 
of  precedency  printed  at  present  in  the  Court  Cal,endar.  They, 
who  were  then  styled  the  noblemen  of  lesser  note,  the  nobiies  mi* 
norum  gentium,  are  now  styled  the  gentlemen  entitled  to  bear  arms. 

Matthew  Carter,  esquire,  in  his  Honor  RedivivuS|  or  an 
Analysis  of  Honor  and  Armory,  published  in  1654,  says: 

**  Since  others,  as  Sir  John  Feme  and  Sir  Wm,  Segar,  have 
been  so  punctual  m  discussing  the  privileges  due  to  gentility  (gen- 
tlemen), I  pass  to  the  next  degree  of  nobleness,  which  is  the  esquire. 

**  The  division  of  these  dignities  of  honor  was  anciently  but  into 


170  , .  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [12 

tweWe ;  but  the  addition  of  knight  baronet  has  made  them  into 
thirteen.  The  six  first  are  only  noble^  as  the  gentlemaD^  esquire, 
knight  bachelor,  banneret^  baronet,  and  baron. 

• ''  The  other  seven  princely,  and  are  allowed  crowns  and  coronejts 
—-viscount,  earl,  marquess,  duke,  prince,  king,  and  emperor.  Sir 
John  Ferne  places  the  viscount  in  the  first  division,  but,  I  think, 
improperly  in  regard  to  his  coronet." 

The  barons  also  having  been  allowed  coronets  by  Charles  the 
Second,  Mr.  Carter  would  probably  have  placed  them  also  among 
the  princes.  Though  perhaps  another  distinction  might  have  sepa^ 
rated  them  from  the  viscounts;  the  barons  are  only  styled  trusty 
and  well-loved  as  other  knights  and  gentlemen^  whereas  the  vis- 
counts are  styled  the^  cousins  of  their  sovereign. 

At  the  court  of  Charles  the  Fifth  there  used  to  be  perpetual 
disputes  about  precedency  between  the  German  princes  and  the 
grandees  of  Spain ;  and  in  catholic  times  an  English  peer  was 
considered  equal  to  z  German  prince  at  the  court  of  the  pope. 
in  those  times  the  princesses  of  England  could  find  husbands  at 
faome ;  and  what  may  be  the  consequence  of  our  foreign  alliances  i 
the  mongrel  descendants  of  a  Corsican  may  eventually  pretend  to 
the  throne  of  Great  Britain. 

SiLVANUS  Morgan,  in  his  Sphere  of  Gentry,  published  in 
1661,  divides  them  into  native,  dative,  achieved,  and  created  no- 
bility. 

John  Guillim,  poursuivant,  published  the  fifth  edition  of  his 
Display  of  Heraldry  in  l679.  He  says  : 

''  By  the  course  and  custom  of  England,  nobility  is  either  major, 
or  minor.  Major  contains  all  titles  and  degrees  from  knighthood 
upwards — minor  all  from  barons  downwards." 

He  says,  page  154 — nobles  are  truly  called  gentlemen. 

He  treats,  page  71,  of  yeomen,  or  ignoble  persons. 

'^  Women  in  England,  according  to  their  husbands'  quality,  are 
either  honorable  and  noble,  or  ignoble. 

*'  Their  honorable  dignities  are  princesses,  duchesses,  mar- 
chionesses, countesses,  viscountesses,  and  baronesses. 

^*  The  noblesse,  as  the  French  call  them,  are  all  knights'  ladies, 
who  in  all  writings  are  styled  dames.  All  esquires'  and  gentlemen's 
wives,  only  gentlewomen. 

^*  The  third  sort  comprehends  the  plebeians,  and  are  commonly 
called  good-wives." 

It  is  remarkable  that  Guillim  places  the  epithet  honorable  be- 
fore noble. 

Jos£PU  Edmondson^  Mowbray  Herald,  published  in  17iB0, 


iS]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  1 7 1 

Jiis  Coippleat  Body  of  Heraldry^  the  last  though  roost  important 
work  of  the  kind,  as  it  contains  the  armorial  of  all  England.  It  may 
be  found  in  several  public  libraries^  and  particularly  in  the  court 
libraries  on  the  continent.  It  was  deserving  of  the  patronage 
of  George  the  Third,  and  it  may  be  useful  to  EngUshmea 
abroad ;  as  any  gentleman,  whose  nobility  was  doubted,  migfat 
show  the  arms  of  his  family.  The  account,  that  he  gives  of  ^  im- 
mediate nobility  or  the  tenentes  in  capite  of  Germa»iy,  of  the  con- 
tinental orders  of  knighthood,  and  of  the  rules  ^  tournaments, 
place  the  British  gentry  on  a  level  with  the  noblesse  of  the  conti- 
nent. But,  in  order  to  avoid  repetitioos,  1  shall  make  few  extracts 
fi'ooa  him,  as  he  has  only  iiepealed  the  arguments  of  Selden  in  his 
Titles  of  Honor,  and  of  preceding  .antiquaries  and  heralds.  He 
not  only  declares  that  the  £»gUsh  gentry  are  noble,  but  from  the 
fdlowing  accpuot  of  jtwo  of  the  most  noble  orders  in  Germany,  it  is 
(evident  thut  EihKKmdson  considered  gentility  the  most  exalted  word 
for  Dofailky. 

^A  candidate  for  the  order  of  Saint  George  at  Munich  is 
obliged  to  prove  his  gentility  for  five  generations,  on  his  mother's 
side  as  well  as  on  that  of  his  father. 

**  Some  German  gentlemen  erected  a  most  sumptuous  hospital  at 
Acre,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Teutonic  Knights/' 

Douglas.  The  same  service,  that  Edmondson  renders  to  the. 
gentry  of  England,  Douglas  may  render  to  the  barons  or  gentry  of 
Scotland. 

But  not  only  in  the  works  of  heralds  and  antiquaries,  but  iu 
proclamations,  state-papers,  and  monumental  inscriptions,  the  gen- 
try have  been  styled  noble. 

The  ravages,  committed  by  the  Welsh  in  1283,  are  styled  in 
Rymer,  **  strages  magnatum,  nobilium,  et  aliorum  :"  the  slaughter 
of  lords,  nobles,  and  others. 

This  is  correctly  expressed,  but  in  a  modern  newspaper  the  cart 
would  be  put  before  the  horse ;  and  it  would  probably  run,  '^  the 
slaughter  of  nobility,  gentry,  and  others/' 

Barnes,  in  his  History  of  Edward  the  Third,  styles  Sir  Miles  Sta- 
pleton  a  man  of  great  nobility  ;  Sir  Nele  Loring  a  knight  of  great 
valor  and  nobility. 

The  names  of  the  Englishmen  of  the  noblest  at  the  battle  of 
Cranant  are  thus  given,  Harl.  Ms.  782* 

The  Earl  of  Salisbury, 

Sir  de  Willoughby, 

Sir  Edmond  Heron, 

Sir  John  TraflFord, 

Sir  Gilbert  Halsal,  8cc.  24  names  iu  all. 


172  Rank  and  Tttks  of  the  Countries  [14 

And  the  same  Ms.  contains  the  names  of  the  princes^  dakes, 
earls,  barons^  bannerets^  and  bachelor  knights,  with  other  nobles 
of  the  household  and  retinue^  under  the  right  mighty  prince,  John 
Regent  of  France,  Duke  of  Bedford.  The  Register  of  £1;  (Harl. 
Ms.  no.  5828)  mentions  some  meeting  anno  1458. 

"  Presentibus  Wmo.  St.  George  et  Joh'ne  Colville  militibus^ 
Laurencio  Cheyne, ....  Peyton  et  Thoma  Lockton  armigeris,  et 
multis  aliis  nobilibus.** 

Two  centuries  later.  Sir  Simon  d'Ewes  used  to  direct  his  letters 
to  a  descendant  or  kinsman  of  one  of  the  above  esquires : 

**  Edwardo  Peyton,  nobitissimo  baronetto.*' 

Lord  Verulam,  in  his  History  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  inserts  the 
proclamation  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  who  thus  accuses  the  king : 

''  First,  he  has  caused  divers  nobles  of  this  our  realme  to  be 
cruelly  murdered,  as  our  cousin  Sir  William  Stanley,  Lord  Cham- 
berlain ;  Sir  Simon  Montford,  Sir  Robert  RatclifFe,  William 
Dawbeny,  Humfrey  Strafford,  and  many  others." 

Of  the  above  nobles  none  was  a  peer. 

Heylin,  in  his  History  of  the  Reformation,  dedicated  to  Charles 
the  Second,  says  : 

*^  1546.  In  the  next  place  came  Sir  Thomas  Wriothesley,  a  man 
of  a  very  new  nobility" 

i^ccording  to  a  Harleian  Ms.  no.  801,  is  inscribed  in  Doncaster 
church :     ^ 

**  Here  lyeth  of  noble  extraction,  John  Harrington  a  famous 
squire,  and  noble  Isabel  his  wife,  chief  founders  of  this  chantry  ; 
which  Isabel  died  on  St.  George's  day  1462,  and  the  foresaid  John 
on  the  nativity  of  the  Virgin  1465." 

At  Romaldkirkin  Richmondshire,  even  so  late  as  l664,  a  simple 
knight  is  inscribed,  Nobilissimus  Dominus  Franciscus  Apelby  de 
Lartiogton : — (Whitaker's  Richmondshire.) 

John  Lord  Viscount  Welles  married  Cicely  daughter  of  Henry 
the  Sixth ;  she  afterwards  married  a  gentleman  of  the  ?ioble  family 
of  Kyme  of  Kyme  Tower.  See  Thompson's  Boston  and  Gent 
Mag.  Sept.  1821.  John  Viscount  Wells,  son  of  Lionel  Lord 
Wells,  married  the  daughter  of  Edward  the  Fourth.  See  Thorn-' 
ton's  History  of  Nottinghamshire.  The  above  passage  therefore  i^ 
incorrect ;  but  it  shows,  that  not  only  our  lords,  hut  our  squires, 
have  intermarried  with  the  royal  family. 

Peacham  published,  in  1634,  his  Compleat  Gentleman,  fashion- 
ing him  in  necessary  qualities  that  may  be  required  in  a  noble  gen- 
tleman. More  than  a  third  of  the  book  treats  of  blazonry,  and  he 
gives  the  list  of  the  heraldic  works  in  different  languages  that  should 
compose  his  library.    In  his  questions  on  nobSity  in  general^  he 


15]  in  Europe  compared  ande^plaMl.  173 

discusses  whether  advocates  and  physicians  may  be  ranked  with 
iS[i&, ennobled. 

Coats  of  arms,  he  says,  are  sometimes  purchased  by  stealth, 
shu£9ed  into  records,  and  monuments  by  painters,  glaziers,  carvers, 
and  such ;  but  so  good  an  order  has  been  lately  established  by  the 
Earl  Marshal,  that  this  sinister  dealing  is  cut  off  from  such  mer- 
cenary abusers  of  nobility. 

Gentility  is  lost  by  attainder  of  treason  or  felony,  by  which  per- 
sons become  base  or  ignoble. 

In  Jacob's  Law  Dictionary  we  read«  under  the  word  Herald, 
Garter  is  to  marshal  the  funeral  of  peers  ;  the  next  is  Clarenceux 
-^his  office  is  to  marshal  the  funeral  of  all  the  lesser  nobility, 
knights  or  esquires,  south  of  the  Trent.  . 

There  are  several  volumes  of  burial  certificates  both  in  the  He- 
ralds' Office  and  in  the  British  Museum.  From  the  following  certifi- 
cate (Harl.  Ms.  70£9)  one  may  judge  of  the  solemnity  with  which 
our  lesser  nobility  were  interred.  ^*  Sir  Francis  Hinde  died  at  his 
manor-house  of  Madingley  the  21st  of  March  1595,  being  65  years 
of  age,  and  was  worthily  buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Madingley 
aforesaid  on  the  6th  of  April  next  following  ;  chief  mourner  was 
William  Hinde,  esquire;  the  four  assistants.  Sir  John  Cutte, 
knight,  Edward  RadclifFe  esquire  (son-in-law),  Edward  Hinde 
(second  son),  and  Thomas  Chicheley.  The  standard  was  borne 
by  Humfrey  Gardener,  and  the  pennon  of  his  arms  was  borne  by 
Mr.  Saney.  The  officers  of  arms,  that  solemnized  the  said  funeral, 
were,  Mr.  Clarenceux  King  of  Arms,  and  York  Herald  of  Arms. 
In  witness  hereof  we  whose  names  are  underwritten  have  subscribed 
these  presents. 

William  Hinde. 
Edward  RadclifFe. 
Edward  Hinde.*' 

The  books  io  form  an  opinion  of  the  dignity  of  an  old  English 
gentleman  are  the  county  histories ;  and  these  seldom  come  into  the 
hands  of  foreigners.  His  baronial  castle,  or  his  not  less  sumptuous 
mansion  of  a  more  modern  date,  is  there  depicted.  A  stately 
avenue  conducts  to  his  residence,  and  a  coach  and  six,  escorted  by 
a  troop  of  outriders,  the  usual  appendage  of  his  quality,  is  seen 
driving  into  his  gates ;  and  when  at  length  his  numerous  tenantry 
have  accompanied  the  heraldic  pomp  of  his  funeral  to  the  neigh- 
boring cathedral,  the  next  print  represents  him  there  sleeping  in 
dull  cold  marble,  but  blazoned  with  all  the  escutcheons  of  his  house. 
Such  are  the  halls  that  embellish  Whitaker's  History  of  Richmond; 
such,  in  Nash's  History  of  Worcestershire,  are  the  monuments  of  the 
Sheldens,  of  the  Vernons,  and  the  Talbots,  whose  numerous  quar- 
tierings  would  not  have  disparaged  an  elector  of  Mayence  or  a 
prince  bishop  of  Wurtzbourg. 


174  Jbmk  and  Titks  of  the  Countries  |116 

The  late  king  of  Wirtemberg  used  to  say^  that  he  coald  form 
no  idea  of  an  English  gentleman^  till  he  had  visited  several  at  their 
fiimilj  seats,  and  seen  their  manner  of  living  in  the  country.  And 
it  is  remarkable  that  the  author,  vi'ho  at  present  seems  to  take  the 
most  pleasure  in  doing  justice  to  the  character  of  an  English  squire, 
is  an  American-*- Washington  Irving. 

In  Johnson's  Dictionary,  it  is  true,  a  gentleman  is  said  to  be 
^'  one  of  good  extraction,  but  not  noble  ;''  and  in  so  saying,  he 
rendered  the  English  gentry  considerable  injury,  as  his  work  is 
translated  into  foreign  languages,  and  this  unintentionally;  for  he 
was  a  conscientious  man,  and  though  no  gentleman  himself,  he 
bore  no  envy  towards  his  superiors ;  he  was  a  friend  of  all  ansto- 
cratical  institutions ;  but  however  profound  an  etymologist,  he  was 
neither  herald  nor  antiquary,  and  he  committed  the  modem  blun- 
der of  confounding  nobility  with  peerage,  and  on  points  of  honor. 
Lord  Verulam,  Selden,  Camden,  &c.  and  the  statutes  of  the 
Garter,  are  better  authorities. 

In  Bailey's  Dictionary,  of  the  edition  of  1707,  we  find  "  a  gen- 
tleman, one  who  received  his  nobility  from  his  ancestors,  and  not 
from  the  gift  of  any  prince  or  state." 

And  in  the  second  volume  of  Bailey's  Dictionary,  printed  1728, 
(I  specify  the  edition,  because  in  later  editions  variations  may  be 
discovered,  and  these  variations  show  the  progressive  degradation 
of  the  British  gentry),  we  find,  **  a  gentleman  is  properly,  accord* 
ing  to  the  ancient  notion,  one  of  perfect  blood,  who  hath  four 
descents'  of  gentility,  both  by  his  father  and  his  mother." 

In  choosing  of  magistrates,  the  vote  of  a  gentleman  was  pre- 
ferred before  that  of  an  ignoble  person. 

It  was  a  punishable  crime  to  take  down  the  coat-armor  of  a 
gentleman,  or  to  ofier  violation  to  the  ensign  of  any  noble  person 
deceased. 

The  reasons  why  those  that  are  students  in  the  inns  of  court 
are  esteemed  gentlemen,  is  because  anciently  none  but  the  sons  of 
gentlemen  were  admitted  into  them. 

But  the  students  of  law,  grooms  of  his  Majesty's  palace,  and 
8(ms  of  peasants  made  priests  and  canons,  though  they  are  styled  ^ 
gentlemen,  yet  they  have  no  right  to  coat-armor.    If  a  man  be  a 
gentleman  by  office  only^  and  loses  his  office,  then  he  loses  his 
gentility. 

''Gentry — the  lowest  degree  of  nobleness — such  as  are  de- 
scended of  ancient  families,  and  have  always  borne  a  coat  o&arms.^' 

'  Four  descents  of  gentility  are  in  Germany  called  sixteen  quarters,  or 
parents— ont  descent  requires  two— two  descents  four — three  descents  eight 
—-four  descents  sixteen,  ^reat-great-grand  parents,  and  which  (qualify  a  gen- 
tleman to  be  chosen  a  prmce,  bishop,  or  knight,  of  the  Teutonic  order. 


17]  in  Europe  compared  and  explmned.  175 

This  dictionary  represented  to  foreigners  the  gentry  of  England 
in  an  honorable  light ;  and  being  used  at  schools^  inspired  our  youths 
with  a  respect  for  their  own  families.  This  dictionary  pronounces 
nobility  to  be  acquired ;  gentility  never.  This  also  was  an  axiom 
in  France.  The  acquirer  there  of  letters  patent  is  styled  an  anno^ 
bli^  his  son  a  noble :  but  it  is  undecided  among  French  heralds, 
whether  his  grandson,  or  his  great-great-grandson,  be  the  first 
gentleman  in  die  family ;  some  heralds  requiring  only  three,  others 
five  generations  of  noblesse  to  make  a  gentleman. 

If  the  foregoing  explanation  of  gentry  be  correct,  that  their 
families  must  always  have  borne  arms,  the  descendants  of  a  yeoman 
can  never  be  gentlemen  ;  they  however  may  make  very  respect*^ 
able  lords. 

Not  only  the  two  words,  but  this  pre-eminence  of  gentility  over 
nobility,  is  derived  from  ancient  Rome. 

When  to  the  first  hundred  patrician  families,  a  second  hundred 
were  added,  the  senators  of  the  first  were  styled  patres  majcrum 
gentium;  those  of  the  second,  patres  minorum  gentium*  The 
two  classes  united  were  styled  patres  conscripti.  Hence  the  gen^ 
tiUtas  of  the  patricians. 

But  when  the  capacity  of  being  admitted  to  all  public,  offices 
was  acquired  by  the  plebeians^  this  new  class  of  men  were  styled 
nobiles  and  nobilitas. 

So  Livy  after  that  period  calls  those  men  and  families  that  were 
at  the  head  of  the  state. 

Both  their  children  and  grandchildren  were  styled  nobiles ;  but 
their  nobilitas  (as  is  stated  in  the  French  Encyclopedia  under  the 
word  Patrician)  descended  not  farther. 

-  Are  we  then  to  suppose  that  the  fourth  generation  lost  their  pre- 
eminence i  No ;  they  were  not  longer  considered  noble,  because 
they  were  at  length  sufficiently  well-born  to  rank  with  the  gen* 
tilitas. 

The  citizen,  that  had  the  pictures  or  statues  of  his  ancestors, 
was  termed  nobilis ;  he  that  bad  only  his  own^  novtis  ;  and  he  that 
had  neither,  ignobilis.  So  that  their  jus  imaginis  resembled  our 
right  of  bearing  a  coat  of  arms;  and  their  novus  homo  i&  equiva- 
lent to  a  French  annoblif  or  to  our  upstart  gentleman. 

See  Kennet's  Antiquities,  De  Lolme,  &c. 

liet  us  hear  what  .intelligent  foreigners  say  of  our  peerage  and 
ndbility. 

De  Lolme  says  of  the  king:— '^  He  creates  the  peers  of  the 
realm,  as  well  as  bestows  the  different  degrees  of  inferior  nobility  J' 

Ferri  de  St.  Constant,  in  his  "  Londres  et  les  Anglais, "  pub- 
lished 1814,  says: 


176  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [18 

*'  The  title  of  gentleman  answered  formerly  to  gentilhomme.  The 
nurse  of  James  the  First^  who  had  followed  him  from  Edinburgh 
to  London^  entreated  him  to  make  her  son  a  gentleman :'  '  My 
good  woman/  said  the  king,  '  a  gentleman  I  could  never  make 
him,  though  I  could  make  him  a  lord/ 

*^  Some  persons  have  pretended  that  there  are  no  nobility  in 
England,  because  the  peers^  the  only  body  of  citizens  who  enjoy 
any  political  privileges  or  rights,  are  properly  only  hereditary  ma- 
gistrates. Those  who  have  made  the  assertion,  appear  not  to 
admit,  that  the  peers  represent  the  ancient  feudal  nobility;  but 
only  keep  in  mind  the  composition  of  the  present  peers,  among 
whom  are  found  very  few  nobles  by  descent  (extraction).  It  b 
by  courtesy,  they  say,  that  one  gives  to  the  members  of  their  fa- 
milies the  titles  of  Lord  and  Lady.  Is  it  also  by  courtesy,  that 
one  acknowledges  the  knights  of  the  different  orders,  as  well  as 
the  multitude  of  baronets,  that  the  king  creates  every  day  i  The 
king  creates  these  titles  and  orders,  in  virtue  of  his  prerogative. 
Consequently  he  creates  a  nobility,  which,  though  it  enjoys  no  po- 
litical rights  is  not  less  constitutional.  Thus  there  exists  a  nobi- 
lity, besides  the  peerage,  aud  which  is  derived  from  the  same 
source. 

'^  As  the  chief  part  of  the  new  peers  are  monied  men,  nabobs, 
merchants,  or  bankers,  who  have  bought  boroughs,  and  seconded 
the  views  of  the  ministry,  and  who,  instead  of  shedding  their  blood 
for  the  state,  have  sucked  up  its  marrow  (en  ont  pomp6  le  sue 
nourricier :)  so  the  title  of  baronet,  which  was  formerly  conferred 
on  military  exploits,  is  now  given  to  the  plunderers  of  India,  to 
army  agents  and  contractors,  to  shopkeepers  and  apothecaries.  - 

**  But,  beside  the  nobility  that  enjoys  political  rights,  and  the  no- 
bility that  has  merely  a  title,  one  may  distinguish  still  another 
nobility,  the  only  true  one  acc6rding  to  the  prejudices  of  nobility, 
the  most  generally  received,  the  nobility  of  extraction.  People 
are  very  particular  in  England  about  the  proofs  of  this  nobility. 
They  are  deposited  at  the  Heralds'  Office.  There  are  many  peers, 
who,  in  the  eyes  of  the  college  of  arms,  are  not  more  gentlemen 
than  were  in  France  many  dukes  and  blue  ribbons  ;^  among  whom 
Monsieur  de  Beaufremont,  who  was  neither  a  duke  nor  a  blue< 
ribbon  himself,  was  surprised  to  find  himself  the  only  gentleman 
in  the  company. 

'^The  Welshman,  the  Scotchman,  the  Irishman,  who  are  noble 
by  extraction,  whatever  may  be  their  present  situation,  think  that  the 
king  may  make  as  many  peers  as  be  pleases,  but  that  he  caimot 

*  SeldeD,in  his  Table  Talk,  says  that  God  Almighty  cannot  make  a  gen* 
tleman.  *  Knights  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


19J  .  in  Europe  compared  and  ej^plained.  1 77 

make  a  gentletnan^  nor  give  to  the  lords  of  his  creation  the  arms  of 
known  houses. 

''  Several  of  these  gentlemen  have  refused  a  peerage^  preferring 
to  be  the  first  of  the  gentry  rather  than  the  last  of  the  peers.  Of 
this  number  is  Sir  Watkin  Williams  Wynne,  of  an  ancient  family 
in  Wales,  who  commands  five  votes  in  the  House  of  Commons.'^ 

So  far  Monsieur  Ferri  de  St.  Constant. — He  has  in  one  passage 
given  loose  to  satire,  for  the  composition  of  the  House  of  Peers 
is  generally  respectable  ;  and  if  some  few  of  its  members  are  of 
low  origin,  which  would  be  the  case  also  if  the  new  peers  always 
owed  their  elevation  to  merit  and  never  to  intrigue,  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  other  members,  whose  origin  is  truly  illustrious : 
but  what  he  has  said  of  our  untitled  nobility  or  gentry  is  perfectly 
correct. 

But  if  titles  in  England  have  been  disgraced  by  being  conferred 
on  unworthy  objects,  Monsieur  de  Marchangy  (in  his  Gaule 
Po6tique  iv.  page  284^)  informs  us,  that  the  abuse  was  at  one 
period  more  general  in  France,  for  the  king  by  granting  noblesse 
or  coats  of  arms,  without  discrimination,  conferred  on  the  vilest 
persons  the  right  of  purchasing  baronies  and  marquisates.  ''  What 
must  have  been  the  nobility  in  Paris,  when  Charles  V.  granted 
it  to  all  the  burghers  of  this  capital  i  an  ill-judged  favor,  which 
several  kings  confirmed,  but  which  Henry  ill.  thought  proper 
to  confine  to  the  mayor  and  sheriffs.  What  must  have  been  the 
nobility  in  all  our  provinces,  when  whole  corporations,  nay  the 
inhabitants  of  some  counties,  pretended  to  be  ennobled  by  some 
chimerical  privilege;  when  dukes  and  counts  assumed  the 
right  of  granting  nobility  and  coats  of  arms  ?  What  must  have 
been  the  nobility  when  usurers,  capitalists,  heavy  financiers,  and 
the  scum  of  the  earth,  were  seen  to  buy  baronies,  marquisates  and 
lordships,  and  thus  ridiculously  to  deck  themselves  out  with  titles^ 
lately  so  respected,  but  now  resigned  to  these  clownish  and  inso- 
lent upstarts;  as  court-dresses,  which  have  figured  at  a  birthday, 
pass  to  the  old-clothes  shop  to  tempt  the  vanity  of  some  black* 
guard  :  and  must  it  not  excite  our  pity  to  see  these  purchasers  of 
nobility  puffed  up  with  a  comical  pride,  and  after  some  years  think 
themselves  noble  and  privileged  f" 

Thus  we  see  a  king  of  France  revoking  the  inconsiderate  gifts 
of  bis  predecessors.  This  is  an  example  not  to  be  proposed  to  a 
king  of  England.  But  the  king  is  only  the  first  gentleman  in  his 
dominions ;  hexought  therefore  to  protect  the  honor  of  the  gentry. 
If  plebeians  were  prohibited  from  usurping  a  coat  of  arms,  the 
sovereign  might  sufficiently  reward  their  services  by  a  grant  of 
arms ;  by  so  doing  he  would  place  them  at  the  end  of  the  squires ; 
but  novr  be  has  no  honor  to  confer  on  them  lef>s  than  knighthood, 

VOL.  XXHI.'  Pam.  NO.  XLV.         M 


178  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [20 

or  by  putting  them  above  their  betters.  Thus,  he  cannot  be  gra- 
cious, without  being  unjust ;  the  system  proposed  would  render  to 
chivalry  its  ancient  lustre. 

After  listening  to  a  foreigner's  opinion  on  our  nobility,  it  maybe 
curious  to  hear  an  old  English  gentleman  express  himself  on  the 
nobility  of  the  continent. 

Sir  John  Eresby's  Travels  in  1654. 

'^  That  which  we  call  a  parliament  in  England,  was,  when  in  use 
among  the  French,  called  an  assembly  of  the  Three  Estates,  or 
Conventus  Ordinum ;  which  are,  first,  the  Clergy ;  secondly,  the 
Nobility  and  Gentry;  thirdly,  the  Plebeians  or  Tiers  Etat.  (page  4.) 

"  La  petite  noblesse,  or  the  lesser  sort  of  gentry,  (page  5.) 

"  Trading  in  France  both  procures  and  forfeits  gentuity.  Per- 
sons, that  have  got  good  estates,  easily  obtaining  being  ennobled  by 
the  king  at  cheap  rates ;  when,  at  the  same  time,  a  gentleman  born 
is  thought  to  degrade  himself  by  trafSc.''  (page  43.) 

Sir  John  Eresby  icnew  his  own  dignity ;  he  felt  himself  the 
countryman  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  who,  though  a  mere  gentleman, 
was  not  only  chosen  king  of  Puland,  but  in  the  spirit  of  gallantry 
refused  the  crown,  to  serve  Queen  Elizabeth  as  a  true  knight.  And 
how  great  would  have  been  the  indignation  of  any  English  gentleman 
of  quality  in  Sir  John's  days,  had  he  read  in  the  Paris  newspapers 
the  following  advertisements : 

^^  An  English  Gentleman,  who  has  had  considerable  experience 
as  a  Teacher,  and  can  show  respectable  certificates,  gives  private 
lessons  in  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  English  languages:  terms  20 
francs  a  month.  Address,  post-paid,  at  the  ofSce  of  Galignani's 
paper.  May  1823. 

^<  Un  gentleman  anglais  d'une  famille  honn^te,  desire  la  place 
d'un  gouvemeur  dans  une  famille  respectable.  Les  afSches,  1  Aout, 

1822/' 

If  this  individual  were  really  a  gentleman  by  birth,  he  was 
more  than  of  une  famille  honncte ;  yet  being  reduced  by  misfor- 
tune to  turn  tutor,  he  ought  to  have  concealed  his  quality.  If 
not,  he  ought  to  have  styled  himself  un  anglais  d^  une  famille  hon* 
nke.  This  would  have  expressed  a  decent,  creditable  person, 
if  his  modesty  forbade  him  to  style  himself  un  homme  de  lettres. 

Any  Englishman,  gentilhomme  de  nom  et  darmeSy  who,  in  a 
French  document,  suffers  himself  to  be  styled  '^  un  gentleman  an- 
glais/' either  exposes  his  ignorance,  or  seems  to  acknowledge  the 
superiority  of  a  gentilhomme  f  ran ^ais^  and  thus  degrades  the  class 
to  which  he  belongs. 

So  many  tradespeople,  shop-keepers,  &c.  have  lately,  instead  of 
going  to  Margate  in  the  hoy,  swarmed  over  to  France  in  the 
steam-boat,  and  have  presumed  to  call  themselves  gentlefolks,  that 


21  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  179 

the  police  at  Calais  and  Paris  have  been  puzzled  what  to  stjie 
them  on  their  passports.  They  therefore  adopted  for  every  non- 
descript of  this  kind^  the  English  word  gentleman,  as  if  the  word 
would  not  admit  of  a  translation.  This,  however  flattering  to  a 
pseudo-gentleman^  is  an  insult  to  which  no  real  gentilhomme 
should  submit. 

King  Edward  III,  in  13°,  gave  the  following  answer  to  a  petition 
of  Parliament:— ^^  Such  as  call  themselves  gentlemen  and  men  of 
arms  or  archers,  if  they  cannot  so  prove  themselves,  let  them  be 
driven  to  their  occupation  or  service,  or  to  the  place  from  whence 
they  came.''  And  King  Edward  VI. nearly  two  centuries  afterwards, 
complains  that  '^  the  grazier,  the  farmer,  the  merchant,  become 
landed  men  and  call  themselves  gentlemen,  though  they  be  churls.". 
(King  Edward's  Remains  in  Burnet's  Reformation,  page  71.) 

It  was  to  remedy  these  abuses,  that  the  heralds  went  on  their 
visitations  in  the  different  counties. 

These  visitations  were  conducted  every  thirty  years,  by  Norroy 
in  the  north,  and  by  Clarenceux  in  the  south  of  England.  On 
these  occasions  each  of  these  kings,  their  provincials  and  marshals, 
came  attended  by  draughtmen,  and  summoned  the  neighboring 
gentry  to  their  county-town,  to  have  enregistered  the  births, 
deaths  and  marriages,  that  had  occurred  in  their  families,  since  the 
last  visitation*  Such  persons  as  had^' usurped  titles  or  dignities, 
or  borne  ensigns  of  gentility,  which  belonged  not  to  them,  were 
obliged  under  their  own  hands  to  disclaim  all  pretence  and  title 
thereunto,  and  for  their  presumption  were  degraded  by  proclama- 
tion, made  by  the  common  crier  at  the  market-town  nearest  to 
their  abode.  Under  the  names  of  these  plebeians,  who  had  as- 
sumed coats  of  arms,  was  written  ignobiles,  which  sufficiently 
proves  that  those,  who  are  entitled  to  arms,  are  nobiles.  The 
earliest  visitation  was  in  15^9;  the  latest  in  l6B6.  Visitations 
nearly  similar  were  usual  also  in  France. 

What  an  admirable  subject  for  a  humorous  chapter  in  a  novel, 
would  one  of  these  visitations  offer  to  Sir  Walter  Scott!  What 
a  fuss  and  bustle  must  the  approach  of  the  heralds  have  caused 
in  the  families  of  those  churls  of  whom  king  Edward  com- 
plains !  What  an  exultation  must  have  reigned  in  the  halls  of  their 
right  worshipful  neighbors,  at  seeing  these  usurpers  of  nobility 
called  over  the  coals! 

But  that  the  heralds  would  not  be  unwelcome  to  the  real  gentry 
of  England,  we  may  conclude  from  the  readiness  with  which  they, 
within  a  century,  received  an  adventurer  who  assumed  their  func- 
tions. The  London  Journal  (Sat.  April  22,  1727,)  contains  the 
following : 

*^  Ipswich,  15  April.     One  Robert  Harman,  an  Irish  dancing- 


1 80  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [22 

master^  was  convicted  as  a  notorious  cheat  and  impostor,  in  as- 
suming the  title  and  functions  of  a  king  of  arms,  and  alledging  that 
he  was  authorized  by  government  to  inspect  the  arms  and  quarter- 
ings  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  this,  and  14  other  counties; 
whereby  he  demanded  and  received  considerable  sums ;  he  was 
sentenced  to  stand  in  the  pillory,  in  three  several  market-towns  in 
this  county,  on  their  market-days,  to  suffer  an  imprisonment,  and  to 
pay  a  fine." 

The  re-establishment  of  the  visitations  would  re-place  the  gentry 
on  a  footing  with  the  noblesse  of  the  continent. 

Those,  who  deliver  passports  for  the  continent,  ought  to  give 
the  quality  of  gentleman  to  those  only  who  are  entitled  to  it;  but 
those,  who  are  entitled  to  it,  should  not  suffer  it  to  be  omitted 
The  disuse  of  the  word  may  be  of  the  greatest  disadvantage.  If 
arrived  at  the  place  of  his  destination,  his  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion may  indeed  prove  who  and  what  a  traveller  is  ;  but  he  may 
be  induced  to  alter  his  route,  his  carriage  may  break  down,  he 
may  have  a  dispute  at  a  table-d'hdte,  he  may  be  mistaken  by  the 
police-officers,  who  are  in  quest  of  some  offender.  Every  one 
who  has  travelled  on  the  continent,  knows  how  great  a  recommend- 
ation the  quality  of  a  gentilhomme  is  to  the  protection  of  an 
amptmann  or  justice  of  peace,  or  to  the  hospitality  of  a  lord  of 
the  manor. 

Ai  Gottingen,  where  a  succession  of  Englishmen  have  studied, 
the  Prorector  usually  asks  them,  if  they  are  esquires  at  home  i 
and  on  their  answering  in  the  affirmative,  they  are  entered  as 
Nobles.  But  at  the  other  German  universities,  which  have  less 
communication  with  Great  Britain,  several  young  Englishmen, 
on  being  asked  the  usual  question,  if  they  were  noble  i  unluckily 
knew  as  little  about  nobility  as  Dr.  SamuelJohnson,  and  like  him, 
always  confounded  the  idea  of  noble  with  the  idea  of  a  Peer,  and 
consequently  answered.  No.  Thus  they,  though  perhaps  of  th^ 
most  ancient  families,  have  been  inscribed  in  the  matricule-book 
as  the  sons  of  the  lowest  burghers  or  mechanics. 

On  continuing  his  travels  into  Hungary,  a  stranger's  French 
passport  is  translated  into  Latin;  thus  the  gentilhomme  anglais 
appears  as  nobilis  anglus.  And  an  accidental  omisaiou  of  this 
title  might  occasionally  prevent  his  receiving  those  civilities  and 
that  hospitality,  which  he  otherwise  would  receive. 

From  their  having  forgotten  what  was  so  well  known  to  their 
ancestors,  that  nobility  and  gentility  are  synonymous.  Englishmen 
run  into  two  extremes.  The  Scotch,  and  Irish,  to  do  them  justice, 
know  their  dignity  better,  and  to  this  may  be  attributed  their  better 
reception  on  the  continent.  But  while  the  lowest  Englishman 
jpresumes  to  style  himself  a  gentleman,  the  Englishman  of  the  first 


23]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  181 

quality,  having  unaccountably  renounced  the  ancient  pre-emi- 
nence of  his  blood,  hesitates  to  style  himself  a  nobleman.  What 
respect  can  he  claim  from  foreigners,  who  scarcely  knows  his  own 
place  in  society  ?  Formerly  his  dignity  was  esteemed  abroad^ 
because  it  was  protected  at  home. 

In  1350,  during  the  wars  of  the  Black  Prince,  a  number  of 
French  gentlemen,  having  agreed  to  fight  the  Combat  de  trente 
against  the  like  number  of  English  gentlemen,  Argentre  in  his 
History  of  Britany  says,  ^*both  parties  had  sworp,  that  only  gen- 
tlemen should  combat  on  either  side ;  but  Bemboio  could  not 
compleat  his  number,  he  therefore  took  a  soldat  de  condition  ro- 
turiere,  named  Halbutie" 

This  soldier  was  probably  a  yeoman  :  there  are  other  derivations 
of  the  word  yeoman,  but  may  it  not  signify  a  bowman,  and  be  de-* 
rived  from  the  yew  of  their  bow  i  Lord  Verulam  relates,  that 
Henry  VII.  formed  a  body  of  archers,  called  the  yeomen  of  the 
guard.  It  might  also  signify  a  ploughman,  from  Jt/giim,  a  plough^ 
which  the  Germans  pronounce  yugum.  In  those  days,  when  the 
rank  of  every  one  was  so  denned,  no  Frenchman  would  have 
spoken  irreverently  of  a  gentleman  anglais,  nor  have  disputed  his 
nobility.  When,  at  the  meeting  of  Henry  and  Francis,  on  the 
Plain  du  Drap  d'Or^  every  Englishman,  whose  shield  had  been 
examined  by  the  heralds,  was  admitted  into  the  lists. 

It  is  only  since  the  gentry  permitted  the  plebeians  to  encroach 
on  them,  that  the  peers  began  to  disdain  the  title  of  gentleman,  a 
title  which  the  first  peers,  nay,  princes  of  the  blood,  would  have 
not  disdained.  The  haughty  Lord  Verulam  says,  in  his  History  of 
Henry  the  seventh  :  *^  The  king  dispatched  Sir  Robert  Willoughby 
for  Edward  Plantagenet,  son  and  heir  to  George  Duke  of  Cla- 
rence. In  case  of  the  bastarding  of  Edward  the  fourth's  issue,  this 
joung  gentleman  was  to  succeed. 

'*  About  this  time  the  Lord  Woodville,  uncle  to  the  Queen,  a 
valiant  gentleman,  and  desirous  of  honor " 

Godwin,  in  his  Annals  (page  l63.)  says  :  "  Courtenay  Marquis  of 
Exeter,  deriving  himself  from  the  blood  royal  of  France,  partici- 
pated of  the  blood  royal  of  England,  being  son  to  Catherine, 
daughter  of  Edward  IV.  The  king  became  jealous  of  his  great- 
ness, and  glad  of  any  occasion  to  cutt  off  this  nohXe  gentleman^' 

A  Harl.  Ms.  says  :  *^  These  sundry  coats  appertain  to  the  right 
honorable  and  most  noble  gentleman,  Henry  Earl  of  Derby,  Lord 
Stanley,  Strange,  and  Man,  companion  of  the  Garter,  lieutenant  of 
Cheshire  and  Lancashire." 

The  duke  of  Lauderdale  was  styled  first  gentleman  of  the  bed- 
chamber to  Charles  the  second ;  as  the  duke  of  Hamilton  was  first 
gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber  to  George ihe  second.    Some  Due 


J  82  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [24 

et  Pair  of  France,  is  still  styled  at  the  French  Court  *'  le  premier 

fentilhomme  de  la  cbambre ;"  but  in  England,  the  word  gentleman 
as  of  late  become  so  contemptible,  that  the  same  officer  is  now 
styled  first  lord  of  the  bed-chamber. 

Formerly,  while  all  persons  of  coat-armour  were  styled  noble- 
men, all  gentlemen  were  styled  persons  of  quality. 

A  peer  is  only  a  person  of  rank,  unless  he  be  a  gentleman ;  but 
every  gentleman  is  a  person  of  quality,  for  in  the  opinion  of  a 
herald  quality  and  gentility  are  synonymous. 

liord  Verulam  says,  (page  119.)  "  At  the  same  time  there  re- 
paired unto  Perkin,  divers  Englishmen  of  quality.  Sir  George 
Nevile,  Sir  John  Taylor,  and  about  one  hundred  more." 

(Page  122.)  ''  Upon  All-hallowes  day  tlie  king's  second  son 
Henry  was  created  Duke  of  York  ;  and  as  well  the  duke  as  di- 
vers other  noblemen,  knights  bachelors,  and  gentlemen  of  quality^ 
were  made  knights  of  the  Bath.'' 

Fuller's  Church  History,  anno  1546. ''  The  last  person  of  quality 
who  suffered  martyrdom  in  this  king's  reign,  was  Anne  Ascougfa, 
alias  Kyme.  She  was  worshipfully  extracted  ;  the  daughter  of 
Sir  William  Ascough  of  Kelsey  in  Lincolnshire,  of  the  age  of 
twenty-five." 

The  gentry  of  Yorkshire  thus  begin  a  petition  to  Charles  the 
first,  1643. 

'^  Those  members  of  parliament  lately  employed  to  attend  your 
Majesty  from  both  houses,  being  all  of  them  gentlemen  oi  quality 
and  estate  in  this  county." 

Proclamation   against  duelling,   Whitehall,    9    March,   1679: 

'^  Whereas  it  has  become  too  frequent,  especially  among  persons 
of  quality,  to  avenge  their  private  quarrels  by  duel." 

JBamfield  Moor  Carew  was  born  1693.  His  Life  originally  be- 
gan— ^'  Never  was  there  known  a  more  splendid  appearance  of  gen- 
tlemen and  ladies  of  rank  and  quality  at  any  baptism  in  the  west 
of  England.  The  Honorable  Hugh  Bamfield  esquire,  and  the 
Honorable  Major  Moor,  were  both  his  illustrious  godfathers." 

The  Life  of  Bamfield  Moor  Carew  appeared  1807  in  the  Eccen- 
tric Mirror.   .  The  above  passage  was  thus  altered  : 

'^  Never  was  there  known  a  more  splendid  appearance  of  per- 
sons of  the  first  distinction  at  any  baptism  in  the  county.  Hugh 
Bamfield,  esquire,  and  Major  Moor,  of  families  equally  ancient  and 
respectable  as  that  of  Carew,  were  his  godfathers." 

The  epithet,  illustrious,  applied  to  two  country  squires,  was  ex- 
aggeration, and  therefore  properly  omitted  ;  but  it  shows  the  high 
estimation  in  which  our  gentry  were  held  so  late  as  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  But  rank  and  quality  were  words  more  expressive 
of  their  meaning  than  that  equivocal  word  distinction.     We  can 


25]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  183 

form  an  opinion  of  what  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  rank  and  quality 
were  in  the  reign  of  William  the  third,  but  it  will  puzzle  our  de- 
scendants to  divine  what  were  the  people  of  distinction  or  fashion 
in  the  reign  of  George  the  third;  and  as  these  worthies  were 
styled  honorable  during  their  lives,  it  is  hard  to  deprive  them  of  it 
after  their  deaths.  Quality  (according  to  a  dictionary  printed 
1735,)  is  a  title  of  honor  and  noble  birth  ;  hence  in  the  New  Ata- 
lantis,  and  in  the  plays  and  novels  of  Fielding,  Smollet^  8cc.  and  in 
the  magazines,  newspapers,  and  periodical  papers,  till  very  late  in 
the  eighteenth  century,    every  gentleman   and  gentlewoman   are 

persons  of  quality.     The  Memoirs  of  Mrs. are  entitled  the 

Memoirs  of  a  Woman  of  Quality  ;  Sir  Charles  Grandison  and 
Lovelace  are  both  men  of  quality. 

The  title,  *'  honorable,"  was  till  lately  given  to  all  persons  of 
quality ;  hence  the  use  of  it  in  all  parliamentary  debates ;  though  it 
was  undoubtedly  confined  at  first  to  the  knights  of  the  shires,  and 
not  conferred  on  the  citizens  and  burgesses.  Out  of  parliament  it 
is  at  present  only  given  to  the  children  of  peers.  But  custom  only 
has  dictated  this  courtesy,  which  is  probably  prescribed  by  no 
statute.  To  others,  particularly  to  colonels  in  the  army,  it  has 
been  discontinued.  This  title  probably  followed  the  course  of 
other  things.  Being  given  to  so  many,  it  flattered  no  one,  and 
fell  into  disuse.  It  is  a  title  unknown  on  the  continent,  and  as 
little  understood  as  the  title  of  a  baronet.  The  daughter  of  an 
Irish  peer,  having  at  Paris  styled  herself  on  her  visiting  tickets 
*' Thonorable  Madame  ***,"  called  down  on  her  character  many 
ill-natured  remarks,  which  she  otherwise  would  have  escaped. 

Other  titles  have  fallen  into  discredit  through  their  general  in* 
discriminate  abuse. 

Dedication  of  Virgil's  iEneidos  by  Thomas  Phaer,  Esquire,  and 
Thomas  Twyne,  Doctor  in  Phisicke. 

"  To  the  right  worshipful  Maister  Robert  Sack  will,  Esquire, 
most  worthy  son  and  heir  apparent  to  the  Right  Honorable  Sir 
Thomas  Sackwill  knight.  Lord  Buckhurst;  the  rare  hope  and 
only  expected  imp  of  so  noble  roots,  and  heir  of  so  antient  a  fa- 
mily. 

This  dedication,  dated  1  January;  1584,  concludes 

**  Your  worship's  most  bounden  and  willing 

"Thomas  Twyne." 

Thus  the  title  of  *'  your  worship'*  was  given  to  the  son  of  a  peer, 
for  lords  and  gentlemen  then  enjoyed  the  same  honors,  and  all  per-^ 
sons  of  quality  were  styled  indifferently  noble,  gentle,  honorable,  or 
worshipful.  Afterward  "  your  worship"  fell  to  all  the  gentry,  but 
when  it  was  given  to  mayors  and  trading  justices,  the  gentry  pre- 
ferred *'  your  honor."  Soame  Jenyns,  in  his  Modern  fine  Gentle- 
man, written  1746,  says : 


184  Rmk  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [26 

His  Honor  posts  o'er  Italy  and  France, 
Measures  Saint  Peter's  domci  and  learns  to  dance. 

Another  remark  on  the  foregoing  dedication ;  a  peer  being  a 
knight  is  styled  Sir,  and  his  son  Master.  Under  Queen  Elizabeth 
the  whole  body  of  the  nobility^  or  the  peers,  knights,  and  squires^ 
were  styled  lords^  sirs,  and  masters.  Every  rank  had  its  particular 
title,  and  the  plebeians  then  being  styled  goodmen,  master  was  a  title 
of  honor ;  but  it  ceased  to  be  so,  when  given  to  the  lower  orders. 
In  Spain  the  nobility  are  styled  don,  which  also  means* master; 
for  from  domus,  a  house,  is  derived  dominus,  master  of  a  house. 

It  is  possibly  to  be  attributed  to  this  circumstance,  their  being 
sufficiently  distinguished  by  the  titles  Sir  or  Master,  that  the  gentry 
under  Edward  III.  thought  it  superfluous  to  retain  the  de 
before  their  names,  which  on  the  continent  distinguishes  the  nobles 
from  the  roturiers. 

How  absurd  is  of  late  years  the  gradation  of  our  honorific  ti- 
tles :  worshipful,  honorable,  npble !  An  individual  is  styled  wor- 
shipful, or  worthy  of  adoration,  who  is  not  allowed  to  be  honorable, 
or  worthy  of  honor ;  and  another  individual  is  allowed  to  be  hono- 
rable, though  not  acknowledged  to  be  noble,  or  worthy  of  notice. 
Thus  without  knowing,  we  are  to  honor  ;  without  honoring,  we  are 
to  adore.  God  only  is  worshipful :  but,  strange !  the  English  gentry, 
the  most  vilified  noblesse  in  Europe,  disdain  a  title,  that  should 
only  be  given  to  the  Divinity. 

The  whole  system  should  be  reversed ;  the  new  families,  the  novi 
homines,  should  be  styled  the  noble  ;  for  novitas  and  nobilitas  are 
derived  from  the  same  root. 

'    The  antient  gentry  should  be  styled  the  honorable,  as  they  at 
different  periods  have  been. 

And  the  peers,  the  hereditary  senators,  might  be  styled  the 
worshipful,  if  some  other  title,  less  objectionable,  could  not  be  se- 
lected. 

The  commons ;  les  communes  /-—and  could  the  English  knights,  a 
body  of  warriors  so  hardy,  so  proud  of  their  descent,  so  full  of 
their  own  importance,  so  desirous  of  distinction,  submit  to  have 
formed  a  part  of  the  house  of  commons  i  No,  never,  if  the  house 
of  commons  had  signified  the  house  of  the  ignobles.  But  the 
word  commons  signified  not,  in  parliament,  common  people  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  nobility,  but  communities.  The  house  of 
commons  therefore  signified  the  house  of  communities. 

The  communitas  terra,  or  community  of  the  kingdom,  was  an- 
ciently only  the  barons  and  tenants  in  capite.' 

In  12o8,  a  community  thus  composed  sent  a  letter  to  Pope 
Alexander.     These  ''  litterse  missae  k  communitate  Angliae"  *  con- 

',  Brady.  Glossary,  page  37«    ^  Ibid.  81. 


27]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  185 

elude,  ''  communitas  comitum^  procerutn^  magnatum  aliorumque 
regni  Angliae/'  kiss  the  feet  of  ^rour  holiness. 

In  1258,  also,  tota  terra  communitas  chose  twenty-four  of  its 
members  to  treat  for  an  aid  for  the  king. 

''  Cesont  les  24,  qui  sont  mis  par  le  commun.  d  traiter  de  aid  dtt 
roi. ''« 

This  communitas  terra,  or  le  commun  de  la  terre,  was  some- 
times styled  tota  nobilitas  Anglia  or  universitas  baronagii,  and 
signified  the  body  of  the  nobility  of  the  realm :  le  corps  de  la 
noblesse.^ 

This  communitas  terra  was  equivalent  to  the  house  of  peers,  or 
rather  to  the  Diet  of  the  German  Empire.  Several  of  its  mem- 
bers, Simon  de  Montford,  De  Bohuu^  De  Bigod^  were  as  power- 
ful as  a  duke  of  Wirtemberg,  or  an  elector  of  Hesse. 

On  other  occasions  the  sheriff  convoked  the  communitas  co^ 
mitatus,  or  the  body  of  freeholders,  ^  tenants  in  capite,  in  his 
county.  At  length,  in  1265,  the  citizens  and  burgesses  were  first 
summoned  to  parliament  to  represent  the  communitates  civitatum, 
the  bodies  of  citizens  or  corporations. 

Communitas,  like  societas,  means  people  partaking  the  same 
rights,  and  was  equally  applicable  to  the  most  exalted,  and  to  the 
most  bumble  classes.  Therefore,  that  their  assembly  was  styled 
the  house  of  commons,  could  not  offend  the  haughtiest  knight  that 
ever  displayed  his  shield  at  a  tournament. 

The  assembly  of  knights  might  possibly  have  been  called  the 
bouse  of  commons  (communitates  comitatum)  though  the  ple- 
beians from  the  towns  had  never  been  summoned.  When,  at  his 
coronation,^  Edward  II.  was  asked,  *'  Do  you  promise  to  hold  the 
laws  and  customs,  which  the  community  of  your  kingdom  shall 
have  chosen  {elus)  f "  there  were  no  citizens  nor  burgesses  present. 
The  community  was  composed  of  abbots,  priors,  earls,  barons^ 
great  men,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  tenants  in  capite.' 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  a  general  assembly  for  the  whole  king- 
dom was  always  styled  in  the  singular  la  communaute,  or  le  com^- 
mun ;  but  when  different  communities  sent  deputies,  they  were 
styled  in  the  plural  les  communautes  or  les  communs,  or  properly 
les  communes. 

Thus  Edward  II.  iti  1318.  '^  Notre  Seigneur  et  Roi,  par  assent 
des  prelats,  comtes,  et  barons,  et  communaut6s  de  son  royaume/'  ^ 

Our  Norman  barons  soon  forgot  the  genders  of  words  in 
French,  and  their  lawyers  frequently  made,  in  two  following  lines, 
the  same  word  both  masculine  and  feminine.  Thus  they  wrote  le 
commune,  la  commun^  or  les  communes,  indifferently.  But  the  French 

•  Brady,  628.  *  Ibid.  84.   '  Note.    ♦  Glossary  36.    '  Brady.    «  Rymer. 


186  •  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  {28 

always  translated  the  English  House  of  commons  into  la  chambre 
des  communes  (communities)^  and  not  into  la  chambre  des  commum 
(common  people). 

The  knights  in  one  respect  resembled  the  citizens ;  they  ap- 
peared not  on  their  own  account,  but  as  deputies  of  other  tenants 
in  capite.  They  therefore  were  assembled  with  the  citizens,  who 
were  the  deputies  of  other  citizens.  But  in  other  respects  the 
knights,  or  little  barons,  resembled  the  great  barons.  Like  them, 
they  held  by  a  military  tenure  ;  therefore,  when  the  citizens  paid  a 
twentieth  of  their  goods,  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,'  the  knights, 
like  the  great  barons,  only  paid  a  thirtieth  of  their  goods  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  knighting  of  the  king's  eldest  son/ 

Though  the  knights  condescended  to  sit  under  the  same  roof 
with  the  citizens  and  burgesses,  they  were  summoned  to  appear 
gladio  cinctiy  and  they  always  maintained  the  dignity  of  the  eques- 
trian order.  The  most  trifling  distinction  suffices  to  destroy  the 
idea  of  equality,  and  the  distinction  of  the  spur  is  still  observed. 
The  military  members  appear  no  longer  in  armor,  but  they  alone 
may  wear  their  spurs  as  a  mark  of  knighthood.  The  citizen  or 
burgess,  who  after  a  morning  ride  should  inadvertently  approach 
the  chamber  with  his  spurs  on,  is  stopt  by  the  usher,  and  must 
retire  to  divest  himself  of  this  mark  of  knighthood.  And  to  this 
humiliation  any  gentleman  of  the  first  quality,  any  Irish  peer,  nay 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  himself,  who,  whatever  might  be 
bis  authority  or  dignity  elsewhere,  should  sit  in  the  house  in  the 
humble  character  of  a  citizen  or  burgess,  must  submit. 

In  all  human  institutions  there  are  contradictions,  and  what  con- 
tradictions strike  the  foreigner  in  the  honorable  house !  Evil  com- 
munication corrupts  good  manners:  and  it  seems  that  neither 
gentle  nor  simple  have  been  improved  by  their  approximatioD. 
Now  the  haughty  spirit  of  chivalry  seems  to  have  taken  possession 
of  citizens  and  burgesses,  and  they,  by  insisting  that  a  Briton 
should  on  his  knees  beg  pardon  at  their  tribunal,  degrade  the 
people  that  they  represent ;  and  now  the  knights,  as  if  degenerated 
in  the  society  of  the  representatives  of  plebeians,  seem  to  have  for- 
gotten the  glory  of  their  race,  and  however  proud  of  their  spurs  on 
their  own  dunghill,  submit  in  a  conference  of  the  two  houses  to  sit 
cap  in  hand,  while  the  peers  are  permitted  to  sit  covered. 

When  the  ancient  Cortes  assembled  in  Spain,  or  the  national 
Diet  in  Hungary,  or  when  a  German  prince  convoked  a  Diet  of 
his  vassals,  two  members  of  the  knighthood  or  Ritterschafft  were 
deputed  from  every  canton.  These  deputies  are  equivalent  to 
the  knights  of  the  shire ;  these  must  be  all  noble,  but  no  gentlemen 
ever  represent  the  towns  or  pleb^ans. 

'  Brady,  Appendix  30.         *  Edw.  1.  34. 


29]  in  Euirope  compared  and  exphinedi  187 

And  great  was  the  cry  against  Mirabeau  for  becoming  a  fnem- 
ber  of  the  Tiers  Etat  in  the  National  Assembly.  It  was  indeed  an 
innovation ;  Mirabeau  was  a  gentleman^  and  ought  to  have  repre- 
sented the  noblesse  of  his  canton ;  but  our  gentry,  who  instead 
of  becoming  knights  of  their  shire^  first  deigned  to  represent  cities 
and  boroughs,  were  also  innovators. 

The  three  estates  of  France,  which  Sir  John  Eresbyhas  already 
explained,  had^  except  the  number  three,  no  analogy  with  the  three 
branches  of  the  English  legislature.  Still  the  three  estates  of 
France  subsist,  but  they  were  never  legislators ;  the  legislature 
there  consists  at  present  of  three  branches  like  our  own. 

They  who,  whatever  their  motives  may  have  been,  have  been 
active  in  spreading  the  unfounded  opinion,  that  the  peers  are  the 
only  nobles  in  Great  Britain,  take  a  pleasure  in  applying  to  all 
who  are  not  peers,  the  term  commoners ;  thinking  thereby  to  de- 
grade them.  But  first  let  them  explain  what  they  mean  by  com- 
moners.    The  word  commoner  has  three  significations. 

In  a  parliamentary  sense ;  as  the  counts  and  barons  used  to 
style  themselves  the  common  or  community  of  the  kingdom,  they 
might  be  styled  commoners  of  the  upper  house;  but  in  being 
styled  the  peers,  they  have  gained  nothing,  for  a  commoner,  a  fel- 
low, and  a  peer,  mean  the  same.  As  to  the  counties  and  townsy 
those  only,  who  choose  or  are  chosen,  are  commoners.  They  only 
are  active  citizens,  or  members  of  the  common- wealth. 

In  a  legal  sense ;  all  are  commoners,  who  are  subject  to  the  com- 
mon tribunals ;  the  peers  are  not  commoners,  as  they  are  their  own 
judges.  This  is  a  privilege,  but  no  proof  of  exclusive  nobility ;  for 
many  persons,  who  have  precedency  over  peers,  are  subject  to  the 
common  courts  of  law.  Not  only  the  younger,  but  elder  sons  of 
dukes  and  marquesses,  who  are  ranked  above  half  tlie  peers,  but 
the  princes  of  the  blood,  and  the  sons  of  the  king,  would,  if  accused 
before  they  were  created  peers,  be  tried  by  the  common  juiies 
also.  Therefore,  as  nobility  is  not  confined  to  the  peerage,  being 
a  commoner  is  no  stain  to  nobility,  and  no  reproach  to  a  gentle- 
man. The  prince  Leopold  of  Saxe  Cobourg,  having  refused  a 
peerage,  is  the  first  commoner. 

The  word  commoner  has  only  of  late  years  crept  into  circu- 
lation. Our  ancestors  did  without  it.  Neither  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,  nor  Camden,  nor  Milles,  introduced  it  into  their  accounts 
of  England.  1  see  not  why  in  the  Court  Calendar  it  has  been  in- 
truded into  the  table  of  precedency,  or  why  it  has  been  placed 
where  it  is.  A  duke's  eldest  son  is  not  less  a  commoner  than  the 
Speaker,  though  the  Speaker  be  the  first  within  the  house  of  com- 
mons. If  any  chief  of  opposition  affects  the  character  of  a  com- 
moner, it  is  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  rabble ;  as  the  late  duke  of 


1S&  Rank  and  Titks  of  the  Countries  [3Q 

Orleans,  to  gain  the  affections  of  the  canaille,  styled  himself  Ci- 
toyen  Egaliti. 

In  a  humiliating  sense,  the  word  commons,  in  contradistinction 
to  birth,  rank,  nobility,  dignity,  8cc.  is  not  applicable  to  the 
gentry,  though  it  may  be  to  the  plebeians  or  citizens. 

To  show  that  the  gentry  are  distinct  from  the  commons  or  ple- 
beians, the  following  citations  may  suffice. 

Lindsay  of  Pitscottie's  Hist,  of  Scotland. 

"  Henry  VIH.  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  that  he  should  raise 
the  whole  body  of  Rngland,  both  gentlemen  and  commons." 

*'  Lord  Lindsay,  in  his  speech  to  the  Scotch  lords  before  the 
battle  of  Floddon,  says.  For  if  we  lose  the  king,  we  lose  the 
whole  nobility  thereof,  for  none,  my  lords,  have  remained  but 
gentlemen,  the  commons  are  all  departed  from  us  for  lack  of 
victual." 

In  these  two  passages  commons  mean  yeomen. 

The  necessity  of  the  British  gentry's  asserting  their  nobility  in<- 
creases  as  the  connexion  of  Great  Britain  with  the  continent  in- 
creases. The  Seven  Islands  are  under  British  protection.  They 
have  a  numerous  nobility,  and  when  a  governor  or  lord  com- 
missioner arrives  at  his  post,  without  doubt  the  first  question  that 
the  inhabitants  ask  is :  ^'  Is  his  excellency  noble  V*  He  is  possibly 
of  one  of  the  most  illustrous  families  in  Europe,  but  he  may  be 
no  peer,  and  people  have  taken  it  into  their  heads,  that  in  the  Bri- 
tish Empire  the  peers  only  are  noble.  The  inhabitants,  conceiving 
the  appointment  of  a  roturier  or  plebeian  an  insult  offered  to  them- 
selves, scarce  stifle  in  public  that  disdain,  to  which  they  give  loose 
in  their  coteries.  If  this  be  disadvantageous  to  the  governor,  what 
must  it  be  to  those,  who  hold  military  or  civil  posts  under  him  i 
Every  petty  noble  in  every  paltry  office  will  hold  themselves  supe- 
rior to  our  gentlemen,  the  antiquity  of  whose  families  would  have 
qualified  them  for  Doges  of  Venice. 

Hanover  now  is  an  independent  kingdom,  and  subject  also  to  our 
king;  and  under  his  authority  Hanoverian  bourgeois  are  ennobled 
with  the  same  facility,  with  which  a  wealthy  citizen  or  nabob  may 
purchase  a  coat  of  arms ;  and  these  new-baked  barons,  though  they 
would  not  be  received  into  gentle  company  in  Hanover, have  been  by 
ignorant  people  directed  to  take  the  precedence  over  our  most  an- 
cient gentry  in  London ;  and  this  forsooth  because  these  men  of 
yesterday  are  styled  barons,  and  our  gentry  are  merely  squires. 
But  the  manors  of  these  squires  may  be  in  the  Doomsday  book,  and 
consequently  their  ancestors  were  ranked  among  the  lesser  barons 
several  centuries  ago.  And  a  German  baron,  even  an  ancient  one, 
is  only  a  lesser  baron,  and  may  not  be  classed  with  the  magnates 
and  proceres,  as  a  British  baron  may. 


3IJ  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  189 

The  HsDOTeriaDS  are  an  enlightened  and  a  hospitable  people- 
Oar  travellers  who  have  visited  not  only  their  capital,  but  their  pro* 
viooeSi  muat  do  justice  io  the  good  qualities  of  every  rank  of  their 
society:  and  consequently  Hanoverians  of  every  rank  have  a  claim 
OB  onr  esteem,  benevolence,  and  hospitality.  In  every  polished 
company  tlie  place  of  honor  should  be  given  to  the  stranger  ;  but 
this  distinction  is  the  mere  dictate  of  courtesy,  and  the  foreigner,  if 
s  man  of  sense,  would  attribute  it  to  the  politeness,  and  not  to  the 
inferiority  of  the  company.  But  should  he  settle  in  England  this 
deference  should  cease,  and  German  letters  of  nobility  should  be 
considered  equivalent  with  a  British  coat  of  arms  of  equal  anti- 
quity. A  German  baron  whose  ancestor  flourished  under  Henrj 
die  Libn^  may  rank  with  the  English  gentleman  whose  ancestor 
feoght  under  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  ;  but  the  new  baron  of  yes- 
terday should  have  no  precedence  over  the  parvenu,  who  had  pur- 
chased a  coat  of  arms  at  the  Heralds'  Office. 

The  noblesse  of  Europe  may  be  considered  on  a  level ;  but  one 
title  is  common  in  one  country,  another  in  another.  If  in  a  num^ 
ber  of  individuals,  in  Germany,  Russia,  &c.  there  are  fifty  barons 
and  a  count ;  and  in  the  same  number  of  individuals,  in  Great  Bri- 
tain, there  are  fifty  squires  and  a  baronet ;  and  if  the  title  ef  a  baron 
is  as  easy  to  be  acquired  on  the  continent  as  a  coat  of  arms  here ; 
and  the  title  of  a  count  as  easy  to  be  acquired  there,  as  a  baronet- 
age here,  a  continental  baron  is  not  superior  to  our  squire,  nor  the 
cootmental  count  to  our  baronet. 

A  Sicilian  Conte  cannot  be  classed  with  an  English  Earl,  who 
is  a  peer  of  the  realm ;  and  the  pope's  banker,  the  Duke  of  Torlonia, 
had  he  accumulated  his  immense  fortune  in  England,  might  pos- 
sibly have  been  created  a  baronet. 

If  neither  Britons  visited  the  continent,  nor  foreigners  Great 
Britain^  it  would  be  indifferent  what  titles  they  bore.  The  com- 
mon people  in  England  pay  as  much  respect  to  their  superiors  as 
the  common  people  in  any  other  country.  The  shopkeepers  in 
London  are  as.  civil  behind  their  counters  as  the  shopkeepers  in 
Paris  or  Vienna.  In  the  inns  his  honor  or  his  worship  is  waited  on 
with  as  much  servility  as  his  grace  in  Germany,  or  his  excellency  in 
Italy.  A  landlord  in  England,  with  the  title  of  baronet,  is  of  not 
less  importance  among  his  tenants,  than  a  landlord  in  Sicily  with  the 
title  of  prince  among  his  vassals ;  and  a  squire  in  his  ancient  hall 
in  Lancashire,  might  vie  with  any  baron  in  his  moated  castle  in 
Languedoc  ;  but  should  they  travel,  the  advantage  would  always 
be  in  favor  of  the  continental  noblesse.  A  foreigner  in  England 
usually  passes  for  a  person  of  greater  dignity  than  he  is ;  and  the 
Englishman  abroad  loses  of  his  importance.  And  this  because 
our  gentry  bear  more  modest  titles,  and  seem  to  have  forgotten 
that  they  are  nobles. 


190  Bank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [32 

.  The  knigbts  and  squires  of  England^  without  doubt,  preferred 
being  styled  the  gentry,  to  being  styled  the  nobility ;  and  being  men 
of  birth,  no  one  could  contest  their  right  to  the  superior  deno- 
mination. They  were  logicians  enough  to  know  the .  axiom, 
omne  mqjus  continet  minus ;  and  they,  being  allowedly  gentlemen, 
could  never  dream  that  their  nobility  could  be  contested,  ^nd 
the  peers  were  styled  the  nobility,  not  because  they  were  the  onlj 
nobles,  but  because,  as  there  were  many  peers,  who  were  not  gen- 
tlemen or  men  of  quality,  they  could  not  collectively  be  styled  the 
gentry  of  the  upper  house.  They  however  were  all  persons  of 
distinction,  though  they  all  were  not  persons  of  quality.  A  ple- 
beian could  be  raided  to  the  peerage,  and  this  very  justly,  because 
the  peerage  compose  a  council  or  tribunal,  and  the  state  may  re- 
quire his  advice.  He  is  summoned  not  so  much  for  his  own  sake, 
as  for  his  country's  sake.  He  thus  became  of  higher  rank,  though 
he  remained  inferior  in  quality  to  the  ancient  gentry.  Every  gen- 
tleman of  eight  quarters  was  admissible  into  the  order  of  the  Gar- 
ter, for  a  knight  of  the  Garter  must  undoubtedly  be  sufficiently  well 
bom  to  break  a  lance  at  a  tournament.  Therefore,  ^'  when  Lord 
Paget  was  in  1552  degraded  from  the  order  for  divers  offences,  and 
chiefly  because  he  was  no  gentleman  of  blood,  neither  of  the  father's 
nor  the  mother's  side  ;"*  or  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  Latin,  quoniam  a 
neutro  parente  nobiles  habebat  natales  ;  he  still  continued  a  peer  of 
the  realm. ^ 

The  statutes  of  the  order  (Henry  VIIL  an.  1522.)  thus  describe 
'^  a  gentleman  of  blood ;''  it  is  declared  and  determined  that  he  shall 
be  descended  of  three  degrees  of  noblesse,  that  is  to  say  of  name 
and  of  arms,  both  of  his  father's  and  his  mother's  side. 

When,  on  the  death  of  a  knight,  a  chapter  of  the  order  was  con- 
voked to  give  away  his  garter,  every  knight  received  a  paper,  on 
which  he  was  to  write  the  names  of  nine  candidates ;  these  names 
were  distributed  in  three  columns ;  the  first  column  consisted  of 
sovereign  princes  and  earls ;  the  second  of  barons ;  the  third  of 
gentlemen  of  quality. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham,  in  1451,  voted  thus : 

Principes.                      Barones.  Milites, 

The  Emperor,  Lord  Hungerford,  Sir  Edward  Hall» 

The  Duke  of  Exeter,  Lord  Lovell,  Sir  Edward  Hungerford, 

The  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  Lord  Lisle,  Sir  Robert  Shotesbroke. 

The  relative  importance  of  every  rank  in  society  may  be  judged 
from  the  following  distinction.  On  the  grand  festival  of  the  order, 
the  knights  received  a  robe  powdered  over  with  embroidered  gar- 

'  Ilayward's  Hist,  of  £dw.  VT.  Ashmole's  Ord.  of  the  Garter,  page  6S1. 
*  On  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary  Lord  Paget  ivas  reinstalled  into  the 
order. 


33]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  191 

ters,  and  the  motto  of  the  order  wrought  in  gold.  The  sovereign's 
robe  w&s  powdered  with  an  unlimited  number  of  garters,  the  duke's 
widi  1£0>  the  marquess's  with  110,  the  earl's  with  100,  the  vis- 
count's with  90,  the  baron's  with  80,  the  banneret's  with  70,  the 
gentleman's  with  60  garters.  Thus  the  distinction  between  a  ban- 
neret and  a  baron  was  not  greater  than  between  a  baron  and  a 
viscount.  So  little  was  the  idea  of  any  exclusive  nobility  in  the 
House  of  Lords. 

If  simple  gentlemen  are  no  longer  knights  of  the  Garter  as  for- 
merly, it  is  not  because  they  are  less  eligible,  but  because  the 
peerage  now  being  more  numerous,  the  individual,  who  is  invested 
with  &e  ribbon,  has  probably  been  already  promoted  to  the  peer- 
age. 

Lord  Paget  remained  a  nobleman^  because  any  individual  can 
be  ennobled ;  but  presumed  not  to  style  himself  a  gentleman^ 
gentility  being  an  hereditary  quality. 

^n  English  plebeian,  who  should  settle  on  the  continent,  might 
in  France  solicit  for  letters  of  nobility,  or  in  Germany  for  the 
title  of  a  baron ;  but  no  gentleman  of  ancient  coat  armor  should  in 
Germany  accept  any  title  inferior  to  that  of  a  count,  for  by  being 
created  a  baron^  he  would  only  be  placed  on  a  level  with  the  new- 
baked  barons,  as  they  are  called.  If  however,  though  of  ancient 
gentility,  he  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  support  the  dignity  of  count, 
he,  by  proving  his  pedigree,  may  have  himself  received  on  a  level 
with  the  ancient  barons ;  as  a  graduate  from  one  of  our  universi- 
ties may  be  received  ad  eundem  gradum  at  the  other. 

A  German  lawyer,  having  acquired  a  fortune  during  the  ex- 
istence of  the  imperial  chamber  at  Wetzlar,  was  about  to  marry 
the  only  daughter  of  a  brother  lawyer.  He  sent  therefore  to 
Vienna  a  hundred  ducats  or  a  hundred  Louis  (^for  people 
desire  to  make  with  the  Heralds'  Office  the  best  bargain  that 
they  can)  and  solicited  for  letters  patent  of  nobility.  The  father 
of  the  bride,  being  also  ambitious  of  having  his  daughter  a  baroness, 
sent  another  sum  to  another  agent  at  Vienna,  who  also  procured 
letters  of  nobility  for  his  future  son-in-law.  The  ceremony  being 
over,  bride  and  bridegroom,  equally  impatient  to  produce  an  agree- 
able surprise,  presented  each  other  their  respective  diplomas,  bound 
as  usual  in  crimson  velvet,  printed  on  vellum,  and  furnished  with 
arms,  coronet,  and  supporters.  '^  Je  vous  salue,  Monsieur  le 
Baron" — "  Je  vous  salue,  Madame  la  Baronne,"  they  cried  in  one 
breath,  each  expecting  the  thanks  of  the  other ;  when,  to  the  mor- 
tification of  both  parties,  to  the  amusement  of  the  wags  of  Wetz- 
lar, and  to  the  emolument  of  the  heralds  at  Vienna,  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  the  bridegroom  had  been  ennobled  twice  over. 
'   The  respect  paid  to  ancient  gentility  can  in  Germany  only  be 


192  Rat^  ^^  Titles  of  the  Countries  [S4 

equalled  by  the  contempt  of  new  nobility,  particularly  that  nobility 
which  has  been  purchased  for  money.  An  exception  is  sometimes 
made  in  favor  of  that  which  was  conferred  on  merit.  A  foreigner 
dining  once  at  a  castle  in  Franconia,  complimented  the  landlord  on 
the  age  of  his  hock.  '^  True/'  answered  the  baron^  ^*  they  are  both 
oM^  my  wine  and  my  coat  of  arms :"  (Ja  wohl^  alle  beide  send  alt, 
mein  wein  und  mein  wappen).  And  whenever  in  any  German  the- 
atre Schiller's  celebrated  drama,  '^  Cabal  and  Love/'  is  performed^ 
and  the  son  of  the  minister  protests  against  tlie  imputation  of  a  dis- 
honorable act,  by  asserting  that  his  coat  of  arms  is  five  hundred 
years  old,  the  words  '*  mein  wappen  ein  halb  Jahrtausend*' — al- 
most electrify  the  boxes  ;  and  a  skilful  physiognomist  might  per- 
haps divine  by  the  different  degrees  of  approbation  that  they  ex* 
press,  the  century  from  which  every  baron,  or  baroness,  no  fess 
susceptible  of  all  noble  enthusiasm,  deduces  her  escutcheon. 

In  one  of  the  German  towns  a  plebeian  who  had  ^  purchased 
nobility,  was  pointed  out  to  the  stranger.  Without  being  admitted 
into  the  society  of  the  noblesse,  he  either  disdained  the  bourgepis, 
or  they,  jealous  of  his  newly  acquired  pre-eminence,  avoided  him : 
he  was  generally  seen  alone  in  the  most  crowded  streets,  com- 
muning witii  his  own  thoughts,  and  was  humorously  compared  to 
the  elephant  in  the  menagerie,  the  only  animal  of  his  kind. 

In  France,  when  a  plebeian  wished  to  be  ennobled,  he  purchased 
the  place  of  secretary  to  the  king.  This  gave  him  the  right  of  soli- 
citing for  a  coat  of  arms.  He  afterwards  sold  .the  secretaryship  to 
some  other  roturier,  who  probably  wished  to  acquire  in  turn  the 
same  faculty  of  applying  to  the  heralds.  At  the  revolution  there 
were  206  secretaries  to  the  king,  beside  46  honorary  or  titular 
secretaries  :  so  that  the  facility  of  acquiring  nobility  may  be  con- 
ceived. Hence  the  place  of  secretaire  du  rot  was  styled  in  derision 
une  savonnette  au  vilairi,  or  a  wash-ball  for  a  blackguard.  H€, 
however,  was  only  an  a^wbli,  though  his  son  was  noble,  and  bis 
grandson  a  gentilhomme ;  nor  could  his  descendants  for  several 
generations  be  admitted  as  officers  into  the  army. 

But  when  in  France  the  gentility  of  an  individual  was  acknow- 
ledged^ it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  his  title  was  mar- 
quis, comte,  vicomte,  or  baron ;  or  whether  he  had  any  title  or 
not.  Frequently  the  eldest  son  was  comte,  the  second  marquis. 
In  several  families,  that  possessed  the  titles  both  of  marquis  and 
comte,  they  succeeded  alternately ;  so  that  the  father,  being  stjled 
comte,  styled  his  eldest  son  marquis;  which  marquis  styled  bb 
eldest  son  comte,  and  so  forth  ;  the  two  titles  being  considered  so 
equal,  that  it  was  not  worth  yvhWe  to  cliange  them,  and  this  pre- 
vented confusion,  as  every  individual  retained  the  title,  by  which  be 
was  known  in  the  world,  or  presented  at  court*    In  other  houses 


3S]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  VH^i 

tbe  tidea  succeeded  as  in  England.  These  variations  were  optional, 
and  depended  on  caprice.  The  only  important. question  was,  not 
what  title  any  individual  bore,  but  whether  he  really  was  a  g0itil* 
homme  or  man  of  ancestry. 

When,  about  the  beginning  of  tbe  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  an 
ordinance  appeared,  that  no  individual  should  be  presented  at 
Versailles,  unless  he  could  prove  four  hundred  years  of  gentility, 
or  that  his  ancestors  were  already  noble  before  the  year  1400,  a 
multiplicity  of  comtes  and  marquises  were  rejected ;  diough  many 
an  untitled  gentleman,  ancient  as  our  squires  in  their  halls  in  Lanca- 
shire and  Northumberland,  left  their  towers  and  chateaux  in  Bri- 
tany  and  Languedoc,  and  posted  up  to  Paris  to  show  thek 
pre-eminence.  £very  gentleman,  his  pedigree  being  certified, 
was,  on  the  first  hunting-day,  invited  to  mount  with  the  king  into  his 
carriage,  and  accompany  his  majesty  to  the  spot  where  the 
hounds  were  turned  out.  This  privilege  was  termed  le  droit  de 
monter  daris  le  carrosse  du  roi.  The  plain  squire,  to  whom  this 
right  was  allowed,  was  considered  as  superior  to  the  count  or  mar- 
quis, whose  claims  were  rejected.  Were  this  ordeal  of  gentility  in- 
troduced at  Carlton  Palace,  while  the  old  English  squire  and  the 
lairds  and  Highland  chieftains  would  bear  away  the  palm  of  ancestry, 
many  a  noble  peer  would,  as  at  a  tournament,  be  obliged  to  ride 
tbe  barriers. 

The  profusion  of  counts  and  barons  has  always  been  increased 
m  France  by  brevet  titles.  Officers  in  their  commissions  of 
colonel  or  general  are  styled  counts,  as  in  England  justices  of 
pe^ce  are  styled  esquires.  These  titles  however  are  only  for  life. 
Tbe  canons  also  of  the  cathedral  at  Lyons  were  styled  counts  :  and 
the  chanoinesses  of  several  noble  chapters  are  likewise  comtesses  ; 
and  frequently,  when  a  demoiselle  de  qualiit  has  no  desire  or  pros- 
pect of  marriage,  the  king  confers  on  her  also  the  title  of  comtesse. 
She  henceforward  is  styled  Madame  instead  of  Mademoiselle,  and 
in  company  can  serve  as  chaperon  to  other  unmarried  ladies. 

The  whole  body  of  the  ancient  noblesse,  it  is  true,  are  distin- 
guished by  the  particle  de  before  their  names :  but  without  these 
brevets  there  would  be  no  title '  for  unmarried  women,  however 
exalted  their  rank  or  quality.  The  daughter  of  a  duke  and  peer, 
as  well  as  the  daughter  of  a  plain  gentleman,  is  only  Maden^ioiselle  t 
as  Mademoiselle  dela  Rochefoucault,  Mademoiselle  de  Montmo* 
rency. 

When  Buonaparte  composed  his  new  nobility,  he  usually  con- 
ferred the  title  of  count  on  the  lieutenant-generals,  and  that  o| 
baron  on  the  major-generab,  and  colonels  of  regiments.  As  be 
never  created  a  marquis  or  vicomte,  these  two  titles  are  the  most 
respected  since  the  return  of  the  J^ourbons. 

VOL.  XXIIL  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  N 


1^4  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [36 

In  Frarice  the  hei^ds  might  not  grant  nobility  or  coats  of  arms 
to  every  postulant.  It  was  necessary^  that  the  petitioner  should 
hold  some  place  under  government ;  but  as  these  places  were 
avowedly  to  be  purchased^  the  only  difference  was^  that  the  thief 
part  of  the  fees  m  France  went  to  the  state^  whereas  in  England 
they  go  entirely  to  the  College  of  Arms. 

Since  the  new  formation  of  the  house  of  peers  in  France^  the 
French  have  learned  to  comprehend  the  British  constitution ;  and 
to  Louis  XVllI.  the  British  gentleman  on  his  travels  is  much  in-* 
debted  for  the  heterogeneous  materials^  of  which  he  has  composed 
his  upper  house.  Before  the  revolution,  the  French  called  every 
British  gentleman  a  milord^  and  if  his  modesty  disclaimed  the  title, 
they  set  him  down  as  a  plebeian ;  but  at  present  there  are  so  many 
noble  French  peers,  who  have  not  the  least  pretension  to  be  gen- 
tihhommeSf  and  in  the  Chambre  des  D6put6s  so  many  persons  of 
quality,  that  the  French  now  say  of  our  two  houses  of  parliamenti 
apparemment  c*est  comme  chez  notUo 

The  Chambre  des  D6put6s  contains  a  number  of  marquises, 
comtes,  barons,  and  untitled  gentlemen ;  these,  though  inferior  in 
parliament,  consider  themselves  equal  elsewhere  to  the  peers ;  and 
toward  those  peers  that  were  not  noble  before  their  elevation  to  the 
peerage,  the  ancient  gentleman  affects  the  same  contempt^  that 
Squire  Western  expressed  for  an  upstart  lord. 

The  British  house  of  peers  is  the  most  illustrious  senate  in  ex« 
istence,  and  the  peerage  and  gentry  ought  to  bear  each  other  a  mn^ 
tual  good-will :  the  privileges  of  the  peerage  are  the  highest  reward 
for  the  exertions  of  the  gentry;  but  the  peers  cannot  deny  the 
nobility  of  the  gentry  vrithout  degrading  their  own.  For,  beside 
that , there  is  not  a  duke'  who  is  not  by  some  alliance  related  td 
some  private  gentleman  ;  nor  any  gentleman  of  quality,  who  is  not 
related  to  some  peer;  if  the  gentry  are  not  noble,  the  ancestors  of 
the  peers  were  not  noble :  and  if  all  the  generations  anterior  to 
their  elevation  to  the  peerage  were  lopt  off  from  their  genealogical 
trees,  few  peers  would  be  considered  as  gentlemen  in  the  opinion  gf 
the  continent ;  and  is  it  probable  that  a  multiplicity  of  nobles  of 
the  first  families  in  Europe,  nay  of  princely  origin,  such  as  the 
Percys,  the  Courtenays,  the  Fieldings,  would,  in  a  century,  when  so 
much  respect  was  paid  to  birth,  have  settled  in  England,  if  their 
nobility  was  to  lie  dormant,  till  some  accidental  circumstwice 
raised  them  to  the  peerage. 

^  The  honor  of  the  peers  is  in  diis  question  not  less  interested 
than  the  dignity  of  the  gentry.  Would  any  of  the  peers  prefer  a 
nobility  of  fifty,  of  a  hundred,  or  of  two  hundred  years,  to  a  riottf- 
lity  of  eight  centuries,  aiid  ivhose  origin  is  lost  in  the  clouds  of  anti* 
quity? 


37]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  105 

The  first  families  in  Germany  pride  themselves  on  their  uralt 
cii2e/,  or  aboriginal  or  ante-documental  nobility.  Every  candidate 
for  die  order  of  Saint  Michael  of  Bavaiia  must  not  only  prove  six- 
teen quarters  of  nobility,  but  that  his  own  paternal  family  had  iieen 
aoble  from  time  immemorial,  and  that  no  document  recorded  at 
what  period  they  had  been  ennobled.  Several  French  and  Italian 
gentlemen  have  been  received,  and  the  antiquity  of  many  an  Eng- 
lidiman's  family  would  qualify  him  to  present  himself  as  a  candidate ; 
but  not  a  peer  of  the  realm  could  presume  to  offer  himself,  if  his 
deTation  to  the  peerage  was  considered  as  an  anoblissement. 
Every  Grosvenor  or  Fortescue,  descended  from  the  Grand  Hutats* 
man  or  Shield*bearer  of  the  Conqueror,  might  pretend  to  the  cross 
of  St.  Michael;  but  the. Earl  Grosvenor  and  the  Earl  Fortescue, 
were  their  nobiKty  only  coeval  with  their  peerage,  would  be  rejected 
with  contempt*  Let  therefore  every  new  peer,  if  by  birth  a  gen^ 
tleman,  protest  against  the  expression  of  several  ignorant  journal- 
lista,  that  he  had  been  ennobled ;  raised  to  the  peerage,  ought  to  be 
the  term. 

As  our  own  writers  fall  into  such  mistakes,  similar  blunders  may 
be  excusable  in  foreigners.  In  fact,  our  system  of  rank  is  not  less 
puzzling  to  them  th&n  theirs  is  to  us. 

Hence  we  read  in  '^Londres  en  1820:"  Sir  Joseph  Banks 
^'regut  du  roi,  en  1779$  leshonneurs  de  la  noblesse,  et  la  quality 
de chevalier  baronet ;"  and  in''  Les  Cotemporains''  we  find,  *'  Wil- 
liam Eden,  d'une  ancienne  famille,  anoblie  par  Charles  II.'' 

The  first  writer  might  possibly  not  have  known,  that  Sir  Joseph 
was  of  an  ancient  family,  and  consequently  was  noble  before  he 
was  raised  to  the  baronetage ;  but  the  absurdity  of  the  second 
writer  was  greater :  if  William  Eden's  family  was  ancient,  why 
dionld  Charles  ennoble  it ;  though  he  might  raise  it  to  the  baro* 
netage  i  To  say  that  a  sovereign  ennobles  an  individual^  is  to 
say,  that  he  was  not  a  gentleman  before. 

If  a  foreign  herald  were  asked,  whom  he  considered  as  the  noblest 
fiimilies  in  England,  he  would  answer,  first,  those  that  were  settled 
tfiere  before  the  Conquest ;  those  that  accompanied  the  Con« 
qtteror;  those  that  engaged  in  the  crusades;  those  Uiat  had  produced 
Templars  or  Knights  of  Rhodes;  those  that  had  combatted  at 
tournaments.  Many  descendants  of  these  families  are  members  of 
both  houses  of  parliament.  When  in  the  house  of  peers,  should 
tbqr  date  dieir  nobility  from  their  elevation  to  the  peerage,  may 
the  spectres  of  their  iron  ancestors  haunt  them  in  their 
drealus  !  but  more  descendants  of  these  families  have  remained  as 
dieir  ancest(H's  were,  untitled  gentlemen,  and  they  require  no 
parchment  ta  ennoble  them.  But  not  only  a  respect  to  their  an^^ 
cestors^  but  a  love  to  their  posterity,  should  induce  the  peers 


19G  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [38 

themselves  to  protest  also  against  any  exclusive  nobility  in  the 
House  of  Peers  ;  for  if  their  ancestors  were  not  noble,  till  raised  to 
the  peerage,  their  children  will  not  be  noble  unless  they  succeed 
to  it.  There  would  not  be  a  noble  family  in  the  three  kingdoms, 
though  individuals  of  this  or  of  that  family  might  be  noble.  We 
must  then  cease  to  say,  the  noble  house  of  Howard,  of  Hamilton, 
of  Fitz« Gerald,  8cc. ;  each  of  these  illustrious  families  must  con- 
sent to  be  considered  as  a  herd  of  roturiers,  with  a  Duke  at  their 
bead. 

Such  must  be  the  consequence  of  styling  the  peerage  the  no- 
bility. 

The  hereditary  shield  that  belongs  to  every  individual  of  a 
family^  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  its  nobility. 

It  is  only  in  Great  Britain,  that  tradespeople  recommend  their 
shops  to  the  nobility  and  gentry ;  in  other  countries  they  address 
their  customers  or  the  public  in  general ;  but  if  it  be  necessary  to 
recommend  their  lucky  lottery-offices,  or  patent  blacking,  to  every 
rank  in  society,  according  to  the  precedency  of  the  realm,  let  them 
iu  future  adopt  the  style,  '^  the  peerage  and  the  nobility ;''  or,  as 
their  design  is  to  flatter  their  customers,  **  the  peerage,  the  gentry 
and  nobility ;"  as  by  this  address  they  would  flatter  the  ancient 
gentry,  by  distinguishing  them  from  the  new  nobility,  who  had  lately 
received  their 'arms  from  the  Heralds'  Office.  A  petition  to  Parlia- 
ment from  any  county  might  begin,  ''We.  the  peerage,  nobility, 
clergy,  and  others."  A  magnat  of  Hungary  is  styled  a  magnat ; 
a  grandee  of  Spain,  a  grandee ;  a  peer  of  France,  a  peer. 
None  of  these  are  styled  the  nobility ;  for  the  equites,  the  hidalgos, 
the  chevaliers,  are  noble  also ;  as  in  ancient  Rome,  the  equestrian 
order  was  noble,  as  well  as  the  senate.  The  British  peerage 
ought  likewise  to  be  called  the  peerage,  and  no  title  could  be 
more  dignified  or  expressive.  Two  centuries  ago,  ere  the  title 
gentleman  was  so  profaned,  that  title  might  have  been  refused  .oc^ 
casionally  to  individuals  among  them ;  but  now  to  style  the  peers 
the  nobility,  is  not  only  to  detract  from  their  dignity,  in  the  eyes  of 
foreigners,  among  whom  nobility  is  so  common,  but,  if  meant  ex- 
clusively, is  an  insult  and  an  injustice  to  all  their  countrymen  en- 
titled to  bear  arms. 

The  peerage  very  prop>erly  enjoys  so  many  privileges,  that  it  is 
poiideribus  librata  suis  ;  it  requires  no  epithet  to  raise  its  import- 
ance ;  but  if  any  epithet  be  requisite  to  his  dignity,  let  the  peer 
be  styled  the  illustrious;  this  epithet  would  distinguish  Mm. from 
every  other  noble ;  it  w*ould  be  respected  on  the  continent.  It  has 
been  given  to  the  Order  of  St*  Patrick,  and  cannot  be  thought  too 
exalted  for  an  hereditary  Senator  of  Great  Britain,  when  it  is 
allowed  to  a  Senator,  Counsellor,  or  Judge,  in  the  Ionian  Islands* 


99]  in  Eurc^e  compared  and  e^kUmd.  197 

Learned  etymologists  have  given  the  derivation  of  the  word 
X4iord ;  may  [  venture  to  suggest  a  new  one  i  May  it  not  be  derived 
from  the  French  Lourd,  gravis  ?  A  county  in  Germany,  is  styled  a 
Graf  or  Grav,  which  some  authors  derive  from  grau,  grey  or  old,  as 
seigneur  is  derived  from  senior,  and  senatus  from  nnex ;  but  others 
derive  gra/*  from  gravis,  a  man  of  gravity  or  dignity.  While  the 
Saxon  was  the  language  of  England,  the  raagnats  were  also  called 
grdv.  From  this  word,  corrupted  into  reeve,  is  derived  Sheriff, 
Borough-reeve,  &c.  But  the  Normans,  whatever  might  have 
been  the  origin  of  grav,  concluded  that  it  signified  gravis,  and 
translated  it  lourd*  '  The  modern  signification  of  /ourct  would,  it  is 
true,  be  **  heavy,  unwieldy ;''  and  would  be  an  epithet  of  derision, 
rather  than  of  honor  ;  but  other  words  in  the  process  of  centuries 
have  changed  their  meaning.  Gros,  in  ancient  French,  meant 
grand:  thus  Charles  le  Gros,  meant  Charles  the  Grand;  but  two 
centuries  afterwards,  Louis  le  Gros,  meant  Louis  the  fet*  Thus 
the  word  lourd  might  evidently  have  meaned  dignified^,  or  of  tm- 
portance.  But  the  contempt,  which  our  Nx)rman  entertained  o£ 
our  Saxon  ancestors,  is  admirably  depictured  in  the  romance  of 
Ivanhoe;  and  they  might  have  styled  the  Anglo-Saxon  County 
lourd,  out  of  persiflage.  But  in  the  course  of  a  revolution,  a 
name  of  reproach  often  becomes  a  boast ;  and  as  the  American 
republicans,  in  their  successes,  gloried  in  the  nickname- Yankee, 
so  when  the  Anglo-Saxons  recovered  their  importance,  lourd 
became  a  title  of  honor. 

It  is  not  desired  that  a  single  privilege  be  added  to  the  privileges 
to  which  the  gentry  are  by  law  entitled.  A  modern  peer  can  no 
longer  be  compared  to  a  Simon  de  Montfort,  or  to  the  king-mak- 
ing Earl  of  Warwick ;  but  an  English  squire  is  of  as  great,  or  in 
many  respects  of  greater  importance,  than  a  squire  five  centuries 
a^o.  His  nobility,  which,  no  one  knows  how,  when,  or  where,  haa 
slipped  through  his  arms,  is  no  favor  to  be  obtained^  but  a  right  to 
be  maintained.  The  title  may  have  lain  dormant,  but  no  statute 
has  cancelled  it.  It  is  invested  in  him.  If,  as  has  been  shown,  an 
English  gentleman  was  considered  noble  in  the  reign  of  James  I., 
he  must  be  equally  so  in  the  reign  of  George  IV.  In  the  days 
of  Cressy  and  Azincourt,  when  our  Angevin  Sovereigns  possessed 
so  much  of  France,  the  English  gentry  and  the  French  noblesse 
were  equal,  not  only  in  power  but  in  title,  at  the  courts  of  Bour- 
deaux  or  of  Poitiers ;  and  have  their  descendants  not  the  spirit  to 
maintain  their  equality  with  the  Hanoverian  noblesse  at  a  court 
of  a  Guelph  i 

The  present  degradation  of  the  British,  gentry  was  accidental,, 
and,  by  a  strange  fatality,  chiefly  proceeded  from  the  great  privileges 
that  they  formerly  enjoyed.    There  is  an  ebb  and  flow  in  all 


198  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [40 

human  affairs  ;  let  them  hope  that  the  tide  will  turn  in  (heir  fai^on 
Two  centuries  ago,  all  the  honorable  posts  in  the  law  and  armj 
were,  as  was  then  the  custom  all  over  Europe^  confined  to  the 
gentry.  A  gentleman  only  could  be  an  officer  in  the  army,  era 
barrister  in  the  inns  of  court ;  hence  the  coats  of  arms  that  deco- 
rate the  halls  of  the  Temple  and  of  Lincoln's  Inn.  But  in  other 
countries,  when  the  tiers  eiat,  or  plebeians,  were  become  too  im- 
portant to  be  excluded  from  these  offices,  the  law,  that  excluded 
them,  was  usually  repealed ;  but  in  England  a  different  course 
was  pursued  :  the  law  was  maintained,  but  broken  through  on  every 
occasion,  and  as  officers  and  lawyers  still  maintained,  that  none  but 
gentlemen  could  be  admitted,  barristers  and  captains  were  at 
length  styled  esquires^  and  ensigns  and  attorneys  gentlemen. 
These,  however,  were  not  considered  noble  by  the  heralds,  unless 
they  had  procured  a  grant  of  arms. 

Nor  should  this  grant  of  arms  have  been  refused,  for  every 
family  must  have  a  beginning.  As  ancient  houses  become  extinct^ 
hew  ones  arise.  And  though  honors  should  rather  be  conferred  as 
rewards  of  actions  achieved,  than  as  a  testimony  of  a  desire  to 
achieve  them ;  yet  the  warrior,  who  fights  the  battles  of  his  coun- 
try, and  the  lawyer,  who  consecrates  his  exertions  to  the  cause  of 
justice,  is  as  deserving ;of  nobility  as  any  of  the  phalanx  of  the 
king  of  France'9  secretaries.  The  only  absurdity  in  the  English 
system  is,,  that  these  individuals  are  styled  gentlemen,  w^hereas  they 
should  be  styled  noblemen.  Fit  nohilis,  riascitur  generosus* 
^  N<>ble'^  ought  to  be  the  word  used  in  patents.  It  is  so  com- 
prehensive, that  though  it  may  be  without  disrespect  applied  to 
the  Sovereign,  it  is  merely  the  due  of  every  individual  worthy  of 
notice.  Thus  their  ancient  privileges  have  been  turned  against  the 
gentry ;  but  the  estimation,  in  which  they  formerly  were  held,  has 
also  contributed  to  diminish  their  present  estimation.  Some  cen- 
turies ago,  the  higher  orders  alone  were  distinguished  by  a  suavity 
of  manners.  Hence  a  polished  man  was  said  to  have  the  manners 
of  a  gentleman,  and  no  doubt  the  barbarity  of  the  lower  ranks 
might  have  induced  the  higher  ranks  to  maintain,  that  there  was 
no  polished  man  but  a  gentleman.  When,  however^  the  benefits 
of  education  had  descended  lower,  and  plebeians  had  become  po» 
lished,  the  saying  should  have  been  disused ;  but  here  again,  the 
inferiors  turned  the  tables  against  their  superiors,  by  retorting,  that 
if  there  were  no  polished  man  but  a  gentleman,  every  polished 
man  was  a  gentleman.  Had  the  axiom  been,  that  every  polished 
man  was  a  nobleman^  it  would  have  contained  some  truth ;  for  ele- 
gance of  manners  may  render  a  man  worthy  of  notice,  but  cannot 
alter  his  birth.  He  ought,  as  in  other  countries,  to  have  been 
staled  a  polite,  elegant,  agreeable  man,  but  not  a  gentleman.    But 


41]  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  199 

Dot  ODty  in  regard  to  manners^  but  to  morals,  we  abuse  the 
word.  A  man  of  laudable  conduct  or  sentiments  is  called  a  genr 
tleman.  Are  we  to  conclude  from  thjs^  that  the  lower  classes  are 
rascals  i  Other  nations  would  call  him  an  honest,  a  virtuous,  upr 
right,  respectable,  worthy  man. 

On  the  continent,  the  title  of  a  man  of  letters  is  sufficiently  ho- 
norable ;  but  in  England,  we  are  informed,  that  a  work  is^  to  be 
published  by  a  set  of  literary  gentlemen. 

Physicians,  surgeons,  and  apothecaries,  are  now  staled  medical 
gentlemen.  Why  is  not  a  man-midwife  styled  a  gentleman-midwife, 
as  in  several  kitchens  a  man-cook  is  styled  a  gentleman-cook  i 

I  would  not  insinuate,  that  a  profession  so  beneficent  to  man« 
kind,  that  requires  so  much  talent,  and  for  which  some  persons 
are  bom  with  particular  dispositions,  would  degrade  a  man  of 
birth;  but  the  word  gentleman  can  only  be  used,  or  abused,  in 
three  senses  :  in  regard  to  manners,  morals,  or  birth.  In  the  two 
first  senses,  may  it  not  be  taken  for  granted,  that  a  man,  who  has 
had  an  academical  education,  is  both  a  moral  and  a  polite  man  i 
but  in  the  last  sense,  what  can  it  signify,  in  the  common  occur- 
rences of  his  profession,  whether  a  medical  man  be  a  man  of 
birth  or  not  i 

If,  indeed,  a  marriage  had  been  concluded  between  him  and 
9ny  young  lady  or  dowager,  it  might  be  some  satisfaction  to  her 
relatives  to  hear,  that  the  doctor  was  a  medical  gentleman. 

It  is  only  in  London,  that  we  see  advertised,  lodgings  for  single 
gentlemen :  in  other  countries,  it  is  for  single  messieurs.  And  shoes 
or  stockings.  Sec,  for  ladies  ;  and  shoes,  stockings.  Sic,  for  gen- 
tlemen :  these  articles,  in  Paris,  are  pour  lesjemmes^  or  pour  les 
hommes. 

When  the  king  of  France  holds  a  court  at  the  Tuileries,  it  is 
thus  announced : 

'^  Demain  matin  le  Roi  recevra  les  hommes,  et  le  soir  le^ 
femmes/' 

.  Among  these  men  are  the  first  dukes  and  peers ;  among  these 
women,  the  first  duchesses  and  ladies  of  quality. 
.  There  is  no  degradation  to  persons  of  quality,  to  be  called  men 
and  women;  but  by  following  a  different  system,  and  calling  a 
mixed  society  gentlefolks,  low  people  in  England  have  been  put 
on  a  level  with  persons  of  quality. 

How  superior  to  our  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  this  designation, 
les  hommes  et  lesfemmes :  it  is  like  the  Arma  virumque  of  Virgil, 
We  have  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  shilling  gallery. 

The  king  of  England  addresses  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament : 
*' My  lords  and  gentlemen." 


\ 


200  Rank  and  Titles  of  the  Countries  [42 

The  members  address  their  consdtuents^  and  the  promiscuous 
rabble  at  the  huatiogs^  Gentlemen ! 

The  rabble  return  to  their  pot-liouses,  and  address  each  other. 
Gentlemen! 

The  word  gentlemen  re-echoes  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to 
tlie  other. 

We.have  gentlemen  of  the  whip,  gentlemen  of  the  quill,  gentle- 
men of  the  scissars,  gentlemen  of  the  razor,  gentlemen  of  did 
comb. 

All  these  ranks  in  France  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
would  answer  to  the  word  messieurs.  The  king  of  France  ad- 
dresses the  united  peers  and  d6put6s.  Messieurs. 

Properly  to  translate  into  French  the  word  gentleman,  may  be 
considered  the  proof  of  an  Englishman's  knowledge  of  the 
two  languages.  How  various  its  significations  ;  Galant-homme, 
homme  aimable,  gentilhomme,  monsieur ! 

Every  rider  who  travelled  with  his  book  of  patterns,  has,  during 
bis  stay  in  England,  so  often  been  called  a  gentleman,  that  on  his 
return  to  Hamburgh  or  Frankfort,  he  considers  himself  on  a  foot- 
ing with  every  Englishman  of  the  first  quality,  and  would  accost 
him,  hail  fellow,  well  met  ! 

A  German  baron,  in  London,  having  waited  for  his  barber,  a 
journeyman  arrived  in  his  stead,  and  informed  him,  that  the  old 
gentleman  had  been  taken  ill,  but  that  he  would  have  the  honor  of 
shaving  him.  This  anecdote  the  baron  used  to  relate,  whenever 
any  Englishman  was  presented  at  his  master's  court,  to  insinuate 
that  the  English  gentry  were  a  set  of  barbers. 

JBut  it  is  rather  from  the  lower  rank  abroad,  who  are  not  com- 
petent judges  in  the  matter,  than  from  persons  of  quality,  that  out 
travelling  gentry  are  likely  to  be  treated  with  disrespect;  who, 
should  this  happen,  would  not  forget  that  their  ancestors  were 
not  only  admissible  at  courts,  but  at  tournaments. 

Should,  however,  the  title  of  a  gentleman  thus  become  more 
prostituted  every  day,  to  give  it  to  a  man  of  family  might  at 
length  be  rather  an  insult  than  a  compliment.  In  this  case  what 
must  he  do  i  he  must  reassume  the  title  of  nobleman,  to  which  he 
has  a  lawful  right,  and  which  his  ancestors  two  centuries  ago  only 
laid  aside,  because,  at  that  period,  they  preferred  the  title  of  gen- 
tleman, which  is  incontestibly  the  superior  title,  though  a  train  of 
unforeseen  circumstances  have>  in  this  kingdom  alone,  raised  the 
title  nobleman  above  it. 

As,  in  France,  a  gentilhomme  must  be  born  noble,  Buonaparte 
in  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  though  he  created  dukes  and  grand- 
dukes,  and  kings,  never  ventured  to  make  a  gentleman.     Only 


43}  m  Europe  compared  and  explained.  201 

persons  of  aDcient  noblesse  are  there  styled  gentlemen.  Yet  these 
persons  in  England,  when  they  see  the  quality  of  a  gentleman  so 
degraded  there,  make  up  their  minds,  during  their  stay,  to  style 
themselves  noblemen.  The  gentry  of  the  united  kingdom  should 
follow  their  example. 

And  let  it  not  be  thought  impossible,  that  the  title  of  gentleman 
could,  in  the  course  of  things,  become  an  insult :  a  change  nearly 
similar  has  occurred  in  Germany. 

The  German  nobility  are  composed  of  two  ranks,  counts  and 
barons.  If  an  individual  be  created  a  baron,  all  his  descendants 
become  barons  and  baronesses.  If  a  baron  be  raised  to  a  count, 
all  bis^esceudants  become  counts  and  countesses,  and  this  to  the 
most  distant  posterity.  Every  count  was  styled  in  the  directions 
of  letters  and  other  documents,  the  high-born  count:  every 
baron^  the  noble-born  baron. 

At  length,  plebeians  were  admitted  into  offices,  which  were 
usually  confined  to  the  nobility,  and  some  persons  directed  to 
them  also,  to  the  noble-bom  counsellor,  to  the  noble-bom  chan- 
cellor. The  barons  at  this  took  fire :  they  assembled^  and  agreed 
to  assume  a  new  style;  and  leaving  to  the  plebeians  the  style  of 
noble-born,  determined  that  their  letters  should  be  directed,  to  the 
higli-well-born  baron. 

Thus  plebeians,  who  made  not  the  least  pretension  to  nobility, 
were  styled  noble-bom ;  and  gentlemen,  whose  birth  was  uncon- 
testably  noble,  would  have  challenged  any  man,  who  should  direct 
a  letter  to  them,  noble-bom. 

In  process  of  time,  the  title  noble-bora  fell  so  low,  that  even 
the  higher  plebeians  became  ashamed  of  it ;  and  they  were  in- 
dulged by  the  court  with  a  new  style,  well-bora,  which,  without 
encroaching  on  the  gentry,  distinguished  them  from  their  inferiors 
among  the  burghers. 

Thus  at  present  the  different  ranks  in  Germany  are  styled : 

Counts  High-born. 

Barons  High- well- born. 

Counsellors,  Professors,  *! 

Physicians,  Judges,  >  Well-born. 

Clergymen,  Burgomasters^  &c.  > 

Surgeons,  Apothecaries,  1  Noble-born. 

Merchants,  Shopkeepers,  &c.  ) 

An  English  gentleman,  at  a  German  court,  having  received  from 

the  prince  a  letter  directed  To  the  well-born  Mr. ,  directed 

his  answer  to  His  Excellency  the  Duke.  On  the  next  court-day, 
the  duke  asked  him,  if  he  knew  so  little  of  etiquette.  ^'  By  no 
means,"  answered  the  Englishpaan,  **  but  I  consider  myself  equal 


302  :R<ink  an4  Titles  of  th^  Cwntrk^  044 

to  your  barons,  so  when  you  style  me  high-well-bom^  I  will  style 
you  serene  highness." 

Many  an  Englishman  would  be  not  displeased  at  being  styled 
the  wellrborn,  and  would  be  highly  flattiiered  by  the  style  noble- 
bom;  an  insult  for  which  a  German  gentleman  would  run  th« 
writer  through  the  body. 

There  are  absurdities  in  every  country  ;  but  I  have  been  more 
particular  here^  because  every  £nglishman  on  the  continent  runs 
the  risk  of  being  told,  that  la  nobk$se  anglaise  n'est  qu^une  cO" 
naille :  but  if^  in  Germany^  it  should  be  thrown  in  his  teeth,  that 
in  EngUnd  every  barber  styles  bis  master  a  gentleman,  though  he 
cannot  deny  the  abuse,  he  may  retort  by  citing  a  similar  abuse  in 
Germany,  that  every  barber  there  receives  his  letters  addressed  to 
him,  to  the  noble-born. 

This  treatise  may  be  useful  to  Britons,  who  visit  the  continent, 
particularly  to  those  who  may  purchase  property  there,  who  may 
enter  foreign  service,  or  may  be  candidates  for  foreign  orders  oif 
knighthood  ;  nor  is  it  perhaps  entirely  undeserving  of  the  attention 
of  our  countrywomen.  It  would  inform  them,  to  what  degree  of 
distinction  different  foreigners  are  entitled.  In  their  arrange- 
ments of  assemblies  and  invitations,  they  pay  too  much  attentioQ 
to  some,  too  little  to  other  strangers.  A  German  baron,  a  J^reoA 
count,  an  Italian  marchese,  are  nearly  equal  in  rank ;  and  when  of 
good  quality,  are  all  highly  respectable ;  but  not  more  so,  than  an 
Englbh  squire  wss,  even  since  the  Restoration ;  and  would  still  be, 
if  the  visitations  of  the  heralds,  and  the  regulations  of  the  courts  of 
honor,  were  properly  inforced.  Consequently,  when  a  Britidi 
gentlewoman  marries  one  of  them,  she  only  marries  ber  «qiiaL 
On  the  Continent,  more  respect  is  paid  to  quality  than  to  rank* 
An  ancient  gentleman,  without  a  title,. look» down  on  a  new  count 
without  a  pedigree  ;  and  yet  an  Englishwoman  often  hopes,  by 
giving  her  hand  to  any  man  with  a  title^  to  become  a  high  and 
mighty  dame :  in  this^  however,  she  will  be  disappointed.  In 
countries  where  only  equals  associate,  noblesse  is  an  essential,  but 
no  distinction.  In  Germany,  for  instance,  every  man  that  she  will 
meet  in  company,  is  a  baron,  every  woman  a  baroness ;  but  only 
an  ancient  baron  will  be  considered  a  gentleman.  She,  if  of  a  good 
family,  will  be  received  there  on  a  footing  of  equality  ;  if  not,  they 
may  possibly  refuse  to  receive  her. 

As  every  plebeian  in  England,  who  lives  above  the  vulgar,  has  of 
late  years  presumed  to  style  himself  a  gentleman,  plebeians  from 
the  continent  hs^ve,.  on  their  arrival  in  England,  been  to  their  great 
surprise  styled,  gentlemen  also ;  and  this  quality  tliey  afterwards 
assume  without  further  scruple*  These  foreigners  have  sometimes 
paid  th^ir  addresses  to  Englishwomen,  perhaps  to  ladies  of  rank. 


45]  in  Europe  compared  and  expbiimd.  903 

or  to  gentlewomen  of  quality;  and  many  a  hndej  without  inquir* 
iDg  the  real  rank  of  her  suitor,  or  no  doubt  imagining  that  every 
indivkiual  on  the  continent  is  at  liberty  also  to  style  himself  a  gen* 
tleman^  gives  him  her  hand :  but  on  her  arrival  at  his  home,  how 
grievous  is  her  disappointment !  She  has  married  a  raturier,  9, 
mere  plebeian,  all  his  connexions  are  bourgeois.  At  no  court  on 
the  continent  the  wife  of  a  plebeian  would  be  received^ 
though  she  were  the  daughter  of  a  duke.  Nay,  the  more  elevated 
her  birth,  the  greater  the  contempt  to  which  such  a  misalliance 
Would  expose  her.  Day  after  day  offers  some  new  mortification* 
She  reads  in  the  court  gazette,  that  some  of  her  compatriots  have 
been  fdted  according  to  their  rank  ;  that  Lady  *- —  has  dined  »t 
tourt ;  that  Mrs.  ■         had  been  invited  to  the  whist-table  of  some 

potentate;   that  Miss had  danced  at  a  gala,  or  figured  at. a 

fntiaeau  partie.  She,  alas !  poor  mad^me,  tout  court, .  mwSH  f e- 
aomifte  all  these  pomps  and  vanities ;  but  hovi^ver  she^inay  affect 
to  despise  them,  she,  if  not  strongly  minded,  wiU  feel  ^beir  loss. 
Amid  the  (dissipation  of  Paris,  Vienna,  or  I^aples^  she  might  in* 
deed^nd  some  resource,  but  in  a  prbvinoial  town,  or  the  residence 
of  a  prince,  her  privations^  would  be  aggravated*  Some  country-* 
Wonran^  perhaps  of  her  own  neighbourhood,  of  her  acqucaintance^ 
perhaps  her  relative,  has  there  married  to  a  count,  a  baron,  or  to  an 
antitkd  gentleman  of  quality;  this  countrywoman  would  perhaps 
turn  her  back  on  her,  or  receive  her  with  an  air  of  protection,  or  per- 
haps only  receive  her  at  all,  when  the  noble  relatives  of  Monsieur 
le  Gomte,  aad  all  persons,  of  quality,  were  absent  from  h^r  hotel* 
Such  would  be  her  mortifications,  who  should  marry  a  plebeian; 
if -may  therefore  be  laid  ddwn  as  a  rule,  that  no  female  oif  family^ 
who,  wishes  on  the  continent  to  be  received  into  company^  should 
marry  any  man  who  is  not  of  noble  birth,  it  matters  not  with  or 
without  a  title. 

But  would  her  chagrin  be  less,  who  has  given  her  hand  to  a 
aew.noblef  In  Germany,  every  gentleman  is  styled  a  baron,  as  in 
England  every  gentleman  is  styled  an  esquire;  but  though,  in  Ger- 
many, no  individual  presumes  to  style  himself  a  baron,  without 
being  noble ;  yet  every  noble  is  not  a  gentleman,  and  consequently 
is. neither  presentable  at  court,  nor  admissible  into  every  com- 
pany. Any  plebeian,  who  has  made  a  fortune  by  trade,  a  lucky 
speculator,  a  winner  in  the  lottery,  may,  by  sending  from  50  to 
100  pounds  to  Vienna,  (or,  since  the  establishment  of  the  German 
confederacy,  to  other  courts)  procure  the  title  of  noble  or  baron, 
which  are  almost  synonymous ;  but  bis  grandson,  or,  in  places 
where  the  gentry  are  tenacious  of  their  pre-eminence,  his  great- 
great-grandson,  would  scarcely  be  considered  as  a  gentleman.  Even 
at  those  courts,  where  the  etiquette  were  the  least  severe,  there. 


£04  Rmk.and  Titles  of  the  CaiMrks  [40 

woaldy  during  a  length  of  time^  be  some  distinctiou  between  bin 
and  the  ancient  gentry.  These  distinctions,  however  trifling  ia 
the  eyes  of  philosophy,  would  be  sufficient  to  mortify  his  vanity, 
and  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  his  inferiority.  At  one  court, 
the  new  noble  is  permitted  to  make  his  bow  at  the  lev6e,  but  will 
hot  be  invited  to  dinner;  at  another  court,  he  will  be  invited  to  din- 
ner, but  neither  he,  nor  his  wife,  would  be  invited  to  appear  at  the 
card  assembly  in  the  evening,  among  the  quality  of  both  sexes.  At 
a  third  court,  they  might  even  be  invited  to  the  card  assemblies  or 
balls,  but  neither  he  nor  she  would  be  selected  to  compose  the  card 
party  of  the  sovereign  ;  nor  would  he  be  invited  to  dance  with  any 
royal  or  serene  highness,  to  which  honor  every  gentleman  of  blood 
may  pretend.  There  have  been  instances  of  persons  lately  ennobled 
being  introduced  into  the  assemblies  of  the  noblesse,  by  the  so- 
vereigns of  the  country,  who  honored  ihem  with  their  countenance ; 
but  no  gentleman,  no  gentlewoman  would  speak  to  them.  For  a 
man  in  this  predicament,  if  it  be  difficult  for  him  to  find  a  partner  at 
a  ball,  it  must  be  still  more  difficult  to  find  a  partner  for  life.  A 
gentlewoman,  by  giving  him  her  hand,  must  consent  to  participate 
in  his  equivocal  nature,  neither  fish  nor  flesh ;  and  should  he 
marry  a  bourgeoise,  he  would  retard,  by  a  generation,  the  gradual 
progress  of  his  descendants  to  gentility ;  he  therefore  comes  to 
England  to  look  for  a  wife,  and  is  too  successful  in  his  search 
after  some  gentlewoman  of  quality. 

A  squire's  daughter,  ignorant  of  the  comparative  value  of  titles, 
thinks,  by  marrying  a  baron,  to  become  a  peeress  of  Germany; 
for  as  a  baron  is  a  peer  in  Great  Britain,  no  doubt  a  baron  is  a 
peer  all  the  world  over.  Poor  woman  !  she  has  married  a  baron, 
but  a  nenhbaked  baron  ;  for  such  is  the  nickname  given  to  enno- 
bled plebeians.  She  leaves  the  ancient  liall  of  her  ancestors,  die 
envy  of  the  bride-maids  ;  and  arrives  in  Germany,  confident  in  the 
length  of  her  purse,  hoping  to  show  off,  and  charitably  disposed 
to  eclipse  all  the  baronesses  of  the  holy  Roman  empire ;  but  if  an 
opportunity  is  allowed  to  her,  as  a  special  grace^  of  displaying  the 
court  dress  that  had  figured  at  St.  James's, — far  from  attracting 
die  admiration  of  a  German  court,  the  elegance  of  her  toilette, 
and  the  value  of  her  jewels,  would  only  awaken  the  jealousy  of 
some  high-born  dame,  who  would  have  the  good-nature  to  let  her 
into  the  secret,  that  Monsieur  le  baron  rCetait  qu!un  parvenu,  only 
tolerated  at  court,  to  the  honors  of  which  he  had  no  right,  or  claim. 

Disgusted  by  these  repeated  humiliations,  this  couple  would 
make  up  their  mind  to  fix  their  residence  in  England,  where  they 
would  mount  an  equipage,  with  a  coronet  and  supporters,  and  on 
the  strength  of  their  baronial  title,  would  pretend  to  a  precedency 
above  the  first  gentry  in  the  land. 


47}  in  Europe  compared  and  explained.  205 

When  a  titled  foreigner,  having  married  an  Englishwoman, 
settles  in  England,  they  probably,  on  account  either  of  his  or  of 
her  want  of  birth,  have  been  ill-received  abroad.  A  British  gen- 
tlewoman, who  marries  a  roturier ;  or  a  low-bom  Englishwoman, 
who  marries  a  foreigner  of  quality,  are  equally  liable  to  disap- 
pointment. 

Since  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  a  number  of  such  mar- 
riages have  taken  place,  together  with  several  suitable  alliances 
that  offer  greater  prospects  of  happiness.  The  marriage,  when  in 
England,  ought  always  to  have  his  ambassador's  sanction,  lest  the 
bridegroom  should  not  be  what  he  pretends  to  be. 

Several  of  our  richest  heiresses  of  long-descended  names  and 
estates,  have  married  foreigners,  recommended  by  a  splendid  ti- 
tle.* What  damsel  would  become  a  sheriff's  wife,  as  her  mothers 
during  centuries  have  been,  when  she  may  be  saluted  princess  i 
What  daughter  of  a  wealthy  citizen  or  nabob  would  give,  for  a 
bloody  handy  the  plum  which  can  procure  her  a  coronet  i 

It  would  be  no  bad  speculation,  for  an  adventurer  to  purchase, 
at  Rome  or  Naples,  the  title  of  prince  or  duke,  as  a  bait  for  an 
beiress  in  Great  Britain. 

It  may  not  be  without  advantage  for  our  countrywomen,  to  in- 
form them,  that  the  laws  on  the  continent  are  more  favorable  to 
married  women  than  in  England.  In  France,  the  disposal  of 
ber  own  property  is  usually  secured  to  the  wife,  by  the  marriage 
contract,  during  her  life,  and  descends  immediately  to  her  children 
during  the  father's  life ;  or  if  she  leaves  no  children,  it  reverts  to 
ber  family,  unless  she  bequeath  it  elsewhere ;  for  a  married  wo- 
man in  France  may  make  a  wilL  If  their  property  were  well  se- 
cured to  our  heiresses,  fewer  foreigners  would  be  dying  in  love  for 
them,  or,  at  least,  would  find  it  their  interest  to  treat  them  well 
after  marriage. 

Unless  the  gentry  of  the  British  empire  be  assimilated  to  the 
continental  noblesse,  these  advantages  will  be*  favorable  to 
fcn-eigners ;  but  at  any  rate,  our  persons  of  quality  ought  to  know 
the  value  of  foreign  titles,  as  our  bankers  know  the  value  of  foreign 
coins  ;  and  a  French  comte  is  as  inferior  to  an  English  earl,  as  a 
livre  tournois  to  a  pound  sterling* 

■  Could  the  squires,  whose  ancesturs  might  have  been  lords  of  the  neigh- 
boring manors  before  the  conquest,  have  conferred  on  their  brides  the  title 
of  Altesse  or  Excellenza^  their  immense  fortunes  would  have  remained  at 
home. 


AN 


APPEAL 


IN  BEHALF  OF 


THE    GREEKS. 


LONDON 


1824. 


AN    APPEAL, 


J  T  is  now  above  two  years  since  the  Greek  insurrection  began* 
Since  that  time,  if  it  has  been  impossible  to  view  its  progress  with- 
out interest,  yet  various  considerations  may  and  must  have  ope* 
rated  for  a  while  with  the  British  public,  to  prevent  them  from 
following  up  their  sympathy  with  active  support.  On  moral 
grounds  such  interference  might  seem  more  than  questionable,  as 
tending  to  spread  a  contest  which  might  otherwise  be  confined 
within  narrow  limits  and  soon  ended ;  and  on  the  grounds  of  pru^ 
dence,  and  even  of  humanity,  it  might  be  deprecated  as  the  pro- 
longation of  a  hopeless  struggle,  by  which  die  terms  of  ultimate 
accommodation  would  be  only  rendered  less  favorable  to  the  pa- 
triots. But  the  state  of  things  is  now  totally  altered  :  the  insurrec- 
tion has  spread  over  the  whole  of  Greece,  and  acquired  a  strength 
and  consbtency  which  holds  out  the  fairest  promise  of  ultimate  suc- 
cess ;  and  at  me  same  time  there  has  been  a  development  of  the 
policy  and  intentions  of  the  Turkish  government  that  destroys  all 
hope  of  accommodation,  and  shows  that  the  war  can  end  in  no- 
thing but  the  independence  or  absolute  annihilation  of  the  QreA 
people. 

Under  these  circumstances  an  appeal  to  the  British  public  in 
their  behalf  is  no  longer  delayed.    ' 

To  exhibit  this  in  its  proper  force,  and  do  away  the  prejudice 
which  the  mere  name  of  insurgents  might  in  some  minds  create 
against  them,  it  is  necessary  in  the  first  place  to  take  a  brief  re- 
view of  the  nature  of  that  government  against  which  they  have 
risen. 


3]  An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks.  209 

In  taking'  tlus  we  will  not  r^fer  to  the  unprovoked  conquests 
fay  whidi  the  Ottomans  first  established  themselves  in  Greece. 
Odier  empires  ^ave  been  founded  on  similar  conquests.  But 
here  is  the  important  difierence,  that  in  other  instances  the  con- 
querors and  conquered  have  gradually  amalgamated,  or  at  least 
the  benefits  of  equal  law,  and  security  of  person,  and  property, 
and  religion,  been  extended  to  one  as  to  the  other.  In  Turkey,  on 
die  other  hand,  the  distinction  between  Mussulman  and  Christian 
is  as  strongly  marked  as  at  the  first :  it  is  the  distinction,  as  Mr^ 
Eton  sav^  of  <<  conqueror  and  conquered,  oppressor  and  op^ 
pressed  y  ^^  '^  accompanied  and  designated  by  every  possible 
marie  of  degradation  on  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  empire.  Let 
the  foitowing  be  taken  as  a  specimen. 

Every  Rayah,  or  Christian  subject  of  the  Ottoman  Porte,  above 
fourteen  years  of  age,  purchases  his  life  each  year  by  the  payment 
of  a  capitation  tax,  die  receipt  for  which  must  be  exhibited  at  the 
town  gates,  and  conveys  (such  is  its  wording)  the  permission  of 
«<  wedrh^  his  head  ihaiyeftrJ* 

He  is  madbed  out  by  a  peculiar  dress,  and  interdicted  on  paia 
of  death  from  wearing  the  same  costume,  or  painting  his  house  of 
the  same  color  with  Ae  Turks.  A  distinction  not  unavailable,  it  is 
obvious,  to  purposes  of  insult  and  oppression  ^ 

:it  IB  death  for  a.  Greek  to  marry  a  Turkish  woipan  ^  or  to  strike 
aMttssolman  even  in  sdf- defence.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Mus- 
culman  that  kills  a  Christian  generally  escapes  with  a  fine* 

^<  At  the  Turkish  tribunals  the  testimony  of  a  Mussulman  out- 
w«ighi  the  clearest  proof  of  a  Rayah.'*^ 

noperty,  under  4»uch  a  system,  becomes  only  a  tide  to  extortion 
and  vpiriiation.  The  revenue  of  the  Pashas  and  inferior  govemort 
in  the  Cbrisrian  provinces  is  said  to  be  doiAled  and  sometimes 
even  tripled  by  tibese  extorticms :  and  in  private,  it  has  given  birth, 
to/usetaewordS'Of  Mr.  Thornton,  to  «<  a  tribe  of  extortioners, 
febe  wkiiesses,  and  embroilers,  who,  in  impunity  and  without  in« 
fiaoiy,  edbstst  on  the  spoliation  of  the  Chrisdans  and  Jews 
«w>mmI  them/' 

The  patrhrchate  and  highest  deities  of  the  Greek  church  are 
pat  to  MEle^and  venality  and  corruption  thus  introduced  into  the 
mdiole  system  of  its  priesthood. 

Uhe  Chsiatiaa  >cali  4m3d  no  new  church,  nor  even  without  a 
large  bribe  obtain  permission  to  repair  an  old  one. 

If  ^Christian  have  once,  tmder  any  circumsEoices,  professed 
Mahometanism,  he  cannot  renounce  it  but  with  the  sacrifice  of 
liis  fife.    Martyrdoms  of  this  kind  are  not  unfrequent. ' 

>  T4ro  ceases  came  under  the  observation  of  the  writer,  or  bis  fellow-tra« 
vellers,  in  the  years  1818  and  19,  one  at  Tripolizza,  the  other  at  Smyrna. 

VOL.  XXni.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  O 


210  An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  [4 

Finally^  it  is  well  known  that  more  than  once  it  had  been 
agitated  in  the  Divan  to  put  to  death  every  Christian  in  the  ehi- 
pire,  ai}d  that  the  idea  has  only  been  abandoned  from  considen- 
tions  of  the  loss  of  revenue  that  would  necessarily  ensue.' 

Such  is  a  slight  sketch  of  the  oppression  under  which  three 
millions  of  Christians  have  now  for  near  fdur  hundred  yeajrs  .been 
laboring.  The  quantity  of  individual  misery  that  must  in  the  na- 
ture of  things  have  resulted  from  iCi  it  is  impossible  to  estimate; 
But  as  a  help  to  the  formation  of  such  an  opinion  we  will  adduce 
twp  short  extracts ;  the  first  from  Mr.  Thorntoni  a  professed  apo^ 
legist  for  the  Turks;  the  second  from  Mr.  Hughes>  a  lat6  ttaveUer 
in  the .  countries  of  which  he  speaks.  <*  Nothing  short  of  embracbg 
islamism/'  says  Mr.  Thornton,  «  could  exonerate  the  vanquished 
from  fines  and  personal  subjection.  The  conquered  ^  people  be- 
came, together  with  their  possessions,  their  industry,  and  their 
posterity,  virtually  the  property  of  their  masters^  In  such  a  state 
their  claini  to  justice  and  security  was  precarious  ;  their  lives^  and 
fortunes  were  made  subservient  to  the  necessities  of  the  state  afid 
the  interests  of  the  superior  and  privileged  class,  who  strove  by 
every  means,  however  injurious  and  insulting  to  their  feeUngs^  to 
suppress  instead  of  exciting  their  energies,  and  to  debilitate  dieir 
minds  to  the  level  of  slavery.''  Jn  apology  for  the  Turks  he  adds, 
with  an  allusion  fearfully  full  of  meaning,  <<  It  would  be  unjust 
to  characterise  the  Spartan  government  only  from  its  treatment  of 
the  Helots  ! !"  The  same  comparison  had  before  suggested  it- 
self to  Mr.  Eton.^ — Mr.  Hughes  in  more  impassioned  language 
dra\ys  the  following  picture':  « I  have  rode  over  the  ruins  of  large 
villages  scathed  by  the  flames  of  destruction,  because  some  repu- 
table family  had  refused  to  deliver  up  a  beautiful  son  or  daughter 
as  the  victim  of  the  tyrant's  execrable  lusts :  I  have  seien  towns 
professing  the  Mahometan  faith>  whose  inhabitants  had  all  to  a 
man  apostatized  from  that  of  their  forefathers,  to  escape  the  inor* 
dinate  exactions  and  oppressive  cruelties  to  which  as  Christians 
they  had  been  subjected :  I  have  seen  rich  tracts  of  country  turned 
into  deserts,  and  cities  fallen  into  decay,  where  misrule  ind  in* 
justice  had  combined  with  plague  and  famine  against  thecon^- 
tution  of  society:  in  short,  I  have  seen  a  nation  hiimbledi  de- 
graded, and  abased ;  living  without  civil  or  political  existence, 
plundered  without  remorse,  tortured  without  mercyi  aiid  slaugh- 
tered without  commiseration."^ 

Similar  observations  must  have  been  made  by  every  traveller  in 

>  For  autliurititis  the  reader  is  referred  to  ]«ltou*8  Survey,  p.  104>  5, 6.  S3, 
aiid  358.— Thbrntdn,  vol.  i.  p.  -202. 157,  8.  aDd  196.  Vol.  ii.  i>.  147. ' 
^  ThoriitoD,  vol.  ii.  p.  60. — Eton,  p.  12  ^  Hughes'  Address, 


5]  the  Greeks.  211 

European -Turkey*  The  indiTidual  who<Iraw8  up  this  paper  might 
confirm  the  general  truth  of  the  preceding  statements  from  hit 
0wn  painful  recollections  :  but  he  forbears.  What  has  been  8ai4 
is  enough.  And  let  the  question  be  now  fairly  answered  by  every 
one :  Could  the  unresisted  continuance  of  such  a  tyranny  be  ex- 
pected ?  or  should  the  name  of  insurgents  make  us  view  the  efforts 
of  the  Greeks  with  coldness  and  suspicion  ?  It  cannot  be.  The 
idea  of  eternal  slavery  has  been  solemnly  deprecated  in  regard  to 
the  injured  Africans  by  the  British  parliament.  '  The  reasoning 
is  equally  strong  as  regards  the  oppressed  Greeks.  And  let  us 
xemember  that  the  case  of  the  Greeks  is  not  the  case  of  those  to 
whom  slavery  is  rendered  more  tolerable  by  never  having  had  free- 
dom set  before  them.  The  majestic  monuments  o£  former  times 
speak' to  them  of  freedom  :  travellers  in  continual  succession  have 
made  those  times  and  those  monuments  the  subjept  of  jtheir  in- 
j^uiries  and  conversation  \  and  above  all,  the  partia}  revival  of  ** 
i^ucation  among  them  in  late  years  has  rendered  theiptoo  painfully 
conversant  with  the  sad  contrast  of  former  greatness  ^nd  present 
xlegradation. 

With  such  feelings  occasion  only  could  be  wanting  to  rouse 
them  to  the  struggle  for  emancipation.  Twice  at  the  instigation 
of  Russia  had  they  made  it  in  vain :  but  now  they  have  again  risen 
under  better  auspicesi  with  a  determination  and  heroism  which 
has  hitherto  been  successful^  and  promises  them  a  complete  an4 
final  triumph. 

It  is  important  to  mark  the  progress  of  the  struggle,  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  has  been  conducted  on  the  part  both  of  the 
Greeks  and  of  the  Turks.  The  on^  goes  far  to  ^ow,  that^  not- 
. withstanding  the  calumnies  raised  against  them>  the  Greeks  are 
already  possessed  of  many  of  the  elements  of  a  great  national  cha- 
racter: the  other  exhibits  a  treachery,  and  ferocious  barbarity  in 
the  Turk,  which  proves  that  no  hope  is  }eft  to  the  patriot^  but  jin 
^tbe  establishment  of  their  independehce. 

The  patriots  began  their  struggle,  to  use  the  words  of  a  Greek 
of  Corfu,  <<  with  nothing  more  map  a  few  rounds  of  partridge,  and 
•a  fleet  of  merchant  vessels :''  ^  without  a  treasury,  without  arms, 
without  military  habits  and  organization,  and,  what  was  most 
against  them,  with  that  want  of  mutual  confidence  and  regular  sub- 
pr.dination  which  time  could  alone  effect.  The  fortresses,  ar- 
tery, and  ammunition  were  in  the  hands  of  Turkish  garrisons; 

>  See  the  late  debate  on  Mr.  Buxjton's  motion  for  abolishiog  slavery  in 
the  West  Indies. 

^  This  interesting  letter  i^  given  at  length  by  Dr.  Chatfield,  at  p.  69  of 
}iis  Second  Appeal. 


212  Jn  Appeal  in  behalf  of  ,     [6 

,      .  .    •  .  ,  ,  .    .      .  ^        ■  •      •  •  •  _  -  V 

%  Turkish  army  ki  Albania^  after  cornpletitig  its  triumph  over  Afi 
F^sha,  was  reaHy  on  the  spot  to  crush  their  rising ;  and  a  (otttiu 
idable  Beet  of  ships  of  the  line  and  frigates  was  soon  equipped  ahd 
dispatched  against  them  from  the  arsenals  of  Constantinople.  At 
that  time  their  cause  seemed  hopeless :  but  against  all  apparent 
probabilities  it  has  pleased  an  over  ruling  Providence  to  bless  their 
efforts  with  a  success  almost  miraculous.  After  two  years  of  W2(r, 
they  have  liberated  the  provinces  of  the  Morea,  Attica,  B^ocia^ 
Acarnapia ;  taken  all  the  fortresses  of  the  Peloponnesus  except 
Patrass  and  Corinth,  Cofon  and  Modon ;  repulsed  and  defeated  se* 
ireral  Pashas  with  the  loss  it  has  been  inferred  of  above  70,000 
men ;  and  twice  discomfited  the  Turkish  Admiral,  and  driven 
him  back  with  the  loss  of  his  largest  ships  within  the  Dardanelles!. 
The  banner  of  the  cross  floats  triumphant  in  the  i&gean^ 
by  land  forces  have  been  organized,  and  military  experience  ac- 
(]^nre<d ;  and,  what  is  the  most  important  of  all^  a  government  haft 
been  established  which  unites  the  suffrages  of  Greece,  and  \k 
obeyed  in  every  part  that  is  freed  from  the  Ottoman  yoke. 

If  it  be  objected  that  cruelties  have  sometimes  marked  tbeit 
triumphs,  the  answer  is  obvious,  that  the  inherent  jmtice  of  their 
cause  '  is  not  affected  by  the  charge.  But  in  point  of  yic/, 
though  in  the  phrenzied  feelings  of  the  first  struggle,  before  milif 
tary  subordination  was  established,  and  in  retaliation  for  the  un? 
i^xampled  barbarities  of  the  Turks  against  their  brethren,  excesses 
of  this  kind  were  sometimes  committed,  (a  circumstance  which  ill 
'the  nature  of  things  must  have  happened)  yet  no  systematized  plan 
of  crjielty  has  been  ever  proved  against  them  \  and  to  the  case 
chiefly  insisted  on  (the  case  we  mean  of  Tripolizza)  a  distinct  con- 
tradiction has  been  given^om  the  very  person  on  whose  authority 
the  charge  was  said  to  rest.  It  was  alleged,  that  in  violation  of  die 
t$rms  of  capitulation  they  had  made  an  indiscriminate  massacre  of 
the  Turkish  prisoners  that  at  the  capture  of  that  city  fell  into  th^ 
bands.  <<  But  I  have  the  authority  of  Colonel  Gordon  himself,^' 
}t  was  stated  by  Mr.  Hobhouse  at  the  late  meeting  in  London^ 
*^  to  declare  that  the  charge  has  been  not  only  shamefully  ^ag- 
^erated,  but  in  the  material  part  totally  unfounded*  Atid  now» 
Tie  added,.  "  a  very  different  course  is  pursued  by  the  Greeks : 
their  prisoners  ate  never  put  to  death,  but  are  sent,  often  io 
the  great  inconvenience  of  the  captors,  to  places  of  security :"  uxA 
one  instance  has  occurred  (we  allude  to  the  Greeks  m  VRtxa- 
lunghi)  of  their  actually  raising  a  subscription  for  the  widows  and 
'orphans  g^  their  Turkish  oppressors.  * 

>  See  the  Christian  Observer  for  Jan.  1832.    P.  63. 
*  Sheridan's  Thoughts  on  the  Greek  Revolution.  P.  88. 


7]  the  Greeks,  218 

With  this  let  the  systematized  and  remorseless  barbarities  of 
the'Turks  in  the  progress  of  the  war  be  put  in  contrast. 

They  began  in  the  crucifixion  of  the  venerable  Greek  Patriarch 
and  many  bishops  and  priests  at  the  doors  of  their  churches  ipi 
Constiiminople,  during  the  Easier  of  1821.  '  To  enumerate  all 
the  barbarities  that  have  since  been  committed  would  be  as  te* 
dious  as  painful.  The  number  of  Greeks  massacred  has  been  es- 
(imated  on  the  whole  at  not  less  than  ^00^000  1 1  and  of  refugees 
at  200^000  !  !  *  The  villages  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  the 
pkies  of  Smyrna  and  Aivali,  th^  isles  of  Samothrace,  and  Crete| 
and  Cyprus,  and  Scio,  have  each  their  tales  of  blood :  but  in  the 
catalogue  of  wrong  and  suffering  the  two  latter  stand  so  pro- 
minent, that  it  would  be  injustice  to  the  cause  we  advocate  not  tQ 
dwelt  more  at  length  upon  them. 

The  fate  of  Cyprus  we  shall  illustrate  by  only  two  short  ex- 
tracts. The  first  from  a  letter  from  the  English  Consul  on  tha( 
island,  bearing  date  August  15,  1822,  and  stating — ^^  Sixty  tloo 
towns  and  villages  in  this  unhappy  island  have  wholly  disappeared  \ 
only  their  ruins  remain  to  attest  the  barbarity  of  their  destroyers^ 
^very  house  is  marked  with  murders  :  the  Christians  are  hunted 
like  wild  beasts.'^  And  this  though,  as  the  article  from  Trieste 
adds,  there  had  never  been  the  smalkst  symptom  of  insurrection 
in  the  island.' — Our  second  extract  is  from  a  late  communication 
of  Mr.  Wolfe,  the  Jewish  missionary,  addressed  to  the  society  by 
which  he  is  employed.     He  mentions,  in  reference  to  two  Cypriot 

J'  Qutbs  whoni  he  had  sent  over  and  commended  to  the  care  of  the 
ews'  Society  in  London,  that  they  were  the  sons  of  noble  Greek 
families  whom  he  had  rescued  from  being  brought  up  as  Maho- 
metans. The  Turkish  governor,  it  seems,  "  had  called  together 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  the  noble  Greeks,  among  whom 
were  the  fathers  of  these  youths,  under  the  pretext  of  reading  to 
them  a  firman  of  the  Grand  Seignior,  expressive  of  his  approba^ 
iion  of  their  conduct.  At  the  moment  of  their  assembling  the 
heads  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  fell  by  the  sword  of  the  governor, 
the  remaining  two  renouncing  Christ  to  save  their  lives."  "^ 

As  to  Scio,  it  is  uniformly  represented  before  the  late  catastrophe 
as  the  inost  beautiful  of  the  isles  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  pa- 
pulation being  almost  exclusively  Greek,  and  the  government 
vested  by  permission  of  the  Turks  in  Greek  magistrates^  it  en- 

*  The  early  date  should  be  remarked.  After  such  provocation,  who  could 
yonder  at  acts  of  retaliation.  ? 

^  Second  Address  from  the  Society  of  Friends,  inserted  in  the  New 
Times  of  March  12 
3  Quoted  in  the  Courier  of  Oct.  95, 1833. 

*  Missionary  Register  for  May,  1833.  Page  213, 


214  An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  [8 

joyed  a  degree  of  comparative  freedom^  under  which  the  arts  and 
literature  and  commercial  prosperity  were  rapidly  advancing.  Thd 
population  amounted  to  130,000  ;  and  a  college,  with  printing  press 
and  library,  had  risen  among  them,  in  which  lectures  bad  b'egUn  to 
be  read  to  seven  hundred  students,  by  professors  deservedly  cele- 
brated through  the  Levant.    The  island  is  now  a  desert.    <<  I  could 
not  have  conceived,"  savs  Mr.  Leaves,  the  correspondent  of  the  Bi- 
ble Society,  in  a  letter  itom  Constantinople  of  the  date  of  Octobeif 
8th,  1822,  <<  I  could  not  have  conceived,  without  being  an  eye-wit- 
nesd,  that  destruction'  cduld  have  been  rendered  so  coikiplete.   We 
walked  throujgh  the' town,  and  found  the  houses,  churches,  hospitals, 
and  extensive  college,  where  a  fe^  months  ago  six  or  seven  hundred 
students  were  receiving  their  education,  one  mass  of  ruins.     Oii 
every  side  were  strewed  fragments  of  half-burned  books,  Mss.^ 
clotnes,  and  furniture ;  and,  what  was  most  shocking,  numerous 
dead  bodies  mouldering  on  the  spot  wSlere  they  fell.     Nothing 
that  had  life  was  to  be  seen,  except  a  few  Half,  starved  dogs  ana 
cats.     The  villages  have  shared  the  same  fate  ;  and  of  a  popula- 
tion of  130,000  Greeks,  there  remain  perhaps  800  of  1200,' scat- 
tered through  the  most  distant  villages.*' ' — In  the  paper  dra\^  up 
by  the  Society  of  Friends  as  imilar  account  is  given.     They  state 
that  of  110,000  not  more  ate  left  ofi  the  island  than  from  8  td 
1200.   «  About  40,000  are  computed  to  have  been  massacred,  and 
48,000  doomed  to  slavery,  among  Whom  are  the  widows  and 
daughters  of  persons  who  had  lived  in  comfort  and  affluence. 
•These  are  now  subjected  to  the  brutal  will  of  their  oppressors* 
About  20,000  only  appear  to  have  escaped,  and  of  these  a  gteat 
number  have  since  perished  by  hunger  and  fatigue." — A  still  more 
harrowing  account  of  the  same  catastrophe  is  given  in  the  appeal 
by  the  Greeks  of  Trieste  in  behalf  of  their  suffering  countrymen 
from  Scio ;  *  and  <*  these  barbarities  were  exercised,"  they  say, 
<<  on  those  who  not  only  took  no  part  in  the  counsels  or  operations 
of  the  insurgents,  but  who,  in  order  to  give  the  strongest  proof  of 
their  allegiance  and  subordination,  surrendered  themselves  into 
the  hands  of  their  masters,  and  went  voluntarily  to  prison,  and 
gave  their  food  and  property  to  their  persecutors.''  This  important 
fact  i^  confirmed  by  Mr.  Sheridan,  who  states  ^  «<  that  the  Sciots 
had  not  rebelled— that  Scio  had  actually  been  bombarded  by  theSa- 
miaiis  for  refusing  to  join  in  the  revolt — that  they  voluntarily  gav^ 
informatipn  and  hostages  to  the  Turks,  and  in  fact  were  guilty  of 
nothing  but  helplessness  and  wealth."     We  are  reminded  by  the 

'  Monthly  Extracts  of  the  Bible  Society,  Dec.  31, 1822. 
*  Quoted  iu  the  Sheffield  Iris,  Feb.  4, 1823.    ' 
3  Thoughts  on  the  Greek  Revolution.  F.  99. 


9J-  '         the  Greeks.  215: 

*  « 

mention  cikdHagesoi  the  admission  by  Lord  Londonderry  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  the  28th  of  last  June,  that  Government 
was  in  possession  of  the  fact  that  ten  or  twelve  respectable  mer- 
chants, of  Scio  had  been  executed  in  cold  blood,  on  the  plea  of 
holding  this  character  at  Constantinople.  «  A  flagitious  act !''  as 
it  was  indignantly  termed  by  Lord  Liverpool. — A  firman  of  the 
Grand  Seignior  was  a  month  after  received  at  Scio,  inviting  the  fu- 
gitive Greeks  to  return  and  take  possession  of  their  property.  A 
few  did  so ;  and  by  letters  from  Turkey  of  last  December,  it  ap. 
pears  that  on  the  news  of  the  disasters  of  the  Turkish  fleet  at 
Tenedos,  these. too  were  assassinated  by  the  Turks!*  Over  the 
fate  of  48,000  women  and  children  who,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
sold  as  slaves,  there  hangs  a  veil  which  we  will  not  attempt  to 
undraw  by  any  pictures  of  the  imagination :  but  we  have  one 
other  4ocumeni  too  painfully  interesting  not  toadduce,  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  trace  the  unhappy  lot  of  a  few  of  them  one 
step  further.  A  letter  from  Tunis,  dated  October  20,  1822,*  has 
the  following  extract:  <<On  the  17th  instant  arrived  here  the 
Sardinian  brig  Giacio,  Captain  Antonio  Luigi  Niale,  from  Smyrna 
in  twenty  days ;  also  the  Maltese  brig.  Due  Cugini,  Captain  Chi- 
assuro,  from  Constantinople  and  Smyrna,  from  the  latter  place  in 
twenty  days :  both  these  vessels  bring  a  number  of  unfortunate 
^Greek  slaves,  principally  young  girls,  destined  as  presents  to  the 
Bashaw,  and  boys  all  under  ten  years  of  age,  who  have  been  cir^ 
cumcised."  It  adds,  that  this  nefarious  traffic  in  Christian  blood  is 
not  only  carried  on  under  the  flag  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  but  that 
the  two  vessels  in  question  were  actually  escorted  from  Smyrna  to 
Cape  Passaro  by  an  Austrian  ship  of  war  I ! 

"If,"  wrote  the  Baron  StrogonofF  in  his. note  of  the  16th  and 
18th  of  July,  1821,  « the  Turkish  government  admitted  that  it 
was  in  consequence  of  si precoficerted  plan  that  it  adopted  the  mea- 
sures upon  which  the  undersigned  has  already  delivered  the  senti- 
ments of  his  august  master,  it  would  only  remain  for  the  Emperor 
to  declare  from  the  present  moment  to  the  Sublime  Porte,  that  she 
places  herself  iui  a  state  of  open  hostility  against  the  Christian 
world;  that  she  legitimatizes  the  defence  of  the  Greeks,  who 
from  that  moment  would  combat  solely  to  save  themselves  from 
inevitable  ruin ;  and  that  Russia  would  find  herself  under  the  ne- 
cessity of  oflFering  them  an  asylum,  and  protection,  and  assistance 
with  all  Christendom,  because  she  could  nqt  deliver  up  her 
brothers  in  religion  to  the  mercy  of  a  blind  fanaticism/' 

This  was  in  the  summer  of  1821  ;  and  surely  the  unparalleled 

'  Private  Correspondence  from  Conf-tautinople,  iu  Courier  of  Jan.  16, 
1823.  *  Inserted  in  the  Times  of  November  22. 


t 


2 16  An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  [19 

jiurbarities  we  have  just  been  detailihgi  svhsetpieutl^  ^ptti^ebnia^ 
under  the  eyecf  the  Turkish  Admiraly, znd  unpunished  and  ware*' 
fraoed  by  the  Turkish  Govemmentj  make  out  the  case  supposed 
by  Baron  Strogonoff.-^But  to  see  it  in  still  stronger  light,  let  the 
following  extraordinary  document  be  perused. 

A  letter  from  Zante,  of  Oct.  12,  1822ft,  says;  «  A  Firman,  of 
the  Grand  Seignior  of  the  10th  of  last  momh^  directed  to  the 
Pasha  of  LepantOi  bears,  that  the  infidel  Christians. per^ingio 
their  rebellion,  and  finding  men  to  purchase  them  when^  tbeyvavt 
made  slaves,  and  even  when  they  become  the  property  of  die 
Turks,  if  the  hardness  of  their  hearts  do  not  permit  them  to  em- 
brace Islamism,  they  shall   not  in  future  be  made  slaves.    In 
consequence,  every  one  of  the  faidiful,  armed  for  the  cause  of 
the  Prophet,  is  enjoined  to  put  every  Christian  to  deaths  the  days 
of  favor  for  the  impious  race  of  Nazarenes  having  passed  never 
more  to  return."'      The  mind,  revolting  firoma   barbarity  so 
outrageous,,  would  fain  findrelief  in  discredidng'  the  statemeiil& 
But  no  contradiction,  as  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  has  appeared'; 
the  beheading  of  twelve  Christian  families  detained  in  the  castle 
of  Lepanto  is  mentioned  as  its  immediate  consequence :  and  in 
point  of  time  it  synchronizes  with  the  boast  of  the  Turkish  Admii- 
ral  in  his  letter  to  the  Commandant  of  Napoli  di  Romania :  ^I 
have  ruined  the  island  of  Spezzia ;  I  have  captured,  or  put  to 
flight  a  crowd  of  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  infidels ;  /  anUbme 
to  exterminate  this  perfidious  and  audacious  race."^    This  letter 
was  found  on  the  person  of  the  Tchaous,  or  Adjutant  of  the 
Turkish  Admiral,  on  board  an  Austrian  vessel  which  was  attempt- 
ing to  convey  provisions  into  the  fortress  of  Napoli,  but  was  taken 
by  the  Greek  blockading  squadron,  Sept.  24. 

The  case  supposed  by  M.  Strogonoff*  is  now,  therefore,  evi- 
dently arrived  ;  die  defence  of  the  Greeks,  according  to  his  ie»- 
soning,  legitimatized^  and  all  Christendom  boimd  to  wep^mt 
them. 

It  was  stated  by  Mr.  Wilberforce,  that  it  was  on  reHgiam 
grounds  chiefly  that  he  gave  his  support  to  the  contributions  now 
making  in  aid  of  the  Greeks.  A  view  the  most  important  I  and 
the  reasons  of  which  it  is  easy  to  enter  into.  For,  in  the  first 
place,  slavery  has  in  itself  2l  demoralizing  tendency ;  giving  birth 
to  dissimulation,  and  falsehood,  and  low  cunning ;  and,  by  de- 
pressing the  mental  faculties,  and  checking  the  progress  of  know- 
lege,  operating  with  baneful  influence  to  degrade  religion  into 
superstition. — But  this  is  not  all.     The  detestable  vicea  of  the 

*  Bury  and  Norwich  Post,  Nov.  13, 1822.       *  Courier,  Nov^  12,  la^fli. 


II]  the  Greeks.  217 


Turkfly  vices  aUowed  smd  patronized  by  a  religion  of  seni 
render  them  a  moral  pestilence  to  every  natbn  with  whom/  diej 
are  brought  into  the  intimacy  of  every-day  contact. — ^TheX^iUFkish 
system  of  selling  the  patriarchate  and  highest  dignities  of  the 
Greek  church  introdupes  yenaiity  and  corruption!  as  has^  before 
beenobsenred,  into  the  whole  system  of  the  priesthood.— The 
penalties  consequent  on  the  profession  of  Christianityf  and  the 
honors  on  thatof  Msdiometanism,  operate  as  a  temptation,  the  most 
poweiful  to  apostacy :  with  what  effect  whole  districts  of  apos^i- 
tate  Christiaiis  testify.— >In  finej  in  addition  to  their  fd^rmer  degni* 
dation,  the  persecutions  and  massacres  of  the  innpcent  and  imre- 
eisting)  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  Mugglet  have 
been  directed  against  them  as  Christian$%  and  stiU  thresitea  those 
that  suxfiYe  with  extermination  on  account  of  their Jaiih. 
I  Thus  on  the  highest  ground  of  morals  the  present  struggle 
must  be  regarded  as  an  object  of  the  most  anxious  interest,  and  ap 
claiming,  from  us  by  every  Christian  motive  whatever  assietance 
,we  may  be  able  to  render  to  our  Greek  brethren*  And  th^nk 
God.  that  it  is  not  now  as  it  was  three  years  ago*  when*  thou^ 
we  must  have  lamented  their  fate*  yet  on  every  principle  of  inters 
siational  law  and  prudent  philanthrc^y  we  must  have  abstained 
from  ali  active  interference  to  av^rt  it.  For  in  the  course  of  events, 
die  scene  has  ahx>gedier  changed  \  the  oppressed  Christians  haoe 
men  without  our  interference— -they  have  driven  out  the  Turks—*- 
they  haa>e  liberated  thdir  country;  and  the  question  is  now* 
^whether  diey  shall  be  reconquered*  and  Mahometan  despotisea 
with  all  its  vindictive  barbarities  and  demoralising  pollutions  again 
intiodttced  among  them.  Thus  ju^ified  and  encouraged  in  tbs 
support  we  may  reader  them*  it  must  be  cheering  to  us  to  look 
forwanl*  and  contemplate  the  prospects  of  moral  and  political 
amelioration*  which,  if  final  success  crown  its  efforts,  we  may 
lexpect  the  em^icipated  Greek  nation  to  exhiUt.  Courage, ^nd«- 
Tance*  patriotism*'  and  devoledness  to  their  religion,  are  qualities 
ihat  have  been  abundantly  exhibited  by  them  in  the  progress  of 
the  present  contest,  and  that  hold  out  the  fairest  promise  £or  the 
future.  With  the  nobler  objects  offered  in  a  free  state,  the  spirit 
of  low  intrigue  which  has  been  objected  against  them  may  be  eit- 
pected  to  assume  the  character  of  more  dignified  ambition. 
Education  and  knowlege  that*  in  spite  of  the  dead  weight  of 
Mahometan  despotism,  have  during  the  last  twenty  years  been  so 

'  We  cannot  refrain  from  particularizing  the  Sacred  Band,  composed  of 
500  young  Greeks  who  had  left  the  German  Universities  to  join  their  patriot 
countrymen,  and  which,  like  its  ancient  namesake,  was  cut  in  pieces  by  the 
enemy,  gallantly  fighting  till  only  20  men  survived. — SheridaOi  p.  06. 


218  Jn  Appeal  in  behalf  of  [M 

rapidly  eztendiiig,  must,  wheii  that  weight  is  removed,  spread  with 
still  more  rapid  progress :  and  with  the  progress  of  knowlege  is 
intimately  connected  the  gradual  purification  of  their  religion,  and 
by  consequence,  improvement  of  their  morals.  It  is  true  that 
much  superstition  obscures  and  deforms  their  profession  of  faith : 
but  theirchurch  contains  in  itself  a  principle  of  reno^oation :  for, 
unlike  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy,  their  Patriarch,*  and  bi« 
shops^,  and  priests,  unite  with  the  laity  in  desiring  and  promoting 
education,  and,  above  all,  that  chief  corrective  of  all  error,  and 
dissipator  of  religious  darkness,  the  universal  circulation  of  the 
Bibte  in  the  vernacular  tongue.  And  thus  a  noble  field  will  .be 
opened  for  the  benevolent  exertions  of  our  numerous  Religious 
Societies ;  and  we  may,  without  the  charge  of  being  visionaries, 
hope  for- a  repetition  of  the  same  renovation*  in  the  churches  of 
Greece,  as  through  the  means  of  th^se  Societies  has  already  begun 
to  take  place  in  the  sister  Syriac  churches  of  Travancore.^ 
*  But  the  moment  is  feai fully  critical.  By  the  end  of  this  year 
it  seems  likely  that  their  independence  will  have  been  secured, 
or  the  sentence  of  extermination  executed  against  them.  Thece 
is  good  reason  to  hope  :  probabilities  have  never  been  so  much,  in 
their  favor*  But  on  the  other  hand  the  Turkish  governnnient  has 
redoubled  its  efibrts,  and  the  very  last  advices  from  Constantino- 
ple announce  that  armaments  more  formidable  than  their  former 
ones  had  sailed  on  their  purpose  of  destruction.  The  scales  seem 
nearly  in  equilibrio: — -in  the  one  unmitigated  slavery  ^oppresszon^  or 
even  eMerthinaiion :  in  the  other  Greece  free^  reviving^  regenerated^ 
and  restored  to  her  rank  among  Christian  nations. — A  slight 
assistance^  individual  exertions  may  give  the  preponderance  ta  the 
right  side :  it  is  for  these  that  the  present  earnest  appeal  is  made  to 
the  British  people.  A  numerous  committee,  with  names  the 
most  respectable,^  has  been  formed  and  sits  daily  in  London. 
They  have  opened  a  communication  with  the  existing  authorities 
in  the  Morea:  they  have  ascertained  the  most  effective  methods 
of  assistance ;  and  «  confidently  state  that  specific  and  highly  im- 
portant  objects  are  within  the  reach  of  very  moderate  .means.** 
Their  plans  and  their  correspondence  are  open  to  every  subscri- 
ber.     Shall  we  then  withhold  our  hands  in  such  a  cause  ?     Shall 


'  Sec  Jowetl's  Sermon  before  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

^  See  Major  Mackworth's  account  of  his  late  visit  to  those  churches,  in 
the  «  Diary  of  a  Field  Officer  of  Cavalry/' 

^  Among  the  subscribers  or  committee  are  the  names  of  the  Hon. 
Richard  Ryder,  the  Marquis  of  Lansdown,  the  Earls  of  Il^rdwicke  and 
Aberdeen,  Sir  J.  Mackintosh,  Sir  T.  Acland,  W^.  Wilberforce,  Esq.  Zach. 
Maeauley^  Esq.  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  the  Dean  of  Salisbury^^c.  &c.  &c, 


13^  the  Greeks.  2i& 

I 
r 

ire  be  lukewarm  in  it  ?  -  Upon  our  assistance  the  fate  of  millioner 
may  be  in  a  measure  suspended.  Our  ministers  have  been  obliged 
as  ministers  to  a  painful  neutrality :  but  these  painful  restrictions 
affect  us  not  as  individuals.  The  case,  let  it  be  remembered,  is  at 
C2Lse  sui  generisi  It  is  a  contest  in  \^hich  the  Greeks  zre  unanimous 
to  a  man :  a  icOntest  agamst  tyrants  whose  tyraiiiiy  over  their 
Christian  subjects  is  directed  against  them  as  Christians,  and 
being  founded  on  the  precepts  of  their  prophet  must  unalterably 
Continue :  it  is  a  contest  not  for  aggression  against  the  Turks,  but 
for  defence  of  themselves  in  the  country  of  their  fathers :  finally, 
it  is  a  contest  not  for  commercial  rights  or  more  or  less  of  political 
freedom,  but,  as  is  written  in  characters  of  blood  on  the  ruins  of 
Scio,  for  existence  itself.  The  cause  is  unlike  that  of  Spain, 
unlike  that  of  Columbia,  unlike  any  other.  It  is  a  cause,  we  re- 
peat^ possessing  claims  altogether  unparalleled  i  and  this  without 
even  once  adverting  to  the  heavy  but  unpaid  debt  of  gratitude  that 
we  owe*  to  Greece  as  one  of  the  fbuntains  of  our  literature,  and 
parent  of  those  models  of  eloquence  and  taste  which  have  formed 
the  brightest  studies  of  our  y6uch,  and  present  to  our  maturer  age 
unfailing  sources  of  instruction  and  delight. 

Th^  ^olemii  vow  with  which  the  Greek  nation  have  devoted 
themselves  to  this  great  cause,  will  form  the  best  conclusion  to 
our  appeal,  and  plead  with  more  force  in  their  favor  than  any 
foreign  advocate. 

«« If,"  said  they  in  their  memorial  to  the  Sovereigns  at  Verona, 
*«  if  in  spite  of  every  expectation  this  just  demand  shall  be  rejected, 
the  present  manifesto  will  in  this  case  become  a  formal  protest, 
which  Greece,  oppressed  Greece,  will  depose  at  the  feet  of  the. 
Alniighty,  as  the  appeal  of  a  nation  of  Christians  to  the  whole. 
Christian  family.  Left  to  their  own  feebleness,  the  Greeks  will 
confide  their  cause  to  the  God  of  might,  to  the  God  of  Christians. 
Persecuted  as  they  have  been  for  four  centuries  for  their  faith, 
they  will  never  betray  their  Divine  Master ;  they  will  defend  theiy 
altars,  their  country,  the  tombs  of  their  fathers,  esteeming  them- 
selves too  happy  in  dying  for  the  cross,  and  for  that  alone,  or  in 
living  freemen  and  Christians." 

The  same  noble  sentiments  breatha  in  the  more  recent  solemn 
declaration  of  the  National  Congress,  which,  after  the  regulation 
of  various  matters  respecting  their  constitution,  and  criminal,  and 
military,  and  ecclesiastical  code,  terminated  its  sittings  about  the 
middle  of  last  April.  "  And  now,"  says  the  President,  "  nothing 
remains  to  the  National  Congress  before  it  breaks  up  and  leaves 
to  the  executive  government  to  discharge  its  important  functions, 
but  to  proclaim  in  the  name  of  the  Greek  nation  whose  full 
powers  it  bears,  as  it  does  now  proclaim  anew  before  God  and 


220 


j4n  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks^ 


Ci4 


man,  the  POLITICAL  EXIStENGE  AND  INDEPEND. 
ENCE  OF  GREECE ;  for  the  recovery  of  which,  the  nation 
|^$  shed  and  is  shedding  torrents  of  blood,  with  the  fixed  deter-* 
mination  of  aU^-'aU  of  us,  either  to  win  it  back  from  its  ra- 
yisher,  and  be  acknowleged  as  a  free  nation  for  the  glory  of  our 
holy  faith,  and  for  the  happiness  of  mankind;  or  widi  arn^  in 
our  hands,  ally-^'M  to  descend  into  the  grave,  but  to  descend  Chris- 
tians, and'  free,  as  becomes  a  people  struggling  for  the  enjoyment 
of  such  blessinga,-~as  it  becomes  a  people  living  in  an  iieroic 
land,  where  every  thing  recals  the  glory  and  the  virtues  of  our 
ancestors." 

<<  This  declaration  the  National  Congress  is  charged  by  the  free 
Greek  nation  to  make  to  the  world;  as  also  its  intention to^ regain 
die  knowlege  it  has  lost,  and  to  follow  the  example  of  the  en- 
lightened nations  of  Europe— from  whose  humanity  it  still  hopes 
for  assistance. 

«  The  National  Congress,  on  breaking  up,  raises  its  prayers  tp 
the  living  God  for  a  happy  destiny  to  the  Greeks. 

«  Given  at  Astros,  April  18,  1823. 

«« (Signed)    PETROBEYO  MAVROMICHALIS, 

«« President  o(  the  National  Congress.'* 


'  The  roost  interesting  document,  from  which  this  is  an  extract,  it  given 
at  length  in  the  Morning  Herald  of  June  16, 1813. 

N.B.  Most  of  the  documents  introduced  into  this  Appeal  may  be  foimd, 
with  many  others^  in  a  very  interesting  Publication  by  Mr.  £.  H.  Barker, 
entitled,  ^<  A  Letter  to  the  Rev.  T.  S.  Hughes.*'  Fourth  edition,  published 
byWbittaker. 


2U 


THE  COMMITTEE  have  great  pleasure  in  pMishing 
a  Letter  Jrom  Lord  Erskine  to  Prince  Mavrocor- 
DATO,  dated  Sept.  26,  1823.  It  is  in  reply  to  a  corti* 
fimmCaiion  from  the  latter  to  his  Lordship;  in  which  he 
€:xpres8es,  in  the  most  touching  terms,  the  sentiments  of 
gratitude  and  delight  with  which  the  accounts  of  tht 
formation  of  a  Committee  on  behalf  of  the  Greeks  had 
been  welcomed  by  the  Government,  the  Senate,  and  the 
People  of  Greece. 


Sir, 

The  Letter  which  your  Excellency  did  me  the  great  and  un* 
merited  honor  to  write  me  by  Mr.  Blaquiere  on  hi8  return  tp 
England,  gave  me  inexpressible  satisfaction* 

My  abhorrence  of  the  Ottoman  domination,  and  my  unalterably 
confidence  in  the  re-establishment  of  ancient  Greece  under  th^ 
Christian  dispensation,  is  not  of  a  late  date :  many  years  befor^^ 
the  descendants  of  that  illustrious  people  were  in  a  condition  to 
combine  jsuccessfnlly  against  their  infamous  oppressors-^ven  in 
my  very  dawn  of  life— I  constantly  looked  forward  with  feverish 
impatience  to  their  deliverance. 

The  Greeks  ought  never  to  have  been  assimilated  by  th^ 
nations  of  Europe  to  those  colonies  they  had  planted,  which  in  puir 
owin  times  have  cast  off  their  allegiance  to  their  parent  states.  At 
w^t  periods,  and  under  whatctrcumstances,  those  great  changes 
have  taken  place,  and  whether  to  be  condemned^  or  justified  and 
applauded,  can  have  no  reference  whatsoever  to  your  ancient 
nation  asserting  its  primitive  independence;  neither  coul^ 
the  recent  commotions  in  Naples,  nor  discontents  under  Euror 
ean  governments}  have  any  possible  connexion  with  the  war  ia 
Sreece.— The  Greeks  were  not  planted,  nor  colonized,  nor  eireB 

Protected}  by  the  Ottoman  Porte :  nor  can  I  even  consider  the 
Turkish  rule  as  one  to  which  nations  in  the  ordinary  history  olF 
the  world  have  so  often  through  warfare  become  subject ;  nor 
have  they,  when  subjected,  been  governed  according  to  the  laws 
and  customs  of  civilized  states.  I  consider,  oii  the  contrary,  her 
t]frannous  usurpation  and  desolation  as  only  an  awful  and  myst^* 
^ous  dispensation  of  the  divine  Providence^  pecmittini^  I  trust  for 


e 


222  A  Letter  from  Lord  Er shine  [16 

a  limited  period,  die  disastrous  overthrow  of  one  of  the  fairest 
portions  of  the  earth  ;  obstructing,  during  the  portentotis  eclipse, 
the  progress  of  that  promised  light  and  knowlege  of  the  Chrisidan 
Redemption,,  the  consummation  of  which  ought  to  have  been 
deeply  interesting  to  all  Christian  states* 

In  your  admirable  address  to'  the  Princes  at  Verona,  you  have 
unanswerably  disconnected  Greece  with  all  that  could  alarm  or 
give  displeasure  to  any  other  states,  so  as  to  justify  the  rejection 
of  your  eloquent  and  affecting  supplication  for  support ;  but  I 
hope  it  will  not  be  forgotten  that  Great  Britain,  though  present 
by  a  Minister  at  the  Congress,  ims  not  a  party  to  itf  and  cannot 
therefore  be  charged  with  having  insulted  the  Sacred  cause-  of 
humanity  and  freedom  by  such  a  contemptuous  and  disgraceful 
silence.  I  advert  to  this,  because  I  most  anxiously  wish  to  bring 
you  closer  every  hour  to  our  country,  renowned  during  so  many 
ages  for  spreading  the  blessings  of  religion  and  freedom  to  the  ut- 
termost ends  of  the  earth.  Be  assured  that  there  is  but  one  heart 
and  soul,  and  one  voice,  amongst  us  for  your  final  triumph; 
although  in  the  outset  there  were  diiRculties  m  the  way  of  a  direct 
and  immediate  national  support,  originating  in  events  much  more 
remote  than  the  period  of  your  virtuous  Confederacy.  The  Otto- 
man Porte  ought  in  my  opinion  to  have  been  always  considered  in 
the  light  which,  from  the  earliest  period  of  my  life,  I  have  myself 
viewed  it,  and  never  should  have  been  received  into  the  commu- 
nion of  civilized  states ;  but  a  different  course  having  been  for 
centuries  pursued,  and  treaties  consequently  on  foot,  obstacles  pre- 
sented themselves  to  any  sudden  departure  from  a  long-establi^ed 
system,  however  in  the  beginning  it  might  be  erroneous  and  im- 
politic. This  I  have  always  understood  to  have  been  the  principle 
oh  which  our  Government  acted  when  your  resistance  first  be- 
gan. But  NOW  that  Greece  has  become  a  nation,  out  of  all  proba- 
ble reach  of  re-conquest ;  mow  that  the  Porte  has  no  authority 
nor  dominion  either  de  Jure  or  de  facto  over  you ;  now,  when 
every  statesman  must  see  that  our  own  interests  are  inseparably 
connected  with  your  security  and  independence,  I  cannot  but  hope 
that  the  recognition  of  confederated  Greece  may  be  at  no  discou- 
raging distance.  I  write,  however,  not  only  without  authority, 
but  without  means,  during  the  recess  of  Parliament,  of  being  ac- 
quainted, with  the  present  views  of  our  public  councils;  but  it 
would  Se  unjust  as  well  as  impolitic  to  anticipate  any  future  re- 
sults from  them  which  would  be  inconsistent  with  a  sound  policy 
and  the  immemorial  character  of  our  people.  I  pray  God  that  I 
hiay  live  to  see  your  infant  navies  undisturbed  throughout  the 
whole  Archipelago,  and  the  friendly  flag  of  Great  Britain  bearing 
the  commerce  ofthe  world  into  all  the  harborsof  Greece;— It  is 


17]  to  Prince  Mavrocordato.  223 

no^ftgure.  Sir,  when  I  express  a  hope  that  I  shall  see  this,  because^ 
if  it  should  happily  take  place  in  mj  short  remaining  time,  nothing 
should  prevent  me  from  seeing  it.  Were  I  in  the  hour  of  death, 
I  should  rejoice  in  a  spectacle  so  indicative  of  future  peace  upon 
earth,  and  so  consolatory  to  every  friend  of  humanity  and  justice. 
I  have  the  more  confidence  in  such  a  happy  change  in  your  con- 
dition, from  the  devout  and  affecting  appeals  to  the  Almighty 
God  for  succour  and  protection  against  your  infidel  oppressors, 
with  which,  amidst  so  many  sufferings  and  sacrifices,  you  have  or- 
ganized your  Government,  as  appears  by  the  Report  of  your  Con- 
stitution which  has  been  published  by  the  Greek  Committee. 
Such  appeals,  if  upheld  by  a  correspondmg  faithfulness,  cannot  be 
made  in  vain.  No  people  upon  earth  ever  stood  more  in  need  of 
divine  assistance,  nor  ought  to  have  greater  confidence  in  the  de- 
liverance they  pray  for :  since,  as  all  human  changes  (though 
under  the  superintendence  of  a  beneficent  Providence)  will  pro- 
bably by  human  means  be  accomplished,  the  otherwise  unac- 
countable skill,  fortitude,  and  patience  with  which  your  highly- 
gifted  people  have  started  up  on  a  sudden,  even  to  rival  the  most 
memorable  acts  of  their  illustrious  fathers,  seem  like  a  forecast  of 
an  irresistible  conclusion. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be.  Sir, 

With  many  thanks, 

'     Your  Excellency's  most  faithful  Servant, 

(Signed)        ERSKINE. 


,ON 


THE     LEGALITY 


OF 


'      iluun 

IMPRESSING    seamen:' 


By  CHARLES   BUTLER,  F.S.A. 


Si  quid  novUti  rectius  [jbUs, 
Candidas  imperii ;  ri  non,  lus  atere  mecum.  HoR. 


THE  THIRD  EDITION; 
WITH  ADDITIONS,  PARTLY  BY  LOBX>  SANDWICA. 


LONDON: 

1824. 

VOL,  XXHL  Pam.  NO.  XLV. 


TO  THE  READER. 


Since  the  first  publication  of  these  sheets,  the  author  has 
heard  some  objections  made  to  the  doctrine  attempted  to  be  therein 
established^  and  takes  this  opportunity  of  replying  to  them. 

It  is  contrary  to  Magna  Charta. 

This  objection,  however  it  may  be  offered  in  the  way  of  decla- 
mation, can  never  find  place  in  serious  argument,  or  be  suggested 
by  imy  peraon,  who  wishes  to  iftvestigate  ^e  point  iA  ditpute  bodily 
and  rationally.  Magna  Vharta  cannot  be  but  dear  and  venerable  to 
all  Englishmen ;  no  person  can  be  so  ignorant  of  its  merits  as  not 
to  acknowlege  it  was  the  herald  of  many  of  the  political  blessings 
of  this  kingdom  ;  none  so  little  conversant  in  the  opinions  of  the 
public,  as  not  to  know,  that  to  convey  the  sliglitest  insinuation 
against  it  is  to  lose,  at  once,  all  pretensions  to  favor,  all  claim 
to  good  reasoning)  to  just  sentiment,  and  to  every  other  kind 
of  merit.  It  never  can  be  even  so  much  as  barely  surmised,  that 
an  author,  be  his  position  ever  so  unpopular,  will  allow  the 
justice  of  such  an  objection.  As  an  assertion,  therefore,  it  can 
have  no  weight :  It  cannot  oftener  be  asserted  than  it  can  be 
denied ;  and  as  much  as  it  is  made  a  matter  of  reproach,  it  will  be 
warded  off  as  unmerited  and  unmeamtig  contumely.  As  matter  of 
proof,  the  expression  is  too  general  to  prove  any  particular  position, 
riisi  per  communem  legem  terra,  says  the  Charter ;  we  mean  to 
prove  it  part  of  the  common  law. 

It  is  asked,  What  force  can  precedents  have  against  the  rights  of 
mankind  ? 

How  far  it  is  consistent  with  the  inherent  rights  of  mankind,  is  in 
its  place  discussed.  If  tlie  practice  ^ofitended  for  be  really  against 
the  rights  of  mankind  ;  if  the  duties  it  imposes  be  unnecessary  and 
inexpedient  in  geueral ;  if  it  be  no  more  than  a  wanton  act  of 
tyranny; — ^no  precedent,  no  series  of  precedents,  however  incontro- 
vertible in  other  respects,  can  make  a  single  argument  in  its  favour. 
Those  who  urge  this  objection  should  urge  it  in  its  proper  time ; 
which  is,  when  its  being  of  not  hmg  against  the  rights  of  mankind 
is  examined.  If  it  be  found  consonant  to  the  rights  of  mankind, 
then  the  question  of  precedent  has  its  proper  place  :  If  it  be  found 
the  contrary,  then  the  question  of  precedent  never  can  be  attended 
to  with  propriety. — The  dispute  is  at  once  over. 

The  use  of  arguing  from  precedent  is  manifold.  Those  certainly 
who  are  persuaded  of  an  early  and  continued  state  of  liberty,  nuist 


3]  On  the  Legality  of  Impressii^  Smmtu        327 

allow  this  mode  of  reasoning  the  greatest  force.  Tbey^  otherwise , 
throw  themselves  in  an  unavoidable  dilemma.  This  kingdom^  from 
the  earliest  times^  enjoyed  political  liberty  .•*— 'The  practice  We  con* 
tend  for  existed  in  the  earliest^  and  was  exercised  in  every  period  of 
the  constitution.*— The  precedents  offered  in  proof  of  this  are  inmi- 
merable^  notorious ;  and  the  slightest  exercise  of  them^  unless  war^ 
ranted  by  law^  must  have  revolted  the  whole  nation* — ^Therefore, 
either  these  precedents  are  consistent  with  the  acknowleged  rights 
of  a  free  people,  and  the  nation  always  enjoyed  political  liberty  7— 
or,  these  precedents  are  not  consistent  witii  the  rights  of  a  free 
people^  and  the  nation  never  enjoyed  political  liberty.  One  of 
tfaeae  necessarily  follows.  The  rights  of  the  People,  and  the  right 
of  the  Crown  to  impress  seamen,  are>  as  for  as  matter  of  prece- 
dent goes,  equally  well  established. 

The  modest,  the  sensible,  the  well-informed  part  of  mankind^ 
never  treat  precedents  with  contempt.  They  know  how  much  thib 
reasoning  faculties,  even  of  the  greatest  men,  are  liable  to  error. 
Matter  of  fact  affords  a  more  sure,  though  a  less  splendid,  line  of 
^gum^iU 

Grandiloquh  verbis  tragicoque  sonare  boatn, 
is  in  the  power  of  every  mushroom  orator ;  but  precedent,  in  learn^ 
ing,  at  least  requires  attention  and  diligence ;  a  grace  not  equally 
granted  to  all.  ' 

Those  who  ^re  most  given  to  popular  pursuits,  affect  most  re- 
spect to  precedents.  In  the  famous  case  of  Literary  Property,  a 
noble  Law  Lord,  whose  sentiments  no  one  can  suspect  of  a  teti*' 
dency  to  exalt  the  merit  of  any  kind  of  argument  inimical  to  liberty, 
was  particularly  pointed  and  energetic  in  the  praise  of  reasoning 
from  precedent/«*-He  cited  Lord  Chief-justice  Lee,  who,  what^ 
ever  apparent  force  might  lie  in  general  reasoning  on  any  cas(^ 
before  him,  used  always  to  call  for  a  case. — Show  me  a  case,  was 
bis  constant  language,  said  the  noble  Lord.— We  can  nowhere 
perhaps,  with  niore  propriety,  apply  the  words  of  the  Roman,-^ 
H^Bc  non  contemnenae  majores  nostri,  hanc  rennpublicam  magnank 
feeerunt. 

That  many  o^  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  which  are  now 
ghennp,  as  indisputable  invasions  of  the  rights  of  the  People,  are 

rally  supp&rtea  by  precedent  ^^-^amung  others,  Ship-money^  and 
right  oppressing  Landmen* 
With  respect  to  Ship-money,  the  answer  has  been  already  given. 
As  to  pressmg  Landmen ;  it  might  (I  am  not  a  little  certain)  be 
shown,  that  it  is  not  as  much  supported  by  precedent  as  that  of 
pressing  Seamen. — Perhaps  its  expediency  and  necessity  cannot  be 
urged. — But  not  to  intangle  ourselves  in  unnecessary  disquisitions, 
as  a  decbive  answer  to  every  objection  of  this  nature,  we  shall 


228        On  the  Legality  of  Impressing  Sedmen.  [4 

only  say^  That,  if  the  argument  in  favor  of  any  prerogative  be  as 
strong  as  the  argument  for. the  impressing  of  Seamen,  and  equally 
free  from  objection ;  the  Crown^  the  Lords^  the  Commons,  the 
Body  Corporate,  or  the  Individual  to  whom  the  prerogative  belongs^ 
have  a  legal  right  to  the^  exercise  of  it ;  a  legal  right  to  carry  it  into 
execution ;  and  a  legal  remedy,  if  witheld  from  it. 

It  is  a  party  pamphlet. 

This  the  author  most  solemnly  disclaims  ;  nor  can  he  well  con- 
ceive which  party  can  raise  the  objection.  Certainly  that  party 
which  makes  a  merit  of  the  writings  of  Junius,  of  the  ministry  of 
the  Earl  of  Chatham,  or  of  the  Whig  ministers  of  King  William, 
cannot  with  justice  find  fault  with  a  cool  discussion  of  a  practice, 
defended  by  the  first,  and  exercised  by  the  two  last  of  these  respect^ 
able  characters;  especially,  as  the  author  only  defends  it  as  con- 
sonant to,  and  warranted  by,  the  principles  of  liberty,  and  the  con- 
9titutions  of  a  free  state. — Surely  the  author,  if  mistaken,  has  the 
sanction  of  very  respectable  names  to  extenuate  his  error.  If  in 
the  work  there  be  found  any  thing  of  a  tendency  to  impugn  the 
political  principles  of  the  constitution,  as  settled  at  the  Revolution^ 
the  author  hopes  the  candour  of  the  reader  will  attribute  it  to 
any  thing  but  design.  .      i 

On  this  head  he  also  begs  leave  to  add,  that  no  individual  in 
the  kingdom,  be  his  love  of  liberty  ever  so  great,^  can  be  more 
fearful  of  conveying  even  an  insinuation  against  the  principles  of 
political  freedom,  or  have  stronger  motives  for  his  fear,  than  the 
author  of  these  sheets. 

He  also  hopes,  that,  when  these  sheets  are  candidly  perused^ 
something  will  abate  of  the  general  prejudice  against  the  practice  in 
question.  He  hopes  the  Seaman  will  learn, to  think,  serving  in  tht 
Royal  Navy  is,  at  least,  equal  to  service  in  merchant-ships. .  JHe 
hopes  the  intemperate,  and  inqonsiderate  speeches,  used  to  paint 
the  hardship  of  the  impress  of  seamen,  will  not  be  so  often 
heard :  and  th^t  those  who  continue  to  object  to  it,,  instead 
of  losing  themselves  in  fruitless  declamation  against  itS;  supposed 
miquity,  will  use  a  more  solid  style  of  discourse;  wiji  attempl,  by 
plain  argument,  to  prove  one  of  the  following  points: — ^Tbatit  is 
9  greater  hardship  than  the  lower  ranks  of  mankind  always  haviet 
bore,  and  always  will  bear ;— that  it  is  unsupported  by  the  practice 
of  the  most  celebrated  statesT  of  antiquity ; — that  it  is  unexpedienl^ 
• — because,  since  it  has  been  in  use,  the  Navy  has  mouldered  to 
liotbing ; — that  it  is  unnecessary, — because  a  better  mode  might  bib 
ac^opted ;— -that  it  is  unconstitutional, — because  no  persons  ;u'e  .by: 
the  constitution  compelled  to  public  duty  against  their  will  ;- 
that  it  is  illegal^ — because  it  is  supported  by  no  precedents !  ^ 


"•  r' 


ON 


THE  LEGALITY 


OF 


IMPRESSING  SEAMEN. 


SECTION  l.—Introductvm. 


[Little  hitherto  written,  or  said,  on  the  subject  treated  in  tliese  sheets.] 

fT  HO  EVER  considers  the  freedom  of  popular  debate  in  this  coun- 
try^ and  the  eagerness  with  which  it  occupies  every  topic  of  politi- 
cal investigation,  cannot  but  be  greatly  surprised,  that  the  subject 
of  the  following  sheets  has  hitherto  so  little  engaged  the  attention 
of  the  public.  To  the  writer,  it  opens  an  enquiry^  in  which  he  has 
tbcv  widest  field  to  display  the  extent  of  his  researches,  to  make 
iiktm  useful  to  his  country,  and  to  recommend  himself  to  public 
favor.  To  the  orator,  it  presents  the  choicest  topics  of  popular 
declamation^  and  the  fairest  matter  to  offer  to  the  understanding,  or 
to  engage  the  passions  of  his  audience.  The  time  and  place  to  in- 
troduce it  properly  obtrude  themselves,  for  ever,  on  the  view. — -By 
what  fatality  then  has  it  happened,  that  it  is  difficult  to  mention  any 
point  of  political  enquiry  which  has  so  little  employed  either  the 
speakers  or  the  writers  of  this  country  i 

[Reason  of  its  being  so  mach  overlooked.] 

Two  causes  may  be  assigned  for  this  neglect.  The  difficulty  of 
«tfae  subject,  whichever  side  of  the  question  we  embrace,  is  not  in- 
cdDsiderable.  However  clear  the  argument  for  the  legality  of  im- 
pressing seamen  may  appear,  to  the  cool  eye  of  the  understanding, 
there  is  something  in  the  mode  in  which  it  is  carried  on,  at  which 
an  Englishman  revolts.  On  the  other  side ;  however  our  feelings 
may  plead  for  the  illegality  of  the  procedure,  and  prejudice  us 
against  every  argument  offered  in  its  favor,  yet  their  influence  im- 
mediately abates,  when  one  simple  question  is  asked,  how  would 
you  otherwise  man  ouv  fleet  ? — The  other  cause  is  equally  obvious  ; 


230  Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  an  the  [6 

''  It  is  (to  use  the  words  of  the  only  Mrriter  against  the  legality  of 
the  impressing  seamen^  whom  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  meet  with, 
and  who  seems  a  very  sturdy  patriot)  because  the  redress  of  their 
grievances  unfortunately  gives  our  leading  patriots  no  chance  for 
ministerial  elevation ;  for,  if  it  had,  (says  the  writer)  these  candi- 
dates for  preferment  might  have  chosen  a  thesis  to  declaim  upon, 
which  would  probably  have  been  more  grateful  to  the  public,  than 
their  endless  harangues  on  Sir  James  Lowther's  grant;''  the  favorite 
subject  of  public  oratory  at  the  time  the  pamphlet  in  question  was 
published.' 

[Inquired  into  in  the  latt  Session  of  Parliament.] 

In  the  course  of  the  last  session  of  Parliament,  the  honorable 
Temple  Luttrelt  inoved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the  more 
easy  and  effectual  manning  of  the  fleet.  The  honorable  gentleman 
prefaced  his  motion  by  a  long  speech^  in  which  he  stated  at  large 
the  inconveniences  attending  the  present  mode  of  manning  the  fleet, 
and  supported  his  arguments  by  the  concuning  testimonies  of 
many  gentlemen,  chiefly  of  the  naval  profession* — He  particularly 
instanced  many  hardships,  and  even  cruelties,  exercised  on  seamen, 
by  virtue,  and  in  consequence,  of  press-warrants. 

I^ird  Mulgrave  replied  to  him  at  large.  His  Lordship  vfgaJBA 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  measure.  He  asserted  it  was  conatitutiona), 
expedient,  and  fully  adequate  to  produce  its  end.  That  it  was  at* 
tended  with  no  more  inconvenience  than  is  necessarily  incident  to 
every  human  institution.  He  denied  that  it  was  productive  of  the 
hardships,  and  cruelties  attributed  to  it  by  Mr.  Luttrell.  The 
question  was  put,  and  the  house  divided,  for  the  Ayes,  54 ;  for  the 
Noes,  lOB. 

Since  thisi  the  honorable  Gentlemaii  who  was  the  mover  of  the 
question,  has  favored  me  with  a  long  conversation  on  this  subject, 
and  was  pleased  to  let  me  have  the  reading  of  an  account  of  the 
debate,  and  his  intended  Bill,  printed  immediately  under  his  inspee^ 
tion.  He  waa  also  pleased  to  hear  from  me  the  heads  of  the 
following  sheets.  The  difference  in  our  sentiments  waa  not  so 
^reat  as  might  have  been  expected.  We  agree  in  the  main,  and 
indeed  the  only  point  which  these  sheets  were  written  to  establish, 
viz,  Tftat  after  every  inducement  is  held  out  to  the  seaman,  to 
Tnake  him  inlist  himself  voluntarily  into  the  service,  there  must  be, 
ultimately,  some  mode  of  compulsion,  to  produce  the  desired  tffect 
of  manning  the  Jteet. 

SECTION  II The  State  of  the  Question. 

The  reader  will  please  to  consider,  what  the  question  before  us 

'  The  Rights  of  the  Sailors  vindicated,  page  4.  Kearsljf. 


7]  ,  l4gelihf  of  Impressing  Seamen.  2S1 

is ;  and  to  what  it  extends.-^ We  do  not  pretend  to  consider  aiqf 
right  which  Government  may  claim,  to  press  men  into  the  land- 
service  ;  or  its  right  to  press  into  the  sea-service^  others  than 
seamen. — ^Tlie  sole  object  of  the  present  enquiry  is,  the  right  of  th« 
British  Government  to  impress  seamen  into  the  sea-service. — ^The 
order  in  which  we  shall  treat  the  question  is  as  follows. 

[Manner  of  treating  the  aubjecU-^First  Point.] 

Thoo^  we  entirely  agree  with  those  who  think  slightly  of  the 
use  of  metaphysical  enquiries  on  the  nature  and  first  principles  of 
government  i  yet,  on  the  present  occasion,  we  cannot,  by  any  proper 
means,  entirely  discard  them.  The  objection  most  obvious  to  the 
minds  of  the  generality  of  mankind,  and  most  frequently  used  in 
conversation,  is  the  extreme  hardship  which  the  measure  in  dispute 
brings  on  one  particular  set  of  men,  exclusive  of  the  other  ranks  of 
life.  This  inequality  df  condition  appears,  to  many,  so  convincing 
an  argument  of  the  iniquity  of  the  measure,  whieh,  they  suppose^ 
produces  it,  as  to  be,  of  itself,  sufficient  to  preclude  all  farther 
reasoning.  The  fact,  say  they,  is  certain.  You  cannot  deny  that 
the  impress  necessarily  involves  one  part  of  the  state  in  a  scene  of 
extreme  calamity  and  distress.  While  you  and  the  greater  part  <rf 
the  nation  are  allowed  to  pursue  the  ordinary  occupations  and 
amusements  of  life,  a  very  numerous,  and  perhaps  the  most  valu- 
able part  of  the  community,  is  exposed  to  be  torn  from  their  fami- 
lies and  friends,  and  irretrievably  fixed  in  a  state  of  continual 
hardship  and  danger. 

To  meet  this  objection  fully,  it  seemed  necessary  to  resort  to  the 
origin,  and  to  expose  the  causes,  of  the  inequality  complained  of. 
We  shall  attempt  to  show,  that  an  inequality  of  rank  is  inseparable 
from  society ;  that,  in  the  distribution  of  the  duties  of  society,  those 
which  are  the  offensive  and  disagreeable  public  duties,  (among 
which  we  reckon  personal  service  in  the  armies  and  navies  of  the 
state,)  must  fall  to  the  lot  of  that  part  of  mankind  which  fills  the 
lower  ranks  of  life ;  that  this  mode  of  distribution,  howsoever  hard 
or  unjust  it  may  appear  to  the  human  eye,  is  necessarily  incident 
to  society  in  all  its  states ;  and  that  it  is,  in  some  degree,  corrected 
by  government,  though  a  necessary  attendant  on  all  governments. 

[Second  Point.] 

In  the  subsequent  section,  the  third  of  this  little  work,  1  shaiU 
attempt  to  show,  that  the  imprisss  of  seamen  is  a  measure  of  neces- 
irity.and  expediency,  justifiable  on  both,  and  on  either,  of  these 
principles ;  and  that,  m  the  advanced  state  of  government,  which 
the  British  nation  has  reached,  personal  service  neither  is  nor  ought 
lo  be,  nor  can  be,  the  duty  of  every  citizen, 

[Thiid  Point,] 

In  the  fifth  section,  X  show,  by  the  examples  of  some  of  the 


282  Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sand  wicb,  on  the         [8 

i^incipal  states  mentioned  in  history,  whose  constitution  approaches 
n^rest  to  ours,  that  an  impress  is  both  expedient  and  necessary,  to 
fill  the  arn^ies  and  navies  of  our  state ;  and  that  the  obligation  of 
l^ersonal  service  has  in  every  state,  as  soon  as  it  hfts  reached  that 
degree  of  refinement  which  the  British  state  has  now  attained,  ftdlen 
on  the  lower  rank  of  life. 

[Fourth  Point.] 

"i  In  the  sixtli  and  last  section,  I  shall  attempt  to  prove,  that  Hn  im- 
press of  seamen  is  congenial  with  this  part  of  the  constitution,  that 
it  is  apart  of 'the  common  law^  and  often  recognised  in  the  statute* 
law  of  this  realm. 

.    [The  subject  of  these  sheets  excellently  discussed  by  Mr.  Justice  Foster.] 

In  the  year  1743,  one  Alexander  Broadfoot  was  indicted  for  the 
murder  of  Cornelius  Calahan,  a  sailor  belonging  to  his  Majesty's 
ahip  the  Mortar-sloop.  The  cause  came  to  be  tried  before  Mr. 
Justice  Foster,  then  ^erjeant  and  recorder  of  Bristol,  afterwards 
deservedly  advanced  to  be  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench.  The  case  was,  that  the  commander  of  the  Mortar-sloop 
had  a  warrant,  directed  from  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  to  impress 
seamen  for  his  Majesty's  service.  Calahan  was  one  of  the  crew 
belonging  to  the  sloop ;  and,  attempting  to  impress  Broadfoot  by 
virtue  of  the  warranty  was  by  him  shot  dead  on  the  spot.— ^But  it 
appearing  that  the  terms  of  the  captain's  warrant,  under  which  this 
impress  was  attempted,  had  not  been  complied  with,  the  recorder 
directed  the  jury  to  find  Broadfoot  guilty  of  manslaughter.  The 
case  before  him  not  coming  under  the  general  merits  of  the  ques- 
tion, he  might  have  declined  entering  into  it,  had  he  thought  proper 
so  to  do.  But,  from  motives  of  humanity,  and  a  desire  of  serving 
the  community^  and  preventing  future  ills,  he  entered  into  a  very 
nice  and  a  very  learned  discussion  of  the  question.  He  supported 
his  opinion  for  the  legality  of  the  impress  in  a  most  able  manner. 
His  argument,  on  this  case,  is  printed  with  his  other  excellent  and 
Valuable  works.  His  nephew  has  lately  favored  the  public  with  a 
new  and  correct  edition  of  them,  illustrated  with  many  references^ 
and  some  useful  additions. 

SECTION  HI. — It  is  a  right  i?iherent  in  the  Government  of 
every  civil  society y  to  employ  particular  members  of  it  in  every 
service^  hoveever  hard  or  dangerous,  which  the  public  utility  of 
the  society  requires. 

[General  Society  .-^Civil  or  Political  Society  .^Government.] 

Society,  generally  considered,  ia  the  institution  of  nature,  or  an 
immediate-conseqirence  of  those  principfes  and  affections^  which 
we  are  by  nature  formed  to  receive.     Civil  society  is  the  institution 


9]  I^gatUy  of  Impressing  Seamert.  235 

of  mankmd^  already  united  in  general  society ;  wben  the  system  of 
general  society  is  dissolved,  and  particular  or  civil  societies  esta- 
blished. Government  implies  that  state  of  mankind,  in  which 
these  societies  are  regulated  by  certain  orders  or  la\YS,  introduced 
by  custom,  or  established  by  agreement. 

[How  Governmeiit  is  first  formed.] 

Man,  in  a  state  of  nature,  enjoys  independence  and  liberty. 
Somethmg  of  this  independence  and  liberty  he  gives  up,  Srhen  he 
enters  the  state  of  general  society  :  Something  more  he  gives  np, 
when  he  enters  the  state  of  civil  society;  and  something  more 
be  still  gives  up,  when  he  receives  the  establishment  of  govern^ 
inent.  in  return,  he  gains,  in  the  first  Tnstance^  the  general  pro- 
tection of  the  whole  body,  against  those  who  trespass  on  bis  par- 
ticular rights,  in  the  secbnd,  he  gains  this  protection,  not  only 
against  those  of  his  own  society,  but  also  against  all  other  socie^^ 
ties.  In  the  third,  this  protection  being  more  or  less  reduced  to 
system,  he  gains  a  more  easy  and  more  effectual  use  of  it. 

[Its  end. — ^The  doty  <rf  the  Governed.] 

The  forms  of  government  are  as  various  as  the  circumstances 
and  revolutions  of  human  affairs.  They  all,  however,  agree  in  this, 
that  in  all  of  them  there  is  somewhere  lodged  a  supreme  authority, 
in  whom  a  right  of  governing  the  whole  society  is  vested: — More- 
bver,  they  are  all  established  to  produce  the  same  end ;  the  good 
of  the  whole  society.  This  is  the  foundation^  and  these  the  essen- 
tial principles,  of  every  society  and  government.  To  give  them 
force  and  execution,  every  member  is  obliged  to  contribute,  by 
performing  every  action,  and  by  receiving  every  restraint,  that  the 
call  of  society  or  government  orders.  He  is  to  sacrifice  conve- 
nience, comfort,  life  itself,  if  the  welfare  of  the  whole  body  re- 
quire it. 

I  apprehend,  nothing  of  what  i  have  hitherto  said  will  be  con- 
troverted. 1  alldw,  that  the  utility  of  all  is  the  foundation  of  every 
society  and  government,  and  the  principle  by  which  the  justice  of 
its  operations  is  to  be  tried.  It  follows,  of  course,  that  the  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages  of  government  should  be  equally  felt 
by  all. 

[Objection  against  pressing,  from  the  great  hardships  it  brings  on  one  par- 
ticular body  of  men,  from  -which  the  rest  of  the  community  are  exempt.] 

How  then,  it  is  objected,  is  this  system  of  universal  equality 
consistent  with  that  operation  of  law,  the  legality  of  which  you  are 
contending  for?  That  while  the  greater  part  of  the  nation  con- 
tinue in  the  peaceable  possession  of  all  their  enjoyments,  a  part  of 
them  is  liable  to  be  torn  away  from  their  families  and  occupations, 
to  be  fixed  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  hardships,  and  exposed  to  con* 
stant  dangers. 


23A         Mr.  Botkr,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  imJhe         [10 

[Amwer*    llbb  ObjcctioB  lief  equally  i^qit  all  institntient  of  gevem- 
ment,] 

The  answer  to  this  otnection  is^  in  brief,  as  follows^— Tiie 
measure  here  complained  of  cannot  be  censured,  because  it  b  tb^ 
nature  of  every  operation  of  government,  eveti  of  such  as  are  inpst 
salutary  and  beneficial,  to  occasion  inconvenience  and  hardship  to 
particulars.  Therefore,  to  assert  that  any  law  is  in  itself  vicious, 
jaod  calls  for  immediate  repeal,  merely  because  a  particular  body  of 
men  are  prejudiced  by  it,  is  to  offer  an  objection  whict|Ue<  ei^ually 
against  every  establishment  of  bumao  institution  i  and  therefore 
proves  nothing  against  any  one  of  thepi. 

.  The  question  now  before  us  does  iiot  take  in  the  utility,  .tJipt- 
Jiency,  necessity,  or  legality  of  the  mefisure.*— TTiefe  are  sepanOe 
luticles,  and  wiU  be  treated  separately  bereaft^.*r  At.  present,  ^e 
x>nly  consider  the  measure  with,  respect  to  the  objection  noised 
against  it,  from  its  only  affecting  a  particular  body  of  the  state. 

To  this  objection  the  short  answer  alfeady  made,  may  perhap 
be  sufficient ;  but,  to  give  it  a  more  complete  reply,  it  may  be 
proper  to  consider  attentively,  the  cause  of  that  inequality  of  men 
4o  which  this  circumstance  complained  of  is  owing. 

[farther  Answer.    From  the  nature  qi  the  inequality  of  mankind,] 

The  hardship  here  mentioned  arises  from  ttie  inequality  of  mao- 
Jkind.  This  inequality  is  not  owing  to  government,  but  is  an  im^ 
jnediate  consequence  of  that  system  of  things,  by  which  the  great 
Author  of  Nature  decreed  all  his  works  should,  to  the  contracted 
views  of  men,  appear  regulated.  One  of  the  means  by  whicli 
government  tries  to  produce  its  great  end,  of  working  the  good  of 
.the  whole,  is  by  separating  the  artificial  inequality  which  the  pas- 
sions of  men  have  established,  from  the  inequality  into  which,  by 
the  immediate  band  of  Nature,  they  are  framed  to  resolve. 

Therefore  to  impute  to  government  an  inequality  in  its  distribution 
of  advantages  and  disadvantages,  is  to  charge  it  with  what  cannot, 
with  any  justice,  be  attributed  to  it.  It  is  to  be  attributed  to  that 
inequality  of  rank  which  always  has  prevailed,  and  always  must 
prevail  amongst  men.  It  is  the  decree  of  Nature  that  it  should  be 
so.  The  more  skilful,  perhaps  the  more  presumptuous,  may  pur- 
sue their  enquiries  higher,  and  argue  on  its  propriety ; — I  take  it 
for  granted  it  is  just.' 

V 
'  I  am  happy  to  find  that  Doctor  Price,  whose  publications  no  one  can 
snspect  of  carrying  the  prerogatives  of  government  too  far,  has  laid  dowA 
the  doctrine  I  am  here  endeavoring  to  establish,  in  the  most  express  terips. 
.^«  Free  governments  (says  he)  are  the  only  governments  consistent  with 
the  natural  equality  of  mankind.  This  is  a  prmciple  which,  in  my  opinion, 
bias  been  assumed  with  the  greatest  reason,  by  some  of  the  best  writers  on 
government.    But  the  meaumg  of  it  is  not,  that  all  the  subordinations  in 


1 13  Legality  of  Inqiressmg  Seamen.  236 

[Ineqaalitj  of  mok  prevailed  J 

The  fact  however  is  certain.  It  is  difficult  tp  point  out  tlie  na- 
tion^ however  rude  and  uncivilised,  in  which  this  inequality  has  not 
existed.  The  German  leader,  hy  bis  acknowleged  superiority  of 
bloody  and  the  crowd  of  emulous  warriors  6gbting  under  his  stand- 
ard, was  not  less  a  subject  of  envy  to  his  fellow  native  of  a  meaner 
rank,  or  considered  by  nim  to  possess  less  enviable  advantages,  than 
the  man  of  high  life  is  now  thought  to  possess  by  him,  who  scarce 
earns  a  daily  subsistence  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.^ 

[and  was  sererely  felt,  in  the  earliest  states  of  society.] 

Every  distinction  of  rank,  and  every  difference  in  the  share  of 
honor  and  hardships,  that  this  situation  gave  to  one  man  over  ano- 
ther, was  as  nicely  discriminated,  and  as  sensibly  felt,  in  that  state 
of  society,  as  the  more  refined  distinctions  and  differences  are  fek 
in  the  present.  If  the  arts  of  luxury,  and  the  elegancies  of  polished 
life,  now  fall  to  the  share  of  the  few,  while  the  many  can  scarcely 
earn  a  subsistence  at  the  price  of  a  thousand  hardships  and  dangers; 
the  splendor  of  superior  blood,  the  right  of  primogeniture,  the  glory 
of  being  the  prince  of  a  numerous  band  of  warriors,  the  distinction 
of  having  the  foremost  rank  at  national  feasts,  the  choice  of  tha 
spoil :  in  short,  all  that  in  those  times  made  the  object  of  the  am* 
bition  and  delight  of  the  human  mind,  was  then  shared  in  as  equal 
disproportion  among  the  race  of  men  as  it  is  now.  If  we  are  not 
sensible  of  this,  it  is  because  we  estimate  the  simple  and  almost 
natural  manners  of  those  times,  by  the  refined  and  artificial  feelings 
of  the  present 

[Causes  of  this  Inequality.] 

I  should  beg  the  reader's  pardon,  for  leading  him  into  this  path 
of  subtlety.  It  seemed  to  me  necessary,  in  order  to  give  a  satis* 
factory  answer  to  the  above  objection. 

All  inequality  of  rank  is  founded  on  this.  That  one  man  pos- 
sesses a  larger  share  than  the  rest,  or  has  better  means  than  they 
have,  of  acquiring  that,  which  all  equally  seek  after*    Hence  those 

human  life  owe  their  existence  to  the  institution  of  human  government. 
The  superioriiies  and  diUinctiotu  anting  from  the  rehUon  ofparenis  to  their 
children^  from  the  difference  in  the  personal  qualities  and  (Abilities  of  men,  and 
from  the  servitudes  founded  on  voluntary  ccmpojcts,  must  have  existed  in  a  state  if 
nature  J*    8ee  Additional  Observations,  &c.  p.  30. 

*  This  is  described  with  great  accuracy,  in  the  famous  speech  of  Sarpedon 
to  Glaucus,  in  Homer.    II.  xii.  3  to. 

rxavtcc>  rhi  tk  pSS  reri/u.4ucffOa  udX^frTa 
'Edpp  rf.  Kp4furi¥  rtf  U^  wXtlots  ocir^crcriy, 
*Ev  kwcvp  ;  iriin^s  S^,  Seot/s  &5,  (Iffopdtftri ; 
^  O  Glaucus,  why  are  we  so  abundantly  covered  with  honors  in  Lycia  f 

Why  have  we  there  the  first  seats,  choice  gf  food,  and  large  gobleta?  and  all 

look  on  us,  there,  as  gods?" 


236         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwicb,  on  the  [12 

^ho  cannot  procure  this  object  of  their  desire,  without  his  4eavcivOr 
assistance,  depend  upon  him  for  it ;  and  the  measure  of  their  de-. 
pendance  is  in  proportion  as  bis  leave  or  assistance  i^  necessary  to 
(hem.  Superiority  of  understanding  must,  in  every  statQ  of  man- 
kind, give  him  who  enjoys  it  an  advantage  over  his  inferiors.  Su- 
periority of  bodily  force,  in  the  early  ages  of  mankind,  was  another 
source  of  advantage,  lliese  being  often  exercised  with  injustice 
arid  cruelty,  it  was  found  necessary,  for  the  public  utility  and  con- 
venience of  mankind^  that  there  should,  somewhere,  be  lodged  a 
power  to  protect  the  weak  from  the  oppressions  of  the  strong. 

[It  has  its  origiD  in  nature ; — nowise  imputable  to  government  ;~H:Qrfecled 
in  some  measure  by  it ;  but  not  to  be  entirely  remored.] 

Though  government  and  law  take  no  notice  of  the  inequality, 
and  admit  not  of  the  distinction  between  the  wealthy  and  the  poor, 
which  is  now  so  strongly  seen ;  though  the  actions  they  prescribe, 
and  the  restraints  they  impose,  are  held  out  equally  to  both ;  yet 
the  situation  of  human  things  is  such,  that  this  inequality  will  al- 
ways take  place,  and  the  upper  class  of  mankind  will  seem  privileged 
at  the  expence  of  the  lower.  Law  respects  not  individuals ;  but  as 
it  cannot  reduce  to  a  plane  the  inequality  in  which  it  finds  us,  it 
ought  not  to  be  blamed,  because  its  operations  are  seemingly  more 
severely  felt  by  one  part  of  society  than  by  the  other.  It  is  a  mis* 
take  to  think  that  this  distinction,  in  the  labors  of  the  day^  which 
the  institutions  of  government  appear  to  make,  is  an  effect  or  ope- 
«ration  of  government :  It  is  coeval  with  it,  but  it  is  not  the  effect  of 
it.  It  is  the  consequence  of  that  previous  inequality  in  which  Nature, 
when  she  created  us,jneant  us  to  stand ;  in  which  Government,  on 
its  first  establishment,  found  us  placed.  One  of  the  ends  of  go- 
vernment and  law,  is  to  remove  its  incoilveniences ;  but  to  attempt 
to  remove  it  entirely,  is  the  wildest  project  that  the  human  mind 
can  conceive  ;  and,  perhaps,  of  all  the  visionary  Jspeculations  that 
enter  a  projector's  brain,  by  far  the  most  impracticable. 

[Theiefore  no  establishment  is  faulty  merely  because  it  imposes  a  burthen, 
the  weight  of  which  immediately  falls  on  the  lower  ranks  of  life.] 

I  apprehend  that  what  is  here  said,  on  the  causes  of  the  inequal- 
ity of  mankind,  is  sufficient  to  obviate  any  objection  that  can  be 
made  to  the  justice  or  propriety  of  any  institution  of  government, 
because,  in  the  present  system  of  things,  it  seems  to  impose  on  the 
lower  rank  of  subjects  a  task  of  hardship  and  danger^  from  which 
those  of  higher  rank  seem  entirely  exempted.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say,  that  the  government  of  any  society  has  a  privilege  of  spreading 
this  system  of  inequality,  farther  than  the  nature  or  course  of  things 
makes  necessary.  I  only  contend,  that  it  is  a  necessary  and  un- 
avoidable effect  of  the  system  of  human  nature,  that  the  advantages 


13]         On  the  Legality  of  Mpressing  Seamen.  237 

and  dis^dfantages  of  all  homan  institutions  should  be  unequally 
felt.  Gonsequently^when  we  object  to  any  institution,  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  show,  that  it  has  this  inequality  in  its  operations^  but  it 
i»  also  necessary  to  prove  that  this  inequality  is  greater  than  the 
course  of  human  things  makes  necessary,  and  might  be  remedied 
by  other  institutions.  .  i 

^|Thi8  PoiBt  further  illatttrated.}  '  » 

.  To  apply  .what  has  been  said  to  the  question .  before  us : — Let 
U8  suppose  a  state  of  society  in  which  all  mankind  are  equal  in 
every  r^pect ;  that  the  aggr^ate  body  of  the  people  delegate,  to 
a  few,,  power  to  enact  laws  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  Any  ex- 
ercise of  this  power,  by  which  on^  particular  set  of  men  6houI4 
be  placed  in  a  situation  similar  to  that  in  which  seamen  are  placed 
by  the  impress-warrants,  would  be  (in  my  humble  opinion)  a  nud^ 
execution  of  the  trust :  For  no  reason  could  be  given,  no  state-ner 
c^ssity  pleaded,  for  such  a  partial  operation.  Though,,  even  in 
this  supposed  state  of  society,  some  inequality  must  take  place,  ye^ 
it  is  by  no  means  either  necessary  or  expedient  that  it  should  be 
so  ffreat 

If  we  continue  to  trace  the  state  of  society,  we  shall  find  thaf 
the  inequality  of  rank  will  inevitably  be  greater,  and  more  sensibly 
felt,  in  proportion  as  the  society  advances  in  refinement.  Perhaps 
the  first  advances  of  such  a  state  may  be  in  the  article  of  militarjf 
discipline.  This,  at  once,  introduces  a  system  of  the.greaCbst  ine^ 
<|uality.  The  system  of  human  things  admits  not  a  more  striking 
instance  of  the  unequal  condition  of  the  ranks  of  men,. nor  is  it 
possible,  I  believe,  to  conceive  two  greater  extremes,  than  the  situa-. 
tion  of  a  general  and  that  of  a  private  soldier.  The  former  is  sui^ 
rounded  with  every  allurement  to  pleasure,  and  every  incitement  tq 
virtue ;  is  hourly  solicited  by  every  passion  which  the  human  min4 
wishes  to  gratify ;  by  every  delight  the  human  frame  seeks  to  en^- 
joy  ;  and  by  every  virtue  which  humanity  can  attain ; — while  the 
soldier  thinks  himself  uncommonly  fortunate,  if  he  be  supplied  with 
a  tolerable  portion  of  the  most  ordinary  nourishment ;  if  his  daily 
labour  exceed  not  the  utmost  of  his  strength ;  and  if,  at  night,  a 
small  quantity  of  clean  straw  be  given  him  to  put  under  his  weary, 
limbs.  If  a  general  have  but  an  ordinary  share  of  talents  and  vir- 
tue, he  is  certain  that  the  slightest  display  of  them  will  be  splen- 
didly rewarded ;  while  there  is  not  a  day  in  which  the  soldier  doea 
not  exercise  some  or  other  of  the  most  useful  virtues,  if  not  always 
unknown,  at  least  almost  always  unnoticed,  and  consequently  unre-^ 
warded. 

Here  then  we  find,  in  a  very  early  state  of  society,  the  two  most, 
distant  points  of  inequality  in  the  race  of  men.     Yet,  I  belie ve| 


238        Mn  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwid),  on  tki         [14 

Aere  are  few :  jiersont  so  exceedingly  visionary  as  to  say^ifaata 
consideration  of  this  inequality  should  induce  a  sovereign  (however 
virtadus  and  humane)  to  disband  his  armies :  And  if  reasons  ct 
state  be  allowed  to  have  weight  thus  far,  what  is  there  to  keep  as 
from  allowing  them  one  degree  farther;  and  from  granting  thati  as 
no  argument  can  prove  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  good  sovere^n  to 
disband  the  armies  of  a  state,  from  a  view  of  the  hardships  of  the 
common  soldier,  so  no  argument  can  prove,  that  the  sovereign  of 
ft  state  hasl  not  a  right  to  compel  any  individual,  or  any  particular 
rank  of  individuals,  into  the  service,  because  the  persons  so  com- 
pelled suffer  hardships  from  which  others,  in  the  same  state,  are  ex- 
empted. 

The  same  argument,  which  is  thus  offered  against  the  legality  of 
the  impress,  equally  lies  against  every  other  instance  of  inequality, 
that  a  state  of  government  must  always  bear.  It  equally  lies 
against  all  unequal  distributions  of  ranks,  of  property,  of  places,  of 
honour,  and  of  trust.  Nay,  it  equally  lies  against  the  very  existence 
both  of  property  and  government ;  the  very  meaning  of  which  wordid 
implies  a  prerogative  enjoyed  by  some  members  of  the  commu- 
nity, exclusive  of  the  rest. 

To  conclttde^^^In  the  present  advanced  state  of  society,  we  cer- 
tainly are  not  to  form  our  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  or  to  argue  on 
the  propriety  or  legality  of  any  measure,  from  a  view  of  what,  in  a 
State  of  nature,  or  in  the  earliest  state  of  society,  would  be,  according 
to  our  apprehensions,  the  Mtuation  of  things,  and  the  particular  righiu 
enjoyed  by  individuals. — Speculations  of  this  kind,  however  agreed 
atne  to  the  imagination,  can  never  satisfy  the  understanding; — ^j 
fiiay  delude,  but  can  never  convince,  in  the  hands  of  the  visioniity.' 
or  of  the  designing  part  of  mankind,  they  are  powerful  engined  m 
establish  systems,  or  to  raise  discontents;  but  it  will  be  difficult  to 
prove,  that  we  are  indebted  to  them  for  one  good  law,  or  for  one 
useful  establishment.  The  only  topic  of  real  argument  rs,  whether 
die  law  or  usage  complained  of  can  be  anywise  altered  for  a  bett^t'; 
smd  whether  the  alteration  proposed  is  such  as  the  general  system 
of  government  admits.  A  general  change  in  the  established  form 
of  government  will  never  be  proposed  in  argument  by  the  rational 
part  of  mankind ;  and  no  measure,  which  presupposes  such  a 
change  or  alteration,  or  which  cannot  be  carried  into  execution 
without  it,  though  it  may  be  proposed  by  the  artful,  or  attedded  to 
by  the  weak,  will  have  the  attention,— -still  less  the  approbati6n,.of 
tbemtelligent. 

Equality  of  mankind  may  be  reckoned  foremost  among  these 
speculative  subjects. — It  affords  room  for  a  very  ostentatious  dis- 
play', of  dignity  of  mind,  of  humanity,  and  of  every  odier  senti- 


15]  On  thejtegabtjf  of  Impressing  SeftmeHi         239 

nieiiti  which  it  iv  bonontble  Id  poesess.-^Bnti  ^t  bono  9  what 
cooclitsion,  wfant  mefut  influence  foUowsf—^None  atall.*^lfwe 
Me  bom  equal^  we  are  born  to  be  unequal. 

SECTION  IV.— 7f  is  necessary  and  expedient^  to  the  Brithik 
Qcvemtnent  to  impress  Seamen  for  the  Pnbiic  Service. 

[The  WeMue,  and  trea  the  Edsteiioe  of  fbb  imtiony  depend  on  ki  naval 
pioiperity.}  ^^  / 

The  strength,  and  even  the  existence  of  England,  as  a  nation  ; 
its  wealth,  power,  and  happiness ;  its  importance  in  the  aiFairs  of 
kingdoms;  its  domestic  welfare,  and  its  security  from  foreign  eno* 
mies,  depend  entirely  on  its  navy.  Whether  we  view  its  domestic 
policy,  or  the  part  it  assumes  in  the  affairs  of  other  nations^  it 
clearly  is  a  naval  power.  Many  other  causes  may  advance  its 
greatness,  or  urge  its  fall ;  but  while  it  maintains  its  naval  strength, 
though  it  may  be  weakeoedy  it  will  not  be  conquered  ;  and  though 
il  may  be  nMich  distressed,  it  will  never  be  quite  subdued:  It  is, 
therefore,  the  first  duty  of  government  to  provide  for  its  naval  es* 
tBhiithmmdp  and  the  first  duty  of  the  governed,  to  discluirge  the 
obligations  imposed  upon  them  oo  this  account. 

[Our  Naval  Concerns  have  (he  first  olwm  to  the  attention  of  Government.] 

Though  the  wisdom  of  government  will  extend  to  every  point 
vhicfa  demands  its  attention,  and  will  effectually  regulate  all  by  pro? 
per  and  just  provisions,  yet  certainly  our  naval  concerns  have  a 
cJiaVQ  to  its  first  cares ;  and,  in  case  of  any  competition  of  objectSj^ 
have  the  right  of  preference  over  all  other  concerns.  No  private 
interest,  no  public  establishment,  should  ever  be  allowed  to  stand  a 
moment,  against  our  naval  requisitions.  Their  wants  must  be  firs^ 
aoawered,  their  demands  first  satisfied. 

To  man  our  navy  properly,  is  the  first  concern  of  government. 
Jjiow,  if  this  cannot  be  done  but  in  the  manner  1  coutend  for,  the 
ciiapute  ceases ;— rthat  mode  must  still  be  adopted,  however  indivi* 
duiiils^  however  even  other  national  concerns,,  suffer  by  it. 

[The  present  mode  of  manning  the  Navy  has  been  so  long  used ; — ^has  an- 
swered its  purpose  so  well  hithtrfo  ;«-j 

With  respect  to  tne  present  mode,— I  beg  the  reader  to  consider 
fibw  Tong  it  has  been  in  use.  Though  I  may  be  wrong  in  placing  it 
as  high  as  the  reader  will  afterwards  find  I  date  it,  yet  no  one  will 
deny  its  having  been  in  practice  since  this  nation  has  taken  a  part  in 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  ff  we  may  credit  those  who  declaim  against 
if,,  it  is  a  practice  most  grievous,  on  those  who  are  its  objects ;  a 
measure  most  ruinous,  and  most  expensive  to  government ;  and  ill 
calculated  for  the  end  it  is  designed  to  accomplish.  Should  a 
stranger  to  the  affairs  of  Europe  hear  this,  he  would  naturally  con- 
clude it  had  always  been  a  topic  of  popular  complaint;  that  the 


S40         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sand  wkb^  on  the  [16 

miion  was  quite  rained  by  it,'  the  British  navy  now  no  morei  or 
moulderrng  to  nothing  in  visible  alacrity. — 'Happily  for  .us,  neither 
the  cause  nor  the  effect  exist.  From  the  period  1  mentioned^: to  dK 
present  moment^  our/iavy  has  been  continually  advancing  in  every 
article  of  improveiAent  and  utility.  It  has  now  reached  a.pqint|  br 
beyond  that  at  which  the.  most  sanguine  fancy  would  have  placed 
it  a  century  i^o,  in  the  most  unbounded  longitude,  of  patriotic 
ardor.  No  nation  but  has  felt  its  power,  or  been  witnesp  to  its 
wealth: 

Venimus  ad  summamfortutuB. 
We  seem  to  disdain  the  known  ocean. — We  engage  systematically 
in  undertakings  which  the  revolution  of  a  century  seldom  sees 
twice  repeated ;  undertakings  which^  by  the  spirit  and  conduct  with 
which  they  are  managed,  indisputably  prove  us  possessed  of  every 
art  and  sinew  of  navigation. 

[has  not  been  objected  to  till  a  very  late  period ;— ] 

During  the  present  period,  the  nation  has  engaged  in  many  warsi 
sometimes  against  the  good-liking  of  the  people.  Who  knows  not 
how  successfully  studious  faction  ever  is^  upon  these  occasionSi  to 
invent  new  grievances^  and  to  aggravate  the  old  ?  And  what  arts 
are  made  use  of  to  distress  ministers,  even  at  the  expence  of  the 
national  welfare  P  Now,  if  the  impressing  of  seamen  were  really  as 
unconstitutional  a  measure  as  it  is  said  to  be,  would  not  oppositiobi 
long  before  this  time,  have  made  this  discovery,  and  used  it  for 
their  purposes  i  £arly  in  the  first  Charles's  reign,  the  patriots  of 
those  days  engaged  him  in  a  war  with  Spain,  and  afkerwards  in 
another  with  France,  and  then  refused  him  supplies  to  carry  them 
on.  Would  they  not  have  been  equally  careful  to  add  this  distress 
upon  him,  by  controverting  this  mode  of  raising  men,  had  they 
thought  they  had  the  least  colour  in  doing  so?  Yet  certainly  the 
minds  of  men  were  never  more  bent  on  distressing  government,  or 
less  scrupulous  in  their  means  of  doing  it ;  more  vigilant  in  dis^ 
covering  usurpations  of  custom  in  favor  of  prerogative,  or  more 
ready  to  publish  them  to  the  people. 

[and  its  legality  so  seldom  called  in  question ; — ] 

In  that  Prince's  reign,  the  constitution  was  thoroughly  'examined, 
the  secrets  of  government  revealed,  the  mysteries  of  prero|pative 
ifcrutinised.  How  came  it  to  be  reserved  for  so  late  a  period  to 
discover  (hat  the  pressing  of  seamen  is  illegal  ?  In  those  days,  wl^n 
learning  ransacked  all  her  treasures,  to  prove  the  most  acknowleged 
rights  of  government  so  tnany  encroachments  on  the  people's  liber- 
ties, no  objection  was  ever  taken  to  that  we  are  speaking  of.  Widiin 
a  few  weeks  JEtfler  the  Magna  Charta  was  signed,  the  usual  warrants 
were  issued  for  impressing  seamen.    Within  a  few  years  before  the 


A7]        o ;  \  .Legaliij/  qf  impmsb^  Seameii. 


-  r 


Jj^m  of  JKighU  was  pr^sietited^  the  comrnons^  in  ibeir  iinpeacbmeiit 
of  a  4:ourt  favourite,  recognise,  repeatedly^  the  legality  of  the  prac^ 
tice  hereby  meant  to  be  established. 

[Strong  presumptions  arise,  that  it  is  expedient,  necessarjy  l^ftl»  An4  constitutlapal*! 

.  I  4o  uot  wish  to  press  these  ar^^uments  farther  than  they  ci^rry 
diemselves  in  the  ntinds  of  unprejudiced  readers.  I  know  how 
far  they  move,  and  so  far  only  1  wish  them  to  have  effect.  But 
certainly  a  nieasure  which  so  well  serves  the  purpose  it  is  designee) 
to  answer,  can  have  littTe  objection  made  to  its  expediency.  A  m^ar 
sure  which,  though  seemingly  repugnant  to  the  general  operations 
of  the  British  government^  has  been  so  long  the  custom  of  the  king- 
4om,  can  have  few  objections  made  to  its  necessity. — In.  brief,  a 
measure  which  has  been  so  long  adopted,  and  never  found  inimic^ 
to. the  prpgress  of  liberty; — which,  till  very  lately,  neUher  tjhe 
patriot  nor  the  incendiary  found  improper  or  unconstitutional,  <?an- 
not  but  be  consonant,  to  the  genius  and  principles  of  th^  British 
governmcait  ;       > 

[No  objection  agunstit  can  be  attended  t^,  unless  wme  other  expedip^Lt  bfi 
proposed  in  its  stead,] 

Here  then  we  stand.  Whoever  objects  to  an  usage  so  long  ac- 
quiesced in,  and  which  has  hitherto  proved  so  serviceable,  a9  -f 
mode  of  serving  an  end  which  must  somehow  or  other  be  sery^d^ 
should  have  some  new  mode  to  substitute  in  its  stead.  Tbis  is  f 
preliminary,  without  which  it  is  losing  time  to  listen  to  any  objec- 
tions. The  6eet  must  be  manned. — The  present  method  of  map? 
Diog  it  is  bad.     It  is  ruinous,  inefficient,  unconstitutional.    It  may 

be  so : — But  what  other  scheme  is  proposed  ? ^HTill  such  other 

scheme  be  proposed,  and  universally  approved,  the  iBeet  must  bf 
manned,  and  we  must  continue  in  our  old  way  of  doing  it. 

[Proposal  for  a  Register  found  to  be  inadequate.] 

In  King  William's  reign,  a  mode  was  proposed  by  having  a  re« 
•giater.  '  The  reader  will  find^  in  the  last  section,  ap  apcount  of 
what  passed  in  parliament  upon  that  occasion.  It  is  sufficient  here 
to  observe,  that  it  did  not  succeed.  One  of  the  objections  which 
brought  the  negative  of  the  House  to  the  proposal  was,  that  it  was 
inadequate  to  its  object 

[An  increase  of  Bounty  offered  to  Seamen  would  not  snswer.] 

Another  mode  is  often  talked  of  in  conversation ;  to  increase  the 
Ibounty  offered  to  seamen.  As  to  this,  I  cannot  but  observe,  thajt 
jeither  the  grievances,  which  the  common  people  are  said  to  suffer 
by  the  custom  of  pressing,  are  far  from  being  what  they  are  said  i<f 
be,  or  this  will  be  a  very  inadequate  recompence  to  them. 

But  the  scheme  is  in  itself  impracticable.  The  merchant,  by 
reason  of  the  gains  of  his  merchandizing,  and  the  riches  of  his 
freight,  will  always  offer  more  for  seannen  than  government  can. 
And  as  public  and  private  wealth  must,  in  the  present  course  of 

VOL.  XX III.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.         « 


lUi  Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  SandwiGh,  &n  the        £18 

things^  move  in  equal  pace,  however  wealthy  government  may  be, 
the  merchant  will  always  have  ability  to  outbid  them.  Any  scheme 
of  this  nature,  therefore,  though  it  may  distress  the  merchant,  will 
never  serve  the  government. 

It  is  also  an  expence  to  which  no  government  is  equal ;  to  sup- 
port, in  time  of  peace,  the  same  naval  establishment  it  maintains  in 
time  of  war.  The  military  peace-establishment  of  every  European 
power  is  a  heavy  charge  upon  the  public;  and  only  justifiable  as 
a  precaution  against  any  sudden  effort  of  a  neighboring  state,  l^o 
add  to  this  weight  would  be  a  strange  solecism  in  politics.  To 
see,  therefore,  the  impracticability  of  any  proposal  of  this  natare,  it 
18  only  necessary  to  consider  the  insupportable  burden  it  must  of 
course  bring  upon  the  public. 

[The  men  required  mastbe  those  whom  merchant-rsemce  has  already  i]iftnicted.J 

Besides  as,  upon  these  occasions,  the  men  required  must  be  suck 
as  are  somewhat  conversant  in  the  business,  the  only  persona  who 
can  answer  the  wants  of  government,  are  those  whom  merchant- 
service  has  already  instructed. 

[Excellent  obserratlon  of  Mr.  Justice  Foster.] 

''  By  this  means  (says  Mr.  Justice  Foster)  the  trade  of  the  na- 
tion becomes  a  nursery  for  her  navy ;  and  the  merchant,  while  he  is 
increasing  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom,  is  at  the  same  time  training 
lip  the  mariner  for  its  defence.*' 

''  And  as  for  the  mariner  himself,  (continues  the  same  excellent 
author)  he,  when  taken  into  the  service  of  the  Crown,  only  changes 
masters  for  a  time.  His  service  and  employment  continue  die 
Very  same,  with  this  advantage,  that  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  and 
enemy,  are  not  so  great  in  the  service  of  the  Crown,  as  in  that  of 
the  merchant." 

[Personal  service  the  only  manner  by  which  the  poor  man  can  discharge  bis 
oblijHition  to  bis  country  and  Government.] 

Again. — Personal  service  is  the  only  service  by  which  the  poor 
man  can  discharge  his  obligation  to  his  country  and  government 
Those  who  suppose  that,  by  the  laws  of  society,  all  the  membert 
are  equally  called  to  do  personal  service,  apply  a  law  incident  Id 
some  states  of  society,  to  society  in  general,  and  to  all  its  stat>e& 
In  an  early  state  of  society,  as  soon  as  war  is  declared,  every  one  is 
a  soldier.  All  take  to  arms,  and  join  die  battle.  Those  days  ars 
How  no  more. — In  military  governments,  when  the  only  road  to 
the  smiles  of  the  prince,  or  the  favor  of  the  public,  is  militaiy 
prowess  and  renown,  military  service  will  always  be  an  object  of 
ambition,  not  a  point  of  constraint. — But,  happily  for  us,  this  is  not 
our  form  of  government. — We  are  a  country  founded  on  commer* 
cial  principles,  and  the  welfore  of  the  nation  is  too  intimately  con** 
nected  with  the  welfare  of  its  commerce  to  bear  even  a  temporary 
separation.  Our  system  of  government  is  in  a  very  high  degree  oiF 
political  refinement.    Government,  therefore,  also  claims  a  great 


191  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.    -  243 

4hare  of  our  attention.  To  allot  to  any  one,  or  to  either  two  of 
these  objects,  all  our  attention  and  powers,  would  be  the  ruin  of 
theni  all.  It  is  needless  to  repeat  what  has  been  already  said  res- 
pecting the  inequality  of  rank, — So  while  the  noble  and  most  opu- 
lent of  the  nation  contribute  to  its  welfare,  by  the  part  they  take 
in  itsgoTemmentj  and  by  the  taxes  raised  from  their  property;  the 
merchant,  by  extending  its  commerce,  and  by  the  duties  raised 
upon  his  merchandise  ;  the  poor  man  (but  not  the  least  valuable) 
pays  his  contribution  in  personal  labor  and  service. 

I  sincerely  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  invent  any  mode  of  man- 
nii^  our  fleet  less  burdensome  than  the  present  upon  the  poor  manl 
I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  call  the  dissipated  and  the  luxurious 
to  a  view  of  his  hardships.  The  man  that  would  effectually  em- 
ploy himself  in  the  attempt,  would  deserve  highly  of  the  public; 
Should  his  endeavors  prove  ineffectual,  still  his  intentions  would  de- 
serve our  warmest  thanks.  But  to  draw  these  hardships  in  colors 
much  stronger  dian  their  reality  exists  in  nature,  to  be  for  ever  pre- 
senting them  to  the  poor  sufferer's  eye,  with  every  aggravation  that 
art  or  eloquence  can  join  to  them,  is,  (to  speak  m  the  gentlest 
terms)  a  very  injudicious  and  improvident  proceeding. 

I  shall  conclude  this  section  with  the  expression  of  a  writer, 
whom  no  one  will  suspect  of  holding  doctrines  unpalatable  to  the 
body  of  the  people,  unless  strongest  conviction  made  him  think  it 
unavoidable,  and  who  certainly  possessed  (if  ever  man  did)  what  ano- 
ther personage  '  of  far  more  amiable  celebrity  describes,  the  art  of 
«eemmg  to  guide  when  one  only  follows.— ''  Let  bounties,  (says 
Junius)  be  encreased  as  far  as  the  public  purse  can  support  them, 
still  they  have  a  limit ;  and  when  every  reasonable  expence  is  incur- 
red, it  will  be  found,  in  fact,  that  the  spur  of  the  press  is  wanted 
to  give  operation  to  the  bounty." 

•  But,  with  respect  to  any  intermediate  steps  which  may  be  taken, 
or  any  greater  inducement  which  may  be  held  out  to  seamen,  to 
make  them  enter  voluntarily  into  the  service,  it  would  be  improper, 
here,  to  take  them  into  consideration.  The  author  cannot  but 
ihink  himself  perfectly  incapable  of  any  discussion  of  this  nature. 
The  only  point  whichit  is  his  intention  to  investigate  is  (as  he  before 
fribserved)  the  propriety  and  legality  of  the  impress,  as  a  measure  to 
be  used  in  the  last  resort ;  a'  mode  to  compel  the  seaman  into  the 
•ervice,  when  every  possible  mode  has  been  used  to  invite  him  to 
enter  voluntarily,  and  is  found  insufficient. 

SEpTION  V. — That  the  impressing  men  for  the  public  service 
is  d  measure  of  necessity  and  expedience,  and  that  the  duty  of 

^  '  Mr.  Burke,  speaking  of  th«late  Right  Uunorable  Charles  Towixsend. 


^4  Mr;  Batler,  and  Lord  Sandwicb,  el»  th^        \$^ 

.    persofiots&tice  rAustfkU  on  the  lower  rank  of  men,  as  soon  as  a 

nntion  btcomes  wealthy,  and  attends  to  commerce,  is  shown  b^  this 

ixampk^  of  some  free  states,  antient  and  modem. 

As  nothing  gives  so  much  force  or  color  to  argament,  aft  ilhtt^ 

trating  it  by  examples^  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  almoat  erer^ 

^ritei*^  be  his  subject  What  it  will^  has  recourse  to  their  assiatftoot^ 

^h^niever  he  thinks  he  can  make  thefai  either  of  use  or  omanneiih 

But  this  has  been  so  much  abused,  that  it  is  now  become  almost  as 

ungrateful  to  mention  in  writing  the  Gred^s  and  Romans,  as  it  il 

disgusting  (if  we  credit  our  late  n6ble  epistolarist)  to  m^tidii'thepi 

in  c6uversation.     In  the  present  instance,  however,  it  is  so  iiece^ 

liary,  that  we  hope  the  most  fastidious  reader  will  excuse  the  ftw 

pdges  which  compose  this  section,  though  he  iiees  the  Greek  and 

KOman  name  there  often  repeated. 

[Greece.] 

1  begin  with  Greece*  Thucydides  takes  botice,  that  it  was 
sdme  time  after  the  taking  of  Troy  that  the  Greeks  appli^  to 
Uiippin^  itnd  naval  affairs.  As  the  several  states  of  Greece  ad« 
danced  m  strength,  and  the  refinements  of  pplicy>  there  was  a  com* 
petition  among  them  for  the  empire  of  the  aea.  I  state  these  fact^ 
t6  show  how  far  a  just  inference  lies  from  the  example  of  their 
institutions  in  naval  affairs.  This  empire  consisted  in  the  number 
end  force  of  their  vessels,  and  skill  in  navigation.  Their  ships  idol 
all  the  sea,  from  the  islands  of  Crete  and  Rhodes,  to  the  Cyaneaa 
islands ;  the  furthermost  field  of  their  expeditions  towards  the  west 
ifiiras  the  Ionian  sea.  This  empire  pas^  in  succession  through 
many  hands.  The  Athenians  and  Lacedemotfians  often  contended 
for  it.  The  latter  people  I  ishatl  here  pass  over^  Their  thorough 
contiempt  of  commerce  takes  off  all  reasoning  by  aoak^y  from  thanr 
example.  But  if  there  is,  in  the  scroll  of  history,  any  nation  whoet 
resremblance  to  us  invites  us  to  this  mode  of  reasoning,  it  it  the 
Athenian.  In  the  spirit  of  their  government  they  much  resembled 
us.  In  their  jealousy  of  any  attempt  on  their  liberties ;  al  their 
easy  fascination  to  every  artful  demagogue,  they  reflect  usw-— Like 
OS,  they  were  a  naval  power ; — like  us,  addicted  to  commerce.  So 
tiiaty  if  we  can  prove  the  impressing  of  seamen  was  one  of  the  •»• 
tablished  methods  of  manning  their  fleet,  and  that  it  fell  oa  the 
lower  rank  of  the  state,  it  goes  far  to  prove  diat,  in  evei^  naVal  and 
Commercial  state,  it  is  a  measure  of  expediency  and  absolute  oecei^ 

The  people  of  Athens  were  divided  by  Solon  into  four  ranks. 
The  original  laws  of  Athens,  like  otir  laws^  prescribed  military  -Autj 
as  a'  general  service,  and  never  pbinted  out  afny  particular  set- of 
men  to  execute  it.  But  when  its  advanced  state  of  refinement 
and  wealth  introduced  the  various  divisions  and  subdivisions  of 


Itl}         :     Regality  of  Impressing  Seamen^    ■.  ^46 

rank^  the  article  of  personal  service  naturally  fell  on  the  lower  ranks, 
Bifibop  JPotter,  in  his  learned  Arcb^sologia,  observes,  that^  among 
the  prunitive  Greeks,  the  levy  was  frequently  made  out  by  iQts. 
eveiy  family  being  obliged  to  furnish  out  a  certain  number,  aiid 
fiUiiij;  up  their  proportion  by  the  chance  of  lots.  Afterwards  the 
magistrates  appointed  those  who  were  to  go  to  war. — Butj  in  th<^ 
laUer  period,  those  who  served  in  the  armies  received  a  pay,  which 
W9S  raised  by  a  tax  on  the  whole  commonwealth,  and  wqejn  this 
was  found  insufficient,  by  a  tax  on  the  richer  part,  and  the  ^eQ  of 
quality.  Thus,  by  the  natural  effect  of  wealth,  the  burthen  of  the 
day  in  public  service  fell  on  the  poor.  So  we  find  in  Thucydides 
that,  even  upon  ^n  extraordinary  preparation,  the  persons  of  tb^ 
first  and  second  class  were  exempted.  I  quote  the  words :  aSfto/t^voi 

Si)X«p<ra<  jSouXofffvoi  or^  ouh  6§iwg  hyvosKouriv,  oAX*  oht  re  eWi^  fAtj  xivouyr 
T^  TO  ifr)  Aiff^  vaxiTiKOV,  ku)  to  &rri  ileXo^ovvijtrot;  kfriiv  p^^ico;  aii^vvetr^ 
te^,  tfrX^AHTOty  ¥uug  ix«Toy,  icrfiivreg  airol  re,  vA^v  IfFxeoov  xai  vfy- 
'j^HOfioim&liMfan^  X0t}  ol  jcmtoixoi.  **  When  the  Athenians  found  that 
such  preparations  were  made  against  them,  as  an  avowed  insult  on 
their  imagined  weakness^  they  bad  a  mind  to  convince  their  foes 
that  such  invaginations  were  erroneous,  and  that  they  were  able^ 
without  countermanding  their  fl^et  from  before  Lesbos,  to  make 
bfiad  against  any  force  that  could  come  from  Peloponnesus.  Acr 
fl^rdingly,  they  manned  out  an  hundred  ships,  obliging  all,  as  wieU 
V^ujrn^rs  as  citizens  (those  excepted  of  the  first  and  second  class) 
tp  gp  on  bpan)/'     Smith's  Translation.' 

[Romany.] 

•J  proceed  to  speak  of  the  Romans.  Their  levies  were  carried 
OtQ  with  BO  much  strictness,  that  a  person  refusing  to  €nter  the  ser- 
vice,  or  aiming  to  iivoid  it  by  the  slightest  subterfuge,  incurred  the 
ieverest  penalties.  We  read  iq  Valerius  Maximus^  that,  in  the  waf 
9^inst  Fyrrhus,  the  people  being  extremely  averse  to  the  service^ 
one  t)f  the  consuls  went  to  the  capitol,  according  to  the  usual  cet 
remony,  to  open  the  muster,  and  the  person  whose  name  was  first 
rfiad  not  answering,  he  immediately  ordered  him  to  be  sold,  saying^ 
that  the  republic  was  better  without  the  citizen  that  knew  not  how 
fp  obey. 

In  the  Roman  republic,  where  foreign  commerce  was,  tiH  a  late 
period,  little  jpr^ctised,  and  was  never  the  road  to  honors  or  glory^ 
and  where,  till  its  very  latest  period,  even  the  elegant  arts  were 
held  in  the  greatest  contempt,  as  the  sole  object  of  the  ambition  of 
the  citizen  was  military  distinction,  there  would  be  no  need  of  com* 
puhioD,  except  in  some  very  particular  times,  to  fill  any  compli- 

'  Thucydides,  book  iii. 


246         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich^  on  the         [2^ 

ment  of  troops^  that  the  service  of  the  republic  might  demand. 
But  in  the  Roman  republic^  as  in  every  other  state,  when  wealth 
was  introduced,  and,  with  it,  its  constant  concomitants^  luxury  and 
a  love  of  ease,  the  numbers  who  shrunk  from  the  duty  of  personal 
service  increased  every  day.  Wealth,  then^  became  an  object  of 
ambition ;  but,  as  wealth  was  then  obtained  by  military  success,  not 
by  the  arts  of  commerce,  war  and  arms  still  continued  the  chief, 
diough  not  the  sole,  profession  of  a  Roman  citizen.  Thus,  even 
dieir  navigation  and  commerce  were  made  entirely  subservient  to 
their  military  aims,  and  their  medals  show  diat  they  culdvated  ba- 
vigadon  with  a  view  of  extending  their  arms,  and  that  commerce 
was  its  least  object.  But,  notwithstanding  this,  those  among  the 
opulent,  who  wished  more  to  enjoy  than  to  acquire,  used  the  pre- 
rogative which  wealth  must  always  give,  to  exempt  diemselves  mnn 
personal  attendance ;  which,  however,  stdl  remained  a  necessary, 
and  an  unavoidable  duty  and  obligation  on  the  poor.  This  is  very 
clear,  from  the  many  invecdves  which  Sallust  has  studiously  inter- 
woven in  his  history  against  the  nobility.  **  'Fhe  nobles  (says  be  in 
one  place)  being  united  in  themselves,  enjoyed  great  advantagiss ; 
the  force  of  the  people,  disjointed  and  dispersed,  lost  much  of  its 
real  powers.  The  civil  and  military  were  entirely  at  the  direcdon 
of  the  few. — By  them,  the  treasury,  the  provinces,  the  oiBces  of  the 
republic,  its  honors,  its  triumphs,  were  entirely  ingrossed.  War- 
fare and  want  were  the  lot  of  the  people.  The  spoil  of  war  went 
to  the  chief  in  command^  and  a  few  individuals :  meanwhile  the 
parents  of  the  soldiers,  and  their  infant  children,  were  driven  ^m 
their  homes,  at  the  mercy  of  every  more  powerful  neighbor."  Ma- 
|ius,  in  his  speech  to  the  people,  desires  them  to  consider  with 
t&emselves,  '^  Whether  it  were  better  for  them  to  have,  for  dieir 

feneral,  one  chosen  from  the  body  of  the  nobility,  a  man  of  antient 
lood,  and  splendid  descents,  but  at  the  same  time,  one  who  had 
never  seen  the  service, — and  who  would  be  necessitated  to  inquire 
bis  duty  from  a  common  man,  like  themselves.'' 
.  I  could  crowd  in  numberless  other  quotations  equally  apposite  to 
Ihe  fact  in  question.  But,  I  hope,  those  I  have  inserted  are  suffi- 
cient to  show,  that  however  high-spirited  and  fond  of  arms  a  nation 
may  be,  still  some  coercion  is  necessary  to  bring  them  regukuiy  to 
the  field :  and  also  to  show  that  the  only  persons  affected  by  this 
coercion  must,  in  all  states,  when  the  pursuits  of  wealth  once  ob- 
tain a  footing,  be  those  that  make  up  the  lower  rank.' 


.  *  The  author  of  a  work,  which  (setting  aside  the  religious  principles  it  b 
supposed  to  contain)  has  received  the  most  universal,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
the  highest  tribute  of  praiseV  which  has  been  given  to  any  work  iu  thiscen- 


23]  .    LegaUty  of  hnpressing  Searmn.  247 

[Remarks  on  our  own  history.] 

lo  ev^ry  period  of  pur  own  history,  the  lower  class  of  the  nation 
has  always  had  personal  service,  and  every  other  office  of  hardship 
and  danger,  allotted  to  them.  Very  soon  after  the  Norman  con- 
quest, arrere  vassalage,  or  the  practice  of  subinfeudation,  was  esta- 
Ui^hi^,  and  ope  of  Sie  causes  of  that  establishment  was  (said  Mr. 
St.  John,  in  his  argument  on  the  case  of  ship-money)  that  those 
who  held:  immediately  of  the  Crown  desired  to  free  themselves  of 
tbe  burdon  of  service ;  and  their  feoffees,  in  consequence  of  the 
conveyance. to  them,  took  the  whole  burden  thereof  upon  them- 
iielves/ 

[Lower  Empire,] 

The  system  adopted  in  the  lower  empire  was  very  similar  to  that 
which  has  hitherto  prevailed  in  England.  The  Theodosian  code, 
and  tbe  body  of  the  Civil  Law,  are  full  of  die  great  attention  which 

tuiy :  The  continuation  of  which  is  tbe  most  intecestiog  object  tbe  literary 
world  now  has  in  attention ;  Mr.  Gibbon,  in  the  first  chapter,  of  his  history 
of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  describes,  with  his  usiud 
elegance  and  unaffected  rapidity,  the  revolutions  which  took  place  in  the 
military  history  of  the  Romans.  As  this  part  of  his  work  is  very  pertinent 
to  the  present  subject,  and  as  it  would  be  an  injury,  both  to  tbe .  excellent 
writer  and  the  public,  to  give  it  otherwise  than  m  the  writer's  own  words, 
I  b^  leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  it. 

''In  the  purer  ages  of  the  common-wealth  (says  he)  the  use  of  arms  was 
reserved  for  those  ranks  of  citizens  who  had  a  country  to  love,  a  property  to 
defend,  and  some  share  in  enacting  those  laws,  which  it  was  their  interest, 
as  well  as  duty,  to  maintain.  But,  in  proportion  as  the  public  freedom  was 
lost  in  extent  of  conquest;  war  was  gradually  improved  into  an  art,  and  de- 
graded into  a  trade.*  The  legions  themselves,  even  at  the  time  when  they 
were  recruited  in  the  most  distant  provinces,  consisted  of  Roman  citizens. 
That  distinction  was  generally  considered,  either  as  a  l^al  qualification,  or 
as  a  proper  recompence  for  the  soldier;  but  a  more  serious  regeurd  was  paid 
to  the  essential  merit  of  age,. strength,  and  military  stamre.t  In  all  levies, 
a  just  preference  was  given  to  the  climates  of  the  north  over  those  of  the 
south :  the  race  of  men  born  to  the  exercise  of  arms,  was  sought  for  in  the 
oountry  rather  than  in  cities;  and  it  was  very  reasonably  presumed,  that  the 
hardy  occupations  of  smiths,  carpenters,  and  huntsmen,  would  supply  mote 
vigor  and  resolution,  than  tbe  sedentary  trades  which  are  emploved  in  the 
service  of  luxury 4  After  every  qualification  of  property  had  been  laid  aside, 
the  armies  of  the  Roman  emperors  were  still  commanded,  for  the  most  pa^, 
by  officers  of  a  liberal  birth  and  education ;  but  the  common  soldiers,  like 
the  mercenary  troops  of  modern  Europe,  were  drawn  from  the  meanest,  and 
very  frequently  from  the  most  profligate  of  mankind/' 

'  See  State  Trials,  new  edit.  p.  519. 

*  The  poorest  rank  of  soldiers  possessed  above  forty  pounds  sterling,  (Dlonys.  Ha* 
licam.  iv.  17.)  a  very  high  qualification,  at  a  time  when  money  was  so  scarce,  that  aa 
ounce  of  silver  was  equivalent  to  seventy  pound  weight  of  brass.  The  populace  ex- 
cluded, by  tbe  antient  constitution,  were  indiscriminately  admitted  by  Marius.  See 
Saliust.  de  Bell.  Jogurth.  c.  91 . 

t  Cesar  formed  Us  ledon  Alauda,  o/  Gauls  and  strangers  :  but  it  was  during  the  li- 
cense of  dvil  war ;  and  after  the  victory,  he  gave  them  the  freedom  of  the  city,  for  their 
lewaid. 

%  Sea  Vegetius  de  Be  Militari,  1.  i.  e« 


SA8         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  SaDdwicb,  ok  the         [24 

tbq  Constantinopolitan  esiperors  paid  to  naval  affairs.  This^  their 
toititation,  and  the  rival  power  of  the  Saracens,  who  buik  the  town 
oif  Oreat  Ca^ro,  with  a  view  of  rivalling  their  comnieroe,  compeUeJ 
tbem  to  exert  with  the  greatest  vigilance.  They  entertained^  in 
^Afferent  places,  various  fleets,  and  granted  most  valuable  privilegea 
to  those  to  whose  care  they  were  intrusted,  and  afterwards^  admitted 
tbem  of  the  equestrian  order. 

The  bulk  of  the  mariners  was  united  in  a  body,  not  unlike  our 
trading  companies,  each  individual  trading  on  his  own  bottom. 
They  were  stationed  in  different  parts  of  the  empire,  and  employed 
both  in  public  service,  and  in  the  private  trade  of  individuals.  Th^ 
public  business  was  divided  between  them  ;  such  voyages  as  were 
to  be  taken  on  the  public  account,  they  undertook  in .  successipn 
one.  after  the  other,  by  which  means  each  of  them  had  his  severd 
sbare  of  the  general  burden,  and  his  stated  times  to  attend  to  his 
bwn  private  concerns.  .  The  profession,  or  trade  of  mariner,  was 
iumexed  to  moveable  and  immoveable  property,  and  annexed  to  the 
property,  not  to  the  person,  of  the  proprietor.  This  was  so  essential 
ft  condition  to  the  holding  of  that  property,  that  no  honors  of  the 
repnbUe,  not  even  the  emperor's  own  rescript,  could  separate  them ; 
and  nothing  could  avoid  it,  but  an  uninterrupted  prescription  of  50 
years.  What  this  moveable  and  immoveable  proper^  was,  to  which 
4i9  condi^on  was  annexed,  or  I^ow  it  was  created^  it  were  needless 
te  show. 

Wlien  they  were  employed  on  the  public  service,  it  was  unlawfol 
fdr  th^m  to  load  their  vessels  with  private  merchandize.  But,  at 
other  times,  they  werie  allowed  to  trade  on  their  own  account;  ye$ 
so  that,  if  the  public  sari^ice  required  it^  they  were  immediately  tv 
Hnploy  themselves  in  it :  Thus  the  emperors  Arcadius  and  Ho^ 
fipirius  express  themselves ;  '*  As  we  do  not  forbid  inidividudi 
l^pmg  vessiels,  so  as  they  do  not  use  this  leave  to  defraud  the 
public ;  it  being  their  duty^  if  necesfity  calls  for  them,  to  attaad  to 
the  public  concerms*** 

[V«nedaBB.] 

Of  the  matqr  states  which  date  their  osigin  from  the  dedine  of 
^  Roman  Empire,  none  more  deserves  the  attention  of  the  reader 
than  the  Venetians.    The  wisdom,  and  the  peculiar  form  of  their 

^  iSee  Cod.  Theodos.  lib.  xHi.  tit.  7.  c.  2,  under  the  articles  De  NavicuianUf 
De  Prtsdiis  Naviculariorum^  De  Navibus  ndn  excusandis,  et  De  NaufragUt, 
'  l*he  tote  Dr.  Jortin,  whose  classical  taste  and  great  erudition  are  ver^^' HhXi ' 
teowRy  strongly  recommended  the  reading  of  th6  Codex  Theodosianus^  ife  t 
work  Which  throws  the  greatest  light  on  the  history  and  the  antiqintfes  of 
the  lower  empire.  Its  merit  (taken  in  this  light)  is  considerably  mhanc^ 
by  the  valuable  edition  of  it  published  by  James  Gothofred,  with  ampl<^ 
lootei  and  illustrations.  This  edition  was  the  labor  of  thirty  years  intense 
application;  and  no  one  (says  Baillet  Jugement  des  S^avims)  tliinks  the 
edjtor  lost  his  time. 


goveromenty  the  degraei  of  power  ,«nd  wealth  which  diey-  Icnag  eai 
joyed,  «id  a  spirit  of  patriotisoii  which  would  reflect  honor  oDaajr 
wi^ooi  and  for  which  they  ire  deservedly  renowned,  force  ou^ 
esteefli  afid  admiration.  Though  they  were  far  from  enjoying 
political  liberty  in  the  perfection  we  do,  yet  they  enjoyed  it  in 
a  high  degree.  The  system  of  representation,  which  some  writers  - 
have  not  scrupled  to  tall  a  very  modern  discovery,  was  in  use  with 
tbein  from  the  earliest  time  of  dieir  having  a  regular  government 
till  the  seventh  century.  The  alteration  which  then  took  place  was 
by  introducing  the  Doge  as  a  prince  or  chief,  over  all  other  megisr 
trates.  The  Doges,  in  later  years,  abused  their  power  greatly,  and 
aimed  at  sovereignty ;  but  the  people  prevailed  in  this  contest ;— * 
and,  about  the  end  of  tAe  twelfth  century,  a  revolution  was  effected, 
which,  was  originally  designed  in  favour  of  the  people,  but,  ended, 
as  most  revolutions  do,  in  placing  them  in  a  nuich  worse  condi^on 
than  they  ^mt  in  at  first.  The  power  of  the  Doge  was  indeed 
taken  away,  but  very  soon  afterwards  the  national  council,  which 
before  was  elected  atmually,  was  made  permanent ;  by  Which  tbd 
constitution  foil  into  an  aristocracy,  in  which  it  has  ever  since  r^ 
mained.  But,  in  every  period  of  the  Venetian  history,  this  in^ 
fringement  of  the  liberty  of  individuals,  as  it  is  called^  was  prac^ 
tised.  f  appeal  to  every  person  conversant  in  the  history  of  tfa^ 
world,  in  the  times  of  the  lower  empire,  whether,  on  every  ppepa^a^^ 
tion  for  wak*,  one  of  the  first  tilings  done  be  not  to  arrest  all  mer- 
chants' ships,  and  employ  them,  and  all  the  men  on  board  them,  in 
the  public  service?  And  this  was  as  much  practised  by  the  Vene* 
Uans  as  by  any  bdier  state.  Their  history  is  full  of  the  complaints 
of  merchants  for  the  detention  of  their  ships  on  the  pnbiic  use; 
They  carried  this  farther,  and  in  a  manner  much  more  oppressive 
Aan  we  do.  We  confine  the  press,  unless  a  want  of  men  be  very 
severely  felt,  to  homeward-bound  ships.  They  equally  exeroiseil 
it  on  the  outward  and  the  homeward-bound. 

[Geaenl  Remarks  •on  the  Aathon^y  of  the  Ginl  Law.]    . 

The  instances  I  have  here  adduced,  show  clearly,  that  the  «pur 
of  compulsion,  to  repeat  Jnnius's  elegant  idea,  b  necessary  to  giv^ 
force  to  every  other  operation  that  policy  can  invent,  to  invite  men. 
to  the  sea-service.  The  example  1  have  quoted  from  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Greek  emperors  may  lose  some  of  the  weight  it  should 
otherwise  have,, on  account  of  the  prejudices  which  are  usually  en- 
lertained  against  the  civil  law,  on  which  they  are  foui^ded, — In  an- 
swer to  this,  we  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  we  do  not  by  ai^  means 
pretend  to  cite  any  institution  of  the  civil  law  but  as  a  matter  of 
argument.  The  greatest  admirers  of  the  British  constitution,  and 
those  who  have  contended  most  warmly  for  the  preference  of  the 
common  over  the  civil  law,  allow  the  latter  the  highest  praise,  as  ^ 


250         Mr.  Butler^  and  Xx)rd  Saodwidii/on  the         [^ 

collection  of  written  reason;  as  useful  and  ornamental  to  tbe 
scholar,  tbe  divine,  the  statesman,  and  «ven  the  common  lawyer  ;^ 
as  a  material  cause  of  the  revival  of  letters,  and  of  establialuiig 
more  just  isnd  liberal  ideas  than  had  beforeobtained  of  the  natme 
of  government,  and  the  peace  and  order  of  society,  -ItS'instita- 
tions,  however  censurable  as  giving  unlimited  and  absolute  power 
to  the  emperors,  were  certainly  salutary  and  beneficial  to  tbelower 
ranks  of  life;— and  whoever  supposes  it  contains  little  more4h8n 
a  regular  system  of  arbitrary  power  and  oppression,  ciUmot'be 
much  conversant  with  its  contents. 

SECTION  VI. — TAn/  the  right  of  governing  to  impress  sea- 
<   men  for  the  public  service,  is  not  against  the  constitution  o^iAtt 
•   realm;  and  that  it  always  made  a' part  of  JOur  common  Um^ 
and  is  repeatedly  recognised  by  our  statute  law. 

[Difference  of  the  meaning  of  the  words  legal  and  constitatipnal.] 

The  reader  may  observe,  that  I  assert  the  practice  of  impressing 
to  be  both  legal  and  constitutional.  By  le^al  I  mean,  that  it  has 
the  sanction  of  law  ;  by  constitutional,  that  it  is  congenial  with  tbe 
spirit  of  the  constitution.  I  apprehend  it  is  possible  to  be  the  one, 
without  being  the  other.  The  legislative  power  may  chiance  to 
pass  a  law,  which  experience  may  afterwards  show  to  have  be^ 
repugnant  to  tbe  genius  of  the  constitution.  So  tbe  genius  of  the 
constitution  may  require  some  additional  institution  to  be  j>aased 
into  law,  or  some  established  institution  to  be  abrogated,  without 
attracting  the  attention  or  assistance  of  the  legislature.  I  wish  to 
impress  the  reader  with  this  observation^  because  I  think  much  of 
the  perplexity  which  is  generally  found  in  the  discussion  of  politi- 
cal questions  might  be  avoided,  by  attending  to  it.  Thus,  when 
we  shall  endeavor  to  prove  that  it  is  legal,  it  will  be  by  no  means  a 
proper  answer  to  assert,  that  it  is  unconstitutional.  In  the  same 
manner,  I  think  it  no  i^nswer  to  the  assertion  of  its  being  uncon- 
stitutional, to  produce  one  positive  law  in  its  behalf.-^They  are 
therefore  separate  articles :  but  the  examining  either  of  them 
reflects  light  upon  the  other. 

[First  Point.  That  the  practice  of  impresring  Seamen  is  constitational.] 

I  shall  begin  by  proving  the  practice  in  question  to  be  constita- 
tional. 

[The  drcumstance  of  pressing  appears  throughout  our  constitution  in  a  va- 
riety of  forms.] 

Pressing,  or,  in  other  words,  obliging  persons  to  serve  the 
Public  contrary  to  their  will,  appears  diroughout  our  constitution 

. .  *  Blackstone,  Ipt.  4 1. 

*  See  Robertson's  ilist.  of  Cha.  V.  vol.  I.  %  i.  art.  6.  See  also  Dr.  Halli- 
fax's  Pre^ce  to  his  Analysis  of  the  Common  Law. ' 


27}  I^aUty  of  Imprtmng  Seamen.  251 

in  a  variety^'  of  forms.  It  is  impossiUe  to  point  the  time  when -it 
did  not  exist.  It  is  the  nature  of  sill  government,  that  some  of  its 
offi^s  should  be  the  objects  of  the  ambition/ others  the'objects'of 
the  dislike,  of  the  individuals  governed.  To  s6me  of  them  is  an» 
nexed  whatever  attracts  the  wishes  of  the  human  heart ;  to  others; 
expience,  labor,  and  danger,  ai^  inseparably  joined.  The  latter 
ate  not  less  necessary  to  the  existence  of  government  than  the 
former.  But  as  individuds  seldom  possess  the  etherial  spirit  of 
patriotism  in  a  sufiBcieht  degree  to  makie  them  seek,  by  their  own 
choice,  the  latter  objects,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  thait  govern^ 
ment  should  have  recourse  to  compulsory  methods.  What  was 
originally  the  election  of  members  to  serve  in  parliament,  but  im- 
pressing such  persons  as  were  deemed  qualified  by  fortune  and 
abilities  to  perform  the  public  business  f  For  doing  this  duty 
they  received  a  stated  stipend;  against  it  they  had  no  negative. 
Where  would  our  constitution  have  been  if,  in  those  days,  the  lan- 
guage which  now  is  used  by  the  adversaries  of  the  press,  had  been 
used  by  the  .wealthy  commoners,  and  met  with  its  desired  effect  ? 
What  is  at  present  the  obligation  to  s^rve  the  office  of  a  sheriff, 
biit  being  jpressed  to  a  service  of  fatigue,  expence,  and  even  of 
danger?  To  persons  of  inferior  rank,  are  not  the  serving  the 
office  of  a  jury-man,  a  cbiirch* warden,  a  constable,  or  any  other 
parish-office,  all  different  species  of  pressing,  all  of  inconvenience, 
some  of  danger  to  the  parties?  Yet  society  could  not  exist 
wi^out  such  service.  And  has  not  the  sheriff  a  right,  on  certain 
occasions,  to  raise  -the  pos^  comitatus  ?  and  v\  hat  is  this  right,  but 
a  right  to  press  every  male  in  his  county  above  fifteen  years  of  age 
(peers  excepted),  who  are  obliged  to  attend  under  pain  of  fine 
and  imprisonment  i  And  has  not  the  Militia  Act  made  every  man 
liable  to  serve  as  a  soldier^  and^  at  times,  subject  to  the  articles  of 
war? 

for  aU  persons  pressed  into  public  ser?ice,  the  seaman  is  the  least  oppressed.] 
must  here  beg  leave  to  introduce  a  reflection. — Of  all  the 
different  persons  forced  into  the  service  of  the  Public,  the  seaman 
i^i  perhaps,  the  least  injured.  Those  who  bear  nodiing  of  press- 
ing but  what  is  told  them  in  the  declamations  of  its  adversaries, 
vrill  hot  be  a  little  surprised  at  this  assertion.  They  think  every 
impressed  seaman  the  .moat  miserable  object  in  human  nature,  and 
that  the  wrath  of  heaven  and  earth  is  at  once  deluged  upon  him. 
Torn,  in  the  moment  of  his  return  from  a  long  voyage,  full  of  the 
hope  of  seeing  his  family  and  friends,  his  affectionate  parents,  a 

*  ^  Their  attendance  was,  for  a  long  time,  deemed  a  burthen  both  to 
themselves  and  their  constituents.''  Ruffhead's  Preface  to  his  edition  of 
the  Stat.  p.  lii.  See  Prynne's  Animadversion  on  the  4th  Inst.  ^.39,  Mad« 
dox's  MSS.  in  the  British  MuseuiP»No.  13.  Title  Pari. 


25S)         Mr*  BuWer,  and  Lord  Sandwicb^  on  the         ^ 

fond  wife  and  tovehy  children^  forced  upon  a  long,  and  periloi^ 
vojage,  exposed  to  mnumerable  hardships  and  dangers/  Such  i^ 
the  picture  they  have  been  taught  to  frame  to  themselves  of  eterjr 
impressed  seaman ;  but  such  a  circumstance  does  not  exist;  ofj 
^f  it  does  exist,  it  exists  so  seldom  as  to  deserve  no  attentipn* 

In  the  first  place^  generally  speaking,  what  is  the  condition  of 
this  man  i  He  is  not  like  a  ciiop-keeperi  chosen  into  tba  Militia, 
and  forced  to  learn  a  new  Uade.  He  is  only  obliged  to  labor  sl 
tfiat  employment  M^hich  he  has  chosen,  and  which  he  knew  was 
subject  to  this  call ; — a  call  which,  ninety-nine  tim^s  out  of  mi 
hundred,  snatches  him  from  disease,  from  misery,  or  perhaps  aq 
ignominious  death ;  the  inseparable  attendaiits  of  idleness,  intern^ 
perance,  and  bad  company.  For  the  truth  of  this  observation,  I 
appeal  to  every  one  conversant  with  the  manners  of  seamen  wlulst 
on  shore,  or  who  has  ever  visited  the  purlieus  of  Wappingi 
Rotheihidie,  or  the  Point  at  Portsmouth. 
.  But  suppose  the  person  pressed  should  happen  to  be  that  rara 
$viSf  a  prudent  seaman,  he  is  far  from  being  injured  :  For  though, 
perhaps,  his  wages  are  somewhat  lower  than  those  given  by.  mer- 
chants, yet  that  is  amply  compensated  by  his  chance  of  prize: 
money;  in  the  meantime  be  is  better  fed  and  ^cloatbed,  better 
lodged,  and  endures  fewer  hardships,  than  he  would  on  board  a 
merchant-man.  If  he  have  a  family,  he  has  an  opportunity  of  re^ 
gularly  reniitting  to  them  part  of  his  pay  for  their  subsisteope,  an^ 
is  besides  xestrained  from  riotously  wasting  it,  and  obtains  a  rkbt 
to  a  comfortable  provision  for  his  old  age  in  Greenwich  £Gs? 
pital. 

[Comparison  of  the  sitnatioii  of  a  Seamaid  on  board  a  Rojal*  Ship,  piA  a 
Seaman  on  board  a  Merchantman.] 

Indeed,  the  advantages  which  seamen  engaged  in  the  Royal 
Service  have 'over  seamen  engaged  in  the  Merchant-service  are  so 
great,  that,  if  those  excentriic  men  were  capable  of  reasoning  aeri^ 
pusly  upon  their  real  iqterest,  they  would  rather  covet  the  former 
service  than  avoid  it ;  and  Uie  attention  of  the  legislature  would  h^ 
more  employed  to  restrain  them  from  it,  than  to  invite  ithem  to  it' 
.  £very  ship  belonging  to  the  navy  has  a  regular-bred  suigeoD| 
with  assistants,  to  take  proper  care  of  the  sailors  in  illness.  Mag- 
nificent hospitals  are  estabhslMd  at  Portsmouth  and  Plymouth  ^ 
their  reception,  in  case  of  any  infirmity;  suitable  hospital^  ace 
also  provided  on  every  foreign  station,  where  a  squadron  of  ships 
is  assembled.  If  a  seaman  be  wounded  while  he  is  in  a  Kinj^'s 
ship,  he  is  entitled  to  a  pension  from  the  Chest  at  Chatham^  whicH 
is  greater  or  less,  according  to  the  degree  of  hurt  he  haa  re- 
ceived. 

As  to  the  manner  in  which  they  are  victualled,  it  is  well  known. 


•      .    v 


Ho}  Z^aiity  of  Impi*esmg  Seamen. 

that  etery  thing  furnished  them  is  of  the  best  kiocl  Chat  can  lie  hildi 
The  whole  allowance  is  more  than  A  man  can  commonly  eat  t 
Insomuch  that  thej  had  rather  be  put  to  two-ihirds  aIIowaiic6 
(which  is  frequently  done  in  long  voyages)  because  those  two^ 
thirds  ere  amply  sufficient  to  satisfy  nature ;  and,  for  the  other 
third,  ^hidi.is.  taken  from  them,  they  are  regularly  paid  in 
money.  If  there  be  any  complaint  with  regard  to  the  |(Oodnes8  of 
provisions,  they  have  only  to  convey  it  to  the  ear  of  their  superiors 
(who  are  always  ready  to  receive  it).  A  survey  is  then .  called 
upon  it,  composed,  not  only  of  their  own  officers,  but  of  a  certain 
number  of  officers  of  other  ships,  and,  if  the  complaint  be  foiind 
just,  the  provisions  are  condemned,  and  a  fresh  supply  immedi^ 
ately  ordered  on  board. 

Another  very  striking  instance  of  the  comparative  advantage  of 
their  situatioti  is,  that  whenever  they  are  on  a  voyage  where  the 
Use  of  spirits  is  necessary,  they  have  a  proper  quantity  r^iilarit 
given  them.  Merchant  seamen  are  also  supplied  with  spirits,  but 
they  themselves  either  pay  fojr  them  immediately,  or  the  price  of 
what  diey  use  is  deducted  from  their  pay. 

^  A  material  advantage  in  iavor  of  the  seaman  on  board  itie 
navy,  is  the  great  encouragement  he  receives  by  the  preferment, 
which  is  always  open  to  him.  There  are  several  offices  to  which 
an  uniform  tenor  of  good  conduct  intitles  him,  which  take  him 
from  the  rank  of  a  common  sailor,  and  give  a  comfortable  iulisis^ 
tence,  for  life,  to  himself  and  family.  Quartermasters,  boatswains^ 
mates,  gunners  and  carpenters-mates,  have  an  additional  pay,  arid 
are  in  a  higher  rank  in  the  ship  than  a  common  man.*— -There  is 
still  a  higher  station,  which  they  share  among  them  besides  the 
above  employments,  namely  that  of  warrant-officers,  such  as  boat- 
swain, gunner,  carpenter,  and  cook ;  all  these  are  made  out  of 
common  'seamen.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  when  they  are  otic^ 
warranted,  it  is  a  provision  for  life,  at  least  for  as  long  aS  the  shij^ 
exists ;  warrant-officers  not  being  discharged  as  commission-oflftceri 
are,  when  the  ship  is  laid  up,  but  remain  in  pay  to  take  care  of  her 
as  long  as  she  is  in  being.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  tiie  cook 
must  be  a  seaman.  He  cannot  be  admitted  as  cook,  unless  he  i$ 
a  pensioner  to  the  Chest  at  Chatham.  The  widows  of  all  thes^ 
warrant^fficers  are  also  entitled  to*  a  |iension  for  life.  Besides 
the  comfortable  retreat  allowed  to  the  wom^ut  seamen  in  Gree6« 
wicfa-hosphal,  there  are  upwards  of  140  nurses,  at  a  very  decent 
and  ample  allowance,  to  attend  upon  the  pensioners,  who  are  all 
seamen's  widows ;  and  a  very  well-regalated  and  established  school 

*  This,  and  the  nine  following  paragraphs,  were  written  by  lord  Sand* 
wich,  then  first  Lord  of  the  Admiralty. 


254         Mr.. Batle)",  and  Lord  Sandwich,  m  the         [30 

for  140  boys^  vfho  are  clo^e^^  lodged,  and  fed^  taught  rea^og^ 
wiitiiog,  and  navigation ;  and,  aifi^r  three  years,  are  boand  out  to 
masters  of  merchantnien,  or  to  otlier  seafaring  business.  These 
boys  must  be  sons, of  seamen. 

Let  U4  now,  for  a  moment,  consider  which  of  these,  advanti^es 
tl^e  men  on  board  of  merchant-ships  enjoy^  in  ^ny  proportioii  to 
Uiose  already  mentioned. 

Not  one  ship  in  ten  has  a  surgeon  pn  board ;,  those  that  baye  sur- 
geons, seldom,  have  persons  in  any  respect  (|ualified  for  tt^eir  bnsi- 
n^8S*  The  author  of  these  sheets  once  dismissed  a  servant  fpf ,.  bad 
behaviour.  His  next  place  was .  that  of  a^  errand-boy.  to  a  sur- 
geon-apothecary, in  vi4iich  situation  he  lived,  about  the :  half  •  of  a 
year*  With  no  other  qualification  than  what  he  |iad  acqiuifed  in 
this.short  space  of  time,  he  went put  surgepn's  mate  in  a  shipibound 
for  Quinea.  llie  surgeon  dying,  he  succeeded  of  course  .to ^hif 
practice.  It  was  shocking  to  hear  him  relate  the  manner  in  vyhicb 
hei  exercised  his  profession,  and  the  tortures  he  exercised  on^  the 
unfortunate  victims  who  sought  his  relief. 

Hence  it  happens,  that  a  broken  limb  is  almost  always  certain 
death.  If  the  provisions  on  board  are  bad  the  seamen  have  iiof«- 
dress,  no  survey  to  apply  to,  no  uninterested  person  to  bear  their 
grievance^.  It  is  but  too  true  that  the  master  of  a  ship,  who  is  to 
make  a  profit  out  of  the  men's  food,  is  exceedingly  apt  to  pinch 
ihem  grievously  in  this  particular.  It  is  here  to  be  observed^  that, 
in  the  King's  ships,  the  case  is  directly  contrary. .  No  emolumeat 
l»n  arise  to  the  captain  from  victualling  the  ship's  company ;  he  is, 
therefore,  a  powerful  check  upon  every  abuse  that  can  be  attempted 
on*  that  branch. 

Instead  of  a  commodious  hospital,  with  every  possible  attend^ 
poce,  and  being  at  the  same  time  in  pay,  they  are  turned  on  shore 
to  shift  for  themselves,  possibly  at  many  hundred  miles  distance 
iroin  their  own  parish,  and  the  scanty  allowance,  provided  there 
for  them,  is  the  only  support  they  can  claim. 

Some  few  of  them  get  to  be  mates,  boatswains  and  caipeqters, 
and  even  masters  of  merchant-ships,  but  these  are  only  temporaiy 
flMlviintages,  and  afford  them  no  provision  for  their  families  after 
l;heir  de^e^ie,  except  what  they  can  have  laid  up  during  ihieir  life* 
lime ;  which,  (some  of  the  masters  excepted,)  is  seldom  sufficient 
to  keep  the  widow  and  children  from  the  parish. 

It  must  be  owned,  however,  that  there  are  some  charities  that 
are  very  useful  to  the  families  of  seamen,  as  far  as  they  go:  the 
Trinity-house  disposes  of  a  large  sum  of  money  in  pensions  of 
three  or  four  pounds  a-year  to  seamen's  widows,  and  they  have  a 
very  comfortable  retirement,  in  alms-houses,  for  a  few  decayed 
masters  or  mates,  ami  their  wives  and  widows. 


911  LegaUty  of  Ifnpressing  Seamen.     '         255 

'  There  is  also  a  lafe  humane  mstitutioD;  which  affords  some  comr 
fort  to  seamen's  families,  bj  a  fund  raised  hy  voluntary  contribu- 
tioa :  but  those  laudable  establishments  (commendable  as  they 
truely  are)  are  bj  no  means  adequate  to  the  extensive  demands. 
These  are  for  assistance  to  those  who  are  worn  ou^  or  disabled,  ia 
the  merchant-service. 

If  this  picture  be  true,  (and  the  author  has  n^lected  no  means 
tai^rif^  It,)  what  haa  the.  seaman  to  complain  of,  who  is.  forced  to 
serve  his  country,  when  he  is  fighting  pro  arts  etfom  i  His  with- 
drawing himself,  in  such  case,  is  highly  criminal,  and  in  every  other 
state  but  that  of  Ghreat  Britain,  is  considered  and  treated  as  such* 
Bttt  the  doing  it  merely  upon  mercenary  principles,  to  get  a  fe^ 
more  shillings  to  spend  in  the  first  ale-house  or  gin-shop  that  is 
Cf&kio  him,  places  the  brave  and  honest  seaman  (the  darlmg  cha- 
racter, the  bulwark,  the  honour  of  his  country)  in  so  des{Mcable  ^ 
l^ht,  as  would  excite  against  him  our  strongest  indignation  and  con- 
tempt, did  not  his  other  virtues  excite  still  stronger  sentiments  of 
pity  and  commiseration. 

It  may  be  asked,  That,  if  all  this  be  true,  what  ipakes  seaqieii  sq 
averse  to  the  king's  service  i  The  answer  is,  this  strict  discipline 
kept  up  on  board  the  king's  ships,  whereby  they  are  prevented  front 
running  into  those  itregtd^rities  and  debaucheries,  of  which  seamen 
are  so  peculiarly  fond,  and  which  prove  so  fatal  to  ^m. 
.  I  think  I  have  now  fully  shown,  that  compulsion  to  public  ser- 
Ti^e  b  perfectly  congenial  to  the  spirit  of  the  English  constitution ; 
that  it  does  not  fall  so  hard  upon  the  seaman,  as  the  compulsion  to 
some  other  duties  does  upon  their  immediate  subjects ;  and  that  it 
is  not  so  very  great  a  calamity  upon  him  as  it  is  sometimes 
thought  to  be.  What  hiu  been  here  said  might,  perhaps,  have  beeii 
more  regularly  inserted  in  a  former  section ;  but  as  I  have  found 
that  the  nature  of  this  question  is  such,  that  however  cogent  the  ar^ 
g«ment  in  favor  of  the  legality  of  the  impress  may  be,  the  con- 
stant answer  to  it  is,  by  appealing  from  the  understanding  to  the 
feelings  of  the  heart,  I  was  wiUii^  to  meet  this  answer  with  a  pro- 
per reply. 

Another  objection  made  to  the  practice  in  question  is,  by  asking, 
What  is  the  difference  between  tiie  press-warrants  and  the  warrants 
for  ship-money  i  The  answer  is  plain,  the  raising  of  money  for 
the  expences  of  the  fleet  can  be  carried  on  in  a  much  better  mode. 
It  has  not  therefore  the  plea  of  necessity  or  expediency.  But,  say 
they,  the  precedents  for  ship-money  are  as  strong,  as  numerous,  and 
as  invariable,  as  the  precedents  of  impressing  men.  I  contend 
.they  are  not  so  strong,  so  numerous,  or  so  invariable.  The  reader 
will  shortly  see  the  nature  of  the  precedents  i  mean  to  adduce.  It 
is  not  here  the  place  to  enter  into  the  question  of  ship*money.     I 


266         Mr.*  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich^  in  the         tSB 

sball  content  myself  with  producing  the  sentiments  of  one,  wWun 
na  one  will  accuse  of  prejudice  against  the  House  of  Sluarti  tad 
whose  learning  and  penetration  are  unquestionable. 
•  /Mn  most  national  debates^  though  the  reasons  miiy  not  be 
^uaUy  balanced,  jet  are  there  commonly  some  plausible  topics, 
which  may  be  pleaded  even  in  favor  of  the  weaker  side ;  so  com* 
jpticated  aire  all  human  afiairs^  and  so  itincertain  the  views  which 
^ve  rise  t&  every  public  measure.  But  it  must  be  confessed,  thal^ 
m  the  present  age,  no  legal  topics  of  any  weight  can  be  uiowa 
into  the  opposite  scale.  The  imposition  of  sbip-mon^  is  ap* 
parently  one  of  the  most  dangerous  invasion^  oif  national  prtYilffM^ 
Mot  only  which  Charles  was  ever  guilty  of,  but  which  the  moat  sirb]- 
trary  princes  in  England,  since  any  liberty  had  been  ascertaiiiedts 
the  people,  had  ventured  upon.  In  vain  were  precedents  of  antidit 
Merits  produced :  these  writs,  when  examined,  were  only  loMnd  ts 
requite  the  sea-ports,  sometimes  at  their  own  charge,  sometimet.M 
the  charge  of  the  counties,  to  send  diar  ships  for  defence  of  tte 
nation,  when  the  prerogative  which  empowered  the  crown  to  issu^ 
Such  writs  was  abolished^  an^  its  exercise  almost  entirely  disdon- 
tinued,  from  the  time  of  Edward  III. :  and  all  the  authority  which 
remained,  or  was  afterwards  exerciaea,  was  to  press  ships  into  the 
public  service,  to  be  paid  for  by  the  public  How  wide  were 
these  precedents  from  a  power  of  obliging  the  people,  at  their  own 
charge,  to  build  new  ships,  to  victual,  and  to  pay  them,  for  the 
^blic ;  nay,  to  fiimish  money  to  the  crown  for  that  purpose  l  what 
security  either  against  the  farther  extension  of  this  claim,  or  i^ainst 
diverting  to  other  purposes  the  public  money  so  levied  f  Tlie  plea 
of  necessity  would  warrant  any  other  taxation,  as  well  as  that  of 
ship-money ;  and  it  was  difiBcult  to  conceive  the  kingdom  in  a  si- 
tuation when  that  plea  could  be  urged  with  less  plausibility  thaa 
at  present ;  and  if  such  maxims  and  such  practices  prevail,  whst 
has  beconoe  of  national  liberty  ?  What  authority  is  left  to  the  6hreat 
Charter,  to  the  Statutes,  and  to  that  very  Petition  of  Right,  which, 
in  the  present  reign^  had  been  so  solemnly  enacted,  by  tke  concur- 
rence of  the  whole  legislature  ?'  • 
^  Another  objection  to  its  constitutional  existence  is  nmde,  by  say- 
ing, ''  That  it  does  not  exist  in  the  most  arbitrary  countiies."  But 
I  believe  there  is  little  force  in  this  objection.  In  France,  confes- 
sedly the  mildest  of  all  arbitrary  governments,  and  in  Spain,  the 
fleet  is  manned  by  a  procedure  much  more  oppressive  on  the  seln 
man.  than  ours.  If  an  equipment  is  ordered,  an  embargo  is  laid 
upon  all  the  trade  of  tlie  kingdom,  and  no  vessel  is  allowed  to  ss8 
tUl  the  king's  ships  are  manned.     The  merchant,  of  course,  is  not 

*  Home's  History  of  I'kigland,  vol.  vi.  p.  318. 


$9}  legality  <(f  Impressing  Seamn.    '  ^7 


i 


allowed  to  get  the  best  men  be  can,  but  is  obliged  to  take  moi^ 
in  Qiimber  than  he  would  want  if  they  were  good  men ;  for  those 
oulj  are  given  him  who  are  the  refuse  of  the  service.  It  is  not  as  with 
us,  that  a  man  is  only  obliged  to  follow  the  trade  he  has  chosen. 
There  he  is  obliged  to  take  to  ^  trade^  and  to  follow  no  other.  For^ 
within  a  certain  number  of  miles  from  the  sea^coast,  the  seaman  is 
registered^  and,  in  a  manner,  pressed  the  day  he  is  born.  When 
men  are  wapted  for  the  service,  the  magistrates  of  the  district  are 
ordered  to  send  an  account  of  their  men  so  registered  ;  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  most  able  of  them  is  received,  and,  as  I  have  already 
aaid,  the  refuse  turned  over  to  the  merchants. 

Some  people  imagine  that,  by  proper  encouragement,  tb^ 
fleet  may  be  manned  by  volunteers;  experience  ^hows  the  contrary.. 
Wheti  bounties  are  given  for  seamen  to  enter,  while  there  is  no 
press,  those  who  come  for  the  bounty  are  such  as  cannot  ^et  em« 
jl^lbyment  from  the  merchants ;  consequently,  are  men  of  an  mferior 
class ;  and,  if  that  mode  alone  were  pursued;  the  merchant-ships 
would  have  the  best  men,  and  the  navy,  upon  which  the  existence 
of  our  country  depends,  would  be  left  widi  nothing  but  the  refuse. 

Another  striking  instance,  to  show  the  great  advantage  and 
degree  of  encouragement  which  our  seaman  has  over  those  of  all 
other  nations,  is  as  follows.  There  are,  at  this  time,  about  386 
ships  belonging  to  the  toyal  navy,  and  on  board  of  each  of  them 
are  four  warrant-officers,  who  have  been  originally  common  sea- 
men. 

In  foreign  countries,  indeed,  men  armed  with  bludgeons  do  not 
Mralk  about  the  haunts  of  the  seamen,  searching  for  those  upon 
whom  they  are  to  execute  their  warrants  ;'^— but  there,  as  soon  as 
the  commission  is  issued,  all  the  seamen  are  to  fly  immediately  tX> 
the  place  of  rendezvous :  If  they  fail  in  this,  they  incur  nothing  less 
than  the  penalty  of  death.  When  this  is  understood,  we  are  very 
willing  to  allow  the  objection,— '^  Pressing,  as  it  is  practised  by  us, 
does  not  exist  in  arbitrary  countries." 

I  come  now  to  show,  that  it  has  always  been  in  use  in  England ; 
I  hope  to  show,  that  it  has  always  made  a  part  of  the  common 
law ;  and  tfa^t  it  is  as  much  recognized  by  the  statute  law  as  any  in- 
stitution can  be,  which  does  not  immediately  owe  its  existence  to 
it.  I  wish  to  make  it  clear  to  the  candid  reader,  that  it  is  coeval 
with  our  government,  and  has  been  exercised  in  every  period  of  it. 
In  doing  this,  I  shall  accomplish  the  remaining  part  of  the  ques- 
tion, by  showing  that  it  has  always  made  a  part  of  the  common 
law,  and  is  clearly  recognized  by  the  statute  law. 

[2d  Point.    That  it  is  legal.] 

I  now  enter  on  the  most  difficult  part  of  this  little  essay;    I  hope 
it  has  been  shown  to  the  reader's  satisfaction.  That  the  impress  of 
VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  R 


258         Mr;  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  on  the        [S4 

seamen,  with  respect  to  the  hardships  brought  thereby  on  a  parti* 
cular  body  of  men,  is  not  repugnant  to  the  original  laws  of  a  free 
society,  or  government  : — ^That  in  the  period  of  refinement,  which 
this  nation  has  long  since  attained,  and  the  particular  circumstances 
of  bein^  a  commercial  state,  which  it  has  long  enjoyed,  personal 
service  in  the  navy,  in  times  of  war,  cannot  be  the  obligation  of 
any  but  of  the  lowest  rank  of  men  : — That  personal  service  is  a 
duty  incumbent  particularly  on  the  seaman ;  and  that^  after  every 
inducement  is  used  to  invite  him  to  enter  into  the  service  of  his 
own  free  accord,  some  mode  of  compulsion  is  still  necessaiyw*— i 
now  proceed  to  show,  that  compulsion,  otherwise  pressing  into 
the  service,  has,  from  time  immemorial,  been  an  usage,  and  made 
part  of  the  common  law  of  this  realm. 

[Pretting  SeameD,  besides  immemoriai  usage,  repeatedly  recogiiis«d  '.hj  the 
legislature.] 

Persons  unacquainted  with  the  constitution  of  this  kingdom,  are 
apt  to  suppose  that  no  establishment  can  have  the  force  of  law,  un- 
less it  had  been  formally,  and  in  direct  terms,  passed  into  a  law 
by  the  legislature.  It  is  necessary  to  acquaint  such  persons^  that 
the  greatest  part,  by  far,  of  the  laws  of  this  kingdom  lies  in  cus- 
tom ;  and  that  no  proof,  but  immemorial  usage,  can  be  given  of 
their  being  laws.  To  instance  one  of  the  many  striking  exampleij 
ot  those  laws : — the  course  in  which  lands  descend  by  inheritance  is 
governed  entirely  by  laws  of  this  nature,  and  is  not  settled  by  any 
positive  law,  discoverable  at  this  day.  At  first,  it  was  not  prac- 
tised as  it  now  is ;  but  having  been  in  some  measure  practised  on 
a  particular  emergency,  and  found  a  salutary  measure,  it  was  re- 
peated. This  repetition  produced  another,  perhaps  with  some 
amendments.  In  that  course  it  proceeds  till  its  origin  is  forgot. 
This  is,  generally  speaking,  the  process  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
laws  of  every  country ;  for,  in  all  countries,  besides  the  body  of 
written,  or  as  we  call  it  statute  law,  there  is  a  collection  of  un- 
written usages,  of  equal  force  with  these  written  laws,  and  whicli^ 
answer  to  what  we  call  the  common  law.  But  the  legality  of  im- 
pressing seamen  has  the  addition  of  one  very  strong  circumstance 
of  proof,  which  is  wanting  to  many  other  parts  of  the  common 
law ;  that  it  is  very  early  taken  notice  of,  and,  in  some  measure^ 
modelled  by  the  acts  of  the  legislature.  This  will  be  more  fiilly 
shown  hereafter. 

[The  naval  history  of  the  nation  before  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons^  not  of  con- 
sequence, as  to  the  point  in  question.] 

In  regard  to  the  state  of  the  nation  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Saxons,  no  facts,  I  apprehend,  can  be  mentioned^  and  no  reason* 
ing  allowed,  which  pan  throw  any  light  on  this  subject.  In  those 
days,  every  man  was  a  warrior ;  compulsion,  therefore,  to  personal 
service,  in  military  expeditions,  was  not  only  not  necessary,  but 


35]  Ltgality  of  Impressing  Seamen.  259^ 

absolutely  unknown. — The  employment  of  tillage,  and  every  other' 
occupaition  which  kept  the  party  from  the  field,  was  detestable 
and  Ignominious  in  their  eyes,  and  became^  what  things  generally 
reputed  hardships  must  in  every  state  of  society  become,  the  lof 
of  the  lowest  rank  of  life. — It  is  therefore  needless  to  dwell  longer 
on  this  part  of  our  history: — This  circumstance,  however,  should 
be  attended  to^  so  far  as  it  shows  the  truth  of  our  position ; 
that,  in  every  state  of  society  and  government^  and  in  every  period 
of  the  British  constitution,  no  system  of  equality  ever  can,  or  ever 
could  prevail,  which  kept  the  more  disagreeable  impositions  and 
duties  from  falling  on  the  inferior  conditions  of  men. 

[SnimiMry  of  the  nam]  history  of  the  Saxons.] 

The  Saxons'  period  of  our  history  is  more  interesting,  for  many 
reasons,  which  it  is  here  needless  to  mention. — It  therefore  may 
reasonably  be  expected  from  us,  that  we  show  that  the  spirit  of 
their  government  was  nowise  contrary  to  the  fact  we  are  here  at- 
tempting to  prove.  This  negative  argument  is  as  much  as  the 
4)istance  of  time,  and  the  advanced  state  of  our  present  system  of 
government  requires. 

AlAredy  the  father  of  our  shipping,  n^anned  his  fleet  at  first  with 
seamen  who  had  served  with  the  Frisian  Pirates.'  The  arts  of 
navigation  improved  considerably,  and  long  voyages  were  attempted 
frequently,  both  iit  his  and  in  his  successors'  reigns.  In  the  reign 
of  King  Athelstan,  a  law  passed,  that  every  merchant,  who  had 
made  three  long  voyages  at  sea,  should  be  admitted  to  the  rank  of 
a  thane.^  The  writers  of  those  times  describe  the  magnificence 
of  King  Edgar's  fleet  in  terms  to  which  posterity  has  refused  be-^ 
lief.^  King  Ethelred,  on  a  sudden  invasion  of  the  Danes,  ordered 
every  person  possessed  of  310  hides  of  land  to  furnish  a  ship  for 
the  defence  of  the  state/  And  a  tak  of  a  shilling  was  imposed 
oo  every  acre  in  the  kingdom.  This  tax  is  known  in  history  by 
the  name  of  Danegelt.^  The  money  arising  therefrom  was  em- 
ployed sometimes  in  raising  forces  against,  and  sometimes  in  pur- 
chasing peace  from,  the  Danes.  Perhaps  Mr.  Selden  was  right 
in  supposing,  thait  some  part  of  this  tax  was  expended  annually  od 
a  fleet,  purposely  equipped  to  resist  the  invasions  of  that  formidable 
enemy .^  Other  taxes  were  raised  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
right  of  personal  service  included  generally  personal  attendance 
in  all  naval  expeditions.     The  sovereigns  of  the  islands  circuinja- 

'  Aserius,  p.  13.  ^  WilkiQs's  Leges  Saxon,  p.  7K 

3  Some  accounts  make  the  number  of  hi^  ships  300,  others  3000,  others 
3600,  Others  4000.  See  Hoved.  p.  496.  Fior.  Wig.  607.  Abbae  Ueival.  p. 
360.*-See  Bromp.  and  W.  Thorn.  . 

^  Chronic.  Sax.  p.  136.  ^  Ibid. 

6  See  Mare  Clausiim.  3d.  Vol.  torn.  2.  edit.  Wilkfus,  p.  1316, 17, 18,  19, 
SO,  31,  S:^,  93. 


too         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  an  the  [3Q 

teat  bound  themselves,  by  their  oath,  to  King  Edgar,  to  do  bim 
service  both  by  sea  and  land.  From  the  accounts  of  those  tiiBes 
it  appears,  that  some  lands  were  particularly  held  by  a  kind  of  sea- 
service*  In  the  book  of  Domesday  mention  is  made  of  places 
bound  to  find  the  King  with  seamen,  with  iron  fof  his  ships.  With 
horses  to  carry  tlie  armor  of  the  soldiery  to  their  ships,  and  with 
provisions,  money,  and  armory,  fit  for  the  use  of  the  fleet.' 

I  believe  this  will  be  found  an  exact,  though  concise,  account 
of  naval  transactions,  in  the  time  of  the  Saxons.  As  it  is  a  matter 
of  doubt  whether  the  feudal  law  obtained  in  England  in  tliose 
times,  I  shall  postpone,  for  the  present,  making  any  obsehratioes 
on  the  general  nature  of  feudal  law.*^I  shall  only  observe  that  it  is 
igreed,  on  all  hands,  that  if  fiefs  were  not  M  that  time  known  in 
England,  the  great  principle  of  the  feudal  law,  the  reciprocal 
obligations  of  protection  and  defence,  and  something  very  like  tbd 
patroni^ge  and  clientage  of  the  feudal  law,  did  at  least  prevail.  And 
that  this  had  place  in  naval^  as  in  all  other  concerns,  we  have  Sel- 
den's  express  testimony  ;  who  calls  them,  Ciientum  fiducidtiorum 
officia  navalibus  expeditionibus,  et  maris  tutelte  ilio  (Bvo  expensa : 
*~-and  ciientum  officia  ad  rem  nauticamf  seu  maris  tutelam  atti-* 
nenlia.  The  duties  of  fiduciary  clients,  performed  in  those  ages 
in  naval  expeditions,  and  in  the  custody  of  the  sea  ; — and  the  du- 
ties of  clients  belonging  to  naval  matters,  and  the  custody  of  Ae 
sea.* 

[The  custody  of  the  sea.] 

One  of  the  chief  prerogatives  of  the  King  of  England,  and  a 
prerogative  mentioned  in  very  express  and  very  pon^pous  terms  by 
antient  writers,  is  '*  The  Custody  of  the  Sea."  The  King  is  fre- 
quently styled,  '^  The  Sovereign  Lord  and  Proprietor  of  the 
Seas  i^  and  the  custody  or  guardianship  of  the  sea  and  die  bar 
Yens  and  ports  of  this  island,  is  mentioned  as  one  of  his  most 
splendid  prerogatives,  and  most  important  duties.  For  the  exe-r 
pution  of  these  ofiices,  he  was  intrusted  with  ample  powers.' 

^  See  Selden  locU  ante  citatiSf  and  the  Book  of  Domesday.  GlooeMtti^  tem- 
pore Edwardi  Regis,,  reddebat  36  dicras/erri,  et  centwn  virgasjerri^  ductiles  o4 
clavos  navium  regis.  Ledecesirie  reddebat^  si  Rex  per  mare  in  hostem  tbaty  4  e§uoSf 
de  eodem  hurgo  toque  ad  Londoniam^  ad  comportanda  arma,  vel  alia  qua  opu$  et- 
sent, 

Warwick,  si  Rex  per  mare  contra  bostes  tu&s  ihat^velquatuor  Batruciot^velqu^ 
tuor  Ubras  denariorumf  mittebatm 

Batrucius  denotes  such  Mariners  as  belong  to  boats  which  have  no  sails, 
BuscarluSf  often  mentioned  in  the  same  book,  refers  to  Seamen  in  larger  ves- 
sels. 

^  Selden,  opere  ante  citato, p.  1323. 

3  What  the  Custody  of  the  Sea  was,  is  amply  discussed  by  Mr.  Seldeo, 
opere  ante  citato. 


37]  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen^  S&l 

The  Cinque-Ports  were  more  particularly  and  immediatelj  undet 
his  care.  They  were  governed  oy  an  officer  appointed  by  him, 
called  a  Lord  Warden^  who  had  the  jurisdiction  of  the  admiralty  id 
tjbem^  and  was  independent  of  the  admiralty  of  England.  The  mer^^ 
chants  were  in  such  estimation^  and  thought  of  such  importance^  that 
they  enjoyed  very  great  priv^leges>  and  were  admitted  to  the  highest 
honors.  They  had  the  appellation  and  honors  of  a  baron^  were 
exempted  from  the  feudal  servitudes  and  prestrationsj  and  could 
be  sued  nowhere  but  in  their  own  courts.  In  returui  they  were 
bound  to  find  the  king  a  certain  number  of  ships^  properly  equipped 
and  manned^  and  to  keep  them  at  their  own  expence  for  a  certain 
time.  They  were  also  called  upon  for  these  services^  on  particular 
emerg^cies.  *^  Their  particular  franchises  were  granted  them  (says 
Lord  Coke)/  partly  by  ancient  parliaments^  and  partly  by  ancient 
charters^  and  were  confirmed  by  express  name,  by  the  statute  of 
Masna  Chart  a.'* 

1  he  records  of  our  nation^  from  the  time  of  the  conquest,  af^ 
ford  the  most  striking  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  assertion  contended 
for  in  these  sheets.  The  prerogative  of  the  crown,  of  being  the  lord 
and  having  the  custody  of  the  seas,  is  everywhere  recognised,  and 
mentioned  in  the  most  pompous  phrases.  The  territories  of  the 
CFOwn  in  Normandy  made  it  necessary  for  our  kings  to  cross  the 
seas  frequently  ; — and,  as  a  royal  voyage  was  seldom  made  without 
a  numerous  company  of  attendants,  a  large  number  of  ships  was 
always  ready^  or  at  least  always  in  a  situation  of  being  ready,  at 
command,  to  take  the  king  and  his  attendants  over.  Our  Norman 
territories,  therefore,  our  wars  with  France,  the  crusades,  and  the 
rising  state  of  commerce,  by  degrees  extended  our  navigation^  and 
increased  the  number  and  magnitude  of  our  fleets. 

But,  till  a  very  advanced  period  of  our  history,  die  crown  of 
£ngland  never  possessed,  properly  speaking,  one  ship  of  its  owm 
The  ship  called  the  Great  Harry ^  on  which  King  Henry  VII* 
expended  no  less  a  sum  titan  £14,000,  was  the  first  ship  that^ 
with  propriety,  could  be  said  to  belong  to  the  crown.*  Till  that 
time,  the  crown  had  no  other  fleet  but  the  ships  with  which  they 
were  supplied  from  different  places,  and  particularly  from  sea^^ 
towns  and  haven*towns,  in  consequence  of  their  tenure. 

The  court  of  Admiralty,  if  it  did  not  exist  under  that  name# 
.certainly  existed,  at  least  in  a  great  measure,  under  another,  very 
soon  after  the  conquest.  The  powers  of  the  admirals  were  very 
extensive^  In  the  reign  of  Edward  HI.,  perhaps  much  earlier,  the 
court  of  Admiralty  assumed  a  regular  form,  and  the  ofiice  of 
Admiral  became  an  office  of  more  importance,  and  consequently 

'  4th  Inst.  *  See  Mr*  Astle's  preface  to  the  Will  of  Henry  VII. 


262      .   Mr.  Butler,  afid  Lord  Sandwich,  pti  the         \Z8 

more  an  object  of  the  ambition  and  wishes  of  the  great  men  of 
the  realm,  than  it  was  before.  Among  other  powers  inherent  to 
the  office,  pressing  ships  and  mariners  was  not  the  least  considera- 
ble.— Every  merchant,  when  called  upon,  was  bound  to  supply 
the  state  with  ships;  every  mariner  was,  in  the  same  mamier, 
bound  to  do  personal  service.  The  admiral  had  every  power 
necessary  to  compel  both  the  merchants  and  the  mariners  to* the 
performance  of  this  obligation.  He  could  choose  his  men,  arrest 
them,  and  detain  them,  for  the  service.  His  orders  for  this  pur- 
pose were  conveyed  to  him  by  writs.  These,  sometimes,  men- 
tioned  the  particular  number  of  ships  and  men  to  be  arrested,  and 
the  particular  places  from  which  they  were  to  be  taken ;  at  other 
times,  they  ordered  a  general  impress  of  ships  and  men  to  be 
made  throughout  the  realm. 

The  writs  were  also  directed  to  different  places,  and  addressed 
to  different  persons.  The  men  and  ships,  thus  arrested,  were 
either  such  as  were  bound  by  tenure,  or  hired.  In  the  latter 
instance,  the  use  of  the  ships  was  paid  for,  and  the  men  received 
wages ;  but  the  distinction  is  not  made  in  the  writs.  The  writs 
are  worded  generally,  and  never  particularly  specify  only  such 
ships  and  men  as  are  bound  by  tenure. 

If  this  statement  of  facts  be  true,  the  legality  of  pressing,  and  its 
having  been  from  time  immemorial  a  part  of  the  common  law  of 
this  realm,  is  proved  to  the  highest  point  of  demonstration  that  any 
historical  point  is  capable  of  receiving. 

The  proofs  of  our  assertions,  on  this  head,  are  taken  either 
from  the  mandatory  writs  and  commissions  from  the  crown, 
ordering  impress  of  men ;  or  from  acts  of  the  legislature,  in  whic^ 
this  right  of  the  crown  is  more  or  less  recognised. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  there  are  no  records  in  the  Tower, 
(except  some  ancient  charters,  or  exemplifications  of  them)  more 
ancient  than  the  reign  of  King  John :  all  of  them  from  the  reign 
of  William  I.  till  then  (except  some  few  in  the  Exchequer,  not 
relating  to  Parliament,)  being  utterly  lost.'  '  We  must^  therefore, 
begin  our  proofs  from  the  reign  of  King  John.* 

■  Prynne's  preface  to  Cotton's  Abridgement  of  the  Records  in  the  Tower. 
There  are  few  instances  of  a  book  being  printed  with  so  fklse  a  title,  or 
executed  more  inaccurately.  First :  It  should  not  he  intituled  an  **  Abridge- 
ment of  the  Records  in  the  Tower/'  but  of  the  *^  Rolls  of  ParUaoienr, 
and  Summonses  to  Parliament;''  there  being  several  records  in  the  Tower 
not  onlv  not  abridged  in,  but  in  no  wise  relatiqg  to  the  subject  of,  that  work. 
Secondly :  Mr.  Tyrell  asserts,  in  the  preface  to  the  third  volume  uf  the  Histo- 
ry of  England,  p.  9.  that  it  was  not  the  work  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  but  of 
Mr.  Bowyer,  J^eeper  of  the  records  in  the  Tower  during  the  latter  end  cff 
Que$ui  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  the  beginning  of  James  I.    An  accurate 


99]         V .  LegaliiJt  of  Impressing  Seameu.  S^ 

.'^    -       ,\  ..   .   r  In  the  reign  of  King  JOHN, 

Orders  are  given  for  arresting  all  ships  that  should  be  found  on 
dtesea. 

Orders  to  forbid  any  ship  or  vessel  to  leave  the  ports^  without 
special  leave  from  the  King. 

/.  Writs  areJsauedy  ordering  all  ships  that  could  carry  six  horses,. 
or  morCi  to  be  sent  to  Portsmouth, 

Wnts  addressed  to  the  Barons  of  Rye,  Ipswich,  Yarmouth, 
Norwich,  Orewell,  Oreford,  St.  Osyth,  Sandwich,  Dover,  and 
Hastings,  Hythe,  Romney,  Winchester,  and  Shoreham,  ordering 
tbem.to  assemble  (venire  faciatis)  all  the  ships  of  their  ports,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  to  man  them  with  four  of  their  best 
men.' 

In  the  case  of  ship«money,  Sir  George  Crooke  (who  argued  for 
the  iU^ality  of  the  measure)  cites  6  John,  M.  1.  3  John,  M.  3» 

abridgement  of  the  Rolls  of  Parliament,  with  a  summary  of  the  history  of 
the  kingdom  prefixed  to  each  reign,  would  be  a  most  iuvaluable  work. 

*  Thoogb  It  be  not  here  the  place  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the 
original  rorm  and  constitution  of  parliaments,  it  is  necessary  to  premise 
some  particulars  on  this  head. 

It  seems  to  be  universally  allowed,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature 
till  the  reign  of  £dward  I.  were  exceedingly  irregular,  and  greatly  defective 
in  point  ofform.  They  are  sometimes  penned  so  as  to  appear  to  come' from, 
the  King  alone ;  sometimes,  as  issued  jointly  by  the  King  and  Lords ; 
sometimes  the  assent  of  the  Commons  is,  and  sometimes  it  is  not,  ex- 
pressed. Sometimes  the  authority  for  the  passing  the  acts  is  mentioned ; 
and  sometimes  the  acts  are  in  the  form  of  charters. — I  mention  this,  in 
order  to  answer  any  objection  >B^hich  may  arise,  in  the  reader's  mind,  against 
the  authorities  I  shall  quote,  from  their  seeming  informality. 

The  'first  summons  of  the  Knights  of  shires  to  Parliament,  extant  on 
record,  is  in  the  49th  year  of  Henry  III. 

The  first  regular  summons  directed  to  the  sheriff  for  the  election  of  citi- 
zens'and  burgesses,  is  in  the  23d  of  Edward  I. 

In  this  reisn  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  assumed  a  more  regnlar 
form ; — but  far  removed  from  that  in  which  they  appear  at  present.  The 
consent  of  the  Commons  to  the  levying  of  taxes  for  the  King,  ^ave  them 
sreat  weight.  They  took  advantage  of  this  circumstance  to  obtain  a  reme- 
dy for  the  grievances  thev  had  to  complain  of. 

In  the  reigQ  of  Edward  III.  the  mode  of  presenting  their  petitions,  and  of 
receiving  their  answers,  was  regularly  practised.  If  the  petition  and  the 
answer  to  it  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  require  an  express  and  new  pro- 
vision to  be  made  for  it,  the  King,  with  the  assistance  of  his  council*  and  of 
the  Judges,  framed,  from  such  petition  and  answer,  an  act  which  was 
usually  entered  on  the  Statute  Roll.  But,  if  an  express  and  new  provision 
were  not  required,  the  petition  itself,  and  the  King's  answer  to  it,  were 
entered  on  the  Parliament  Roll,  and  then  usually  styled  an  Ordinance. 

Alterations  and  improvements  gradually  took  place.  But  it  was  not  till 
the  reien  of  Henry  VI.  that  these  petitions  of  the  Commons  wiere  reduced, 
in  the  first  instance,  into  the  body  of  the  bill. 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  1. 


^64  Mr.  TM]^f<ind  Lord  Sandwich,  on  the        (U 

17  John,  M.  7. — ^lliree  of  these  are  to  arrest^  and  make  «taj  of 
ships,  that  thejr  should  not  go  out  of  the  kingdom,  bat  be  feiid^ 
for  the  King's  service ;  and  the  other  was  to  bring  ships  of  partt^ 
cular  towns  to  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  for  the  King's  service.' 

A  commission  is  granted  to  John  Marshal,  to  guard  the  seas; 
and  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Lincoln,  and  to  all  od^jrs,  to 
attend  his  commands. 

.  The  King's  writ  to  the  bailiffs  of  all  the  ports  in  the  county  of 
Essex,  to  assemble  (venire  Jaciatis)  at  Portsmouth  all  the  dnps 
pf  their  bailliwick  which  could  carry  eight  or  more  horses,  by  the 
Feast  of  St.  Hilary,  or  before^  ready  and  prepared  to  go  into  his 
service.^ 

Tbough  this  point  immediately  before  our  consideration  be  to 
show  the  right  of  impressing  seamen,  we  equally  notice  the  right 
of  impressing  ships,  and  some  other  of  the  most  remarkable  in- 
stances of  the  different  powers  exercised  by  government  in  naval 
affairs. — But  they  equally  tend  to  show  its  supreme  authority  and 
jurisdiction  in  all  naval  concerns;  and  what  ample  rights  were 
inherent  and  annexed  to  the  custody,  or  guardianship,  of  the  sea. 

In  the  reign  of  HENRY  HI, 

Orders  for  finding  ships  for  the  King's  passage. 

The  King's  letters  to  the  Viscounts  of  Cornwall,  Devonshire, 
Ddrsetshire,  Somersetshire,  Sussex,  Kent,  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Es- 
$ex,  Hertfordshire,  Lincolnshire,  and  Yorkshire,  to  take  suretj 
from  the  ships  capable  of  carrying  sixteen  horses  or  more,  to  be  at 
Portsmouth  on  Easter,  and  on  their  giving  this  surety,  to  permit 
thein,  in  the  interim,  to  go  whei'e  they  pleased. 

The  King  writes  to  the  Viscount  of  Dorsetshire,  that  the  two 
persons  therein  named  had  come  to  him,  at  Portsmouth,  with 
their  ships ;  but,  not  having  occasion  for  them,  he  had  given  them 
leave  to  return. 

The  Barons  of  the  Cinque  Ports  swore,  that  all  ships  which  are 
in  their  ports,  or  coasted  there,  should  be  at  Portsmouth  at  a  cer- 
tain day,  ready  to  do  service  to  the  King.  « 

Orders  for  arresting  all  ships  proper  for  the  service  there  men- 
tioned. 

Orders  for  the  bailiffs  of  Dunwich  to  send  to  Dover  five  shipSi 
well  armed,  with  as  many  men  as  they  could  find,  to  do  whatever 
the  Constable  of  that  place  should  order  them. 

^  See  Pat.  9th  John,  Memh.  S,  Pat.  6th  John,  11.  Rot.  Claus.  14tb 
John,  Meinb.  6.  Ibid.  17  John,  Merob.  4.  and  7.  MoUoy,  vol.  i.  133.  15 
John.  Rymer,  vol.  i.  180. — ^Tbe  Great  Charter  of  King  John  is  dated  the 
15th  of  June,  1275,  anno  regni  17. 


41)  LegaAttf  of  Impressifig  Seametu  . :.         965 

'  :Tbe  men  of  Yarmonth  are  ofderod  to  appoiat  three  of  tbe  best 
ihipabeloi^iog  to  their  towOy. with  six  boats  and  one  galley,  to 
eqaip  and  arm  them  well  with  men  and  arms.  William  Boss  iand 
Robert  Tuckill  are  appointed  captains.  The  profits  of  the  expe-* 
dition  to  be  divided  between  the  captMns  and  their  men^  aiid  the 
King)  in  equalportions. 

-  The  bailiffs  of  Lynne  are  ordered  to  permit  one  of  the  four  ships 
arrested  by  the  King,  to  be  taken  by  hit  ambassadors  to  Norway.' 

In  the  Reign  of  EDWARD  I, 

A  writ  directed  to  the  sheriffs  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  reciting 
that  certain  constables  were  appointed  to  assess  men-at-arms  suffi- 
cient for  the  guarding  of  the  sea-coasts,  commanding  them  to 
distrain,  and  compel,  those  so  assessed  to  go. 

Writs  to  the  sheriff  of  Lincoln,  York,  and  Northumberland, 
reciting  that  he  had  commanded  persons  to  collect  and  take  an 
hundred  ships  between  Leigh  and  Berwick,  and  to  man  them  with 
able  men,  commanding  them  to  assist  therein. 

Writs  ordering  different  persons  to  attend  for  the  defence  of  the 
sea-coast. 

A  writ  out  of  the  Exchequer  to  the  sheriff  of  Berks,  reciting 
that  the  King  was  informed  that  the  men  hi  the  county  of  Berks, 
who  were  assigned  to  come  to  defend  the  sea-coast,  came  not  as 
they  were  warned ;  commanding  to  distrain  them,  and  to  compel 
them  to  come  and  do  service. — The  like  writs  were  then  awarded 
to  the  sheriffs  of  Wilts  and  Soutliton. 

The  King  taking  notice  of  the  preparations  made  by  the  King  of 
France,  commands  all  the  ships  and  men  with  arms  in  the  kingdom^ 
to  be  in  readiness.^ 

In  the  Reign  of  EDWARD  II, 

The  King  having  commanded  all  ships  of  a  certain  size  to  be  at 
Portsmouth,  the  masters  and  mariners  complained  that  they  could 
not  serve  without  wages ; — he  therefore  appointed  them  wages. 

Orders  for  appointing  seamen ; — for  arresting  and  taking  ships ^ 
^— for  punishing  delinquent  seamen; — ^^for  giving  every  ship  of 
a  certain  weight  a  double  equipment ; — and  tliat  all  the  owners  of 
such  ships  should  be  on  board  thereof  in  their  own  persons. 

^  See  Pat.  13  Hen.  Memb.  4.^ — Cka9.  14  Hen.  3.  Dors.  Consimile,  ibid^ 
Memb.  17. — Glaus.  14  Hen.  3«  Memb.  8«  Dors. — Pat.  14  Hen.  d.--Clau9. 
17  Hen.  8.  Memb.  7.— Claus.  26  Hen.  3. — Pat.  9  Hen.  3.  No.  ii.  3ee  Ap- 
peqdix.-*Claiis.  26  Hen.  3.  et  simile  pluribus  aliis. — la  Hen.  3.  Memb.  4. 

*  S^e  25  Edw.  I.  Memb.  5.  Cited  by  Crooke  in  the  Case  of  Ship-money^ 
—84  Edw.  I.  Memb.  17.  Ibid.— -Ibid.  Memb.  16.  Ibid.-"24  Edw.  I.  Rot.  78w 
—83  Edw.  I.  Memb.  4.    Cited  by  Crooke. 


toa         Mr.  Butler^  and  Lord  Sandmcht  on  the         im 

Writs  appointing  certain  commissioners  to  require  tbe  conuhu- 
nities  of  the  towns,  cities,  t>orougbs,  and  ports  of  Norfolk,  to  send 
in  tbeir  number  of  ships  armed  with  men ;  and  the  same  for  the 
other  counties. 

Orders  to  Alexander  Clavering  the  Viscount  of  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk,  and  Alexander  Conners  clerk,  jointly  and  sevendly,  to 
arrest  and  take  thirty-six  of  the  best  ships  which  could  be  found  on 
the  coasts  of  the  said  counties,  and  to  appoint  men  to  serve  k 
them.' 

EDWARD  III. 

The  long  reign  of  King  Edward  III.  contains  sufficient  instances 
to  show,  that  the  naval  establishment  was  such  as  I  have  described 
it. 

These  orders,  and  particularly  those  for  arresting  and  taking 
men,  are  frequently  repeated  in  this  reign. 

Orders:  that  A.  B.  should  have  power  to  appoint  seventy  able 
mariners  for  the  King's  baige,  called  the  Mary. 

Orders  are  given  to  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  of  Southton,  to  fur- 
nish the  owners  and  masters  of  ships  of  a  certain  weight,  with  men 
and  all  other  necessaries. 

Orders,  that  all  men  and  ships  of  war  be  ready  at  Portsmouth. 

Orders  for  arrestii^  ships,  and  appointing  the  men  to  man 
tfiem. 
.    Orders  are  given  for  taking  mariners  for  the  ships  of  the  King. 

Forsaking  and  arresting  ships. 

For  takinz  seamen^ 

For  arresting  carpenters  for  the  works  of  the  engmeers  of  the 
King. 

For  taking  mariners  for  the  use  of  the  King. 

For  arresting  ships. 
'   For  arresting  ships  and  mariners. 

For  appointing,  taking  up,  and  arresting  ships  and  mariners. 

For  taking  up  mariners  aind  bowmen  for  the  armament  of  tbe 
navy. 

All  these  writs  are  very  frequently  repeated  throughout  this 
reign. 

'  Sec  Claus.  20  Edw.  II.  2  Memb.  e.—Rot.  Scot.  7  Edw.  II.  Memb.  8. 
—Ibid.  M.  6.  Memb.  2. — Ibid.  Memb.  6.  Dor8.-:-Clau8.  20  Edw.  II.  Memb. 
12.  Dors. — **  Equip,  eskippamentum.  De^rAlIaman  Schiff,  qui  signifie  un 
navire.  Equipage,  c'est  le  corps  ou  la  troupe  des  officiers,  mariniers,  des 
soldats,  et  des  matclois,  qui  montent  un  vaisseau."  Menage  Diet  Etjni. 
Ed.  1750,  p.  548.  See  also  Carpent.  Supplem.  Gloss.  Du  Cange.  sub  verb. 
Esquippare.— Rot.  Scot.  ii.  12  Edw.  II.  M.  8.  et  Dor8.  M.  13.  et  M.  8.-7 
Edw.  II.    Rymer,  vol.  iii.  p.  429. 


4S]  Jjcg^y  of  Irnpremt^  SeMien.  ^  267 

.    There,  are  »bo  frequent  writs  for  taking  the  diips  out.  of  the 
furests. 

The  two,  admirals  are  impowered  to  make  choice,  as  well  within 
liberties  as  without,  of  men  fit  for  the  service,  and  to  put  them  on 
board  the  fleet.  The  commissions  of  the  admirals  imponi'er  them 
to  assemble  all  kinds  of  ships,  and  to  chuse  and  take  mariners,  and 
to- put  them  on  board. 

.  |n  the  47th  of  this  reign  a  very  curious  transaction  happened. — 
The  owners  of  ships  throughout  the  kingdom  petitioned  that  their 
ships  were  oftentimes  arrested  to  serve  the  King,  and  continued  for 
some  time  under  this  arrest  before  they  went  on  their  voyages,  so, 
that  neither  they  nor  their  mariners  got  any  wages.  They  begged 
the  King  and  his  council,  as  a  work  of  charity,  to  order  that  they 
might  be  paid  from  the  time  of  the  arrest.  The  answer  was  that 
no  arrest  of  ships  should  be  made  but  when  it  was  wanted,  and 
payment  should  be  made  as  theretofore.  They  also  begged  to  be 
allowed  for  the  tackling  of  die  ships.  The  answer  made  them  was, 
that  no  such  allowance  had  been  before  made  them. 

But  not  a  word  is  said,  not  an  insinuation  conveyed,  against  the 
practice  itself.' 

,        ^  RICHARD  11. 

In  the  2d  year  of  Richard  11.  who  succeeded  Edward,  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  act  took  place.  '^  Whereas  divers  mariners, 
after  that  they  be  taken  and  retained  for  the  service  of  the  King 
upon  the  sea,  in  defence  of  the  realm,  and  thereupon  have  received 
the  wages  to  them  belonging,  do  depart  out  of  the  said  service 
without  leave  of  the  admirals,  or  of  their  lieutenants,  to  the  great 
damage  of  the  King  our  Lord,  and  of  the  realm,  and  delay  of  his 
said  voyages :  It  is  ordained  and  established.  That  all  such  ma- 
riners, who  shall  hereafter  so  do,  and  that  are  found  and  truly 
proved  before  the  admiral,  or  his  lieutenant,  be  obliged  to  restore 
to  our  Lord  the  King  the  double  of  what  they  shall  have  taken  for 
4heir  wages,  and  nevertheless  be  imprisoned  for  a  year,  without 
being  delivered  from  thence  by  any  mainprize,  bail,  or  by  any 
other  way.  And  the  King  wills  and  commands  all  sheriffs,  mayors, 
and  bailiffs,  within  franchises  and  without,  that  upon  the  certificate 
of  the  said  admirals,  or  their  lieutenants,  by  their  letters  thereupon 

'  See  Rot.  Scot.  1  £dw.  III.  Memb.  8.— CI.  3  Edw.  III.  Mcmb.  33.  Dors. 
— Vas.  1  Edw,  in.  Rot.  27.— Scot.  Rot.  10  Edw.  III.  Memb.  12.— 39  Edw. 
III.  Rot.  Era.  Memb.  13.— Ibid.  9.  and  12.— SI  Edw.  III.  ibid.  Memb.  15, 
16, 17.-82  Edw.  III.  ibid.  Memb.  10.— 33  Edw.  III.  ibid.  Pat  per  tot- 
Ibidem,  Pat  2.  Memb.  18.— 4  Rymer,  727,  and  Rymer,  3.  6.  Ibid.  p.  83 
and  84.^7  Rymer,  127  and  128.— Printed  Rolls  of  Parliament,  vol.  li.  p. 
319,  320. 


268         Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  xm  the         [44 

16  be  made,  testifying  the  said  proofs  they  forthwith^  without  ex- 
pecting any  other  command  of  the  King  our  Lord^  cause  to  bt 
taken  kind  attached  all  such  jfugitive  mariners,  by  their  bodies^ 
within  their  bailliwicks,  within  frahchises  and  without,  and  piit 
ihem  in  prison,  there  to  remain  in  good  and  safe  custody,  until 
Ibey  shall  have  made  satisfaction  to  the  King  as  afore  is  said.  Had 
thereupon  have  special  command  of  the  King  our  Lord  for  thei^ 
deliverance.  And  that  the  same  punishment  be  inflicted  on  ser<* 
jeants  of  arms,  masters  of  ships,  and  all  others  who  shall  be  at- 
tainted by  enquiry  before  the  admiral,  or  his  lieutenant  aforesaid, 
of  having  taken  any  thing  of  the  said  mariners  for  suffering  them  to 
go  at  large  out  of  the  service  aforesaid,  after  they  have  b^en  taken 
for  the  said  service." 

In  the  same  year  the  Commons  petitioned  the  King  in  respectof 
the  bad  state  of  the  navy.  Their  petition  sets  forth.  That  ships 
were  too  often  arrested  for  the  service  of  the  King,  and  that  the 
wages  of  mariners  were  too  small,  and  prayed  for  redress.  The 
answer  was,  That  it  should  be  as  had  been  used. 
.  In  the  ensuing  year  they  presented  another  petition  on  the  same 
ground,  complaining  of  the  long  and  many  arrests  of  the  ships 
without  wages  from  the  King.  The  King  in  his  answers  declares 
what  wages  he  wills  them  to  have. — The  regulation  on  this  bead  to 
be  of  force  till  the  meeting  of  the  next  parliament. 

In  the  tenth  year  of  the  same  reign  the  Commons  prayed.  That, 
for  the  increase  and  maintenance  of  the  navy  of  the  kingdom,  his 
Majesty  would  please  to  grant  to  the  proprietors  of  the  same  ships 
the  wages  thereby  specified.  The  King  answered.  That  he  had 
laid  this  matter  before  his  council. 

This  deserves  particular  attention,  as  it  shows  that  the  navy  of 
England  was,  at  least  partially,  composed  of  ships,  the  possession 
and  ownership  of  which  belonged  to  individuals. 

Four  years  after  the  Commons  set  forth  in  petition^  That  the 
possessors  of  ships  and  mariners  demanded  exorbitant  wages  for 
public  service,  and  much  higher  than  they  demanded  in  the  prece- 
ding reign,  and  confederated  with,  one  another  for  this  piirpose. 
They  therefore  begged  that  it  might  be  lawful  for  the  bailiffs  and 
Mayors  of  the  towns  where  these  delinquent  mariners  should  be 
found,  to  punish  them  at  the  suit  of  every  person  aggrieved  by 
their  behaviour.  The  King  tells  them  he  would  charge  his  admi- 
rals that  the  mariners  should  have  reasonable  wages  for  their  ser- 
vice and  labor,  and  to  punish  them  if  they  took  otherwise. 

From  this  act  we  may  fairly  argue,  that  the  state  had,  by  com' 
mon  law,  a  right  to  the  service  of  merchant*men  and  mariners; 
otherwise  they  certainly  might  demand  what  wages,  or,  in  other 
words,  offer  what  terms  they  pleased,  for  their  labor.     Besides^  by 


42}  L^iUf$of  Ji»prwfmg  ^nytn.    '  209 

the  wordib^  of  the  petition^  and  of  bis  Majesty's  answer,  it  seems 
that  the  remedy  prayed  for  was,  that  the  bailiffs  an^  mayors  of 
towns  might  be  impowered  to  punish  the  mariners  hereby  com-* 
plained  of ;  and  that  this  power  was  already  in  the  admirals. 

Orders  are  given  for  arresting  both  ships  and  mariners ;  for  assem* 
bling  (venire  faciaiis)  all  the  mariners ;  for  arresting  ships ;  for  arres^ 
ting  ships  for  thei  passage  of  the  Duke  of  Brittany ;  for  arresting  both 
•hips  and  mariners  through  the  kingdom,  A  writ  to  Serjeants  at  arms^ 
to  arrest  all  the  ships  of  war  in  the  ports  of  Plymouth  or  Dartmouthi 
and  of.  other  ports  in  the  county  of  Cornwall ;  and  to  bring  them  to 
Hunshooke,  to  go  with  the  King's  Majesty's  ships.  For  arresting 
all  ships  and  mariners  of  the  admiralty  of  the  west.  The  King 
appoints  Robert  Hales,  8cc.  admiral ;  and  impowers  him  to  collect 
together,  as  often  as  there  might  be  occasion,  ships  and  vessels  of 
war,  and  to  appoint,  take,  and  put  on  board  of  such  ships,  all  ma- 
riners and  others  fit  for  such  ships,  and  to  chastise  all  mariners 
(hat  should  rebel  against,  or  be  disobedient  to  these  orders.' 

HENRY  ly. 

In  the  6th  year  of  the  subsequent  reign,  the  lords  and  possessors 
of  the  vessels  of  the  kingdom  of  England  prayed  for  certain  wages 
to  be  paid  to  them,  from  the  first  day  of  their  vessels  being  arrested 
for  the  service  of  the  King,  and  that  the  said  vessels  might,  when 
on  their  return,  be  brought,  at  the  expence  of  the  King,  into  their 
respective  ports.  The  answer  of  the  King  was, ''  that  the  antient 
ordinances  should  be  adhered  to." 

Though  the  attention  of  the  monarch  we  are  now  speaking 
of  was  almost  entirely  engrossed  by  civil  commotions,  and  by  the 
care  of  securing  his  possession  of  the  throne  against  the  house  of 
the  preceding  King,  the  jealousy  between  France  and  England,  at 
different  times,  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  prepare  for  defence, 
in  case  be  should  be  attacked. 

As  the  safeguard  of  the  seas  was  an  object  of  the  highest  conse« 
quence,  it  was  necessary  to  provide  for  it  iii  a  proper  manner.  And 
^8  the  merchants  had  been  very  loud  in  their  complaints  in  the  pre* 
ceding  reign,  it  was  necessary,  and,  at  the  same  time,  very  politic^ 
foir  the  monarch  to  provide  for  it  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  sub- 
jects in  general,  and  to  the  merchants  in  particular.  This  pro* 
duced  a  singular  transs^ction,  which  we  shall  relate  very  particularly^ 
as  we  think  it  deserves  the  reader's  most  serious  attention. 

In  the  7th  and  8th  years  of  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.;  at  a  Parlia- 

,  '  See  printed  rolls  of  Parliamenty  vol.  iii.  page  66.  Ibidem,  pages  86  and 
933.  Ibid.  vol.  iii.  383.— 1  R.  3.  parte  Sda.  Ibid.  M.  4.-3  E.3.  M.  36. 
Ibid.  M.  so.— 7  R.  2.  M.37.— 11 R.  2.  M.  13.  Rot.  Franc.  9  Rot.  9.  M.  18.— 
1  R.  2.  Rymer,  vol.  vii.  171. 


d70  Mr.  Butler,  mid  Lord  Sandfiicbi  ^  the         [4il 

ment  held  at  Westminster,  on  the  5th  of  April,  Mr.  John '  Ty|My 
tot,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  represented,  that  a  treaty 
was  then  in  agitation  between  the  King  and  his  council  of  the  one 
part|  and  the  merchants  of  England  of  the  other  part,  respecting 
the  safeguard  of  the  sea ;  that  it  could  not  be  at  present  concluded^ 
on  account  of  many  difficulties  which  had  arisen  in  the  course  of 
the  treaty,  and  as  the  festival  of  Easter  (when  the  House  could  not 
sit)  was  so  near  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  Parliament  to  see 
the  end  of  the  afiair ;  he  therefore  petitioned  that  certaini  members 
of  the  House  might  be  chosen,  and  that  it  might  be  given  inchari^ 
to  them  to  treat  upon  these  matters  with  the  King  and  council,  Ml 
tetinish  them  to  the  best  of  their  power.  In  consequence  of  this 
petition,  six  commissioners  were  cbosen.for  these  purposes :  And 
the  treaty  between  them  was  as  follows. 

It  begins,  **  This  is  the  ordinance  made  in  Parliansea^  by  ad- 
vice  of  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal,  and  Commons,  in  Pa^ 
liament  assembled : 

**  That  the  merchants,  mariners,  and  possessors  of  the  ships  of 
England  should  exert  their  power  for  the  safeguard  of  the  sea, 
with  ships  and  other  vessels,  together  with  2000  fightiiig  tnen, 
sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less,  for  the  defence  of  the  sea.*^ 
This  was  to  hold  to  Michaelmas  twelvemonth  ; —  and  for  this,  cer- 
tain tonnage  and  poundage  was  allowed  them. 

The  merchants  then  asked  to  have  privy*seals  and  warrants,  "^ 
often  as  there  should  be  occasion  for  them,  and  powers  to  appoint 
officers  and  controllers :  And  that  the  said  merchants,  nknrineh; 
and  possessors  of  ships,  should  have  contmissions,  letters,  and  writs 
under  the  great  seal  and  privy  seal,  as  often  as  they  should  Jind 
occasion,  as  well  io  arrest  skips  and  mariners,  as  for  other  inings 
proper  to  be  done  for  the  custody  of  the  sea. 

It  was  answered,  that,  for  levying  the  aforesaid  tonnage  and 
poundage,  they  should  have  every  necessary  order  under  the  ptsX 
and  privy  seal. 

It  was  granted,  that  they- should  enjoy  all  prizes  taken  by  tfaeni* 
—They  also  petitioned  for  4000/.  to  be  advanced  them  ;  but  the 
King  tells  them,  he  has  it  not  to  give  them. 

It  was  declared,  that  they  should  always  have  notice  of  tfie 
royal  navy,  of  the  enemy  being  out  at  sea,  of  the  king's  going 
against  them,  in  case  this  should  happen,  and  of  any  peaice  or 
truce  that  should  be  made. 

It  was  also  granted  to  them  that  they  should  name  two  persons 
to  be  admirals,  the  one  for  the  south  and  the  other  for  the  north, 
with  the  usual  powers  of  admiral. 

It  is,  I  believe,  impossible  to  produce  stronger  proof  of  the  asser* 


47]  ZegaUty  gjT  In^ressing  Seamen.  271 

tioQ  I  am  now  attempting  to  prove^  (that  the  crown  always  had 
power  to  impress  seamen  by  the  common  law)  than  this  records 
We  see  every  rank  of  the  state^  the  Crown^  the  Lords,  the  Houst 
of  Commons,  and  the  commercial  body  of  the  people,  agree  in 
describing  the  arrest  of  inen  as  a  thing  very  well  known,  and  as 
inheren*^  \o  the  power  of  Admiral.  In  the  many  complamts  of 
the  decrease  of  the  navy,  with  which  the  rolls  of  parliament  abound^ 
there  is  not  one  against  the  impress  of  seamen* — There  are  many 
petitions  for  the  increase  of  wages;  that  the  ships  were  kept 
longer  in  arrest  than  necessary ;  but  not  a  word,  or  even  an  insi* 
nuation,  against  the  legality  of  arrests  of  ships  or  of  men,  either 
by  the  Commons,  who,  during  the  last  reign,  indulged  themselves 
in  unwarrantable  jealousie8,^-m  the  present,  in  at  least  decent  ap^ 
prehensions  of  the  King's  prerosative ;  or  by  the  merchants,  the 
persons  immediately  affected  by  it« 

In  consequence  of  the  above  transaction,  Richard  Clidero  was 
appointed  admiral  for  the  south,  and  Nicholas  Black  bourn  for  the 
north;  and,  with  the  assent  of  the  crown,  they  assumed  their 
offices* 

Thereupon,  by  a  writ '  addressed  to  the  sheriffs,  mayors,  bailiffs, 
ministers,  lords,  masters,  and  mariners  of  ships,  and  to  all  his  subr 
jects,  as  well  without  as  within  liberties ;  and  reciting,  in  short,  the 
above  transaction ;  the  King  appoints  Nicholas  Blackboum,  the 
person  named  by  the  merchants^  admiral  of  the  northern  parts, 
with  the  full  powers  belonging  to  the  office  of  admiral ; — and  par« 
ticularly  of  collecting  ships  and  vessels  of  war,  whenever  neces^ 
sary,  and  of  appointing,  taking,  and  putting  on  board  of  them,  all 
mariners  and  other  persons  necessary  for  such  ships ;  and  of  pu-> 
nishing  those  who  should  rebel,  or  oppose  them  in  so  doing  ;  and 
of  doing  all  other  things  which  of  right,  and  according  to  law^  be- 
long to  the  office  of  admiral.^ 

Afterwards  the  merchants,  who  had  been  thus  appointed  to  keep 
the  seas,  represented  the  expences  they  incurred  for  the.  wages  of 
many  gens  d'armes,  armed  men,  archers,  and  mariners^  and  other 
necessary  charges ;  they  therefore  prayed  allowance  for  the  same, 
and  that  they  might  be  discharged  fi^om  keeping  the  seas. — The 
King  willed,  that  they  should  be  discharged  from  keeping  the  seas; 
and  the  rest  of  their  petitions  he  referred  to  his  council  to  examine, 
with  power  to  make  any  allowance  they  should  think  proper. 

In  the  Reign  of  HENRY  V, 
The  King  appoints  Lord  Huntingdon  his  lieutenant,  and  orders 

'  7  Hen.  4.  Rymer,  vol.  iii.  p.  4S9. 

^  De  Navigiis  et  MarinariiB,  pro  ambassadoribus  jFranciaB  arrestandis  Rot. 
Fra.  13|  14.  H.  4.  M.  13. 


272        Mr.  fiutl^;  wd  Lord  Saodwicb,  oH  the         f |g 

idl  sheriffiii  8lc.  and  the  lords^  mastera,  and  marinera  of  Mps^  la 
obey  him  ;-^but  not  to  arrest  any  aoldiera  or  teafnen  retained  by 
John  of  Clifford,  or  Edward  Ckiurteoay^'  •  -^ 

HENRY  VI. 

•  ■        ■  ■  « .  ■ 

A  writ  directed  to  several  persons^  ordering  them  to  arrest  and 
take  for  the  King's  service,  all' ships,  barges,  and  other  vessels,  and 
also  all  masters  and  mariners  that  could  b^  found  in  the  ports  therein 
mentioned,  any  royal  letters  of  licence  theretofore  granted.!^  any 
person  or  persons  notwithstanding.*  like  writs  are  sent  to  the 
officers  of  all  the  port-towns  ip  the  kingdom. 

EDWARD  IV. 

Orders  from  the  King  to  William  Philpotte,  master  of  a  ship 
called  Petyr  of  London,  to  arrest,  take,  and  ship  all  mariners  ne- 
cessary for  that,  ship,  as  well  without  as  within  liberties.  Tbt 
aaroe  orders  are  sent  to  five  other  masters  of  vessels.^  The  same 
orders  are  sent  to  eleven  other  masters  of  vessels.^ 

The  King  appoints  Robert  Radcliffe  captain  of  his  fleet,  and 
orders  him  to  arrest,  take,  and  provide  the  same  with  ships  and 
other  vessels,  and  with  mariners^  masters  of  ships,  soldiers,  carpen- 
ters, &c.  wherever  found,  except  within  the  liberties  of  the  churchi 
and  to  ship  them  on  board. 

HENRY  VII. 
Lord  WiUoughby  de  Broke  being  made  commander  of  the  fleet 
and  navy,  then  going  out  on  an  expedition  to  France,  he,^  and,  in 
his  lordship's  absence.  Sir  Robert  Poyntz,^  has  the  same  powers 
as  we  have  before  noticed  to  have  been  given  to  others,  of  arresting 
and  taking  up  men,  and  punishing  the  refractory. 

HENRY  VIU. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond's  commission  contains  similar  powers 
of  taking  up  mariners.^ 

PHILIP  and  MARY. 
In  the  2d  and  Srd  of  this  reign,  an  act  passed,  regulating  the  wa- 
termen and  bargemen  upon  the  river  l'hames.9     It  is  thereby 

*  4  Hen.  5.  Rymer^  vol.  ix.  p.  S44. 

*  11  Rymer,  21,  22. 

'  15  Edw.  4.    12  Rymer,  p.  5.  ' 

*  20  Edw.  4i    12  Rymer,  139. 

^  22  Edw.  4.    12  Rymer,  p.  160. 

*  5  Hen.  7. 12  Rymer,  465. 
7  8  Hen.  7.    Ibid.  484. 

*  17  Hen.  8.    14  Rymer,  42. 

9  2d,  3d,  Phil.  Mary,  c.  16, 68. 


49}  ZegaUty^f  IfMpreiswg  SMmm*  27d 

eoactcf^  tbat  all  pcirspns  QXi^rcistfig  the  occupatioo  of  roM^iiu; 
t^wjteQ  Graveiieocl  apd  Wi^dso^i  \irho  should  secrete  themsel?^ 
^bile  tb^  press-^warca^Qts  ware,  ou^l^  and  as  soon  as  the.  pre^s  w^ 
over  retUTQ  to  theijc  eipplpy^pefttf »  should  be  imprisooed  for  twp 
veelpiy  l^Kl.  be  banisbe^  from  r owiiig  ou  the  Thames  for  a  ^eai'  an4 
a  day  tbea  next  follo.wu]^. 

l¥e  Qiay  prop^r^  infer  from  this  s^ctj  that  pres^-Mf^rrants  were 
in  use  at  ^le  time  it  passed.  Th^  offence  hereby  interided  to  b^ 
remedi^y  ia  the  slightest  of  its  l^ind  that  can  be  comiQitted ;  not  a 
resistance  to  pressrwarrants^  hut  merely  a  ^yithdr^wlng  to  avoid  ber 
coming  the  object  of  their  ^ecution.  We  may  also  reasonably  in- 
feTi  that  the  practice  in  question  had  the  countenance  of  the  legisla- 
ture in  genej^ ;  and  that  thU  statute^  to  i^se  tbe  esjipresa^on  of 
iLord  CokCj^  was  only  in  aflSrpji^tion  of  the  coiiimpn  law. 

.  Ther^  ia  also  a  p^foclamatibn  of  tbe  fourth  of  this  reign,  xybich 
recites,  that  diyers  mariners  and  seafaring  mejn/ lately  presi^d  '^n^ 
retained  to  serve  her  Majesty,  had  withdrawn  themselves  froip  tu^ 
paid  aervicejt  and  inflicts  on  such  ofiendefs  the  pcinalty  of  deattj.' 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

The  statute  of  the  18th  of  Henry  VI.  c.  19*  against  soldiers 
leavmg  the  service,  by  the  5th  Eliz.  c.  5.  §  27.  is  made  to  extend 
against  all  mariners  who  take  prest  or  wages.  And  §  41,  it  was 
enacted  in  favor  of  fishermen  and  mariners  haunting  the  sea  as 
fishermen  and  mariners,  that  none  of  them  should  be  compelled  to 
s^e  upon  land,  or  upon  the  sea,  otherwise  than  as  a  mariner,  with 
the  exceptions  therein  mentioned^ — And,  by  §  43,  that  no  fisherman 
should  be  taken  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  commission,  unless  the 
said  commission  should  be  first  brought  by  her  Highness's  take^ 
or  takers,  to  two  justices  of  peace  next  adjoining  to  and  inhabit- 
ing the  place  where  such  mariner  is  taken,  to  the  intent  the  said 
justices  may  chuse  out,  and  cause  to  be  returned,  such  sufiicieuit 
number  of  able  men,  as  in  the  said  commission  should  be  con* 
tained,  to  serve  her  Majesty. 

I  have  heard  it  objected,  that  the  first  part  of  this  statute  makes 
against  the  legality  of  pressing,  as  the  only  mariners  described  to 
he  within  the  statute  of  Henry  VI.  are  such  as  have  taken  prest- 
money :  Which  expression,  it  is  said,  supposes  that  those  only  are 
engaged  to  serve  who  have  taken  prest-money,  which  they  say  is 
synonymous  to  wages^  Mr.  Barrington,  in  his  Observations  on  the 
Ancient  Statutes^  seems  to  countenance  this  opinion.  He  derives 
the  word  pressing,*  anciently  spelt  impressing^  from  the  word  em- 
prestre,  which  seems  to  imply  a  contract  on  the  part  of  the  sea- 

'  Coll.  Procl.  vol.  ii.  p.  144.    Penes  Soc.  Ant. 
^  Page  334. 

VOL.XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLV.  S 


274         Mr.  BuUer^  and  Lord  Sandwicbi  on  the  [60 

man^  rather  than  his  being  compelled  to  serve.  With  deference  to 
the  abilities^'  penetration^  and  extensive  erudition  of  this  valuable 
writer^  I  submit  my  humble  opinion^  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
meaning  of  tlie  word  emprestre,  which  warrants  the  conclusion  he 
has  been  pleased  to  draw  from  it.  It  has  been  before  observ^, 
that  those  who  were  not  bound  by  their  tenure  to  do  sea-service, 
received  wages  for  it.  The  mode  of  retaining  them  probably  was 
by  tendering  them  an  advance  of  some  part  of  their  wages.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  suppose,  that  when  this  advance  was  offered  to 
•them,  their  not  receiving  it  kept  them  free  from  compulsion  to  the 
service.  This  tender  they  were  at  liberty  to  reject ;  but  the  mo- 
ment it  was  made  to  them,  whether  they  received  it  or  not,  tbey 
were  equally  tnarked  out,  and  legally  retained  in  the  service.  This 
seems  to  be  very  clearly  signified  in  the  other  parts  of  the  act. 

In  this  reign  pressing  was  very  much  in  use.  In  the  commis- 
sion given  to  Sir  Martin-  Frobisher,  the  Queen  gives  him  power  to 
press^  and  to  take  up,  for  her  service,  any  mariners,  soldiers^  or 
other  needful  artificers  ;  and  requires  all  justices  and  other  officers 
to  be  assisting  to  him  therein.' 

CHARLES   L 

There  is  a  temporary  act  of  this  reign,  which  authorises  an  im- 
press by  admiralty  warrants.  I  refer  the  reader  to  what  Mr.  Jus- 
tice Foster  has  said  on  this  head;  to  the  propriety  of  which  no- 
thing can  be  added.  To  give  his  sentiments  in  other  language  than 
his  own,  would  be  to  do  him  and  the  reader  equal  injustice.  To 
copy  it  word  for  word  seems  to  me,  at  least,  improper.— -Indeed,  if 
this  Essay  should  have  no  other  effect  than  causing  that  excellent 
Treatise  to  be  more  universally  read,  it  would  answer  the  moat  san- 
guine of  the  author's  wishes. 

In  the  year  16£6,  the  Commons  impeached  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham. Among  other  charges  brought  by  them  against  his 
Grace,  he  was  accused  of  several  malpractices  in  his  office  of  high 
admiral.  They  accused  him  of  neglecting  to  guard  the  seas*  Mr. 
Selden  managed  this  part  of  the  charge.     I  beg  to  refer  the  reader 

.    >  31  £liz.  16.  Rymer»  83. 

It  must  be  admitted,  that  the  parliament  seems  to  recognize  the  Queen's 
power  of  pressing,  by  the  5th  £hz.  41. — Sir  John  Falstafi,  in  the  First  Part 
of  Henry  the  Fourth,  says,  **  I  have  misused  the  King's  Press  danii».b]y  f 
speaking  ot  it  as  a  known  practice.  See  Act  iv.  Scene  2,  In  the  Second 
Part  of  this  plaj^  when  Falstaff  brings  his  recruits  before  Justice  Shallow,  it 
should  s£em  that  there  were  some  temporary  laws  for  raising  men,  as  hath 
not  been  unusual  of  late  years.     Barrington  on  the  Ancient  Statutes,  SSB. 

A  Ferryman  (if  it  be  on  sait-water)  ought  to  be  privileged  from  being 
pressed  as  a  soldier  or  otherwise.    See  Rep.  11.  Cit.  ibid. 


51]  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.  S75 

to  itf  and  that  b^  should  compare  it  with  what  the  same  learned 
gentleman  writ  a  few  ''  years  after  on  the  Guardship  of  the  .Seas, 
in  his  work  intituled  Mare  Clausum.  Mr.  Selden's  speech  is 
printed  in  his  works,  aiid  is  to  be  found  very  fully  taken  down  m 
Rushworth.  In  the  6th  article  of  the  impeachment,  the  Commons 
set  forth,  that  the  Duke,  on  a  certain  occasion,  moved  the  Lords 
assembled  in  parliament,  whether  he  should  make  stay  of  any  hips 
which  were  then  in  the  ports,  (as  being  high  admiral  he  mights  and 
namely  the  ships  prepared  for  the  East-India  voyage;  which  motion' 
was  gienerally  approved  by  the  whole  House. — ^And,  further  on, 
^y,  accuse  him  of  having  procured  a  ship  of  the  royal  navy  to  be 
appointed  for  the  service  of  the  King,  and  that  seven  other  mer-' 
chant-ships  were  also  impressed. 

They  proceed  to  complain  of  the  use  to  which  the  ships  so  im- 
pressed were  put;  and  that,  being  apparently  pressed  for  the  ser-' 
▼ice  of  the  nation^  they  were  afterwards,  by  management  of  the 
Duke,  delivered  to  the  King  of  France,  or  otherwise  misapplied; 
but' there  is  not  one  single  reflection  on  the  article  of  pressing  itself. 
They  never  once  object  to  it  as  arbitrary,  or  an  illegal  practice. 

In  another  work,  written  professedly  on  that  side  which  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  most  jealous  of  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  and' 
said  to  be  collected  from  the  manuscript  notes  of  the  gentleman  I 
have  just  mentioned,  after  a  very  learned  and  very  accurate,  though 
concise  account  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  of  admiralty,  it  is 
•idd,  '^  That  the  Lord  Admiral  hath  power  not  only  over  the  sea- 
men serving  in  the  ships  of  state,  but  over  all  other  seamen,  to  arrest 
them  for  the  service  of  the  state;  and  if  any  of  them  run  away 
without  leave  from  the  admiral,  or  power'  deputed  from  him,  be 
bath  power,  by  enquiry,  to  make  a  record  thereof,  and  certify  the 
same  to  the  sheriffs,  mayors,  bailliffs,  &c.  who  shall  cause  them  to  be 
apprehended  and  imprisoned."^ 

The  same  doctrine  is  expressly  laid  down  in  the  case  of  Ship- 
money.  The  reader  who  desires  to  understand  perfectly  the  na- 
Uiire'of  the  naval  establishment  of  this  country,  in  the  more  ancient 
times,  will  have  his  curiosity  amply  satisfied,  by  perusing  that 
valuable  Report.  What  was  said  by  counsel,  in  arguing  the  case, 
and  what  was  said  by  the  judges  who  gave  their  opinion  for  the 
court,  I  shall  here  pass  over :  But  as  the  part  which'  was  taken  by 
Sir  George  Crooke  in  this  affair  renders  his  testimony  most  unex- 
ceptionable, I  shall  here  present  the  reader  with  his  sentiments  on 
the  subject  before  us. 

Tliroughout  the  whole  of  his  argument  Sir  George,  while  he 
positively   denies   the   crown    a  right  to  charge  persons  for  the 

'  Bacon's  Historical  and  Political  Discourse  of  the  Laws  and  Govern- 
ment  of  England,  Part  ii.  p.  26. 


279'         Mr.  JSutler^  /m<f  Lord  Sandwiiph,  en  the         [dS 

buiUiBg  of  ships,  or  to  cdmpel  them  to  build  ships  at  their  own  ex- 
pence^  allows,  in  the  most  express  teruM,  its  right  to  employe  the 
ships  and  the  seamen  of  the  nation  in  die  public  serf  ice,  and  to 
cookpel  them  into  it.  1  shall  cite  die  following  as  one  of  the  manj 
passages  which  m^ht  be  selected  for  this  purpose  from  bis  learned 
argument. 

^  There  can  be  no  such  necessity,  or  danger  conceivedi  that  may 
cause  these  writs  to  be  awarded  to  dl  counties  of  England^  to  pie* 
pare  ships  at  such  a  charge,  and  with  such  men  and  ammunition,, 
without  consent  in  parliament ;  for  the  lawa  have  provided  means 
for  defence  in  times  of  danger  without  taking  this  course  ;  for  ibal 
the  King  hath  power  to  conimaqd  all  or  any  persons  of  thia  Idng* 
dom,  to  attend  with  arms  at  the  8ea*>coast8,  to  defend  the  coasis,  or. 
any  other  parts  of  the  kingdom;  and  also  by  his  officers,  to  aiake 
slay  or  arrest,  all  or  any  the  ships  of  merchants,  and  others  having 
ships ;  or  as  many  as  be  pleaseth  to  go  with  his  navy,  to  any  parts 
of  his  kingdom,  for  defence  thereof ;  and  to  attend  those  to  whoai 
he  appointed  the  guard  of  the  seas,  or  the  sea-coasts,  at  such 
times  and  places  as  tbey  should  appoint.  And  this  has  beet 
always  taken  and  conceived  to  be  sufficient  for  defence,  against  any 
prince  whatsoever ;  and  yet  die  same  was  in  times  when  the  navy  of 
England  was  not  so  strong  as  now,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  and  the 
good  providence  of  his  Majesty^  it  is.'' 

In  Scobell's  Collection  there  is  an  ordinance  of  the  28tb  June 
1659^  intituled  An  Ordinance,  to  encourage  Mariners^  and  toim* 
press  Seamen :  By  this,  different  encoui;agements  are  held  out  la 
mariners,  to  induce  them  to  enter  into  the  service,  of  their  fre$ 
«ccord:-i-And,  by  the  last  clause,  it  is  ordained  that  all  mariners, 
seamen,,  and  watermen,  who  have  served  an  apprenticesl^ip  of  s^v^ 
years,  diould  be  exempted  from  beii^  pressed  to  serve  as  spk$ers  in 
any  land-service.  This  ordinance  proceeds  therefore  on  the  princi* 
pies,  and  with  the  measures,  adopted  in  all  naval  well-reguhted 
governments.  It  holds  out  to  the  seaman,  the  amplest  bouati 
which  the  public  purse  can  afford;  and  it  leaves  the  tardy  to. die 
coercion  of  the  press. 

It  is  needless  to  require  a  stronger  proof  of  the  legdity  of  die 
impress.  If  it  can  be  proved  that  this  measure  has  been,  from  im* 
memorial  time,  in  constant  use,  and  never  declared  illegal  6|th^  by 
the  legislature  or  by  the  judicial  power,  there  certainly  is  die  slrongr 
est  presuibption  of  its  legality  :  It  ceases  to  be  presumption,  if  it 
appear  to  be  e«|)re8sly  recognised  by  the  legislature  ;  it  becomes 
demonstration.' 

*  Rush  worth's  Collection/ vol.  ii.  p.  363. — ^'^  The  Remonstrance  to  His 
Majesty  against  the  tax  of  Ship-moneyi  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  En- 
gland." (^ 

In  objecting  to  the  precedent  of  King  John,  Anno  1313,they  contend  that 


£31  Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.  277 

WILLIAM  III. 

We  meet  with  the  following  paper^^  relating  4o  the  4th  year  of 
this  reign,  when  Whig  principles  were  in  their  zenith. 

Upon  the  application  or  the  Lord  Majror^  for  certain  Khip3 

that  was  not  a  precedent  relative  to  the  subject  in  question,  because ''  it  was 
only  to  mariners  and  owners  of  ships,  which  being  exempted  from  all  Ldnir 
4ervioef^srete  to  serve  the  King  and  kingdom  at  this  pinch  and  opportunity  by  Sea: 
•but  this  writ  is  dn-idl,  at  well  those  that  have  no  ships  as  others.'^  Again, 
.they  say, 

^Uthly,  Though  the  managers  and  owners  of  ships  there  were,  by  this  writ 
to  furnish  ships  out  at  their  own  proper  costs,  yet  when  they  were  thus  fur- 
nished, the  King  was  to  pay  them  both  wages,  hire,  and  fraught,  as  his  suc- 
cessors have  ever  since  done,  when  they  pressed  any  of  their  subjects'  ships 
or  carts,  for  war  or  carriage.  These  were  the  words,  Huri  in  servUium  nos* 
intm  ad  Uberationes  nostras  ;  and  the  constant  practice  of  aU  Icings,  yea  qf 
joar  Majesty,  who  now  pays  wages  and  fraught  for  aU  the  mariners  and  mer^hant-^ 
MpsyoupreuJ* 

* 

■}  Means  to  be  used  for  present  supplying  the  Fleete  with  men.  ^ 

Adqiiralty  Office,  April  30,  1693.  . 
**  That  Mr.  Russell  be  directed  to  send  orders  to  all  the  tenders  belonging 
to  the  fleet  that  are  abroad  pressing,  to  come  away  immediately  to  the  fleet ; 
4nid  to  prciss  all  sebmen/ along  the  coast,  in  their  way,  without  recard  to  any 
Jirotection9,  excepting  only  such  vessels  as  shall  bave  victuals  and  ordnance* 
stores  actually  on  board  going  to  the  fleet;  but  not  to  stay  above  ^  houra 
after  receipt  of  these  orders. 

{1.  Agreed,  exclusive  of  the  transport-ships  in  the  Irish  seas.] 
^^^2.  That  as  well  the  masters  and  other  officers,  as  the  men  in  the  small 
craft,  be  tiabie  to  this  press ;  but  that  care  be  toktii  that .  the  ships  from 
which  any  men  are  taken  be  left  in  the  harbour  in  safety.  ^ 

[2.^  Suspended.] 
'^That  Mr.  Russell  be  ordered  to  send  some  officers  of  the  fleet  lip  the 
Hvers  of  Thames  and  Medway,  to  press  all  seamen,  watermen,  &c.  that  are 
4^ng.to  serve  in  the  fleet,  excepting  in  the  vessels  with  victuals. and  ord-^ 
nancerstores,  for  the  fleet  as  aforesaid. 

[8.  Agreed,  except  out  of  ships  going  with  recruits  and  clothes,  &c.  to  lioU 
land,  and  the  commissioners  of  transport  to  give  the  admiral  an  account  ef 
those  ships.] 
^  ITbat  a  general  imbargo  be  immediately  laid  on  all  ships  and  vessels, 
laa  well  coasters  as  others. 

^  This  we  humbly  propose  as  an  effectual  means  of  immediate  manning 
,the  ifleety  and  think  it  reasonable  to  be  done,  in  case  there  be  imminent 
iduiger  of  the  French  Ring's  making  an  invasion  upon  England. 

**  And  In  case  the  French  shall  come  upon  our  coast  with  such  a  naval 
*&rce,  as  upon  intelligence  shall  be  thought  superior  to  ours  joined  with  the 
Dulchy  That  all  the  5th  and  6th  rates  attend  the  fleet,  to  be  made  siich  use 
of  AS  shall  be  judged  most  for  the  services.'^ 

[Agreed,  except  such,  as  the  Admiralty  shall  particularly  appoint  for  au^  spe* 
oal  service,  notwithstanding  his  orders.] 

"  Cork  WALL  IS,  J.  Lowther,  Ri.  Ovslow, 

H.  PaiESTMAK,  Falkland,  Robt.  Ausxen,  Rt.  Rich. 


278         Mr«  6utlei%  and  Lord  Sandwich/ on  the         [54 

bringing  corn  into  the  city  of  London^  the  following  protection  ' 
was  granted. 

By  the  7th  and  8th  of  this  reign^  it  is  enacted  that  licences 
shoidd  at  any  time  be  given,  by  order  of  his  Majesty  or  the  lord 
high  admiral,  or  commissioners  of  the  admiralty  for  the  time  being, 
to  any  landmen  desirous  to  apply  themselves  to  the  sea-service^  to 
serve  on ,  board  merchant-ships  or  other  trading  vessels,  which 
should  be  to  them  a  protection  against  being  impressed  .for  the 
space  of  two  years  following,  provided  they  could  bring,  two  per- 
sons to  assert,  upon  oath,  their  being  landmen,  with  a  penalty,  in 
case  they  afterwards  proved  to  be  seamen. 

We  do  not  meddle  with  any  right  which  the  Crown  may 
claim  to  impress  landmen.  The  impress  of  men  in  general  is  here 
-taken  notice  of,  and  is  not  censured.  But  the  impress  of  seamen 
is  also  taken  notice  of,  and  tacitly  allowed,  for  their  being  ex- 
empted for  two  years  from  the  press,  manifests  that,  withoflt  that 
exemption,  they  would  be  liable  to  it..  This  statute,  therefore,  by 
exempting  a  particular  set  of  men,  complying  with  some  particular 
requisites,  from  the  press,  for  a  particular  time,  shows  that  there 
are  other  persons  who  are  liable  to  the  impress,  and  that  the  very 
persons  included  in  the  exemption  are  also  liable  to  it,  at  die  ex- 
piration of  the  time  for  which  the  exemption  is  granted,  or  on  not 
complying  with  the  requisites  thereby  specified.  The  same  ob- 
servation holds  as  to  <he  remaining  statutes  which  I  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  cite.  I  beg  the  reader  to  observe,  that  this  and  the .  next 
statute  were  passed  at  a  time  when  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown 
were  most  ably  and  most  minutely  scrutinized. 

In  this  reign  the  expedient  of  a  voluntary  register  was  attempted. 
The  advocates  for  it  employed  one  Hodges,  to  set  forth  its  utility 
in  a  pamphlet.  But  the  expedient  was  found  to  be  insufficient ; 
and  open,  with  respect  to  its  constitutional  merit,  to  more  objec- 
tions than  the  impress  itself. 

* «  My  Lords,  Whitehall,  the  9th  Jan.  169S-4. 

*<  Upon  the  application  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  for  protections  to  be  granted 
to  four  vessels,  which  have  already  brought  a  considerable  quantity  of  coroe 
to  the  city,  and  are  ready  to  return  to  fetch  more,  His  Majesty  commands 
me  to  send  you  the  names  of  the  said  ships,  with  the  number  of  persons 
required  to  sail  them,  and  to  signify  his  pleasure  to  you,  that  you  grant  them 
protections  accordingly.    I  am,  My  Lords,  Your  most  humble  servant, 

«  J.  FRENCH ARD. 
"  The  Sarah  of  Gaiosb.  bur.  90  tons,  3  Men,  4  Boys,Tho.  Fairweather  Mr. 
The  Victory  of  ditto,  bur.  90  ditto,  3  ditto,  4  ditto,  John  Rudd  Master. 
The  Virgin  of  ditto,  bur.  60  ditto,  2  ditto,  3  ditto,  Geo.  Hall  Master. 
The  Resolution  of  do.  bur.  60  ditto,  2  ditto,  3  ditto,  John  Bamby  Master. 
<'To  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiral ty.*^ 


6S]  '    Legality  of  Impressing  Seamen.  279 

■ft 

QUEEN  ANNE. 

By  the  ]«t  Anne,  session  1,  c.  16.  §  2.  no  harpooner  or  other 
foreigner  is  to  be  impressed. — 2d  and  3d  An*  c.  6,  Boys  put  out 
apprentices  are  not  to  be  impressed  till  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  IS. 
Persons  voluntarily  binding  themselves  are  not  to  be  impressed  for 
diree  years. — If,  after  that  time,  they  ^ould  be  impressed,  their 
masters  are  to  have  able-seamen's  wages  for  them :  And  for  en- 
couraging the  coal-trade,  every  vessel  in  the  trade  is  thereby  allowed 
to  have  one  able  seaman,  besides  the  persons  there  specified,  for 
every  100  ton  of  the  vessel,  not  exceecUng  300  tons,  free  from  »»t- 
pressing. 

4  Ann.c.  19*  On  notice  given  by  the  admiral  to  the  water- 
men's company,  such  watermen  as  do  not  obey  the  summons  given 
them,  are  to  be  imprisoned  for  one  month,  and  be  disabled  for  two 
years* 

6  Ann.  c.  31.  §  2.  Watermen  belonging  to  the  Insurance-offices 
are  declared  to  be  free  from  impressing. 

In  the  succeeding  reign,  there  are  to  be  found  several  statutes, 
in  which  the  impress  of  seamen  is,  more  or  less,  mentioned  as  an 
usage  of  the  kingdom,  and  recognized  to  be  legal. , 

On  the  instances  we  have  adduced  we  shall  make  no  further 
comment  ;*  unless  we  very  much  misapprehend  their  nature,  we 

'  The  Author  of  these  sheets  is  sensiblei  that  the  instances  and  citations 
which  he  has,  in  this  section,  brought  before  the  reader,  might  have  been 
much  more  numerous,  and  much  more  judiciously  selected.  To  maoy 
sources  of  useful  information  he  had  not  access.  Some  he  had  not  leisure 
to  inspect.  To  those  which  he  has  consulted,  he  had  it  not  in  his  power  to 
bestow  necessary  attention.  As  this  apology,  however  it  may  excuse  the 
defects  of  the  performance,  exposes  him  to  the  censure  of  obtruding,  know- 
ingly and  wilhngly,  a  hasty  work  on  the  Public,  he  begs  leave  to  men- 
tion. That,  when  he  first  engaged  io  it,  he  was  informed  that  the  part  of  this 
disquisition  which  makes  the  subject  of  this  section,  was  to  have  been  exe- 
cuted by  a  person  every  way  qualified  to  do  it  justice.  With  this  persuasion 
he  writ  the  first  five  sections.  He  was  then  informed,  that  he  was  not  to 
receive  the.  assistance,  with  the  hopes  of  which  he  had  flattered  himself  on 
setting  out.  In  the  mean  time,  his  manuscript  had  been  shown ;  and  a  per- 
*^n  whose  approbation  would  give  celebrity  to  any  work,  and  whose  rank 
jg^es  his  slightest  desires  the  force  of  commands,  was  repeatedly  pleased  to 
cpmmend-the  performance,  and  to  express  a  wish  of  seeing  it  in  print. 
Jjtxle  sensible  of  what  he  was  about  to  undertake,  he  promised  to  publish 
it.  Npthine  now  remained  for  him,  but  to  perform  his  promise ;  and,  how. 
ever  faulty  the  execution  of  it  may  be,  he  would  rather  trust  to  the  mild- 
ness of  the  public  censure,  by  producing  an  unfinished  work  for  their  peru- 
sal, than  incur  the  animadversion  of  the  individuals  privy  to  this,  transac- 
tion, by  retracting  his  promise.  To  treat  the  subject  as  it  deserves,  a  much 
Isurger  field  of  inquiry  should  be  opened,  than  the  author  of  these  sheets 
could  venture  upon.  It  requires  a  mind  already  treasured  with  various 
literature,  and  every  assistant  help  of  books  and  retirement.    If  any  person. 


ilio  Mr.  Butler,  and  Lord  Saodwich^aA  the         [56 

thiok  they  fully  prove  the  point  undertaken  to  be  proved  in  this 
aectiou,  ^'  That  the  impress  of  seamen  is  a  part  of  the  conunon  law, 
and  has  been  often  recognized  by  the  statute  law,  of  the  realm/' 

[The  meaning  of  the  words  capere,  eKgere,  arrestare,  as  tbej  are  used  in  the 
writs  here  cited.] 

In  the  citations  contained  iti  this  section^  from  the  record?  of 
the  kingdom,  frequent  use  is  made  of  the  words  taking  up,  ajh 
poinlingy  and  arresting. — The  original  ^ords  are,  capiendi,  ehgendi, 
arrestaudiy  in  "Latin ; — prendre.  Hire,  arrester,  in  French. — Be- 

dius  circnmstanced,  should  undertake  to  write  oh  the  subject,  he  would 
find  it  worthy  his  utmost  abilities. — A  plan  of  this  nature  was  formerij 
sketched  out  by  Mr.  Aiistis.  I  believe  it  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the 
reader  to  see  it  in  bis  owd  words. 

"  The  collector  of  these  notes,  designing  an  account  of  the  antiquity, 
jurisdiction,  and  proceedings  of  divers  courts  of  this  kingdom,  and,  among 
others,  of  that  of  the  Admiralty  ;  and  having  an  intention  of  enquiringinto 
the  nature,  quality,  and  successive  increases  of  the  subject  matters  ptoperly 
cognizable  in  each  court ;  as  an  appendix  to  that  of  the  Admiralty,  among 
sundry  other  dissertations,  thought  that  an  abridgement  of  all  Records  re- 
lating to  shipping  might  not  be  an  unacceptable  attempt;  therefore  tbok 
references  from  time  to  time,  that  when  he  met  with  sufficient  leisure,  he 
might  easily  turn  to  such  places  as  should  be  subservient  to  such  a  work, 
and  is  concerned  that  he  took  them  so  slightly:  however,  by  this  slender 
Essay,  some  few  matters  of  curiosity  will  appear.  He  thought  that  an  ac- 
count of  the  shipping  of  the  ancients,  of  their  navigations  and  method  of 
fighting,  &c.  was  wholly  foreign  to  the  history  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty  of 
England ;  but  those  persons  who  desire  satisfaction  therein,  may  find  some- 
thing wherewith  to  satisfy  their  curiosity  in  the  authors  following : 

Bayfius  de  Re  Navali.---Salnias.  Exer.  Pltn.  p.  964,  5T0y  1110. — Brodeus, 
lib.  iii.  misc.  1. 4.  c.  13. 1.  i.e.  35. 1. 5.  c.  36. — Pithoeus,  lib.  S.  misc. — Pethis 
Nonnus  de  Arte  Navi^ndi. — Snellius.— Opeltus  de  Fahnia  Trirem. — Mei- 
bomius. — Thomas  Rivii  Historia  Navalis,  m  U  vols. — ^Varenius  Geoeraph. 
c.  35. — Riccioius  Oeographia  Reformata,  I.  x.  c.  11,  &c. — Petrus  Peckms.^ 
Libinius  de  Navigiis. — Barthol.  Morisot  Orbis  Maritimus. 

This  manuscript  was  lent  to  the  Author  by  T.  Astle,  Esq. ;  to  whom  the 
literary  part  of  this  nation^  and  particularly  those  who  apply  to  the  study  of 
its  constitution  and  antiquities,  have  the  greatest  obligations.  His  valuable 
library,  and  perhaps  unequalled  collection  of  manuscripts,  were,  upon  this 
occasion,  ever  open  to  the  Authors  access.  Of  his  counsel  and  assistance 
he  may  also  boast  Whatever  be  the  merit  of  this  little  work  Justice  requires 
it  should  be  ascribed  to  him.^The  readiness,  and  the  Unassurning  ea8e;'#ii!h 
which  he  communicates  his  treasures  to  every  person  desirous  of  informatioli, 
or  to  those  whom  he  thinks  capable  of  judging  of  their  value,  or -likely  to 
make  them  useful  to  the  Public  or  to  themselves,  deserve  the  highest  com- 
mendations.— There  have  been  few  publications  auring  the  course  of  these 
latei  years,'  ifn  the  above-mentioned  branches  of  literature,  the  Authors  of 
which  do  not  confess  oblivions  to  him ; — and  do  hot  speak  in  the  same 
manner  of  the  riches  of  his  literary  repertory,  and  his  Hbeitdity  in  communi- 
cating its  contents.  Their  sentiments,  in  this  respect,  they  may  deliver  with 
more  elegance ;  their  characters  may  give  them  greater  value ; — but,  as  few 
have  mure  obligations  to  him  than  the  Author  of  these  sheets,  none  exceeds 
him  in  esteem  Tor  his  virtues,  or  in  gratitude  for  his  favors. 


m 


67^  ixga^  of  hnpr&wtg  Seeatttn. 

drAnary  ttM,  rinj'  hare  a  pecnUu-  meaiiit^,  when  Ukeo  n  a  legl^  '' 
aMfe.    'Ill  Aat  seuse  they  dmys  -carry  with  tbem  hn  idea   (!l^  ^ 
coocion. — It  «  necessary  to  mention  thb,'iisit  is  pretended  that' 
h)  dK  'writs  in  question,  Oothing  more  wAs  inteBded  than  to  leave 
to  pertODs  to  retain,  or  «b  we  sbonld  call  it,  to  a^ht,  soldiers. 
Thn  must  appear,  on  reflection,  very  far  froni  their  meaning.    4ii 

die  iMre  ^Itrly  times,  thie  Word  used  lo  sulnndonf  a  person  to 
cppMr-at'tHtil  was  capio.  There  are  no  writs  more  frCquenHy 
oientibned  in  the  atiGient  law-botHts  Haaa  the  'cape  magimm  flntl 
tiapt  parvufB.  if  the  person  who  was  summoned  by  ^ese  writa 
did -not  appear  at  the  time  aj^Ktinted,  he  lost  his  lands  cbnertmi^ 
which  the  plea  was.'  The  same  inrerence  lies  from  the  wVit 
tdpiasUt'kgatum,-aai'fTom  every  otb«r  Writ  wbtire  die  W<lrd«(ipui 
is  used. 

^  .•  .     .  .      l^liB""-] 

Elbert,  in  its  most  obvious  meaning,  implies  comtpamt  on  the 
person  chosen.  But,  as  most  of  thfe  offices  filled  by  election,  and 
particnlarly  that  of  a  seat  in  parliament,  are  objects  of  ambition, 
we  rather  consider  the  election  to  them  as  a  bvor  conferred,  than 
■8  an  obligation  imposed.  A  moment's  consideration  of  die  many 
offices  now  filled  by  election,  where  election-is  flynonymouswidi 
compulsion,  and  on  the  striking  revolutions  in  the  sentimenta  of 
niankind  ih  respect  of  others,  which,  diougfa  now  objects  of  tfae 
most  impMtant  pursuits,  were  opce  objects  of  dislike,  and,  till  even 
a  late  period,  of  the  greatest  indifference,  will  (Convince  the  reader 
that  the  meaning  of  the  word  eligendi  includes,  besides  the  power 
of  choosing,  thfe  poiher  of  compelling  the  .pCrSons  choseh'to  obey. 
On  the  authority  of  a  manuscript  of  Judge  Yelverlbh,  I  hafe 
translated  it  by  the'Word  appoint. 

[Arreitm.l 

'^rreifare  mtunlly  imjllies  compitbtoR.  'In  its  ltM;al  Itn^oyt'lt 
often  implies  detairiiag  pttrsldns,  dr'thingsj  fbr  tfie  King's  tervicfl. 
lb  tbe  ancient  records  of  this  kiti^om,  and  in' the  civil  law,  trom 
Wfikh  many  Of  our  records  are  bormwed,  it  aigntfiea  deMiniM 
|Mrsods  orgoods  in  the  hands  tif  the  King,  dr  rn  bis  courts,  tin 
^OmMhing' that  regards  them,  and  then  in  dispute,  be  de^ed.* 

ifObjecdoii,  THkt  none  w«ic  (lUigedtD  tetre,  bal  ndi  hs  were  bovM  Uy 
teimre,  corenaDl,  oi  BonlntDt,  or  were  in  piubs  fbrtfae  Xing'!  debb.] 

Another  objection,  and  tfae  last  that  occurs  to  me^  against  dif 
doctrine  contended  for  in  -these  sbeeu,  is  from  the  doctrine  laid 
down  by   Lord  Coke,'  "That  the  King  cannot  press  to  serve  in 

'  Brmcton  lib.  v.  Trw.  S.  c.  1.  Fleta,  lib.  ii.  c.  M. 

*  C.  a.  d«  Criui.  fal.  et  relegatonim,  ff.  de  interdict,  et  relc. 

'  latlnst.  ri. 


S82         Mn  Btider,  and  Lord  Sandwich,  on  the         £58 

sides  the  obvious  meaning  of  these  words,  and  the  import  of  their 
his  wars:  For  that,  of  old,  he  ^yas  to  be  served  either  .by  those 
that  held  by  their  tenure,  those  that  covenanted  by  indenture  to 
provide  men,  those  who  contracted  with  the  King's  officers  for 
wages,  and  entered  into  pay^  or  those  that  were  in  prison  for  the 
King's  debts." 

[Answer.] 

,  In  answer  to  this  objection,  I  presume,  with  the  utmost  respect 
for  Sir  Edward  Coke's  name,  it  may  be.  asserted  with  confidence, 
that,  without  detracting  from  his  character  as  the  first  commop- 
lawyer  that  ever  appeared,  his  merit  as  a  parliamentary,  or  consti- 
tutional author,  or  as  a  person  versed  in,  records,  though  v^ 
considerable,  carries  with  it  a  far  inferior  degree  of  weight.  Upon 
an  attentive  examination  of  the  constitutional  records  of  this 
kingdom,  the  above  account  of  the  King's  right  to  impress  will  be 
found  very  inaccurate.  But  as  to  the  right  of  the  King  to  impress 
landmen,  we  have  beforejdeclared  that  we  do  not,  in  these  sheets, 
pretend  to  examine^  it.  Should  we  admit  it  to  be  as  it  is  here 
represented,  yet,  after  the  continued  chain  of  instances  we  have 
ahown  of  the  right  of  the  Crown  to  impress  seamen,  it  rather 
becomes  matter  of  curiosity  how  the  Crown  should  exercise:  a 
right  of  impressing  seamen,  when  the  right  of  impressing  landmen 
was  denied  it. 

[piffeience  between  Lftndroen  and  Seamen.— The  commeicial  part'  of  tlie 
nation  was  not  within  the  chain  of  feudal  subordination.} 

Whoever  considers  attentively  the  nature  of  the  feudal  polity, 
will  find  a  striking  difference  in  the  situation  of  landmen  and  sea- 
aien.  The  chain  of  subordination,  which  cemented  together  the 
different  ranks  of  the  former,  is  well  known,  and  not  more  accu- 
rately described  at  present  than  it,  formerly,  was  sensibly  felt. 
The  commercial  part  of  the  nation  was  not,  properly  speaking, 
among  the  links; of  this  regular  system  of  subordination.  Tbat 
branch  of  naval  men,  who  were  immediately  employed  in  the  ser- 
vice, and  in  the  occupation  of  commerce,  looked  up  immediately, 
generally  speaking,  to. the  King,  as  to  Uieir  sole  and  immediate 
sovereign,  expecting  protection  immediately  from  him,  .and  dc^ng 
service  immediately  to  him ;  and  not  mediately,  as  the  rest  of  die 
nation  did,  through  the  long  line  of  the  feudatory  connexions. 
The  inattention  of  all  feudal  nations  to  commerce,  left  this  set  of 
men  immediately  to  the  Crown;  Thisf,  therefore,  would  naturally 
give  him  more  absolute  power  over  them,  than  he  could  exercise 
over  any  other  particular  set  of  men  iff  the  nation.* 

It  has  been  frequently  said,  that  commerce  was  more  attended 

*  See  Bacon's  Discourses,  3d  Part,  page  24, 35. 


'fy]  ZegidUy  of  Impressing  Seamen.  20S 

to  by  die  sovereign  than  by  any  other  of  the  ruling  powers  of  this 
nation.  It  certainly  was  more  encouraged  by  him  than  by  his 
barons.  Finance  was,  in  those  days^  but  little  understood. — It 
was  not,  perhaps^  till  very  lately,  that  it  was  generally  conceived, 
bow  much  the  wealth  and  strength  of  a  nation  is  assisted  by  the 
commercial  acquisition  of  individuals. 

(The  Barons  held  commerce  and  its  followers  in  contempt.] 

Military  glory  being,  in  those  days,  the  sole  object  of  ambition, 
military  employment  was  of  course  the  sole  pursuit*  Nor  could 
the  baron,  who  met  his  sovereign  in  arms,  conceive  much  estima- 
tion for  those  who  cultivated  the  peaceable  employments  of  com- 
merce. To  him  their  occupation  appeared  the  extreme  of  indo- 
lence and  cowardice;  the  greatest,  if  not  the  only  vices  in  his 
eyes ; — and  the  most  opposed  of  all  to  those  qualities  which  gave 
him  importance. 

[Meanwhile  commerce  spread  and  improved.] 

Meanwhile  the  commercial  people  grew  up  in  -silence  and 
obscurity,  acquired  strength,  by  degrees,  and  insensibly  obtain- 
ed a  regular  and  durable  establishment.  Acting,  at  first,  by  the 
mere  virtue  of  their  own  natural  powers,  they  derived  force 
from  the  inattention  which  was  at  first  showed  to  them :  they 
extended  and  improved,  to  an  amazing  degree,  the  advantages 
which  they  received;  and  finally  raised  on  the  ruins  of  some  of  the 
most  splendid  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  the  aristocratical 
combinations  of  the  nobility,  a  new  power  in  the  constitution,  and 
formed  a  new  object  of  national  interest. 

(The  Kmgs  used  the  help  this  body  of  men  naturally  presented  them,  and 
connected  themsehres  witii  them  against  the  Barons. — ^The  Crown's  piao- 
gative  of  having  the  custody  of  the  sea  cemented  strongly  this  connec- 
tion.] 

The  sovereigns  of  all  nations  observed  and  used  the  assistance 
they  naturally  presented  them  in  humbling  their  nobles.  In  Italy, 
where  the  pow^r  of  the  sovereign  was  small,  many  of  the  cities 
and  communities  in  which  commerce  prevailed  acquired  indepen- 
dence. In  France  and  in  £ngland  they  joined  the  Crown  against 
their  common  enemy,  the  imperious  barons.  As  the  Crown,  was 
the  first  that  protected  them,  for  a  long  time  after  they  looked. up 
to  it  as  to  their  immediate  support. — The  sovereign,  in  return  for 
the  protection  he  gave  them,  claimed  their  assistance.  This  union 
was  still  more  cemented  by  the  ancient  prerogative  of  the  Crown, 
so  immediately  favoring,  and  so  intimately  blended  with  navigation 
and  commerce,  of  having  the  custody  of  the  sea.  We  have  before 
observed  that  the  Crown  had  not  any  ship  of  its  own  till  a  very  late 
period.  Those  who  were  bound  to  serVe  by  tenure  were  not  ade- 
quate, either  in  number  or  by  their  complement  of  men,  to  the 


"^^M         Mr.  Butler^  and  Lord  Sandwieb,  tfli  the        j[46 

Views  of  the  nfttion.  The  only  resource  tiierefore  Mras  1>jr  usiiii  ^e 
ahips  of  the  merchants. — ^These  circumstances  conspiring  tbgera^i;, 
liiaKes  it  very  easy  to  account  for  any  right  which  ihe  Crown  unikl- 
ieituptecily  exerciised  over  seainlen,  though  iio  instance  could  ht 
kSduced  of  its  exercising  a  similar  right  over  the  landroen.-^But, 
whatsoever  cause  we  may  assign  for  the  rightis  of  (he  Crown  ia 
this  particular,  it  certainly  was  such  as  we  have  represented  it 
«to  be. 

[Mr.  Hume  cited  J 

I  shall  conclude  this  Essay  with  a  quotation  on  this  sutgect  from 
TStr.  Hume, .which  bears  die  stroiigest  marks  of  diat  penetration 
and  depth  of  thought  for  which  be  has  been  so  highly  cele- 
"brated.  ' 

'^  The  third  custom,  which  we  propose  to  remark,  regards  Eng- 
land ;  and  though  it  be  not  so  important  as  those  which  we  have 
^inted  out  in  Athens  and  Rome,  is  no  less  singular  and  unexpect- 
ed,  tt  is  a  maxim  in  politics^  which  we  readily  admit  as  undis- 
Diited  and  universal,  that  a  power,  however  great,  when  granted  by 
mwto  an  eminent  magistrate,  is  not  so  dangerous  to  liber^,  as  an 
authority,  however  inconsiderable,  which  he  acquires  froni  violence 
and  usurpation.  For,  besides  that  the  law  always  limits  every 
^wer  which  it  liestows,  the  very  receiving  it  as  a  concession  esta- 
blishes Qie  authority  whence  it  is  derived,  and  preserves  the  harmo- 
•my  of  the  constitution.  By  the  same  right  that  .one  prerogative  is 
assuined  without  law,  another  may  also  be  claimed,  and  another, 
with  still  greater  facility.;  while  the  first  usurpations  both  serve  as 
omcodents  to  the  following,  and  .give  force  to  maintain  them. 
4nwiee  the  herofsm  of  Hampden's  conduct,  who  sustained  die 
whole  violence  of  royal  prosecution,  rather  than  pay  a  tax  of  twenty 
ihillings,  not  imposed  by  parliament;  hence  die  care  of  di 
iSnglish  patriots  to  guard  against  the  first  encroachments  of  the 
'Crown,;  and  hence  alone  the  existence,  at  this  day,  of  English 
liberty. 

'^'  There  is,  however,  one  occasion,  where  the  parliament  has  de- 
^parted  from  diis  maxim ;  and  that  is,  in  the  pressing  of  seamen. 
The  exercise  of  an  irregular  power  is  here  tacitly  permitted  in  the 
crown;  and  though  it  has  frequently  been  under  deliberation,  how 
that  |K>wer  might  be  rendered  legal,  and  grantee^,  under  proper  re- 
strictions, to  the  sovereign,  no  safe  expedient  could  ever  be  proposed 
for  that  purpose ;  and  the  danger  to  liberty  always  appeared  greater 
firom  law  than  from  usurpation.  While  this  power  is  exercised  to 
no  other  end  than  to  man  the  navy,  men  willingly  submit  to  it,  from 
a  sense  of  its  use  and  necessity ;  and  the  sailors,  who  are  alone 
affected  by  it,  find  no  body  to  support  them,  hi  claiming  the  rights 
and  privileges  which  the  law  grants,  without  distinction,   to 


61]  LegaUty  of  Impt^sing  Seamen.  286 

Eiiglisli  subjects.  But  were  this  power  on  any  occasion  made  an 
instrument  of  faction,  or  ministerial  tyranny,  the  opposite  faction^ 
and  indeed  all  lovers  of  their  country,  would  immediately  take  the 
alarm,  and  support  the  injured  party ;  the  liberty  of  Englishmen 
would  be  asserted ;  juries  would  be  implacable ;  and  the  tools  of 
tyranny,  acting  both  against  law  and  equity,  would  meet  with  th» 
severest  vengeance.  On  the  other  hand,  were  the  parliament  to 
grant  such  an  authority,  they  wottU  piobably  fall  into  one  of  these 
two  inconveniences :  they  would  either  bestow  it  under  so  many 
restrictions  as  would  make  it  lose  its  effect^  bf  cramping  the  autho* 
rity  of  the  Crown ;  or  they  would  render  it  so  large  and  compre- 
hensive, as  might  give  occasion  to  great  abuser  foe  which  w^  could 
io  that  case  have  no  remedy.  The  very  irregularity  of  the  pniqlice^' 
a|  present,  preveata  ita  ahiise,  by  affording  so  easy  a  remedy  againsft 
Aeio.  •■<      .  .   .     ^ 

f^  I.  pretend  not,  by  this  reasoning,  to  exclude  dl  possibiHtf  off 
contriving  a  register  for  seanseo,  wUch  might  man  the  navy,  witb^ 
out  being  dangerous  to  liberty,  i  only  observe,  that  no  satisfoetory 
scheme  of  that  nature  has  ever  been  proposed.  Radier  than  adopil! 
any  project  hitherto  invented,  we  continue  a  practice  seemingly  m 
most  absurd  and  unaccountable*  Authority,  in  times  of  full  in* 
ternal  peace  aud  concord,  is  armed  against  law,  A  continued 
violence  is  permitted  in  the  Crown,  amidst  the  greatest  jealousj 
and  watchfuhess  in  the  people;  nay,  proceeding  from  these  verj 
I>rinciples.  liberty,  in  a  countiy  of  the  highest  liberty,  is  left  enr 
tirely  to  its  own  defence,  without  any  countenance  or  protection: 
the  wild  state  of  Nature  is  renewed  in  one  of  the  most  civilised 
societies  of  mankind :  and  great  violence  and  disorder  are  com- 
mitted with  impunity; 'while  the  one  party  pleads  obedience  tv 
the  supreme  magistrate,  the  other  the  sanctien  of  ftrndamesMl 
laws.'' 


286 


APPENDIX. 

NUMBER  L 
Ex  Rot.  Pat  13  Hen.  III. 

XVEX  Roberto  de  Auberwiir,  et  Vicecom'  Sussex  et  Kancise,  Sa- 
lutem ;  mandamus  Tobis  firmiter  pr.  cipientes  quatenus  in  fide  qua 
nobis  tenemini,  omnes  Naves  quas  per  Preeceptum  nostrum  arrestatis 
in  singulis  Portubus  preedictorum  Comitatum  Sussex  et  Kancise,  et 
quod  sexdecem  equos  et  amplius  ferre  poterunt  ad  opus  nostrum  re- 
tineatis,  ita  ^uod  Naves  illas  promptas  habeamus  et  paratas  apud 
Portesm.  in  instanti  festo  Sancti  Michaelis,  Anno,  &c.  decimo  terUo^ 
ad  eundum  in  servitium  nostrum,  alias  autem  Naves  minores  in  prs- 
dictis  portubus  arrestatis  quee  nee  sexdecim  equos  ferre  possunt 
abire  permittatis  quo  voluerint  in  cujus,  &c.  vobis  mittimus.'' 

Teste  Rege,  apud  Wennerles,  quinto  die  Septembris. 

Eodem  modo  scribitur  Thomee  de  Hennegrave,  et  Vicecomiti  Norff. 
et  Essex ;  Galfredo  de  Lucy,  et  Vicecomit.  Southampton  et  Dor- 
set; Rogero  de  Sucb,  et  Vicecom'  CornubeeB  et  Devon ;  et  Johanni 
de  Barot^  et  Vic'  Jincoln. 

NUMBER  II. 

The  following  is  an  Extract  from  the  Black  Book  of  the  Admiralty, 
p.  26,  27.  12^  Edward  III.  as  it  is  cited  and  commented  on  by  Mr. 
Molloy,  vol.  i.  p.  133. 

By  the  Laws  of  England,  there  is  no  question  but  the  king  may 
seize,  and  it  appears  by  very  many  ancient  Records,  that  he  might 
do  it,  and  it  was  one  of  the  articles  of  enquiry  amongst  others ; 
**  Item,  soit  enquis  de  Nefs,  que  sont  arrestees  pour  le  service  da 
Roy,  ou  pour  autre  raisonable  cause  per  les  Officers  du  Roy,  ou  de 
FAamiral,  et  debrisent  TArrest,  et  par  les  quelles  avandictes  Nefs 
sont  emmenez,  et  retamer  les  JMEariners  qui  sont  ordonnez  pour  le 
service  du  Roy ;  et  si  retracent,  et  en  cas  que  homme-  soit  endite  qui 
la  debruse  T Arrest  en  sa  Nef  arrestee  pour  le  service  du  Roy,  et  de 
ce  soit  convicte  par  xii.  il  perdra  sa  Nef  s'il  na  grace  du  Roy  ou  du 
hault  Admiral,  et  pour  ce  quil  a  este  plusieurs  fois  debatu  en  Angle- 
terre  pour  les,  arrestes  des  Nefs,  quant  le  Roy  amande  Sergeants 
d'Arms,  ou  autre  Miuistres  pour  arrester  Nefs  al  oeps  du  Roy,  et  les 
Seigneurs  des  Nefs  sont  venus  devant  TAdmiral,  et  alleguent  que 
leurs  Nefs  nestoient  mye  arrestees,  ordonne  estoit  au  temps  du  Roy 


63]  Appendix.  287 

Richard  le  Premier  &  Orimshy,  per  advis  de  plusleurs  Seigneurs  du 
Royalmey  que  quant  Nefs  seront  arrestees  pour  service  du  Roy,  que 
le  Roy  escripta  par  ses  Lettres  Patentes  a  FAdmiral  d'arrester  les 
Nefs  plus  ou  moins  k  la  voulonte  du  Roy»  et  selon  ce  quil  a  besoio, 
^t  FAdmiral  escripfo  au  Roy  ou  au  Chancelier  d'Angleterre  les 
Noms  des  Nefs  ainsi  arrestees  assemblement  avec  les  noms  des  Seig- 
neurs et  Maistres  d'icelles,  et  en  tel  cas  le  Seigneur  de  la  Nef  ne  le 
Maistre  ne  viendront  pas  k  dire  que  la  Nef  nestoit  mye  arrestee  ne 
k  ce  ne  seront  oyz  ;**  and  that  upon  such  Arrests  broken,  the  Parties 
might  be  punished  and  fined. 

[De  Offic.  Admiral.  Anglis  per  Houghton,  Artie.  10.] 

Again,  ^'  Inquiratur  si  arrestatus,  ad  serviendum  Regi  fregit  arres« 
tum,  hujusmodi  transgressor  stat  in  gratia  Regia  sive  Admiralli  sui 
utrum  voluerint  committere  Carceribus  mancipandum  vel  finem  facere, 
in  hac  parte  si  arrestum  hujusmodi  factum  manifestum  fuerit  cpgni- 
tum." 

[The  Black  Book  of  the  Admiralty,  fol.  28,  29.  157,  158. 15  R.  2.  c.  3.] 

If  the  Admiral  by  the  King's  command  arrests  any  ships  for  the 
King's  service,  and  he  or  his  Lieutenant  return  and  certify  the  Arrest, 
or  a  List  of  the  Ships  arrested  into  Chancery ^  no  Master  or  Owner 
of  the  Ships  so  arrested  shall  he  received  to  plead  against  the  Re- 
turn, *'  pur  ceo  que  I'Admiral  et  son  Lieutenant  sont  de  Record." 

Item,  **  Inquirendum  de  omnibus  Navibus  quse  ad  serviendum 
Domino  Regi  super  mari  arrestatee  fuerint,  et  postea  Domini,  Pos- 
sessores,  sive  Magistri  dolo  et  fraude  k  servitio  hujusmodi  se  sub- 
traxerunt  in  deceptionem  Domini  Regis,  qui  si'inde  postea  indictati 
fuerint,  et  convicti  super  hoc,  naves  su®  Domino  Regi  forisfactse  per 
ordinationem  Domini  Regis  Richard i  Primi ;  et  si  Domini,  Possesso- 
res,  vel  Magistri  hujusmodi  inde  coram  Domino  Rege  et  Cancellario 
suo  per  aliquas  allegationes  se  aut  naves  hujusmodi  excusare  volue- 
rint, si  Admirallus  vel  locum  tenentes  sui  per  Literas  suas  Patentes 
de  arresto  hujusmodi  facto  fidem  fecerint  pleniorem,  Domini,  Pos- 
sessores,  aut  Magistri  prsedicti  nuUo  modo  audiri  debent,  sen  eis  fides 
quovis  modo  adhiberi,  eo  quod  Admirallus  et  locum  tenentes  sui  sunt 
de  recordo." 

[Crooke's  Arg.  in  Hampden's  Case,  Fol.  79  to  100.  Vid.  State  Trials,  Vol.  I.] 

And  if  the  Ship  so  arrested  break  the  Arrest,  and  the  Master  or 
Owner  thereof  b)e  indicted,  and  convicted,  devant  FAdmiral,  by  the 
Oath  of  twelve  men,  the  Ship  shall  be  confiscated  to  the  King,  which 
power  the  General  maintains  in  all  places  where  he  has  power,  and 
the  same  seems  to  be  provided  for  in  the  latter  Clause  of  15  R.  ii. 
Ca.  3. 


BND   OF    NO.    XLV. 


r 


SOME  ACCOUNT 


OF   THE 


STATE   OP   THE    PRISONS 


IN 


SPAIN    AND    PORTUGAL 


By  JOHN  BOWRING,  Esq. 


LONDON : 


1824. 


VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI. 


S  P  AT  N. 


From  the  epoch  in  which  the  Inquisition  refined  upon  and 
perfected  all  the  horrors  of  imprisonment,  the  state  of  die  gaols 
in  the  Peninsula  had  until  lately  been  most  dreadful.  During  the 
French  invasion,  though  the  immediate  melioration  of  the  prisons 
was  frequently  discussed,  the  whole  nation  was  too  incessantly 
occupied  by  the  terrible  struggle  in  which  it  was  engaged,  to  giye 
any  e£Bcient  attention  to  this,  or  indeed  any  other  subject  uncon« 
nected  with  that  devastating  war.  Something,  however,  was  done ; 
and  the  abolition  of  the  <<Holy  Office"  released  many  victims 
from  that  <<  awful  thrall,''  which  placed  them  beyond  the  reach 
even  of  benevolent  curiosity,  and  left  them  to  the  arbitrary  decrees 
of  secret  tribunals,  and  to  the  unseen  vengeance  of  irresponsible 
and  unknown  judges. 

Many  of  the  leading  characters  of  Spain  have  at  one  period 
or  another  learned,  by  sad  and  severe  experience,  the  miseries  of 
the  former  prison- system  j  they  have  been  taught  to  sympathise 
with  the  wretched  prisoner,  for  they  have  been  the  witnesses  of, 
and  the  sharers  in,  the  horrors  of  his  imprisonment. 

At  Madrid,  I  have  seen  cells  from  which  prisoners  have  come 
forth  in  utter  and  incurable  blindness :  there  were  others  in 
which  the  body  could  rest  in  no  one  natural  position,  neither  sit- 
ting, nor  standing,  nor  kneeling,  nor  lying  down. 

Though  numberless  instances  of  cruelty  rush  upon  my  mind, 
their  recital  might  be  ill-placed  here  ;  but  it  may  be  well,  for  the 
sake  of  illustration,  to  refer  to  the  sufierings  of  two  individuals, 
well  known  in  this  country,  who  have  since  occupied  high  and  im- 
portant offices  in  the  state.  One  of  them  declared,  that  in  the 
three  first  days  of  his  arrest  he  employed  himself  in  counting 
the  number  of  vermin  which  he  destroyed  on  his  body;  they 
amounted  to  thirty  thousand !  Another  deputy  assured  me,  that 
when  allowed  to  change  his  linen,  it. had  on  every  occasion 
become  so  pestiferous,  that  nothing  which  he  could  ofier  would 
induce  any  individuals,  however  poor,  to  receive  it  into  their 
houses ;  and  it  was  washed  from  time  to  time  by  a  benevolent  and 
respectable  lady,  who,  in  her  open  balcony,  undertook  a  task 
which  her  lowest  menial  had  refused  to  perform. 


3]        On  the  State  of  the  Frisons  in  Spain,  S^c.         291 

'  In  truth,  no  sufferings  can  be  conceived  more  intolerable  than 
those  of  many  a  prisoner  confined  in  former  times  in  the  gaols  of 
the  Peninsula.^  In  a  moist,  miserable  and  dreary  dungeon, 
oppressed  with  heavy  chains,  without  a  book  to  console  him  by 
day,  without  even  a  handful  of  straw  on  which  to  stretch  him- 
seLF  at  night ;  supplied  with  bad  and  insufficient  food  ;  shut  out 
from  all  notice,  from  all  sympathy,  and  in  the  hands  of  those 
whose  hearts  were  as  cold  and  as  hard  as  the  walls  that  enclosed 
him — what  situation  can  be  more  terrible  ?  I  once  noticed,  on 
the  walls  of  a  Spanish  prison,  an  admirable  picture,  drawn  with 
charcoal,  of  an  old  and  exhausted  victim  (pourtrayed  perhaps 
by  the  sufferer  himself),  his  beard  unshorn,  his  body  wasted,  his 
countenance  betokening  despair,  his  fetters  insupportable  ;  and 
beneath  were  these  lines : — 

**0  deem  not,  in  a  world  like  this, 
.That  the  worst  suffering  is  to  die/ 
No  !  dying  were  a  privileged  bliss 
To  the  tired  sons  of  misery."* 

And  to  stick  sons  of  misery  death  must  have  been  a  blessing. 

Immediately  after  the  re-establishment  ,of  the  Constitutional 
Government  in  Spain,  the  first  Cortes  occupied  themselves  in 

^  An  extract  from  a  recent  publication  on  Prisons,  by  Dr.  Jacobo  Villa- 
nova  y  Jordan,  one  of  the  Spanish  Judges,  may  here  be  added : — 

'^  In  1814,  the  king,  for  the  first  time,  visited  the  prisons  of  Madrid.  At 
this  period  those  frightful  chains  were  in  use,  which  he  ordered  to  be  de- 
strbjred.  There,  also,  were  to  be  seen  the  cells,  under  ground,  destitute  of 
ventilation,  where,  to  the  ruin  of  health  and  morals,  many  poor  wretches 
were  obliged  to  sleep  together,  and  respire  the  most  impure  and  noisome 
atmosphere :  and  the  courts  whence,  at  the  close  of  day,  legions  of  immense 
rats  ipsue  forth,  spreading  into  every  corner,  robbing  the  poor  prisonerof  his 
scanty  allowance,  and  disturbing  hiis  rest.  The  criminal,  the  lover,  and  the 
murderer,  the  debtor  and  the  robber,  the  forger  and  the  ruffian,  were  herded 
indiscriminately  together,  and  he  who  was  guiltless,  along  with  them.  Among 
the  keepers,  some  were  found  who  hardly  knew  the  persons  of  their  prisoners. 
In  the  prison  called  the  Town  Gaol  (which  is  shortly  to  be  abolished,  and 
the  prisoners  sent  to  that  termed  "  De  la  Corte"),  there  was  a  square  rooiii, 
about  eight  yards  in  length,  and  nine  feet  high  ;  it  was  entered  by  an  ex- 
tremely dark  and  narrow  passage,  at  each  end  of  which  were  two  doors.  The 
prisoner  confined  within  this  space  never  saw  the  light  of  heaven.  The  pave- 
ment was  of  sandstone,  and  in  the  centre  there  was  an  iron  collar,  with  a 
chain  to  confine  the  prisoner  down  to  it.  Although  I  have  not  seen  the 
grilUra  of  this  gaol,  I  imagine  it  was  as  bad,  or  even  worse  than  that  of  the 
Town  Gaol.  It  was  an  instrument  used  for  torture,  for  such  prisoners  as 
did  not  confess,  to  compel  them  to  do  so." 

*  **  No  es  verdad  que  la  muerte, 
Sea  el  mas  malo  de  los  males; 
£s  un  alivio  de  los  mortales 
Que  son  causados  de  penar." 


292  Mr.  Bowring  on  the  State  of  [4 

applying  remedies  to  some  of  the  most  obvious  evils  of  the 
prison-system.  They  speedily  decreed,  that  no  prisoner  what- 
ever should,  on  any  pretence  virhatever,  be  confined  in  any  un- 
wholesome or  subterraneous  dungeon,  or  in  any  place  not  visited 
by  the  natural  light  of  day.  They  also  ordered,  that  no  chains 
or  fetters  of  any  sort  should,  on  any  occasion,  be  employed  ;  and 
I  confess  it  was  no  small  satisfaction  to  me,  in  my  progress 
through  Spain,  to  witness  the  destruction  of  those  dismals  cells 
which  had  been  the  scenes  of  so  much  calamity.  The  Cortes 
proceeded  to  form  a  prison-committee,  whose  attention  is  espe- 
cially directed  to  the  state  of  the  Spanish  gaols;  and  several 
writers  have  sprung  up,  who  have  been  directing  the  public  at- 
tention to  the  subject,  and  who  have  excited  a  spirit  of  inquiry, 
and  a  desire  of  useful  exertion  throughout  the  Peninsula.  Seversd 
of  the  public  journals  have  lent  themselves  cheerfully  to  the  im- 
portant object ;  and  I  have  remarked,  indeed,  in  every  quarter, 
that  anxiety  for  information  which  is  the  herald  of  benevolent 
action.  In  most  of  the  towns  in  Spain  the  prisons  are  placed 
under  the  inspection  of  citizens  elected  by  the  popular  sufirages ; 
and  their  attention  to  their  charges  ^as  greatly  tended  to  stop  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  which  had  been  sanctioned,  as  it  were,  by 
the  habits  of  centuries. 

Don  Jacobo  Villanova,  now  a  Judge  at  Valencia,  proposed  to  the 
Cortes  the  adoption  of  Mr.  Bentham's  Panopticon  plan  of  a  prison, 
with  sundry  modifications.  His  scheme  was  referred  to  the  Prison 
Committee,  who  requested  a  report  from  the  Royal  Society  of 
Madrid.  That  report  being  favorable,  the  Committee  proposed 
that  in  all  the  capitals  of  the  kingdom,  and  in  all  the  towns  in 
which  there  resides  a  Judge  of  the  first  rank, — ^viz.  between  three 
and  four,  hundred — prisons  shall  be  constructed  on  the  central-in- 
spection plan,  of  a  size  suited  to  the  population,  in  which  security, 
ventilation,  salubrity,  and  an  abundance  of  water,  shall  be  pro- 
vided for;  that  these  prisons  shall  be  constructed  remote  from 
all  other  buildings,  and  at  the  extremity  of  the  towns  or  cities 
referred  to.  They  declare  that  the  government  of  a  prison  shall 
be  deemed  honorary,  and  be  given  to  military  officers:  in  the 
provinces,  captains — in  the  capital,  colonels — whose  salary  shall 
be,  in  Madrid,  24',000  rials  ; '  in  the  chief  towns,  16,000  rials;* 
in  the  small  towns,  10,000  rials  ;  ^  and  that  he  shall  be  personally 
responsible  for  the  security  and  discipline  of  the  prisoners,  and 
for  carrying  into  effect  the  prison-regulations.  The  magistrates 
shall  elect  all  other  officers  of  the  prison,  and  shall  form  the  re- 

>  About  £240.  ^  About  f  160.  ^  About  £  J 00. 


5]  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  293 

gulationsj  which  must  be  submitted  to  the  government  for  ap. 
proval.  They  propose  that  all  prison-fees  whatever  shall  be 
abolished ;  that  there  shall  be  classification  dependent  on  age, 
crimesi  signs  of  penitence,  &c. ;  that  the  untried  shall  not  be 
confounded  with  the  condemned  ;  that  labor  shall  be  introduced, 
the  severity  of  which  shall  depend  on  the  character  of  the  crime, 
and  other  circumstances  connected  with  the  criminal ;  that  a 
committee  be  appointed  for  visiting  the  prisons,  and  for  seeing 
that  the  proposed  regulations  be  carried  into  effect. 

The  Committee  of  the  Cortes  introduce  the  subject  with  the  fol- 
lowing melancholy  details,  in  which  there  is  no  exaggeration, 
nor  attempt  to  delude. 

The  prisons  of  Spain,  beginning  by  those  of  Madrid,  are  hor- 
rible caverns,  in  which  it  is  impossible  that  health  should  be  long 
preserved.  It  seems  impossible  that  men  should  ever  have  been 
found  so  fierce  and  inhuman  as  to  construct  such  edifices  for 
their  fellow-men.  But  if  this  appear  incredible,  how  much  more 
so  is  it  that  in  the  nineteenth  century  these  dwellings  should  be 
still  kept  up — the  shame  and  the  execration  of  humanity !  Dark 
dungeons,  without  light  or  air,  are  found  in  the  two  prisons  of 
Madrid,  of  the  Corte  and  of  the  Villa  ; — nothing  but  a  miserable 
and  insufficient  ration  provided  for  human  beings ; — condemned 
to  live  for  years  in  utter  darkness;— breathing  mephitic  air;— - 
hearing  nothing  but  the  noise  of  bolts  and  fetters; — having  no 
companions  but  the  swarms  of  vermin  which  cover  the  walls  of 
their  gloomy  abode,  and  which  incessantly  prey  upon  their  persons ; 
— and  condemned  to  sleep  upon  a  mat,  covered  with  a  few  filthy 
rags. 

The  doom  of  those  who  occupy  the  courts  is  hardly  better. 
Exposed  through  the  day  to  the  intemperance  and  inclemency  of 
the  seasons ;  lazy,  wearied  with  their  own  existence ;  obliged 
constantly  to  listen  to  paths  and  curses,  grossness  and  obscenity — 
they  sufier  in  an  earthly  hell— and  to  them  the  terrible  denuncia- 
tions of  religion  can  have  no  anticipated  terrors.  And  if  in  the  day 
their  fate  is  horrible,  by  night  it  is  worse.  Condemned  to  subter- 
raneous dungeons,  damp,  and  full  of  vermin,  shut  out  from  the 
common  air — these  are  the  scenes  of  their  repose ;  and  the  hour 
which  brings  to  other  mortals  rest  and  sleep,  prepares  for  them 
only  mortification,  shame,  and  misery. 

ouch  is  the  gloom  and  insalubrity  of  the  prisons  of  the  kingdom. 
In  Andalusia  there  is  not  one  which  humanity  can  approve. 
Of  the  1,285  towns  of  the  Chancelleria  of  Valladolid,  only  167 
have  safe  and  wholesome  prisons, '  so  that  1,1 18  towns  are  without 

^  ^  This  is  said  by  way  of  contrast ;  there  is  no  prison  that  can  be  called 
wholesome** 


294  Mr.  Bowrmg  an  the  State  of  [3 

prisons^  or  possess  such  as  are  unhealthy  and  insecure  ;  and  almost 
all  are  without  sufficient  means  of  subsistence.  In  Grenada  there 
are  but  twenty- two  prisons  which  can  be  called  capaciouSi  secure^ 
and  tolerably  salubrious ;  there  are  four  hundred  and  ninety-one 
small}  insecure  prisons,  dependant  on  charity.  Those  of  Gallicia 
are  in  the  worst  condition.  In  Asturias  there  is  not  one  which 
is  safe,  nor  which  possesses  the  means  of  serving  food  to  the  pri- 
soners. In  Estramadura  there  are  only  a  few,  and  those  unhealdiy. 
In  Arragon  the  only  secure  and  healthy  prisons  are  those  of 
Alcaniz,  Calatayud,  and  Zaragoza  ^  the  rest  are  so  bad,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  say  whicti  is  the  worst  among  them ;  and  there  are 
1,280  towns  and  villages  without  any  prison.  In  the  whole  king- 
dom of  Valencia,  where  there  are  a  million  of  inhabitants,  there  is 
scarcely  one  secure  and  wholesome  prison.  In  Catalonia  there 
are  many  districts  without  prisons ;  the  number  of  tolerably  safe 
and  healthy  prisons  is  forty-five ;  but  they  have  no  funds  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  criminals :  but  the  prisons  of  the  Balearic 
Isles  are  worse  than  all.  They  are  mazmorras  (Moorish  dungeons), 
and  holes,  where  the  stench,  the  humidity,  and  want  of  air,  have 
caused  more  mortality  than  the  virulent  pestilence. 

The  loss  of  liberty,  and  the  punishment  imposed  by  the  law, 
are  surely  enough  for  the  unfortunate  criminal.  What  right  has 
society,  by  its  neglect  or  indifference,  to  superadd  these  horrors ; 
to  confirm  all  that  is  atrocious  in  vice ;  to  eradicate  every  thing 
that  is  left  of  virtue  ;  to  mingle  the  swindler  with  the  homicide ; 
the  young  and  timid  practitioner  with  the  old  and  daring,  and 
irreclaimable  criminal ;  and  in  a  situation  where,  to  do  them  any 
justice,  every  individual  prisoner  requires  an  individual  guard  ? 

It  is,  indeed,  high  time  that  such  scenes  of  outrage  should  exist 
no  longer;  that  such  horrors  should  be  blotted  from  the  very 
memory  of  man.  It  is,  indeed,  high  time  that  the  light  of  civi- 
lisation should  penetrate  those  deadly  dungeons — dungeons  un- 
visited  as  yet  by  the  pure  light  of  day,  or  the  beams  of  the  vivifying 
sun. 

For  the  Cortes  this  work  was  reserved,  and  to  them  its  glory 
will  belong ;  and  it  will  bear  their  memory  down  to  future 
grateful  generations.  «<  Is  it  possible,"  said  some  of  the  prisoners 
in  the  Madrid  gaol,  to  one  of  the  Committee  who  visited  them ; 
<<  is  it  possible  that-the  fathers  of  the  country  are  already  assembled 
in  the  sanctuary  of  the  laws,  and  that  they  will  not  meliorate  our 
situation  ?  We  ask  no  pardon  for  our  crimes ; '  we  will  suffer 
with  resignation  the  penalties  of  the  law  ;  but  why  this  unneces- 

'  When  I  was  at  Seville,  the  following  verses  were  put  into  my  hands  by 
the  prisoners,  in  which  the  same  sentiments  are  expressed,  but  in  language 
less  polished : — 


7]  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  295 

stay  bitterness ; — ^why  these  anticipated  punishments^  worse  than 
death  itself  ?  If  crimes  have  made  us  responsible  to  the  law ;  if 
error^  if  ignorance,  if  a  defective  education,  have  dragged  us  into 
crimes,  it  is  just  that  we  should  pay  the  price  of  our  excesses ;  but 
it  is  not  just  that  we  should  be  treated  with  inhumanity  and  bar« 
barity.  Whatever  our  crimes  have  been,  we  were  born  men,  and 
ought  still  to  be  looked  on  with  the  respect  due  to  human  nature. 
We  are  Spaniards  !  Our  blood  is  your  blood ;— we  are  of  one 
religion  with  you  ; — ^we  are  part  of  our  country's  great  family." 
The  Committee  could  not  but  sympathise  with  such  expressions  of 
misery ;  they  request  that  Government  do  immediately  meliorate 
the  state  ot  the  prisons,  giving  ventilation  to  the  apartments, 
abolishing  all  subterranean  dungeons ;  and  they  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  central-inspection  plan  ^  that  the  prisoners  be 
always  within  sight ;  that  no  light  and  air  be  wanting ;  that  there 
be  a  classification  of  crimes  and  sexes  ^  that  the  internal  arrange- 
ments be  simplified ;  that  idleness  be  succeeded  by  industry ;  that 
food,  cleanliness,  and  clothing  be  provided  for  the  prisoners ;  and 
that  every  prison  contain  an  apartment  for  the  arrested  before 
committal,  a  hall  of  audience,  an  hospital,  and  a  chapel. 

Hitherto,  by  a  barbarous  and  criminal  custom,  the  prisons  of 
Spain  have  been  a  pecuniary  possession,  let  out  to  the  best  bidder,' 
who,  in  the  ill-treatment  and  exactions  on  the  prisoners,  made 
their  fortunes  by  the  miseries  they  created.  The  taxes  on  entering, 

V.  S.  condecorados 
A  esta  carcel  an  benido 
Que  asin  podran  desbalido 
Imploran  buestra  piedad. 
Buestra  liberalidaa, 
Creo  no  a  de  permitir, 
Dejar  los  presos  salir; 
De  buestru  bien  desirado. 
Antes  hiran  remediado 
Xus  infelicez  de  aqui. 

Lo  dice  un  Desgraciado  Forattero.    Q.  S,  M,  B,        G.  P. 

Ye  chosen  ones,  whose  footsteps  bend 
In  mercy  towards  this  prison  celJ, 
Where  we,  the  sons  of  sorrow,  dwell; 

Your  pity  to  our  accents  lend. 

We  dare  not  ask  for  liberty, 

However  liberal  ye  may  be ; 
But  we  will  hope  your  generous  care 
Will  feel  our  wants,  ana  hear  our  prayer, 
[.  And  soothe  the  prisoner's  inisery. 

Drawn  up  by  the  TJftfortunate  Foreigner. 


296  Mr.  Bowring  on  the  State  of  [8 

for  exemptions  from  ironsj  for  better  or  worse  apartments,  and  on 
leaving  the  prison,  made  the  criminal  the  victim  of  injustice,  in 
innumerable  forms. 

In  this  spirit  of  humanity  did  the  Committee  discharge  their 
duty.  Their  names  deserve  to  be  recorded^ — ^Vargas  Ponce, 
Ramos  Arispe,  Alvarez  Guerra,  Villanueva,  Priego,  Can^al, 
Navarro,  Ugarte,  and  Isturiz.  The  multiplicity  of  business  which 
crowded  on  the  Cortes,  prevented  the  adoption  or  the  discussion 
of  their  plan ;  but  the  present  Cortes  will  be  engaged  ere  long 
ill  carrying  into  effect  the  benevolent  schemes  of  their  prede- 
cessorSi 

I  will  now  venture  to  give  some  details  respecting  the  prisons 
at  Madrid,  Cordova,  Seville,  Cadiz,  and  Lisbon. 

MADRID. 

The  great  prison  at  Madrid  is  called  La  Cdrcel  de  la  Carte. 
It  was  originally  built  by  Philip  IV.  in  1636;  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  edifice,  which  was  employed  as  a  prison,  was  destroyed 
by  fire  in  1791,  and  rebuilt  in  1792,  when  the  Salvador  Convent 
was  added  to  it.  It  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  capital,  sur- 
rounded by  streets,  which  are  composed  of  very  high  houses, 
from  whence  conununication  may  be  held  with  many  of  the  ceils. 
The  form  of  the  prison,  which  occupies  a  large  space,  is  wholly 
irregular,  and  its  internal  arrangements  are  ill-adapted  to  its  ob<« 
j^cts,  for  which  indeed  only  a  part  of  it  was  originally  intended. 
The  general  average  of  prisoners  is  about  three  hundred,  though 
it  might  be  made  to  contain  five  hundred.  In  August,  1821, 
there  were  only  two  hundred  and  seventy,  of  whom  seventeen  were 
women. 

There  are  two  yards,  one  of  which  has  rather  a  handsome  ap* 
pearance,  being  supported  by  pillars,  and  having  colonnades  and 
arches.  It  is  paved,  and  occupied  by  the  industrious  part  of  the 
prisoners.  The  other  yard  is  damp  and  unwholesome.  In  each 
of  the  yards  there  is  a  cistern  of  good  water.  Till  very  lately, 
the  state  of  the  privies  was  most  intolerable  \  but  arrangements 
are  now  being  carried  into  effect  for  cleaning  them,  and  for  their 
removal  from  the  rooms  occupied  by  the  prisoners.  The  walls  i 
and  passages  are  all  exceedingly  neglected ;  they  are  covered  with 
filth  and  vermin.  There  is  no  arrangement  made  for  washing  or 
cleaning  the  interior  of  the  prison,  except  an  order  that  it  shall  be 
swept  weekly  \  but  the  state  of  the  apartments  is  as  bad  as  can  be 
conceived.  The  situation  of  every  prisoner  depends  not  at  all  on 
his  crimes,  but  on  his  purse.  Twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars  are 
paid  by  every  individual  to  the  gaoler  for  removal  to  the  better 


9]  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  297 

apartments^  and  this  sum  is  exacted^  whether  the  imprisonment  be 
for  a  day)  or  for  life.  In  this  way  all  crimes  become  confounded ; 
and  the  assassin  or  the  robber,  who  have  retained  the  profits  of 
their  crimes,  are  blended  with  individuals  confined  for  misde- 
meanours or  political  offences.  I  found,  for  example,  the  chiefs 
of  banditti,  imprisoned  for  ten  years  or  for  life,  in  the  same 
apartment  with  respectable  public  writers,  as  yet  untried  and  un-> 
condemned. 

The  prisoners  pass  the  whole  of  the  day  in  the  patios^  or  courts. 
This  is  universal  In  Spain,  and  accords  with  the  climate  and  with 
the  habits  of  the  people,  who  are  always  accustomed  to  spend  the 
great  part  of  the  day  in  the  open  air.  They  leave  their  night-rooms 
at  sun-rise,  and  return  to  them  at  sun-set.  The  night-rooms  are 
close,  even  to  suffocation.  Many  of  them  had  formerly  no  light : 
windows  have  been  introduced  since  the  decree  of  the  Cortes ;  the 
light  is,  however,  very  insufficient.  There  is  little  ventilation,  and 
the  stench  is  intoleraole.  Oil  is  allowed  for  light  till  midnight ; 
the  daily  quantity  for  the  whole  prison  is  2^  pounds.  From 
thirty  to  forty  individuals  sleep  in  the  same  apartment*  No  bed- 
ding or  straw  is  provided ;  but  the  prisoners  sleep  on  raised 
places,  formed  by  bricks,  about  a  foot  high,  two  feet  wide,  and  six 
feet  long ! 

As  many  of  the  religious  orders  in  Spain  interest  themselves 
particularly  in  the  relief  of  the  infirm  and  diseased,  the  sick  pri- 
soners seem  generally  to  obtain  prompt  attention.  An  apothecary 
and  surgeon  are  in  daily  attendance,  who  make  reports  to  the 
Ayuntamiento,  when  they  deem  it  necessary.  In  case  of  insanity, 
the  prisoner  is  removed  to  the  lunatic-infirmary. 

TTie  salary  of  the  gaoler  is  15  rials,  =.3^.  sterling  per  day.  He 
has  also  the  money  paid  for  admission  into  the  privileged  apart- 
ments, and  a  fee  exacted  from  the  prisoners  when  they  leave  the 
prison,  which  is  called  the  carceleria.  I  urged  the  abolishment 
of  d^se  perquisites,  and  an  equivalent  increase  of  the  gaoler's 
salary ;  and  I  understand  this  improvement  is  about  to  be  intro- 
duced* Formerly,  the  gaoler  was  allowed  to  claim  30  rials,  n  6 
shillings,  for  the  privilege  of  wearing  no  fetters,  and  25  doubloons, 
==  15/,  for  an  admission  into  the  better  apartments  of  the  prison. 
There'are  no  printed  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  prison, 
nor  has  the  gaoler  any  other  than  verbal  instructions  from  the 
Ayuntamiento.'  He  visits  the  prison  thrice  a  day  \  he  is  a  married 

"  The  gaols  in  Spain  are  now  wholly  under  the  direction  of  the  Ayunta- 
mientos,  or  corporate  bodies,  who  are  annually  chosen  by  the  whole  body  of 
the  citizens,  and  of  whom  the  alcalde,  or  mayor,  is  the  president.    They 


298  Mr.  Bowring  07i  the  State  of  [10 

man,  but  his  wife  takes  no  part  of  the  duties  of  his  office.  The 
other  officers  of  the  prison  are  :«— 

Three  tumkeySs  paid    .         •         •     ^h  ^^^'^  per  day,  =20dL 

One  key'keeper  .         •         •     5  •  .         I2d. 

Two  turnkeys  of  the  passages        •    S|  •  •  S^d. 

Three  messengers       .  •         .11  quartos         •  4fd, 

A  water-bearer,  himself  a  prisoner,  who  is  paid  2  rials,  =  5d. 
and  one  sweeper,  who  receives  1  rial,  or  2^d.  per  day. 

The  number  of  prisoners  who  have  entered  the  two  prisons  of 
Madrid  in  the  year  1821  is  about  1,400.  Of  these,  only  a  small 
part  have  been  confined  in  the  Carcel  de  la  Corona  \  and  it  is  now 
intended  only  to  employ  the  larger  prison,  or  the  Carcel  de'  la 
Corte. 

The  daily  ration  of  every  prisoner  is  one  pound  of  bread,  six 
ounces  of  garbanzos  (large  peas),  and  a  certain  allowance  of  oil, 
salt,  and  wood,  to  the  whole  prison.  The  daily  cost  of  every  indi* 
vidual  is  40  maravedis,  =  Sd. 

In  the  year  1799  a  charitable  association  was  formed  in  Madrid, 
under  the  title  of  «  El  Buen  Pastor/'  « The  Good  Shepherd," 
for  alleviating  the  situation  of  the  prisoners,  and  for  introducing 
habits  of  industry.  Hitherto  all  labor  is  voluntary.  The  earnings 
of  the  prisoners  in  the  two  prisons  at  Madrid  amounted  to 
S7,347  Rs.,'  of  which  21,163  Rs.  was  paid  to  them  in  money,  and 
the  rest  in  extra  rations,  or  clothing.  For  the  latter  the  Ayunta- 
miento  make  no^provision.  The  only  manufacture  introduced  hi- 
therto is  that  of  the  esparto,  or  bapweed,  which  is  used  in  Spain 
to  a  great  extent  for  mats,  ropes,  sandals,  &c. 

Tins  Society's  annual  accounts  state,  that  the  following  sums 
have  been  received  in  the  year  1821  :— 

Voluntary  subscriptions 
Collected  by  domiciliary  visits 
Religious  observances  (jubileo) 
Alms  in  various  churches 
Individual  donations 
Produce  of  manufactures  sold 
Previous  balance 


Rs. 

Ms. 

5,693  .; 

12 

1,945  .. 

16 

1,1SS  .. 

21 

8,074  .. 

6 

.   61,879  . . 

20 

.   58,159  .. 

4 

.  100,003  .. 

21 

jRf.  231,888  ..  32' 


choose  among  themselves  a  prison-committee,  who  attend  .weekly  at  the 
prison,  and  sometimes  more  frequently,  at  Madrid ;  and  the  whole  Ayunta- 
roiento  visit  the  prison  four  times  a-year,  at  fixed  periods. 
.'  Rs.  100,  =:  SOi.  sterling.  ^  £qual  to  about  2,319/. 


•  • 


11]  the  Pmons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  299 

THEIR   EXPENSES.  # 

Purchase  of  esparto,  for  manufacturing  Us.        Ms. 

4,964  arrobes,  =  1,241  cwt.         .         .  19,737  . .  10 

Paid  to  prisoners  for  labor        .         .         •  21,163  ..  32 

Extra  rations  to  ditto        ....  7,546  . .  10 

Clothing  to  ditto              ....  8,636  . .  25 
Salaries  to  the  clerks  and  officers  of  the 

charity             .             .         ...  16,537 

Presents  to  the  officers  of  the  gaols            •  1,260 
Extra  expenses,  warehouses,  fumigations, 

&c.            .         .         .         .         .         .  6,915  ..  21 

Bs.  81,796  . .  30' 

The  quantity  of  manufactures  sold  to  tl^e  public,  in  1821,  is 
stated  to  be : — 

1,167  pieces  of  matting. 

119  half  pieces  of  ditto. 

382  made  into  coverings  for  rooms. 

340  arrobes  of  waste  esparto. 
There  is  no  watchman  at  night,  but  an  armed  force  is  always 
kept  in  the  prison ;  escapes  are  very  rare,  and  almost  impracti- 
cable without  subornation.    In  1821  no  individual  escaped: 

-On  the  arrival  of  a  prisoner  he  is  placed  in  a  solitary  apartment 
of  the  prison,  remote  from  the  rest,  where  he  is  kept  till  his  final 
examination,  and  the  drawing  up  the  bill  of  indictment,  which  by 
a  decree  of  the  Cortes  must  be  prepared  within  twenty- four 
hours  after  his  arrest :  his  person  is  searched,  and  he  is  allowed, 
on  the  payment  of  a  certain  sum,  to  enter  the  better  apartments  of 
the  prison.  The  time  of  admission  of  the  prisoners*  friends  is 
from  nine  to  one,  and  from  four  till  sun-set.  The  communication 
is  through  two  gratings,  at  the  distance  of  two  or  three  feet,  and 
betvireen  them  is  always  posted  a  guard,  or  some  officer  of  the 
prison.  No  admission  is  granted  to  the  interior  but  by  order  of 
the  Ayunt&miento,  or  of  the  prison-committee.  I  could  not  ascer- 
tain the  per-centage  of  those  who  return  to  the  prisons  of  Madrid 
for  new  offences  after  being  discharged,  but  I  conclude,  from  my 
very  imperfect  data,  they  amount  to  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent. 
There,  as  in  every  part  of  Spain,  the  state  of  the  prisons  has  a  most 
baneful  effect  upon  conduct  and  character.  A  prison  is  a  moral 
pest-house,  a  lazaretto  where  no  means  are  used  to  guard  against 
the  ravages  of  contagion.  Gaming,  robbery,  and  bloody  disputes 
are  of  constant  occurrence.     A  majority  of  the  prisoners^  I  was 

.'  Equal  to  818/. 


900  Mr.  Soaring  on  the  State  of  [12 

assured,  can  read  and  write,  though  generally  very  imperfectly. 

Classification,  and  every  thing  connected  with  moral  discipline, 
have  been  almost  wholly  neglected.  There  are  no  means  of  in- 
struction, few  motives  to  industry,  still  fewer  to  reform.  Mass 
is  said  on  Sundays  and  saints'  days.  The  chapel  is  handsome  and 
commodious ;  the  ecclesiastic  is  paid  for  his  service  at  so  much 
per  mass,  and  is  called  in  when  the  criminal  wishes  to  confess; 
but  I  have  nowhere  seen  (and  yet  I  am  far  from  denying  its  exis- 
tence because  I  have  not  seen)  any  active  anxiety  to  communicate 
religious  counsel,  or  to  administer  religious  consolation,  except 
when  the  criminal  is  doomed  to  public  execution :  then,  indeed, 
nothing  can  be  more  striking  than  the  unwearied,  the  sleepless 
zeal  of  the  Spanish  ecclesiastics,  and  the  efforts  they  make  to  give 
the  terrible  and  final  scene  the  most  affecting  and  effective  solem- 
nity. It  may  not  be  amiss  to  remark  here,  that  the  mode  of  exe- 
cution in  Spain— the  garrote,  or  strangling  with  an  iron  collar — 
seems  to  be  almost  instantaneous,  and  consequently  humane,  and 
unaccompanied  with  the  horrible  associations  which  connect  them- 
selves with  the  sometimes  lingering  execution  of  the  gallows,  and 
the  dismembering  operation  of  the  guillotine.  In  Spain,  executions 
are  happily  very  rare. 

The  present  construction  of  the  prison  at  Madrid  is  very 
unfavorable  to  any  radically  meliorating  changes,  but  the  present 
prison-committee  seem  honestly  and  sincerely  at  work,  and  are  at 
considerable  expense  in  erecting  new  apartments,  and  introducing 
improvements  in  the  internal  arrangements.  It  is  ardently  to  be 
desired,  especially  considering  the  large  space  of  ground  which  the 
prison  occupies,  its  situation  in  the  capital  and  centre  of  the  king- 
dom, its  being  immediately  under  the  eye  and  influence  of  the  go- 
vernment and  the  Cortes,  that  Madrid  should  be  fixed  on  as  the 
spot  for  carrying  into  immediate  effect  the  benevolent  schemes  of 
the  Spanish  legislature.  That  legislature  is,  I  believe,  inclined  to 
co-operate  with  you,  and  with  our  other  philanthropic  societiesi 
in  every  plan  of  public  utility  ;  and  how  important  is  it  to  strengthen 
inter-national  sympathies  by  all  the  impulses  of  humanity  and 
beneficence ! 

CORDOVA. 

This  prison  has  been  in  many  respects  improved  since  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  constitution.  It  is  a  large  and  imposing  building, 
situated  on  the  borders  of  the  Guadalete,  at  a  small  distance  from 
the  city.  It  is  ample  in  extent  and  security,  possessing  a  great 
number  of  unappropriated  apartments,  but  is  unprovided  with 
sufficient  attendants. 


13j  tJie  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  301 

The  building  was  erected  by  the  Moors  during  their  possession 
of  Sp-ain^  and  was  one  of  their  castles.  It  afterwards  became  the 
seat  of  the  Inquisition,  and  continued  to  be  employed  for  this 
purpose  till  the  overthrow  of  that  horrid  tribunal.  Only  two  in- 
dividuals! very  old  womeni  were  found  in  its  dungeons^  when  the 
Constitution  was  proclaimed.  They  had  been  mroMrn  there  on 
some  superstitious  and  idle  charges.  It  was  hoped  that  the  records 
of  the  Cordova  Inquisition  would  have  been  preserved  as  curious 
historical  matter ;  but^  for  the  security  of  the  Inquisitors,  one  of 
the  secretaries  gathered  them  together  the  day  before  the  doors 
were  thrown  open,  and  consumed  them  in  the  flames. 

The  prison  is  removed  from  every  other  buildingi  and  contains 
about  120  prisoners,  though  sometimes  as  many  as  180  are  con- 
fined there.  There  are  two  yards ;  one  large  unpaved  j^a^io,  or  court 
for  the  men,  and  a  small  damp  flag-stoned  court  for  the  women. 
Both  have  fountains,  and  a  sufficient  supply  of  water.  The  privies 
are,  as  they  generally  are  in  Spain,  in  an  intolerable  state.  A  num« 
ber  of  new  apartments  are  being  prepared,  but  there  does  not  seem 
anxiety  to  fit  them  up,  in  consequence  of  several  prisoners  having 
escaped  through  the  roof,  from  some  of  thenu  Around  the  yards 
are  the  night-apartments ;  they  contain  from  thirty  to  forty  prison- 
ers each  5  neither  beds  nor  straw  are  provided.  They  have  no 
windows. 

The  apartments  of  the  infirmary  are  tolerably  good.  There  is 
a  medical  man  who  attends  daily,  with  a  salary  of  850  Rs.  per 
month.  The  Hermandad  del  buen  pastor  takes  care  of  the  sick^ 
and  provides  medicines  for  them.  All  remarkable  events  are  re- 
ported to  the  Ayuntamiento ;  they  appoint  a  committee  for  the 
prison,  who  visit  it  every  Saturday.  The  salary  of  the  gaoler  is 
6,600  Rs.  per  annum,  and  the  turnkey  (there  is  out  one)  has  2,200 
Rs.  The  food  is  insufficient,  and  is  contracted  for  at  the  rate  of 
twelve  quartos f  3d.  per  head  per  day,  bread  excepted,  of  which  the 
allowance  is,  I  believe,  -^Ib.  There  is  no  classification  and  no 
species  of  labor  in  the  prison  ;  and  of  ten  individuals  discharged, 
the  gaoler  informed  me,  six  usually  return.  There  is  a  chapel  in 
the  gaol,  but  the  prisoners  are  not  compelled  to  attend,  and  the 
congregation  is  often  very  disorderly ;  the  gaoler  and  his  assistant 
do  not  always  join  in  the  religious  service.  The  whole  time  of  the 
prisoners  is  passed  in  idleness  in  the  yard,  or  in  the  sufibcating 
closeness  of  the  sleeping  dungeons.  No  attention  is  paid  to  their 
cleanliness,  to  their  comfort,  or  to  their  behaviour*  They  are  all 
mingled  in  a  common  mass,  to  learn  crime  from  the  hardened,  to 
teach  crime  to  the  inexperienced. 

The  Ayuntamiento  of  Cordova  have  been  lately  awakened  to  a 


V 

302  Mr.  Bowring  on  the  State  of  [14 

sense  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  change  in  their  prison-disci- 
pline, and  Dr.  Rafael  Mariano  Pabin  has  drawn  up  new  regulations 
which  have  been  approved.  He  proposes  that  all  the  prisoners  be 
divided  into  three  classes :  1st,  those  detained  for  capital  crimes, 
and  to  these  are  to  be  added  the  unruly  and  insubordinate;  2d, 
those  whose  crimes  merit  transportation  ;  Sd,  all  misflemeanours. 
To  the  first,  the  upper  floors  are  to  be  applied,  and  each  individual 
to  have  a  separate  cell ;  to  the  second,  the  apartments  on  one  side 
of  the  yard  ;  to  the  third,  those  on  the  other :  that  the  third  class 
shall  be  allowed  to  exercise  themselves  in  the  yard  one  half  of  the 
day,  the  other  two  classes  one  quarter  of  the  day  each,  varying  the 
hours  from  week  to  week ;  disobedience  to  be  punished  by  solitary 
confinement  not  exceeding  eight  days,  and  a  diminished  ration ; 
and  that  every  prisoner  shall  be  compelled  to  make  good  the  damage 
he  shall  do  to  the  prison,  or  every  inhabitant  of  the  apartment, 
when  the  individual  cannot  be  ascertained.  That  the  apartments 
shall  be  swept  every  day  in  winter,  and  watered  in  summer,  by  the 
prisoners  in  turn ;  that  every  apartment  shall  have  a  jar  of  water, 
and  a  vessel  for  ordure,  &c.  to  be  cleaned  every  day ;  and  that  four 
rials,  two  for  cleaning  these  vessels,  and  two  for  light,  shall  be  paid 
by  every  prisoner  on  his  entrance. 

The  imperfections  and  the  hasty  compilation  of  these  rules  are 
but  too  obvious.  I  have  quoted  them,  however,  to  show  that  some 
attention  is  paid  to  the  subject,  and  to  prove  how  little  the  duties 
of  society  to  the  prisoner  are  understood,  and  how  important  it  is  to 
enlighten  the  minds  and  direct  the  course  of  men  really  disposed  to 
listen  to  and  to  profit  by  the  counsels  of  those  who  have  gone  more 
deeply  into  the  inquiry. 

SEVILLE. 

Though  Seville  is  the  city  in  Spain  in  which  inquiry  was  first 
actually  engaged  on  the  subject  of  prison-discipline,  little  or  nothing 
has  hitherto  been  done  for  its  improvement.  Dr.  Manuel  Maria 
Marmol,  an  eminent  ecclesiastic,  published  a  tract,  about  twelve 
months  ago,  insisting  on  the  absolute  necessity  of  some  changes,  and 
recommending  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  discipline  likely  to  pro- 
mote reformation.  It  has  been  proposed  to  remove  the  prisoners 
to  the  building  lately  occupied  by  the  Inquisition ;  which  from  its 
extent  would  allow  of  some  classification,  and  of  the  introduction 
of  employment.  Of  the  dreadful  state  of  disorganisation  and 
abandonment  of  the  great  prison  at  Seville,  some  idea  may  be  formed 
from  the  circumstance  that  extensive  coining  was  carried  on  there 
as  lately  as  1820,  and  that  it  has  sometimes  been  necessary  (such 
wdS  the  insubordination  or  rebellion  of  the  convicts)  to  call  in  the 


15]  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  303 

soldiery,  and  fire  upon  them.  In  order  to  reduce  the  ringleaders. 
The  character  of  the  southern  Spaniards — ^adventurous  and  roman- 
tic, a  mingling  of  native  pride  and  oriental  chivalry — has  spread, 
very  universally,  a  contempt  of  death  ;  and  made  it  an  instrument 
but  little  effective  in  the  hands  of  the  legislature.  During  the  late 
discussions  in  the  Cortes  on  the  penal  code,  several  of  the  most 
distinguished  members  proposed,  that  the  punishment  of  death 
should  be  wholly  abolished.  It  was  not  abolished  ;  but  the  num« 
ber  of  crimes  to  which  it  is  applied  is  now  very  few.  And  in  Spain, 
as  in  every  country  which  has  fallen  under  my  notice,  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  severity  of  punishment  has  universally  led  to  the  dimi- 
nution of  crime.  That  which  is  taken  from  the  harshness  of  the 
penal  law  is,  in  a  vast  number  of  cases,  added  to  the  certainty  of 
its  infliction,  and  in  consequence  to  the  salutary  dread  excited  in 
the  mind  of  the  evil-disposed.  Spain  is  a  country  in  which,  in  the 
course  of  half  a  century,  I  expect  that  the  humanity  of  the  Tuscan 
code,  which  abolished  capital  punishment,  will  obtain  a  permanent 
establishment.     In  Portugal,  the  abolition  has  already  taken  place* 

Neither  Marmol,  nor  any  of  those  Spaniards  who  have  interes- 
ted themselves  in  the  prison  question,  knew  of  the  existence  of  your 
Society.  He  offers  himself  to  your  correspondence,  and  will  be 
most  gratified  to  be  a  fellow-laborer  with  you. 

The  great  prison  of  Seville  is  most  inconveniently  situated  in 
the  Calle  de  la  Serpa,  one  of  the  busiest  streets  of  the  city.  It  is 
close,  noisome,  and  gloomy.  It  was  formerly  a  nobleman's  palace, 
has  no  wall  to  Surround  it,  and,  from  several  parts  of  it,  the  pri- 
soners can  communicate  with  the  street.  Its  form  is  irregular. 
The  number  of  prisoners  varies  from  250  to  400.  It  has  two 
gravelled  yards,  provided  with  water.  In  the  yards  the  prisoners 
pass  the  day  wholly  unoccupied,  and  at  night  are  locked  up  in 
apartments,  whose  offensiveness  is  most  intolerable.  The  walls 
are  covered  with  the  filth  of  years.  The  stench  of  the  drains  is 
suffocating.  No  printed  rules  exist ;  and  of  the  written  ones  the 
gaoler  complained,  that  it  was  impossible  to  carry  many  of  them 
into  effect.  There  is  one,  for  instance,  which  directs,  that  six  pri- 
soners shall  be  chosen  to  clean  the  prison  :  there  was  an  obstinate 
resistance,  and  in  consequence  15  Rs.  (35.)  per  month  has  been 
paid  to  an  individual  for,  what  is  called,  performing  this  duty. 
Though  the  first  regulation  prohibits  all  mal-treatment,  or  additio- 
nal restraint  from  the  gaoler,  I  found  that  secret  orders  existed, 
enabling  him  to  employ  fetters,  if  he  should  deem  them  necessary. 
In  summer,  the  prison  is  daily  sprinkled  with  vinegar.  Some  of 
the  apartments  are  miserably  damp  ;  and  in  the  smaller  prison  the 
criminals  called  my  attention  tq  the  wet  floors,  the  walls,  their  own 


304  Mr.  Bowring  on  the  State  of  [16 

nakedness,  no  blanket  or  bed, — in  language  of  pitiable  and 
heart-rending  energy.  Only  a  fourth  part  of  the  rooms  have, any 
ventilation,  and  tins  in  a  climate  where  from  90<^  to  95^  of  Fahren* 
heit's  thermometer  is  a  common  temperature.  All  sorts  of  abuses 
seem  sanctioned  in  the  prison.  Stalls  are  kept,  where  a  variety  of 
articles  are  sold.  Smoking  is  universal.  Some  individuals  have  a 
rug,  provided  by  their  friends  ^  others  have  scarcely  a  fragment  in 
wmch  to  wrap  themselves,  and  the  quantity  of  vermin  appeared 
dreadfully  great. 

Here,  as  generally  elsewhere,  the  sick  obtain  more  attention  than 
the  situation  of  the  healthy  would  promise.    There  is  regular  at- 
tendance on  the  part  of  the  apothecary,  and  I  did  not  near  any 
complaints  from  the  prisoners  in  the  hospital  of  want  of  care  or 
kindness.     All  particular  cases  are  reported  to  the  Ayuntamiietito, 
who  appoint^two^prison-deputies,  to  have  ^lecial  authority  over 
the  prison.    The  Ayuntamiento  never  visit  id;  a  body.  The  gader 
has  held  his  situation  about  two  years.  The  former  was  disdurged 
for  his  rapacious  exactions.    The  salary  is  20  rials  per  day  =  4«. ; 
that  of  his  assistant  15  rials.     Corporal  punishment  was  formerly 
inflicted  by  the  gaoler,  whose  rule  was  arbitrary,  almost  without 
control.    It  has  now  ceased  to  be  so.    Solitary  confinement  is 
sometimes  employed ;  but  I  imagine  that  the  internal  administra- 
tion of  justice  requires  much  attention  and  restraint.     The  daily 
allowance  to  the  prisoners  is  one  pound  and  a  half  of  bread,  two 
ounces  of  bacon,  and  one  quarter  of  a  pound  of  minestra,  the  charge 
for  which  is  21  quartos^  or  about  Gj^d.  Of  late,  no  prisoners  have 
escaped.     The  strong  military  guard,  which  is  always  present 
must  make  this  difficult,  or  almost  impossible,  unless  subomatioD 
is  employed. 

No  provision  is  made  for  clothing  the  prisoners,  and  their  situa- 
tion, in  this  respect,  is  often  most  deplorable.  They  are  allowed 
to  see  their  friends  through  the  gratings,  but  access  to  the  interior 
of  the  prison  can  only  be  obtained  through  the  prison-depuries.  I 
had,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  some  difficulty  in  penetrating  some 
of  the  Peninsular  prisons,  and  was  obliged  to  use  the  threat  of 
publicity,  and  to  express  a  conviction  that  something  like  self-con- 
demnation threw  difficulties  in  the  way.  I  do  not  imagine  that 
any  opposition  would  be  now  made  to  tne  inquiries  of  any  respec- 
table foreigner,  and  would  recommend,  if  personal  acquaintance 
be  wanting,  a  direct  and  formal  application  to  the  prison- deputies. 
In  general,  I  am  bound  to  add,  that  I  experienced  every  attention ; 
that  I  was  accompanied,  on  most  occasions,  by  the  deputies  them- 
selves ;  that  no  parts  of  the  prison  were  concealed  ;  that  no  quies- 
tion  of  mine  was  denied  a  reply ;  &nd  that  different  suggestions 


i  7]  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.  305 

which  I  Tentured  to  make,  were  listened  to  with  attendoii  and 
sjmpathy,  and,  in  many  cases,  wiih  a  promise  that  reformation 
should  faie  introduced  when  its  necessity  was  most  glaring. 

At  Seville,  mass  is  said  every  Sunday,  and  on  every  saint's  day, 
and  the  masses  are  paid  for  out  of  the  general  fund.  The  eccle- 
siastics appear  to  take  little  interest  in  the  moral  improvement  of 
the  prisoners.  They  require  the  criminal  to  confess  at  Easter,  when 
they  administer  the  sacrament,  and  with  this  their  religious  duties 
are  supposed  to  be  discharged. 

Besides  the  sale  of  various  articles  of  food  within  the  prison, 
die  convicts  confined  for  minor  ofiences  are  allowed,  on  their 
parole,  and  on  the  gaoler's  responsibility,  to  leave  the  prison  on 
genend  errands  for  the  rest.  Wine  and  spirituous  liquors  are 
sdd  by  the  gaoler,  and  form  one  great  item  of  his  profits.  Though 
drunkenness  is  a  very  rare  vice  in  Spain,  yet  the  exceeding  cheap- 
ness of  fermented  liquors  makes  their  introduction  a  very  serious 
calamity,  and  often  leads  to  disputes  and  bloodshed.  There  is  no 
provision  for  the  cleanliness  of  the  prisoners,  who  shave  only  when 
they  can  afibrd  to  pay  a  barber.  On  their  discharge,  there  is  an 
exaction  for  prison-fees,  the  amount  of  which  I  could  not  ascertain  ; 
but  I  Was  assured  that  no  prisoners  had  ever  been  detained  for 
their  non-payment. 

The  mond  efiect  of  such  a  system  as  this  can  but  be  fatal. 
Instead  of  reformation,  more  confirmed  profligacy— virtue  itself 
could  hardly  resist  the  contagion  of  such  an  atmosphere ;  and  to 
this  atmosphere  are  to  be  introduced,  and  in  it  are  to  be  con-^ 
founded,  the  young  and  the  old,  the  innocent  and  the  guilty,  the 
public  writer  and  the  bandit»  those  who  have  erred  but  once,  and 
those  whose  lives  are  but  the  records  of  crime.  I  saw  in  the 
same  apartment  Mejia,  an  eminent  political  journalist,  confined 
for  ^  libeli  the  noted  Abuelo,  chief  of  one  of  the  southern  hordes 
of  banditti,  several  assassins,  and  criminals  of  every  degree,  from 
trifling  fraud^  up  to  the  most  atrocious  enormities. 

CADIZ. 

Thb  prison  is  conveniently  situated  at  one  of  the  extremities 
cf  the  town,  in  a  high  and  healthy  spot,  on  au  isthmus,  and  visited 
by  constant  sea-breezes.  The  whole  building  is  not  completed  ; 
and  though  the  form  is  regular,  the  division  into  courts  and  apart- 
ments is  injudicious  and  unfortunate.  The  larger  court,  which 
has  a  chapel  in  the  middle,  where  mass  is  performed,  might  be 
adapted  to  the  principle  of  central  inspection,  without  much  diffi- 
culty* The  internal  arrangements  were  formerly  better  than  of 
late ;  and  several  trades  were  carried  on  within  the  prison ;  but 

VOL.  XXIII.  s  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.  U 


306  Mr*  Bowring  on  the  State  of  [18 

9verv  thing  good  bad  been  allowed  to  decay,  and  every  thing  bad 
had  been  sdlowed  to  florish. 

The  present  Committee  of  the  Ayuntamiento  seem  quite  dis* 
posed  to  listen  to  any  plans  of  improvement,  and  to  carry  them 
Uito  effect*  There  is  no  external  wall  to  the  prison^  and  no  streets 
near  it.  It  was  intended  to  hold  five  hundred  prisoners ;  the  usual 
number  confined  varies  from  150  to  200.    On  th^  Ist  of  Jaiiuaryi 
1822,  there  were  199  prisoners^  of  whom  four  were  women  ;  on 
the  15th  of  January,  170,  of  whom  ux  were  women  ;  and  on  the 
81st,  180,  among  whom  only  two  were  women.    There  are  two 
yards,  bo^  paved,  each  having  a  fountain  of  good  water*     The 
9tate  of  the  privies  is  most  offensive,  and  in  the  heats  of  summer* 
must  be  absolutely  intolerable.    There  is  much  filth  in  many  ot 
the  apartments  i  and  though  there  is  a  regulation,  ordering  the 
prison  to  be  white-washed  twice  a-year,  it  is  only  partially  carried 
into  effect.    The  rooms  which  are  crowded,  are  most  loathsome, 
with  the  exception  of  some  in  the  higher  story,  which  are  spacious 
and  comfortable ;  but  the  arrangement  of  the  prisoners  is  alto« 
gether  arbitrary.     In  the  lesser  yard  are  no  less  than  from  70  to 
120  prisoners,  and  from  forty  to  fifty  are  crowded  into  some  of 
the  sleeping-rooms,  where  the  stench  and  filth  are  abominable  ^  light 
is  allowed  throughout  the  night ;  the  windows  are  not  glazed,  nor 
is  this  either  necessary  or  common  in  Spain.    Though  fire  is  pro- 
hibited by  the  regulations,  yet  I  observed  the  prisoners  had  intro- 
duced it.     The  medical  attendant  visits  every  day.    The  number 
of  sick   is  generally  about  sixteen  or  eighteen.    The  common 
disease  is  the  itch,  but  wounds  are  often  given  in  the  squabbles  of 
fbe  prisoners ;  and  I  was  surprised  at  seeing  twenty  or  thirty 
plasters  prepared,  which,  I  was  told,  would  be  sufficient  only  for 
a  day  or  two. 

The  gaoler  has  occupied  his  present  situation  two  years  ;  his 
salary  is  12,000  Rs.  now  i  but  formerly  the  profits  and  extortions 
were  so  great,  that  a  considerable  sum  was  given  for  the  office. 
I  saw  no  severity  or  injustice,  nor  did  I  hear  any  complaints  of 
him  from  the  prisoners  locked  up  in  solitary  confinement  for 
misconduct  in  the  prison.  He  says,  he  visits  the  prison  once, 
twice,  or  thrice  a-day ;  but,  from  the  want  of  printed  rules,  the 
conceptions  of  the  gaolers  as  to  their  duties,  are  usually  very  vague 
and  imperfect.  There  are  eighteen  turnkeys  and  dependants-^ 
strange  contrast  to  the  Cordova  gaol,  where  there  is  only  one.  In 
Cadiz,  as  elsewhere,  there  is  always  a  military  guard,  who  are 
relieved,  I  believe,  every  four  hours.  No  one  prisoner  has  escaped 
in  the  last  year^  and  attempts  at  escape  are  rare.    The  accounts  of 


W}  \^Pn^w$  m  Spain  €md  Poriiigah  307 

daily  disbbrleineat  of  the  prison,  which  2ore  p^id  by  ihk  AyoiU 
|lMi:li^nt0»  a2r<^  a9  follows  :-*^ 

Ok^  loaf  of  br^d  per  day,  weighing  three  quftrters  of  a  pound, 
fi^  one  qtttrter  tit  a  loaf  for  sbup  to  each  prisoner )  ISiba.  of  eoals^ 
4Sll>fti  iif  tice,  S51bs#  of  Freoch^eaiiay  61b6>  of  pease^  1|  lb,  of 
fME^Ilclr,  lib.  of  butter^  71b.  of  oil  peif  day,  for  the  whole  prison  | 
\BOn2ki'  worth  of  vegetables,  19  measures  of  salt,  and  8  trails  of 
^riiO  per  months  Their  f^d  is  distribtttod  twice  per  day.  Ott 
the  SI  St  of  January,  there  were  fifteen  prisoners  in  the  nQS{^ital^ 
fk^  total  being  J  80.  There  is  np  di^culty  in  conversing  with  the 
imspQers  ^ough  the  gfatj^ ;  biit  their  friends  are  not  allowed 
Mcess  to  .the  interior^  On  application  to  the  Ayuntamienitoi 
.atrarigi^iis  may  obtain  a  view  of  the  whole. 

Of  the  prisoners  who  lelve  the  gaoi,  a  great  number  retura. 
The  exhct  pioportion  I  oouM  not  ascertain. 

The  rewards  for  good>behavioiir  eonaist  in  the  appointintots 
to  e(>me  of  the  prison  offices.  The  puhishment  foe  66Feiioea  .is 
fiolitary  eohfinehie|it)  the  longest  period  of  whicl^  is  three  or  four 
days*  The  dark  and  subtenran^an  dungeons  are  hoyr  destroyed^ 
and  fetters  are  no  longer  used;  In  other  respeets,  few  improte- 
iDtots  have  taken  place ;  thoogh  I  thipk  no  comtnittee  would  be 
fiiQire  likely  to  listen  to  any  hints  than  that  whisfa  attend^  to  thib 
IpriscH!}* 

.'  tISBON. 

,  The  great  prison  of  the  Lixnoeiro,  2A  Liabon^  is  a.iiorribk»  placp 
of  confinement.  It  is  a  repr^senl^tlPQ)  on  a  grailder  scale}  of  aU 
the  filth  and  misery  of  which  I  have  given  some  details  in  speaking 
of  the  Spanish  gaols.  Its  situation  is  on  one  of  the  mountainous 
streets  in  the  Portugueze  capital,  and  was  formerly  the  Arch- 
bishop's palace.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  constant  communi- 
cation with  the  street  through  the  double  iron  bars  ;  and,  in  fact, 
through  these,  the  meals  of  the  prisoners  are  served.  A  great 
proportion  of  the  crimes  committed  in  Lisbon  are  plotted  between 
the  confined  and  the  unconfined  criminals,  by  whom  a  constant, 
unchecked  and  unobserved  communication,  is  kept  up.  Through 
these  bars  any  thing  can  be  conveyed, — food,  raiment,  liquors, 
weapons,  tools — whatever,  in  a  word,  can  pass  through  a  square, 
several  inches  in  extent.  The  number  of  prisoners  has  been  as 
great  as  700  5  the  usual  number  is  400.  The  state  of  the  apart- 
ments  in  which  the  prisoners  pass  their  time  is  horrible.  The 
stench  overpowered  me ;  and  though  I  remained  in  the  rooms  only 
a  few  minutes,  I  felt  seriously  indisposed. 

The  Portugueze  Cortes  have  already  taken  some  steps  to  reform 


308     State  4>f  the  Prisons  in  Spain  and  Portugal.       £20 

tlie  intoleiable  and  disgusting  state  of  the  prisons  of  their  country; 
A  committee  of  six  individuals  has  been  appointed,  with  directions 
£rom  the  Cortes  to  occupy  themsehres  in  the  immediate  improve- 
ment of  these  scenes  of  shame  and  sorrow.  They  have  already 
hegun  their  good  work ;  and  a  place  is  nearly  completed,  in  whicn 
the  prisoners  'mil  have  the  benefit  of  daily  exercise  ;  for  hitherto 
they  have  been  shut  up,  as  it  were,  in  constant  suflbcatibn,  and  as 
many  as  a  hundred  in  an  apartment ;— and  this  in  the  climate 
of  Portugal ! 

The  expense  ofmaintaining  the  prisoners  is  about  8.000  cruzados, 
isz  1,0002.  per  annum*  Of  this,  one-half  is  paid  by  the  city,  and 
the  other  by  the  Miserecordia^  a  benevolent  association,  possessing 
considerable  funds  from  sundry  bequeathed  estates.  The  kitchens, 
&C.  are  separate  from  the  prison,  and  the  serviants  of  the  Misere- 
cordia  provide  and  prepare  the  victuals  during  one^half  of  the  year, 
and  those  of  the  city  (in  a  difierent  part  of  the  building)  through 
the  other  half.  The  food  appears  insufficient,  and  little  nutritious^ 
it  consists  principally  of  a  soup  made  of  rice ;  the  allowance  of 
bread  being  also  one  pound  and  a  half  per  day  for  four  persons. 
The  number  of  sick,  on  the  2d  March  last,  was  48. 
'  The  present  Minister  of  Justice,  Senhor  Jos6  de  Silva  Carvalho, 
Jias  expressed  an  earnest  wish  to  introduce  a  wiser  system  of 
prison-govemment.  I  am  sure  he  would  lend  all  the  weight  of 
his  authority  to  any  practicable  amelioration.  It  is  fortunate  for 
their  country— it  is  fortunate  for  the  world,  when  such  men, 
possessed  of  the  wish  to  do  good,  and  the  power  to  give  that  wish 
effect,  occupy  the  exalted  stations  of  society.  ' 


RELATION         /<ir^ 


'^i;  ;  V 


iSvi^NEMENS  POLITIQUES  ET  MILITAIRES 


QUI    OUT    £U    LIEU 


A  NAPLES  EN  1820  ET  182U 


ADREftSCE 


A  S.  M.  LE  ROI  DES  DEUX-SICILES, 


PAR  LE  GENERAL  6UILLAUME  Pj^PE ; 

AVEC  DES  REMARQUES  ET  DES  EXPLICATIONS  SUR  LA  CONDUITE 
DES  NAPOUTAINS  EN  Ol^Nl^AL,  EI  SUR  CELLE  D£  L'AUTEUR 
£N  PARTICULIER,  PENDANT  CETTE  l^QUE ; 

SUIVIE 
D'UN  RECUEIL  DE  DOGUMENS  OFFiaELS,  LA  PLUPART  INtorre. 


PARIS:— LONDON: 
1824. 


AVANT-PROPOS. 


Je  m'adresse  i  mon  Roi ;  mais  je  parle  encore  plus  aux  hommes 
de  tous  les  partis  en  Europe^  qui,  soit  par  I'effet  d'une  malbeu- 
reuse  disposition,  soit  par  une  connaissance  pen  r^fl^chie  du  cosur 
humain,  soit  par  TigiioramTe  des  faits  historiqtes  les  plus  rfecens, 
sout  port6s,  et  peut-^tre  se  plaisent  k  r^pandre  le  mepris  sur  les 
malheureux  Napolitains.     Laiss^s  sans  secours,  menaces  de  toutes 
parts,  combattus  de  mille  mani^res  par  un  ennemi  puissant  qui 
semblait  seconder   leur  propre  roi ;    victimes  enfin  d'une  coo- 
fiance  hasard^e,  ils  furent  entratn^s,  par  le  d6faut  de  direction  et 
d'harmonie,  dans  les  cruelles  vicissitudes  oil  se  sont  trouv6es,  k 
diverses  6poques,  toutes  les  autres  nations  de  I'Europe,  lesquelles, 
peut-^tre,  n'eurent  point  k  surmonter  des  circonstances  aussi  diffi- 
ciles  que  celles  oik  les  Napolitains  se  virent  places.     £n  effet, 
sans  citer  une  foule  d'autres  exemples,  les  Frangais,  belliqueux  par 
caract^re,  qui  ont  tHompIki  de  toutes  les  armies  de  Tfiurope, 
n'ont-ils  pas  fui  aux  premiers  coups  de  fusil  dans  leur  campagne 
du  mois  de  Mai  1 79^  ^  ensuite,  pour  justifier  ce  d^sastre,  n'accu- 
gdrent'ils  pas  de  tl-ahison  et  ne  mirent-ils  point  d  mort  ie  g^niral 
PiUon?     £t  cependaiit  quelle  difference  entre  la  positioa  des 
("rangais  en  f'landre  et  celle  des  Napolitains  dans  les  Abruzzes! 
Les  Frangais,  agucrris  par  les  discordes  civiJes,  se  coifiiant  dans 
leur  immense  population  et  la  force  de  leur  nation^  avaient  ^com- 
battre  un  ennemi  qui  depuis  tant  d*ann6es  avait  perdu  I'usage  de 
la  guerre;  les  Napolitains,  au  contraire,  dans  les  Abruzzes^  man- 
quant  de  tout^  avec  des  milices  mal  armies,  et  rang6eg  pour  la 
premiere  fois  contre  des  forces  au  moins  quadruples,  exerc6es  par 
vingt-cinq  ans  d'une  lutte  opini&tre,  et  se  servant,   comme    d'un 
bouclier^  de  la  presence  du  roi  des  Deux-Siciles.     Malgre  cette 
8up6riorite,   la  d^route   des  Napolitains   pr^s   de    Ri6ti    n'arriva 
qu'apres  qu'ils  eurent  r^siste   aux  Autrichiens  depuis   la    pointe 
du  jour,    et  maltrait6    une    nombreuse  cavalerie,  qui   se    iiattait 
d'etre  invincible.     Mais,  dira-t-on,  les  revers  des  Frangais,  en  Mai 
1792,  furent  suivis  bievt^t  de  la  retraite  du  due  de  Brunswick  et 
de  la  victoire  de  Jemmapes.     Je  r^pondrai  k  cela  :  Si  douze  jours 
apris  ce  premier  6chec,  le  gouvernement  frangais  se  fOit  jet6  dans 


3]  Avafit'Propos.  311 

les  brat  de  rennemi,  s'il  e&t  Iivr6  les  places  fortes^  la  marine,  et 
tou8  8e$  moyens  de  d6fense,  les  Frangais  eusseiit-ils  par  la  suite 
rempli  TEurope  de  ieur  gloire  tnilitaire  \  Qui  pourrait  douter 
que  si  la  famille  royale  et  le  parlement  de  Naples  se  fussent  retir^^ 
en  Calabre,  s'ils  n'eussent  point  abandonn^  la  Sicile,  les  placed 
fortes^  la  marine^  et  tout  enfin,  douze  jours  apr^s  I'affaire  de  Ri6ti, 
qui  douterait  que  les  Napolitains  ne  dussent  jouir  en  ce  moment 
d'une  gloire  immortelle  et  d'une  liberty  durable  f 

J'adresse  cette  demande  d  ceux  des  militaires  frangais  qui  ont 
fiaU  la  guerre  k  Naples  eti  1799  et  en  1806,  n'ayant  k  combattre 
que  la  dernidre  classe  du  peuple,  manquant  de  direction,  et  soute^ 
HUB  eux-«m^mes  par  de  nombreu^es  gardes  nfttionales,  com  poshes 
de  r^lite  des  habitant.  £n  180f),  les  troupes  fran^aises,  revenant 
de  Vienne  et  d'Austerlitz,  commandoes  par  le  itear6cbal  MassOna, 
ne  parvinrent  point,  apr^s  deux  ans,  k  occuper  rextr6mit6  de  la 
Calabre,  oii  ils  soufFrirent  des  pertes  considerables.  J 'en  appdle 
aussi  aux  Frangais  qui  virent  combattre  les  Napolitains  en  Espagne, 
aussi  bien  que  dans  le  Nord,  et  particuli^rement  k  Dantzick; 
enfin,  je  prends  k  temoin  les  Autrichiens  eux-m^mes,  qui  com- 
battirent  comme  allies  avecles  Napolitains  en  Italie,  dans  I'annOe 
1814. 

On  dira  peut-^tre  qu'en  1799  et  en  1815  les  troupes  se  d6ban- 
d^rent  au  lieu  de  dOfendre  le  royaume.  En  1799>  les  deux  tiers  de 
FarmOe  6taient  des  recrues  qui  avaient  quitt6  leurs  foyers  k  la  fin 
de  Septembre  1798,  et  qui  entr^rent  en  activity  en  Novembre  de 
la  m^me  annOe.  L'autre  tiers,  compose  de  vieilles  troupes,  n'avait 
jamais  vu  Tennemi.  Mais  les  Prussiens  furent-ils  done  plus  heu- 
reux  k  J6na  ? 

En  1815,  Joachim  se  mit  en  campagne  avec  vingt-quatre  mille 
ba'ionnettes  et  trois  mille  quatre  cents  chevaux  : 

Trois  divisions  d'infanterie             .             .             .  21,000 

Garde  royale  k  pied           ....  3,000 

Lanciers  k  cheval              ....  3,000 

Hussards  de  la  garde        ....  400 

Total  .  .  .       27,400 


C'est  avec  une  telle  arm6e  qu'il  fallait  faire  la  guerre  k  la  Sainte- 
AUiance,  ou  au  moins  k  TAutriche,  qui  passa  le  P6  avec  soixante 
ou  soixante  et  dix  mille  hommes,  sans  compter  que  le  roi  Ferdi- 
nand debarquait  de  la  Sicile,  promettant  une  constitution,  et  qiie 
les  Anglais,  avec  Ieur  escadre,  interceptant  la  communication  avec 
cette  tie,  priverent  les  Napolitains  de  secours  que  la  mer  libre  eiit 
pu  Ieur  fournir. 


31*2 


AvarU-Propos. 


U 


Toutes  les  nations  de  1' Europe  ont  eu  dans  notre  tenq>»  des 
alternatives  d'humiliation  et  de  gloire,  tandis  que  les  malbeureux 
Italiens,  quoique  ayant  6t6  prodigues  de  leur  sang  dans  les  demi- 
ires  guerres,  n'ont  6prouv6  que  de  I'humiliation ;  les  Napolitains 
surtout,  k  qui  cependant  on  ne  pent  enlever  le  nitrite  d*avoir  6t6 
les  premiers  en  Europe  qui  os^rent  se  lever  contre  les  victorieuses 
arni6es  frangaises,  et  furent  aussi  les  premiers  en  Italie  qui  cfaer« 
ch^rent  et  obtinrent  un  regime  constitutionneL  Mais  s'ils  ne  sou- 
tinrent  ni  leur  gioire  ni  leur  liberty,  on  ne  doit  pas  en  accuser  I'uni- 
versalit^des  Napolitains,  comme  je  le  prouverai dans  cette  relation 
que  j'adresse  i  S.  M.  le  Roi  de  Naples,  et  qui,  si  elle  pent  avoir 
^bcsoin  de  quelque  indulgence  pour  le  style,  a  du  moins  le  merite 
d'etre  v6ridique.  Pour  qu'on  ne  croie  pas  que  j'ai  pu  m'abuser 
dans  la  mani^re  de  presenter  des  6v6nemens  auxquels  j'ai  pris  tant 
de  part^  un  Appendice,  k  la  suite  de  cette  Relation,  donnera  tous 
lesdociimens  n^cessaires  pour  convaincre  le  lecteur  de  Texacti- 
tude  des  faits  que  j'aurai  exposes. 


A  SA  MAJESTIC 

LE  ROI  DES  DEUX-SICILES. 


P 

If 


Londres,  le  30  Septembre,  1821. 

S1RB9 

Obmain  doit  parattre  Taube  d'un  jour  memorable.  Et  quel  est 
le  Napolitain  qui  puisse  voir  luire  ce  jour  avec  indifference?  Ce 
fut  le  1*'  Octobre  de  Tann^e  derni^re  que  Votre  Majest^^  en- 
tour^e  des  repr^sentans  de  la  nation,  de  la  famille  royale,  et  d'ub 
euple  immense,  jura  de  maintenir  la  constitution  d'Espagne,  avec 
es  modifications  qui  seraient  propos^es  par  le  parlement  et  sanc- 
ttonn^es  par  votre  sagesse.  Tous  les  assistans  vous  saluirent,  Sire, 
du  nom  de  R6g6n6rateur  de  la  patrie ;  et  le  coeur  de  chacun  d'eux 
fut  vivement  6mu  d  Taspect  des  lannes  de  tendresse  qu'on  vit  en 
abondance  couler  des  yeux  de  leur  Roi.  Apr^s  cet  acte  solennel, 
je  r^signai  d  V.  M.  le  commandement  en  chef  de  Tarm^e ;  je  I'as- 
surai  qu'elie  me  verrait  toujours  pr&t  ^  verser  mon  sang  pour  le 
tr6ne  cfbnstitutionnel,  etque  je  pr6f6rerais  m'ensevelir  sous  ses  mines, 
plut6t  que  de  survivre  a  sa  chute.  Mais  la  catastrophe  qui  eclata 
fut  si  rapide,  que  je  ne  pus  trouver  Toccasion  de  faire  utAement  i 
mes  concitoyens  le  sacrifice  de  ma  vie.  II  me  reste  done  le  besoin 
de  faire  connattre  i  V.  M.,  si  TEurope  etd  la  post6rit6,  autant  que 
le  c6mportent  les  homes  d'une  relation  succincte,  d'abord  quelle 
fut  la  conduite  de  la  nation,  ainsi  que  la  mienne,  avant  et  depuis  le 
cfaangement  politique  survenu ;  ensuite,  par  quelles  causes  r^elles 
notre  patrie  s'est  vue  si  facilementsubjugu6e,  malgr^laferme  volont6 
de  tous  les  citoyens,  et  T^nergie  quMs  d^ploy^reut  pour  soutenir 
rind^pendance  nationale.  Enfin,  j'espdre  d^montrer  d  V.  M.  que 
ce  n'est  qu'en  r^tablissant  la  constitution  jur6e  qu'il  lui  sera  possi- 
ble d'bbtenir  la  prosp6rit6  du  peuple  et  la  suret6  du  tr6ne.  Sire, 
MoreB-Strada,  d6put6  actuel  aux  cort^s  d'Espagne,  6crivit  de 
Londres,  en  1818,  d  son  roi  Ferdinand  VII.  £t  quels  malfaeurs 
ce  roi  n'aurait-il  pas  6pargn6s  i  TEspagne,  combien  n'aiirlut-il  ims 
6vit6  pour  lui-m&me  d'humiliatious  et  de  dangers,  s'il  efit  6coute  le 


314  Relation  des  Evenemtns  [6 

kmgftge  tout  d  la  fois  respectueux  et  plein  de  franchise  qui  Ini  fut 
adress6 ! 

Sire,  en  1813,  ce  qu'on  nomnie  la  secte  des  carbonari  fut  pro- 
t6g6e  et  encourag6e  dans  le  royaume  de  Naples,  soit  par  V.  M.,  soit 
par  les  ministres,  en  votre  nom,  et  en  recevant  la  proniessre  qu'en 
recouvrant  la  couronne,  V»  M.  donnerait  unle  constitution  liberate 
k  son  peuple.  C'est  Id  un  fait  incontestable,  puisque  les  carbonari, 
s'etant  d6clar6s  les  ennemis  de  Joachim,  et  poursuivis  par  son  gou- 
vemement,  trouv^rent  en  Sicile  un  asile  et  dea  emplois.  Et  ce 
parti,  ou  pour  mieux  dire,  la  nation  r^unie  en  8oci6t6s  secretes,  se 
pronon^a  tellement,  en  1814,  dans  les  Calabres  et  dans  les  Abruz- 
zes,  pour  le  regime  constitutionnel,  que  quinze  g6n6raux  napoli- 
tains,  dans  la  vue  d'6pargner  de  grands  maltieurs  d  la  nation  et  i 
Joachim  lui-m^roe,  form^rent  le  dessein  de  le  contraindre  d  don- 
ner  une  constitution  lib^rale,  en  niarchant  sur  Naples  avec  douze 
niille  hommes  cantonn6s  dans  les  Marches.  Les  g6n6raux  firent 
coniiaitre  leurs  intentions  au  g4n6ral  anglais  lord  William  Bentinck, 
3l  G^nes ;  niais  quoiqu'ils  se  fussent  engages  r^ciproquement  par 
un  acte  fait  double  et  sign6  d'eux  tons,  ils  se  divis^rent  d'opiuioD, 
et  laiss^rent  leur  projet  sans  execution.  En  1815,  V.  M.,  siir  le 
point  de  quitter  la  Sicile  et  de  mettre  k  la  voile  pour  Naples,  pro- 
mit  par  un  manifeste  public  de  donner  pareillement  une  consti- 
tution aux  provinces  en-degd  du  Phare  (Piicesjustif.  No.  1.)  En- 
fin  v.  M.,  Tannic  derni^re,  quelques  mois  avant  notre  changement 
politique,  pr^ta  serment  d  la  constitution  e»pagnoIe^  en  qualit^ 
d^nfant  d'Espagne,  afin  de  ne  pas  perdre  ses  droits  i  la  succession 
de  ce  royaume.  Et  si  vos  ministres.  Sire,  pr^tendent  que  V^  M. 
fut  forc6e  par  les  Anglais  d  constituer  la  Sicile,  comment  pourront- 
ils  m^connattre  I'acte  spontan^  par  lequel  elle  promit  ta  constitu- 
tion en  partant  de  cette  lie  ?  et  que  diront-ils  de  ce  serment  qu'on 
la  vit  pi€ter  k  la  constitution  d'Espagne^  comme  infant  de  cette 
dynastie  ? 

Sire,  oet  acte  volontaire,  et  la  conservation  des  institutions  judi- 
ckijies  et  administratives  du  regime  frangais,  alimentaieot  le  ginie 
des  Napolitains  et  leurs  esp6rances  relatives  au  regime  constitutioanel. 
lis  se  crcyaient  en  quelque  sorte  autoris6s  par  laconduite  du  prince 
k  coop6rer  k  tout  ce  qui  pouvait  tendre  k  Pabolition  du  pouvoir  ab- 
solu.  II  6tait  naturel  de  croire  que  V*  M.  voulait  accomplir  ses  pro- 
messes,  mais  qu'elle  en  ^tait  d6touni6e  par  ses  minifitres  ou  parl'in*' 
flueiice  autrichi^ine,  qui  ne  parvint  cependant  pas  k  emplc^ber  le 
royaUme  limitrophe  de  Baviere  de  se  gouverner  constitutionoelle- 
toient.  Toutefois,  la  nation  manifeBta  pour  la  premiere  fois  son 
impatience  k  Lecce,  en  1817*  Mais  les  ministres,  au  lieu  de  doii- 
ner  k  S.  M«  de  sages  conseils,  lui  persuad^rent  d'envoyer  dans  cette 
province  un  officier  Stranger  avec  des  |)Oiivoirs  ^traordinaires,  et 


7]  qui  ont  eulieu^  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.        315^ 

lis  crurtat  av^ir  triomph^  lorsqu'ils  virent  pour  un  iastant  f^spnt 
public  compnm^  dans  ce  coin  du  royaume,  Eiv  1818,  V.  M.  me 
confi  ale  comtnandement  des  provinces  d'AveUino  et  de  Foggta^ 
Eiies  6taient  depuis  loug-temps  d^sol^es  par  ie  brigandage.  La  fiircir 
mililaire  s'y  vojait  repouss^e  par  des  bandes  de  malfiaiteurs,  et  Ie# 
propri^taires  tremUaient  pour  leiirs  biens  e  t  leur  vie«  Toutesces  bander 
fiirentd^truites  par  les  gardes  nationaies  que  j'organisai,  et^  pour  la 
premiere  fois  dans  cette  coDtr6e,  on  go&ta  la  8uret6  et  le  repo9.  Cea 
gardes  Mitionales^  au  nombre  de  dix  miile,  v&tues  d'uniformes  com- 
j^ets  i  leura  propres  d6pens,  excit^rent  I'admiration  du  comte  Capo 
d'lstria,  ministre  russe^  quand  il  passa  de  Naples  k  Corfou.  £» 
Avril  18 19^  j^  re^us  Tordre  de  r6unir  les  milices,  pour  &tre  pass^es 
to  revue  par  S.  M.  Tempereur  d'Autricbe,  revue  qui  ne  put  avokf 
lieii,  parce  que  S.  M.,  retournant  de  Persano  k  Salerno,  apprit  que 
k  route  de  traverse  d'Avellino  n'^tait  pas  en  bon  6tEit.  Sous 
Jaacfaim,  malgr6  les  recompenses  qu'il  prodiguait,  le  peu  de  sol* 
4ttts  qui  prirent  I'uniforme  le  regurent  du  gouvernement^  et  ne^ 
limoign^rent  jamais  tant  de  z^te  pour  le  bien  public,  ni  tant 
d'amour  de  la  patrie.  Mais  comment  ce  changement  s'6tait-ii  op^r^ 
en  si  peu  de  temps  parmi  la  population  qui  formait  les  gardes  nado* 
sales  f  £t  pourquoi  ex^cutaient-eiles  volontiers  un  service  si  fatigant  i 
Cast  qu'oD  leur  parlait  du  bien  public,  de  la  gloire  de  la  patrie ;  et, 
dans  leurs  nombreuses  r^nions,  elles  apprenaient  k  appr6cier  itn  tel 
lan^gCk  Oti  ne  peut  point  dire  qae  je  proposals  pour  o^iera  de 
milices  des  ckoyeus  appartenans  k  une  faction,  puiaque  j'en  faisais 
les  propositions  de  concert  avec  les  premieres  autorit^s  des  deuif 
provinces;  et  puisque  les  nominations  tombatent  sur  les  propria 
taires  les  plus  ais6s  et  les  plus  honn^tes,  qui  tons  6taient  affiii^s  it 
cea  soci^tes,  on  doit  en  conclure  que  la  nation  entiire  disirait  le 
rtgime  constitutionnel,  et  Ton  auratt  tort  de  croire  que  ces  soci<6t6s 
^ftient  orgaiiis6es  par  moi,  puisque  dans  les  autres  provinces  du 
royaume  elles  n'existaient  pas  en  moins  grand  nombre.  Mais^ 
regardant  comme  inevitable  an  ckangement  politique,  j'emplojaia 
tous  mes  soins  d  organiser  les  milices  des  provinces  qui  m'itaietfC 
confines,  afin  qu'elles  garantissent  un  jour  la  patrie  des  d6sordres 
qui  accompagnent  les  premiers  instans  d'un  changement  qnel- 
coiique*  Et  comment  le  pouvoir  arbitraire  edt-il  pu  se  soutenir  pluirt 
longtemps?  Car  si  les  ministres,  la  direction  de  la  police,  les 
autorit^s  civiies  et  militaires  n'ignoniient  pas  Texistencc  de  ceS 
nombreuses  soci^tes,  et  si  Ton  n'osait  faire  une  senle  arreatation^ 
parce  qu'on  n'aurait  trouv6  ni  la  force  pour  rex6cuter,  ni  des  juges 
pour  prononcer  une  condamnation  contre  leurs  concitoyens  accuses 
d'frtire  carbonari,  on  peut  dire  que  gen^ralement  la  nation  d^siraiil 
de  ne  phis  g6mir  sous  le  pouvetr  aHi>itraire. 

Le  SO  Mai  de  Vsam^e  derm^re^les  lib^raux  de  Saleme^  ville 
ccMidMk  eomfne  le  ceiitiP^  des  sod^t^s  liberates  da  rojaimie, 


316  Relation  des  Evenemem  [9 

mVxpidiirent  uRe  nomination  de  capitaine^g^neral,  avec  plumeurt 
procjamations  iinprim^es,  concernant  un  mouveroent  sponlan^  ckbia 
toutes  les  provinces,  en  nie  pressant  d'en  prendre  la  direction.  J'or- 
4onnai  k  mon  chdf  d^^tat-major  de  livrer  toua  ces  papiers  aux 
flanMues,  et  de  r^pondre  aux  lib^raux  de  Saleme  que  j'araia  i^Hcurt 
autant  qu'eux  la  bien  de  la  patrie,  que  je  d^sifais  pouv^xr  contri- 
Uuer  i  la  pro8p6rit6  nationale,  sans  aucun  motif  d'int6r&t  particu-' 
Uer ;  mais  que  je  voulais  examiner  mfiremeut  un  acte  de  cette  hh* 
portanee,  et  qu'il  6tait  n^cessaire  quails  nKxl^rassent  leur  zdle.  Les 
Salemitains,  sacbant  que  je  pouvais  dinger  et  porter  en  avant  la  din- 
aion  militaire  qui  m'4tait  confiee,  ne  firent  aucun  mouvement. 

Pendant  ce  temps-Id,  j'acqu^rais  toujours  davantage  la  con?ic- 
tton  de  la  gravity  de  ma  position,  des  devoirs  attaches  i  mon 
frade,  et  k  la  qualit6  de  citoyen,  qui  ne  doit  s'oublier  eo  aucune 
circonstance.  Je  formai  plusieurs  fois  le  dessein  d'exposer  k 
V*  M.  le  d^sir  general ;  mais  elle  6tait  inaccessible,  et  mes  diacour^ 
fiosaent  6t6  pour  le  moins  inutiies.  Je  6s,  non  sans  un  grand 
danger,  une  tentative  aupr^s  du  miuistre  Medici,  qui,  m'entendant 
loner  les  gardes  nationaux,  me  dit :  ^^  Mais  s'ils  6taient  lea  premiers 
k  demander  la  constitution  V  A  quoi  je  r^pondis :  ^'  Certainement^ 
Hb  d6sirent  la  constitution ;  et  comment  seratent-ik  les  seuk  k  ne 
pas  aouhaiter  ce  que  veulent  ardemment  tons  leurs  compatriotes  I 
Si  le  Roi  venait  k  la  donner^  ou  si  la  nation  se  pronon^ait  plas 
ottvertement,  les  milices  ne  laisseraient  pas  d'y  contribuer  beau- 
coup,  pourvu  qu'on  respect&t  le  Roi,  et  qu'on  €vit&t  le  d^sordre.^Le 
ministre  ajouta  ces  propres  mots :  ''  G6n6ral,  ce  discours  powr- 
rait  se  changer  en  acte,  si  vous  6tiez  ie  Roi,  ou  si  je  T^tais  moi- 

Peu  de  jours  apris  cette  r6ponse  Evasive  du  ministre,  les  libi- 
f aux  se  montr&rent  inquiets  dans  les  Calabres  et  k  Saleme ;  des 
arrestations  furent  ordonn^es  dans  ces  provinces,  et  il  n'6tait  deji 
plus  en  mon  pouvoir  d'emp6cher  des  muuvemens  partiels,  dool  les 
consequences  pouvaient  devenir  funestes,  puisque  le  moindre  omI- 
heur  qui  p&t  en  arriver  6tait  de  voir  r6aliser  le  projet  des  minis- 
tres,  tendant  k  rappeler  les  troupes  autrichiennes. 

Vera  le  90  Juin  Ton  me  communiqua  les  intentions  de  V.  M.  de 
me  confier  le  commandement  des  Calabres*  Je  vis  clairement  que 
si  jem'6loignais  d'Avellino,  il  allait  6clater  sur  plusieurs  points  des 
fivoltes  qui,  manquant  de  direction,  pourraient  plonger  le 
royaume  dans  Fanarchie.  Alors,  toujours  ferme  dans  mon  dessi^n 
de  me  d6voner  k  tout  prix  au  bien  de  T^tat,  et  de  fairei  quel^tte 
chose  d'utile  k  notre  patrie,  je  r^solus  de  r^unir  le  25  Juin  dix  milk 
bpmmes  de  la  troisi^e  division  militaire,  qui,  sans  troubler  Fordte 
public,  et  par  la  voie  de  d^put^s,  devaient  faire  connaitre  k  V.  M* 
ces  y&iit&s  que  les  ministres  n'avaient  point  os4  lui  d6voiIer»  et 
eossent  exprim4  le  voeu  ponr  qu'elleaccord&t  U  constitutioD  promise» 


9}  qui  ont  eu  lieu  a  Naples  en  1^20  et  182 1.       317 

'Une  circonstance,  connae  maintenant  dans  le  royaume,  me  for^i  tte 
^iff6rer  I'ex^cution  de  ce  dess^in  jusqu'au  ler  du  mois  suiiraiit. 
Maisy  dans  la  matio^  du  2  Juillet,  un  escadron  du  regiment  de 
Bourbon^  qui  6tait  venu  k  Naples  pour  trois  ou  quatre  jours^  suivi 
d'un  nombre  de  citoyeiis  de  Nola^  se  dirigea  par  Monte*Forte 
vera  mou  quarUer-g6n6ral  d'Aveliino,  en  proclamant  partout  sut 
]eur  chemin  la  monarchie  constitutionnelle.  Quelques  jours  avant  cA 
6v£nenient^  j'avais  exp£di£  d  ce  corps  un  officier  de  cavalerie  pour 
emp^cher  tout  uiouvement  partiel,  comme  plus  nuisible  qu'util^, 
mais  nia  precaution  resta  sans  effet.     An  reste,  cent  vingt  cavaliei% 

S^vaient-ils  renverser  un  pouvoir  existant  depuis  taut  de  siicles  i 
on.  Sire.  Dans,  le  fait,  la  constitution  fut  proclam^e  dans  la 
▼iile  de  Foggia  avant  de  r4tre  d  Avellino,  et  elle  le  fut  dans  toutea 
les  provinces  avant  que  les  ordres  fussent  venus  de  la  capitale.  Et 
pr6cis£ment,  ce  m&nie  jour  9,  Juillet,  j'6crivis  de  Nuples  au  mar^ 
chal  de  camp  Colonna,  et  k  mon  chef  d'etat- major,  pour  leur 
ordonner  de  r^unir  les  milices  (Piicesjusti/.  No.  II.) :  mais  je  ne 
puSy  avant  le  5,  partir  pour  mon  quartier-g6n6rai  d'Avellino,  nvec 
deux  regimens  de  cavalerie*  £n  mon  absence,  le  chef  d'6tat-ma}or 
montra  une  graude  6nergie  et  beaucoup  de  resolution.  JLes 
troupes  qui  vinrent  me  rejoindre  i  Avellino  ne  furent  pas  les 
seules  d  se  declarer  pour  la  cause  constitutionnelle;  car  les  autrea 
troupes  voulaient  ^galeroent  venir  &  Monte-Forte ;  et  mon  fr^^ 
-le  Iieutenaut-g6n6ral  Florestan  Pepe,  appei6  k  Nola  par  V.  M.-, 
lea  retint,  en  les  assurant  qu'elles  Itaient  regard6es  comme  faisatft 
partie  de  Tarm^e  constitutionnelle,  puisque  V,  M.  avait  promis, 
dans  sa  proclamation,  la  constitution  d'Espagne.  C'est  d  tortqu'on 
■z  cm  ou  voulu  faire  croire  que  le  changement  politique  de  Naples 
16tait  une  revolution  milUaire;  car,  en  supposant  qu'on  veuille 
cionner^  a  un  tei  mouvement  le  nom  de  revolution,  il  faut  dire 
^u'elle  etait  nationale,  puisque  Tenibousiasme  d'un  jeune  sous-lieu- 
tenant ne  fit  que  porter  sa  troupe  a  donner  le  signal  £un  moiiva- 
mttU  auquel  tous  les  Napolitains  tendaient  a  se  reuuir.  L'armfe, 
aans  doute,  partageait  les  d^sirs  de  la  nation ;  mais  peut-on  r^viter, 
maigre  tous  les  mojens  que  pent  employer  le  pouvoir  pour  arrtter 
le  mouvement  des  troupes,  lorsqu'un  peuple,  par  les  progris  de 
I'esprit  public,  est  vraimeut  m&r  pour  la  liberie  constitutionnelle  i 
{Piicesjusti/\  No.  III.) 

Sire,  si  toute  la  nation  n'eiit  pas  desire  unanimement  ce  regime 
constitutioimel,  comment  aurait-on  pu  I'etablirsans  repandre  une 
goutte  de  sang?  En  17999  une  armee  victorieuse  vint  a  Naples 
proclamer  la  republique ;  les  premiers  homnies  d'etat  y  adber^rent ; 
cependant  le  royaume  fut  inonde  de  sang,  et  les  royalistes  bal» 
•tirent  les  republicains  souteuus  par  des  troupes  etrang^res.  Et 
pourquoi  f     parce  que  le  peuple  ne  desirait  pas  la  republique,  et 


318  .  Rf lotion  des  Evenmem    .  [W 

c'estalors  qu'en  parlaot  des  ripublicains  du  royauni^,  on  peutleiir 
dooner  le  Doni  de  faction.  En  un  niot^  quaod  au  lieu  d«  la  voloiit^ 
■g^n^rale,  une  faction  pr6vaut  cbez  un  peupU,  ii  est  n^cefsaire  i 
iCdle-ci>  pour  ae  maintenir^  d'etre  soutenue  par  des  troupes  kxwor 
l^re^,  ou  par  Tinfluence  de  Text^rieur.  Dans  le  cas  contraiDe»  la 
wnorit6  ne  pent  .domkier  le  grand  notnbre,  et  la  faction  chA^  k  la 
.Tolpnt^  gieu^rale.  En  17999  un  cardinal  conduisit  lui-m^me  quel- 
ques  troupes  dans  la  capitate  ;  et  quelles  horreurs,  quelles  atrocit^s 
^e  commvent-eiles  pas  !  Mais  vingt  mijle  citoyens  de  touted  les 
classes  qu'on  a  vus,  animus  de  Taniour  de  la  patriei  suivre  raroilie 
coDstitutionnelle  &  Naples,  ont  excit6  Tadmiration  par  leur  con- 
.duite  exemplaire  et  par  le  disintSresseipent  qu'ils  ont  manifest^  ep 
ii'acceptant  point  les  indemnit^s  que  leur  offrait  le  gouverneineol. 
:C'e9t  aiosi  que  les  Napolitains^  en  18£0,  se  montrent  unis,  pl^os 
de  z^le,  et  m&rs  pour  le  gouvernement  repr6sentatif.  L'arni^e,  qui 
iSfest  d6clar6e  pour  le  nouveau  syst^me,  a-t-elle  pu  avoir  d'autre 
naotif  que  eelui  du  bien  public?  V.  M.  se  rappetlera  que  tous  les 
officiers  refus^reut  v^ritiiblement,  et  non  pour  la  forme,  toute  r6- 
.compense  en  biens,  d6corationSy  et  grades.  Le  colonel  de  cavalerie 
.Celeutari,  du  regiment  de  la  reine,  officier  distingu6  qui  me  suivit  i 
rAvellinOy  n'eut  part  k  aucune  promotion  ;  et  le  colonel  Labrano, 
>qui  avait  march6  contre  les  gardes  nationaux  de  Solofra^  fut  noni'- 
0)6  marechal  de  camp.  Qui  prouve  mieux.  Sire,  le  zele  des  mili- 
taires  de  Tarm^e  royale  pour  le  bien  public,  que  leur  d^sint^resse- 
ment  ?  Et  puisque  je  suis  attaqu6  avec  tant  d'acharnement.par  lee 
journaux  minist^riels,  i  qui  j*avais  jusqu's^  present  d^daign^  de  fir 
pOodre^  V.  M.  me  permettra  de  faire  observer,  malgr6  la  r^po- 
gnance  que  j'6prouve  k  parler  de  moi-m&me,  que  le  seul  attacbe- 
meut  d  notre  patrie  a  guid^  tous  mes  pas.  Je  conserve  encore  la 
lettre  dont  m'honora  le  due  de  Calabre  ;  elle  prouve  que  loio  d'am^ 
.bitionner  le  grade  de  capitaine*g6n^ral,  j'ai  demand^  qu'on  TabQltt 
comme  peu  compatible  avec  le  regime  constitutionnel  {Piicesjusr 
,tif.  No.  IV).  £t  si  j'avais  6t6  guid6  par  une  vile  axnbitioD, 
n'auraisje  pas  eu  plus  de  moyens  de  la  satisfaire  sous  le  pouvoir 
joyal  absolu  i  Quelques  jours  avant  le  chaogement  politique,  on 
me  proposa,  au  nom  de  V.  M.,  de  prendre  le  commandement  des 
Calabres,  en  conservant  celui  d'Avellino  et  Foggia.  Les  ministres 
Medici  et  Tommasi  ne  pouvaient  me  traiter  d'une  mani^re  phi? 
flatteuse,  et  je  connaissais  le  deplorable  sort  qui  attend  presque  tous 
ceux  qui,  eoflamm^s  de  patriotisme,  s'eflbrcent  de  soustraire  leurs 
concitoyens  au  joug  du  pouvoir  absolu.  Mais^  Sire,  en  tout  temps 
j'ai  idol^tre  ma  patrie  et  le  nom  de  Napolitain ;  et  quoique  k  trois 
epoques  diverses,  de  tristes  circonstances  aient  port^  Tinjuste  £u^ 
rope  ^  nous  juger  par  Le  seul  ev^nement^  je  n'ai  paa  d6sir6  un 
in^taqt  de  i^e  point  6t re  Napolitain  ;  les  citoyens  dotvent  imiter  b 


II]       gut  ont  euMeu  0  Naples  en  182Q  et  1821.        810 

conduite  des  fils  pieux  envers  d*infortun6s  parens^  et  ch6rir  d'aiitant 
plii3  leur  patrie  qu'elle  est  plus  inalheureuse.  Eotre  toutes  lea 
affections,  j'ai  ^prouv6  que  Tamourde  la  patrie  est  la  plu«  douce^ 
la  plus  coostante.  Quelle  noblesse,  quelle  grandeur  ce  sentinieol 
p'acQuerrfat^il  pas  dans  le  coeur  d'un  Roi!  Ah,  Sire  1  au  milieu. do 
renmouaiaame  et  de  Texaltation  que  produisait  ce  chaagement  poln 
tiqiie,  a-t-on  jamais  cess6  de  crier :  Vive  le  Roi !  vive  la  Famille 
royale  I  L?s  amis,  I^s  fr^res,  les  Spouses,  ies  pi^res  de  tant  d^ 
victime9  de  1 799,  que  la  foi  d'une  capitulation  sacr^e  ne  put  sau- 
ver  de  la  bache  du  bourreau,  ^taient  pr^sens  le  jour  oil  je  condui** 
sia  Parm^e  constitutionnelle  d,  Naples,  et  cependant  aucun  ne  rap^ 
pela  ses  propres  douleurs,  aucun  ne  reprocha  au  gouTememeiit  le 
sang  de  ses  ills,  et  tons  conspir^rent  4  augmenter  la  joie  de  cette 
memorable  joum6e. 

Quand  S«  A.  le  due  de  Calabre  me  fit  Thonneurde  me  presenter 
i  V.  M«,  elle  lu.i  dit,  comme  pour  m'excuser,  que  j'avais  ignor^ce 
qui  se  passait  jusqu'au  5  Juillet,  et  quej'etais  parii  de  mon  quartier* 
g6n^ral  avec  la  crainte  d'etre  arr^t6.  Mais  je  ne  manquai  pas  de 
declarer  loyalement  ^L  V*  M.  que  depuis  long-temps  je  veillais  au 
aalut  de  la  patrie,  dunt  dependait  celui  de  la  dynastie  royale.  V.  M. 
ine  dit:  '^  G6ii6ral,  j'esp^re  que  vous  vous  conduirez  toujours  aveo 
bonneur ;"  et  je  r^pondis  en  Tassurant  que  je  verserais  mon  sang 
dans  toutes  les  circonstances  pour  le  Roi  constitutionnel. 

h^  nation  voyait  avec  peine  que  V.  M.  ne  se  montrit  point  aux 

th^^tres,  ni  ni^iue  k  la  f^te  de  Piedigrotta.     Et  cependant,  n'eikt* 

elle  point  d'escorte,  tons  manifestaient,  sur  le  passage  de  V.  M • 

dans  les  rues,  uu  respect  plus  grand  et  plus  pur  que  dans  le  temps 

du  gouvernement  absohu     La  presse  6tait  hbre  ;  et  parmi  lant  de 

journaux  et  une  quantity  prodigieuse  d'6crits,  parut-il  jamais  une 

page  oil  Ton  manquat  en  la   moindre  chose  auK  ^gards  que  les 

citoyens  doivent  d  leur  roi  i     Mais  il  est  des  courtisans  qui  veulent 

toujours  contester  I'evidence,  et  plusieurs  ministres  ^tranger^  manr 

daient  d  leurs  cours  que  le  royaume   g^missait  dans    Tanarchi^ 

(^Pihesjmtif.  No,  V.)     L'ambassadeur  de  France,  le  due  de  Nar- 

bonne,  me  parlaut  au  nom  de  son  gouvernement,  me  fit  connaitre 

que  la  France  ne  s'ing6rerait  dans  les  affaires  de  Naples  que  dans 

le  cas  oix  Ton  aurait  manqu6  au  respect  dii  i  la  famille  royale.     Je 

r^pondis   i  l'ambassadeur,  qu'en  qualit6  de  commandant  en  chef^ 

je  sentais  qu'il  6tait  de  mon  devoir  de  p6rir  piutdt  que  de  soufirir 

qu'un  tei  d^sordre  eiit  lieu ;  mais  que  je  n'entendais  point  m'ap* 

proprier  un  m6rite  qui  appartenait  k  toute  la  nation,  celui  d*aimer 

et  de  respecter  un  Roi  qui  en  devenait  le  reg^n^rateur. 

y oild.  Sire,  les  v6ritables  et  principales  circonstances  qui  accom> 

pagndrent  le  changement  politique  que  la  ligue  minist^rielle  de 

l'£urope  veut  faire  considerer  comme  un  mouvement  anarchique.  1 

Maintcnant  je  vais  d6montrer  ^  V.  M.  que  non-seulement  la  na- 


820  ReUuion  des  E'oenemem  [11 

tion  d^sira  onaniineitient  de  voir  6tabltr  le  pouvoir  constitutioiiMiel, 
mais  que,  pour  cotiserver  sea  libert^s^  elle  deploy  a  une  grande 
^nergie,  et  se  montra  dispos^e  aux  plus  grands  sacrifices ;  etyei- 
piiquerai  comroeut  il  a  pu  neanmoins  arriver  qu'en  peu  de  jours 
elle  fiit  asservie  par  une  arm6e  ^trang^re,  qui  aurait  trouvi  aoii 
lombeau  dans  notre  patrie,  si  l'6ian  national  eiit  ktk  bien  dirigi. 

Ea  entrant  i,  Naples  avec  I'arm^e  constitutionnelle,  je  peosai 
que,  pour  prendre  une  attitude  imposante,  et  pour  que  tous  con- 
courussent  au  m^me  but,  ceiui  de  soutenir  Tind^pendance  nationate, 
il  fallait  6tablir  temporairement  une  dictature  miiitaire,  qui  eftt  i^ 
d6pos6e^  d^s  que  la  nation,  liors  de  danger,  edt  6t6  plus  fortemeiif 
li6e  par  la  constitution  et  Thonneur  Jk  votre  dynastie  royale.  Mais 
ni  moi,  ni  aucun  des  autres  g6n6raux,  ne  pouvaient  s'inyestir  d'Hn 
tel  pouvoir ;  car  pour  Texercer  avec  succis,  il  eiit  fallu  y  6tre  aut^- 
mk  par  une  representation  nationale,  qui  n'existait  point  encore; 
ou  bien  il  fallait,  avec  une  baute  gioire  militaire,  se  trouver-i  la 
t&te  d'une  arm6e  accoutumie  i  vaincre  et  k  ob^ir.  Je  conservai  le 
commandement  en  chef  de  rarmie,  sans  en  avoir  la  partie  orga^ 
nique  et  administrative,  jusqu'i  la  reunion  de  la  representation  na- 
tionale;  etje  comptais  sur  I'^nergie  de  la  junte  provisoire  et  da 
minist^re.  Ce  moyen  6tait  plus  analogue  aux  6gards  dus  au  trdile, 
et  plus  conforme  i  la  moderation  des  peu  pies  de  T  Europe,  qm 
d^siraient  une  liberty  mesur^e.  La  junte  et  le  minist^re,  par  une 
fatalite  inconcevable,  ne  se  penetr^rent  pas  enti^rement  de  I'idee 
que  la  nation  devait  se  vouer  tout-^-fait  aux  moyens  de  defense, 
Ainsi,  Ton  n^gligea  Tachat  des  fusils  qui  nous  manquaient;  on 
n'envoya  pas  de  suite  en  AngUterre,  en  Espagne  et  en  Russie  des 
ambassadeurs  extraordinaires  interess^s  k  la  cause  nationale ;  o« 
n'organisa  pas  Farmee,  et  les  gardes  nationales  furent  presque  ou* 
bli^es.  Enfiu,  Ton  ne  h&ta  point  I'expedition  de  Sicile,  devenue 
indispensable  pour  reprimer  I'anarchie  k  Palerme.  Ce  n*ecak 
point  pour  soumettre  les  Siciliens,  ni  pour  les  empftcber  de  crier  oa 
parlen>ent  sipari  de  ceiui  de  Naples,  que  Texpedition  de  Sicile 
4^tait  necessaire,  mais  pour  leur  donner  un  puissant  secours,  afia 
de  les  mettre  k  m^e  de  supprimer  Tanarchie  qui  rignait  k  Palerme, 
et  dont  la  continuation  ne  pouvait  manquer  de  discr6diter  tiotre 
cban^ement  politique  aux  yeux  d^s  nations  etratigires*  Et  combiea 
n'aurious-nous  pas  kxk  grands  vis-si-vis  de  toute  T  Europe,  en  alliaat 
ainsi  la  vigueur  et  la  ginirosite,  la  bravoure  et  la  moderation !  Ce 
fut  sur  mes  instances  multipUees,  comme  la  junte  de  gouvem^ffieoC 
le  repr^senta  au  parlement,  et  apr^s  une  perte  de  -presque  trois 
uiois,  qu'on  appela  sous  les  banni^res  les  militaires  en  conge  ;  Y  ea 
d^crita  I'organisation  des  gardes  nationales,  et  Yon  mit  enfiu  i 
f^^ecution  I'expeditiou  de  Sicile.  Pour  que  rarni6e  p4t  s'orgaiMscar 
proinptement,  je  rassemblai  les  corps  de  toutes  amies  entre  Ga<ta 


13].       qui  ont  eu  Urn  A  Naples  en  16^  et  1821.       321 

el  Castelkmare.  Les  provinces  du  royautne  resident  sans  troupes, 
et  cette  circoQstance^  qui  ne  put  jamais  avoir  heu  sous  le  gouverne^ 
raeol  absolu,  ne  produisit  pas  k  nioindre  inconvenient  sous  )e 
regime  conslitutioiuiel.  Les  v6t.6rans^  c'est-^-dire  les  militaires  en- 
congi,  au  Heu  d'etre,  conarae  de  coutume^  enrdl6s  pal*  force  sous 
les  drapeauK,  couraient  spontan^ment  i  la  defense  de  la  pa  trie, 
abandoonant  femmes  et  enfans.  Les  citoyens  se  faisaieqt  inscrir^  d 
Tenvi  daos  les  milices  et  dans  les  legions*  £nfin^  six  naille  homines, 
saas  artiUerie,.inanquant  m&me  de  pierres  i  feu  de  rechange,  firent 
cewer  Taxiarcbie  dans  Pakrme,  dont  les  murs  6taient  defend  us  par 
qoairaiite  mille  hommes,  provenant  des  levies  en  masse,  et  par  qua- 
tre  cents  bouches  k  feu  ;  et  c'est  ici  le  cas  de  faire  observer  d  V .  M. 
qme\  daos  le  temps  du  gouvernement  absolu,  il  ne  put  r^ussir  i  d^- 
truire  la  seule  baude  de  Vardarelli.'  La  nation  pouvait-elle  done 
mootrer  plus  de  bonne  volont6  et  plus  d'energie  ? 

Danscet  itat  de  cboses,  le  ler  Octobre^  je  d^posai  le  commande-  - 
nient  en  chef  dans  les  mains  de  V.  M. ;  et  1* Europe  connait  trop 
les  -details  d^  oette  journ6e,  dont  la  nation  napc^itaine  n^  perdra  ■ 
jamais  le  soavenir  (Pieces  justif.  Nos.  VI,  VII,  VIII).  Le  parle- 
raeut  aaiioBal,  plein  de  patriotisme,  mais  r6voquant  en  doute  la 
potitique  du  minist^e  autrichien,  et  confiant  dans  la  justice  de  la 
cause  plus  que  dans  la  force  de  la  natioa^  au  lieu  de  oiiercber  le 
vrai  mojen  de  diriger  son  enthousiasme,  abandonna  aveugl^ment 
toutes  les  af&ires  de  la  guerre  au  pouvoir  ex6cutif.  Je  passai  le  * 
moia  d'Octobre  sans  emploi,  et  je  fus  flatt6  de  voir  k  preuve  in- 
oontestable  que  la  nation  6tait  oonduite  et  dirig6e  par  le  gouverne-^ 
mciit,  et  par  I'amour.  de  la  patrie  qui  auimait  tons  les  citoyens, 
iBais  noQ  mue  par  un  g6n6ral  qu'on  voulait  faire  croire  chef  d'une 
faction  .pr4dominante.  Cependantje  demandai,  m^me  pJusieurs 
fois,  une  mission  diplomatique  pour  i'Espagne,  et  la  permission  de 
revenif  au  premier  cri  de  guerre.  J'avais  form6  cette  demande, 
dans  la  pens^  que  mon  ^loignement  ferait  cesser  les  petites  jalou* 
sies,  qui  soat  inevitables  en  pareii  cas;  mais  S.  A.  le  Due  de  Ca- 
labce,  par  sa  letlire  du  30  Septembre^  me  r^pondit  qu'eile  ne  pouvait' 
acc4der  d  n»es  d^sirs  (^Piices  justify  No.  IX).  Au  reste,  je  n'avais 
alors  aucune  crainte  pour  le  sort  de  ma  patrie,  en  pensaiit  que  la 
demiive  dasse  du  peuple,  sans  places  fortes,  sans  gouvernement, 
sans  chefs,  avail  dooni  tant  de  peine  k  une  arm^e  frangaise  de 
s^ixaote  mille  hotnmes  commandos  par  le  mar^chal  Mass6na.    J'ai 

toigours  cru,  et  je  crois  €>ncore  que  si  les  places  eussent  6t6  appro- 

• 

'  La  bande  de  Vardarelii  etait  composee  d'environ  trente  brigands  ^  che- 
val,  et  le  gouveraeraent,  apr^s  avoir  vu  €chouer  toutes  ies  mesures  prises 
pkbur  la  detruire,  fut  oblig^  de  trailer  avec  elle.    Le  gouvernement  constitu-*' 
tiomiel,  tell  peu  de  jours,  soumit  toutes  tes  villes  revoltees  en  Sicile.  Leqiiel 
des  deiix  gouteroeniens  avait  Je  plus  de  conslstaoiee  } 

VOL.  XXIIl.  Pam.  NO.  XLVL        X 


322  Relation  des  Evenemens  [14 

visionn^es  et  garnies  de  troupes^  si  le  ch&teau  Saint-Elme  ehxixi 
en  6tat  de  r^sister  deux  ou  trois  mois,  si  la  famille  royale  et  le  par- 
lement  se  fussent  retires  en  Calabre,  6tant  maitres  de  la  mer  et  unis 
avec  la  Sicile,  on  aurait  pu,  m^me  sans  arm^e,  d^truire  I'ennemi. 

Dans  tout  le  mois  d'Octobre,  au  lieu  d'avancer  les  pr^paratifs  de 
defense,  on  fit  un  pas  retrograde  en  d6goiitant  les  Siciliens 
(  Pieces  justif.  No.  X).  Si  on  leur  edt  accord^  un  parlement  86par6 
de  celui  de  Naples,  on  n'e&t  pas  6t6  bblige  de  maintenir  une  gami- 
8on  dans  cetteile;  quinze  mille  Siciliens  auraient  renforc6  notre 
arin6e^  et  en  cas  de  revers^  la  Sicile  et  les  Calabres  auraient  6t6  ud 
rempart  inexpugnable  contre  les  forces  autricbiennes  (Pieces  jw- 
^t^.No.  XI). 

Au  I er  Novembre^on  voulut  absolument que je  prisse  Tinspectioii 
g6n6rale  des  gardes  nationales,  et  en  peu  de  temps  plus  de  cent 
vingt  niille  hommes  furent  organises.  La  moiti^  d'entre  euz 
s'habillerent  d  leurs  frais,  sans  y  com  prendre  la  garde  de  8&ret6  de 
Naples,  d  pied  et  d  cheval,  aussi  belle  qu'on  en  vit  jamais  dans  les 
autres  capitales  de  TEurope.  Les  citojens  qui  la  composaieitt  di- 
pens^rent  au  moins  cinq  millions  de  francs  en  quarante  jours,  et 
maintinrent  constamment  le  bon  ordre  dans  Naples,  sans  Fassistaoce 
des  troupes.  Sire,  voil^  des  faits  dont  les  partisans  les  plus  int^res- 
s6s  du  pouvoir  arbitraire  ne  sauraient  obscurcir  I'^vidence.  Mais 
si  la  moiti6  de  ces  gardes  nationales  ne  fut  pas  arm6e  de  fusils  de 
calibre  qu'on  aurait  pu  se  procurer  d  credit  en  Angleterre ;  si  des 
portions  de  bataillons  de  milice  ^t  de  legionnaires  ne  furent  jamais 
r^unis  pour  ^tre  exerc6es  d  la  discipline  et  k  Tinstruction,  est-ce  la 
faute  des  citoyens,  ou  de  ceux  qui  les  dirigeaient  i  Si  le  parie- 
ment,  anim6  toujours  de  bonnes  intentions,  commit  I'imprudence 
de  d^godter  les  Siciliens  (Pihesjustif.  No.  XII),  doit-on  I'impu- 
ter  aux  Napolitains  i  Et  de  semblables  torts,  ainsi  que  la  n6gli* 
gence  du  gouvernement,  devront-ils  faire  conclure  que  la  uation 
n'6tait  point  dispos6e  a  tout  sacrifier  pour  son  ind^pendance  i 

Cependant  arriva  le  7  D6cembre,  jour  oii  les  ministres  Strangers 
et  le  minist^re  napolitain  mirent  tout  en  oeuvre  pour  plonger  la 
nation  dans  i'anarchie ;  mais  ce  fut  en  vain,  car  elle  aimait  trop  le 
bon  ordre.'  lis  d^termin^rent  V.  M,  d  exp6dier  au  parlement 
le  message  si  connu ;  et  en  attendant  la  reponse,  ils  r^pandirent 
des  manifestes  dans  4es  provinces  et  dans  la  capitale,  Flusieurs 
personnes  ont  prononc6  leur  opinion  sur  le  contenu  de  ce  message 
{Pieces  justif'.  Nos.  XIII,  XIV),  sans  faire  attention  qu'en  vertu 
des  instructions  royales,  publi6es  dansl  e  mois  de  Juillet,  les  d^put^ 

^  Les  ictiigiies  et  les  moyens  de  seduction  qu'on  employa  le  7  D€€eiDbie 
deshonorent  a  la  fuis  leurs  auteurs  et  ceux  aui  se  laisserent  s^duire ;  maiB 
un  temps  viendra  o\l  i'on  produira  au  grand  jour  les  manoeuvres  qui  fuffeat 
employees  dans  cette  jouroee. 


15]      qui  ont  eu  lieu  A  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.         323 

iiu  parlement  n'6taient  point  autoris6s  par  leurs  commettans  k 
changer  les  bases  de  la  constitution  d'£spagne.  V.  M.  avait  ainsi 
statue,  pdur  6viter  que  le  parlement  n'outrepass&t  la  constitution 
jur^e ;  et  lors  m^me  que  cette  disposition  n'e&t  pas  exists,  le  minis- 
l^re  ne  Hevait>il  pas  traiter  avec  la  representation  nationale,  et  non 
donner  Tordre  de  faire  publier,  au  nom  du  roi,  les  articles  d'une 
constitution  nouvelle,  sans  les  avoir  communiques  au  parlement, 
et  en  tenant  la  garde  royale  sous  les  armes  avec  rartillerie  pr^te  d 
faire  feu  ?  D'ailleUrs  qui  aurait  garanti  la  nation  de  I'invasion 
^trang^re,  ni^me  apr^s  avoir  accept^  ces  articles  ?  .  •  .  Les  Napoii- 
tains  se  sont  vus,  d  la  v6rit6,  priv^s  de  leur  ind^pendance,  raais  par 
la  force  de8*ba'ionnettes  ^trang^res,  et  non  par  Toeuvre  de  leurs  re- 
pr^sentans ;  et  si  quelques  hommes  purent  alors  ajouter  foi  aux 
dispositions  contenues  dans  le  message,  ne  sont-ils  pas  maintenant 
convaincus  qu'on  ne  cherchait  qu'^  d^truire  votre  ind^pendance  par 
des  n6gociations  i  Et  s'il  n*en  6tait  ainsi,  pourquoi  n'accorde-t-on 
pas  maintenant  les  articles  qui  furent  alors  mis  en  avant  i  On  r6- 
pondra  qu'alors  la  nation  ne  voulut  pas  les  accepter,  et  qu'elle  fit 
ensuite  resistance  d  Tarm^e  autrichienne  ;  mais,  ainsi  que  V.  M., 
le  congr^s  G9  Laybach  d^clara  qu'une  poign^e  seule  d'hommes, 
obstines  et  rebelles,  s'^tait  oppos^e  aux  accommodemens  proposes : 
et  pourquoi  la  nation  tout  emigre  serait-elle  priv^e  aujourd'hui  de 
ses  liberies  pour  la  folie  de  quelques  coupables  qui,  pour  la  pi u part, 
sent  dans  les  fers  f  Quant  d  moi  qui  n'y  suis  pas,  moiqui  menai 
les  troupes  combattre  Tarmee  etrang^re,  je  promets  d  V.  M.,  d  la 
face  de  I'Europe,  de  venir  me  livrer  aux  mains  de  ses  ministres,  d 
Fennemi  m^me,  et  je  suis  pr^t  d  donner  ma  vie,  si,  regardant  la  na- 
tion comme  innocente,  on  lui  accorde  une  constitution  liberale,  sans 
attendre  qu'elle  I'acqui^re  tdt  ou  tard  p^ir  sa  propre  energie,  si  elle 
ne  I'obtient  de  V.  M.,  ou  de  la  politique  autrichienne,  quoique  ce 
puisse  ^tre  au  prix  de  beaucoup  de  sacrifices  et  de  sang  :  mais  quels 
sacrifices  f  homme  ne  fait-il  pas  pour  se  soustraire  au  pouvoir 
absolu  i    J 'en  appelle  aux  Anglais. 

Le  7  Decembre,  la  garde  royale  ne  fit  que  trop  connattre  ses  in- 
tentions. Commandee  par  des  officiers  qui,  durant  le  r^gne  de 
Joachim,  avaient  vecu  dans  les  garnisons  de  la  Sicile,  combies  de 
privileges  incompatibles  avec  le  regime  constitutionnel,  par  quelle 
aveugle  confiance  du  parlement  une  telle  garde  ne  fut-elle  pas  re* 
formee  ?  Sire,  ce  fut  uniquement  par  la  deference  que  les  de- 
putes conservaient  pour  V.  M.,  pourle  Nestor  des rois  del' Europe. 
On  ne  pourrait  accuser,  au  surplus,  le  parlement  de  faiblesse ; 
car  le  message  avec  lequel  on  voulut  renverser  la  constitution  en  vi- 
gueur,  fut  repousse  avec  cette  dignite  qui  convient  aux  representaus 
d'une  nation  libre.  V.  M.  demanda  la  permission  de  partir  pour 
Laybach,  et  le  parlement,  toujours  piein  d'une  confiance  sana 
bornes^  y  consentit,  et  fit  part  d  V.  M.  de  son  adhesion  par  une  d^- 


324  Relation  des  Evenemens  {10 

putation,  qu'elle  regut  dans  la  salle  du  trdne.  V.  M.  proposa  de  se 
rendre  au  congr^s^  dans  le  seul  but  de  faire  reconnaitre  par 
les  allies  la  constitution  juree;  et  le  d6put6  Borelli,  qui  porta 
la  parole,  finit  son  Eloquent  discours  en  invoquant  le  Tout- 
Puissant  comme  garant  des  sermens  de  V.  M.,  elle  qui  est, 
en  quelque  sorte,  un  de  ses  representans  parmi  les  hooimes.  Sire^ 
nos  contemporains  et  les  generations  futures  devront-ilsj  pourront- 
ils  croire  que  V.  M.,  en  presence  de  ce  Dieu  a  qui  Ton  ne  peat 
cacher  les  pens6es  les  plus  secr^tes^  se  propos&t  dans  ce  moment 
m^me  d'asservir  notre  belle  patrie  avec  une  arm6e  ^trangdre ;  de 
faire  payer  au^^  Napolitains  la  peine  de  leufr  moderation,  et  de  ce 
quails  avaient  regard^  leur  roi  comme  un  p^re  bienfaisant  ?  Eus* 
siez-vous  done  pu  oublier  vous-m^me  que  vous  ^tiez  Napolitab  \ 
et,  pour  ne  pas  partager  avec  la  nation  une  portion  de  votre  pou- 
voir,  eussiez-vous  pu  avoir  en  vue  de  I'abandonner  plut6t  entiire- 
ment  dans  les  mains  d'un  g6n6ral  autrichien  \ 

Cependant  les  habitaus  des  provinces,  comme  ceux  de  la  capi« 
tale,  VQyaient  avec  impatience  la  lenteur  apport6e  aux  mojeni  de 
defense.  Les  Abruzziens,  dont  les  frontiires  6taient  digamies  de 
troupes  et  de  tout  materiel  de  guerre,  furent  sur  le  point  de  selqver 
en  masse,  se  croyant  trahis  par  le  gouvemement.  J  Wrivai  dans  les 
Abruzzes,  sur  Tordre  du  regent ;  et  I'enthousiasme  que  montr^rent 
ces  provinces  est  impossible  d  d6crire.  Hommes  et  femmes  de 
toutes  conditions  venaient  d  ma  rencontre,  au  milieu  des  neiges,  et 
me  recommandaient  la  defense  de  la  liberte  de  leur  patrie«  Je  leur 
lis  lire  la  lettre  du  deput6  Poercio,  qui  m'assurait  que  V.  M., 
mSme  en  Toscane,  conservait  des  sentimens  dignes  des  fils  de 
Saint-Louis.  Les  Abruzziens  b6nissaient  votre  nom  avec  une  joie 
bien  61oign6e  de  tout  soupgon.  Pourquoi,  dans  ce  moment,  Sire, 
ne  vous  trouvates-vous  pas  au  milieu  des  bons  Abruzziens  i  Je 
visitai,  dans  leurs  provinces,  les  soci6t6s  qui  avaient  cess^  d'etre 
secretes*  Les  principaux  propri^taires,  les  hommes  les  plus  re- 
commandables,  les  ministres  du  culte,  les  artisans  et  les  cultivateurs 
ais6s  faisaient  partie  de  cette  soci6t6  de  Carbonari,  si  calooiniie.* 

'  On  a  beaucoup  accus^  la  societe  des  Carbonari;  mais  ne  devait-elle  pas 
^tre  d^peinte  par  des  hommes  vendiis  au  pouvoir  absolu  ?  Avaiit  qu'elle 
exist^t  dans  le  royaume  de  Naples,  tout  changement,  tout  mouvement  pd- 
pulaire  Itait  suivi  de  pillage  et  de  crimes.  Aussitot  qu'elle  fat  introduite 
parmi  nous,  le  peuple  devint  sage  et  moral.  Si  quelque  malheureux  appur- 
tenant a  cette  soci6t^,  eut  part  h  I'assassinat  de  Giampetro,  cela  proave 
seulcment  que,  dans  les  societes  o\X  regne  la  plus  saine  morale,  il  s'introduit 
souvent  des  scelerats.  La  maconnerie,  dont  la  societe  des  Carhonori  est  une 
branche,  nVt-elle  pas  eu  le  desagrement  d'expul&er  souvent  de  son  sein  Aes 
hommes  qui  s'en  ^taient  rendus  indignes  par  leur  basseconduite  ?  Si  pendant 
les  huit  mois  du  regime  constitutionnel  on  n'entendit  point  parler  de  mal- 
faiteurs  ni  de  delits,  on  le  dut  a  la  societe  des  Carbonari,  L'assassinat  de 
Giampetro  he  fit  tant  de  rumeur  que  parce  qu*il  fut  le  seul  conjtmis  dans  les 


17]      gui  out  eulieu  d  Naples  en  1820  et  1Q21.        325 

La  jeuoesse  edthousiaste  y  pronongait  des  discours  dont  la  morale 
^Cait  peut-^tre  plus  sage  et  plus  utile  i  rhuoianit^  que  celle  <px^ 
peut  reoouveler  In  compagnie  jesuitique  r6tabiie  par  les  ministres. 
Grftce  aux  societ6s  dites  Carbonari,  Ton  vit  dans  les  Abruzzes  les 
propri^tes  plus  respect^es  qu'^  aucuoe  autre  epoque ;  eC  les  ciiiues 
noil  seulement  duninu^rent^  mais  cess^rent  tout-^-fait.  D'abord  je 
ne  pouvais  le  crdire,  mais  j'en  fus  assur6  par  les  procureurs-g^ni- 
raux  de  ces  provinces,  et  V.  M.  n'a  pas  d^  ignorer  ces  circon- 
stances  importantes. 

Vers  la  fin  de  Janvier,  je  rentrai  dans  la  capitale,  et  je  vis  avfic 
beaucoup  de  regret  qu'il  n'^tait  pas  arrive  un  seul  fusil  de  F^tran^ 
ger.  On  n'avait  pas  r^pondu  k  une  lettre  du  colonel  Macirone,  de 
Londres,  qui,  demandant  d  rentrer  au  service  napoiitain,  offrait 
d'exp6dier  des  armes  et  des  munitions,  que  le  gouvernement  efit 
payees  dans  des  temps  plus  propices.  Je  sollicitai  la  reunion  de 
quelques  bataillons  de  garde  natiouale,  pour  les,  former  d  Tinstruc- 
tiofi  et  k  la  discipline,  et  je  ne  pus  en  obtenir  rautorisation,  par  le 
motif  du  d^fadt  d'argent.  £nfin.  Ton  avait  m^me  nj§gligi§  d'appeler 
le  g6n6ral  Wilson,  qui  offrait  ses  services  avec  une  force  militaire 
assez  importante/ 

X>ans  ces  conjonctures,  on  nous  entretenait  des  divertissemen^ 
que,  suivant  les  premieres  lettres,  le  roi  prenait  d  la  chasse,  et  de  la 
bont6  de  ses  chiens,  compares  d  ceux  de  I'empereur  Alexandre.^ 
Pendant  qu'on  amusait  ainsi  la  nation,  I'arm^e  autricbienne  avait  le 
temps  de  se  concentrer  sur  la  gauche  du  P6,  pour  tomber  sur  nous 
A,  marches  forc6es.  Lorsque  I'ennemi  fut  en  mesure  d*agir,  arriva 
la  fatale  lettre  par  laquelle  V.  M.  annongait  ^invasion  d'une  armee 
itrangdre,  m^me  lorsqu'on  eut  consenti  k  rentrer  sous  le  regime 
Absolu.  Voici  le  moment.  Sire,  oik  la  nation  napolitaine  m^rite 
d'fetre  observ^e  avec  attention  par  V.  M.  et  par  r£urope.     Autre- 

huit  mois ;  et  si  la  presse  etait  aujourd'bui  libre,  combien  de  deUts  seraient 
mis  a]a,graQdJaur !  Sous  leregime  constitutionnel,  les  provinces  etaicnt  sans 
troupes,  et  elles  jouissaient  d'une  twinquillile  parfaito  sans  qu'on  ex§cutilt 
trae  scule  arrestation  arbitraire.    Maintcnant  dans  le.  royaume  de  Naples, 


voirabsolu, 

Tait  en  Sicilej 

les  Carbonarif  ,  . 

eigaesde  Carbonaro  pour  que  saint  Pierre  ouvrltla  portedu  paradis. 

'  JLcNTsque  les  Autricbiens  etaient  a  la  fronti^e,  on  expedia  au  general 
Wilson  le  brevet  de  lieutenant-general  au  service  de  Naples.  Ce  liulitaire 
distingue,  si  connu  par  sesidees  palriotiqges,  ne  re^ut  ce  brevet  que  lorsque 
tout  §tait  termine  a  Naples.  . 

*  Je  regrette  de  n'avoir  pas  conserve  copie  de  cette  lettre  pour,]aprx)duiie 

parmi  les  Pieces  justificativas. 


326  Relation  des  Evenemens  .  [18 

fois  on  avait  toujours  cru  un  peuple  m&r  pour  la  liberty  lorsqu'il 
poavait  Tacqu^rir  sans  secours  Stranger ;  mais  maintenant  il  fallait 
encore  la  soutenir  contre  des  armies  aguerries,  £h  bien!  la 
nation  6tait  pr^te  ^  le  faire*  Je  ne  me  perniettrai  aocune  exag^ra- 
tion,  et  j'en  appelle  d  S.  A.  le  Due  de  Calabre^  alors  r6geot. 
Lorsqu'on  eut  publi6  voire  lettre,  on  donna  des  f^tes,  ou  I'on  se 
livra  aux  diiF6rentes  demonstrations  de  joie,  dans  tous  les  chefs* 
lieuxdes  provinces,  et  dans  plusieurs  autres  cit6s.  Chacun  disait: 
Nous  avons  fait  preuve  de  toute  esp^ce  de  moderation  pour  6viter 
la  guerre ;  aujourd'hui  qu'elle  est  devenue  inevitable,  nous  la  re- 
cevons  avec  plaisir*  Les  honfines  les  plus  affectionnes  ti  V,  M. 
r^petaient  publiquement  qu'on  ne  pouvait  lui  avoir  fait  faire  une 
d-marche  plus  contraire  a  ses  propres  int^r^ts,  ni  plus  propre  i 
r6unir  les  coeursdes  Napolitains,  pour  les  porter  i  dSfendre  i'lnde* 
pendance  nationale. 

Mais  dans  quel  ^tat  de  defense  votre  lettre  trouva-t-elle  la  nation? 
Les  Autrichiens  pass^rent  d  Bologne  le  8  F^vrier  {Pieces  Justif. 
No.  XV ;)  et  le  15,  je  n^avais  pas  encore  616  nomm^  g6n^al  en 
chef  du  second  corps  d'arm6e  des  Abruzzes,  ni  mon  fr^re  chef  de 
I'etat-major  general.  D'apr^scela^  point  de  dispositions  de  guerre, 
point  de  plan  de  defense,  point  de  reconnaissance  militaire  or- 
ganisee.  Les  Abruzzes  n'avaient  ni  magasins  de  vivres,  ni  moyens 
de  transport,  ni  hdpitaux ;  point  d'ordonnateur  en  chef,  point 
d'argent  dans  les  caisses  publiques,  et  pas  m^me  un  payeur-geueraK 
Les  magasins  de  souliers  et  de  capotes  promis  aux  milices  n'exis- 
taient  pas,  et  encore  moins  ceux  de  fusils  de  munition.  Les 
bataillons  de  milice  n'avaient  point  encore  regu  I'ordre  de  se  mettre 
en  mouvement ;  de  sorte  qu'aucun  d*eux  ne  pouvait  arriver  aviot 
I'ennemi  aux  fronti^res  des  Abruzzes,  puisque,  des  Calabres  et  de 
la  Pouille  jusqu'aux  fronti^res,  il  faut  trente  i,  quarante  jours  da 
marche.  Par  Teffet  de  ce  retard,  presque  la  moitie  des  bataillons 
nationaux  apprirent  en  route  qu'ii  n'existait  plus  de  gouvemement 
constitutionnel,  ni  de  point  de  reunion.  Or  des  milices,  riouies 
avec  tant  de  precipitation  et  pour  la  premiere  fois,  meritaient-elles 
le  nom  de  bataillons  i  I^es  trois  cents  Abruzziens  qui  s'offirirenti 
i  I'imitation  des  compagnons  de  Leonidas,  et  le  batailloa  sacre, 
destines  d  mon  corps  d'armee^  ne  furent  jamais  organises.  Est-ce 
done  la  faute  de  la  nation  si  elle  fut  si  mal  dirigee,  et  surprise  sans 
moyens  de  defense  ?  Les  impdts  n'6taient-ils  pas  exactement 
pa^es  i  le  bon  ordre  n'etait-il  pas  maintenu  partout,  m6me  sans 
gendarmerie  i  soixante  et  dix  bataillons  nationaux  ne  se  mirent-ib 
pas  de  suite  en  marche,  en  vertu  d'un  simple  ordre  teiegraphique  ? 
£t  leur  marche  rapide  au  milieu  de  tant  de  confusion  ne  prouve-t- 
elle  pas  jusqu'd  Tevidence  I'eian  et  I'unanimite  nationale  ?' 

!  Les  gardes  nattonales  manquaient  de  sacs  de  peau  ;  on  me  promit  dtt 


lOl        yui  ont  eu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1820  ^/  1821 .        327 

Le  parlement  s'^tant  apergu,  mais  trop  tard,  de  P6tat  des 
choaesy  d6ploya  beaucoup  d'6iiergie,  fit  tous  les  efforts  pour  sauver 
la  patrie ;  mais  sans  perdre  sa  premiere  confiance.  On  pent  attri- 
buer  les  v^ritables  causes  de  noire  asservissement  6tranger  k  ce 
que  le  parlement  ne  prit  pas  une  resolution  pour  qu'un  commande- 
ment  militaire  absolu  f&t  d6f6r6  k  un  chef  niilitaire  quelconque, 
et  k  ce  qu'il  ne  se  retira  pas  d  temps  en  Calabre/avec  la  famille 
royale.  L'6tat  dans  lequel  nous  surprenaient  les  Autrichiens  prou- 
vait  assez  que  les  chances  de  la  guerre  devaient  6tre  multipli^es  et 
difficiles.  D'ailieurs,  malgr6  la  volonte  ferme  de  la  nation,  il  ne 
manquait  pas  de  ces  homme^  faibhes  ou  perfides,  qui  repr^sentai^nt 
les  Busses  sur  le  P6,  et  les  escadres  anglaise  et  fran^aise  r^unies 
centre  nous.  En  pareil  cas,  nous  devions  Stre  priv6s  des  grandes 
ressources  strat^giques  que  nous  offrait  la  mer  iibre.  Ensuite, 
comment  uos  d6put6s  respectables^  mais  abus6s  dans  ce  moment 
d^cisif^  pens^rent-ils  que  le  r6gent,  sans  experience  de  la  guerre, 
dans  un  6tat  de  sant6  qui  ne  pouvait  r^pondre  k  ses  g^n^reuses  in- 
tentions de  commander  Tarm^e  en  personne,  et  menac6  en  m^me 
temps  par  presque  toutes  les  puissances  de  I'Europe,  pourrait  faire 
uoe  guerre  obstin^e  contre  un  p^re  dont  le  nom  seul  avait  toujours 
auffi  pour  soumettre  sa  volonti,  d'autant  plus  qu'il  ne  dissimulait 
jamais  son  aveugle  ob^issance  fiiiale  r  Le  parlement  d6clarait 
que  la  constitution  confiait  le  commandement  supreme  de  Tarm^e 
au  roi  et  au  regent ;  mais  dans  les  cas  extremes,  tout  n'est-il  pas 
permis  pour  sauver  la  patrie  f  D'ailleurs,  la  constitution  ne  pr6- 
voyait  pas  le  funeste  cas  oii  le  fils  diit  faire  la  guerre  contre  le 
p^re. 

Enfin,  le  16  F6vrier  {Pieces  justi/icativeSy  No.  XVI),  je  fus 
«ppel6  au  commandement  en  chef  du  deuxi^me  corps  d'arm6e ; 
mon  fr^re  fut  nomm6  chef  de  I'^tat-major  g^n^ral,  et  les  milices 
re^urent  Tordre  de  marcher.  Le  20  F6vrier  j'arrivai  d  mon  quartier- 
g6n6ral  d*Aquila;  et  pour  ne  pas  tarder  d'un  jour,  je  faillis  p6rir 
dans  les  neiges  Toisines  du  Gran-Sasso  d'ltalie,  pr^s  de  Tottea 
{Piiees  ju$tif.  No.  XVI).  Ce  mfeme  jour,  on  me  rapporta  que 
I'ennemi  commengait  k  s'^tablir  sur  les  fronti^res.  L'ambassadeur 
d'Espagne  (Pieces  justify  No.  XVII),  le  marquis  d'Onis,  dont 
rhonneur  et  la  probite  doivent  &tre  appr6ci6s  de  V.  M.,  et  le 
teront  long-temps  des  Napolitains  reconnaissans,  comme  de  tous 
ceux   qui  sent  attaches  k  leurs  devoirs,  et  en  m6me  temps  aux 

sacs  de  toile,  et  je  ne  pus  mime  en  obtenir ;  en  sorte  que  les  miliciens  et  les 
legionnaires  n'avaient  pas  de  quoi  porter  une  chemise,  una  paire  de  souliers 
un  pain  de  munition.  La  plus  grande  partie  des  niemes  batai lions  man- 
quait de  gibernes  -,  et  comment  alors  conserver  les  cartouches  et  les  earantir 
ae  la  pluie  oa  de  Thumiditi,  afin  qu'elles  ne  les  missent  pas  hors  cr^tat  de 
servir? 


328  Relation  des  Evenemens  {30 

principes  constitutiomiels,  ni'6crmt  ces  mots,  en  date  du  27  F6- 
vrkr  :  ^'  G6o^ral^  les  Autrichiens  dirigent  stir  vous  toutes  letifs 
troupes ;  ils  pensent  qu'en  d^truisant  votre  corps  d'arm^ey  il  ne 
leur  restera  plus  rien  d  faire."  Je  n'avais  que  huit  batailloos  et 
deux  cents  chevaux,  ab)ig6  de  garder  uue  ligne  de  cent  cin^uaele 
miUes^  et  ignorant  de  quel  c6t6  aurait  d^boucbe  rennemi.  Je 
manquais  de  vivres  et  de  nioyens  d'en  faire  transporter  dans  ks 
diverses  positions.  11  u'y  avait  point  de  magasins  prepares  pour 
les  bataiilons  que  j'attendais  sous  peu  de  jours.  J'^crivau  aux 
ministres  dans  les  termes  les  plus  forts ;  mais  6tait-ce  le  t€im|)6 
d'^crire,  quand  les  Autrichienar  dirigeaient  sur  moi  toutes  leurs 
forces,  contn^  assures  de  leur  proie  ?  lis  6taient  instruiis  de  ma 
position  critique,  et  pr6voyaient  ou  savaient  peut-^tre  que  je  ne 
recevrais  aucun  secours.  En  cet  6tat  de  choses^  je  re§us  de»  in- 
structions {Pieces  justificat.  No.  XVIII.)  sign^es  par  le  r6gent. 
On  m'y  accorde  liberty  illitnit6e  d'entrer  en  Romagne ;  on  me 
prescrit  de  conserver  ^  tout  prix  les  Abruzzes,  et  Ton  m'assure 
que  si  Tennemi  vient  sL  deployer  contre  inoi  toutes  ses  forces^  le 
premier  corps  d'arm6e,  commands  en  chef  par  le  general  Caras- 
cosa,  devra  me  secourir,  soit  en  manoeuvrant,  soit  en  d^tachaot 
des  troupes.  Je  m'attendais  d'un  moment  a  Tautre  k  recevoir 
I'avis  que  le  premier  corps  d  arm6e  devait  m'envoyer  une  division 
de  ligne^  et  aurait  menace  Tennemi  du  c6t6  de  Liri.  Cependant, 
je  commen^ai  d  ^tre  rejoint  par  quelques  bataiilons  nationaux, 
r^unis  avec  precipitation,  fatigues  de  la  marche,  manquant  de  ca- 
potes, mal  nourris  par  le  d6faut  de  vivres,  ayant  des  fusils  de  cbasse 
sans  baionnettes,  dont  la  plupart  6taient  hors  d'6tat  de  servir.  Je 
t&chai  d'y  suppl6er  avec  des  piques  fabriquees  d  la  b^te,  plut6t 
pour  I'effet  moral  que  pour  l'utilit6  r^elle.  Pour  comble  de  dis- 
grace, les  bataiilons  nationaux  6taient  obliges  de  bivouaquer  au 
milieu  des  neiges.  {Pihesjustif.  No.  XIX.) 

Ce  fut  seulement  le  3  Mars  qu'un  conseiller-d'6tat  se  rendit  i 
mqn  quartier-g6n6ralj  avec  le  pouvoir  d'approvisionner  rarm6e  de 
vivresy  mais  sans  argent  pour  les  payer.  L'ordonnateur  en  chef  et 
le  payeur-g6n6ral  arriv^rent  avec  quelques  milliers  de  ducats.  Sur 
ces  entrefaites,  je  re9us  I'avis  que  toutes  les  forces  autricbienaes 
^ient  tellement  dispos6es  autour  de  Rieti,  qu'elles  pouvaient  i 
chaque  instant  m'altaquer  sur  plusieurs  points  i,  la  fois.  De 
notre  cdt^,  je  reunis  dans  les  environs  de  Civita-Ducale,  toutes 
les  forces  dont  je  pouvais  disposer ;  elles  montaient  k  dix  mille 
hommeSy  qui  ne  recevaient  pas  r6guli^rement  les  vivres.  Le 
mar6chal  de  camp  Russo  m'ecrivit  des  avant-postes  pendant  trois 
jours  cons^cutifsy  que  les  Autrichiens  se  disposaient  d  Tattaquef 
d'up  moment  k  I'autre.  Plusieurs  espions,  k  qui  je  devais  ajoutcar 
foi,  ne  me  laissaient  plus  douter  des  intentions  des  Autrichiens,  qui 


21]        qui  ont  eu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.       329 

faisaient  p^^trer  dans  les  Abruzzes  les  proclamations  de  V.  M.  et 
da  g6n6ral  Frimont,  par  le  moyen  de  I'intendant  d'Aquila  :  celui-ci 
8'6tait  enfui  de  sa  residence  pour  lenr  servir  de  guide  dans  I'enva- 
bissement  du  pays.  £n  cet  6tat  de  choses^  je  passai^  le  5  Mars^  d 
Antrodoco  avec  men  quartier-g6neral,  et  le  6,  k  Civita-Ducale, 
oii  deux  rapports  me  parvinrent^  I'un  du  colonel  Mantoue  da 
TagKacozzO;  qui  m'annon9ait  le  d^bandement  de  presque  tout  un 
bataillon  des  miliciens  de  Campobasso  ;  et  I'autre  du  colonel  Pisa, 
oflScier  qui  a  fait  constamment  la  guerre  avec  distinction^  et  pers€- 
Xttt6  maintenant  pour  son  patriotisme  ;  i1  me  faisait  partdu  debande- 
aient  de  deux  bataillons  de  milic^  de  Teramo^  lesquels  se  trou- 
vaient  sous  ses  ordres  k  Arquate^  et  qui  6taient  destines  k  se  battre 
en  partisans  d  Visso  et  d  Seravalle.  La  cause  de  ces  d^bandemens 
6tart  attribute  au  peu  d'ordre  avec  lequel  les  bataillons  s'6taient 
r6onis^  faute  de  temps ;  aux  privations  et  aux  fatigues  de  jeunes 
gens  sortant  d  peine  du  sein  de  leurs  families ;  enfin^  d  la  perfidie 
de  ceux  qui  repandaient  les  proclamations  autrichiennes  {Pih^ 
JHstif.  Nos.  XX,  XXI).  En  effety  le  colonel  Pisa  m^indiqua 
deux  adjudans-majors  comme  Slant  charges  par  des  personnages  aun 
kaut  rang  cPoperer  la  deroute.  On  avait  peu  de  peine  d  produire 
-le  d6couragement  parmi  la  milice^  en  lui  faisant  croire  que  presque 
toute  TEurope  s'int6ressait  d  notre  perte. 

Le  mfeme  jour  6,  enfin,  le  colonel  Cianciulli,  envoy6  par  le  regent 
et  le  ministre  de  la  guerre,  vint  d  mon  quartier-g6n6ral ;  mais  aa 
lieu  de  m'annoncer  le  secoHrs  d'un  renfort,  il  me  comnniniqua  un 
projet  de  camp  retranch^  d  Aquila,  avec  de  Fartillerie;  elle  nfe 
faisait  que  de  partir  de  Naples,  pendant  que  I'ennemi  6tait  pr^s  de 
m'attaquer  et  de  m*envelopper  du  c6t6  de  Taglincozzo  et  de  Leo- 
nessa,  point  trop  faible  pour  fetre  d6fendu  avec  quelques  milices. 

Si  je  fusse  rest6  deux  jours  de  plus  dans  I'inaction,  la  perte  de 
mon  corps  d'arm6e  6tait  inevitable,  soit  parce  qu'on  aurait  vu  re- 
nooveler  I'exemple  du  d^bandement  foment^  par  des  hommes  per- 
fides  dans  les  autres  bataillons,  soit  parce  que  I'ennemi  aurait 
tourn^  les  positions  d' Antrodoco,  et  les  points  ci-dessus  indiqu6B 
de  Tagliacozzo  et  Leonessa,  aprJs  avoir  battu,  avec  ses  fortes  co- 
lormes,  le  peu  de  forces  que  j'avais  pu  y  placer.  Une  retraite 
6tait  d'abord  contraire  d  mes  instructions,  et  «lle  aurait  produit  sur 
le  moral  de  jeunes  troupes  le  m^me  effet  que  si  elles  eussent 
6prouv6  une  d6faite.  C'est  pourquoi  je  pris  la  resolution  de  faire 
une  reconnaissance  qui,  m'engageant  dans  un  combat,  ne  pouvait 
tourner  contre  moi  d'apr^s  Tavantage  de  ma  position;  d'un  autre 
c6t6,  le  systdme  d'une  defense  active  6tait  celui  qui  convenait  d  ma 
situation,  et  j'avais  besoin  de  faire  voir  aux  milices  que,  favoris^es 
par  le  terrain,  elles  pouvaient  se  mesurer  avec  I'^lite  des  troupes 
autrichiennes.     Dans  la  matinee  du  7,  j'attaquai  I'ennemi  pr^s  da 


330  Relation  de$  Evinemens  £22 

Rieti^  ville  6Ioign6e  seulement  de  trois  mille  pas  de  Civita-Ducrie, 
avec  trois  milie  bommes  de  troupes  de  ligne,  et  sept  mille  milicieas, 
et  j'ordonnai  que  deux  autres  mille  bommes,  presque  enli^rement 
de  miiices,  s'avan^assent  de  ma  droite  vers  Piedi-Luco,  4  dix 
milles  loin  de  Rieti^  pour  donuer  uoe  alarme  aux  Autricbiens  et 
ks  laisser  dans  Tind^cision. 

Sire,  je  n'entre  point  dans  les  details  du  combat ;  mais  on  ne 
pent  coutester  que  les  Napolitains  soutinrent  pendant  sept  beur^ 
un  feu  tr^s  vif^  et  que  la  cavalerie  ennemie  recula  dans  toutes  les 
charges  qu'elle  tenta  d*ex6cuter  contre  deux  bataillons   du  douz^ 
^me  r6ginienty  serr6s   en  masse  contre  le  troisi^me  16ger  et  les 
milices  de  Capitanate.     Les  deux  cents  cbevaux  du  regiment  du 
roi,  que  j'avais  en  partie  arm6s  de  lances,  montr^rent  une  tenue 
admirable.     La  perte  que  souffrit  I'ennemi,  surtout  en  cavalerie, 
comme  le  t^moignage  peut  en  &tre  fourni  par  les  hdpitaux  de  Rieti, 
et  la  circoostauce  qu'il  n'y  eut  pas  un  seul  des  miens  ble8s6  d'ua 
coup  de  sabre,  prouvent  6videmment  ce  que  j'avance  &  V.  M. ; 
cela  fait  voir  en  outre  que  nous  combattimes  dans  des  positions 
avantageuses.     Apr^s  les  sept  beur^s  de  combat,  Tennemi  r^unit 
dans  la  plaine  des  masses  considerables  avec  lesquelles  il  se  dispo- 
sait  d  forcer  ma  droite.     J'avais  atteint  mon  but,  celui  de  recoo* 
naitre  I'ennemi  et  d'accoutumer  mes  troupes  ^  le  combattre  avec 
superiority;  et  jusque-l^  je  n'eus  point,  en  g^n^ral,  d  me  plaindre 
de  la  fermete  des  troupes  et  des  milices.'     Ainsi,  je  me  disposai  i 
la  retraite,  pour  rentrer  dans  mes  positions  extr^mement  fortes, 
eioign6es  d  peine  d'un  mille  et  demi  de  celles  que  j'occupais.     La 
premiere  ligne  commenga  le  mouvement  avec  ordre,    et  ne  fiit 
jamais  forc6e ;    mais  les  milices,  qui  se   trouvaient  en  secoude 
ligne,  n'6tant  pas  accoutum^es  k  se  rallier,  ni  k  conserver  leurs 
raugs,  tombdrent  dans  une  tr^s  grande  confusion ;  et  s'6tant  dis- 
pers^es  sur  les  hauteurs,  elles  n'^cout^rent  plus  leurs  officiers. 
Une  partie  de  la  premiere  ligne  suivit  Texemple  de  la  seconde ; 
cependant  il  y  resta  des  braves  qui  soutinrent  le  mouvement  retro- 
grade avec  intrepidite,  et  qui  emp&ch^rent  I'ennemi  de  poOrsuivre 
sa  marche  sur  Civita-Ducale.     La  nuit  survint,  et  je  consenrais 
resp6rance  que  les  troupes  et  les  milices  qui,  pour  une  premiire 
fois,  s'etaient  tr^s  bien  battues,  revenues  d'un  trouble  momentaoe, 
se  rallieraient  d  Antrodoco.     Dans  ce  cas,  Tennemi  n'aurait  pu 
m^me  s'apercevoir  du  d^bandement ;  et  les  jours  suivans,  avec  les 
m^mes  forces  et  d^autres  milices  que  j'attendais,  j'aurais  manoeuvre 
de  manidre  k  disputer  pour  toujours  aux  Autricbiens  Tenti^re  pos- 

'  On  m'assure  que  le  general  Frimont,  dans  le  rapport  qu'il  adressa  au 
conseil  aulique,  it  Vienne,  developpa  toutes  les  circonstances  de  i'affaire  de 
Rieti,  et  qu'il  les  exposa  autrement  qu'on  ne  les  a  publi6es  dans  les  jour- 
naux. 


23]         qui  ant  eu  Iku  a  Naples  en  1820  et  182L       331 

session  des  Abruzzes.  Sire,  plusieurs  personnes  m'ont  blfttn6 
d'avoir  attaqu6  les  Autrichiens,  ou  pour  mieux  dire,  d'avoir  d^bou- 
ch6  des  gorges  d'Antrodoco  pour  les  reconnaitre.  On  ne  doit  pas 
s'en  rapporter  sur  ce  fait  d  Topinion  du  plus  grand  nonibre,  mais  i 
celle  seulement  des  militaires  experiment's.  Or,  je  n'ignore  pas 
qu'd  Paris  plusieurs  g'neraux  illustres,  parmi  lesqueis  on  compte 
des>  mar'chaux  de  France,  sont  convenus  que  je  ne  pouvais  me 
dispenser  de  reconnattre  Tennemi ;  et  que,  commandant  de  jeunes 
troupes  et  des  gardes  nationaies  r'unies  pour  la  premiere  fois,  it 
fallait  d'fendre  les  Abruzzes,  non  pas  en  attendant  de  pied  ferme 
des  troupes  aguerries,  mais  eu  les  combattant  continuellement  sans 
perdre  Tavantage  des  positions.'  Et  si  j'eusse  pu  annoncer  k  la 
nation  les  6v6nemens  du  7,  sans  faire  mention  du  d6bandement 
survenu,  combien  mon  rapport  n'aurait-il  pas  influ6  utilement  sur 
le  moral  du  peuple,  de  Tarm'e,  et  des  gardes  nationaies ! . . . 

Etant  arrive  moi-m^me  le  soir  i,  Antrodoco,  je  m'apergus  que  je 
ne  pourrais  juger  des  eiFets  du  d'bandement  qu'au  point  du  jour. 
Mais  la  nuit,  ^ns  les  divers  bivouacs,  on  tirait  expr^s  des  coups 
de  fusil  pour  disperser  les  miliciens  et  l6s  soldats,  qui,  se  croyant 
poursuivis.par  I'ennemi,  continu^rent  d  se  debander,  sans  attendre 
le  jour.  Ce.  trait  de  perfidie  avait  eu  lieu  par  le  conseil  de  quelques 
vils  supp6ts,  vendus  d  I'ennemi  de  la  patrie.  Au  lever  du  jour, 
le  d'bandeoient  6tait  complet,  d  tel  point  que  je  pus  laisser  d  peine 
queiqaes  centaines  d'bommes  d  Antrodoco,  sous  les  ordres  d'un 


par  la  guerre;  afin  de  m'attirer  la  haine  de  mes  concitoyens,  et  de  m'6ter 
ainsi  la  possibilite  de  leur  offrir  un  point  de  raliiement  pour  ia  defense  de  la 
patrie.  £t  comment  a-t-on  pu  supposer  que  les  Autrichiens,  quiavaient  de- 
clare vouloir  entrer  dans  le  royaume,  lors  m^me  que  nous  aurions  aboli  le 
r€gime  constitutionuely  et  qui  rassembl^rent  ensuite  toutes  leurs  forces  dans 
le  voisinage  de  Rieti,  auraient  suspendu  les  bostilit^s,  si  je  ne  les  eusse  atta- 
qu6s  ?  Les  Autricbiens  rest^rent  inactifs  diirant  quelques  jours  a  Rieti  pour 
atteodre  qu'oo  publidt  les  promesses  du  Roi  et  les  menaces  du  general  Fri- 
jmont,  afin  d'obtenir  ou  de  provoquer  par  ces  mo.vens  le  debandement  de 
moD  corps  d*armee,  et  pour  apprendre  avec  precision  mes  mouvemens  par 
leurs  espions.  Uintendant  d'Aquila,  qui  se  trouvail  depuis  plusieurs  mois 
parmt  les  Autrichiens,  dirigeait  avec  heaucoup  de  talent  I'espionnage  de 
i'ennemi.  £nfin,  si  i'ennemi  avait  int6rSt  de  gagner  du  temps,  il  est  evident 
qu'il  ne  me  convenait  pas  de  lui  en  accorder.  Les  evenemens  qui  devaient 
arriver  sous  pen  de  jours  en  Piemont  ne  m'etaient  pas  connus ;  et  d'ailleurs, 
dans  le  mois  de  Septembre,  ayant,  d'accord  avec  la  junte  de  gouvernement, 
envoye  le  colonel  Pisa,  ^  reflfet  de  s'informer  de  Tesprit  de  ces  peuples,  et 
des  dispositions  de  leur  gouvernement  a  Tegard  des  Autrichiens,  des  per- 
sonnes d'importance  lui  repondirent  que  les  Piemontais  etaient  eloignes 
de  faire  aucun  mouveroent. 


333  Jtclation  dss  Evcnemens  [24 

gdn^ral.    Je  tne  rendis  ensuite  d  Aquila,  pour  voir  dijuel  exp^ient 
je  pouvais  m'arr^ter ;  mais  les  soldats  et  les  railicsens  di^band^s. 

Sue  les  habitans  voulaient  arr^ter^  et  punir  d'avoir  abandonn6  leurs 
rapeauXy  cherchant  Timpunit^  dam  ie  nombre  des  complices^  r^ 
pandaient  partout  le  bruit  que  j'avais  6t6  tu6  ou  fait  prisonnier,  quo 
des  milliers  des  notres  avaient  6t6  tallies  en  pieces  par  la  cavalerie 
autrichienne,  et  plusieurs  autres  nouvelles  d^solantes  qui^  bien  que 
fausseSy  parvinrent  dans  la  capitale,  oh  i'on  ajouta  que  j'avan  en- 
gag6  mes  milices  dans  la  plaine.  Ces  bruits^  nialgr6  leur  absurdity, 
faisaient  d^bander  les  bataillons  nationaux  qui  se  trouvaient  en 
marche  pour  me  rejoindre, 

L'ennemi,  avant  le  9>  ne  se  pr^senta  pas  avec  des  masses  impo- 
aantes  k  Antrodoco  et  k  Leonessa.  Quelques  centaines  d'hommes 
seulement  6taient  resides  pour  la  defense  de  ces  points,  et  se 
battirent  avec  courage^  ne  c6dant  k  la  fin  qu'au  nombre^  d'autaiit 
plus  que  la  gorge  d'Antrodoco  fut  toum^e  du  cdt6  de  Capra- 
dosso^  et  que  celle  de  Leonessa  n'offre  pas  une  grasde  diflScult6. 
Ainsi,  je  me  trouvai  forc6  de  quitter  Aquila  dans  la  matin6e  du  10; 
e€,  ne  pouvant  arr^ter  le  d^bandement,  j'ordonnai  que  toas  les  gi-^ 
n6raux  se  retirassent  k  temps  pour  ne  point  &tre  coup6s  avec  les 
debris  des  troupes  ou  des  milices  qu'ils  conservaient.  Les  offi* 
ciers  de  tous  les  bataillons  nationaux  se  r^unirent,  en  offrant  de 
aervir  en  quality  de  soldats.  Je  leur  donnai  I'ordre  de  rentrer  dans 
leurs  districts  respectifs^  et  de  r6organiser  en  huit  jours  leurs  batail- 
lons d  leur  choix,  en  leur  annon9ant  que  je  les  convoquerais  entre 
Saleme  et  Avellino.  Je  m'exprimai  alors  en  ces  temies^  dans  une 
proclamation  :  *^  Gardes  nationaux,  vous  vous  ^tes  comport6s  avec 
un  patriotisme  extraordinaire ;  vous  avez  brav6  les  intern p6ries,  et 
support^  toute  esp^ce  de  privations ;  vous  avez  fait  des  marches 
excessives ;  vous  vous  ^tes  faabill6s  k  vos  frais,  et  vous  avez  affront^ 
sans  pdlir  les  troupes  d'61ite  de  Tennemi.  Un  moment  de  trouble^ 
la  perfidie  de  quelques  satellites  du  despotisme,  pourraient-ils  vous 
faire  oublier  une  cause  si  noble  et  si  avantageHse,  pour  laquelk 
vous  avez  fait  tant  de  sacrifices  spontan6s?  Monte- Forte  sera 
notre  point  de  reunion ;  vos  officiers  vous  conduiront  en  ce  lien, 
qui  deviendra  sacr6  pour  la  post6rit6.  Pour  la  premiere  fois,  vous 
avez  fait  assez ;  tout  ce  que  vous  fttes  de  bien  est  dii  i  votre  propre 
vaieur,  et  vos  erreurs  partent  du  d6faut  d'babitude  de  la  guerre,  de 
la  discipline  et  des  fatigues.  Je  ne  vous  bidme  point,  mais  je 
vous  appelle  d  r6parer  vos  fautes.  Et  vous,  femmes  abruzziennes, 
samnites,  irpines,  dauniennes,  vous  devez  avoir  moins  d'indulgence 
que  moi.  Quand  vos  fils,  vos  6poux  qui  m'ont  abandonn6,  rentreront 
dans  vos  demeures,  aurez-vous  la  faiblesse  de  les  presser  dans  vos 
bras  ?  Dites-leur  que  je  les  attends  k  Monte-Forte,  oii  ils  efface- 
ront  la  tache  de  Rieti." 


25]         qui  ont  eu  lieu  a  Napks  en  1820  et  1821.       ^3 

Cependant  j'arrivai  le  soir  du  11  i  Castel  de  Sangro,  oik  il 
ne  me  restait  pas  m^me  les  deux  compagnies  de  sapeurs,  qui 
^taieot  attaches  d  mon  quartier-g^n^ral,  et  qui  se  distingu^reot 
beaucoup  le  7.  J'^crivis  au  Regent  et  aux  d6put6s  du  parlemeot^ 
que  mon  corps  d'arm^e  se  rallierait  sous  quinze  jours,  d'autant 
plus  qu'on  attendait  les  bataillons  nationaux  des  Calabres,  de  Bari 
et  deXiecce.  Ce  qui  m'est  arriv6dans  les  Abruzzes^  ajoutais-je^ 
est  la  r6p6tition  des  revers  considerables  qu'6prouv^rent  les  Am6- 
ricains  des  Etats-Unis^  les  gardes  nationales  de  France  dans  les  pre- 
mieres anuses  de  la  revolutions  et  presque  toujours,  non  seulement 
les  gardes  nationales,  mais  aussi  les  troupes  de  ligne  de  r£spagne.' 
Qu'6taient  les  troupes  portugaises^  aujourd*hui  si  bonnes  et  si  res- 
pect^es,  avant  le  si^ge  de  Lisbonne  ?  £n  1811,  les  militaires  prus- 
siens,  aujourd'hui  converts  de  gloire,  rougissaient  de  se  dire  Prus- 
siens.  Si  nous  cherchons  des  exemples  plus  61oign6s,  nous  ver- 
rons  que  la  m^me  chose  arriva  aux  Russes^  sous  Pierre-le-Grand ; 
et  si  nous  recourons  d  des  faits  plus  r^cens,  nous  trouverons  que 
les  Am6ricuns  de  Bolivar  ont  essuy6  des  revers  bien  plus  graves 
que  n'en  a  ^prouv^  la  milice  napolitaine  d  Rieti.  Rappelons-nous 
que  le  peuple  napolitain,  avant  tout  autre  peuple  d'£urope,  osa 
r^sister  aux  armies  fran^aises  victorieuses.  Rappelons-nous  les 
eioges  que  les  Napolitains  merit^reDt  constamment  en  Espagne,  k 
la  grande  arm^e^  a  Dantzick,  et  en  Italic  en  1814,  de  la  part  des 
Autrichiens  eux-m^mes.  Pour  triompher  de  tons  les  obstacles,  il 
suffit  souvent  d'etre  perseverant. 

Sire,  le  13  je  passai  d  Isernia,  et  le  17  j'obtins  du  R6gent  la 
permission  de  me  rendre  d  Naples,  laissant  les  debris  de  mon  corps 
d'arm6e  sous  les  ordres  d'un  g6n6ral.  On  m'a  bisime  d'etre  revenu 
d  Naples ;  et  moi  je  crois,  au  contraire,  avoir  commis  une  faute 
de  ne  pas  m'y  £tre  rendu  imm^iatement  apr^s  le  8.^  Quelques 
centaines  d'hommes,  restes  du  debandement,  pouvaient  &tre  confi6s 
i  un  mar^chal  de  camp  :  il  ne  m'6tait  pas  possible  avec  elies  de 
rien  faire  de  d6cisif ;  mais  r^orgaiiiser  le  second  corps   d'arm6e, 

^  Plusieurs  personnes  m'ont  demande  pourquoi  les  Napolitains  (ti'ont 
pas  imite  les  Espagnols.  Les  Napolitains  n^avaient  besuin  dMniiter  aucune 
nation,  puisqu^iis  avaient  les  premiers,  en  Europe,  donne  Texemple  de  s'lnsur- 

§ar  contre  une  armee  etrang^re.  Mais  cette  fois,  ils  se  trouv^eiit  abai>- 
onnes  de  leur  prupre  guuvernement,  n'ayant  aucun  point  d'appui  qui  les 
soutlnt,  ni^me  au  mora),  par  des  esperances  lointaines.  S*ils  avaienleu  une 
representation  nationale  comme  les  Espagnols,  dont  les  cones  animaient  la 
nation;  o«  s'ils  eussent  6t6  soutenus  d'une  pnissaoce  te^le  que  TAngle- 
terre ;  st  Voti  n'e6t  pas  cede  la  Sicile  et  les  places  fortes,  les'  Napolitains 
auraient  developpe  leur  energie  naiurelle.  Mais  TEurope  recoiinaitra  un 
jour  qu'elle  a  juge  les  Napolitains  avec  beaucoup  de  leg^rete  et  d'injustice. 
Les  miUces  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique,  eu  1815,  ont-elles  defendu  leur 
patrie  centre  les  troupes  angUises  avec  plos  de  succ^  que  les  milices  napo* 
litaines?  Qui  oscra  cependant  dire  que  les  Americains  des  Etats-Unis 
n*unt  pas  merite  d'lfttre  libres  ? 


334  Relation  des  Evenemens  [26 

ranimer  le  courage  de  la  nation,  tirer  parti  d'une  foule  de  ressources 
qui  nous  restaient :  tels  6taient  les  objets  importans  qui  pouvaient 
decider  du  salut  national.  On  a  dit  qu  apr^s  le  d^bandeni^nt  da 
deuxi^me  corps  d'arm6e  les  soldats  et  les  miliciens  menac^rent  leurs 
officiers :  ce  sont  de  cruelles  calomnies,  puisque  la  plus  grande 
partie  des  troupes  et  des  gardes  nationales  manifestaient^  par  leur 
maintien,  la  honte  et  la  douleur  de  s'&tre  conduites  ainsi. 

En  arrivant  k  Naples,  je  d6montrai  au  R6gent  et  aux  d^put^s 
que  le  premier  corps  d'arip^e,  compost  de  trente  bataillons  de 
ligne,  de  trois  mille  gendarmes,  de  quatre  regimens  de  cavaleriei 
outre  les  bataiUons  nationaux  retrenches  derrilre  le  Volturno,  pou* 
vait  retenir  au  moius  pendant  dix  jours  la  marclie  des  Autricbiens, 
qui  6taient  encore  lorn  de  Capoue,  et  que  pendant  ce  temps-li 
j'aurais  r6organis6  le  second  corps  d'armee,  de  mani^e  sk  faire  un 
mouvement  sur  Campo- Basso,  poussaut,  sur  les  flancs  et  les-  der- 
ri^res  des  Autrichiens,  divers  d^tachemeus  d'hommes  choisis  et  bien 
commandos,  A/j  pis  aller,  le  premier  et  le  second  corps  d'armee 
pouvaient  se  retirer  dans  les  provinces  d'Avellino^  de  Salerna,  et  de 
Potenza,  en  6vacuant  la  capitale.  L'ennemi  arriva  &  Naples  sans 
occuper  le  ch&teau  Saint- Elme ;  et  devaot  y  laisser  beaucoup  de 
troupes,  ainsi  que  dans  les  Abruzzes,  devant  Gaete  et  Capooei 
comment  aurait-il  pu  s'avancer  impuniment  i  Avec  tout  cela,  mat- 
tres  de  la  mer,  nous  aurions  fait  d^barquer  sur  tons  les  points  des 
d^tachemens  de  partisans,  et  autant  de  troupes  que  nous  aurioos 
voulu  d  Gaete  pour  prendre  Tennemi  par  derri^re.  '  Mille  res- 
sources  efficaces,  et  peut-^tre  certaiues,  nous  restaient  encore  ;  mais 
elles  furent  inutiles,  et  regard6es  comme  dangereuses,  parce  qu'il 
aurait  failu  faire  avec  le  fils  la  guerre  au  p^re,  parce  que  rh^ritier 
de  la  couronne,  menac6  de  la  perdre  par  son  p^re  et  par  les  allies, 
aurait  dii  combattre  sans  aucune  consideration.  Le  seul  acte  de 
faiblesse  du  parlemeut  fut  d'exp^dier  un  message  a  V.  M .  par  le 
g^n^ral  Fardella  (Pikes  justijf^.  No.  XXII),  lorsqu'elle  itait 
environn^e  de  Penuemi.  En  cet  instant  la  nation,  sous  le  joag 
Stranger,  devait  consid^rer  son  Roi,  ou  comme  prisonnier,  ttooo 
comme  d6chu  du  trone.  Rencontrant  dans  le  palais  royal  le  d^puti 
JSorelli,  qui  descendait  de  chez  le  R6gent,  je  iui  r6p6tai  ce  que 
j'avAis  dit  d  ses  collogues  :  '^  Voulez-vous  sauver  la  pa  trie  ;  que  le 
prince  et  sa  faraille,  avec  le  parlement,  passent  en  Calabre  ou  k 
Messine ;  si  vous  prenez  ce  parti,  la  nation  se  sauvera  avec  sa  seule 
Anergic"  Borelli,  se  flattant  encore  d'une  r6ponse  favorable  de 
V.  M.  au  retour  de  Fardella,  me  r^pondit  ces  propres  paroles: 
'^  Le  parlement  devra-t-il  iuiiter  la  fuite  des  soldats  ?"  D'apr^ 
cette  r6ponse  d'un  homme  aussi  d6vou6  au  bien  public,  j'aper^us, 
pour  la  premiere  fois,  le  vrai  danger  de  la  patrie.  Commeut  le 
parlement  demeura-t-il  d  Naples  avec  la  famille  royale^  quaod 


W]       qui  onteuUeui  Naples  at  1820  et  1821.        335 

rennemi  pouvait  en  six  beures  se  porter  sur  la  capitate,  lora  m^me 
qiie  le  corps  d*arin6e  du  g6n6ral  Carascosa  e&t  dii  la  couvrir  d'apr^s 
lea  regies  militaires  i  et  cependant  le  parlement  6tait  plein  de  pa- 
triotisme,  ainsi  que  le  fait  voir  sa  derni^re  stance  (Pieces  just  if. 
No.  XXIII). 

En  vertu  du  d6cret  du  R6gent,  relatif  k  I'organisation  du  second 
corps  d'arm^e,  je  partis  pour  Salerne,  oik  je  trouvai  dans  toute  la 
population  la  volont6  de  coop6rer  k  la  defense  de  I'ind^pendance 
napolitaine.    J*y  passai  en  revue  un  bataillon  national,  et  j'exp6- 
diai  des  circulaires  aux  autorit6s  des  diverses  provinces,  pour  qu'elles 
Ti^unissent  les  bataillons  qui  s'^taient    disperses,    et   qui    com- 
mencaient  k  se  rallier,  et  pour  qu'elles  pourvussent  aux  besoins  des 
bataillons  venant  de  la  Pouiile  et  des  Calabres.    J'^crivis  en  m^me 
temps  ii  plusieurs  d6put6s  du  parlement  que,  sous  'peu  de  jours, 
j'aurais  une  force  plus  que  double  de  celle  que  j'avais  dans  les  A- 
bruzzes^  que  je  serais  dans  le  cas  de  manoeuvrer  sur  les  flancs  de 
Pennemi,  et  que  les  gardes  nationaux  n'aspiraient  qu'au  moment  de 
r6parer  T^chec  port6  d  leur  r^putaticm  dans  les  Abruzzes.     Pen- 
dant ce  temps-ldy  j'6tais  avec  un  seul  aide-de-camp.     L'6tat-major, 
les  cadres  des  bataillons  de  ligne,  un  regiment  de  cavalerie,  Tar- 
tillerie  de  montagne,  les  g6nilraux  et  beaucoup  d'autres  officiers, 
Fordonnateur  et  les  commissaires  des  guerres  devaient  rejoindre  i 
chaque  instant  mon  quartier-g6n6ral.    Je  me  coniiai  dans  plusieurs 
mojens;et  lorsqu'il  me  paraissait  que  nous  pouvions  commencer 
la  guerre  avec  avantage,  un  officier  de  I'^tat-major  dont  je  viens  de 
parler,  le  major  Tanchi,  vint  m'annoncer  qu'on  n'organiserait  plus 
mon  corps  d'arm^e,  et  que  tout  le  personnel  que  j'attendais  avait 
regu  Tordre  de  ne  point  passer  Capoue.    J 'ignore  d^oii  vint  une 
telle  perfidie,  et  je  laisse  au  temps  d'en  d6voiler  les  auteurs.'     Je 
pars  imm6diatement  de  Saleme  pour  Naples,  dans  la  confiancede 
parer  ce  coup  fatal  et  impr6vu.   Mais  le  soir  de  mon  arriv6e  d  Na- 
ples, on  y  recut  la  nouvelle  du  d6bandement  du  premier  corps  d'ar- 
m6e,  sans  qu  il  e&t  vu  ni  entendu  Tennemi.  Plusieurs  ofSciers  de  la 
garde  royale  se  d6clar^rent  en  sa  faveur ;  et,  pour  colorer  leur  de- 
fection, ils  parlaient  de  fid6lit6  d  V.  M.     Je  ne  m'arr&terai  pas  k 
develop  per  les  causes  de  la  dissolution  de  re  corps  d'arm6e,  et  il 
ne  m'appartient  pas  de  le  faire.     D'ailleurs,  je  n'aurais  ni  preuve 
morale  ni  documens  d  fonrnir  pour  appuyer  I'opinion  queje  me 
suis  form^esur  untel  6v6nement;  d'autantplus  que  j'ai  r^solu  de  n'ex* 

^  Si  Ton  ne  m'e(^t  pas  arr6t6  dans  rorganisation  du  second  corps  d'arni6e, 
je  me  serais  trouve  entre  Salerno  et  Avellino  avec  une  force  sumsaote  pour 
servir  de  point  de  r6 
citoyens  aetermines 

fuerre  devait  commencer  avec  succ^s  it  Tepoque 
Naples,  et  roalheureusement  c'est  alors  que  le  gouvernemeut  la  fit  ter- 
inintr. 


330  lUlation  des  Evcnemens  [28 

poser  d  V.  M.  que  les  cireonstances  qui  ne  pourroQt  jamab  &tre 
r6voqu6es  en  doute.  Mais  si  jamais  Jes  Napolitains  recouvreat 
leur  ]ibert6  et  reprennent  quelque  part  aux  affaires  publiques^  hea 
certainement  ne  restera  ignor6.' 

La  defection  du  premier  corps  d'arm6e  produisit  dans  tous  lea 
cceurs  un  d6cQuragement  total ;  car  Tennemi  pouvait  entrer  &  Naples 
dans  quelques  heures  de  marche,  et  il  6tait  d6cid6  que  la  faoiille 
royale^le  regent  et  leparlementattendraieht  les  troupes  autrichiennes 
dans  la  capitale.  £n  cet  instant-Id  m&melapatrie  eAt  ete  sau^ 
vie,  si  la  famille  royale  et  les  deputes  sejussent  retires  en  SicUe. 
Pendant  long-temps  Tennemi  n'eftt  pu  outrepasser  la  capitale ;  et, 
durant  ce  temps-Id,  une  multitude  de  bandes  de  partisans,  r6paod«9 
par  la  voie  de  la  mer  et  des  montagnes  au  milieu  de  I'enneuu,  et  sou- 
tenus  de  I'id^e  qu'il  existait  un  gouvernement,  auraient  mis  les  Au* 
trichiens  dans  une  position  critique,  et  la  nation  se  serait  agtierrie 
d  leurs  d6pens  au  point  de  les  chasser  du  royaume. 

Quant  i  moi,  comme  je  n'avais  plus  de  gouvernement>  ni  m&toe 
un  simulacre  de  gouvernement  d  soutenir,  ni  un  corps  de  troupeadc 
ligne  pour  me  servir  de  point  de  reunion,  ni  une  place  forte  sur 
laquelle  je  pusse  m'appuyer,  je  devais  changer  de<  plan  ^  chaque 
instant.  Les  Caiabres,  mon  pays  natal,  attiraient  mon  attentioa ; 
mais  peut-6tre  n'aurais-je  pu  arriver  sain  et  sauf  k  Saleme.  Les 
proclamations  de  V.  M.,  qui.  menagaient  de  la  perte  des  propri6l^B 
et  de  la  vie  quiconque  aurait  fait  resistance,  consternaient  les  habi- 
tans.  Le  peu  d'hommes  d6vou6s  au  pouvoir  absolu  se  montraient 
prets  k  assassiner  sur  lesgrandes  routes  ceux  qui  s'^taient  le  pks 
compromis  pour  la  cause  nationale,  Je  passai  d  Castellaoiare,  et 
i'y  restai  ind6cis  sur  le  parti  que  j'avais  d  prendre.  Despersonoes 
consid6r6es  et  que  j'estimais,  me  disaient  et  m'6crivaient  dene 
point  donner  aux  Autrichiens  le  plaisir  de  m'avoir  entre  leurs  maias, 
mais  de  conserver  ma  vie  pour  la  patrie  elle-m^me,  parce  qu'une 
cause  si  juste  ne  pouvait  etre  perdue  pour  toujours.  lis  ajoutaieat 
que,  dans  ce  moment  de  demoralisation  et  de  desordre,  je  n'aurais  pu 
parvenir  d  r6unir  cent  hommes  ;  qu'enfin,  j'aurais  perdu  la  vie  par 
la  main  de  quelque  sicaire,  et  qu'un  tel  crime  aurait  ete  imputl  d 
la  nation  eutidre.  L'ambassadeur  d'Espagne  6tait  impatieot  de  me 
voir  parti,  et  me  conseillait  de  ne  pas  m'obstiner  d  p6rir  sans  utih 
lit6.  Enfia,  un  g6n6ral  m'envoya,  par  un  ofBcier  d'etat*major,  aae 
d^p^che  oik  se  trouvait  une  lettre  portant  ces  mots  :  '^  Partez  sur 
I'heure,  ou  souvenez-vous  d'avoirdeux  pistolets  sur  vous." 

Je  mis  d  la  voile  pour  Barcelonne  entre  le  19  et  le  £0  Mars,  sur 

^  Le  lecteur  sera  peut-^tre  ciirieux  de  connaitre  quels  mouveroens  furent 
operes  par  le  premier  corps  d'armee  sous  les  ordres  du  general  Carascosa.  Lb 
corps  ayant  passe  la  riviere  Liri,  n*eut  point  Toccasion  de  voir  rennemi. 
Lorsque  les  Autrichiens  eurent  occupe  les  Abruzzes,  il  fit  un  mouvemeot 
r6trograde  derri^re  le  fleuve  Volturno,  a  cinq  rallies  environ  de  Naples,  et 
la  il  se  debanda  subitement. 


293       9^^  ^'  ^^  ^^^  d. Naples  en  1820  eif  1821.       337 

un  vaisseau  marchand  qui  me  fut  procur6  par  Tambassadeur  d'Es- 
pagnci  le  marquis  d'Onis.  Ce  n'est  pas  k  moi  de  decider  si  des 
deux  partis  je  cboisis  le  plus  convenable.  Sous  le  pli  de  la  lettre 
qui  me  fut  remise  par  rofficier,  avant  que  je  misse  k  la  voile,  je 
trouvai  ud  d6cret  du  prince-r6gent,  par  lequel  j'^tais  nomm6  d  une 
commission  extraordmaire  dans  les  Etats-Unis  d'Ara^rique.  Le 
regent,  se  rappelant  les  6v6nemens  de  1799>  accorda  des  permis- 
sions et  des  passe^ports  d  tons  les  officiers  et  d  tons  les  deputes  qui 
voulurent  6migrer,  et  il  m'^xpedia  cette  commission  suppos^e,  afin 
queje  ne  fusse  pas  arr&t£  par  les  allies,  si  Je  tombais  entre  leurs 
mains.  Pour  6viter  toute  equivoque,  arrive  k  Barcelonne  (J?ilce$ 
justify  No.  XXIV,)  j'6crivis  au  ministre  d'etat  k  Madrid,  pour  lui 
faire  part  de  mon  arriv6e,  et  des  tristes  6v6nemens  de  ma  patrie ; 
et  lui  parlant  de  la  commission  qui  m'avait  6te  donn^e  pour  la 
forme  par  le  gouvernement  constitutionnel,  je  declarai  que  je 
n'acceptais  point  un  tel  emploi,  parce  queje  ne  reconnaissais  dans 
le  royaume,  ni  le  gouvernement  militaire  autrichien,  ni  le  pouvoir 
absola  de  V.  M.,  puisque  dans  le  serment  que  je  vous  avais  entendu 
prononcer  deux  fois,  vous  disiez:  ''Quant  k  ce  que  je  viens  de 
jurer,  ou  k  toute  autre  partie  de  ce  serment,  si  je  venais  k  y  con- 
trevenir,  je  ne  devrais  pas  Stre  ob6i.  Tout  ce  qui  y  serait  contraire 
devra  £tre  consid6r6  comme  nul  et  de  nulle  valeur.  En  agissai^t 
ainsi,  que  Dieu  m'aide,  et  me  soit  en  .defense ;  dans  le  cas  contraire^ 
qu'il  me  punisse/' 

Sire,  j'appris  ensuite  que  le  parlement,  qu'on  ne  pourra  jamais 
accuser  a  avoir  manqu£  de  patriotisme,  le  jour  m^me  oii  les  Autri,- 
chiens  entr^rent  k  Naples,  avait  fait  une  protestation  qui  restera 
6terne)lement  grav6e  dans  le  coeur  des  Napolitains  {Pieces  just  if. 
Nos.  XXy,  XXVI.) 

Voild,  Sire,  comment  il  est  d6montr6  que  si  la  nation  fut  sub- 
]ugu6e  en  tr^s  peu  de  temps,  ce  ne  fut  point  par  d6faut  de  patrio- 
tisme, ni  d'attachement  au  regime  (Constitutionnel,  ni  de  d6voue- 
ment  de  sa  personne  et  des  biens  pour  I'ind^pendance  de  la  patrie; 
mais  elle  fut  asservie,  parce  que  le  pouvoir  ex6cutif  dirigea  tomours 
mal  et  lentement  les  affaires  de  la  guerre,  et  parce  que  le  R^ent, 
qui  montra  toujours  de  la  lojaute,  du  patriotisme  et  de  Tattache* 
.  ment  k  la  gloire  nationale,  d6courag6  par  les  d^sastres  de  I'arm^e, 
combattu  dans  les  derniers  iours  par  les  menaces  des  allies  et  les 
proclamations  de  V.  M,,  n  ayant  pas  une  sant6  assez  forte  pour 
soutenir  les  fatigues  d'une  guerre  obstin^e,  et  manquant  d'habitude 
pour  la  faire,  au  lieu  de  se  retirer  en  Calabre,  abandonna  en  un  seul 
jour  la  nation  et  ses  ressources  k  I'ennemi ;  sans  cela  cette  nation 
se  serait  d^fendue,  malgre  les  fautes  dans  lesquelles  elle  6tait  torn- 
b6e,  malgre  la  d6fection  des  troupes  et  des  milices  des  deux  corps 
u  armee 

y6L.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.  Y 


338  Relation  desJlvenemens  ^       |30 

Ainsi^  c'est  k  tort  que  les  ministres,  d  Laybach,  vouturent  dttii- 
buer  les  succ^s  rapides  et  faciles  des  Autrichiens^  au  peu  de  d^vdue- 
menti  ou  au  d6faut  m^me  de  tout  attachement  des  Napolitains  ao 
r6^ime  constitutionnel.  Ailleurs,  le  d^baudement  de  rarni6e  dii' 
pnuce  Ipsilanti  a-t-il  prouv6  que  les  Grecs  n'aspiraient  pas  d  6tre 
affranchis  du  joug  ottoman  i  Sire,  si  la  nation^  comme  on  Fa 
r6pandu  dans  plusieurs  joumaux,  ne  desire  point  le  r6girae  con* 
stitutionnel,  et  si  le  petit  nombre  de  ceux  qui  Tout  proGlam£  se 
trouvent  dans  les  fers  ou  dans  Texil,  pourquoi  les  troupes  aotrichi- 
ennes  n'6vacuent-elles  pas  le  royaumei  et  ne  laissent-elles  pas  V.  M. 
r6gner  paisiblement  sur  la  population  des  Deux-Siciies  qu'on  sup- 
pose idol&trer  le  regime  paternel  absolu  i  On  veut  fiiire  croire 
qu'un  parti  de  quelques  individus  op6ra  le  changement  politique 
arriv6  dans  le  royaume ;  et  ces  individus,  pour  Tex^cuter,  n'eorent 
aucun  besoin  de  secours  6tranger«  Bien  loin  de  Id,  ils  maintinreot 
la  nation  dans  Tordre,  et  prirent  une  attitude  imposante  envers  d^ 
ennemis  puissans ;  non  seulement  la  majority  de  la  nation  qu'on 
veut  faire  croire  d6vou6e  au  pouvoir  absolu,  ne  parvint  point  par 
elle-mdme  d  abattre  ce  petit  nombre,  roais  Tarm^e  autrichienne, 
montrant  la  plus  grande  incertitude,  se  servit  d'une  infinite  de  seduc- 
tions, et  voulut  que  V.  M.  par&t  au  milieu  d'elle  pour  exhoiter,  par 
aes  proclamations,  les  peuples  k  ne  point  faire  resistance,  en  me- 
fia9ant  ceux  qui  n'auraient  pas  imm6diatem6nt  d6pos6  les  armes. 
£t  malgr6  tons  ces  exp6diens,  qu'auraient  pu  obtenir  les  Autrichiens, 
si  le  gouvemement  constitutionnel  se  f&t  retir6,  je  ne  dis  pas 
dans  la  Calabre,  mais  seulement  d  Salerno  i 

Maintenant,  qu'il  me  soit  permis  de  d6montrer  d  V.  M.  qu'eiie 
ne  pourra  jamais  obtenir  le  bien  de  la  nation,  ni  sa  propre  sdret^, 
ni  celle  de  sa  dynastie  sur  le  trdne  des  Deux-Siciles,  tant  qu'elle  ne 
r^tablira  pas  la  constitution  jur6e.  En  effet,  les  m^mes  raisons 
qui  engagirent  V.  M.  d  dissoudre  Tarm^e  et  les  gardes  nationales 
ne  cess^rent  jamais  d'exister.  Les  soldats  de  ligne,  et  les  gardes 
nationales  de  tout  grade  qui  ont  servi  le  gouvernement  constitution- 
nel, ayant  pr&t6  dans  mes  mains,  directement  ou  par  le  moyen  db 
leurs  chefs,  le  serment  de  fid6lit6  au  nouveau  syst^me  repr^sentatif ; 
si,  par  hypothise,  V •  M.  venait  i  composer  Parm6e  de  citoyeiis  oiii 
n'eussent  pas  encore  servi,  ils  se  rappelleraient,  comme  Napoli- 
tains, qu'elle-m^me,  dans  un  serment  solennel,  autorisa  toils  les 
faabitans  des  Deux-Siciles  k  ne  point  lui  ob^ir  si  elle  venait  d  en- 
freindre  la  constitution  sanctionn6e.  Et  dans  toute  circonstance, 
les  militaires  devant  manquer  ou  au  serment  pr6t6  au  roi  absola, 
ou  au  serment  pr&t6  au  roi  constitutionnel,  quelle  decision  pren- 
draient-ils  i  V.  M,  a  fait  et  fera  condamner  si  mort  plusieurs  offi- 
ciers,  panni  lesquels  je  suis  compris ;  mais  si  V.  M.  e&t  votilu 
suivre  les  usages  re$us  dans  TEurope  chr6tieune,  si  elle  m'e&t  donn6 


SI  I       qui  onteu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1830  et  182  L       330 

desjages^  comment  en  e&t-etfe  trouv6  de  comp^tens  dans  rarmee^ • 
pvisque  tons  lea  militaires  avaient  jur6  de  soutenir  la  constitntion. 
adoptee  i  Avant  que  V.  M«  parttt  pour  La^bacb,  ayant  re9u  lea 
listes'  de  candidata  du  parlement,  elle  me  nomroa  spontan6ment 
ooBseiller  d'etat  {Piices  jmtif.  No.  XXVIL)  Pourrai-je  croire< 
jamais  que  dans  I'instant  m£me  oii  elle  me  donnait  une  preuve  de 
confiance,  elle  form&t  le  dessein  de  me  traiter  de  rebelle  aussitdt* 
qu'il  serait  possible  de  le  faire  i 

A  cet  6gard,  il  m'importe  de  faire  observer  JL  V.  M.,  qu'en  Jan- 
vier 1799f  lorsque  les  Frangais  voulurent  convertir  le  royaume  da 
Naples  en  Tune  de  leurs  r^publiques  6ph6m^re8^  me  trouvant  au- 
Collie  Militaire,  et  n'ayant  pas  encore  seize  ans  accomplis,  je 
m'empressai  d'entrer  dans  le  premier  bataillon  du  nouveau  gou* 
vemement^  embrassant  le  parti  que  siiivirent  alors  les  citoyens  les- 
plus  distioguis  de  Tetat  Votre  miniature,  sans  aucun  6gard  pour 
mes  jeunes  ans,  me  condamna  k  Texil  pour  la  vie,  et  me  fit  d6bar« 
quer  en  France.  Au  milieu  des  armies  frangaises^  pouvais-je  per«» 
dre  les  id^es  de  cette  ^poque  i  Rentr6  dans  le  royaume  en  1802| 
4  la  faveur  des  trait6s  avec  la  France,  quelques  imprudences  de 
jeunesse,  en  mati^re  politique,  port^ent  les  ministres  de  V •  M.  k 
me  condamner  en  votre  nom,  et  sans  jugement,  4  finir  mes  jours 
dans  la  fosse  du  MarettimOy  d'oii  je  sortis,  par  d'beureux  £v6ne« 
mens,  apr^  trois  ans  d'une  existence  dont  le  r6cit  ferait  fr6mi» 
rbumanit6.  Maintenant,  dans  ces  derni^res  circonstances,  votre 
minist^re,  non  content  de  m'avoir  condamn6  k  mort,  a  fait  6migTer 
expr^  des  bommes  punis  par  le  gouvemement  constitutionnel  et 
d6test£s  de  la  nation,  qui  ont  prb  le  masque  d'hommes  poursuivia 
par  le  gouvemement  absolu.  lis  ont  fait  toute  esp^ce  d'efforta 
pour  d^crier  les  d6put6s  du  parlement  r6fu^6s  i  Barcelonne,  etila 
ont  en  nAm%  temps  6crit  contre  moi  un  libelle,  auquel  je  ii'ai  pas 
voulu  r6pondre,  parce  qu'aujourd'hui  il  n'est  pas  facUe  de  tromper 
le  public  accoutum6  k  reconnaitre  les  moyens  dont  se  sert  la 
police  de  divers  6tats.     Des  journalistes  frangais  ont  aussi  pr^tendu 

iue  je  m%tais  embarqu6  avec  la  caisse  de  mon  corps  d'arm6e. 
Fne  calomnie  aussi  atroce  aurait  excit6  les  ris  et  le  ni6pris  de  mes 
concitoyens ;  mais  il  n'a  pu  en  &tre  ainsi  dans  des  contr6es  loin- 
taiiies.  v.  M.  ne  doit  pas  ignorer  que  cette  caisse  fut  remise 
intacte  au  payeur-g^n6ral  Gazzari ;  et  j'y  laissai  des  sommes  qui 

*  Dans  llle  du  Marettimo,  ii  trente  milles  de  Trapani,  est  un  ch&teau  oik* 
Ton  a  conirerti  en  prison  une  ancienne  citerne  creuseedans  le  flanc  d'un 
roche'r.  C^est  lit  aue  depuis  1799,  le  gouvemement  a  envoy 6  les  prevenus 
poiir  affaires  d^opmion  ou  d'etat,  sans  qu'ils  subissent  un  jugement.  U 
existe  une  autre  fosse  dans  un  des  deux  chateaux  de  la  Favignana,  oil  furent 


long-temps  detenus  feu  le  prince  de  Torella,  le  present  duo  Kiario  Sfbrza,  le 
baron  Poerio,  en  dernier  lieu  ^-    ^-  '  -'     *  -^  "  ^'-  -■- 

nouveaui  ainsi  que  beaucoup 


baron  Poerio,  en  dernier  lieu  depute  au  parlement^  et  qui  se  trouve  arr^te^de 

;oup  d'autres  lUustfes  victimes  de  1T99. 


340  Relation  du  Evenemens  [32 

m'^taient  dues  pour  kidemnit^s  attach6es  i^  man  comnumdenieDt :  je 
lie  soogeai  point  k  les  recouvrer^  parce.quej'avais  le  coeur  occupi 
d'autres  soins.   .  . 

Sire^  j'embraasai  la  cause  de  rind^pendance  et  de  la  liberty 
oationale,  pour  ie  seal  bien  de  ma  patrie^  noo  par  interSt  prifi  ou 
par  vanit^.  £n  tout  temps  je  restai  ferme  dans  mes  principes. 
Sous  le  r^gne  de  Joachim,  je  fus  en  opposition,  continuelte  avec 
son  gouvernement,  des  qu'on  agissait  contre  les  int^r^ts  nationaui ; 
9k,  ni  la  bienveillance  que  me  montrait  ce  malheureux  prince^  ni  la 
Kconnaissance  que  je  ressentais  pour  lui,  ni  nion  estinie  pour  les 
qualit^s,  ne  me  firent  oublier  que  j'6taii  Napolitain. 

Je  reviens,  Sire,  k  ce  que  j'ai  avanc6|  et  j'ose  dire  que  la  natioo 
se  rappellera  toujours  la  protestation  solennelle  du  pariemeBt, 
lorsqu'il  fut  disperse  par  les  baionnettes  autrichiennes.  Les  Na*>' 
politains  n'oublieront  point  nou  plus  que  dans  les  hutt  mob  que 
dura  le  regime  constitutionnel^  iis  eKcit^ent  I'admiration  de  tous 
lea  peuples ;  que>  loin  d'avoir  r^pandu  une  seuk  goutte  de  sang,  ib 
respect^rent  toutes  les  opinions ;  que  les  hommes  les  plus  ouverte- 
ment  opposes  au  bien  public  ne  re9urent  aucune  vexation^  lis 
»  jeppelleront  aossi  que^  st  une  defense  n^cessaire  obltgea  li 
nation  aux  d^penses  d'une  guerre  in^vitable^  I'argent  resta  dans  son 
sein^  et  ne  fut  empIo]f6  ni  k  soutenir  les  baVonnettes  6trangdres,  ni 
dibmenter  des  intrigues,  ni  &  rassasier  Tavidit^  d*hommes  qui  ne 
aervent  le  4rdne  que  pour  leur  int^r^t*  Ainsi,  pom  que  V  •  M. 
puisse  continuer  de  goavemer  autrement  que  par  des  lois  constito« 
tioimelles,  elle  est  forc6e  de  16ser  les  droits  de  la  nation  par  la 
presence  d'une  arm6e  ennemie ;  car  ce  serait  se  tromper  fortemcnt 
que  de  croire  que  les  peuples  changeut  de  d^sirs  et  d'opinion.  £n 
effety  I'ev^ement  de  1820  ne  fut*il  pas  une  consequence  de  1799*^ 
£t  en  Espagne,  six  ans  de  despotisme  ont-ils  consolide  le  go«i- 
vemement  de  Ferdinand  VII,  qui  6couia  le  conseil  d'y  d6traire  le 
regime  constitutionnel  i  Ah  contraire,  les  sept  ans  du  pouvoir 
ill^gitime  absolu  qui  fut  exerc(§  en  Espagne  rendirent  mftre  pour  la 
libert6  cette  nation  qui  ne  I'^tait  point  enticement  en  1B14;  car 
si  elle  I'edt  6t6j^  cette  6poque,  le  roi  n'eikt  point  dissous  les  cortb 
avec  une  arm6e  espagnole.  Dans  le  fait,  vos  ministres.  Sirs,  ne 
trouveraient  pas  le  moyen  de  soutenir  un  seal  jour  le  pouvoir  absola 
dans  le  royaumede  Naples,  si  l^on  6loignait  Tann^e  autrichienne* 
La  Sicile,  qui  dans  tous  les  temps  se  soutint  avec  peu  de  troupes, 
m^me  apr^s  le  regret  qu'elle  6prouva  de  n'avoir  point  obtenu  TkidS- 
pendance,  est  maintenant  comprim^epar  dix  mille  Autrichiens.  £t. 
V.  M.  croit-elle  que  les  Siciliens  ne  se  souviendront  pas  de  T^poque 
memorable  oil  ils  acquirent  la  liberie  et  la  gloire,  lorsque  le  roi 
Pierre  d'Aragon,  quoique  abandonn6  des  Espagnols,  sut  se  d^fendro 
avec  ies  Sicilieus  seuls  contre  la  ligue  formidablip  des  princes  les 


asi}       qui  ont  eu  lieu  a  Naples  m  1320  et  1821.        341 

pbiipuissanB?  Et  rAutricfae  pourra-t^elle  teniir  I^ong*temp8  sous 
le  joug  tiotre  nation  maiheureiise,  lorsque  le  d^sir,  la  volont6  et  les 
raisoos  qui  tendent  sL  changer  les  gouvernemens  despotiques  en 
monarchies  constitutionnelles,  font  toujours  phis  4e  progr^s  dans 
Vopinion  en  Europe^  et  lorsque  les  Itaiiens^  unis  seuletnent  jus* 
qu'd  present  par  Jeur  nom  et  la  communaut^  de  langue,  le  sont 
maintenant  par  Tardent  d6sir  d'obtenir  leor  ind^pendance  \  UAu- 
tricbe  s'apercevra  t6t  ou  tard  combien  su  conduite  derni^re  peut 
nuire  i  ses  int^r^ts.  La  France,  seoiblable  an  soleil  qui  souifre 
des  Eclipses  passag^res,  mais  qui  ne  saurait  perdre  long-temps  sa 
'splendeur,  pourrait-*elle  oublier  sa  gloire  immortelle,  et  renoncer 
pour  toujours  ^Tinfluence  qu'elle  doit  avoir,  soustous  les  rapports, 
en  Europe  \  Le  grand  peuple  dort  du  sommeil  des  forts ;  et  si 
jamais  ii  ae  l^ve,  pourra-4-ii  long^temps  voir  I'ltalie  entre  les  mains 
de  TAutriche  ?  Et  comment  a-t-on  pu  conseiller  de  donner  des 
fefs  d  Naples  et  au  Pi6mont,  lorsque  I'empereur  Alexandre  ac- 
corde  une  constitution  ^  la  Pologne  \  Le  ministre  autrichien  disait 
au  prince  de  Cimitile  i  Vienne :  ^*  Ce  sont  les  rois  qui  doivent 
donner  des  constitutions  aux  peuples,  et  non  les  peuples  qui  doivent 
les  arracher  des  mains  des  princes.^  Cependant  I'Autriche,  en  vertu 
de  trait6s  secrets,  emp^chait  V.  M.  de  donner  la  constitution  que 
vous  aviez  promise  (Pi^esjust^atives,  No.  XX  VIII.)  Ainsi,  dans 
-ious  les  cas,  pour  faire  piaisir  au  minist^re  autrichien,  nous  dikm^s 
rester  pour  toujours  sous  le  pouvoir  absolu,  m^me  lorsque  notre 
roi  avait  reconnu  qu'il  ^tait  indispensable  de  nous  ac^order  un  gov- 
vernement  repr6sentatif.  Et  cependant  il  existe  des  admirateurs  de 
la  politique  du  cabinet  autrichieii ! 

Sire,  quand  on  proclama  le  regime  constitutionnel  en  Espagne, 
3i  Naples,  en  Portugal  et  en  Pi6mont,  aucune  de  ces  nations  n'eut 
part  a  ce  qui  s'op6ra  dans  Tautre.  Or,  si  les  lib6raux  en  Europe 
agissaient  isol^ment,  pnurquoi  les  ministres  ne  conseill^rent-ils  pas 
aux  princes  de  ne  s'occuper  en  particulier  que  de  leurs  propres 
6tats,  en  ^coutant  les  demandes  mod6r6es  des  peuples,  au  lieu  d'y 
r^pondre  par  la  pointe  des  ba'ionnettes  f  L'oligarchie  ministerielle 
ne  jouira  pas  long-temps  du  triomphe  de  la  force  sur  le  royaume 
uni  des  Deux-Siciles,  parce  que  les  peuples  de  TEurope,  depuis 
les  affaires  de  Naples,  ont  vu  la  n6cessit6  de  faire  cause  commune. 
Et  pour  que  V.  M.  voie  comment  les  idees  lib^rales  se  r6pandent, 
nialgr6  les  obstacles  qu'y  apportent  les  agens  du  pouvoir,  elle  ob- 
servera  que  ces  m^mes  Russes  qui  dirigeaient  leur  marche,  il  y  a 
peu  de  mois,  contre  les  lib6raux  du  midi  de  TEurope,  brdlent 
maintenant  d'impatience  de  delivrer  les  Grecs  du  despotisme.  Et 
cependaiU  les  Grecs  n'ont  pas  eu  une  representation  nationale 
nomm6e  par  le  peuple^  sur  une  proclamation  royale.  Leurs  oreilles 
^n*ont  point  entendu  le  pacte  solennellement  jur6,  ni  la  prestation 


842  '    Relation  des  EvStiemenSf  tfc.  {34 

Mcr^a  da  serment,  ni  la  protestation  solennelle  de  ses  repr^sentansi 

July  6mule8  des  augustes  s^nateurs  romains,  restirent  dans  la  salle 
u  parlement,  invoquant  un  Dieu  vengeur,  et  s'ojBTrant  d'expier  la 
faute  de  leur  confiance  sans  boraes  ;  niais  si  Tennemi  ne  fut  point 
assez  cruel  pour  leur  donner  la  mort^  il  ne  se  montra  point  assez 
g^n^reux  pour  les  respecter. 

Sire,  j'ose  demander  que  V.  M.^  en  lisant  cette  Relation,  ne  con- 
suite  pas  ses  ministres^  mais  sa  propre  conscience ;  et  peut-itre 
V.M.  se  convaincra-t-elle  qu'il  est  encore  temps  de  restituer  d  la 
nation  le  regime  constitutionnel,  de  maintenir  la  foi  de  ses  ser- 
meus,  et  de  se  r^concilier  ainsi  avec  ses  peuples.  Cet  acte  spon- 
tan6  de  yotre  part  su£Srait  pour  prouyer  k  la  post£rit6  que  la 
nation  fut  trahie^  mais  non  par  son  roi^  qui  choisit  en  1817  le  nom 
;de  Ferdinand  leVy  dans  la  vue  de  devenir  le  premier  prince  napo- 
litain  qui  accordaitia  liberty  k  sa  patrie. 

Quant  k  moi^  j'ai  tout  sacrifi^^  hors  la  vie^  pour  la  liberty  natio- 
nale ;  et  J*en  ressens  une  vive  douleur^  qui  ne  cessera  que  lorsque  je 
verrai  mes  concitoyens  heureux,  ou  quand  il  me  sera  donn6  de 
r^pandre  tout  mon  sang  pour  I'ind^pendance  et  pour  la  gloire  de 
notre  patrie*  Mais  si  je  dois  p6rir  avant  de  la  voir  rendue  k  Tad- 
miration  de  I'Europe,  et  aux  libert6s  auxquelles  les  peuples.  des 
Deux-Siciles  ont  acquis  des  droits  sacr^s^  les  Italiens  honoreront 
>  peut-^tre  ma  m^moire  de  quelques  larmes  ;  et  ils  diront  que  leur 
concitoyen  Guillaume  P6pe  fut  d6laiss^  des  hommes  et  du  ciel, 
•  raais  que  sa  perseverance  ne  Tabandouna  point. 

Je  suis.  Sire,  de  V.  M., 

Le  tria  bumble  et  tris  respectueux  serviteuri 

le  Iieutenant-g6n6ral 

GUILLAUMB  PiKPB. 


APPENDICE. 


TABLE  DES  PIjfcCES  JUSTIFICATIVES. 

L  Proclamation  du  roi  des  Deux-Siciles. 

II.  Lettre  du  g6n6ral  P6p6  au  g6n6ral  Colonna. 

III.  Lettre  du  r6gent. 

IV.  Seconde  lettre  du  prince  regent. 
v.  Troisiime  lettre  du  prince  regent. 

VI.  Serment  du  roi,  fiu  premier  Octobre. 

VII.  Discours  du  g^n6ral  P6p6,  le  premier  Octobre. 
VIIL  R6ponse  du  roi. 

IX.  Lettre  du  prince-r6gent  au  g6n6ral  P^p£  pour  la  renon- 
ciation  au  commandement. 

X.  Lettre  du  parlement  au  g6n6ral  P£p6. 

,    XL  Lettre  de  remerctment  du  prince-r6gent  au  g6n6ral  P6p6 
pour  son  offre  dialler  en  Sicile. 

XII.  Lettre  du  g6n6ral  Florestano  P6p6  k  S.  M. 

XIII.  Message  du  roi,  le  8  D6cembre. 

XIV.  Message  du  roi,  le  10  D6cembre 

XV.  Lettre  du  prince-regent  annongant  Tapproche  des  Autri* 
cbiens. 

XVI.  Nomination  du  g6n6ral  P6p6  au  commandement  en  chef 
du  second  corps  d'arm6e. 

XVII.  Lettre  du  marquis  d'Onis. 

XVIII.  Proclamation  du  g6niral  P6p6  A  Tottea. 

XIX.  Instructions  du  prince-r6gent  relativement  aux  operations 
du  second  corps  d'arm6e. 

XX.  Proclamation  du  roi  aux  Napolitains,  en  date  du  25 
F6vrier. 

XXI.  Proclamation  du  general  Frimont. 

XXII.  Lettre  du  parlement  au  roi  par  I'entremise  du  g6n6ral 
Fard^Ua. 

XX  III.  D6cret  du  prince-r6gent  pQur  la   reorganisation  du 
second  corps  d'arm^e. 

XXIV.  Lettre  des  d^put^s  aux  cort^s  d'Espagne. 

XXV.  Discours  prononc^  par  le  d6put6  Poerio. 

XXVI.  Protestation  du  panement  dans  la  matinee  du  19  Mars. 

XXVII.  Lettre  de  nomination  du  g^n^ral  P6pe  au  conseil 
d'etat. 

XXVIII.  Convention  secrete  entre  la  cour  d'Autriche  etcelle 
de  Naples. 


APPENDICE. 


No.  I. — Proclamation  de  S.  M,  le  Rot  des  Deux  Sidles,  publiee  i 

Palerme,  le  le'  Mai  1814. 
Napoutains, 
'  La  cause  de  Murat  est  perdue.     Elle  6tait  aussi  honteuse  quln- 
juste.    Dej^  une  sc^ne  nouvdle  se  prepare  k  vos  yeux. 

Peuples  da  Satnnium,  de  la  Lucanie,  de  la  Grande-Gr^ce  et  de 
la  Pouille,  appr^tez-vous  k  revendiquer  vos  droits  ;  un  Stranger  les. 
a  violas.  £ntr6  dans  la  plus  belle  partie  de  Tltalie,  il  prit  le  litre  de 
conqu6rant.  AVec  ce  titre,  il  s'est  permis  de  s'approprier  vos  biens, 
d*exposer  vos  fits  et  vos  fr^res  aux  dangers  et  aux  horreurs  de  la 
guerre.  Rappelez-vous  que  dans  un  temps  vos  armes  ft'^tendirent 
jusqu*aux  rives  du  Nil ;  qu'au  seul  bruit  de  vos  trompettes  guerri^res, 
les  Ptol6m6e,  les  Philippe,  les  Massinisse,  les  AatiochuSy  et  les 
Mithridat^  abttiss^rent  devant  vous  leurs  fronts  orgueilleux* 

Italiens,  tremperez-vous  vos  mains  dans  le  sang  des  Italiens? 
Vos  fils  et  vos  p^res  accourent  de  Rome  pour  vous  soustraire  k  la 
servitude  et  au  d^shonneur ;  oserez-vous  les  repousser  jusqu'^  de- 
venir  parricides  ?  Qu'esperez-vous  d^sormais  d'un  soldat  fugitif  et 
perfide  ?  L'opprobre,  la  mis^re,  le  m^pris  et  la  mort,  tels  sbnt  les 
fruits  que  vous  recueilleriez  de  celui  qui  vous  commande  pour  vous 
conduire  k  votre  perte.  Celui  qui  cherche  dans  le  d^sespoir  sa  der- 
ni^re  ressource  peut-il  vous  promettre  la  gloire  et  lapaix? 

Un  prince  s'approche  poiir  vOtre  saint.  Ses  aigles  victorieuses 
n'apporteront  sur  votre  territoire  que  la  paix,  le  calme  et  rabondanoe. 
Le  fer  et  la  mort  61oigneront  de  vos  contr^es  votre  oppresseur  et  vo- 
tre ennemi.  Tout  sera  6aCr6  comme  propri6te  du  citoyen.  Vous, 
enfans  dociles  du  Sebeto,  venez  avec  les  etendards  de  la  paix,  venes 
au-devant  de  votre  p^te  et  de  votre  lib^rateur,  qui  est  dej^  sous  vos 
murs.  II  n*aspire  qu*^  votre  bien-^tre  et  ^votre  f6licit6  durable ;  it 
s'efForcera  de  vous  rendre  un  objet  d'envie  au  reste  de  I'Europe.  Un 
gouvernement  stable,  sage  et  reiigieux  vous  est  assur6.  Le  peuple 
sera  le  souverain ;  et  le  prinpe  sera  le  depositaire  des  lois,  que  dictera 
la  plus  energique  et  la  plus  durable  des  constitutions.  Ouvrez  vos 
temples  et  vos  sanctuaires.  Votre  p^re  y  entrera  le  front  d^couvert 
pour  delivrer  de  la  persecution  leurs  ministres  et  leurs  lois.  Chantez 
des  bymnes  de  gloire  au  Dieu  des  armies,  qui  vous  a  soustraits  de 
Toppression  et  sauv6s  de  votre  ruine.     Qu'Hs  soient  toujours  invioci- 


37]  Relation  des  Evinemens^  ^c.  345 

bles  et  respect6s»  les  ornemens  et  let  signes  sacr^s  tie  tette  religion, 
qui  a  plants  se3  ^tendards  au  milieu  des  guerres  les  plas  aeharn^es 
et  les  plus  cruelles.  Venez,  accourez  dans  les  bras  a'un  p^re  g6n6- 
reux.    II  est  pr^t  h.  vous  tendre  une  main  indulgente.    II  ne  se  rap- 

BiUe  des  ecarts  que  pour  vous  r6unir,  pour  tous  gouTemer  en  p^re. 
outeriez-votts  peut-^tre  des  promesses  d'un  p^,  de  celui  qui,  n6 
an  milieu  de  vous,  a  tout  en  commun  avec  tous,  lois,  moeurs  et  re- 
ligion ? 

Au  nom  du  congr^s,  je  remonte  sur  mon  tr6ne  legitime ;  et>  en  ce 
m6me  hom,  je  tous  promets  k  tons  igards,  amour  et  pardon. 

Sign6  Ferdinand. 

No.  II.  Lettre  du  Ghih'al  P^6  au  Ghiiral  Colonna  de  Naples,  com- 
mandant la  troisiime  division  militaire. 

Monsieur  le  Marechal,  '  Naples,  le  2  Juillet  1820. 

Au  re9ti  de  la  pr^ente,  vous  ordonnerez  que  les  compagnies  de 
milice  de  Monte  Forte  et  de  Mercugliano  se  portent  entre  Monte 
Forte  et  le  Cardinale,  pour  conserver  la  tranquillit6  sur  la  grande 
route.  Les  compagnies  d'Atripalda  et  d'Avellino  devront  se  tenir  k 
Avellino,  Vous  ordonnerez  k  toutes  les  compagnies  de  milice  de  se 
r^unir  dans  les  chefs-lieux  de  districts  pour  Itre  prates  k  marcher. 

Voua  ferez  entendre  k  toutes  les  milioes  que  le  g6n6ral  qui  a  ex4- 
eut6  leur  belle  organisation  arrivera  au  premier  instant,  qu'avec  elles 
seules  il  maintiendra  I'ordre  dans  la  division,  et  qu'il  fera  connattre 
au  souTendn  que  les  propri^taires  arm6s  sont  le  plus  siir  appui  du 
tr6ne«  Voui  ferez  sentir  k  toutes  les  milices  qui  abandonneront 
leurs  communes  qu'elles  seront  payees.  En  attendant,  observer  le 
bon  ordre  k  Avellino,  et  faites  respecter  toutes  les  autorit^s. 

Le  Iietitenant-g6n6ral  Guillaume  Pefe. 
.   P.  S.  TcQee  les  troupes  rassembl^es,  ainsique  leci  milices,  au  nom- 
bre  que  vous  jugerez  convenable. 

VouB  ferez  ea voir  que  tout  le  royaume  jouit  d^nn  parfait  repos. 

QUILLAUME  PZPE. 

No.  III. — Premih^e  Lettre  du  Regent  an  Ohifral  Pep^. 
Monsieur  LE  General. 
La  resolution  prise  par  le  roi,  mon  auguste  pire,  d'aecepter  la  con- 
stitution, ainsi  qu'il  Ta  clairement  d6clar6  par  son  d6cret  de  ce  jour, 
nous  reunit  tous,  et  nous  engage  k  travailler  au  grand  oeuvre  de  la 
de  la  regeneration  politique  de  notre  nation.  Vous  avez  ete  Tun  des 
premiers  k  eiever  le  cri  glorieux  de  Tindependance  nationale,  ce  qui 
me  fait  vivement  desirer  de  mettre  k  profit  vos  services  et  vos  avis. 

»  J'6crivis  cette  lettre  du  ^abinet  du  capitaine-geneTal  Nugent;  npthn 
Vavoir  hie, ilia  remit  k mon  aide-de-camp, qui partit  en  sa presence.  Ainsi, 
je  ne  pouvais  Scrire  avec  plus  de  clarti.  ni  prescrire  des  ordres  plus  precis: 
mais  je  donnai  de  vire  vevx  beauconp  d'instractions  utiles. 


346  Relation  des  Evenemens  \9& 

Au  moment  o&  j'6crivaU  ma  lettre^  je  re9ois  la  v6tre  du  7  courant, 
qui  me  manifeste  vos  intentions  gen4reuses  et  dignes  des  principes 
Gonstitutionnels. 

La  majeure  partie  des  articles  que  vous  m'avez  proposes  dans  Totre 
M6moire  ont  dik}kkih  pr^vus  par  mon  auguste  p^re,  comme  vous;  aurez 
eu  lieu  de  Tapercevoir  pour  quelques  autres.  Je  d^sirerais  eertaines 
modifications  que  sugg^rent  I'inter^t  public  et  les  m^mes  principes 
constitutionnels ;  c*est  pourquoi  je  vous  euFoie  deux  commissiairel 
investis  de  ma  confiance,  le  chevalier  Beneventani  et  le  baron  Napui, 
avec  tout  pouvoir  poUr  condure  avec  vous  cette  afiaire.  Je  dedare 
que  j*approuverai  tout  ce  que  vous  ferez  avec  eux  sur  les  objets  que 
vous  avez  proposes  par  votre  lettre  et  par  le  M^moire  y  annex6. 

FaAxgoiSy  Vicaire-g£n6ral. 

No.  IV. — Seconde  Lettre  du  Rigent  au  Geniral  Pipi^  pour  Fabo- 

Htion  du  grade  de  capitaine-g^n^ral* 

Naples,  le  12  Juillei  1820. 
MoKSiEUR  LE  General  ek  chef. 
La  proposition  que  vous  m'avez  soumise  est  une  preuve  ividente 
de  la  moderation  qui  vous  anime,  du  noble  d6sint6ressement  qui  di- 
rige  vos  actions.  Tout  en  appreciani  de  si  brillantes  qualites,  je  ne 
laisse  pas  de  vous  declarer  que  j'adopte  vos  id^es,  et  que  je  crois 
tr^s-utile  pour  le  bien  g6n6ral  de  supprimer  I'emploi  de  capitaine- 
g^n^ral.  Dans  cette  vue,  je  ne  manquerai  pas  de  faire  de  mon  c6t£ 
ce  qui  convient  pour  operer  cette  suppression. 

FRAN90iSf  Vicaire-g6n6raL 
AM.  U  Iieutenant'g6n6ral Pip6,  g6nh*al  en  chef  de  Vtrmie  it 
Naples. 

•No.  y. — Trohihme  Lettre  du  Regent  au  Giniral  P6pi,  ptmr  sus- 
pendre  Vexeeution  de  la  sentence  de  mwt  centre  let  aSsertemn 
du  rigiment  de  Famhe, 
Monsieur  le  General,  (')  Naples^  k  20  Juiiiet  1820. 

Mon  coeur  royal  etant  pen^tre  de  la  volonte  que  ces  beaux  joun 
de  la  regeneration  politique  du  royaume,  qui  s'est  oper6e  avec  tant 
de  calme,  ne  soient  pas  attrist^s  par  la  nombreuse  execution  de  ces 
m^mes  braves  qui  d'autres  fois  ont  montre  tant  de  z^le  pour  le  bon 
ordre,  et  qu*un  moment  de  rel&chement  a  fait  d^vier  du  sentier  de 
rhonneur,  je  leur  accorde  leur  gr&ce,  en  commuant  la  peine  de  mort 
en  celle  du  premier  degre  des  fers. 

Francois,  Vicaire-g6n6nA. 
Au  lieutenant'genh'al  P^^,  gin6ral  en  chefde  Varmie  de  Naples. 

^  Cette  lettre  dement  les  rapports  que  les  ministres  etrangers  adress^nt 
^  leur  gouvernement,  par  lesquels  ils  depeignirent  le  royaume  comme  Ivrti 
k  Tanarchie.  £ile  honore  en  mSme  temps  le  caract^re  noble  et  loyal  de  S.  A. 
le  Vicaire-general,  Les  soldats  qui  devaient  Stre  fusill6s  €taient  du  reaiment 
Farn^se,  et  avaient  fait  feu  au  pont  de  la  Madeleine  centre  la  cavalene. 


d&J         gui  cnt  eu  Um  h  Naples  m  18tlO  et  182  U      347 

^0.  VL — Sermmt  du  Roi,  priti  U  premier  Octoire. 

NoQSy  Ferdinand  ler,  par  la  gpr&ce  de  Dieu  et  par  la  constitution 
de  la  monarchie,  roi  des  Deux-Siciles ;  je  jure  par  Dieu  et  par  les 
saints  Etrangiles  de  d^fendre  et  conserver  la  religion  catholique^ 
i^postolique  et  romaine^  sans  en  pennettre  aucune  autre  dans  le 
royaume.  Je  jure  que  j'observerai  et  feral  observer  la  constitution 
^politique  et  les  lois  de  la  monarchie napolitaine,  sans  aucune  autre 
.consideration  que  son  avantaffe,  que  je  n'engagerai,  ne  ciderai,  ni 
d^membrerai  aucune  partie   du  royaume;  que  je^  n'exigerai  jamais 

•  ancnn  imp6t,  en  nature  ou  en  argent,  ni  autre  objet,  que  ceux  qui 
auront  k\k  d^cr^t^s  par  le  parlement ;  que  je  ne  m'emparerai  jamais 

•  de  la  propriety  de  personne;  que  je  respecterai  par-dessus  tout  la  li« 
berte  politique  de  la  nation  et  celle  de  chaque  individu  :  et  que,  si  je 
▼enais  ^  contrevenir  h.  ce  serment,  ou  k  quelqu'une  de  ses  parties,  je 
ne  dois  pas  ^tre  ob6i ;  mais  qu'au  contraire,  ce  en  quoi  j'aurai  con* 
trevenu  soit  nul  et  de  nulle  valeur.  Qu'ainsi  Dieu  m'aide  et  me  soit 
en  defense,  et,  dans  le  cas  contraire,  qu'il  me  punisse. 

No.  Vll.—DiMCimr$  du  GSnh-al  Pfy6,  du  ler  Octobre  1820. 

Sire, 

Je  vois  V.  M.  entouree  des  repr6sentans  de  la  nation,  et  assise  sur 
un  tr6ne  glorieux,  Tobjet  de  Tamour  et  de  la  reconnaissance  publique. 

Voici  r^poque  la  plus  memorable  et  la  plus  heureuse  de  notre  nis- 
toire;  mes  voeux  sont  accomplis.  Fiddle  k  ma  proroesse  et  aux 
principes  constitutiopnels,  je  depose  aux  pieds  de  V.  M.,  et  en  pre- 
sence des  reprisentans  de  la  nation,  le  commandement  de  Tarm^e, 
'  que  le  seul  attachement  k  la  patrie  et  aux  vrais  int^r^ts  de  V.  M. 
m'a  fait  accepter. 

Heureux  aans  le  sein  de  la  paix,  je  serai  toujours  le  premier  k 
ex^cuter  les  ordres  de  V.  M.,  et  k  r^pandre  mon  sang  po\ir  la  de- 
fense de  la  constitution  et  du  tr6ne,  quel  que  soit  le  grade  qu'il  plaise 
k  V.  M.  de  me  confier. 

Que  le  ciel  comble  de  ftlicit6  V.  M.  ainsi  que  son  auguste  famille, 
et  la  conserve  k  la  reconnaissance  et  k  Tamour  de  son  peuple !  Que 
le  ciel  accorde  k  lavertu  et  k  la  fidelity  de  nos  concifoyens  la  iouis- 
sance  paisible  d'une  constitution  qui  fera  notre  prosperity,  et  qui  etablit 
le  tr6nesur  des  fondemens  in^branlables ! 

No.  VIII.— /Zejponse  du  Roi  au  Ginirat  P6pi. 

J'accepte  votre  renonciation ;  et  en  m6me  temps,  je  vous  t^moigne 
ma  satisfaction  et  ma  reconnaissance,  pour  avoir  su  aussi  bien  con- 
server  I'ordre  et  la  tranquillity  dans  les  circonstances  qui  viennent  de 
se  passer. 

No.  IX. — Ltttre  du  Regent  au  G6niral  Pipe,  pour  sa  renonciation 

au  commandement. 

Naples,  le  30  Septembre  1820. 
L'assuranct  que  vous  me  donnez  par  votre  lettre  de  ce  jour^  de 


348  Relation  des  Evenemens  [40 

vouloir  r^signer  demaiQ  le  commandemeDt  en  chef  de  rarm^e,  en 
presence  des  repr^sentans  de  la  nation,  ne  fait  que  me  prouver  tou* 
J0UT8  dairantage  ces  sentimens  dlionneur  et  de  desint^ressement  que 
j'ai  eu  lien  de  reconnaitre  en  vous  pendant  que  tous  aTes  conserre  le 
commandement  de  I'ann^e,  pour  le  bien  de  laquelle  vous  a'avez 
£pargn6  ni  application  ni  soins. 

Je  sais  certain  que  ces  m^mes  sentimens  g6n6reux  vous  fbront  ac- 
courir  en  tout  temps  k  la  defense  du  tr6ne  constitutionnel  du  roi, 
mon  auguste  p^re,  et  de  Tind^pendance  de  notre  patrie.  En  atten- 
danty  je  ne  n%Ugerai  pas  de  faire  usage  de  vos  lumi^res  et  de  votre 
z^le  patriotiqne  aans  toutes  les  occasions  quise  presenterant,  j»sqa'4 
ce  que  je  puisse  satisfaire  au  d^shr  que  vous  m'exprimez  d'aroir  use 
destination  pour  nne  nation  6trang^re. 

Je  vous  remercie  de  I'attachement  que  vous  t^moignez  au  roi  moo 
p^re,  k  moiy  et  k  la  nation ;  et  je  suis, 

Votre  tr^s  affectionne, 

Fraw^oxs. 

Au  lieutenant'g(sniral  Guiliaume  PipL 

No.  X, — Ltttre  du  Parkment  au  Giniral  PSpi» 
Pari«£hent  Nationals  dzs  Deux  Siciles. 

Nicies,  le  12  Octoirc  1820. 
MoKsixuR  Lx  General, 

Le  parlement  a  entendu  avec  plaisir  les  sentimens  exprim^s  dans 
votre  lettre,  et  n'a  pu  que  les  admirer,  comme  formant  votre  caract^ 
distinctif  et  vous  acqu^rant  un  nouveau  m6rite  envers  la  patrie  et  la 
liberty.  Vous  avez  et4  Tun  des  premiers  promoteurs  de  notre  rigi- 
n^ration  politique ;  mais  votre  moderation  au  sein  de  la  gloire  qui 
vous  environne  est  la  plus  belle  vertu  qui  puisse  orner  votre  coiir. 
La  patrie  saura  reconnaitre  les  services  que  vous  lui  avez  rendus ;  et 
le  parlement,  interpr^te  des  vosux  de  la  nation,  vous  exprime  t9ute 
sa  reconnaissance  et  sa  satisfaction.  Washington,  apr&s  avoir  sou^- 
trait  sa  patrie  k  la  crainte  d'une  influence  ^trangire,  a  donn4  aoz 
hQmmes  le  plus  grand  exemple  de  la  moderation. 

Les  exemples  des  h^ros  parlent  seulement  aux  oceura  de  ceux  en- 
vers qui  la  nature  fut  prodigue  de  sentimens  g^n^reux  et  sublimes ; 
et  vous,  monsieur  le  general,  vous  avez  imit^  ce  grand -homme,  vous 
avez  montr^  que  vous  6tiez  digne  d'etre  un  des  premiers  k  Clever  la 
voix  pour  nndependance  nationale.  Ainsi,  general,  continuez  dans 
la  carri^re  de  la  gloire,  quel  que  soit  le  grade  qu*il  nlaira  au  roi  de 
vous  conferer,  et  montrez  k  TEurope  que  vous  ^tes  digne  des  (Ibges 
sinc&res  que  la  nation  enti^re  vous  prodigue. 

Sign6  par  les  Secretaires 
Titus  Berki,  Vincent  Natale, 

Najbare  Colancri»  Ferdinand  de  Lucca. 

A  &  E.k  Ketttenant'genfral  GuiHaume  P^L 


41}:       qui  ont  eu  lieu  h  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.       34ft. 

No*  XI, — Lettre  du  R^ent  au  Geniral  Pep6,  pour  le  remercier  de  ee 
qtioyant  quitti  le  commandement  en  chef  de  l*armSe,  it  avait  de* 
mandi  d*aUer  r^oindre  sonfr^e  sous  Us  murs  de  Palermcy  en  qua* 
titc  de  sou  atde-de-camp. ' 

MoKsiBUB  LX  Gekbral,  NopUs^  k  4  Oetohre  1820. 

J'ai  la  arec  beauconp  de  plaisir  votre  lettre  en  date  dliier,  par  la- 
quelle  Toas  me  demandez  d  aller  servir^  en  quality  d'aide-de-camp, 
sons  les  ordres  de  TOtre  fr&re,  qui  se  trouve  maintenant  pr^s  des  murs 
dePalerme.  C'est  1^  une  nouvelle  preuve  de  votre  attachement,  et 
d'un  zMe  pour  les  int^r^ts  du  roi  mon  au^ste  p^re,  ainsi  que  pour  ceuk 
de  la  nation,  exempt  de  toute  esp&ee  d'int^rlt  particulier.  J'exami- 
nerai  si  votre  demande  peut  ^tre  accept^e  ;  mais,  en  attendant,  je  ne 
puis  vous  taire  mon  regret  de  vous  voir  Eloigner  de  uous  dans  uh  mo* 
ment  oii  tos  services  peuvent  nous  Mre  utiles. 

En  vous  maintenant  les  isentimens  de  ma  sincere  reconnaissance^ 
je  suis,  Frak^ois,  Vicaire-gen^raL 

Auginfral  Guxllaume  PepL 

No.  XlL-^Lettre  du  UeuUnant-GSnerai  Florestano  Pep6  d  &  M^'  le 

Roi  des  Deux-SicUes* 

SlRE^ 

La  haute  recompense  que  V .  M.  a  daign6  m'accorder  est  infini- 
ment  au-^essus  de  tout  ce  que  j'ai   m^rit^.     Ma  reconnaissance 
ne  finira  qu'avec  ma  vie.    Je  supplie  toutefois  V.  M,  de  recevoir' 
quelques  respectueuses  observations,    nteessitees  par   la  position 
p^nible  dans  laquelle  je  me  trouve. 

Je  fus  envoys  en  Sicife  malgr6  moi;  je  h^^tais  ni  le  plus  ancien  ni' 
le  pluB.jeune  des  lieutenans-g^neraux  de  votre  arm^e;  je  vivais,  de- 
puis  cinq  ans,  61oigne  du  service,  lorsque,  sans  savoir  4  quel  titre,  je 
ftra  charge  de  cette  mission*  Appel^  par  le  devoir,  il  me  feillut  obeir. 
aux  ordres  de  S.  A.  le  Vicaire-general,  de  la  junto,  et  des  ministres 
de  Finterieur  et  de  la  guerre,  maigre  les  justes  excuses  que  j^all^guais 
pour  m*6ii  d^fendre.  Decide  k  ob6ir,  je  re^us  les  instructions  que  j*ai 
suivieB  sans  en  alt^rer  le  sens.  En  les  appliquant»  d'accord  avec  le 
prince  de  Patemo,  dans  Finter^t  de  ce  pays,  aux  mesures  de  conci- 
liation jug^es  n^cessaires,  j'en  retranchai  quelques  expressions  peu 
convenables  k  la  dignity  du  gouvernement. 

Je  dois  faire  connaitre  respectueusement  k  V.  M.  que  les  troupes 
peu  nombreuses  employees  dans  rexp^dition,  .bien  qu'elles  fussent 

■  Le  general  Guillaume  Pepe,  apr^s  avoir  resigne  le  commandement  en 
chef  de  I'lu'm^e,  vit  que  son  fr^e  6tait  dans  une  position  fort  critique  sous 
les  murs  de  Palerme,  puisqu*il  n'avait  que  six  miile  hommes  dispunibles, 
maoquant  de  munitions  et  d'artillerie,  et  qu'ii  devait  combattre  non  seule- 
ment  les  habitans  de  la  ville  de  Palerme,  mais  encore  d'autres  populations 
voisines,qui  repouss^rent  une  colonne  d'euviron'mille  hommes,  commandee 
par  le  colonel  Flugi,  et  arrivant  de  Trapani,  au  secours  des  troupes  campees 
devant  Palerme.  C'est  dans  ces  circon stances  que  le  geo€ral  Guillaume 
Pepe  adfesia  la  demande  ci^dcssus  iS.  A.  le  Vi€aire-g6aeraK 


_  «    -  ■   .  ,    ■ 

350  Rdalion  des  Evenemcns  J)4i 

depouttues  de  munitions  et  d'artilleriey  et  qu'elles  eombatiissent  con* 
tre  une  force  au  moins  decuple,  en  presence  d'une  vaste  cite,  entburfe 
de  murs,  prot6g4e  par  des  bastions,  des  forts  et  quatre  cents  bonches 
k  feu  bien  approvisionn^es,  s'^taient  cependaht  acquis  une  grande 
sup^riorite,  dont  je  n'aurais  jamais  song6  h.  me  pr6yaloir  pour  rien 
changer  k  ce  qui  m'^tait  present.  J'etais  d'ailleurs  persuade  que 
sans  transgresser  en  rien  mes  instructions,  on  pouvait  par^enir  par 
des  voles  justes  et  nobles  k  satisfaire  au  voeu  g^n^ral*  Les  Siciliens, 
trompes  dans  les  promesses  qui  leur  ont  et6  faites,  auraient  pa  mW 
cuser  de  les  avoir  trahis.  Leur  g6n6rosite,  dont  je  ne  perdrai  jamab 
le  souvenir,  ne  m'a  jamais  cm  capable  d'une  telle  bassesse* 

Sire,  les  recompenses  de  V«  M.  sont  bien  flatteuses,  Dans  une 
autre  circonstance,  je  me  serais  tenu  fort  honor^  de  celle  qu'il  lui  a 
plu  de  m'offrir.  Malgre  mes  sentimens  respectueux  et  rattacbetaenit 
que  je  dois  k  V.  M.,  je  me  vcms  toutefois  oblig6  de  me  refuser  k  une 
recompense  que  je  ne  puis  accepter  depuis  qu'on  a  manque  aux  pro- 
messes  one  j'avais  faites  conformement  aux  ordres  que  j'avais  requs. 
C'est  \k  le  seul  moyen  qui  me  reste  pour  me  conserver  digne  de  Testime 
dont  les  Siciliens  out  bien  voulu  m*honorer. 

La  belle  et  noble  conduite  des  officiers  et  des  troupes  confi6s  k  mes 
ordres  merite  inattention  particuli^re  de  V.  M.  lis  ont  surmont^  les 
plus  grandes  difficultes.  C'est  sans  doute  une  triste  gloire  que  d'avoir 
acombattre  ses  concitoyens;  mais  leshauts  faits  militaires  m6ritent 
toujouTS  des  eloges  et  des  recompenses.  L^avaneement  qu'on  esp^re 
ouvre  une  carri^re  plus  vaste  au  d^veloppement  des  talens  et  k 
r^nergie  des  braves,  et  leur  foumit  plus  d'occasions  de  rendre  leurs . 
services  utiles  k  Tetat.  Je  supplie  V.  M.  d'accueillir  la  d-marche 
que  je  fais  en  leur  faveur  auprls  du  ministre  de  la  guerre,  et  les 
pri^res  que  Tose  faire  k  S.  A.  R.  pour  qu'elle  veuille  bien  les  appuyer 
aupr^s  de  V.  M. 

Sire,  dans  les  premiers  rapports  que  j'adressai  de  Palerme,  par 
Ventremise  de  mon  chef  d'6tat-major,  j'annon^ai  au  ministre  de  la 
guerre  que  des  rabons  de  sant^  ne  me  permettaient  pas  de  continuer 
mon  service,  et  je  demandai  ma  retraite.  Je  renouvelie  mes  instances 
aupr^s  de  V.  M.,  pour  qu'elle  veuille  bien  faire  examiner  mes  motifo 
par  une  commission,  et  me  permettre  de  me  retirer  du  service. 
Je  suis,  avec  le  plus  profond  respect, 

Le  Iieutenan1>g4n6ral  Florestak  Pepe. 

No.  Xin. — Message  du  Rot  au  Parkment,  en  date  du  8  DScembre 

1820.  . 

Ferdinand  1%  par  la  gr&ce  de  Dieu  et  par  la  constitution  de  la  mo- 
narchie,  Roi  du  royaume-uni  des  Deux-Siciles,  Roi  de  Jerusalem, 
Infant  d'Espagne,  Due  de  Parme,  Plaisance,  Castro,  Grand  Prince 
h6r6ditaire  de  Toscane, 

A  MES  FIDElES  DEPUTES. 

J'apprends  avec  beaucoup  de  douleur  que  mes  fiddles  deputes  «e 


43]        gui  out  eulku  a  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.       351 

Toient  pas  du  m^me  oeil  que  moi  la  resoluticm  que  je  leur  ai  commu- 
niqueenier  7  du  courant. 

rour  ^Titer  toute  ^uivoque,  je  declare  n'avoir  jamais  eu  la  pens^d 
d'enfreindre  la  constitution  que  j'ai  jur6e;  mais,  par  mon  d^cret 
du  7  Juillet,  j'avais  r4serv4  k  la  representation  nationale  le  droit  de 
proposer  les  modifications  qu'elle  croirait  n^cessaire  d'apporter  a  la 
constitution  d*£spagne^  J'ai  cru  et  je  crois  que  mon  intervention  au 
congr^s  de  Laybach  pourra  ^tre  utile  k  Tint^r^t  de  la  patrie,  pour 
faire  agreer,  par  les  puissances,  des  modifications  qui,  sans  detruire 
les  droits  de  la  nation,  iloigneraient  tout  motif  de  guerre.  Dans 
aucun  cas.  Ton  n'acceptera  aucune  modification  sans  mon  consente- 
ment  et  celui  de  la  nation.  Je  declare,  en  outre,  que  j'ai  entendu  et 
que  j'entends  me  conformer  k  Tarticle  172,  §.  2.  de  la  constitution 
espagnole. 

Je  declare  enfin  que  je  n'ai  voulu  prescrire  d'autre  suspension,  du^ 
rant  mon  absence,  que  celle  des  modifications  constitutionnelles,  et 
nullement  celle  des  actes  legislatifs. 

Ferdikand. 

No.  XIV. — Message  du  Roi  Ou  Parlement,  en  date  du  10  D^cembre, 

1820. 

Ferdinand  I*%  par  la  gr&ce  de  Dieu  et  par  la  constitution  de  la 
monarchle,  Roi  du  royaume-uni  des  Deux-Siciles,  etc,  etc. 

A  MES  FIDELES  DEPUTES. 

Votre  decision  du  8  de  ce  mois  porte,  entre  autres,  que  le  parlement 
n'a  pas  la  faculte  d'adh^rer  k  mon  depart,  k  moins  que  ce  ne  soit  pour 
soutenir  la  constitution  d'Espagne  jur4e  en  commun.  Je  vous  declare 
de  nouveau  que  mon  intervention  au  congr^s  de  Laybach  n'a  d'autre 
but  que  celui  de  soutenir  la  constitution  d'Espagne,  que  nous  avons 
jur6e  comme  notre  pacte  social,  et  d'ajouter  k  votre  message  du  9 
cpurant  que  telle  est  la  decision  et  la  volenti  de  mes  peuples. 

Si  mon  message  du  7  a  ete  autrement  interpr6t6,  je  crois  avoir 
leve  toute  Equivoque  par  celui  du  8. 

D'apr^s  de  telles  declarations,  je  desire  que  le  parlement  decide  en 
termes  positifs  s'il  consent  k  mon  intervention  au  congr^s  de  Lay- 
bach, afin  d'y  soutenir  la  volont6  g^nerale  de  la  nation  pour  la  con- 
stitution adoptee,  et  afin  d'^carter  ainsi  les  menaces  de  la  guerre. 

£n  cas  d'une  decision  affirmative,  je  desire  que  le  parlement  s'ex- 
plique  sur  ma  proposition  de  confirmer  k  mon  fits,  due  de  Calabre,  les 
.pouvoirs  de  Vicaire-g6n6ral. 

Le  parlement,  se  confiant  dans  ma  fidelite,  que  je  justifieral  avec  la 
gr&ce  de  Dieu,  n'a  pas  cru  necessaire  de  me  faire  accompagner  par 
quatre  d^put^s.  Cependant  je  d6sirerais  leur  assistance  pour  pro- 
filer de  leurs  lumi^res.  Si,  d'apr^s  cette  explication,  le  parlement 
trouve  cette  mesure  utile,  je  ne  pourrai  qu'en  ^tre  satisfait.    Je  n'en- 


35$  Relation  des  EvSnemens  [44 

tends  point  Texiger  comme  condition  de  ma  propre  intervention  au. 
congr^s.    Enfin,  les  souverains  allies  attendant  de  moi  une  prompte 
reponse ;  je  desire  done  que  le  parlement  prononce  sans  retard  lur 
les  questions  que  je  lui  ai  soumises. 

No.  XV. — Lettre  du  Rigent  au  O^nSral  P^S^  par  laguelkil  lui  fait 

part  de  rapproche  des  Autrichiens. 

Naples,  k  15  Fhnier  1821. 

Je  Tiens  d'apprendre^  qne  quelques  Strangers  arrives  ce  matin 
ont  a8sur6  qu*hier,  14  courant,  la  t^te  de  la  colonne  des  Antrichiens, 
qui  descend  les  Marches,  serait  arriv6e  k  Rimini.  J'ai  cm  devoir 
vous  en  faire  part^  pour  que  vous  vous  conduisiez  en  consequence,  et 
connaissant  votre  zh\e  pour  la  defense  de  la  patrie, 

Je  suis,  etc. 

FRAN901S. 

Nq.  XVI. — Dicret  qui  nomme  le  General  Pep6  Commandant-en-chJ 

dn  second  corps  d'arm6e. 

ExcELtENCE,*  Naples,  le  16  Fh>rier  1821. 

S.  A.  R.  le  prince-regent^  par  son  decret  du  12  c6ufant,  vous  a 
nomme  commandant  en  chef  du  second  corps  d'arm^e.  J*en  pT^viens 
V.  E.,  pour  sa  gouverne. 

Le  ministre  de  la  guerre, 

Parisi. 

A.S.  E.U  lieutenant'gin6ral  Guillaumt  PSp^y  Inspccteur^giniral 
des  milices  et  des  gardes  nationales  et  de  surete. 

'  Cette  lettre  prouve  que  Ton  lenorait  les  mouvemens  de  Tennemif  et  que 
jusqu'^  ce  jour  it  n'existait  dans  les  Abruzzes  aiicune  disposition  de  guerre. 
Si,  k.  rapproche  des  premieres  colonnes  ennemies,  je  me  fusse  trouv6  avec  mon 
corps  dWmee  organise  dans  les  Abruzzes,  j^aurais  combattu  les  AutrichieDS 
en  detail.  .  . 

^  Les  militaires  et  les  hommes  de  tons  les  partis,  qui  croient  que  les  Napo- 
litains  manquent  de  patriotisme  et  de  bravoure,  aoivent  remarquer  avec 
attention  que  Tennemi  passa  ii  Bologne  le  8  Fevrier,  et  se  presenta le  20aux 
fronti^res  des  Abruzzes.  Cependant  le  general  P^pe  se  trouvait  le  16  ik  Na- 
ples, et  n'avait  point  encore  repu  sa  nommation  de  commandant  en  chef  du 
second  corps  d'armee.  C'est  k  cette  euoque  seulement  aue  les  milices,  qui 
ne  s'etaient  jamais,  pas  roSme  une  seule  tois,  reunies  en  oataillons.  repureut 
ordre  de  se  mettre  en  marche;  et  cependant  cinqiiante  mille  Autrichiens  fon- 
daient  de  toute  part  sur  pe  general,  qui  devait  garder  une  ligne  de  cent  cin- 

Suante  milles,  et  qui,  pour  &fendre  les  Abruzzes,  n'avait  que  peu  de  tiouptf 
e  ligne,  et  une  partie  de  ces  gardes  nationales,  abandonnant,  pour  la  pre^ 
mi^re  fois,  leurs  foyers^  executant  des  marches  forcees,  et  dormant  saiu 
capotes  sur  la  neige. 


4^}       qui  ont  eu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.        S5S 

No.  XVII.— ie^^re  du  Marquis  d^Onis  au  General  PepL 

MoK  General/  Naples^  le  27  Fhrkr  1821. 

J'ai  re^u  la  lettre,  en  date  du  24  courant,  que  vous  m'avez  fait 
rhonneur  de  m'adresser.  Elle  m'apprehd  les  bonnes  dispositions  que 
Tous  avez  faites  pour  defendre  les  Abruzzes. 

Je  dois  toutefois  pr^venir  V.  £.  que,  d'apr^s  les  lettres  que  je  re- 
^ois  de  Rome,  11  est  a  craindre  que  V.  E.  ne  soit  attaqu6e  dans  les 
Abruzzes,  k  sa  droite,  par  toutes  les  forces  autrichiennes ;  le  general 
Caraseosa  ne  conservant  pas  ses  positions  sur  la  Sabina,  comme  je 
Tai  toujours  cm,  pour  maintenir  une  communication  immediate  avec 
V.  E.,  mais  sur  San-Germano,  ce  qui  le  laisse  enti^rement  d6tach6  et 
isole :  et  comme  il  est  presque  hors  de  doute  que  le  but  de  Tennemi 
ne  soit  de  d6truire  le  noyau  d'armee  de  V.  E.,  comme  le  seul  ou  le 
principal  obstacle  h.  Fan^antissement  de  la  liberty,  je  crois  devoir  k 
mon  amiti6  pour  vous  de  vous  en  pr^venir,  pour  que  vous  preniez  vos 
mesures  en  consequence.  En  m^me  temps,  je  presserai  votre  fr^re  de. 
vous  faire  passer  tons  les  renforts  possibles. 

Je  vous  prie  d'agreer  les  assurances  de  mon  estime  la  plus  parfaite^ 
et  de  toute  ma  consideration. 

Le  Chevalier  d'Onis. 

A  S.  E.  le  general  Guillaume  P^pe. 

No.  XVIIL'^ Proclamation  du  General  Pipe  aux  Abrutziens, 
aux  Milices,  aux  LSgionnaires,  ex  aux  troupes  du  second  corps 
ifarmee. 

S.  A.  royale  le  Prince-r%ent  m'a  appel^  k  Thonneur  de  commander 
sur  toute  la  ligne  des  Abruzzes  le  second  corps  d'arm^e,  compost  de 
milices,  de  legionnaires  Abruzziens,  Samnites,  Irpins,  Dauniens,  d'un 
bataillon  de  CalabroiSf  du  bataillon  sacre^  et  de  corps  de  ligne  de 
toutes  armes.  Je  serai  yotre  fr^re  d'armes ;  inais  j'exigerai  la  plus 
scrupuleuse  observation  de  la  discipline  militaire,  dans  laauelle  nous 
trouverons  la  plus  siive  garantie  de  nos  succ^s.  Je  solticiterai  du 
prince-r6gent  de  promptes  recompenses  pour  les  actions  d'eclat  de 
chacun  de  vous,  non  que  vous  ayiez  besoin  de  ces  moyens  d'^mulation, 
mais  seulement  afin  de  faire  connattre  les  actions  heroiques.  D'un 
autre  c6te,  les  contraventions  et  les  d^lits  seront  punis  sans  remission. 
Les  ordres  du  jour,  publies  par  le  journal  constitutionnel,  annonceront 
k  vos  concitoyens,  a  vos  parens,  k  vos  epouses,  les  noms  de  ceux  qui 
auront  m^rite  ou  demerite  sur  le  chUmp  ahonneur.  Milices  et  lerion- 
naires  abruzziens,  qui  maintenant  ne  faites  point  partie  de  bataillons 
actifs  I  lorsqu'il  s'agira  de  combattre  Tennemi  k  peu  de  distance  de 
vos  communes,  vous  accourrez  au  danger ;  et  si  quelques  ennemis  se 
r^pandent  isol^ment  par  les  campagnes  pour  se  Uvrer  au  pillage, 
alors,  Abruzziens,  vous  vous  bomerez  k  les  desarmer,  et  k  les  con- 
duire  au  plus  prochain  de  nos  postes  !  La  cruaute  n'appartient  point 
aux  braves ;  Fnomme  libre  est  genereux. 

VOL.  XXIH.  Pam.  NO.  XLVL  Z 


354  Relation  des  Evenemens  [46 

Milices,  legionnaires  et  soldats,  le  joar  de  la  gloire  va  bient6t 
luire  I  Le  second  corps  d*arni4e  sera  le  premier  qui  s'opposera  k  un 
ennemi  stipendi6.  Sept  millions  de  nos  concitoyens  attendent  im- 
patiemment  les  premieres  nouvelles  de  nos  exploits.  Des  yieillards 
meurent  apr^s  avoir  6puis6  les  ressources  de  t'art  medical,  et  avoir 
6prouv6  la  pitie,  et  souvent  le  mepris  de  leurs  semblables.  Des 
bommes  adultes  meurent  de  mille  mani^res,  accabl6s  de  douleur,  et 
entour6s  de  T^goisme  de  leurs  h^ritiers,  qui  negligent  m^me  de  de- 
guiser  leur  ingratitude. — II  nous  est  peut-^tre  donn6  de  mourir  pour 
la  gloire  de  la  patrie,  pour  le  soutien  du  tr6ne  constitutionnel,  pour 
garantir  nos  biens,  notre  liberty.  Quelques  jours  de  moins  dans  la 
vie  ne  sont-ils  pas  compens^s  avec  usure  par  une  mort  douce  et 
elorieuse,  au  milieu  des  benedictions  de  la  generation  pr^sente  et 
niture ! 

L'ennemi  s'avance  vers  nos  fronti^res;  et  quel  est  leur  motif? 
sommes-nous  les  premiers  ou  les  derniers  qui  se  soient  donne  une 
constitution  ?  Pourquoi  ne  se  dirige-t-il  pas  centre  TEspagne  et  le 
Portugal  ?  Serions-nous  regard^s  comme  des  ilotes  par  le  minist^re 
autrichien,  nous  qui  avons  repris  les  noms  classiques  de  nos  aienx, 
lesquels  balanc^rent  le  pouvoir  des  mattres  du  monde  ?  Le  minist^re 
autrichien  dit  aux  Napolitains :  ''  R^voquez  les  sermens  solennels 
que  vous  et  votre  roi  avez  faits.  Rentrez  sous  le  joug  du  pouvoir 
absolu  oil  vous  v^ciites  tant  de  si^cles.  Figurez-vous  avoir  dormi 
pendant  sept  mois,  et  regardez  comme  un  songe  les  applaudissemens 
et  I'admiration  que  vous  avez  conquis.  Faites  comme  les  histrions 
qui,  apr^s  avoir  represent^  les  r61es  de  b^ros,  rentrent  dans  leur  nul- 
lite.  Si  vous  y  consentez,  nous  laisserons  k  la  plupart  d'entre  vous 
la  vie  pour  v^geter,  et  les  yeux  pour  pleurer.  L^ann^e  derni^re  vous 
avez  fini  de  payer  k  TAutriche  une  derni^re  portion  de  tributs ;  cette 
ann^e  vous  recommencerez  k  en  verser  de  nouveaux.  Quant  k  nous, 
pour  etre  certains  que  vous  ne  secouerez  plus  notre  joug,  nous  occu- 
perons  vos  contr^es  avec  soixante  milie  de  nos  soldats ;  nous  vous 
depouillerons  pour  la  seconde  fois  de  toute  votre  artillerie  et  de  tous 
les  moyens  de  defense ;  nous  dissoudrons  votre  armee  et  vos  gardes 
nationales.  Elles-memes  livreront  aux  flammes  les  v^temens  qui  ont 
coiite  plusieurs  millions  de  ducats.  Enfin,  rimp6t  foncier  et  toutes 
les  contributions  seront  fixes  selon  notre  bon  plaisir."  Abrazziens, 
milices  et  legionnaires,  soldats  de  ligne  du  second  corps  d'armee, 
voici  le  jour  oii  nous  repondrons  k  tant  d*injures  au  nom  de  sept  mil- 
lions de  Napolitains !  L'ennemi  a  decrete  k  Laybacb  et  notre  gloire 
et  notre  grandeur.  O.  Peps. 

A  Tottea,  le  19  Fhrier  1821. 

No.  XIX. — Imtrttctioni  du  Regent  au  General  D.  GuiUaume 

Pipi. 

Naples,  le  20  Fivrier  1821. 

I®.  Le  royaume  de  Naples  pent  etre  attaque  par  les  Abruzzes^par 


47]        qui  ont  eu  lieu  h  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.        355 

Sora  et  Ceprano,  et  par  Itri.    La  position  politique  et  militare  de  nos 
c&teft  rend  impossibles  ou  de  nul  efFet  les  attaques  maritimes. 

2o.  La  defense  des  Abruzzes  tous  est  confiee,  ainsi  qu'aux  troupes 
du  second  corps  d'armee.  Le  general  Carascosa  et  ses  troupes  de- 
feodront  les  deux  autres  points  de  la  fronti^re. 

3^.  yennemi  n'a  point  d^velopp^  son  plan  ni  ses  forces.  Mais  je 
suppose  deux  cas :  lo.  qu'il  attaque  faiblement  les  Abruzzes,  pour 
GODcentrer  ses  forces  sur  un  autre  point  de  la  fronti^re ;  2o.  ou  qu'au 
contraire  il  observe  la  fronti^re  dans  les  autres  parties,  et  qu'il  ik-^ 
unisse  ses  fcurces  centre  les  Abruzzes.  Le  territoire  que  vous  avez  k 
defendre  sera  ainsi  Fobjet  secondaire  ou  principal  de  la  guerre. 

4\  S'il  est  Tobjet  secondaire,  vous  secourrez  de  deux  mani^res- 
Taile  gauche  de  rarm^e,  soit  en  fournissant  an  premier  corps  d'armee 
quelques-uns  de  vos  bataillons,  soit  en  ^nanceuvrant  sur  les  flancs  et 
sur  le  derri^re  de  Tennemi,  soit  par  des  marches  offensives.  Les  cir* 
Constances  d^cideront  du  choix  des  deux  moyens  pr6c6dens.  II  n'est 
pas  n^cessaire  de  faire  observer  k  un  g6n6ral  aussi  experiments,  que 
les  Abruzzes  seront  toujours  la  base  de  vos  operations  dans  les  secours 
que  vous  porterez  k  Taile  gauche,  soit  par  des  marches  offensives, 
soit  par  des  mouvemens  latSraux ;  et  qu'ainsi  tons  vos  mouvemens 
doivent  s'appuver  exclusivement  k  cette  partie  de  la  ironti^re. 

&*,  Mais  si  les  Abruzzes  formaient  I'objet  principal  de  rattaque» 
vous  recevriez  du  premier  corps  d'armSe  des  secours  de  troupes  et  de 
manoeuvres.  Leur  genre  et  leur  6tendue  dSpendront  des  circon^ 
stances. 

Apr^s  ces  idSes  genSrales,  je  descendrai  aux  particularitSs  de  1« 
guerre  des  Abruzzes. 

60^  Notre  syst^me  est  d^fensif,  parce  qu*il  convient  mieux  k 
aotre  territoire  et  ii  la  justice  de  notre  cause.  Cependant  la  neutra- 
lite  passive  du  Pape,  et  Tinvasion  de  ses  6tat8  par  I'ennemi,  donnent 
aux  troupes  napolitaines  le  droit  d'outre-passer  les  cotffins  du 
royaume,  et  d'occuper  les  positions  qui  conviennent  k  notre  defense. 
Ainu,  dans  vos  operations  stratSgiques,  vous  aurez  une  liberty  sans 
limites. 

7<».  On  se  comportera  avec  respect  envers  le  gouvernement  du 
Pape,  et  les  pennies  des  pays  que  vous  occuperez  seront  traitSs  avec 
toiite  justice.  Ainsi  vous  ne  permettrez  pas  qu'il  soit  le  moindrement 
attente  par  nos  troupes  aux  propri4t6s  des  habitans  et  aux  autoritSs 
du  pays.  Les  denrSes  que  vous  exigerez  pour  la  subsistance  de 
rarmSe  seront  payees  avec  exactitude,  et  le  eommandement  militaire, 
qui  s'Stablit  naturellement  dans  Toccupation  d'un  pays,  ne  s'exercera 
que  sur  les  troupes  napolitaines. 

Si  la  conduite  du  souveram  Pontife  nous  obligeait  k  changer  d^ 
syst^me,  le  parlement  national  en  dSciderait  en  temps  opportun,  et 
vous  en  seriez  averti. 

8o.  La  clef  des  Abruzzes  est  Aquila.  Si  Tennemi  s*emparait  de  ce 
point,  il  touriierait  les  defiles  de  Forca  di  Penne  et  de  Popoli:  Chietl 
et  Pescara  perdraient  toute  Timportance  de  leur  front,  et  resteraient 


I        t 

356 .  Relation  des  EvSnemens*  [48 

abandon nes  it  leurs  propres  moyens.  La  defense  du  royaume  cbsm- 
gerait  de  nature^  on  ne  pourrait  plus  emp^cher  le  passage  du  Lin, 
et  le  syst^me  d^fensif  recevrait  une  tr^s  grave  atteinte. 

Si  Aquila  4taU  obsery^e  par  Tennemi  et  fortement  menac^e,  it 
agirait  avec  vigueur  sur  la  c6te  des  Apennins  qui  regarde  rAdriatique, 
et  il  pourrait  tenter  avec  succ^s  le  passage  de  Forca,  de  Penne,  et  les 
defiles  de  Popoli,  passage  d'oi!i  resuiterait  la  perte  d' Aquila. 

9<».  Ainsi  rimportance  de  ce  point  oblige  k  en  faire  le  centre  de  la 
sphere  defensive,  dont  on  doit  considerer  comme  aotant  de  rayons 
TeramOy  Civitella,  Ascoli,  Monjtereale,  Acumoli,  Norcia,  Leonessa, 
Spoleto,  Antrodoco,  Rieti,  Terni,  Tagliacozzo,  Carsoli,  Tivoli,  Forca 
diPenne,  Strette  di  Popoli,  Gbieti et  Pescara. 

Quel  que  soit  celui  de  ces  rayons  dont  Tennemi  parviendrait  k  s'em- 
parer,  Aquila  serait  perdue;  ou  bien,  pour  la  d^fendre,  on  serait 
oblig6  de  livrer  bataille,  ce  que  Ton  doit  6viter  dans  la  guerre  defen- 
sive, k  moins  qu'on  n*ait  la  certitude  du  succ^s. 

\(y>.  Les  positions  qu'il  faut  occuper  avec  le  pins  de  force  sent  Civi- 
tella,  Leonessa,  Antrodoco  et  Rieti ;  et  Civitella  est  la  plus  impor- 
tante  des  quatre,  parce  qu'elle  defend  le  passage  du  Tronto,  et  parce 
qu'elle  tient  les  troupes  en  echec  apr^s  le  passage  du  ileuve. 

La  nature  de  cette  guerre  obligera  Tennemi  k  se  fortifier  en  avan- 
^ant;  il.  conviendra  done  d'opposer  ouvrages  k  ouvrages,  oa  plut6t 
d'opposer  nos  positions  k  ses  ouvrages.  La  lenteur  qui  nait  de  ce  sys- 
t^me  r^ciproque  est  tout  k  son  d^savantage. 

11®.  La  route,  ou  plut6t  le  sentier  qui  c6toie  TUmano,  et  qui  de  la 
gorge  de  ce  fleuve  conduit  k  Montorio,  devient  la  ligne  des  operations 
dont  Aquila  est  la  base,  et  dont  Teramo,  Civitella  et  Ascoli  sont  les 
objets.  II  doit  par  consequent  ^tre  vigoureusement  d^fendu.  Si 
Tennemi  s'en  emparait,  il  couperait  Civitella  et  Teramo,  il  faciliterait 
Foccupation  de  cette  ville;  il  se  rendrait  mattre  d*uiie  autre  partie 
importante  des  Abruzzes. 

Ce  sentier  est  extraordinairement  escarp^,  circonstance  favorable 
tant  qu'on  defend  ce  terrain,  mais  qui  est  nuisible  d^s  qu'oa  I'a  perdu 
en  tout  ou  partie,  car  Tennemi  pent  facilement  se  fortifier  dans  la 
partie  occup^e,  et  ne  plus  la  perdre. 

12<>.  II  conviendrait  de  fortifier  plusieurs  lieux,  et  d'en  confier  la 
defense  aux  habitans.  Si  les  Autnchiens  ne  cbangent  pas  leur  sys- 
t^me  de  guerre,  ils  marcberont  en  6tendant  la  spb^re  de  leurs  opera^ 
lions;  m^thode  necessaire  pour  trouver  les  moyens  de  subsistance 
dans  un  pays  montueux,  sterile,  et  dont  les  habitans  ne  tont  pas 
favorablement  disposes. 

13®.  Vous  recevrez,  monsieur  le  general,  lo.  la  carte  de  tont  le 
terrain  qui  sera  le  tb6&tre  de  vos  operations;  2o.  la  carte  d'une  autre 
partie  de  terrain  qui  a  pour  limites  notre  fronti^re  d'un  c6te,  le  fleuve 
Esino  du  c6t6  oppos^,  la  chalne  des  Apennins  jusqu'ii  Fabriano,  et 
d'autre  part,  la  c6te  de  VAdriatique  entre  les  gorges  de  llronto  et 
celle  de  TEsino ;  3^.  les  reconnaissances  militaires  des  Abruzzes,  aian 
que  des  autres  points  ci-apr^s  design^s : 


49]      qui  ont  eu  lieu  d  Naples  en  1820  e/  1821.        357 

La  cdte  dfe  la  partie  des  Apennins  qui  regarde  TAdriatiquey  et  qui 
se  trouve  dans  les  Abruzzes ; 

Lea  sommets  des  Apennins  m^mes ; 

La  valine  du  Nera,  dite  de  Norcia ;  et,  en  Proicenimn^  celle  du 
Velino  jusqu'&  Rieti,  et  celles  du  Salto  etdu  Jurianojusqu'^  Carsoli 
et  Tagliacozzo ; 

La  valine  du  Sizi,  dite  de  Nerfa,  et  celle  de  Roveto,  qui  la  termine 
dans  la  plaine  de  Sora. 

Je  joins  k  ces  travaux  les  reconnaissances  et  les  observations  mili* 
taires  qui  concernent  le  terrain  repr6sent6  par  la  carte  dont  il  s'agit 
au  no  2. 

Tous  ces  mat^riaux  vous  seront  tr^s  utiles  pour  vos  operations  de 
guerre. 

14^  Vous  entretiendrez  une  correspondance  frequente  avec  T^tat- 
major  general  de  I'armee,  avec  le  general  Carascosa^  commandant  du 
premier  corps,  et  avec  le  ministre  de  la  guerre. 

15^.  La  latitude  d'operations  des  deux  commandans  en  chef  est 
plac^e  dans  les  limites  des  presentes  instructions ;  dans  la  guerre, 
tout  depend  n^anmoins  des  circonstances  locales.  II  n*est  done 
point  defendu  de  s'^carter  des  instructions ;  mais  le  general  qui  s'en 
eloigne  est  tenu  k  deux  obligations :  l^.  de  justifier  ses  operations ; 
2®.  d'en  donner  un  prompt  avis  k  Fetat-major  g^n^ral,  au  ministre  de 
la  guerre,  et  k  tous  les  generaux  ou  commandans  de  corps  qui  peuvent 
^tre  int^ress^s  au  nouveau  mouvement. 

FRAN901S,  Regent. 

N.  6.  Vous  recevrez  dans  quelques  jours  la  copie  des  instructions 
donn^es  au  general  Garascosa. 


No,  XX. — Proclamation  du  Roi  aux  Napolitains,  en  date  du 

25  Fevrier, 

FfiRDiKAKD  P%  par  la  gr&ce  de  Dieu,  roi  du  royaume  des  Deux- 

Siciles. 

La  sollicitude  de  notre  cosur,  exprimee  dans  la  lettre  du  28  Janvier, 
que  nous  avons  adressee  k  notre  bien-aim6  fils  le  Due  de  Galabre,  et 
la  declaration  conforme  faite  dans  le  meme  temps  par  les  representans 
des  souverains  allies,  n'ont  pu  laisser  k  nos  peuples  aucun  doute  sur 
les  consequences  auxquelles  les  deplorables  evenemens  du  mois  de 
Juillet  dernier^  ainsi  que  leurs  resultats,  exposent  notre  royaume. 

Notre  coeur  paternel  nourrissait  la  plus  ferme  esperance  que  nos 
premiers  avis  auraient  fait  prevaloir  les  conseils  de  la  prudence  et  de 
la  moderation,  et  qu'un  fanatisme  aveugle  n'auraitpas  attire  sur  notre 
royaume  ces  maux  que  nous  nous  sommes  toujours  enforces  d'eviter. 

Nous  confiant  uniquement  dans  cette  esperance,  nous  avons  era 
devoir  prolonger  notre  sejour  dans  le  lieu  oil  se  trouvent  reunis  nos 
puissans  allies,  afin  de  pouvoir,  jusqu'au  dernier  moment,  seconder 
de  tous  nos  efforts  les  determinations  qui  servient  prises  k  Naples^  et 


358  Relation  des  EvSnemeM  ISO 

afin  de  panretiir  au  but  auqttel  tendentn'os  plus  ardens  desirSy  comme 
coDciliateuT  et  pacificateur,  seule  consolation  qui,  dans  notre  vieil- 
lesse,  piit  adoucir  nos  chagrins,  les  rigueurs  p^nibles  de  la  saison,  et 
ies  d6sagr6mens  d'nn  long  voyage.  Mais  les  hommes  qui  ont  ezerce 
momentan6ment  le  pouvoir  a  Naples,  opprimes  par  la  perfidte  d'un 

Setit  nombre,  ont  6te  sourds  k  notre  voix ;  et  voulant  s^daire  resprit 
e  nos  peupleSy  ils  ont  tent6  de  le  tromper  par  la  fierasse  supposiuon, 
si  injuriense  pour  les  grands  monarques  nos  allies,  que  nous  noos 
trouvions  en  6tat  d'arr^t.  J'ai  cm  n^cessaire  de  r6pondre  k  une  im- 
putation si  fausse  et  si  coupable. 

Maintenant  que,  par  I'effet  de  suggestions  perfides,  notre  s^jour  an 
milieu  de  nos  allies  n'a  plus  pour  motif  Tobjet  de  notre  premiere  espe- 
ranee,  nous  nous  mettrons  de  suite  en  marche  pour  retoumer  dans 
nos  6tat8.  Dans  cette  situation  de  choses,  il  est  de  notre  devoir, 
pour  nous-m^mes  et  pour  nos  peuples,  de  leur  faire  connaitre  nos 
sentimens  royaux  et  patemels. 

Une  longue  experience  de  soixante  ans  de  r^gne  nous  a  appris  k 
connaitre  les  dispositions  et  les  vrais  besoins  de  nos  sujets.  Nous 
confiant  dans  la  droiture  de  nos  intentions,  nous  saurons,  avec  Taide 
de  Dieu,  satisfaire  k  leurs  besoins  de  la  mani^re  la  plus  juste  et  la 
plus  durable.  Nous  d^clarons,  en  consequence,  que  Tarmee  qui 
s'avance  sur  notre.  territoire  devra  ^tre  consider^e  par  nos  fidMes 
sujets,  non  comme  ennemie,  mais  comme  destinee  seulement  k  les 
prot6ger,  en  contribuant  k  consolider  I'ordre  n^cessaire  pour  main- 
ten  ir  la  paix  interieure  et  exterieure  du  royaume. 

Nous  ordonnons  k  nos  armies  de  terre  et  de  mer  de  consid^rer  et 
d'accueillir  celle  de  nos  augustes  allies  comme  une  force  qui  agit 
seulement  pour  le  veritable  inter^t  de  notre  royaume,  et  que  loin 
d'etre  envoyee  pour  les  soumettre  ou  les  surcharger  d'imp6ts  pour 
une  guerre  inutile,  elle  est  autoris6e  k  se  r^unir  k  elles  pour  assurer 
la  tranquillity  et  pour  prot^ger  les  vrais  amis  du  bien  de  la  patrie,  qui 
sont  les  sujets  fiddles  de  leur  rot. 

Ferdinakd. 
Lay  bach,  le  25  Fivrier  1821. 

No.  XXI. — Proclamation  du  General  Frimont  aux  Napolitaim, 

NapolitaiksI 

Au  moment  oil  I'arm^e  qui  est  sous  mes  ordres  met  le  pied  sur  les 
fronti^res  du  royaume,  je  me  vois  dans  Tobligatii^  de  declarer 
franchement  et  ouvertement  ]e  but  de  mes  operations.' 

Une  detestable  revolution,  arriv^e  dans  le  mois  de  Juillet  dernier, 
trouble  votre  tranquillity  interieure  et  rorapt  les  liens  d'amitie  qui, 
dans  les  etats  voisins,  ne  peuvent  reposer  que  sur  les  bases  d'une  con- 
fiance  r6ciproque. 

Votre  roi  a  fait  entendre  k  son  peuple  sa  voix  royale  et  patemelle; 
ii  vous  a  pr^venus  des  hotreurs  d'une  guerre  inutile,  que  personne  ne 
vent  porter  au  milieu  de  vous,  et  qui  ne  doit  tomber  sur  vous  que 
d'aprls  vos  actions. 


51]        qui  ont  m  lieu  a  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.       359 

Les  anciens  et  fidMes  allies  du  royaume  vo«8  adressent  aussi  la 
parole ;  ils  ont  non-aeulement  des  devoirs  k  |remplir  envers  leurs 
peuples ;  mais  votre  bonheur  r6el  et  durable  ne  leur  est  pas  6tran?er, 
et  vous  oe  le  trouverez  jamais  sur  le  chemin  de  la  revolte,  ni  en  n>u- 
lant  aux  pieds  tos  devoirs. 

Abandonnez  volontairement  une  oeuvre  politique  qui  vous  est  6tran« 
g^re,  et  confiez*vous  en  votre  roi.  Vos  inter^ts  sont  inseparables 
ides  siens. 

En  approchant  des  fronti^res  du  royaume,  aucune  pens4e  hostile 
ne  conduit  nos  pas.  L'arm6e  qui  est  sous  mes  ordres  considerera  et 
traitera  comme  amis  tous  les  sujets  fid&les  k  leur  roi,  et  tons  les 
Napolitains  amis  de  la  tranquillite.  Elle  observera  partout  la^  plus 
rigoureuse  discipline,  et  ne  regardera  coomie  ennemis  que  ceux  qui 
s'opposeront  k  sa  marche. 

.  Napolitains !  ecoutez  la  voix  de  votre  roi  et  de  ses  amis,  qui  sont 
aussi  les  v&tres.  lUfl^chissez  k  tous  les  d^sastres  que  vous  vous 
^ttirerez  par  une  vaine  resistance ;  soyez  persuades  que  votre  felicite 
ne  pourra  jamais  reposer  sur  une.  opinion  illusoire  et  passag&re,  par 
laquelle  cherchent  k  vous  abuser  les  ennemis  de  Fordre  et  de  la  tran- 
quillity, qui  sont  6galement  les  vdtres. 

Jbak,  Baron  de  Frimont,  g^n^ral  de  cavalerie. 

Du  quartier'giniral  de  Foligno,  le  27  FStrier  1821. 

No.  XXII.— Lc^fre  du  Parlement  au  Roi,  envoyiepar  Ventremise 

du  Gineral  Fardella. 

Sire, 

Que  V.  M.  nous  permette  de  d^poser  dans  le  fond  de  son  cceur 
notre  profonde  affliction.  Elle  est  produite  par  des  circonstances 
dont  les  principales  au  moins  vous  sont  connues.  Nous  vivions  pai- 
siblement  au^  sein  de  nos  foyers,  et,  le  2  Juillet  1820,  nous  ne  nous  en 
6tions  pas  ^loign^s.  V.  M.  crut  devoir  nous  en  arracher,  lorsque,  par 
Torgane  de  son  auguste  fils,  elle  convoqua  les  assemblies  61ectorales, 
et  autorisa  ainsi  notre  nomination.  Ce  fut  elle  qui  tra^a  la  formule 
de  nos  pouvoirs,  et  nous  prescrivit  les  bases  de  nos  sermens.  Dans 
toutes  nos  fonctions,  nous  n'avons  cru  falre  autre  chose  que  de  nous 
conformer  k  votre  volont6,  qui  correspondait  aux  d^sirs  du  peuple. 
Lorsque  V.  M.  partit  pour  le  congr^s  de  Laybach,  elle  daigna  se 
charger  de  la  mission  de  nous  conserver  notre  constitution  actuelle. 
Mais,  dans  les  documens  qui  furent  communiques,  elle  exprima  claire* 
ment  la  position  p6nible  et  les  circonstances  critiques  oil  elle  se  trouva, 
lorsqu'elle  n'eut  pu  faire  changer  les  resolutions  de  ses  allies.  Nous 
rappelant  tout  ce  que  V.  M.  avait  dit,  et  que  nous  avions  entendu  de 
sa  propre  bouche,  nous  et  le  prince  Regent,  nous  f^mes  port6s  k 
croire  qu*en  pronon^ant  ensuite  des  paroles  contraires,  elle  s'^tait 
trouv^e  dans  un  ^tat  de  contrainte. 

Cependant,  une  proclamation  s'est  repaudue  en  votre  nom  royal. 


360  Relation  dcs  EvimmeHS'  {Si 

et  a  pr^ent^  I'id^e  que  V.  M.  etait  libre,  et  qu*elle  desappron^  toate- 
fois  le  regime  qu'elle  a  fond6  panni  nous.  Nous  avons  aussi  appris 
que  V.  M.  etait  a  Florence,  et  qu'elle  s'avan^ait  vers  Rome.  En 
m^me  temps  que  ces  demarches  ont  lieu,  nous  voyons  une  forte 
arm^e  autrichienne  passer  nos  fronti^res,  et  menacer  ce  qui  nous  est 
le  plus  precieux. 

Sire,  la  volonte  de  V.  M.  a  toujours  kxk  cb^re  &  notre  nation.  Si 
son  nom  fut  jamais  prononc6  avec  v^n^ration  et  amour,  ce  fut  pr6- 
cis4ment  lorsqu^elle  daigna  4tablir  une  constitution  dans  notre  patrie. 
Toutes  nos  demarches,  tons  nos  actes  ont  port6  I'empreinte  du  plus 
vif  amour  pour  V.  M.,  et  nous  n'avons  joui  de  la  liberty  que  dans  les 
limites  et  de  la  mani^re  prescrites  par  elle-m^me. 

Si  V.  M.  croit  maintenant  devoir  s'eioigner  en  quelque  point  da 
syst^me  auparavant  adopts,  qu'elle  daigne  reparaitre  au  milieu  de  son 
peuple,  qu'elle  d^voile  en  famille  ses  v^ritables  dispositions;  qu'elle 
vienne  nous  decouvrir,  dans  I'effusion  de  son  coeur,  quelles  ameliora- 
tions elle  oroit  n^cessaires  a  notre  6tat  actuel.  Votre  peuple,  Sr^e, 
sera  satisfait  de  maintenir  avec  V.  M.  ce  juste  et  noble  accord  dont 
il  s'est  toujours  honor6,  et  dont  il  se  fera  toujours  un  devoir.  Mais 
que  les  Strangers,  Sire,  que  les  etrangers  ne  pr^tendent  pas  s'immb- 
cer  entre  la  nation  et  son  chef;  que  personne  ne  disc  que  leur  presence 
a  kik  n^cessaire  pour  inspirer  envers  le  monarque,  a  un  peuple  qui 
Taime  et  le  respecte,  ia  dociiite,  I'attachement  et  la  connance;  que 
nos  lois  ne  soient  pas  teintes  du  sang  de  nos  ennemis  ou  de  nos  fr^res ; 
enfin,  que  le  tr6ne  de  V.  M.  se  repose  tout  entier  sur  I'affection  de 
ses  propres  peuples,  et  non  sur  le  glaive  des  ultramontains. 

Nous  confions.  Sire,  ces  voeux  sinc^res  ^  ce  m^me  Dieu  qui  fut 
temoin  de  nos  engagemens  r6ciproques,  de  nos  intentions  loyales  et 
de  vos  soins  patemels.  Nous  ne  doutons  pas  que  le  coeur  bienfaisant 
de  V.  M.  n'agr^  ces  m^mes  voeux,  et  ne  sache  les  rendre  efficaces. 
Nous  osons  enfin  Tassurer  que  sa  gloire,  notre  honneur,  et  la  f61icit£ 
commune  en  seront  les  r^sultats  certains. 

Qu'elle  soit,  en  attendant,  persuadee  que  tout  ce  que  nous  avons 
fait,  ott^e  que  nous  ferons,  sera  toujours  conforme  k  ces  sentimens, 
qui  sont  d'aiUeurs  ceux  de  V«  M. 

Naples,  le  12  Mars  1821. 

No.  XXill. — Decret  du  Regent, pour  la  riorganisation  du  second 

corps  d^armee. 

Minist^re  de  la  Guerre,  N®  2743. 

Excellence,  Naples,  le  14  Mars  1821. 

S.  A.  R.  le  Prince  Regent  a  ordonne  que  V.  E.  reorganise  un  second 
corps  d'armee  entre  les  deux  principautes.     II  devra  se  composer : 

1^.  Des  cadres  des  bataillons  du  pr^cMent  corps  d*arm6e,  cadres 
qui  seront  expedi^s  k  Montefusco  par  le  commandant  en  chef  du 
premier  corps.     Les  soldats  qui  devront  completer  ces  cadres  seront 


SS}         gui  onteuUtu  &  Naples  en  1820  et  1821.       361 

pris  parmi  lea  soldaU  en  cong6  qui  sont  dans  les  bataillons  <le  mili* 
ciens  et  legionnaires,  aux  termes  du  d^cret  do  courant,  et  des  recrues 
que  V.  £•  pourra  tirer  des  divers  dep6ts  de  recrutement  du  royaume. 

On  leur  a  6crit  en  consequence. 

2<».  D'un  bataillon  de  gendarmerie ; 

o^.  De  I'escadron  sacre,  qui  est  port^  au  nombre  de  cent  soixante 
cavaliers ; 

4«.  Des  bataillons  de  miliciens  et  legionnaires  existant  k  Naples, 
qui  rejoindront,  et  pour  lesquels  j'ai  donn6  les  ordres  correspondans 
au  gouvemeur  de  Naples ; 

5\  Des  bataillons,  corps  et  compagnies  franches  qu'on  organise  k 
Naples  ou  ailleurs ; 

69.  Des  autres  bataillons  de  miliciens  ou  legionnaires  que  V.  E. 
croira  pouvoir  organiser  dans  les  deux  principautes  ou  dans  la  Capi- 
tanate.  Lorsqu'on  connattra  la  force  et  la  marche  du  second  regiment 
de  chasseurs  a  cheval,  j'aurai  soin  de  I'expedier  au  corps  que  vouil 
commandez.( 

Le  susdit  corps  sera  forme  de  quatre  brigades,  et  les  generaux  Ver- 
dinois,  Montemajor,  Mari  et  Aquino  les  commanderont.  Les  trois 
premiers  se  porteront  k  Montefusco.  Lorsque  leur  position  sera 
connue,  et  qu'ils  pourront  se  detacher  des  troupes  qu'ils  commandent 
actuellement  dans  les  Abruzzes,  j'aurai  soin  que  le  general  Russo, 
apr^s  qu'il  aura  opere  sa  reunion  arec  le  premier  corps,  re^oive  une 
destination  pr^s  de  vous  dans  le  deuxieme  corps. 

Je  donnerai  les  ordres  pour  que  tons  les  officiers  isoies  qui  avaient 
ete  mis  k  la  disposition  de  V.  £.  se  portent  a  Montefusco  sous  votre 
commandement,  k  mesure  qu'ils  rentreront  des  Abruzzes. 

Le  conseiller  d'etat  Borelli  restera  audit  second  corps. 

J'ai  e8;alement  dispose  que  le  payeur-general  M;  Gapara,  et  Tordon- 
nateur  M.  Tolva,  en  attendant  rarrivee  de  son  collogue  Morales,  se 
presentent  k  V.  E.  pour  exercer  leurs  fonctions  respectives  dans  le 
corps  que  yous  commandez. 

II  importe  de  vous  prevenir  que  j'ai  ordonne  que  les  bataillons  de 
miliciens  Calabrois  qui  etaient  en  marche,  s'arretassent  k  Saleme 
pour  y  recevoir  les  ordres  que  V.  E.  pourra  donner  relativement  k 
leur  nouvelle  destination.  Du  reste,  j'ai  ecrit  pour  enjoindre  k  ceux 
de  laPouille  de  s'arr^ter  k  Avellino,  et  d'attendre  les  nouveaux  ordres 
de  V.  £• 

Je  vais  donner  les  ordres  pour  que  le  corps  que  vous  organisez  ait 
une  ambulance,  un  service  des  transports  militaires  et  un  service  des 
subsistances. 

J'attendrai  que  Fartillerie  du  precedent  second  corps  fasse  sa  re* 
traite  du  Volturno,  pour  la  diriger  de  1^,  en  tout  ou  en  partie,  au 
nouveau  second  corps^ 

Collet  A. 


362  Relation  des  Evenemem  [54 

Jfo.  XXIV. — Leitre  des  Depufis  des  Cortis,  icrite  de  Madrid  au 
General  Guillaume  Pepe,  d  son  arrivee  a  Barcehnne^ 

General,  Madrid^  le  2  Mai  1821. 

Amis  de  la  liberty,  nous  ne  pbuvons  que  rendre  un  public  hom- 
mage  \  celui  qui  ne  balan^a  point  de  s'exposer  tout  entier  pour  la 
d6fendre.  Cette  consideration  nous  fait  un  devoir  de  vous  offrir 
notre  amiti6y  notre  respect,  nos  facult6s.  Si  vous  avez  perdu  une 
patrie  pour  vous  6tre  attach^  k  la  plus  noble  des  entreprises,  soyez 
certain  que  nous  perdrons  la  n6tre,  ou  que  vous  trouverez  en  Espagne 
fasile  et  la  recompense  qui  peuvent  6tre  offerts  par  des  hommes  libres 
aux  v^ritables  h6ros,  de  quejque  pays  qu'ils  soient.  Veuillez  agr^ 
ces  sentimens  sinc^res,  dict^s  par  I'esprit  dont  sont  animus  tous  les 
hommes  unis  par  les  m^mes  principes. 

Nous  sommes  avec  la  plus  haute  consideration,  vos  tout  devoues 
•erviteurs  et  amis : 

Diaz  de  Morales;  Juan  Romero  Alpuekte; 

Alvaro  Flores  Estrada  ;  Manuel  Garcia*  Sira  ; 

Jose  Moreno  de  Guerra;  Juan  Lopez  Constakte. 
Lorenzo  de  Gayala; 

Au  giniral  Guillaume  Pipi, 

No.  XXV .'-'Discours  prononci  au  Parlement  par   le  depute 

Poerio,  le  25  Mars  1821. 

Le  parlement  national,  convoqu6  en  vertu  du  statut  politique  qui 
a  ktk  adopts  par  le  roi,  install^  dans  sa  premiere  session  par  S.  M. 
en  personne ;  et  dans  la  session  actuelle,  par  S.  A.  R.  le  prince-regent, 
est  necessairement  et  absolument  un  parlement  legitime.  Si  des 
catastrophes  incrbyables  survenues  dans  Tarmee,  et  dont  Thistoire  un 
jour  devoilera  les  causes,  ont  pu  diminuer  nos  forces,  elles  n'ont  pu 
attenuer  nos  droits.  Quelle  est  done  notre  obligation  ?  celle  de  con- 
tinuer  nos  stances,  et  de  ne  separer  jamais  la  cause  de  la  nation  de 
cdle  du  roi,  et  de  son  auguste  ills,  h^ntier  de  la  couronne.  D'un 
autre  c6te,  le  parlement  ne  pent  etre  constitutionnellement  en  activity 
sans  le  concours  du  pouvoir  executif :  cotitinuons  done  k  suivre  le 
cherain  de  la  legitimite  et  de  Thonneur.  Soyons  fermes  k  notre 
poste ;  mais  attendons  avec  confiance  les  resultats  de  notre  dernier 
message  a  S.  M. ;  et  si  la  presence  d'une  arm^e  etrang^re  nous  met 

'  Le  genera]  Pepe  debarqua  vers  le  £0  Avril  k  Barcelonne,  et  le  capitaine- 
general  Villa-Cam  pa,  le  chef  politique,  ainsi  que  la  population  enti^re, 
touches  des  desastres  des  Napolitains,  TaccueilUrent  avec  ces  sentimens  de 
patriotisme  qui  distinguent  les  Catalans.    Le  general  Pepe  saisit  I'uccasion 


55]        qui  ont  ^Uetth  Naples  en  1820  et  1 82 1.       363 

^an^  la  li^c^ssttS  de  nous  s^parer,  protestons  deVant  Dieu  et  derant 
Jes  homoies  pour  Findependance  nationale  etpeur  celle  du  tr6ne«  Lea 
d^sastres  miiitaires  ne  doivent  pas  abattre  le  courage  civique.  Vou- 
lons-nous' dbnner  des  preuves  ae  noire  profond  respect  pour  le  roi? 
ne  d^shonorons  pas  le  peuple  dont  il  est  le  chef  et  le  p^re.  (Uorateur 
«st  appuye  par  le  president  Arcovito,  et  les  d6put6s  Nicolai,  Diago- 
netti,  Carlini,  Melchiore,  De  Luca,  Antonini  et  Mortci.) 

U'o«^  X^VI. — Acte  de  Protestation  adoptS  et  dicrite  en  comiie 
secretj  par  k  P^triement  national,  dans  la  matinie  du  19  Mars 
I82I9  stir  /a  proposition  du  depute  Poerio^  revitu  de  vingt^dnq 
signatures,  parmi  lesquelles  se  trouve  celle  de  Vauteur  de  la 
motion,^ 

]>'apr^  la  publication  du  pacte  social  du  7  Juillet  1820,  en  vertu 
duquel  S.  M.  daigna  adherer  k  la  constitution  actuelle,  le  Roi,  par 
Torgane  .de  son  auguste  fils,  convoqua  les  assemblies  Electorates. 
Nommes  par  elles,  nous  reqiimes  nos  mandats  selon  la  forme  que  le 
monarque  avait  lui-in^me  pr^scrite.  Nous  avons  exerce  nos  fonctions 
conform^ment  k  nos  pouvoirs,  aux  sermens  du  Roi  et  aux  n6tres. 
Mais  la  presence  d'une  ann6e  Etrang^re  dans  le  royaume  nous  met 
dans  la  n6cessit6  de  les  suspendre,  d'autant  plus  que,  d'apr^s  I'avis 
de  S.  A.  R.y  les  derniers  revers  survenus  dans  Tarm^e  rendent  impos- 
sible la  translation  du  parlement,  qui  ne  pourrait  d'ailleurs  Etre  con- 
stitutionnellement  en  activite  sans  le  consentement  du  pouvoir  exe- 
cutif.  En  annon^ant  cette  circon  stance  affligeante,  nous  protestons 
centre  la  violation  du  droit  des  gens ;  nous  entendons  reserver  les 
droits  de  la  nation  et  du  Roi ;  nous  invoquons  la  sagesse  de  S,  A.  R. 
et  de  son  auguste  p^re,  et  nous  remettons  la  cause  du  tr6ne  et  de 
rind^pendance  nationsde  dans  les  mains  de  ce  Dieu  qui  r^gle  la  des- 
tin^e  des  monarques  et  des  peuples. 

Note  parlementaire^ 

Dans  la  stance  du  20,  le  parlement  d^cidk  en  comitE  secret,  que 
le  susdit  Acte  de  Protestation  ne  serait  pas  signe  par  les  deputes ; 

^  Honneur  aii  d^put^  baron  Joseph  Poerio,  auteur  de  la  motion  relative  h, 
la  Protestation  du  Parlement  national !  Oubliant  qu'il  etait  p^re  et  ^poux, 
oubliant  |es  malheurs  (Ju'il  avait  ^prouv^s  en  1709,  lorsqu'il  fiit  condamne 
a,  mprt^  il  se  rappela  seulement  que  ses  coqcitojens  les  Calabrois  avaient 
confix  leurs  plus  pr6cieux  int€rSfs  a  son  Eloquence  et  k  son  patriotisme ;  et 
Comme  il  importe  de  tirer,  autant  que  possible,  un  voile  sur  les  fautes  et  les 
faiblesses  des  hommes,  et  de  mettre  en  Evidence  les  vertus  qui  im^ritent 
radmiratioQ,  je  suis  bien  aise  de  d6:larer  que  le  d§put6  Poerio  refusa,  dans 
les  trois  premiers  mois  du  regime  constitutionnel,  une  place  brtllante  qui  lui 
fut  ufferte,  a  condition  qu'il  se  ferait  reroplacer  par  son  supplant,  dans  le 
^as  od  il  serait  ^lu  d^put^;  et  j'ajouterai  que  lui  et  son  epouse,  Temule  des 
fVmmes  de  S[)arte,  mais  qui  aonnait  un  hbre  coqrs  a  ses  larmes,  me  coi- 
fi^rent  le  premier  de  leurs  fits  ftg€  de  dix-huit  ans,  et  me  dirent :  '*  £u  le  fai- 
sant  partir  pour  les  Abruzzes,  nous  pr^fl^ronsde  le  vo!r  suivre  le  g^nlral  qui, 
le  premier,  rencontrera  I'ennemi  de  notre  patrie;  car  ainsi  nous  serons,  ou 
au  combie  de  la  gloire,  ou  au  dernier  degre  du  malheur.'' 


364  Relation  des  Evenemem^  S^c.  [36 

mais  qn*k  rinstar  des  autres  actes  parlementaireg,  il  saffisait  qu'il  flli* 
;inscrit  dans  le  proc^s-verbal  de  ce  jour^  muni  des  signatures  du  pre- 
sident et  des  secretaires. 

Dans  hi  stance  publique  du  21,  le  parlement  adoptant  k  runanimit^ 
la  motion  du  d^put6  Poerio  et  celle  des  d^put^s  Dragonetti  et  Nicolai, 
d^ctda  qu'il  continuerait  ses  stances  jusqu  k  ce  que  la  presence  d'une 
arm6e  etrang^re  les  rendit  impossibles. 

Enfin,  le  24  Mars,  pendant  que  I'armee  autrichienne  faisait  son 
entree  dans  la  capitale,  vingt-deux  deputes  r^unis  dans  le  lieu  ordi- 
naire du  parlement,  ayant  attendu  I'arriv^e  de  leurs  collogues  jusqu*^ 
deux  heures  apr^s  midi,  heure  k  laquelle  finissaient  ordinairement  les 
stances  du  matin,  se  trouvant  en  nombre  insuffisant  pour  d^liberer,  et 
vu  la  presence  d'une  arm6e  6trang^re,  d^clar^rent  ^tre  contraints  de 
se  s^parer  sans  aYoir  pu  prendre  une  deliberation  conforme  k  leurs 
devoirs. 

Une  heure  apr^s  cette  decision,  la  force  arm^e  p^n^tra  dans  la 
salle  du  parlement,  qui  fut  fermee  et  scellee  par  ordre  de  la  police. 

No.  XXVIl. — Lettre  de  Nomination  de  Conseiller  d^itat. 

Ferdinand  P%  par  la  g^^e  de  Dieu  et  la  constitution  de  la  monar- 
chic, roi  du  royaume  des  Deux-Siciles. 

Naples,  /e  13  Septembre  1820. 

Vu  la  proposition  qui  nous  a  ^t^  faite  par  le  parlement  national 
pour  la  formation  du  conseil  d'etat,  usant  du  pouvoir  etabli  par  la 
constitution,  nous  aYons  r^solu  de  d^creter  et  nous  decr^tons  ce  qui 
suit: 

Article  1.  Nous  nommons  conseiller-d'etat  le  lieutenant-general 
Guillaume  Pepe. 

Art.  2.  Tons  les  ministres  secretaires-d'etat  sont  charges  de  Texe- 
cution  du  present  decret.  Ferdinand. 

Pour  extrait  conforme, 
Le  secretaire-d*etat,  par  interim,  ministre  de  gr^ce  et  de  justice, 

Jacinthe  Troisi. 

No.  ILXyilh^ Convention  secrke  entre  la  Cour  d'Autriche  et 

celle  de  Naples. 
Article  du  Traite  conclu  ct  Vienne,  le  12  Juin  1815. 

Les  engagemens  que  LL,  MM.  contractent  par  ce  traite,  pour 
assurer  la  paix  interieure  de  Tltalie,  leur  faisant  un  devoir  de  pre- 
server leurs  etats  et  leurs  sujets  respectifs  de  nouvelles  reactions,  et 
du  danger  d'imprudentes  innovations,  qui  en  ameneraient  le  retour,  il 
reste  entendu  entre  les  hautes  Parties  contractantes,  que  S.  M.  le  Roi 
des  Deux-Siciles,  en  retablissant  le  gouvemement  du  royaume,  n'ad- 
mettra  point  de  changemens  qui  ne  pourraient  se  concilier,  soit  avec 
les  anciennes  constitutions  monarchiques,  soit  avec  les  principes 
adoptes  par  S.  M.  R.  I.  Apostoltque  pour  le  regime  interieur  de  ses 
provinces  d'ltalie* 


REMARKS 


ON 


SUICIDE. 


By  THOMAS  CHEVALIER,  F.R.S.  &c. 

PROFESSOR  OF  ANATOMY  AND  SURGERY 
TO  THE  RGYAI.  CO£I<BO|E^  Off  SVROEONS  IN  LONDON. 


LONDON 


1824. 


PREFACE. 


The  substance  of  the  following  remarks  wais  printed 
several  years  ago  in  the  Times  newspaper;  but  as  the 
subject  is  of  great  importance,  and  cannot  be  too  thoroughly 
explained  and  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  those  whom 

the  Law  commissions  and  requires  to  investigate  the  circum* 
stances  of  those  cases  to  which  it  relates,  it  has  been  thought 
by  many  persons  that  the  observations  here  made  should 
not  be  left  entirely  to  a  past  and  ephemeral  publication, 
but  that  they  ought  to  be  preserved  in  a  more  distinct  and 
permanent  form.    They  are  therefore  now  republished. 


REMARKS  ON  SUICIDE. 


X  HE  attention  of  the  public  has  at  various  times^  and  especially 
within  the  last  few  years,  been  very  much  called  to  the  subject  of 
Suicide;  and  the  affecting  instances  of  that  awful  termination  of 
human  life  which  have  lately  occurred,  especially  such  instances  of 
it  as  we  have  seen  in  persons  of  distinguished  eminence,  have  ex-* 
cited  a  very  laudable  desire  to  devise,  if  possible,  some  prevention 
of  so  great  and  melancholy  an  evil.  The  observations  which  have 
appeared  from  time  to  time  in  some  of  our  public  prints,  do  honor 
to  the  hearts  of  their  authors ;  but  most,  if  not  all  of  them  that  have 
yet  fallen  under  my  notice,  have  appeared  to  me  to  take  too  limited 
a  view  of  the  subject,  which  requires  a  mature  consideration  of  all 
its  bearings,  and  of  a  multitude  of  facts,  many  of  which  are  not 
generally  known,  in  order  to  come  to  a  sound  decision  respecting 
it.  Some  of  these  facts  indeed  can  only  be  furnished  by  medical 
men ;  nor  can  the  whole  of  the  data  which  are  essential  to  its  just 
consideration,  be  fairly  before  us  without  surveying  the  question  in 
a  pathological,  a  political,  and  a  religious  light*  I  am  therefor^ 
induced  to  offer  these  observations  on  it,  as  it  is  one  which  has 
frequently  occupied  my  attention,  to  which  I  have  often  been  under 
the  necessity  of  alluding  in  my  lectures,  and  which  extensive  op« 
portunities  of  observation  for  more  than  thirty  years  have  pre- 
sented me  with  numerous  occasions  to  consider. 

The  first  view  to  be  taken  of  the  subject,  in  order  to  understand 
its  nature,  is  that  which  Medicine,  or  rather  Human  Pathology,  af- 
fords ;  and  which  is  to  be  sought  not  in  theory,  or  in  conjecture, 
but  in  facts.  It  is  material  that  the  public  should  know,  and  that 
coroners  and  jurors  especially  should  know,  that  the  attempt  at 
self-destruction  is  often  the  wirst  distinct  overt  act  of  insanity.  It 
has  happened  to  me  often  to  be  called  to  suicides,  who  had  not 
fully  effected  their  object,  and  who  were  not  before  supposed  to 


368  Chevalier's  Remarks  on  Suidde.  [4 

be  insane  ;  and  I  have  never  known  a  single  instance^  in  which  de- 
cided symptoms  of  insanity  did  not  speedily  become  manifest,  al- 
though in  many  cases  they  may  have  been  considerably  modified,  or 
kept  under,  by  loss  of  blood,  and  the  medical  treatment  which  it 
has  been  found  necessary  to  adopt.  I  have  also  been  repeatedly 
called  to  persons  who  have  been  attacked  quite  suddenly,  and  with- 
out any  previous  disease,  with  furious  delirium ;  and  in  many  of 
these  instances  there  has  been  a  violent  propensity  to  acts  of  rash- 
ness which  would  have  destroyed  them,  had  they  not  been  immedi- 
ately placed  under  restraint.  I  am  far  from  supposing  that  all  sui- 
cides are  lunatics ;  but  I  must  contend  that  from  the  facta  I  have 
stated,  the  onus  probandi  lies  on  those  who  deny  the  existence  of 
insanity  insuch  a  case,  and  not  on  those  who  believe  it ;  and  that  a 
Jury  is  fully  warranted  to  bring  in  a  verdict  of  lunacy,  unless  there 
be  clear  and  decided  proof  to  the  contrary ;  and  that  to  err  on  this 
side,  if  we  do  err,  is  far  more  just  and  consistent  than  on  the 
other. 

The  general  experience  of  mankind^  and  especially  of  practi- 
tioners in  Medicine  and  in  Surgery,  presents  facts  which  ought  not 
to  be  overlooked,  and  which  indeed  speak  loudly  on  this  subject. 
That  ''  no  man  ever  ^et  hated  his  own  flesh,  but  nourisheth  and 
cfaerisheth  it,''  is  an  axiom  laid  down  in  Scripture,  ^  and  consoDant 
both  to  reason  and  to  common  observation,  and  to  the  most  univer- 
sal and  uneradicable  feelings  implanted  in  our  nature.  When  we 
reflect,  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  unwillingness  with  which  we  sub- 
ject  ourselves  to  pain  (which  is  never  done  voluntarily,  and  in  the 
exercise  of  a  sound  mind,  but  to  avoid  a  greater  evil,  or  to  attain 
some  supposed  adequate  good),  and  advert,  on  the  other  hand,  to  such 
pain  as  it  would  be  natural  to  imagine  many  suicides  must  feel, 
such  especially  as  destroy  themselves  by  cutting  their  throats,  or 
inflicting  on  themselves  other  mortal  wounds ;  it  is  difficult  to  be- 
lieve they  would  have  courage  and  endurance  enough  to  go  through 
their  attempt,  were  not  that  morbid  insensibility  to  bodily  suffering, 
which  is  almost  peculiar  to  insanity,  first  produced  by  a  disordered 
state  of  the  brain.  Of  this  I  could  furnish  some  singular  instances. 
Two  shall  suffice. 

A  woman  cut  her  throat  severely,  but  not  fiitally.  Her  fiiends 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  believe  she  was  insane.  She  recovered, 
but  shiowing  such  evidences  of  that  unhappy  condition  through  the 
whole  progress  of  her  cure,  as  were  sufficiently  unambiguous  to 
every  competent  judge.  She  had  speculated  unsuccessfully  in  the 
lottei^,  and  to  her  disappointment  in  this  venture,  it  was  insisted  the 

■  Ephesians,  v,  S9* 


5]  Cbe?aliGr  s  Remarks  on  Suicide.  369 

rasb  act  was  solely  to  be  ascribed.  Soon  after  she  was  well^  atid 
when  ber  affairs  had  resumed  a  more  comfortable  train,  she  went 
up  one  day  into  her  bed-room,  and  being  thought  to  stay  longer 
thian  was  necessary,  a  person  went  to  see  after  her,  and  found  her 
sitting  before  ber  dressing-glass,  with  a  bason  under  her  chin,  and  a 
knife  in  her  hand,  cutting  her  throft  again,  as  deliberately  as  a  sur- 
geon woald  have  performed  an  operation.  I  may  add  that  she  re^ 
covered  this  time  also,  and  afterward  made  a  third  and  effectual  at^ 
tempt« 

A  maniac  who  was  extremely  turbulent,  and  had  evinced  a 
strong  propetmity  to  destroy  himself,  was  confined,  and  every  thing 
taken  from  him  which  could  be  imagined  in  any  way^  capable  of 
being  instrumental  for  such  a  purpose.  He  was  remarked  on  one 
occasion  to  be  nnosually  quiet,  and  on  bis  keeper  looking  through 
dn  aperture  in  his  apartment,  he  discovered  him  scooping  out  one 
of  his  own  eyes,  with  a  bit  of  broken  china,  that  he  had  found  in 
the  straw  of  his  mattress,  which  he  had  torn  to  pieces ;  and  with  his 
face  full  in  the  glare  of  the  sun,  lie  had  completely  accomplished 
this  horrid  act,  before  the  door  could  be  opened  to  secure  him. 

But  who  can  have  witnessed  tlie  scenes  which  an  asylum  for  lu^ 
natics  presents,  and  have  seen  the  dreadful  injuries  these  poor 
creatures  inflict,  and  endeavor  to  inflict  upon  themselves,  and  this 
without  at  all  heeding  the  pain  we  might  at  first  suppose  them  to 
experience,  and  which  any  person  of  sound  mind  undoubtedly  must 
suffer  from  like  violence,  without  beholding  abundant  proof  of  the 
fact  I  have  stated  i 

Now  insanity  is  often  as  complete  on  its  first  attack,  as  at  any 
subsequent  period ;  and  if  we  judge,  as  we  often  rightly  judge, 
some  strongly  inconsistent  act,  and  a  repetition  of  such  acts,  to  be 
evidetice  of  this  disease^  surely  this  most  extravagant,  most  iucon* 
sistent,  and  unnatural  of  all  acts,  must  in  all  fair  argument  be  ad» 
mitted  as  the  strongest  presumptive  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  deplorable  condition  that  any  single  act  can  furnish.  I  must 
therefore  repeat,  that  where  the  contrary  is  assumed,  the  evidence 
of  sound  reason  in  the  unhappy  subject  at  the  time  ought  to  be 
most  clear  and  indisputable. 

To  mention  one  example  out  of  many,  as  illustrative  of  this 
point.  A  young  lady,  of  delicate  constitution,  but  in  perfect  healih, 
started  up  one  day  from  drinking  her  tea,  and  tried  to  throw  her- 
self out  of  the  window.  It  required  several  persons  to  restrain  her, 
till  a  strait  waistcoat  could  be  procured.  She  remained  insane 
from  fliat  time  till  her  death,  with  very  partial  glimmerings  of 
reason.     Fortunately  her  life  was  not  long  protracted. 

That  severe  affliction  and  mental  distress  will  sometimes  so  over- 
whelm the  mortal  fabric,  as  to  produce  madness^  is  true.     But 

VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.  2  A 


370  Chevalier's  Remarks  on  Suicide.  [6 

when  it  does  tfais,  it  is  probably,  in  all  instances^  by  inducing  a 
physically  disordered  state  of  the  brain ;  prior  to  tbe  production  of 
which  state,  the  unhappy  sufferer  is  not  mad,  nor  likely,  in  reality, 
whateter  may  even  be  his  own  apprehensions  concerning  himself, 
to  commit  any  violence  upon  his  own  person*  And  accordingly, 
we  have  numberles9  examples  of  persons,  even  of  the  nicest  feeling, 
under  all  the  vicissitudes  and  catastrophes  of  human  life,  never  be- 
coming insane  ;  or  even  approaching  to  it.  And  the  immensely 
greater  proportion  of  those  who  do  actually  sustain  these  circum- 
stances witnout  becoming  so,  is  a?  strong  and  clear  a  proof  that 
something  more  than  mere  mental  suffering  is  necessary  to  produce 
that  state;  nw*  the  general  health  of  a  community  who  breathe  a  pe- 
culiar atmosphere,  proves  the  actual  compatibility  of  that  atmo- 
sphere with  life  and  health,  although  some  peculiar  constitutions 
may  become  diseased  and  destroyed  by  it. 

It  has  moreover  been  often  and  truly  remarked,  that  those  whose 
impaflience  of  temper  under  the  ordinary  trials  of  life  makes  them 
frequently  threaten  to  kill  themselvesy  are  seldom  or  never  fcmnd  to 
do  so  ;  this  impatience  being  allied  to  their  physical,  or  acquired, 
or  uncontrolled,  or  sometimes  perpetually  contradicted  dispositions. 
While  on  the  other  hand,  upon  an  aecesaiou  of  real  disease,  those 
whose  ease,  competence,  natural  mildness,  and  freedom  from  trou- 
ble, seem  to  place  them  far  aloof  from  even  the  suspicion  of  such 
an  occurrence,  are  suddenly  and  impetuously  hurried  on  to  self- 
destruction.. 

Too  great  care  therefore  cannot  be  taken  to  distinguish  between 
ielf'Slanghter  and  self  murder.  The  term  murder  should  not  be 
employed  to  designate  an  act  of  this  nature  committed  by  a  perfiion 
either  against  himself,  or  against  another,  without  clear  proof  of 
a  criminal  intention  in  the  act  itself,  or  of  some  acts  which  have  led 
to  its  perpetration.  In  the  latter  case  our  law  so  considers  it;  nor 
can  any  good  reason  be  assigned  why' the  sam^  rule  should  not  be 
applied  also  to  the  former.     Mens  reifacit  reum. 

I  scarcely  know  how  to  separate  the  religious  and  tbe  political 
views  of  this  subject,  they  are  so  much  blended  together ;  the  lat- 
ter in  a  great  degree  arising  out  of  the  former.  Certainly  self- 
MUKDER  is  a  crime*  of  the  highest  magnitude,  and  seems  to  seal 
the  final  perdition  of  the  criminal.  But  it  is  remarkable  that  there 
is  no  particular  enactment  suggested  in  Scripture,  relative  to  such 
c^ses,  either  in  the  Jewish  code,  or  under  the  later  dispensation^ 
The  fact  itself  seems  to  have  been  considered  as  a  sufficient  stigaia^ 
in  tbe  case  of  Ahitoph^l,,(^'  Sam.  xvii.)  and  even  in  that  of  Judas, 
( Matt,  xxvii.)  with6ut  any  farther  degradation  of  their  bodies  tbaa 
that  which  was  of  their  own  infliction,  indeed  these  degradatious 
are  rather  pumishmentsi  to  tbe  survivors ;  ^lod  have  therefore  beea 


7]  Chevalier's  Remarks  on  Suicide.  371 

most  wisely,  and  in  harmony  with  the  benevol^ncer  and  justice 
of  British  legislation,  at  length  abolished.  For  if  the  horroris  of 
a  premature  and  violent  death,  and  of  a  public  execution,  are  insufB* 
cieiit  to  deter  men  from  a  paltry  theft,  it  is  not  likely  that  any  thing 
Which  is  to  take  place  with  respect  to  the  body  after  death,  will 
frighten  them  from  the  commission  of  an  act,  which  infidehty  may 
bold  out  to  them  as  the  end  of  suffering,  or  which  desperate  and  qb* 
durate  wickedness  may  seduce  them  to  commit,  in  darhig  defiance 
of  the  Almighty,  and  of  the.threatenings  of  his  anger. 
'  The  great  mean  of  preventing  this,  as  well  as  of  every  other  fool- 
ish and  criminal  practice,  is  to  be  sought  in  the  extension  of  religi- 
ous instruction.  Our  indictments  constantly  state  a  criminal  not 
to  have  had  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes ;  and  it  is  by  putting  thi^ 
fear  early  and  constantly  before  the  eyes  of  our  children,  dependants, 
and  men  in  general,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  that  we  shall  lessen  the 
temptation,  and  the  inclination,  to  all  crimes ;  nor  are  there  any 
grounds  to  exclude  that  to  which  these  observations  relate,  from 
the  rest.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  as, moral  and  religious  principles 
can  counteract  the  effects  of  moral  evil  on  the  animal  frame,  there 
is  a  stronger  and  more  imperative  reason  for  their  constant,  though 
prudent  inculcation. 

The  punishment  of  a  suicide  himself  is  almost  a  solecism-  in  hu* 
man  legislation ;  nor  could  it  answer  any  good  end  to  add  to  the  dis- 
tress ofsurviving  relatives,  or  spectators,  to  shock  and  disgust  the  pub- 
lic feeling,  by  the  barbarous  and  inhuman  exposure  of  a  corpse,  killed 
by  unnatural  anjj  extra-judicial  means.  A  prohibition  of  all  religious 
ceremonies  on  the  interment  of  such  as  are  realljr  and  on  sufficient 
evidence  proved  to  be  sdf-mur Jerers,  or  privately  delivering  the 
body  for  dissection,  as  .is  done  in  the  cases  of  persons  who  murder 
others,  is  perhaps  the  utmost  which  a  wise  government  should  de- 
cree. This  would  be  the  most  proper,  and  the  least  ambiguous  and 
injurious  mode  of  marking  such  offences  against  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  mankind  ;  leaving  the  unhappy  person  who  has  thus 
dared  to  defy  his  God,  and  destroy  himself,  to  the  decisions  alone 
of  that  solemn  tribunal,  before  which  he  has  ignorantly,  or  impi- 
ously, presented  himself,  and  from  the  righteous  sentence  of  which 
there  can  be  neither  appeal  nor  escape/ 

As  to  the  prevention  of  the  self-clestructidh  of  insane  persons,  a  lit- 
tle consideration  will  be  sufficient  to  show,  that  it  is  quite  out  of 
the  reach  of  any  criminal  code,  and  must  depend  upon  a  wise  and 
judicious  management,  both  medical  and  moral,  of  the  unfortunate 
sufferers.  It  is*  to  impress  upon  the  public  mind  the  true  and  mor- 
bid nature  of  such  cases,  which  are  unhappily  of  sp,  frequ^p^  oc-r 
currence,  and  so  promiacuQualy^made  known  .ihrqi^b  t)^  .pHbliQ 


372  Chevalier's  Remarks  on  Suicide.  [S 

prints,  and  dften  with  incorrect  statements,  and  to  relieve  the  feel- 
ings of  mourning  relatives,  who  may  take  too  melancholy  a  view 
of  them,  that  these  and  the  following  remarks  are  published. 


It  has  been  rather  too  hastily  asserted,  that  the  number  of  suicides 
has  of  late  much  increased.  But,  as  far  as  respects  this  happy 
eountry  at  least,  this  opinion  is  not  supported  by  competent  evi- 
dence. It  might  however  be  naturally  enough  supposed,  that  with 
a  great  increase  of  population,  an  increased  absolate  number  of  all 
the  modes  in  which  human  life  is  terminated  would  be  found,  and 
therefore  of  this  among  the  rest.  But  the  following  quintennial 
ttotracts  from  the  bills  of  mortality,  from  1748  to  VJbl^  both  inclu- 
0ive,  and  from  1808  to  1822,  inclujsive  also,  will  show  this  is  not 
the  case.  In  the  first  ten  years  just  mentioned,  the  number  of  those 
who  killed  themselves  is  thus  recorded  : 


In  1748 

40 

4 

[n  1753 

36 

1749 

48 

1754 

25 

1750 

27 

1755 

47 

1751 

47 

1756 

44 

1752 

44 
206 

1757 

45 
197 

in  the  latter 

period  the  numbers  stand  thus, 

In  1808 

36 

• 

Inl813 

35 

1809 

52 

1814 

24 

1810 

28 

1815 

47 

1811 

41 

1816 

50 

1812 

28 
185 

In  1818 

• 

40 

1817 

34 

— iigo 

'   ^    1 

1619 

S5 

■  •  •■"  ■ 

1820 
1821 

21 

32 

. 

1.822 

33 

i6i 

Now  the  bills  of  knortality  include  the  returns  from  one  hundred 
aird  forty-s^ven  of  the  most  poptiloufs  parishes  in  the  kingdom.  It 
rn  therefore  ^eanewbaf  efaeering  to  ob8erve,lliat  a  diminution  not  only 


9]  Chevalier's  Remarks  on  Suicide.  373 

of  the  proportion,  but  also  of  the  actual  number  of  suicides,  is  thus 
rendered  evident^  notwithstanding  the  great  increase  of  population. 
This  is  probably  more  owing  to  the  greater  diffusion  and  more  ear- 
ly inculcation  of  religious  knowledge,  than  to  any  other  assignable 
cause ;  so  far  is  it  from  justifying  the  supposition,  that  too  great  a 
regard  to  religion  will  drive  people  mad.  Moral  causes  and  im- 
pressions have  very  commonly  an  important  and  distinct  influence 
on  the  character  and  coloring  of  those  ideas,  which  before  have 
occupied  the  minds  of  the  insane.  And  in  almost  all  cases  of  this 
sort  may  be  discovered  what  trains  of  thought  or  predominant  events 
have  usually  engrossed  the  thoughts  of  the  patient,  for  some  time 
prior  to  the  attack  of  his  disease.  And  it  would  therefore  be 
strange,  if  that  subject,  which  is  of  the  highest  and  most  lasting  in- 
terest to  every  ndividual  of  our  race,  and  which  is  so  rightly  and 
mercifuUy  set  before  all  by  education,  by  the  rites  of  Christian  wor- 
ship, and  enforced  by  the  operations  of  conscience  respecting  past 
conduct,  and  future  expectation,  should  not  often  be  predominant 
under  such  unhappy  circumstances.  The  fact  of  its  being  so  appears 
to  me  to  be  rather  an  honor  than  a  reproach  to  our  religious  ha^ 
bits  and  institutions. 

Writers  on  suicide  have  usually  involved  in  the  consideration  of 
this  subject,  what  might  be  more  properly  called  self-devotion  or 
self'SacriJice,  than  self-murder,  and  which  may  arise  from  heroism, 
or  from  the  influence  of  superstition.  That  military  ardor  which 
seeks  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  or  the  forlorn  hope  in  an  assault, 
are  examples  of  the  former ;  and  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  a  wife, 
so  common  in  India,  after  th^  death  of  her  husband  ;  and  the  self-, 
subjection  of  the  sufferers  under  the  Car  of  Jaggernaut,  are  hor* 
rjd  instances  of  the  latter. —  Of  these  last  the  remedy  can  only  be 
expected  from  the  diffusion  of  truth  and  mental  light ;  and  the  for- 
mer, I  presume,  no  patriot  can  desire  to  extinguish.  It  is  only  de- 
sirable, that  it  should  always,  if  possible,  be  connected  with  a  welt- 
grpunded  confidence,  that  the  mortal  stroke,  should  it  come,  may  be 
a  certain  introduction  to  everlasting  felicity. 


SHORT     VIEW 

PROCEEDINGS    t .  J 


THE  SEVERAL  COMUITTEGS.  AND  MEETINGS  HELD  IN  CONSE- 
QUENCE OF  THE  INTIMD^, PETITION  TO  PARLIAMENT,  FROM 
THE  COUNTY  OF  LINCOLN,  FOR  A  LIMITED  EXPORTATION  OF 


WOOL, 

IN  THE  YEARS  17S1  AND  1782  ; 


TOOBTUEB  WITB 

MR.  R.  GLOVER'S  LETTER  ON  THAT  SUBJECT: 


A  LIST  OF  THE  PAMPHLETS  ON  WOOT.  LATELY  PUBLISHED, 
WITH  SOMSfXTRACrS.. 


EDMUND  TUBNOR,  ESQ.  F.R.S.  F.S.A. 


LONDON 1 
PRINTED  1782  :— REPRINTED  i8«4. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  great  question  on  the  Exportation  of  Wool  being 
about  to  engage  the  attention  of  Parliament^  it  is  Judged 
expedient  to  reprint  this  pamphlet,  as  a  collection  affording 
much  valuable  information  on  that  momentous  subject. 


PREFACE 

TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION  IN  1782. 

Amongst  the  various  distresses  which  have  been  brought  upon 
this  country  by  the  war  in  which  it  is  engaged,  those  complained  of 
by  the  county  of  Lincoln  are  perhaps  the  most  alarming.  A  con- 
siderable fall  in  the  price  of  wool  must  necessarily  reduce  the  value 
of  land;  and  as  land  has  been  of  late  either  the  mediate  or  imme- 
diate object  of  taxation,  such  diminution  of  its  value  cannot  but 
forebode  the  greatest  calamity.  The  discussion  however  of  the 
remedy  proposed  m\^i  be  reduced  to  a  small  compass,  were  we  to 
recur  to  first  principles ;  whence  it  would  appear  that  every  re- 
straint on  the  right  of  disposing  of  private,  property  is  unjust,  and 
contrary  to  the  very  end  and  purpose  of  government,  unless  the 
good  of  the  community  incontestably  requires  it :  hence  arises  the 
reasonableness,  and  even  necessity,  of  discussing  questions  of  this 
nature ;  as,  on  the  one  hand,  restraint  may  operate  as  a  private 
wrong ;  or  on  the  other,  the  want  of  it  may  become  a  public 
injury. 

To  facilitate  the  consideration  of  this  question,  the  following 
collections  have  been  made;  and  if  it  should  appear  to  the  pnpre- 
judiced  reader,  that  the  weight  of  argument  is  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
hibitory laws  as  they  now  standi  it  may  be  asked,  whether  the  whole 
community  should  not  bear  a  share  in  a  loss  to  which,  at  present,  a 
part  only  of  that  community  is  obliged  to  submit  i  Or,  if  the  county 
of  Lincoln,  unwilling  to  press  a  measure,  in  the  least  degree  unpo- 
pular, upon  the  new  administration,'  should  think  proper  to  leave 
the  mode  of  their  redress  to  the  wkdom  <^  PafUaac ht,  it  not  the 
subject  of  wool  a  matter  of  sufficient  consequence  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  legislature,  and  may  4t  not  be  hoped  that  such  re- 
gulations will  be  adopted,  as  may  prevent  the  ruin  of  those  who 
.are  concerned  in  the  growth  Of  that  commodity  f 

'  Marquis  of  Rookingham't  ia  17A9.' 


SHORT    VIEW,  &c. 


sa 


As  several  pamphlets  have  been  published  in  consequence  of  an  idea  sug- 
gested by  the  county  of  Lincoln,  of  allowing  a  limited  exportation  of  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  wool,  it  may  perhaps  be  of  some  utility  to  lay  before  the  public 
the  proceedings  of  that  county,  and  the  opposition  it  has  met  with :  in  doing 
which  it  is  proposed  to  select  only  such  parts  of  the  resolutions  which  have 
appeared  in  the  public  papers,  as  apply  directly  to  the  expediency  or  inex- 
pediency of  the  measure  itself;  and  though  at  the  first  general  meeting  held 
at  Lincoln,  directions  were  given  to  the  Committee  then  appointed  to  in- 
quire into  the  expediency  or  otherwise  of  prohibiting  th6  importation  of 
Irish  woollen  yarn,  yet  as  the  Committee  have  laid  aside  that  idea,  it  will 
not  be  necessary  to  take  notice  of  the  objections  made  to  it  by  the  manufac- 
turers. 

3781.  Slst  October.  At  a  general  meeting  held  at  the  Castl^ 
of  Lincoln  (pursuant  to  a  public  advertisement  from  the  High 
Sheriff)  it  vfas  unanimously  resolved^  *^  That  an  open  Committee^ 
consisting  (amongst  otliaKs)  of  Peera  of  the  realm,  owners  of  land 
in  tbe  county,  and  the  members  of  the  county,  city,  and  borougbs, 
be  instructed  to  consider  how  far  an  immediate  relief  may  be  given 
to  the  present  distress  (occasioned  by  tbe  low  price  of  wool)  by 
having  permission,  under  tbe  regulations  of  a  temporary  law,  to  ex- 
port to,  the  foreign  market  that  surplus  of  wool  which  is  now  un- 
sold and  unsaleable  at  the  home  market,  and  how  far  it  may  be  ex- 
pedient to  pursue  the  same." 

Tbe  Committee  met  and  adjourned  to  the  second  Wednesday  after  the 
Christmas  recess,  and  appointed  the  Bu  Aiban's  tavern  in  Looiilon  as  the 
place  of  their  meeting. 

igth  December.  At  a  general  meeting  of  the  Merchants  in 
woollens  and  the  Woollen  Manufacturers  of  Yorkshire,  held  at 
Leeds^  it  was  unasupously  retohwd,  ^' That  tbe  Merchants  in 


378  On  the  Exportation  of  Wool.  [4 

woollens  unite  in  one  body,  and  the  Manufacturers  in  another,  to 
oppose  every  attempt  to  procure  laws  for  the  exportation  of  wool, 
.  the  produce  of  this  country." 

In  this  and  the  five  following  resolutions  a  correspondence  is  opened^  and 
a  general  invitation  given,  to  sul  places  and  persons  to  concur  and  assist  in 
opposing  the  exportation  of  wool. 

9,Qth  December*     The  following  letter  appeared  in  the 

London  Courant, 

(Copy.) 

Dear  Sir, 

Together  with  this  be  pleased  without  loss  of  time  to  return  the 
enclosed,  by  whose  contents  it  seems  that  the  country  Gentlemen 
are  at  last  brought  to  their  senses ;  to  one  perhaps  they  may,  the 
^ense  of  feeling  the  effects  of  those  unadvised  measures  which, 
from  the  single  motive  of  saving  a  shilling  in  the  pound  land-tax, 
they  have  uniformly  countenanced  and  promoted.  It  is  but  just 
that  they  should  have  their  full  share  of  the  calamity  which  they,  the 
leading  power  of  this  country,  have  brought  upon  it ;  should  they 
ever  be  reduced  to,  the  necessity  of  contributing  the  fourteen  shil- 
lings in  the  pound  land-tax,  as  was  once  suggested  from  their  own 
quarter,  towards  prosecuting  the  American  war,  they  will  have  no 
right  to  complain  of  oppression ;  they  will  have  none  to  reproach 
but  themselves^ 

Those  who  advise  the  exportation  of  raw  wool,  may  expect  that 
a  petition  to  Parliament  for  such  a  remedy  will  be  rejected  with 
indignation,  probably  a  mark  of  censure  set  on  such  petitioners, 
who  for  a  local,  temporary,  perhaps  imaginary  relief  to  themselves, 
would  sacrifice  to  the  enemy,  at  the  hottest  crisis  of  war,  the  chieJf 
of  those  few  resources  yet  remaining  to  theii*  country,  nothing  less 
than  the  woollen  manufacture,  that  ancient,  that  fundamental  sup- 
port of  Great  Britain.  But  there  is  sufficient  knowledge,  delibe- 
ration, and  conduct,  to  be  found  in  Lincolnshire,  as  may  defeat  soch 
a  blind,  rash,  and  ruinous  attempt,  and  rescue  that  most  respecta^ 
ble  county  from  the  odium  of  the  three  kingdoms. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  &c. 

October  17, 1781.  R.  GLOVER. 

The  above  ingenious  writer  ^  would  perhans  have  been  less  severe  on  the 
advisers  of  a  limited  exportation  of  wool,  baa  he  been  acquainted  with  the 
restrictions  to  which  they  were  willing  to  submit,  providea  the  prohibitoiy 
laws  had  been  repealed. 

£9th  December.  The  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  of  the  town 
and  neighborhood  of  .Halifax  resolvei  ^'  That  the  exportation  of 

■  Author  of  Leonidas ;  died  1785|  aged  75.  r* 


6]  On  the  Exportation  of  Wool.  379 

MTool  will  be  ruinous  to  the  trade  and  manufactures  ;  and  that  all 
attempts  to  obtain  a  law  for  that  purpose  ought  to  be  strenuously 
opposed." 

1782.  4th  January.  The  Merchants  and  Woollen  Manufacturers 
of  Exeter  resolvci  ^'  To  oppose  any  steps  taken  towards  obtaining 
a  law  for  the  purpose  of  exporting  any  sort  of  wool,  the  produce 
of  this  kingdom — That  (in  case  such  a  law  was  permitted)  the  ma- 
nufacturers would  be  obliged  to  leave  the  kingdom  for  want  of 
employment^  which  would  infallibly  occasion  a  rapid  decline  in  the 
value  of  lands.'' 

14th  January.  The  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  of  the  town 
aod  neighborhood  of  Roebuck^  Rochdale^  resolve^  ''That  any 
attempt  to  change  the  several  laws  now  in  force  for  restricting  the 
exportation  of  wool,  ought  to  meet  with  a  spirited  oppositioni 
both  from  the  landed  and  commercial  interests  of  this  kingdom." 

18th  January.  The  Merchants  and  Woollen  Manufacturers  of 
Essex  resolve^  ''  That  it  is  their  opinion  that  foreigners  by  a  supply 
of  English  wool  would  be  enabled^  by  mixing  it  with  their  own,. to 
rival  the  manufactures  of  this  country^  both  in  quality  and  cheap- 
ness—-That  the  low  price  of  Lincolnshire  wool  is  owing,  Ist,  to 
the  increased  produce  of  the  wool  of  that  county  ;  2dly,  to  the  less- 
ened demand  for  such  wool^  in  consequence  of  tlie  check  given  by 
the  war  to  those  branches  of  manufacture  in  which  it  is  used — 
That  the  allowaace  of  the  exportation  of  British  wool,  of  any  kind, 
in  any  circumstances,  and  under  whatever  limitations,  will  be  in  the 
highest  degree  prejudicial  to  the  woollen  manufacture — That  they 
will  resist  and  ojippse^  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  any  attempt 
that  may  be  made  to  repeal  the  laws  now  in  force  to  prevent  the 
exportation  of  wooL" 

£2d  January.  The  several  branches  of  the  manufactures  at 
Norwich  resolve,  ''That  the  exportation  of  any  sort  of  wool,  the 
produce  of  this  kingdom,  would  be  injurious  to  the  trade  and  ma- 
nufactures thereof,  and  ought  to  be  strenuously  opposed — That 
the  landed  interest  of  this  kingdom  would  be  materially  prejudiced 
by  the  passing  such  a  law ;  because  the  work-people  bemg  un- 
iCmployed,  must  emigrate  to  other  countries,  or  fall  on  the  land  to 


mamtam." 


28th  January.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Merchants  in  woollen,  and 
the  Woollen  Manufacturers  deputed  from  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  held  at  the  King's  Arms  Tavern  (the  advertisement  from 
the  general  meeting  at  Lincoln  being  read),  it  was  resolved,  "  To 
oppose  these  alarming  measures." 

30th  January.  The  Committee  of  Land  Owners  of  the  county 
of  LincolQ  met  by  adjournment  at  the  St.  Alban's  Tavern,  London. 


380  On  the  Exportation  of  WooL  [6 

His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Ancaster,  Chairman^ 
Lord  Willoughby  de  Broke,  Champion  Dymokej 

Lord  BrowDloWy  Charles  A.  Pelham^  Esq.  M.P. 

Bishop  of  St.  David's,  Jacob  Reynardson,  Esq. 

Sir  John  Thorold,  Bart.  M.P.      Edmund  Turnor,  Esq. 
Sir  Thomas  Clarges,  Bart.  M.P.  John  Harrison,  Esq.  M.P. 
Sir  Joseph  Banks,  Bart.  Humphry  Sibthorpe,  Esq.  M.P. 

Sir  Peter  Burrell,  Bart.  M.P.      —  Bertie,  Esq. 
George  Heneage,  Esq.  Joshua  Peart,  Esq. 

Robert  Vyner,  Esq.  &c.         &c.         &c. 

3 Tst  January.  The  Merchants  in  woollen  and  Woollen  Manu- 
facturers met  by  adjournment  from  the  King's  Arms,  upon  consi- 
dering the  complaint  of  the  wool-growers,  and  the  great  importance 
of  the  woollen  trade  of  this  kingdom,  resolve  unanimously,  ^'  That 
the  permitting  the  exportation  of  wool  would  be  highly  injurious 
to  this  country ;  and  that  any  application  to  parliamisnt  for  that 
purpose  ought  to  be  strenuously  opposed/' 

1st  February.  The  Wool-staplers,  Yarn-makers,  and  Ma- 
nufacturers of  wool,  in  the  counties  of  Bedford,  Cambridge,  and 
Hertford,  assembled  at  Pottou,  resolve,  ^^  That  it  would  be  highly 
injurious,  not  only  to  the  woollen  manufactory,  but  to  the  king- 
dom at  large,  to  allow  of  an  exportation  of  any  kind  of  wool,  the 
produce  of  this  kingdom — That  upon  regaining  our  foreign  trade 
by  a  peace,  and  the  graziers  growing  their  wool  lighter  and  iSner, 
the  price  would  rise  considerably  in  a  short  time.'' 

2d  February.  At  a  general  meeting  of  the  Land  Owners,  Ma- 
nufacturers, and  persons  concerned  in  wool  and  the  woollen  manu- 
factory, held  at  the  Thatched  House  Tavern,  to  consider  of  the 
state  of  wool,  and  the  woollen  manufactory*  and  what  measures  may 
be  most  expedient  for  the  improvement  thereof,  pursuatit  to  pul>- 
lic  advertisement  in  the  London  newspapers,  agreed  to  be  pub- 
lished at  the  meeting  held  by  adjournment  of  the  Committee  of  Lin- 
coln, at  the  St.  Alban's  Tavern  the  SOth  ult. ;  updh  a  n^dtion  being 
made,  ''  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  that  the  exportation 
of  Biitish  raw  wool  will  be  prejudicial  to  the  landed  and  commer- 
cial interests  of  this  kingdom ;"  the  Lincolnshire  gentlemen  m 
general  withdrew,  and  there  remained  in  the  room  1 10  gendemen, 
amongst  whom  were  many  members  of  parliament^  whereupon 
the  question  being  put,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  in  tlie  affirma- 
tive. 

5th  February.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Conmnittcc  of  Landholders 
of  the  county  of  Lincoln,  resolved,  '^  That  the  resolotion  of  the 
general  meeting,  heM  at  the  Thatched  House  Tavern  €d  Feb.  does 
not  appear  to  this  Committee  to  apply  to  the  question  oti  tte 


7}  On  the  Ea^rtatUm  of  Wool.  381 

expediency  or  inexpediency  of  exporting  long  or  coarse  British 
raw  wool,  under  certain  restrictions  and  for  a  limited  time,  as  that 
resolution  speaks  of  a  general  exportation  only/' 

6th  February.  King's  Arms  Tavern.  '^  An  advertisement  from 
the  St.  Atban's  Tavern  having  appeared  in  the  Morning  Herald  of 
this  day,  stating  that  the  motion  put,  and  unanimously  agreed  to,  at 
the  general  meeting  at  the  Thatched  House  Tavern  on  Saturday 
last,  did  not  apply  to  the  question  on  the  expediency  or  inexpedi- 
ency of  exporting  long  or  coarse  raw  wool,  under  certain  restric- 
tions and  for  a  limited  time.  The  public  are  desired  to  take  no* 
tice,  that  the  arguments  on  the  debate  applied  strictly  to  both  a 
general  and  partial  exportation,  and  both  would  have  been  pointedly 
expressed  in  the  motion,  but  from  the  obvious  idea  that  a  pitrtial 
exportation  was,  to  the  degree  it  might  extend,  equally  injurious.*' 

6th  February.  '^The  Lincolnshire  Wool  Committee  resolve, 
''That  it  does  appear  to  them  expedient  to  petition  parliament  for 
redress  to  the  growers  of  long  or  coarse  wool,  aggrieved  by  thd 
present  low  prices  therieof — That  a  liberty  to  export  long  or  coarse 
wool,  under  certain  restrictions,  appears  to  be  the  only  probable 
and  adequate  means  of  relief — That  the  intended  application  to 
parliament  be  postponed,  until  it  be  known  whether  the  growers 
of  long-combing,  or  coarse  wool  in  other  counties,  be  willing  to 
co-operate  with  the  county  of  Lincoln  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
above  plan." 

20th  February.  Norwich.  The  delegates  appointed  by  this 
manufactory  to  meet  the  delegates  from  other  manufacturing  places 
in  this  kingdom,  in  Loudon,  laid  before  this  meeting  the  progress 
of  the  opposition  to  the  intended  application  of  the  Lincolnshire 
wool-growers  to  parliament,  **  which  is  highly  satisfactory." 

8th  March.  At  a  general  meeting  held  at  the  conclusion  of  the 

assizes  at  Lincoln,  it  was  resolved,  ''  That  the  petition  sent  down 

by  the  Committee  in  London  appears  to  state  the  grievances  of  the 

county  in  a  true  light,  and  to  ask  the  only  relief  which  promises  to 

be  adequate. — It  is  unanimously  resolved,  that  a  copy  of  the  said 

petition  be  signed  forthwith  and  sent  to  the  said  Committee,  with  a 

request  that  they  will  make  such  use  of  it  as  they  shall  think  proper." 

The  prayer  of  the  above-mentioned  petition  is,  ^'That  leave  may  be 
given  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  permitting  an  exportation  of  long  and  coarse 
wool,  at  such  period  after  the  usual  time  of  clipping,  with  such  duty  ai^ 
under  such  restrictions,  as  Parliament  shall  think  proper." 

Qth  March.  The  high  sheriff  and  grand  jury  at  the  assizes  held 
for  the  county  of  York,  having  taken  into  consideration,  and  ma-r 
turely  weighed  the  consequences,  which,  in  their  judgment,  would 
follow  from  a  permission  to  export  wool  out  of  this  kingdopi, 
unanimously  resolve,  ''That  it  appears  to  them^  that  to  permit  the 


382  On  the  Exportation  of  Wool.  [8 

exportation  of  wool,  would  be  highly  detrimental  and  injurious  to 
this  country,  and  tend  to  promote  the  interests  of  our  livals  and 
enemies,  in  opposition  to  the  most  valuable  commerce  of  our  fel- 
low-subjects— That  it  becomes  tlie  inhabitants  of  this  county,  and 
all  otlier  manufacturing  places,  by  every  legal  method,  to  oppose 
any  application  to  parliament  for  a  purpose  so  alarming  and  inju- 


rious." 


]  1th  March.  The  high  sheriff  and  gentlemen  of  the  grand  jury 
assembled  at  Huntingdon,  resolved  (many  letters  from  several 
wool  Committees  having  been  addressed  to  the  high  sheriff  re- 
specting the  exportation  of  wool),  ^'  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that  the  exportation  of  raw  wool,  under  any  restrictions  or 
limitations  whatsoever,  would  be  detrimental  to  the  interest  of  this 
kingdom  in  general^  and  this  county  in  particular. 

The  following  Pamphlets  concerning  the  exportation  of  wool  were  pub- 
lished in  the  months  of  January  and  February  1782. 

The  Question  considered,  whether  Wool  should  be  allowed  to 

be  exported,  when  the  price  is  lo^  at  home,  on  paying  a  duty  to  the 

public  i     By  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  Bart.  9,d  edit,  Caiell.  6d. 

"  Average  price  of  wool  in  France  is  17d.  a  pound.  Price  of  Spanish  wool 
in  Holland  is  not  much  lower;  whereas  the  price  of  English  wool  is  not 
alnive  nine-pence,  consequently  parliament  may  lay  a  large  duty  on  exports^ 
tion,  without  any  risk  of  stopping  the  demand.' 

Considerations  on  the  present  state. of  the  Wool  Trade^  the  laws 
made  concerning  that  article,  and  how  far  the  same  are  consistent 
with  true  policy  and  the  interest  of  the  state,  by  a  gentleman  resi- 
dent on  his  estate  in  Lincolnshire.  Elm$ly.  Is. 

The  Propriety  of  allowing  a  (Qualified  Exportation  of  Wool  dis- 
cussed historically ;  to  which  is  added  an  Appendix,,  containing  a 
Table,  which  shows  the  value  of  the  woollen  goods  of  every  kind 
that  were  entered  for  exportation  at  the  Ci^tom-house,  from  1697 
to  1780  inclusive,  as  well  as  the  prices  of  wool  in  England  during 
that  period.'  Elrmly.  £s. 

i  <<  Proposes  to  permit  the  exportation  of  wool,  when  its  average  price  io 
specified  markets  of  Britaiu  is  16«.  ^d,  a  tod  or  under,  on  paying  the  old 
denizen  duty  of  l/.'  I3s.  Ad.  the  sack,  of  364  pounds,  or,  in  other  words,  2s. 
^\d,  a  tod,  uf  S8  pounds.'' 

Reflections  on  the  present  lov/  Price  of  coarse  Wools^  its  imme- 
diate causes,  and  its  probable  remedies,  by  Josiab  Tucker,  D.D. 
Dean  of  Gloucester.     CadelL  Is. 

**  Causes.  Stoppage  of  exportation.  Disuse  of  woollen  manufactories. 
Diminution  of  cottagers.  Increase  of  the  staple  itself,  by  breaking  up  waste 
grounds. 

*  This  pamphlet  was  supposed  to  have  been  compiled  under  the  superio- 
tendance  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks. 


9]  On  the  Exportation  of  WooU  383 

"  1.  Remedy.  Export  under  the  duty  of  Id,  in  the  pound,  and  apply  the 
duty  as  a  bounty  on  the  exportation  of  coarse  woollens  and  worsteds  of  our 
own.  2dly,  Allow  a  bounty  of  lirf.  per  yard  to  the  exporter,  for  the  ex- 
portation of  coarse  woollens  and  worsteds  to  the  Baltic.  Repeal  the  mono- 
poly granted  to  the  Russia  Company.  Sdly,  Raise  up  people  to  wear  your 
own  wool  by  creating  cottages/' 

An  Answer  to  Sir  John  Dalrymple's  Pamphlet  upon  the  Ex- 
portation of  Wool,  by  Nathaniel  Forster,  D.D.  Rector  of  All 
Soulsy  Colchester,  and  Chaplain  to  the  Countess  Dowager  of 
Northington.  Colchester,  Keymer.  Is. 

The  Contrast ;  or  a  Comparison  between  our  Woollen,  Linen, 
and  Silk  Manufactures  ;  showing  the  utility  of  each,  both  in  a  na- 
tional and  commercial  view ;  whereby  the  true  importance  of  the 
fleece,  the  first  and  great  staple  of  our  land,  will  appear  evident ; 
the  effect  that  must  naturally  arise  from  the  system  we  pursue,  and 
the  consequences  we  may  rationally  hope  for  from  a  contrary  po- 
licy :  together  with  such  facts  and  remarks  as  may  claim  the  atten- 
tion of  every  Englishman  who  is  a  friend  to  the  freedom  and  pros- 
perity of  this  country.     Buckland,  Is, 

An  Answer  addressed  to  those  who  have  ''read  Sir  John  Dal- 
rymple's Pamphlet,  in  support  of  a  tax,  and  permission  to  export 
raw  wool ;  by  a  plain  matter  of  fact  man.    Faulder.  6d. 

Plain  Reasons  addressed  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  against 
the  intended  petition  to  parliament  from  the  owners  and  occupiers 
of  land  in  the  county  of  Lincoln,  for  leave  to  export  wool;  with 
some  remarks  on  Sir  John  Dalrymple's  Treatise,  lately  published, 
in  favor  of  a  general  exportation  of  wool.  Leeds,  Wright  and 
Son,  Is, 

A  Letter  to  the  landed  Gentlemen  and  Graziers  of  Lincoln- 
shire :  in  which  are  pointed  out  the  principal  causes  of  the  present 
redundancy  of  wool,  and  the  exportation  of  it  proved  to  be  impoli- 
tic and  dangerous ;  together  with  the  proposal  of  a  more  safe  and 
certain  remedy.  Occasioned  by,  and  interspersed  with  observa- 
tions upon.  Sir  John  Dalrymple's  question  on  that  subject,  by  a 
Friend  and  Neighbor.  Cambridge,  Merril,  Is.  {March.) 

*^  Give  greater  encouragement  to  the  invention  and  use  of  those  machines, 
by  which  one  man  or  child  may  do  the  work  of  several.^' 

A  Letter  on  the  Subject  of  Wool,  interspersed  with  Remarks 
on  Cotton,  addressed  to  the  Public  at  large,  &c.  by  William  Mug- 
liston,  a  manufacturer  of  hosiery  at  Alfreton.  Nottingham,  Cox.  6d, 

An  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Qualities  of  English  Wools, 
and  the  variations  of  breed  in  Sheep,  with  Remarks  on  Dean 
Tucker's  Pamphlet,  &c.  by  a  Gentleman  Farmer.  Evans,  Is. 
(^April.) 


ON 


THE  EFFICACY 


OF 


WHITE   I^USTARD   SEED, 


TAKEN  INTERNALLY 


AS  A  GURC  FOR  VARIOUS  COMPLAINTS. 


LONDON : 


1834. 


VOL.  XXIII.  Pant.  NOi  XLVL        «B 


WHITE  MUSTARD  SEED. 


Tn  the  month  of  June,  1822, 1  made  a  trial  of  the  White  Mustard 
Seed  merely  as  an  aperient ;  when  the  generally  improved  state  of 
my  feelings^  which  soon  followed,  inclined  me  to  give  it  credit  for 
medicinal  properties  of  a  very  beneficial  nature,  besides  that  for 
which  I  took  it.  Under  this  impression,  I  gave  it  to  some  of  ^he 
sick  poor  in  the  neighborhood,  and  with  a  success  which  excited 
my  astonishment.  1  have  since  recommended  it  in  many  cases,  of 
which  several  were  very  distressing ;  and  the  result  is  such  as  to 
authorise  a  persuasion^  that  the  public  are  not  aware  of  its  very 
extraordinary  powers,  nor  of  the  very  great  variety  of  cases  to 
which  it  is  applicable. 

The  Mustard  Seed  appears  to  act  not  only  on  the  bowels,  but 
on  the  skin  and  kidneys  also.  It  is  likewise  found  to  strengtbeo 
and  invigorate,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  whole  line  of  the  ali- 
mentary canal ;  and  consequently,  to  improve  digestion  and  assimi- 
lation, and  with  that,  appetite,  sleep,  and  general  health.  In  diseases 
therefore  arising  from  a  disordered  state  of  the  stomach  and  bowels, 
it  is  probably  a  very  general  remedy ;  and  such  in  reality  it  appears 
to  be.  It  has  succeeded  in  cases  of  asthma,  shortness  of  breath, 
cough,  and  other  distressing  affections  of  the  chest ;  in  cases  of  un- 
easiness, pain,  and  sense  of  tenderness  and  soreness  in  the  interior, 
and  particularly  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach ;  in  pain  arising  from  gravel, 
iti  partial  and  general  dropsy^  in  paralysis,  in  rheumatic  affections, 
in  occasional  and  habitual  costiveness,  in  pain  in  the  bead,  and 
coldness  in  the  Hmbs  and  feet.  It  is  found  to  expel  worms  both 
in  children  and  adults,  and  not  only  the  long  round  worms,  but  the 
small  white  ones  also.  It  has  been  successful  in  a  case  of  ague. 
A  poor  woman  of  the  age  of  77,  had  been  suffering  from  a  quoti- 
dian ague  of  at  least  a  fortnight's  standing,  when  she  began  the 
Mustard  Seed,  taking  two  small  tea-spoonsful  every  three  hours. 
The  disease  abated  almost  immediately,  and  in  two  days  was  en- 
tirely subdued.    She  had  also  for  some  years  labored  uiider  the 


3]  On  Ike  Efficacy  of  White  Mustard  Seed.       387 

consequences  of  a  very  weak  interior,  and  bad  suffered  greatly  frdoi 
habitual  costiveness,  and  extreme  coldness  in  the  extremities  and 
in  the  stomach  and  bowels.  Such  was  the  sense  of  coldness  in 
the  interior^  that  warm  tea  and  broth  afforded  no  relief.  After 
taking  the  Seed  for  a  fortnight,  all  these  uneasy  symptoms,  with 
some  others,  disappeared  ;  and  she  is  now  enjoying  as  good  a  state 
of  health  as  is  compatible  with  her  advanced  years.  It  is  proper 
to  add,  that  after  the  ague  had  been  subdued^  the  Seed  was  taken 
only  three  times  in  the  day. 

When  the  Seed  is  used  as  a  remedy  for  occasional  costiveness, 
it  should  be  taken  fasting,  about  an  hour  before  breakfast ;  and, 
generally  speaking,  a  small  table-spoonful  is   the  proper  dose. 
With  some  constitutions  a  tea-spoonful  in  the  morning  is  sufficient, 
while  others  require  a  second  large  dose  to  be  taken  at  night. 
When  it  is  used  as  a  remedy  for  the  several  diseases  before  enu- 
merated, it  should  be  taken  twice,  thrice,  and  sometimes,  though 
very  rarely,  four  times  in  the  day.     The  patient  should  begin  with 
two  doses ;  taking  the  first  about  an  hour  before  breakfast,  and 
the  second  about  the  same  time  after  dinner.    After  the  second  or 
third  day,  a  third  dose  should  be  added,  and  taken  at  bed  time. 
The  quantity  in  each  dose  must  depend  in  some  degree  on  the 
effect  produced  on  the  bowels,  which  should  not  be  purged,  but 
should  be  kept  moderately  and  uniformly  open.     No  certain  fixed 
rule  can  be  prescribed  on  this  head.     Generally  speakipg,  three 
doses  in  the  day,  each  containing  two  tea- spoonsful  or  a  dessert- 
spoonful, are  found  to  be  sufficient ;  while,  with  some  constitu- 
tions, a  single  tea-spoonful  in  each  dose  will  be  too  much,  and  with 
others  a  dessert-spoonful  in  each  dose  will  be  too  little.     When 
the  Seed  is  given  for  the  expulsion  of  worms^  four  doses  should  be 
taken  in  the  day,  each  containing  two  tea-spoonsful^  or  as  much  as 
will  moderately  purge  the  bowels.     The  Seed  is  to  be  taken  wholej 
and  either  alone  or  in.  a  little  water  or  other  liquid^  warm  or  cpid  ; 
and  it  shotild  be  taken  every  day  without  intermission,  until  the 
morbid  symptoms  disappear,  or,  in  other  words,  until  health  is  re- 
stored, as  far  as  the  age  and  circumstances  of  the  patient  will  admit. 
The  Mustard  Seed  is  valuable  not  only  as  a  remedy  for  disease^ 
but  as  a  means  of  preventing  it.     Of  its  power  as  a  preventive^  a 
very  extraordinary  instance  has  occurred.     A  friend  of  mine  had 
for  five  or  six  years  previous  to  the  last,  been  regularly  attacked 
with  bay-asthma  in  the  months  of  June  or  July  in  each  of  those 
years.     The  attack^  were  always  violent,  and  for  the  most  part  ac- 
companied with  some  danger.     And  such  was  the  impression  made 
on  bis  constitution  by  the  disease,  and  the  remedies  resorted  to,  (of 
which  bleeding  and  blistering  were  the  chief)  that  each  illness  led 
to  a  Jong  confmenyent  to  the  house^  e^^tending  to  a  period  of  nearly 


388  On  iht  Efficacjf  of  [4 

three  months.  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  year,  he  resolved  to 
make  a  trial  of  the  Seed^  in  order  to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  recur- 
rence of  the  asthma ;  and  in  the  month  of  March  in  that  year  he 
began  the  use  of  it,  and  thenceforward  took  it  regularly  every 
day  without  intermission;  and  the  result  was  that  he  escaped 
the  disease.  In  November  last  he  informed  me,  that  from  the 
time  when  he  first  took  the  Seed,  his  health  had  not  only  never  been 
interrupted  by  illness  of  any  kind,  but  had  been  progressively  im- 
proving :  and  he  further  assured  me  that  he  did  not  recollect  that 
he  had  ever  enjoyed  so  good  a  state  of  health  as  at  that  time. 

It  is  to  be  observed  in  favor  of  the  Mustard  Seed,  that  it  always 
produces  some,  and  very  frequently  a  considerable,  degree  of  relief, 
m  a  very  short  time,  even  in  the  course  of  a  week,  and  in  many  in- 
stances, in  two  or  three  days.  And  since  it  has  not  been  necessary 
in  any  case  to  increase  the  quantity  taken,  it  is  presumed  that  the 
Seed  does  not  lose  its  efficacy  by  familiarity  with  the  constitution. 
A  circumstance  also  which  stamps  a  particular  value  on  it  is,  that, 
generally  speaking,  it  appears  to  obviate  the  effecta  of  sudden 
exposure  to  cold,  and  is  thus  probably  in  no  small  degree  a  pro- 
tection against  that  host  of  evils  which  flow  from  our  very  variable 
and  uncertain  climate.  It  seems  peculiarly  adapted  both  to  infancy 
and  old  age.  It  enables  the  young  to  contend  with  the  morbid 
debility  frequently  attaching  to  their  tender  years,  and  it  supports 
the  aged  under  the  pressure  of  infirmities  generally  annexed  to 
declining  life.  When  taken  by  the  former,  it  occasionally  throws 
out  a  considerable  eruption  on  the  skin ;  a  result  which  has  never 
failed  to  promote  the  general  health  of  the  child.  Perhaps  it  may 
be  serviceable  as  an  anti-scorbutic  and  general  purifier  of  the 
blood :  and  it  may  reasonably  be  questioned  whether  there  exists 
a  safer  or  more  effectual  means  of  regaining  strength,  after  the  loss 
of  it  from  severe  illness. 

To  the  poor  it  is  invaluable  in  every  point  of  view.  It  is  pe- 
culiarly calculated  to  meet  the  numerous  and  formidable  bodily 
evils  with  which  they  have  to  contend,  and  to  which  they  are  so 
remarkably  exposed.  The  laboring  classes  of  society  are  almost 
universally  destined  to  hard  work,  and  scanty  means  of  support. 
With  them,  therefore,  the  stomach  and  bowels  are  very  apt  to  lose 
their  tone,  and  to  fail  in  the  due  discharge  of  their  important  func- 
tions. Hence  they  very  often  complain  of  weak  digestion,  short- 
ness of  breath,  sense  of  soreness  and  weight  at  the  pit  of  the  sto- 
mach, a  general  debility  in  the  interior,  worms,  pain  in  the  kidneys, 
habitual  costiveness,  flatulence,  cold  feet,  rheumatism,  and  depres- 
sion of  spirits.  For  these  disorders  the  Seed  appears  to  be  an 
almost  certain  remedy  ;  and  to  the  poor  it  is  further  racommended, 
as  a  medicine  extremely  cheap^  taken  with  equal  eaae  at  home  or 


5]  White  Mustard  Seed.  389 

in  the  field,  and  requiring  neither  confinement  to  the  house^  nor 
any  alteration  of  diet. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  there  are  constitutions  which  forbid 
the  application  of  this  remedy.  Two  instances  have  occurred,  in 
vrhich  the  highly  inflammatory  disposition  of  the  patients  would 
not  admit  of  a  trial  of  it,  although  it  was  given  in  very  small  quan- 
tities. In  one  of  these,  a  dose  of  only  ten  Seeds  produced  an 
irritation  and  degree  of  heat  so  great  as  to  preclude  the  trial  of  a 
second.  Generally  speaking,  however,  it  excites  no  other  sensation 
than  that  of  comfortable  warmth,  and  in  some  cases  no  particular 
sensation  whatever. 

1  will  close  these  observations  by  remarking  that  there  are  pe- 
culiarities belonging  to  the  Mustard  Seed  which  may  perhaps  in 
some  measure  account  for  its  extraordinary  powers.  It  discharges 
a  sort  of  mucilage,  which  serves  as  a  vehicle  for  its  stimulating  and 
other  medicinal  properties;  and  that  this  discharge  is  slow  and 
gradual,  is  perceived  by  retaining  a  portion  of  the  Seed  in  the 
mouth  for  ten  or  twelve  or  a  greater  number  of  hours,  during  which, 
a  sort  of  mucilage  is  found  to  be  incessantly  flowing  from  it. 
When  therefore  the  Seed  is  taken  whole,  there  is  some  ground  for 
supposing  that  its  virtues  are  not  exhausted  in  the  stomach  and 
prima  via,  but  that  they  reach  every  part  of  the  alimentary  canal,, 
and  that,  by  direct  communication,  as  the  Seed  passes  through  it. 
And  it  is  also  very  probable  that  the  bowels  are  assisted  in  the 
propulsion  of  their  contents,  by  the  mere  mechanical  action  of  the 
Seed  thus  taken  in  an  entire  and  unbroken  state. 

March,  1824. 

The  White  Mustard  Seed  is  sold  by  seedsmen  at  one  shilling  per  pound. — 
Those  who  may  be  disposed  to  give  it  to  the  poor,  are  informed  that,  in 
Mark  Lane,  the  average  price  per  bushel,  containing  at  least  fifty  pounds,, 
is  about  fifteen  shillings. 


REPORT 


OP  THE 

COMMITTEE  OF  THE  SOCIETY 

FOR  THE  RELIEF 

OP 

DISTRESSED    SETTLERS 

IN 

SOUTH  AFRICA: 

WITH    THE   RESOLUTIONS   PASSED    AND    SPEECHES    DELIVERED 
AT    A   GENERAL    MEETING^    HELD    AT   CAPE   TOWN, 
17th    SEPTEMBER    1823. 

TO    WHICB    18  SUBJOINED 

AN  APPENDIX  OF  LETTERS  AND  OTHER  DOCUlilENTS, 
ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  PRESENT  CONDITION 

OF  THE  SETTLERS. 


Ipse,  ignotos,  egensy  Lybitt  deserta  pengio, 

Eoropa  polsut— —  Viro. 


LONDON: 


1824. 


T' 


COMMITTEE. 


{Elected  September  17,  1823.) 

His  Honor  Sir  John  Truteb,  LL.D. — W.  W.  Bird,  Esq.— 
J.  W.  Stoll,  Esq.— 'Major HoLLowi^Y.— Rev.  G.  Hough, 
A.M.^-Rev.  John  Philip,  D.D. — Rev.  W.  Wright, 
A.M.— lieut-Col.  Pitman. — Sir  Richard  Ottley. — 
W.  T.  Blair,  Esq. — H.  W.  Money,  Esq.— W.  Bbaddon, 
Esq. — R.  W.  Eaton,  Esq. — R.  J.  Jones,  Esq. — A.  B.  Tod, 
Esq.— J.  Trotter,  Esq.— Treasurer,  R.  Crozier,  Esq.— 
Secretary f  Mr.  H.  £.  Ruthsrfoorb.. 


REPORT. 


Xhr  Committee  intrusted  with  the  management  of  the  Settlers' 
Fund,  in  presenting  to  the  subscribers  the  account  of  the  annual 
receipts  and  expenditure,  are  not  aware  that  they  can  better  re- 
deem their  pledge  to  the  publici  whose  ch^rify  they  have  dis- 
pensed, or  afford  stronger  inducements  for  the  continued  and 
more  extensive  exercise  of  that  charity,  than  by  laying  before 
them  a  plain  statement  of  their  proceedings. 

The  Committee  deem  it  essential,  in  the  first  place,  to  explain, 
as  particularly  and  satisfactorily  as  diey  can,  the  chief  purposes  to 
which  the  funds  of  the  Society  have  been  appropriated.  They 
will  then  offer  a  few  of  the  details  of  the  eases  relieved ;  and  con- 
clude their  report  with  one  or  two  extracts  from  the  accounts  and 
letters  tliey  have  received  reacting  the  existing  circumstances  of 
the  settlers.  And  they  feel  convinced,  that  the  simple  narrative 
of  facts,  contained  in  these  extracts,  will  justify  their  farther  appeal 
to  the  liberality  of  the  public  in  behalf  of  sufferings  which,  though 
they  cannot  be  effectually  relieved  by  human  means,  may  be 
greatly  alleviated. 


3]        Bfport  of  Ihe  Commttec  for  the  Relief ^^  l^c.     393 

On  a  reference  to  the  accounl;  of  expenditure^  the  fir^t  item  that 
occurs  is  a  sum  of  500  rixdollarSf  remitted,  at  various  periods,  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Shaw,  ^t  Salem,  in  the  district  pf  Albany,  with 
whom  your  Committee  have  regularly  corresponded,,  and  to  whon^ 
they  are  greatly  indebted^  both  for  toe  useful  application  of  the 
funds  of  the  Society,  and  for  the  very  f^ll  and  aatis&ctory  accounts 
he  has  furnished  of  the  mode  of  their  distribution.  Mr  Shaw's 
extenrive  acquaintance  with  the  settlers^  and  his  habit  of  fre^ 
quently  visiting  the  diflFerent  loq^tions  in  his  ministerial  capacity, 
render  him  peculiarly  qualified  to  judge  of  their  circumstances 
and  characters,  and  to  employ  the  grants  of  the  Society  in  afford- 
ing relief  to  the  most  deserving,  as  well  as  to  the  most  necessitous 
applicants.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  cases  which  he  assisted, 
extracted  from  his  letters  to  the  Society. 

<^  Thomas  Slater  :i-^A  man  with  a  large  family,  and  who  has 
been  long  suffering  under  affliction :  the  sum  of  25  rixdollars 
was  advance4  t^  enable  him  to  provide  food  for  his  family,  who 
were  suffering  in  consequence  of  his  affliction.'' 

<<  Keevey  :*^A  man  afflicted  with  a  rheumatic  fever,  and  who 
had,  by  an  accident,  received  such  an  injury  in  one  of  his  hands, 
that  for  many  months  he  was  unable  to  work.  After  having 
sold  the  greater  part  of  his  cattle  to  support  himself  and 
family,  during  his  illness,  he  became  pennyless,  and  his  wife 
and  five  children  suffered  severely.  I  am  happy  in  being 
able  to  report,  that  he  is  now  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  do 
something  for  himself.'' 

<<  Loss  accruing  by  the  sale  of  wheat  :<^— 

^^  This  sum,"  says  Mr.  Shaw,  <<  I  conceive  to  have  been  as  use- 
fully applied  as  any  of  the  money  I  have  expended  on  account  pf 
the  Society. 

f <  A  particular  kind  of  wheat,  called  <  Bengal  Wheat,'  solid  in 
the  straw,  lias  succeeded  in  several  jmrts  of  tms  district  remarka^ 
bly  well,  during  those  throe  years  which  have  prpvod  so  fatal  tx^ 
all  other  kinds  of  wheat,  in  consequence  of  the  blightt  The  dis^ 
teibution  of  this  grain,  as  extfnsively  as  possible  amongst  tbQ  set^^ 
tiers,  has  therefore  become  ane^ject  of  the  greatest  importance* 
The  few  individuals  who  had  raised  it  during  die  last  season 
asked  very  high  prioe8»««-in  some  instances  50  rixdollars  the  muid  % 
hence,  many  of  the  poorer  persons  were  in  danger  of  having  none 
of  this  grain  for  seed,  frpm  their  inability  to  pay  such  a  price  for 
it.  I  thought  I  could  not  better  fulfil  the  intentions  of  the  Society 
than  by  assisting  such  persons  %  and  therefore  I  obtained  a  few 
niuids,  which  I  sold  at  a  loss  of  die  sum  here  chargedt  By  requir^** 
ing  every  one  to  pay  a  proportion  of  the  expense,  the  total  loss 
was  not  grea^,  although  a  considerable  number  received  assistance 


394       B^port  of  the  Committee  for  the  Relief  of         \i 

in  this  way»  as  it  was  sold  in  small  portions  of  from  20  to  SOlbs. 
each.  I  doubt  not  but  that  this  item  of  your  expenditure^  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  will,  during  the  next  year,  give  bread  to  a  num- 
ber of  families  who  otherwise  could  not  have  obtained  it.'' 

<<  Mrs.  Freemantle : — This  poor  woman's  husband  was  killed 
by  the  Caffres  some  time  ago.  She  is  left  with  a  family  of  four 
children,  whom  she  endeavors  to  maintain  by  needlework.  The 
donation  of  the  Society  made  the  widow's  heart  to  leap  for  joy." 

<<  The  sum  of  60  nxdoUars  wgs  given  to  the  relief  of  tlunee  fa- 
milies who  were  sufferers  by  fire  \  in  consequence  of  which,  al- 
though capable  of  maintaining  themselves,  they  were  at  that  time 
reduced  to  the  greatest  straits,  having  all  lost  considerably. — ^They 
appeared  very  grateful  to  the  Society  for  its  timely  aid." 

The  next  sum  of  270  rixdoUars  was  voted  by  the  Committee 
in  aid  of  three  cases  of  extreme  distress,  where  the  parties  were 
highly  respectable  ;  and  the  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter 
received  from  one  of  these  individuals,  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  the  money. 

<<  I  will  thank  you  to  tell  the  Committee  of  the  Settlers'  Fund 
that  I  am  exceedingly  grateful  for  the  assistance  afforded  me.  It 
was  a  most  timely  relief,  as  my  poor  children  and'  all  my  family 
were  nearly  naked.  I  shall  endeavor  to  repay  this  sum  as  soon  as 
I  can ;  but  what  our  fate  will  be,  God  onlv  knows." 

The  next  article  of  expense,  charged  in  the  account,  is  a  sum  of 
579  rixdoUars  for  clothing,  purchased  in  Cape  Town,  and  for- 
warded by  sea  to  Algoa  Bay :  this  was  also  distributed  under  the 
direction  of  the  Rev.  W.  Shaw. 

The  sum  expended  and  placeid  next  in  succession,  is  the  most 
considerable  in  the  account,  and  was  applied  to  one  of  the  prind- 
pal  objects  for  which  the  Society  was  originally  instituted,  viz.  the 
relief  of  the  widows  and  families  of  deceased  settlers.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  this  sum  has  been  distributed  in  Cape  Town;  the 
widows  having,  by  the  loss  of  their  chief  stay,  been  necessarily 
compelled  to  abandon  their  locations,  and  to  seek  a  scanty  liveli- 
hood for  themselves  and  children,  by  those  efforts  of  female  indus- 
try which  are  generally  but  too  inadequately  requited. 

The  charge  of  189  rixdoUars  6  skillings  next  claims  attention, 
and  was  incurred  by  sending  to  the  Merchant  Seamen's  Hospitsd 
four  settlers,  who  were  suffering  under  iUness,  without  any  means 
of  obtaining  advice  or  assistance.  It  is,  however,  with  pleasure 
that  the  Committee  state  that,  in  consequence  of  an  institution 
having  been  lately  established  for  affording  medical  aid  under  simi- 
lar circumstances^  this  charge  is  not  likely  to  recur. 

The  following  sum  of  102  rixdoUars  was  expended  in  forward- 
ing to  their  respective  owners  several  packages,  which  had  been 


5]  \.   Distressed  Stttkrs  hi  South  Jfricn.  S95 

saved  from  the  vessels  wrecked  in  Table  ^Bay,  in  June  1822.  As 
they  consisted  chiefly  of  agricultural  implements,  and  articles  of 
clodiing)  it  was  considered  advisable  to  advance  this  sum,  to  render 
them  av^able  to  the  persons  for  whom  they  were  intended,  in  the 
hope  that  a  part  at  least  would  be  repaid  by  the  owners. 

The  sum  of  93  rixdollars  was  paid  for  the  interment  of  three 
individuals,  who,  not  having  paid  taxes,  were  not,  it  appears,  en- 
titled to  burial  at  the  expense  of  the  Town. 

The  next  three  charges  requiie  no  elucidation. 

The  last  article  of  expense  is  for  general  disbursements,  made 
towards  the  relief  of  various  cases  of  distress  apiongst  settlers  in 
this  town ;  a  part  of  which  has  been  returned  by  the  individuals 
who  received  it,— -as  appears  on  the  other  side  of  the  account. 

Much  has  been  said  on  the  impolicy  of  relieving,  by  pecuniary 
aid,  the  necessities  of  those  settlers  who,  being  free  from  the  en- 
gagements under  which  they  came  out,  leave  dieir  locations,  and 
seekemployment  or  assistance  in  Cape  Town. 

Tour  Committee  readily  admit  that,  as  a  general  system,  such 
a  measure  would  not  only  encourage  idleness,  but  bring  on  the 
Society  claims  which  it  would  be  equally  impolitic  and  impossible 
to  satisfy :  yet,  circumstances  may  occur  of  such  a  kind  as  to 
render  immediate  assistance  requisite. 

Your  Committee  will  not  pretend  to  aflirm  that  they  may  not, 
in  their  endeavors  to  relieve  abject  poverty,  sometimes  have  extend- 
ed aid  to  unworthy  objects.  When  the  application  was  made  (as  it 
frequently  has  been)  by  individuals  evidently  suffering  under  the 
pangs  of  hunger,  and  utterly  destitute,  the  urgent  claims  of  nature 
have  been  satisfied,  previous  to  a  particular  inquiry,— «which,  when 
made  at  a  subsequent  period,  only  tended  to  confirm  the  truth  of 
the  observation,  that  the  extremes  of  misery  and  vice  are  commonly 
but  too  closely  allied.  Imposition  has,  however,  been  guarded 
against  by  persqns  being  visited  in  their  abodes.  Of  the  sum  ex- 
pended in  grants  of  this  kind,  since  the  last  annual  meeting, 
amounting,  altogether,  to  little  more  than  400  rixdollars  (deduct- 
ing the  amount  repaid),  a  great  proportion  was  applied  to  the  re- 
lief of  four  persons  reduced  to  the  utmost  wretchedness  by  illness 
or  accident.  Of  these  persons  one  died,  a  second  recovered, — 
and  of  the  remaining  two  (which  were  cases  of  fractured  limbs), 
one  is  now  .doing  well,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  repay  to  the 
Society  a  part  of  the  money  advanced. 

The  Committee  now  beg  leave  to  lay  before  the  meeting  a  few 
details  extracted  from  letters  addressed  to  the  Secretary^  or  ob- 
tained from  other  authentic  sources. 

[For  the  extracts  here  cMtided  to,  and  others  subsequently   . 

received,  see  Appendix.] 


396       Report  of  the  Committee  far  the  Reliej  of        [6 

ACCOUNT  qf  the  Receipts  and  Expendituee  qf  the  Set- 
TLfi&s'  Fund  Society,  since  the  last  General  Meeting. 

Receipts. 

Rds. 

To  Balance  of  last  account 1>667 

Unpaid  Subscriptions          •         •        .        •        •         •  170 

Subscriptions  received  since  last  General  Meeting            .  Is958 

Money  returned  to  the  Society 118 

Rds.     S,91S 

Expenditure. 

Rds.  Sks. 
By  Cash  remitted  to  the  Rev.  W.  Shaw,  for  distribution 

in  Cases  of  urgent  distress,  amongst  Settlers  residing 

on  their  locations •       500  0 

By  Ditto  paid  for  clothing,  distributed  by  the  Rev. 

W.  Shaw  ...;....  679  0 
By  Ditto  remitted  by  the  Secretary  to  Settlers  in  Albany  270  0 
By  Ditto  expended  in  monthly  allowances  to  widows 

with  large  families 677  0 

By  Ditto  expended  for  medical  assistance  .  •  •  189  6 
By  Ditto  expended  in  forwarding  to  their  respective 

owners,  goods  saved  from  wrecked  vessels  •  .  102  1 
By  expense  attending  the  Burial  of  Settlers  dying  in 

Cape  Town .         93  0 

By  Cash  expended  on  the  purchase  of  tools  furnished  to 

mechanics  out  of  employ  •        •        •        •        •         54  0 

By  support  aflForded  in  lying-in  cases  in  this  Town  .  40  0 
By  Cash  expended  for  printing  reports,  postage,  &c.  .  58  0 
By  Ditto  disbursed  for  various  cases  of  distress  in  Cape 

Town,  part  of  which  has  been  repaid        •         •        •       527  1 

By  Bahnce  at  the  Bank 72S  0 

By  unpaid  subscriptions 1^  ^ 

Rds.    S,91S  0 

AT  the  ANNIVERSARY  MEETING  of  the  Subscribers  to  the 
SETTLERS'  FUND  SOCIETY,  held  nth  Sept.  1823,— 

(His  Honor  Sir  John  Truter  in  the  chair,) 

The  following  Resolutions  were  unanimously  agreed  to : 

It  was  moved  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Flulip,  and  seconded  by 
H.  W.  Money,  Esq. 


7]  Distressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa.  397 

I. — That  the  Report  which  has  been  now  read  be  received  and 
printed. 

It  was  maved  by  John  Trotter,  Esq.  and  seconded  by  T.  Prin»- 
gle,  Esq. 

II. — ^That  the  Thanks  of  the  Society  be  given  to  those  Gentle- 
men who  have  acted  as  Members  of  the  Committee  during  the 
past  year' J  that  a  new  Committee  be  elected  for  the  ensuing 
year;  that  the  following  Gentlemen  be  appointed,  with  the 
power  of  filling  up  vacancies,  and  adding  to  dieir  number  ;^and 
that  any  three  of  the  Committee  form  a  Quorum : 

His  Honor  Sir  John  Truter,  W.  W.  Bird,  Esq.  J.  W.  StoU,  Esq. 
Major  Holloway,  Rev.  G.  Hough,  A.  M.  Rev.  John  Philip,  if).  D. 
Rev.  W.  Wright,  A.  M.  Lt-Col.  Pitman,  Sir  Richard  Ottley, 
W.  T.  Blair,  Esq.  H.  W.  Money,  Esq.  W.  Braddon,  Esq.  R.  W. 
Eaton,  Esq.  R.  J.  Jones,  Esq.  and  A.  B.  Tod,  Esq. 

It  was  moved  by  Lieut-Col.  Pitman,  and  seconded  by  W.  T. 
Blair,  Esq. 

III.— >That  the  thanks  of  the  Meeting  be  given  to  the  Treasurer 
and  Secretary  of  the  Society;  and,  that  ti^ey  be  requested  tp 
continue  to  fill  their  respective  offices. 

It  was  moved  by  Sir  Richard  Ottley,  and  seconded  by  R,  'W. 
Eaton,  Esq. 

rV. — That  the  distress  of  many  of  the  Settlers  is  extreme,  and 
calls  for  the  renewed  and  increased  exertions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  Colony,  and  of  other  parts  of  the  British  Empire ;  and,  for 
the  purpose  of  encouraging  subscriptions,  that  the  proceedings  of 
this  day  be  printed  and  circulated ;  and  that  the  Resolutions  of 
this  Meeting,  with  a  list  of  the  subscribers,  be  inserted  in  the 
Cape  Gazette,  and  in  the  Ei^lish  and  Indian  Papers. 

It  was  moved  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Philip,  and  seconded  by  the 
Rev.  W.  Wright; 

V. — ^That  the  thanks  of  this  Meeting  be  presented  to  the 
following  Gentlemen  who  have  left  the  Oolony,  for  the  eminent 
services  rendered  by  them  to  the  Society  during  their  residence 
here  :-*Sir  Jahleel  Trenton,  Bart.  Gilbert  Masters,  Esq.  J.  Sonni- 
thorne,  Esq.  and  W.  O.  Salmon,  Esq. 

It  was  moved  by  R.  J.  Jones,  Esq.  aiid  seconded  by  G.  Ca- 
dogan,  Esq. 

VI. — ^That  the  Denomination  of  this  Society  be  changed  from 
the  «  Settlers'  Fund  Society/*  t6  that  of  «  The  Society  for  the 
Relief  of  distressed  Settlers  m  South  Africa." 

It  was  moved  by  H.  W.  Money,  Esq.  and  seconded  by  W. 
Braddon,  Esq. 

VII. -That  John  Trotter,  Esq.  be  elected  a  Member  of  the 
Committee  for  the  ensuing  year. 


398        Report  of  the  Cknfimittee  for  the  Rtlief  of        [8 

_  *  . 

It  was  moved  by  Sir  Richatd  Ottleyi  and  seconded  by  Samuel 
Bailey,  Esq, 

VIIL:— That  the  respectful  thanks  of  this  Meeting  be  presented 
to  His  Honor  Sir  John  Truter^  for  his  obliging  readiness  in 
taking  the  Chair. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Philip,  in  moving  that  the  Report  be  received 
and  printed,  addressed  the  Meeting  as   follows  : 

While  I  congratulate  this  Meeting  on  the  talent  and  respectability  widi 
which  I  see  myself  surrounded,  on  the  importance  of  the  ohject  for  which 
we  are  assembled,  and  the  characur  of  the  Report  which  has  just  been 
read,  I  cannot  help  inquiring,  how  it  happens  that  we  are  so  thinly  attended 
at  our  General  Meetings ;  that  we  have  so  few  Subscribers ;  and  that  od 
such  an  extensive  field  held  out  to  our  cultivation,  our  operations  shoiild 
have  been  so  limited  ?  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused  if  I  take  up  a  small  portion 
of  your  time,  on  the  present  occasion,  on  this  question. 

Does  this  arise  from  what  has  been  said  of  late  years  respecting  the  abuse 
of  this  sort  of  charity  ? 

I  am  ready  to  give  this  objection  all  the  weight  it  can  claim.  I  allow  that 
by  injudicious  charity  we  may  perpetuate  the  evils  we  wish  to  cure,  aod 
hold  out  a  premium  to  vice  and  idleness.  I  am  willing  to  go  all  the  length 
that  Malthus  himself  goes  on  this  question ;  but  I  hope  I  shall  be  excused 
if  I  stop  where  this  great  champion  of  rigid  economy  stops.  While  Malthus 
shows  all  the  bad  effects  of  the  general  mode  of  relieving  the  poor  by  assess- 
ment, this  philosophical  writer  does  not  condemn  societies  formed  upon  the 
principles  of  this  Society.  When  commending  active  and  voluntary  bene- 
volence, he  enumerates  several  classes,  as, — the  aged — the  infirm— the 
widow — the  fatherless,  &c.  whom  he  considers  as  having  a  legal  claim  on 
us  for  support.  He  goes  further.  He  allows  even  the  vicious  and  the  pro- 
fligate to  have  a  title  to  a  certain  kind  of  relief.  Even  to  this  class  he  allows 
bread  and  water, — articles  extremely  scarce  among  the  most  virtuous  of  that 
people  for  whom  I  am  now  pleading. 

^  In  the  great  course  of  human  events,''  says  Mr.  Malthus,  **  the  best- 
founded  expectations  will  sometimes  be  disappointed ;  and  industry,  pru- 
dence, and  virtue,  not  only  fitil  of  their  just  reward,  but  are  involved  in  un- 
merited calamities.  Those|whoare  thus  suffering,  in  spite  of  the  best  directed 
efforts  to  avoid  it,  and  from  causes  which  they  could  not  be  expected  to 
foresee,  are  the  genuine  objects  of  charity.  In  relieving  these,  we  exercise 
the  appropriate  office  of  benevolence,  that  of  mitigating  the  partial  evUs 
arising  from  general  laws ;  and  in  this  direction  ol  our  charity,  therefore, 
we  need  not  apprehend  any  ill  consequences.  Such  objects  ought  to  be  re- 
lieved, according  to  our  means,  liberally  and  adequately,  even  though  the 
worthless  were  starving.''  Again,  "  I  have  already  observed,  however,  and 
I  here  repeat  it,  that  the  general  principles  on  these  subjects  ought  not  to 
be  pushed  too  far,  though  they  should  always  be  kept  in  view  :  and  that 
many  cases  may  occur,  in  which  the  good  resulting  from  therelief  of  pre- 
sent distress  may  more  than  overbalance  the  evil  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  remote  consequences.  All  relief,  in  instances  not  arising  from  indolent 
and  improvident  habits,  clearly  conies  under  this  description  :  and  in  gene- 
ral it  may  be  observed,  that  it  is  only  that  kind  of  iyttematic  and  eefiatn  re- 
lief, on  which  the  poor  can  confidently  depend,  whatever  may  be  their  con- 
duct, that  violates  general  principles  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  it  clear, 
that  the  general  consequence  is  worse  than  the  partial  evil.  When  this  first 
claim  on  our  benevolence  was  satisfied,  we  might  then  turn  our  attention  to 
the  idle  and  improvident.    But  the  interests  of  hunian  happiness  most 


9]  Distressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa.  3^ 

clearly  require,  that  the  relief  which  we  afford  them  should  be  scanty.  We 
may,  perhaps,  take  on  ourselves,  with  great  caution,  to  mitigate  the  punish- 
ments which  they  are  suffering  from  the  laws  of  nature,  but  on  no  account  to 
remove  them  entirely.  They  are  deservedly  at  the  bottom  in  the  scale  of 
society;  and  if  we  raise  them  from  this  situation,  we  not  only  palpably 
defeat  the  ends  of  benevolence,  but  commit  a  most  glarins  injustice  on 
those  who  are  above  them.  They  should,  on  no  account,  oe  enabled  to 
command  so  much  of  the  necessaries  of  life  as  can  be  obtained  by  the  worst 
paid  common  laborer.  The  brownest  bread,  with  the  coarsest  and  scantiest 
apparel,  are  the  utmost  which  they  should  have  the  means  of  purchasing.^ 

Shall  I  be  told  that  there  is  no  surplus  of  misery  among  our  countrymen 
unprovided  for  ?  I  do  not  stand  here  on  this  occasion  as  the  accuser  of  the 
Colonial  Government,  nor  of  the  Local  Authorities  of  the  Colony;  but  we 
may  certainly  allow  the  possibility  of  distress,  without  any  reflection  oa 
any  man,  or  any  class  of  men.  Reasoning  cl,  priori,  I  maintain  it  is  impos» 
sible  to  remove  five  thousand  men  from  their  native  country,  and  plant 
them  in  any  other  country  under  heaven,  without  involving  a  vast  portioo 
of  suffering. 

For  an  ulustration  of  this  subject,  we  have  only  to  look  to  the  diffe* 
rent  emigrations  to  America  in  the  first  colonization  of  that  country.  Many 
of  the  first  Settlers  si^ffered  greatly,  and  some  whole  parties  perished  for 
want  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  on  spots  that  are  now  supporting  a  dense 
population.  The  history  of  the  Sierra  Leone  Settlement  is  well-known.  Many 
lives  were  lost,  and  much  property  sunk,  before  the  experiment  afforded 
any  rational  prospect  of  success.  The  colonizsRion  of  New  Holland  is  also 
a  case  in  point.  During  the  early  period  of  that  Settlement,  the  Colonists 
were  often  in  the  greatest  distress.  Several  times  they  were  under  the 
painful  apprehension  of  death  by  famine.  For  six  years  they  continued  to 
receive  a  great  part  of  their  supplies  from  Batavia,  from  India,  and  from 
England,  at  considerable  expense  to  the  mother  country. 

From  1550  to  1570,  including  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  history  of  this 
Colony,  although  the  number  of  the  first  Settlers  was  not  one  third  of  the 
number  landed  in  Albany,  it  cost  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  twenty 
millions  of  guilders.  Though  it  is  not  my  intention  at  present  to  attempt 
to  account  for  the  facts,  yet  it  may  be  remarked,  that  there  seems  to  be 
soiiiethine  iu  a  virgin  soil  unfavorable  to  the  support  of  human  life ;  and  it 
seems  to  be  with  men  as  with  vegetables, — they  must  suffer,  after  being 
transplanted,  before  they  can  take  root. 

One  circumstance  may  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  which  has  added  to  the 
distress  of  the  Settlers.  In  the  emigrations  constantly  taking  place  to  Ame- 
rica, the  emigrants  having  landed  at  New  York,  Boston,  Quebec,  or  some 
large  town,  find  employment,  assistance,  or  the  means  of  subsistence,  in  the 
countries  through  which  they  pass,  and  from  the  Colonists  settled  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  their  locations ;  but  in  the  late  emigration  to 
this  colony,  we  have  between  four  and  five  thousand  people  conducted  at 
once  to  a  country  possessed  by  a  few  Dutch  Boors,  who,  in  case  of  any  fai- 
lure of  the  Emigrants'  hopes,  could  give  them  no  assistance. 

Among  other  means  employed  to  give  an  unfavorable  impression  of  the 
Settlers,  a  charge  of  Radicalism  was  attempted  to  be  fixed  upon  them.  In 
such  a  body  of  peopile  there  are,  no  doubt,  many  worthless  and  discontented 
individuals ;  but  I  can  aver,  from  my  own  personal  knowledge, — and  I  have 
visited  their  different  locations, — that  I  never  met  with  an  instance  where 
there  was  less  reason  for  this  charge  applied  to  the  people  as  a  body,  than 
in  the  present  case.  What  they  are  at  this  moment  I  will  not  presume  to 
say ;  but  in  the  latter  end  of  1821, 1  was  surprised  to  find  so  few  persons  of 
this  description  among  them. 


400        Reparioffhe  Cmmitteefor  the  ReUtfof       [10 

Shall  we  be  told,  to  set  aside  their  claims  on  our  benevolencci  thmt  they 
want  industry  ?  If,  after  the  failure  of  so  mauy  crops,  they  neglect  to  culti- 
vate the  soil  to  the  full  extent  of  the  credit  they  may  have  giveb  tfaem 
for  physical  energies,  is  it  matter  of  surprise?  They  cannot  command  the 
clouds  of  heaven  to  rain  upon  their  fields :  the^  cannot  raise  the  water, 
from  the  deep  ravines  to  which  it  is  confined,  to  irrigate  their  gardens:  they 
cannot  arrest  Omnipotence,  and  stop  tlie  progress  of  that  blight,  whicl^ 
through  successive  years,  has  destroyed  the  promise  of  the  harvest.  And 
if,  under  the  repeated  strokes  of  the  Almighty,  the  mind  loses  its  toDi, 
when  nothing  but  the  powerful  aids  of  Religion  can  prevent  depresskm, 
and  stiiriulat^  to  perseverance,  the  unhappy  sufferers  are  more  entitled  to 
our  sytnpathy,  than  deserving  of  censure. 

The  claims  uf  our  unhappy  countrymen  upon  our  sympathy  afci  of  more 
than  an  ordinary  character.  The  writers  of  elegant  fiction  have  been  accus- 
ed of  injuring  the  cause  of  benevolence,  bj  dressing  it  out  in  all  the  be- 
witching enchantments  of  eloquence.  '*  All  is  beauty  to  the  eye,  and  harmo- 
ny to  the  ear.  Nothing  is  seen  but  pictures  of  felicity,  ^nd  nothing  is  heard 
but  the  pleasing  whispers  of  gratitude  and  affection.  The  reader  is  canied 
along  by  soft  and  delightfiil  representations  of  virtue.  He  accompanies  bis 
hero  through  all  the  rancied  varieties  of  his  history.  He  goes  along  with 
him  to  the  cottage  of  poverty  and  disease,  surrounded,  as  he  may  suf^pose, 
with  all  the  charms  of  rural  seclusion,  where  the  murmurs  of  an  afljoining 
rivulet  accord  with  tk6  fincir  sensibilities  of  the  mind.  He  enters  tiie  eih 
chantihg  retirement,  and  meets  with  a  pioture  of  distress,  adorned  with  all 
the  fascinations  of  romance.'  Perhaps  a  meritorious  officer,  who  has  fought 
the  battles  of  his  country,  is  languishing  on  the  bed  of  affliction^  witbouttbe 
means  of  subsistence,  and  without  an  attendant,  save  a  son  of  tender  years, 
to  sympathize  with  him  in  his  distress,  and  whose  helpless  yeats^  and  des- 
titute condition,  add  poignancy  to  his  grief. .  Perhaps,  in  the  midstof  alnu^ 
ren  wilderness,  and  surrounded  with  wild  beasts,  he  unexpectedly  meets  a 
female,  Whose  slender  form,  whose  elegant  motion,  Whose  sudden  confusion, 
and  whose  instant  attempt  to  escape,  excite  the  most  powerful  curiosity. 
She  flies  to  elude  his  further  inquiries :  he  follows :  and,  entering  a  niseni- 
ble  hut,  discovers  himself  an  unwelcome  intruder:  he  apologise8<^lie is 
shocked — h6  finds  the  inmate  of  this  humble  shed  investea  with  every  fe- 
male grace :  he  felicitates  himself  on  his  good  fortune :  his  tears  flow,  his 
heart  dilates  with  all  the  luxury  of  tenderness :  '  the  visions  of  Panidise 
play  before  his  fancy : '  his  whole  soul  is  absorbed  in  plans  that  embrace  the 
future  felicity  of  this  interesting  family  :  he  gives  his  last  shilling,  and  un- 
parts  it  with  so  much  delicacy,  tnat  he  makes  them  feel  that  be  is  receiving, 
not  conferring,  a  favour/' 

The  lovers  of  romance — the  epicures  of  feeling — <:an  have  no  pretext  for 
treating  the  objects  now  cidling  for  their  sympathy  with  indifference,  for 
want  of  these  fomantic  accompaniments.  The  admirers  of  this  sort  of  fictitious 
history,  our  modern  sentimentalists,  who  revel  in  all  the  soft  delusions  of 
an  ideal  philanthropy,  may  see  all  the  high-wrought  fiction  of  the  **  romantic 
tale,  all  the  imagery  of  the  poet's  song,  reduced  to  sober  reality ;  if  we  ei- 
dude  from  the  picture  the  benevolence  which  wipes  the  tear  from  the  eye 
of  distress,  which  affords  relief  to  the  necessitous,  and  restores  to  society  and 
happiness  the  destitute  sufferers.  Here  we  have  distress  attended  by  all 
the  attractions  that  ever  fancy  conferred  unon  fiction.  •  And  vrfaat  is  the 
sympathy  this  distress  calls  forth  }  We  are  told  that  the  sufferers  are  Baiir 
cats  ;  thai  they  are  worthless  peopk ;  eft  thai  the  alleged  distreu  do€$  not  esut. 
To  this  unsupported  assertion  I  oppose  incontrovertible  facts  :  I  oppose  a 
number  of  letters  from  the  most  respectable  individuals  in  Albany,  which  I 
now  hold  in  my  hand :  I  oppose  the  most  respectable  witnesses,  who  have 
lately  visited  the  locations  :  and  to  the  evidence  of  these  witnesses,  I  add 


1 1]  Distressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa.  401 

my  own  testimony ;  being  able,  from  what  I  myself  observed  among  the 
Settlers,  to  corroborate  many  of  the  statements  contained  in  the  Report.  In 
that  country,  which  was  described  in  all  the  glowing  tints  of  eastern  imagery ; 
which  was  held  out  to  the  poor  Settlers  as  a  second  Land  ofFromUe^  as  a 
**  land  lUerally  overfiomng  with  milk  and  honey ;  "  you  may  see  the  fingers 
which  seldom  moved  but  ^a  paint  for  the  eye,  or  to  charm  the  ea^,  tying  .up 
cattle,  or  stopping  up  the  gaps  of  their  enclosure;  females,  on  whom  in 
England  the  wind  was  scarcely  allowed  to  blow,  exposed  to  all  the  rage  of 
the  pitiless  storm  ;  mothers  with  large  famiUes,  who  used  to  have  a  servant 
to  each  child,  without  an  individual  to  assist  them  in  the  drudgery  of  the 
house,  the  labor  of  the  dairy,  or  the  care  of  their  children ;  families  who 
used  to  sleep  upon  down,  with  scarcely  a  sufficient  number  of  boards,  or  a 
j»ufBcient  quantity  of  straw,  to  keep  them  from  an  earthen  floor;  young 
females,  possessed  of  every  accomplishment,  reduced  to  feed  a  few  cows,  al- 
most the  sole  dependence  of  the  family ;  men,  who  have  held  the  ranks 
of  Captains  and  Paymasters  in  the  army,  driving  waggons,  without  shoes 
or  stockings ! 

In  a  tour  I  made  through  the  locations  of  these  Settlers,  I  found  a  gen- 
tleman, whose  connexions  at  home  I  knew  to  be  respectable,  with  two  love- 
ly daughters,  without  a  single  servant,  male  or  female,  upon  the  place.  I 
^•^ked  him,  how  he  came  to  be  in  this  situation  ?  In  repl^,  he  said,  with 
much  mildness  and  apparent  resignation :  *'  I  have  sunk  my  all,  I  have 
spent  my  last  shilling,  and  I  have  never  reaped  one  handful  of  produce 
from  my  farm/'  On  another  location,  I  entered  a  house  in  which  I  was 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  a  female,  whose  dress  and  circumstances  exhi* 
bited  such  a  contrast  to  her  manners  and  former  connexions  in  life,  that,  when 

she  began  to  talk  of  Sir  John ,  Sir  Wm. ,  General        ■    ■, 

Lady  ,  as  her  relations,  and  to  ask  me  if  I  knew  such  persons,  it  re- 
quired a  considerable  effort  to  persuade  myself,  that  I  was  not  iistening  to  a 
person  under  mental  derangement.  To  describe  all  the  heads  of  the  par* 
ties  I  met  under  similar  circumstances,  would  be  to  enumerate  the  greater 
part  of  them.'  I  am  fully  satisfied  that,  if,  in  some  instances,  clamorous  in- 
dividuals may  have  exaggerated  the  miseries  of  their  own  condition,  one 
fifth  of  the  real  distress  of  the  Settlers,  as  a  body,  has  neither  met  the  pub- 
lic eye,  nor  been  made  known  by  their  own  report. 

If  there  be  any  thing  interestmg  in  the  condition  of  an  emigrant,  to  him 
that  knows  the  heart  of  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land;  any  thing  to  excite 
pity  for  men  smarting  under  the  rod  of  the  Almighty,  like  Job,  when  he  ex- 
claimed. Have  pity  upon  me,  oh!  my  friends,  have  pity  upon  me,  for  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  hath  touched  me  ;  any  thing  to  excite  sympathy  in  old  age,  bend- 
ing over  the  grave  of  a  partner  in  life  who  has  died  of  a  broken  heart;  any 
thing  touching  in  the  name  of  widow ;  any  thing  tender  in  the  condition 
of  fatherless  children  ;  any  thing  affecting  in  the  sight  of  young  accomplish- 
ed females,  reduced,  not  to  the  spindle  and  the  distaff,  but  to  the  drudgery 
that  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  slave  in  the  service  of  the  African  Boor ;  if  there 
be  any  thing  in  hunger  and  nakedness  to  excite  pity — we  have  all  these 
claims  embodied  in  this  institution.  The  ancients  had  a  temple  dedicated  to 
Pity — the  human  heart  is  the  proper  seat  of  pity  ;  and  what  objects  can  have 
a  greater  claim  to  pity,  than  those  in  whose  cause  we  are  assembled  here  this 
day  }  I  may  be  told  there  are  greater  objects  of  pity  than  these  Settlers.  I  ad- 
roit the  fact ;  and  if  asked  who  they  are,  I  reply,— they  are  those  persons 
who  wish  to  destroy  our  sympathy  towards  our  unfortunate  countrymen  ! 

^  See  Letters  of  Capt.  B.  and  others,  in  the  Appendix,  which  powerfully 
affected  the  meeting,  on  being  here  quoted. 

VOL.  XXm.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.        « C 


402        Report  of  iheCommttec  for  iheReU^  of       [12 

I  would  rather  be  the  greatest  sufferer  in  Albany,  than  be  in  the  condltioa 
of  those  individuals,  who  not  only  refuse  to  relieve  their  distress,  but  would 
prevent  others  from  doin^  it.  ''They  that  b#  slain  by  the  sword,  are  better 
than  they  that  be  slain  with  huneer ;  for  these  pine  away,  stricken  tbroi^b, 
for  want  of  the  fruits  of  the  field.^ 

Mr.  BtAiRy  on  seconding  the  Third  Resolntiont  expressed  himself 
as  follows : 

I  have  much  pleasure.  Sir,  in  seconding  the  resolution  which  has  now  been 
moved.  If  thanks  are  due  to  any  one,  it  will,  I  tliink,  be  acknowledged  that 
they  are  in  a  particular  manner  due  to  the  Secretary,  both  for  the  interesting 
report  we  have  just  heard,  and  for  his  unwearied  attention  to  the  interests 
of  the  Society,  To  his  personal  visits  and  minute  examination  into  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  different  cases  of  distress,  the  Society,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
is  mainly  indebted  for  the  prevention  of  abuser  and  the  most  judicious  ap^ 
plication  of  its  funds  ^  anil  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  will  willinel^  continue  to 
render  the  same  assistance  in  future,  and  with  the  same  beneficial  effects. 

But,  Sir,  a  mure  powerful  appeal  to  the  best  feelings  of  every  benevolent 
mind,  cannot  well  be  imagined,  than  is  to  be  found  m  the  extreme  distress 
of  the  unfortunate  Settlers  in  Albany ;  as  is  but  too  evident  from  the  report 
of  your  committee,  as  well  as  from  the  speech  we  have  just  heard  fitim  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Philip :  and  there  are  very  few,  I  am  persuaded,  to  whom  the  ap*> 
peal  will  be  made  in  vain.  As,  then,  we  have  freely  received,  so  let  us  freely 
give — we  shall  have  our  reward  in  the  prayers  and  benedictions  of  the  feither- 
less  and  the  widow,  and  inherit  the  blessing  pronounced  on  those  who  gift 
eren  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  the  necessitous  and  the  destitute. 

The  Sbckbtart — 

In  returning  thanks  for  the  honor  conferred  on  himself  and  colleague,  by 
the  resolution  just  passed,  attributed  the  kind  expressions  used  by  the  gende- 
man  who  had  seconded  the  resolution,  to  the  politeness  which  distioguisbed 
that  gentleman's  character,  and  which  led  him  to  speak  favoraUy  of  the 
meanest  efforts  and  most  humble  individuals.  He  accepted  the  office  of  Se- 
cretary, under  the  impression  that  some  person  better  qualified  for  it  would 
soon  have  relieved  him.  He  was  at  the  time  perfectly  unacquainted  with 
the  duties  that  would  devolve  upon  him ;  and  he  felt  conscious  that,  from 
the  want  of  experience,  those  duties  had  been  but  ill  performed  ;  he  begged, 
however,  to  assure  the  meeting,  that  whilst  he  should  most  readily  relinquish 
his  charge  to  anv  gentleman  who  would  have  the  kindness  to  take  it  upon 
himself,  he  would,  on  the  other  hand,  as  cheerfully  continue  his  services  ss 
long  as  they  were  considered  in  the  smallest  degree  usefiil  in  promoting  the 
views  of  the  Society. 

Sir  Richard  Ottleti  on  moving  the  Fourth  Resoludoiit  address- 
ed the  meeting  to  the  following  effect : 

I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  novel  motion — that  nothing  similar  has  been  pro- 
posed at  former  meetings.  I  therefore  feel  myself  called  upon  to  state  those 
grounds  which  have  induced  me  to  bring  it  forward,  and  to  suggest  such  ar« 
guments  as  I  trust  will  warrant  its  adoption  by  the  Society. 

I  shall  abstain  from  all  topics  which  might  appear  to  be  introduced  for 
the  purposes  of  declamation,  and  all  exaggeration  of  the  sufferings  of 
the  Colonists.  That  their  distress  is-  serious — ^that  their  wants  are  urgent; 
and  call  for  our  immediate  assistance,  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  one.wbo 
has  attentively  considered  the  documents  presented  to  the  Society,  and  the 
statements  received  from  those  who  had  the  nest  opportunities  of  aseeitaiiunK 


13]  Dhtressid  Settiers  in  South  Affka;.  40a 

the  situation  to  vthich  the  Settlers  are  reduced.  We  might  enlarge  much 
upon  the  state  of  destitution  and  nakedness  in  which  many  of  the  inhahit- 
antft'  are  placed,  and  the  scenes  of  calamity  and  woe  which  are  presented 
to  the  eyes  of  those  who  have  visited  the  locations.  But  I  prefer  to  confine 
myself  to  those  facts  which  ace  contained  in  the  report,  and  which  have 
been  stated  during  the  cofnrse  Qf  this  day's  proeeeotngSf  becauser  we  havd 
had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the=  nmtn  of^ those  fattsi  All  those  state- 
ments have  been  made  by  eye-witnesses ;  by  gentlemen  who  have  resided 
amongst  the  Settlers,  or  have  travelled  through  the  districts  where  the  colo^ 
nists  have  been  fixed.  The  existence  of  those  calamitous  circumstances  hav- 
ing been  sufficiently  proved,  it  becomes  our  duty  to  search  out  and  to  apply 
the  best  remedy  incur  power.  I  therefore  propose,  in  the  first  part  of  my 
motion,  that  we  should  renew  and  increase  our  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  oti- 
jects  in  whose  welfare  we  are  interested.  This  is  absolutely  necessary!on 
our  part,  because,  upon  looking  to  the  state  of  our  finances,  1  perceive,  that 
we  possess  only  the  balance  of  729  rix-dollars  applicable  to  their  relief ;  a 
sum  wholly  inadequate  to  afford  the  assistance  which  is  now  so  imperiously 
demanded.  But  I  do  not  rest  here.  The  ulterior  object  of  my  motion  is  to- 
call  upon  others  to  co-operate  with  us  in  the  same  benevolent  work ;  and 
we  cannot  expect  that  other  persons  residing  in  distant  countries  should. 
come  forward  with  their  money,  if  they  see  that  we  are  idle  and  uncon^ 
cerned.  But  if  our  feliaw-oountrymen  in  England  and  other  parts  of  the  world 
are  informed  that  we  are  making  efforts,  and  are  endeavoring  to  augment 
our  means  in  proportion  to  the  increased  wants  of  the  suCerers,  we  mav 
hope  that  they  will  be  ready  to  assist^  and  to  supply  the  deficiency  whica 
remains,  after  we  have  exhausted  our  recfources. 

The  Settlers  may  properly  be  divided  into  four  classes. — 1«  The  heads  of  par-f 
ties.  8*  Those  who  have  joined  together  and  have  been  working  upon  a  joint 
stock.  3.  The  Agricultural  Servants;  And,  4.  The  Mechanics.  Of  these 
classes  of  persons,  the  two  latter  descriptions  are  alone  exempted  from  the 
sufferings  which  have  afflicted  the  others ;  and  it  is  therefore  for  the  pur-; 
pose  of  assisting  the  two  former  classes,  that  I  call  upon  this  meeting  to 
adopt  the  present  motion.  The  heads  of  parties  are  those  who  have  been 
most  severely  afflicted,  and  they  are  the  persons  who  are  least  likely  to  make 
their  afflictions  public.  They  have  lost  nearly  the  whole  of  their  capital,  and 
have  received  no  return  for  the  grain  which  has  been  sown.  Three  succes- 
sive failures  have  reduced  to  penury  all  who  depended  upon  the  produce  of 
the  earth.  Those  who  have  traded  upon  a  joint  stock  are  nearly  in  similar 
embarrassments.  It  is  in  favor  of  these  persons  that  we  are  peculiarly 
called  upon  for  assistance.  -But  numerous  are  thesu^rieifsofaH  denomi- 
nations. Women  who  have  lost  their  husbands— children  deprived  of  their 
parents — what  resources  have  these  ? 

The  report  has  brought  to  our  notice  more  than  one  instance  of  persons 
almost  in  a  state  of  destitution,  and  who  are  literally  deprived  of  all  means 
of  support,  except  those  which  are  afforded  by  our  subscriptions.  We  must, 
then,  renew  our  efforts ;  we  must  give  all  we  can  afibrd  t  imd  having 
done  so,  we  may  reouest  otherjS  to  come  forward  also;  and  whenever  such 
appeal  has  been  made  to  the  hearts  of  the  English  people,  that  appeal  has 
seldom  been  made  in  vain.  Unworthy  objects  have  too  fjrequently  found 
means  to  impose  on  the  generosity  of  the  people  of  England,  and  have  oh* 
tained  those  alms  which  might  have  been  better  appropriated;  but  when  § 
case  of  real  distress  has  been  brought  home  to  the  knowledge  of  our  couQ^ 
tiymen.few  instances  are  recorded  in  which  (hey  have  refused  to  afford  reliefs 

I  wish,  further,  to  let  the  distress  of  the  Settlers  be  made  known  in  India. 
Many  gentlemen  from  Indiaare  now  resident,  or  in  the  habit  of  visiting  this 


404       Report  of  the  Committee  for  the  Relief  of      [14 

Colon/.  They  will  be  enabled  to  ascertain  the  reality  of  the  present  dis- 
tress, and  to  afford  such  information  as  may  tend  to  verify  our  report, 
and  to  give  effect  to  those  measures  which  it  is  our  object  and  our  wish 
to  promote. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  PhiliPi  on  proposing  thanks  to  the  friends  of  the 
Society  who  had  left  the  Colony,  said — 

That  whatever  hesitation  he  had  felt  on  a  former  occasion,  in  moving 
thanks  to  the  India  gentlemen,  for  their  kind  support  to  the  Society,  from 
a  fear  of  wounding  the  delicacy  of  such  as  were  present,  he  could  feel  none 
at  this  time,  when  the  thanks  were  restricted  to  those  who  had  left  us.  It 
had  been  beautifully  remarked  by  a  celebrated  author,  ^  That  death  sets  a 
stamp  upon  the  character,  and  places  it  out  of  the  reach  of  fortune.*^  Su€h 
a  stamp  might  be  said  to  be  affixed  to  the  character  of  the  gentlemen 
whose  names  he  was  about  to  read.  They  had,  during  their  residence 
amongst  us,  been  ever  foremost  in  every  charitable  institution  ;  and  htd, 
in  a  particular  mannei^  assisted  and  supported  the  objects  of  this  Society. 
Indeed,  it  «might  almost  be  said  to  owe  its  present  existence  to  their  fosttf- 
ing  hand;' 

The  Rev.  W.  Wjright  saii— 

That  it  was  with  feelings  of  peculiar  satisfaction  that  he  rose  to  second 
the  motion  of  his  worthy'  friend  Dr.  Philip.  Participating,  as  be  did,  in 
the  sentiments -which  had  animated  the  meeting,  he  felt  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  add  any  thing  to  what  had  been  already  delivered  in 
defence  of  the  objects  of  the  i^ciety.  He  could  not,  however,  forbear  taking 
that  opportunity  of  stating  to  the  meetint^  the  advantages  which  he  had  at 
all  times  witnessed  to  have  been  derivea  from  the  zealousco-opera^o  of 
the  respectable  senrants  of  the  British  Government  in  India ;  who  hadbieen 
most  steady  friends  to  the  Society,  recruiting  its  slender  funds  by  their  libe- 
ral donations,  and  giving  it  the  advantage  of  their  countenance  and  protec- 
tion, by  which  its  character  was  maintained,  and  its  almost  dying  embers 
were  rekindled.  Mr.  Wright  passed  an  encomium  on  the  benevolent  nature 
of  the  charity ;  and  felt,  that  if  the  respectable  gentlemen,  to  whom  he  was 
endeavoring  to  pay  this  humble  tribute,  could  derive  any  additional  pleasure 
to  that  which  they  must  enjoy  from  having  been  the  happy  instruments  of 
so  much  good  to  their  fellow-creatures  in  distress,  it  would  arise  fixmi  the 
knowledge  that  their  services  were  not  forgotten. 

Mr.  H.  W.  Monet— 

While  he  acknowledged  the  claims  of  his  Indian  friends,  who  had  left  the 
Colony,  to  the  thanks  of  the  meeting/  for  the  services  they  had  rendered  to 
the  Society,  disclaimed  the  degree  of  merit,  ascribed  in  the  observations 
just  made,  to  the  gentlemen  from  India,  for  their  exertions  andasaistance  in 
forwarding  the  objects  of  the  Society.  They  had  acted  from  the  impulse 
of  those  reelings — ^the  feelings  of  Englishmen, — to  which,  it  bad  been  ob- 
served, an  appeal  had  never  been  made  in  vain. 

I  TheSociety  originated  in  1820,  from  the  benevolent  exertions  of  Captain 
Moresby,  Commander,  and  Mr.  Shawl,  Purser,  of  his  Majesty's  Ship  ilfeiuii 
and  of  H.  Ellis,  Esq.  Deputy  Colonial  Secretary. 


16]  JKstressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa.  ^        40ft 


APPENDIX. 

The  two  following  Letters  were  written  by  gentlemen  who  are 
both  heads  of  respectable  parties^  and  who  had  lived  in  genteel 
;and  comfortable  circumstances  in  their  native  country  : — 

«  Graham's  Tamn^  23d  Bee.  1822. 

'<  I  received  your  letter,  and  am  glad  that  some  one  thinks  it 
worth  while  to  inquire  after  so  wretched  a  being  as  myself.  I  am 
sorry  to  tell  you,  our  dear  little  Matilda  is  no  more.  She  was 
with  me  while  reaping  some  barley,  when  I  told  her  to  go  to  the 
house  to  bring  me  some  water  to  drink :  she  ran  off,  and  fell  on 
one  of  those  vile  reptiles  that  abound  in  this  part  of  the  globe,  and 
was  stung.  I  attended  my  sweet  babe  for  seven  days  and  nights^ 
during  which  she  was  in  the  greatest  agony,  until  mortification 
took  place.  She  then  recovered  her  senses — sprayed  for  her  poor 
mamma  and  papa,  and  expired  quite  easy,  on  Tuesday,  at  four 
o'clock.  She  was  a  lovely  child,  only  four  years  old :  all  my  mis- 
fortunes are  nothing  compared  to  this;  she  was  our  last  and 
only  child. 

<*  You  ask  me  for  an  account  of  our  situation ;  which  I  will 
give  you ;  and  I  believe  it  is  applicable  to  all  the  settlers,  as  re- 
gards our  crops  and  prospect  of  food  for  the  ensuing  year.  My 
wheat,  two  months  ago  the  most  promising  I  ever  sawinany  coun- 
try, is  now  cut  down  and  in  heaps  for  burning,  before  we  plough 
the  ground  again.  The  rust  has  utterly  destroyed  it  \  not  a  grain 
have  we  saved.  My  barley,  from  the  drought,  and  a  grub  which 
attacks  the  blade  just  under  the  surface,  produced  little  more  than 
I  sowed.  My  Indian  corn,  very  much  injured  by  the  caterpillar  \ 
cabbages  destroyed  by  the  lice  ;  the  beans  all  scorched  with  the 
hot  winds;  and  carrots  run  to  seed:  the  potatoes  are  good,  but 
I  have  but  a  small  quantity.  Our  cows  are  all  dry  for  want  of 
grass :  not  the  least  appearance  of  verdure  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  Nothing  but  one  great  wilderness  of  faded  grass,  some- 
thing resembling  a  couchy  fallow  in  England.  On  Saturday, 
whilst  watching  by  the  sick  bed  of  my  dear  little  girl,  I  was  star- 
tled by  the  cry  of  wild  dogs.'  I  ran  to  the  window,  and  saw 
about  thirty  of  those  ferocious  animals :  before  I  could  drive  them 
off,  they  killed  20  of  my  flock,  which  consisted  of  27  in  all.  I  stood 

»  The  Wild  Honde,  or  Wild  Dog  of  the  Cape,  is  mentioned  by  BurcheU 
as  an  undescribed  and  very  ferocious  species  of  the  Hyaena. 


406       ItepQrip/{heC(mmtteefartheReli^6f       {16 

for  a  Ihoment  thinl^ing  of  my  misery — my  dying  child — my  blast- 
ed  crops — my  scattered  and  ruined  flock.  God's  will  be  done  I  1 
have  need  of  fortitude  to  bear  up  against  such  accumulated  misery. 
Farewell." 

«  Graham's  Toimu^  26ih  Jan.  1823. 

tt  We  are  all  here  struggling  in  the  same  way  in  which  yon  left 
us,  or  rather  worse ;  our  prospects  b«ng  still  more  gtoomy^  as  the 
crops  have  ^gain  very  generally  failed  in  this  part  of  the  countrj. 
We  have  also  this  season  been  troubled  with  a  new  enemy :  the 
caterpillars  and  locusts  have  been  so  numerous^  that  our  gardens 
are  totally  destroyed.  I  took  the  greatest  care  of  minej  and  the 
prospect  of  its  produclne  something  cheered  us  a  little  ^  but  this 
unexpected  visitation  has  tnrown  a  complete  damp  on  our  exertions. 
The  season  has  been  so  dry,  that  many  farmers  in  the  Graaff-Rej- 
net  district  have  been  obhged  to  leave  thdr  places  for  want  of 
water.  Several  whom  I  know  here  are  forced  to  send  three  miles 
for  what  water  they  use  for  domestic  purposes.  Bread  is  now  quite 
out  of  the  question ;  the  scanty  allowance  of  half  a  pound  of  rice 
is  all  we  get.  We  feel  much  the  want  of  vegetables,  sometimes 
being  under  the  necessity  of  living  several  days  on  meat  alone. 
The  Caffres  are  very  troublesome ;  they  lately  stole  24  head  of 
oxen  from  me ;  but  misfortune  has  so  long  been  my  companion, 
that  we  begin  to  be  reconciled  to  each  other." 

« 

The  next  two  extracts  are  selected  from  letters  now  befoie  the 
Committee,  and  are  written  by  a  gendeman  who  formerly  held 
a  Captain's  commission  in  His  Majesty's  Service.  They  axe  ad- 
dressed to  a  private  friend,  who  had  coUected  a  sm^  subscrip- 
tion for  him  in  Cape  Town ; 

^^Feb.  17,l82S. 

<<  To  my  friends,  and  the  friends  of  humanity,  I  am  indebted, 
I  may  say,  for  the  existence  of  myself  and  family  i  for  really,  but 
for  their  kind  interference,  we  must  have  perished. 

<<  If  I  could  only  see  any  kind  of  bread  of  my  own  growing,  I 
should  be  happy.  ^Tis  now  nearly  three  months  since  we  nad 
any  bread  to  eat,  and,  indeed,  very  litde  rice.  If  I  could  any  way 
get  a  bag  of  meal,  it  would  be  a  great  relief. 

« I  am  very  sorry  to  be  so  troublesome :  however^  necesaty 
compels  me  to  do  what  my  nature  somewhat  recoils  at.  We  are 
very  badly  off  for  breakfast,  which  now  usually  consists  of  a  bit 
of  fried  cabbage,  or  pumpkin  stewed.  If  we  once  again  get  bread, 
we  will  enjoy  it  sweetly." 


17]  Butteised  Settlers  m  South  Africa.  407 

«  Ereij  necessary  is  so  extravagant  in  Grabain^s  Town,  that  it 
is  impossiole  to  come  at  clothing.  My  sons  and  myself  are  very 
naked,  and  the  weather  is  now  excessively  cold.  If  I  could  but 
get  the  price  of  a  pair  of  new  wheels  for  my  waggon,  I  would  put 

my  son  J on  the  road,  and  he  would  earn  a  little  by  drawing 

loads  for  the  shopkeepers  in  Graham's  Town.  The  calico  w31  be 
a  great  relief  when  it  arrives.  A  whole  shirt  will  now  be  a  great 
luxury. 

<<  We  are  at  present  as  badly  off  as  ever.  The  four  cows 
tiiat  gave  us  milk,  which  was  a  great  part  of  our  support,  are  dry^ 
gwing  to  a  disease  now  prevailing  among  the  cattle  throughout 
the  country.'* 

The  following  interesting  passages  are  extracted  from  the   MS. 

Journal  of  Mr.  F (a  gentleman  well  known  to  several 

members  of  the  committee),  who  travelled  through  the  English 
locations  in  March  and  April  last,  and  personally  witnessed 
many  of  the  facts  which  he  relates. 

*<  March  SI. 

<'  Visited  Scanlan's  party. — There  are  only  three  families  re- 
maining here,  out  of  seven  of  which  it  originally  consisted.  They 
were,  dl  but  one,  shoemakers,  and  might  have  obtained  plenty  of 
employment  among  the  settlers,  were  it  not  that  there  is  not  one  in 
twenty  who  has  now  money  sufficient  to  purchase  a  pair  of  shoes ; 
and,  in  fact,  the  settlers  are  generally  found  without  them.  These 
people  have  still  a  few  cattle,  but  have  lost  many  by  the  Caffres. 
Indian  com  and  pumpkins  are  their  only  produce." 

"  April  I. 

<<  Mr.  Mandy  informed  me  that  many  in  his  neighborhood  were 
in  the  greatest  distress,  and  that  some  had  killed  their  last  cow  for 
food.'* 

<«  Baillie's  Party. — Mr.  Adams,  who  is  head  of  one  division  of 
this  party,  informed  me  that  there  were  only  thirteen  or  fourteen 
families  now  remaining  on  the  location,  out  of  the  whole  of  this 
large  settlement.  He  added,  that  there  was  much  distress  among 
those  who  remained ;  and  instanced  one  person  of  the  name  of 

H« ,  who  had  formerly  been  in  good  circumstances,  but  who, 

from  the  failure  of  every  otner  resource,  had  that  day  been  forced 
to  go  to  Graham's  Town,  to  sell  some  of  the  small  remaining  part 
of  his  clothes,  to  keep  himself  and  his  family  from  starving,  for  ab* 
solute  want/' 


46a       Report  0/ the  Camntitteefor'  ttrStfi^^/        (tS 

^^JpriiS. 

<<  Visited  Smith  and  Cock's  Parties. — Three  persons  belonging 
to  these  two  parties  had  some  wheat  grown  this  year  j  and,  atone 
of  their  houses,  I  eat  the  first  and  last  bread  that  I, met  with  in  Al- 
bany, made  from  wheat  grown  by  any  settler.  A  few  of  the  other 
settlers  have  bought  some  of  this  wheat  for  seed,  at  two  shillings 
per  pound." 

<<  It  is  most  distressing  to  see  the  husband  and  wife,  with  scarce- 
ly any  thing  to  cover  them,  and  their  children  in  the  same  condition, 
lying  on  the  ground  on  the  outside  of  their  miserable  huts,roastbg 
a  few  heads  of  Indian  corn,  probably  the  only  food  they  have. 
Many  have  nothing  but  pumpkins.     One  family,  of  the  name  of 

H ,  had  not  tasted  butcher's  meat,  nor,  I  believe,  bread,  for 

about  three  months  ;  and  their  children  were  running  about  with- 
out clothes.  As  for  shoes  or  stockings,  they  are  seldom  to  be  seen 
on  either  old  or  young. 

<*  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  remark,  that  all  that  honest  bold- 
ness of  character,  so  conspicuous  in  the  yeomen  and  laborers  of 
England,  seems  to  have  left  these  wretched  emigrants ;  and  they 
now  appear  to  meet  their  disappointments  and  misfortunes  with 
an  indifference  bordering  on  despair." 

«<  Hyman  and  Ford's  party  are  in  a  truly  miserable  plight,  with 
scarcely  any  thing  to  eat,  but  a  few  vegetables.  I  here  sa,w  an 
aged  couple  in  almost  a  starving  condition.  On  going  into  their 
hut,  I  found  the  poor  woman  boiling  a  little  pumpkin  soup,  which 
was  mixed  with  some  milk.  She  said  this  was  the  only  food  they 
had  ;  and  their  wretched  dwelling  was  neither  wind  nor  water-ti^t. 

"  At  a  little  distance  I  met  what  had  once  been,  as  I  was  told, 
a  fine  hearty  looking  young  woman,  but  now  miserably  emaciated  ^ 
— apparently  about  twenty- four  or  twenty-five  years  of  age.  She 
was  leading  one  child,  another  was  following,  and  a  third  was  on 
her  arm.  They  were  all  without  shoes  or  stockings.  The  woman's 
dress  (if  such  it  could  be  called)  consisted  of  the  remains  of  an  old 
tent  tied  about  her :  the  children  were  clad  in  the  same  manner  \ 
and  the  canvas  appeared  so  rotten,  that  it  would  scarcely  hang  on 
them.*' 

«« April  4. 

<<  On  reaching  Wilson's  party,  we  met  with  many  persons  who 
had  formerly  been  in  a  respectable  situation  of  life  in  England,  and 
had  brought  out  some  property  with  them.  This  is  the  description 
of  people  who  have  suffiered  the  greatest  privations  and  calamities. 
I  spoke  to  one  or  two  respectable  women,  who  gave  me  a  more 
lively  idea  of  their  melancholy  situation,  by  replying  to  me  in  a  man- 


Id]         <}I^MtmsedSe^lknUS(^  '\        400 

ner  that  immediately  eininced  that  they  had  been  well  educated,  and 
brought  up  in  good  society ;  though  they  now  appeared  to  be  half 
starved,  and  almost  broken-hearted,  with  their  persons  neglected' 
and  in  rags.  At  this  place^  their  gardens  had  generally  failed,  and 
the  com  altogether."  i 

■  *  • 

<<  Captain  and  his  two  sons  were  without  shoes  or  stock- 
ings} and  iactually  without- sufficient  clothii^,' of -any  kind,  to 
cover  their  naked  limbs.  Their  corn  had  totally  fa^ed  from  blight^ 
and  their  garden  had  scarcely  produced  any  thing,  in  .consequence 
of  drought  and  caterpillars.'^ 

«  Mrs.  Currie  (who  has  a  shop  at  Bathurst)  told  me;  that  though 
almost  every  settler  was  in  the  greatest  distress  for  want  of  the  com-^ 
moh  necessaries  of  life ;  and  though  the  articles  she  sells  are  chief- 
ly of  this  description,  yet  there  was  almost  no  demand ;  because 
not  one  in  fifty  had  a  smgle  rix-dollar  to  expend.  Such,  however, 
she  added,  was  the  distress  of  some,  that  she  could  not  help  giving 
credit,  though  with  little  or  no  prospect  of  ever  being  repaid." 

The  remaining  selections  have  been  furnished  to  the  Secretary  from 

different  most  respectable  quarters. 

The  first  is  extracted  from  a  Letter  addressed  to  Mr.  T.  Pringle, 
by  a  Medical  Officer  on  the  Caffre  Frontier,  and  dated  August 
29,1823. 

<«  During  my  recent  stay  at ,  I  had  opportunities  of 

seeing  a  good  deal  of  the  actual  state  of  the  settlers  in  Albany } 
and  I  can  truly  declare,  I  never  witnessed  so  much  poverty,  and 
misery  before.  Whilst  your  friends  on  the  Bavian's  river  are  reported 
to  be  in  comparative  comfort  and  prosperity,  our  countrymen  in 
the  Zuureveldt  are  without  the  necessaries  of  life.^  Disease  too  was 
amongst  them,  and  some  families  presented  a  deplorable  picture." 

» 

The  next  is  also  taken  from  a  private  Letter,  addressed  to- a  gentle- 
man now  in  Cape  Town.  It  was  written  by  an  individual  of 
high  character  and  connexions,  and  who  has  honorably  held  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  England,  and  that  of  Heemraad 
in  South  Africa. 

'*  Sept.  1,  1828. 
<<  My  family  are  this  day  without  bread,  and  I  can  procure  none 

*  The  Scotch  party  are  located  far  up  in  the  interior,  on  one  of  the 
sources  of  the  Great  Fi(»ii  River,  parallel  with  the  Sheawberg«  and  have 
suffered  less  from  the  blight  than  any  other  Settlers. 


410       Eepert((fiheOnmiUeefin'ihcJ^^  [t9 

itf  Gnaham'l  Towiif  »t  iny  piiee«  Rice  h  ftlao  very  doftr  asid  ttcsace. 
VoWt  in  pur  fourdi  year*  our  ffxntiom  are  greater  than  ever. 
The  Spring*bucka  are  kion^aeiog  so  mucbt  that  all  my  own  com 
and  my  nearest  neighbor'a  on  the  plain  has  been  entirely  esrtea 
down.  My  people  are  obliged  to  take  their  turns  in  watching  them 
all  night.  Barker  and  Biggar  have  severally  lost  tUrty  and  fort? 
head  of  cattle  last  week  by  die  Cafires :— Stanly^  all  his  yesterday.^' 

Theaame  ^ntleman,  on  die  8th  ofSeptember,  says: 

^<  Before  om*  present  crop  is  ripe,  mach  distress  will  bo  ielt  for 
want<rf  food.  It  if  really  lamentable,  to  hear  of  and  witness  the  dis- 
tress that  now  prevails  from  this  cause.  A  poor  Irishman  told  me 
to-day,  that  many  familiesi  besides  his  own)  were  Uvingi  *  like  the 
Soldiers'  horses — on  green  forage^^ — for  he  had  eaten  nothing  during 
the  last  two  days  but  lettuces  and  leek9  !  Times  are  so  hard  that 
"we  cannot  employ  laborers." 

In  a  communication^  dated  September  27th,  we  have  the  following 

statement,  from  the  same  correspondent. 

**  I  was  yesterday  asked  to  join  in  a  petition  to  government  to 
send  down  Indian  com  for  seed  to  the  Settlers,  as  it  cannot  be  pro- 
cured here.  I  have  been  this  week  at  the  Kowie  with  my  waggon, 
to  get  flour  and  rice  from  the  little  vessel  (the  Good  Intent), 
which  came  in  a  day  or  two  before.  I  was  fortunate  in  gettii^ 
one  bag  of  brown  rice  for  my  share,  for  which  I  paid  fiO  rix-doUars. 
The  whole  of  her  cargo  was  flour  and  rice,  and  was  disposed  of  in 
the  boat  as  it  was  landed :  and  numbers  went  away  witlK>ttt  a  mor- 
sel, declaring,  that  their  families  at  home  were  without  grain  of  any 
kind.  It  was,  indeed,  most  pitiable  to  witness  the  disappointment 
of  those  who  have  hoarded  up  a  few  dollars  for  this  arrivalj 
and  returned  empty.  I  saw  some  of  Thomhiira,  Smith's,  Cock'Si 
the  Nottingham,  Wilson^s,  Bradshaw's,  Southey's,  and  Holdei^s 
parties ;  to  all  of  whom  I  put  the  question,  whether  they  could 
spare  me  half  a  muid  or  so  of  Indian  corn  ?  The  universal  reply 
was, « We  have  none  for  our  own  use— we  have  not  even  enough 
for  seed.' 

«« The  rust  or  blight  is  very  prevalent  both  in  the  rye  and  solid- 
straw  wheat,  but  I  sincerely  hope  they  will  not  be  materially  hurt. 
All  the  other  forward  wheats  have  suflfered  as  usual-^nothing  re- 
mains of  diem." 

Another  gentleman,  whose  high  respectability  and  moderate  senti- 
ments are  also  well  known  to  the  Committee,  writes  to  a  friend 
on  September  29,  as  follows : 


21]  Distressed  Settlers  in  South  Africa.  41 1 

«<  I  am  not  one  who  wish  to  encourage  theret)ore8  of  general  dis- 
tress for  food ;  but  to  say  that  the  settlers  hzve  plenty ,  is  too  bare- 
faced. I  believe  very  few  have  sufficient  Indian  corn  for  seed. 
Applications  are  made  to  me  from  all  quarters  for  it,  as  I  happen 
to  nave  a  little  to  spare.  With  respect  to  our  crops — die  Cape  wheat 
has  entirely  failed;  the  solid-straw,  or  Bengal  wheat,  I  trust, 
will  answer ;  and  experience  has  taught  the  settlers,  that  they  must 
plant  plenty  of  Indian  com  and  pumpkins.  Should  these  succeed, 
bread  will  not  be  absolutely  wanted.  But  the  most  serious  thing 
b  the  distress  occasioned  by  the  CafiFres  taking  the  milch  cows. 
Numbers  of  little  farmers  who  had  got  together  twenty  or  thirty 
cows,  and  were  thereby  enabled  to  support  their  families,  and  sell 
butter  sufficient  to  purchase  bread,  have  been  deprived  of  their  lit- 
tle stock  by  these  savages,  and  compelled  to  quit  their  locations, 
and  seek  employment  in  Graham's  Town/'  f 

Mr.  Collis,  proprietor  of  the  only  mill  hitherto  established  in  the 
new  settlements,  states^  in  a  note  dated  29th  September : — 
<<  That  no  wheat  grown  by  any  settler  had  ever  yet  been  brought 
to  be  ground  at  his  mill ;  but  that  it  had  been  partly  occupied  up 
to  the  end  of  July  last,  in  grinding  barley,  Indian  corn,  and  a  little 
rye,  reaped  by  settlers  last  season.  Since  that  period,  not  six  muids 
of  grain  of  any  sort  had  been  received  into  the  mill ;  and  out  of  that 
(he  adds),  several  persons  have  taken  back  maize  to  seed,  so  it  is 
evident  there  is  none  in  hand  to  grind." 

The  correspondent  referred  to  at  page  27,  continues  on  the  30th 

September : — 

<'  The  report  that  the  settlers  have  had  abundant  crops  of  Indian 
com,  or  that  they  have  now  any  tolerable  supply  remaining,  is  ut- 
terly untrue.  It  is  now  selling  at  one  shilling  {English) per  quarts  for 
seed.  Since  I  came  from  home,  I  am  sorry  to  find  that  the  prospects 
for  harvest  are  worse :  mst  and  drought  are  destroying  every  thing. 
The  Caffires  continue  uncommonly  active.  Pigot,  Cooper,  Bester, 
Delport,  Erasmus,  and  Vandyke,  have  all  lost  cattle.  If  we  have 
not  efiectual  relief  in  a  very  short  time,  we  must  quit  our  locations. 
It  is  become  really  distressing  and  alarming.  O,  for  Van  Dieman's 
Land !  I  am  heartily  sick  of  it,  and  dread  being  a  moment  from 
home  on  account  of  the  Cafires." 


.1 

:! 


'r 


I' 


A    SKETCH 


or 


THE     CHARACTER 


OF 


THE    LATE    LORD   ERSKINE 


[extragtbd  prom  the  morning.  ghroniclbJ 


WITH  SOME  SLIGHT  ALTERATIONS 
AND  ADDITIONS. 


I  will  for  crtr,  and  at  all  haxaids,  assert  the  honor,  dignitj,  and  independence,  of 
the  English  Bar,  without  which,  impartial  justice,  the  most  raluable  part  of  the 
English  Constitution,  can  have  no  existence. Easxiifs't  Speecha,  Vol.  2. 


LONDON : 
1824. 


TO 


THE    REV.    DR.    PARR, 


THB   FOLLOWING  IMPXRFECT  8XSTCH 


OF   THB   EMINENT   PUBLIC    MERITS   OF   THE    LATE 


LORD  ERSKINE, 


IS    G&ATEFULLT    INSCRIBED 


BY  THE  AUTHOR, 


WHO   IN   THE   MOST   LEARNED   OF   SCHOLARS    HAS   FOUND 


THE   MOST   INDULGENT   OF   CRITICS. 


Ltmion,  May,  1S24. 


THE  LATE  LORD  ERSKINE. 


Quando  ulhan  inoeniuni  parent ! 


The  fame  of  Lord  Erskine  has  long  been  too  finnly  estabEshed 
to  be  exalted  by  eulogy,  or  depressed  by  invective  \  yet,  while  ad- 
miration and  friendship  are  still  warm,  the  humblest  tribute  of  re- 
spect to  his  Aiemory  may  surely  be  pardoned  and  permitted. 

It  has  been  observed,  by  a  <ielebrated  political  writer,  that  there 
is  nothing  so  irksome  to  mankind,  as  continued  demands  for  a  lon^ 
series  of  years  from  the  same  person  upon  their  admiration  anq 

Eratitude.  If,  in  the  conclusion  of  a  life  of  honor  and  humanityj 
ord  Erskine's  well-earned  popularity  sustained  any  material  dimi- 
nution^ it  was  probably  owing  to  the  operation  of  this  cause— for 
during  a  period,  comprehending  nearly  half  a  century,  this  coun- 

2  J  enjoyed  the  unmeasured  benefit  of  his  talents  and  afiecdons* 
is  exertions  in  behalf  of  liberty  were  not  less  unremitting  diaii 
enlightened.  The  liberty  he  loved,  and  for  which  he  labored, 
was  not  a  vague  indefinite  notion,  but  a  permanent  rational  princi- 
ple, equally  opposed  to  the  encroachments  of  royal  prerogative  on 
the  one  hand^  and  popular  frenzy  on  the  other;  the  freedom  that 
he  contended  for,  was,  as  he  himself  emphatically  expressed  itii 
<<  that  which  grows  out  of,  and  stands  firm  upon,  thb  law— > 
which  is  not  ordy  consistent  with,  but  which  cannot  exist  without^ 
public  order  and  peace ;  and  which,  cemented  by  morals  and  exalt- 
ed by  religion,  is  the  parent  of  that  charity,  humanity,  and  mild 
character,  which  has  formed,  for  ages,  the  glory  of  tms  country." 
As  a  Statesman,  the  policy  of  his  views  must  necessarily  be  a  sub- 
ject of  divided  opinion ;  but  it  may  fairly  be  presumed  that  no 
doubt  can  be  entertained  with  regard  to  the  purity  of  his  motives. 


410  On  the  Character  of  [4 

» 

nor  difference  of  sentiment  exist  as  to  the  brilliancy  of  his  talents— 
even  envy  must  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  his  genius>  and 
faction  admit  the  firmness  of  his  integrity. 

Zeal  for  what  he  considered  to  be  right,  and  undaunted  resolu- 
tion in  maintaining  it,  together  with  a  total  disregard  of  all  personal 
consequences,  were  prominent  features  in  Lord  Erskine's  character : 
every  cause  he  undertook,  whether  in  a  professional  or  political 
capacity,'  was  embraced  with  an  ardor  which  no  difficulty  could 
abate,  and  pursued  with  a  patience  that  no  trouble  could  tire  :  he 
employed  every  honest  means  to  aid  the  developement  of  his  own 
generous  sentiments ;  and  whatever  audience  he  addressed,  <<  he 
spoke  as  a  man  should  speak,  because  he  felt  as  a  man  should  feel.'* 

Denis  Talon,  on  witnessing  the  earUest  exertions  in  public 
of  the  famous  Chancellor  D'Aguesseau,  is  S2ud  to  have  exclaimed, 
"  I  should  be  satisfied  to  close  my  career  as  nobly  as  that  young 
man  has  commenced  his.''  The  first  display  of  Lord  Erskine's  ex- 
traordinary abilities  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  was  eminently 
calculated  to  excite  the  most  enlightened  of  his  auditors  to  utter 
a  similar  exclamation.  His  speech  in  the  important  case  of 
Greenwich  Hospital  was  an  admirable  specimen  of  his  skill  as 
an  orator — of  his  zeal  as  an  advocate — ^and  of  his  intrepidity  as 
a  man.  Its  merits  as  a  literary  production  are  unquestionably 
great :  strong  in  areunient,  luminous  in  arrangement,  and  elesrant 
in  expression — with  very  few  of  the  defects,  it  is  distinguished  by 
almost  all  the  beauties  which  peculiarly  belong  to  extemporaneous 
speaking :  it  has  the  freedom,  the  facility,  and  the  force,  wludb, 
is  exclusively  the  result  of  spontaneous  -excitement.  Of  this,  and 
indeed  of  all  Lord  Erskine^s  speeches,  it  may  be  observedy  that  he 
produced,  without  labor,  what  no  labor,  apparently,  can  improve. 
His  style  was  invariably,  suited  to  the  subject :  vigorous^  but  not 
tugged ;  polished,  but  not  pedantic  \  and  totally  free  from  that 
anibition  to  glitter,  which  marks  and  mars  so  much  of  the  oratory, 
of  the  present  day,  with  some  splendid  exceptions.  This  intempe- 
rate love  of  omiament  (in  the  indulgence  of  which  sense  is  so  fre- 
quently sacrificed  to  sound)  may  generally  be  taken  to  be  the  cha- 
racteristic of  one  of  two  classes  of  speakers  ;  either  of  those  whose 
minds  are  bent  more  upon  the  display  of  their  talents,  than  the 
discharge  of  their  duties  \  or  of  a  still  inferior  order,  of  whom  it 
may  be  said,  that  they— 

^  Act  without  aim,  think  little,  and  feel  leW 

It  cannot  certainly  be  esteemed  among  the  least  of  the  great  and 
manifold  benefits  which  Lord  Erskine  conferred  upon  the  Bar, 
that  he  furnished  its  members  with  a  fine  example  of  a  simple  and 
impressive  manner  of  speaking,  which,  whether  it  <<  rose  into 


6]  the  late  Lord  Erskine^  417 

grace,  or  sunk  into  negligence/'  was  admirably  calculated  for  the 
detection  of  sophistry  and  the  emphatic  inculcation  of  truth. 

The  eloquence  of  Lord  Erskine  sprung,  indeed,  from  the  purest 
sources,  and  was  directed  to  the  noblest  ends.  It  emanated  from 
a  mind  enlarged  by  general  knowledge ;  endowed  with  singular 
sensibility  ^  and  refined  by  elegant  taste :  it  was  roused  to  action 
by  the  justest  and  noblest  of  human  passions — an  ardent  love  of 
freedom  and  of  fame,  founded  upon  the  true  happiness  and  lasting 
glory  of  his  country.  Born  ta  what  few  men  acquire,  except  by 
severe  study  and  long  experience  as  a  lawyer,  he  attained,  almost 
at  once,  the  highest  rank  in  his  profession,  and,  as  an  orator,  rose 
instantaneously  to  the  summit  of  his  art :  having  gained  without 
efibrt,  he  preserved  without  rivalry,  a  reputation,  the  lustre  of 
which  has  never  been  equalled,  and  probably  will  never  be  sur-i 
passed. 

The  masterly  defence  of  Lord  George  Gordon ;  the  able  argu- 
ment in  behalf  of  Mr.  Caman,*  and  the  memorable  speech  for 
Mr.  Stockdale,  have  generally  been  considered  the  fairest  monu- 
ments  of  Lord  Erskine's  incomparable  talents,  and  the  finest  models 
of  forensic  eloquence  in  our  language.  Great,  however,  as  are  their 
merits,  they  do  not,  they  cannot  exceed,  in  any  species  of  ability,  in 
any  order  of  beauty  or  of  brilliancy,  of  variety  or  vigor,  the  excels 
lence  of  the  famous  speeches  he  delivered  during  the  dark  and 
disastrous  period  of  the  French  Revolution,  when  (to  borrow  the 
expressive  language  of  a  noble  writer^)  <<  his  sword  and  buckler 
protected  Justice  and  Freedom;  and^  defended  by  him,  the 
government  found  in  the  meanest  individual  whom  they  attacked, 
the  tongue  of  Cicero  and  the  soul  of  Hampden  i  an  invincible 
orator,  and  an  undaunted  patriot.'^ 

It  would,  however,  be  derogating  essentially  from  Lord 
Erskine's  truly  illustrious  character,  to  ascribe  the  unparalleled 
succesi  that  attended  his  career  at  the  bar,  solely  to  the  force  of 
his  eloquence,  powerful,  original,  and  beautiful,  as  it  was.  It  must 
be  recollected,  that  he  was  distinguished  by  superior  moral  quali* 
ties,  worthy  his  high  intellectual  endowments.  In  patience,  in 
perseverance,  in  courage,  and  in  fortitude,  he  surpassed  the  mass 
of  mankind,  as  much  as  he  excelled  them  in  genius,  in  wit,  and 
in  eloquence.  His  courage,  active  and  passive,  personal  and  po^ 
litical,  was  manifestly  of  the  highest  order;  it  was  not  an  im- 
pulse warm,  but  evanescent ;  not  a  passion  violent,  but  void ; — but 

'  Delivered  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons  against  the  monopoly 
of  almanacks  claimed  by  the  universities  of  Oxford  ancl  Cambridge. 

^  Vide  Lord  John  Russell's  admirable  Treatise  on  the  English  Go- 
vernment and  Constitution. 

VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVL        2  D 


418  On  the  Character  qf  [8 

it  was  a  fixedy  permatient  principle ;  it  was  that  Species  of  gou« 
rage  which  gives  ardor  to  yirtue^  and  confidence  to  truth;  — 
which  no  change  of  circumstances  can  affect,  and  no  elevation  of 
rank  can  exalt ;  so  consonant  and  congenial  was  it  with  his  nature 
and  constitution,  that  it  blazed  as  brightly  when  he  first  appeared 
in  publici  unfriended  and  unknown,  as  at  a  more  advanced  period 
o£  his  life^  when  he  reigned  triumphant  at  the  bead  of  his  profes* 
sion,  without  a  rival  in  fortune  or  in  fame  !^and  to  his  honor  let 
it  be  remembered,  that  this  superiority,  so  sudden  in  its  attsun-^ 
ment,  and  unexampled  in  its  eminence,  took  nothing  from  his 
softer  feelings :  the  high  station  he  filled  served,  indeed^  only 
to  display  more  conspicuously  those  gentle  and  generous  dis* 
positions  which  were  inherent  in  his  nature,  and  exemplified  in 
his  deportment,  throughout  all  the  various  changes  of  his  check- 
ered life. 

It  is  the  observation  of  a  great  moral  writer,  that  the  intrinsic 
importance  of  manners,  in  the  ordinary  commerce  of  the  world, 
is  by  no  means  sufficiently  appreciated.  <<  Manners,"  he  justlj 
remarks,  <<  are  what  vex  or  soothe,  corrupt  or  debase,  barbarise  or 
refine  us ;  by  a  constant,  steady,  insensible  operation,  like  the  :dr 
we  breathe  i"  it  cannot,  therefore,  be  deemed  an  unworthy  subject 
of  commendation,  that  the  manners  of  Lord  Erskioe  were  emv* 
nently  excellent ;  dignified,  yet  not  dictatorial — familiar,  but  not 
free— *easy,  but  never  inelegant — ^he  talked  with  that  heartfelt  exr 
ertion  of  talent,  of  which  the  pleasure  seemed  to  lie  not  so  much 
in  the  desire  of  displaying  it,  as  in  the  enthusiastic  consciousness 
of  possessing  it  himself,  whilst  he  listened  to  the  conversation 
of  others,  with  that  marked  attention  which  high-bred  courtesy 
prescribes,  but  which  is  not  unfrequently  forgotten  by  public  men, 
accustomed  to  attract  to  themselves  exclusive  attention.  To  his 
inferiors.  Lord  Erskine's  manners  were  as  kind  as  to  his  equals 
«— they  were  cordial,— in  all  his  views  and  sentiments  there  was  a 
tenderness  of  feeling,  and  a  warmth  of  expression,  which  en> 
couraged  the  confidence  of  the  young,  and  excited  the  regard  of 
all  who  came  witlun  the  sphere  of  his  acquaintance. 

To  his  own  profession,  he  afforded  a  salutary  example  of  emu- 
lation without  envy,  and  contention  without  animosity* — He  h^d 
no  resentments,  and  very  few  prejudices;— as  an  opponent,  he 
was  calm  and  candid---as  a  friend,  :$eaIous  and  sincere*  Thpugb 
gifted  with  a  more  than  ordinary  share  of  sensibility,  he  had  none 
of  that  fretfulness  nor  feebleness,  that  wavering  nor  weakness,  that 
dread  of  censure  and  distrust  of  commendation,  which  too  of  ten  ac- 
company tempers  of  such  a  nature  and  constitution.  Satisfied  with 
the  rectitude  of  his  intention,  he  was  ever  steady  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  ends ;  and,  combining  the  high-minded  patience  of  a  philo- 


7]  the  la(e  Lord  Mr  skim.  419 

^pher  with  the  good-humored  forbearance  of  a  m^n  of  the 
world)  he  suffered  all  the  mischievous  and  malignant  libels  hjp 
i^hichi  in  the  course  of  his  careeri  he  was  assailed,  ta  pass  by- 
unpunished  by  the  law  \  nor  did  he  permit  their  virulence  oir 
violengei  even  transiently,  to  disturb  the  serepity  of  his  temper^ 
or  depress  the  firmness  of  his  spirit. 

It  IS  much  beyond  the  limits  of  the  present  essay  to  trace  with 
minuteness  the  progress  of  Lord  £rskine*s  public  course,  as  ho- 
norable for  its  independence  as  remarkable  for  its  success  ;  yet  in 
reqogiuzing  ;uid  ):ecording|  however  defectively,  his  high  claims  ta 
puhhc  gratitude  and  admiration,  it  cannot  but  be  remarked,  ^[M 
with  the  establishment  of  the  rights  of  juries — with  the  destruc* 
tion  of  the  dangerous  and  fearful  doctrine  of  constructive  treason 
— r-with  the  vindication  of  all  those  noble  and  manly  principles 
'Vrbiiph  are  the  true  Supports  of  the  social  world  }  and  with  the  in- 
defatigable opposition  of  tyranny  and  injustice  in  every  clime,  and 
in  every  form,  his  name  will  ever  be  inseparablv  associated*  His 
latest  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  Spanisn  nation,  and  the 
unhappy  people  of  Greece,  evinced  the  force  and  the  fertility  of  a 
mind,  of  which  age  had  neither  dinmied  the  discernment  nor 
abated  the  ardor  %  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  they  exhibited  addi- 
tional evidence  pf  their  illustrious  author's  unfeigned  attachment 
to  the  cause  of  freedom  in  general,  and  lus  unsmken  fidelity  tq 
the  interests  and  honor  of  this  country  in  particular. 

Opportunity,  it  has  been  justly  remarked,  is  the  touchstone  of 
human  worth— long  ^md  nobly  did  Lord  Erskine  stand  ks  test, 
amidst  the  allurements  of  ambition,  and  the  contentions  of  party  i 
unbiassed  by  favor,  and  unawed  by  authority,  he  steadily  pursued 
the  path  of  nonor  and  independence.  A  temper  of  a  texture  less 
firm^  and  a  nature  more  self-interested  than  his>  would  have  soli- 
cited, and  prob^y  have  obtained,  on  a  recent  occasion  of  unfor- 
tunate notoriety,  pardon,  for  some  dereliction  from  the  stern  dic- 
tates of  duty  \  but,  with  ^<  that  plain  heroic  magnitude  of  mindf*^ 
which  eminently  distinguished  every  action  of  his  public  life. 
Lord  Erskine  disdained  to  compromise  his  principles,  or  to  for. 
sake  his  post ;  and  the  fair  and  fearless  manner  in  which  he  dis.- 
charged  the  difficult  obligations  imposed  on  htm  at  the  critical 
conjuncture  alluded  to,  wUl  in  after  ages  form  a  noble  subject  for 
the  historian,  whose  pen  has,  perhaps,  rarely  been  called  on  to 
portray  an  act  of  more  dignified  and  disinterested  virtue.  If,  as 
an  eminent  philosopher  has  a^rted,  to  encounter  great  di^cuU 
ties,  and  to  conquer  them,  is  the  height  of  human  happiness,  no 
man  ever  earned  a  larger  portion  of  earthly  felicity  than  Lord 
Erskine  ;  for  since  the  period,  when  with  unexampled  genius  he 
burst  through   all  the  impediments  of  usage  and  prejudice  (to 


420  On  the  late  Lord  Erskine.  [8 

common  minds  bsuperable  barriers)}  and  raised  himself  from  the 
obscure  station  of  a  subaltern  in  the  army,  to  the  highest  emi- 
nence, and  ultimately  to  the  highest  dignity,  in  the  profession  of 
the  law,  the  whole  course  of  his  eventful  life  presents  ,one  conti- 
nued scene  of  opposition  to,  and  victory  over,  obstacles  the  most 
formidable,  and  temptations  the  most  trying.  <<  The  secret  treasure 
of  the  past/'  as  Dryden  beautifully  expresses  it,  is  out  of  the  reach 
of  accident  or  violence ;  and  surely  nbthing  could  have  afforded 
Lord  Erskine  any  satisfaction  commensurate  vnth  that  which  he 
must  have  derived  from  the  remembrance  of  those  arduous  exer- 
tions and  signal  triumphs  upon  which  his  own  fame  was  founded, 
^nd  the  liberties  of  his  country  established. 

Suavis  est  laborum  prateritorum  memoria.  These  imperfect 
observations  cannot  justly  be  brought  to  a  conclusion,  unaccom- 
panied by  the  expression  of  a  sincere  and  earnest  hope>  that  long 
and  lasting  advantages  may  result  to  this  country,  from  the  ex- 
ample of  Lord  Erskine's  honorable  life,  and  by  the  diffusion  of  his 
eloquent  works.  His  speeches,  stored  as  they  are  vrith  the  soundest 
political  doctrines,  the  finest  moral  sentiments,  and  the  purest 
oratorical  beauties,  are  calculated  eminently  to  enlighten,  and 
permanently  to  please  :  they  are  qualified  to  make  men  not  only 
wiser,  but  better ;  to  expand  their  views,  to  confirm  their  princi- 
ples, and  to  meliorate  their  hearts  ;  to  teach  them  to  pursue  the 
dictates  of  duty,  at  every  pain  and  peril ;  and  to  uphold  the  in- 
terests of  humanity  in  every  sphere  and  season. 

To  the  members  >of  that  profession  which  Lord  Erskine  adorned 
by  his  talents,  and  ennobled  by  his  integrity,  the  contemplation  of 
his  career  must  ever  be  a  subject  of  the  most  animating  satisfac- 
tion :  they  cannot  but  reflect,  with  liberal  pleasure,  -  <^  that  he 
was  not  only  an  orator,  eloquent  in  the  noblest  of  causes,  but  a 
statesman,  steady  in  the  most  trying  of  times,''  when  instances  of 
stupid  inconsistency  and  shameless  apostacy  were  not  less  fre- 
quent than  flagrant — that  he  was  a  man,  who  in  poverty  was  not 
servile,  nor  in  prosperity  proud ;  who  combined,  in  an  extraor- 
dinary degree,  vivacity  of  talent  with  patience  of  application- 
mildness  of  manner  with  inflexibility  of  disposition — and  who 
evinced  more  of  <<  the  hardihood  of  antiquity"  in  a  magnanimous 
indiflFerence  to  his  own  interests,  and  the  fearless  assertion  of  his 
own  principles,  than  almost  any  character  of  modern  times. 

May  the  memory  of  his  eminent  merits  be  fixed  in  the  popular 
mind ;  and  «  may  tnose  who  are  destined  to  seek  the  same  studies, 
be  kindled  with  a  similar  inspiration  !" 

E.  C. 


A'   TREATISE 


ON  TBI 


PRINCIPLES 


or 


THE  USURY   LAWS; 


WITH  DISQUISITIONS  ON  THE 


ARGUMENTS  ADDUCED  AGAINST  THEM 


BT 


MR.  BENTHAM  AND  OTHER  WRITERS, 


AND  A" 


REVIEW  OF  THE  AUTHORITIES  IN  THEIR  FAVOR. 


By  ROBERT  MAUGHAM. 


u 


BoRowiog  dolls  the  edge  of  husbandry."— <SftaAM|)«ar<, 


LONDON 
1824. 


ON   THE 


LAWS   AGAINST   USURY. 


SECT.  I. — Introduction — Extremes  in  Legislation — Is  the  pre- 
sent  time  the  best  adapted  of  all  others  to  repeal  these  Laws  7 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  in  the  progress  of  human  opinions,  when 
once  they  begin  to  change,  how  readily  mankind  pass  from  one  ex- 
treme to  another.  I1iis  is  a  t^ath  exemplified  iii  nothing  more 
strikingly  thstn  in  the  general  progress  of  legislation.  In  former 
ages,  the  laws  were  probably  too  severe, — they  are  now  thought  to 
be  too  much  relaxed.  In  the  criminal  code,  the  punishment  for 
the  most  atrocious  crimes  was  anciently  commuted  for  a  fine  :  sub- 
sequently death  was  inflicted  for  many  petty  offences,  and  now 
some  of  our  reformers  would  abolish  the  punishment  of  diefath  al- 
together. There  appears  to  be  a  re-action  in  all  popular  senti- 
ments. As  our  ancestors  are  supposed  to  have  been  wrong  in  one 
direction,  we  are  determmed  to  avoid  a  similar  error ;  and,  in  order 
to  do  this  the  more  effectually,  we  rush  into  the  opposite  extreme. 
We  seem,  indeed,  in  the  present  age,  to  be  doomed  to  the  conse- 
quences of  two  sorts  of  legislative  architects :  the  one,  with  extra- 
ordinary activity,  is  incessantly  engaged  in  framing  new  laws,  and 
the  other  is  not  much  less  industrious  in  altering  or  repealing  old 
laws.  It  fortunately  happens  that  both  parties  are  at  work  at  the 
same  time,  or  we  should  soon  have  no  law  whatever ! 

The  history  of  legislation,  as  it  respects  usury,  is  of  the  same 
kind  as  in  those  instances  to  which  we  have  referred.  At  first  it 
was  a  deadly  sin  to  receive  any  sort  of  interest  for  the  loan  of 
money.  Then  it  was  permitted  to  an  enormous  extent.  After- 
wards it  was  reduced  to  a  reasonable  amount ;  and  now  we  are 
called  on  at  once  to  sweep  from  the  statute  book  every  vestige  of 
regulation  and  restraint. 

Perhaps  on  this  subject,  as  on  so  many  others,  the  truth  lies  be- 


3]  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Prmciples,  S^c.  423 

tween  the  two  extremes^  and  the  safest  and  wisest  is  the  middle 
course. 

It  is  said  that  the  present  time  is  peculiarly  favorable  for  the 
abolition  of  the  law,  because  the  market  rate  of  interest  is  below 
the  legal  rate.  I'his  might  be  true,  supposing  it  perfectly  clear  that 
the  repeal  would  be  beneficial.  But  the  measure  being,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  exceedingly  questionable,  the  reason  is  not  a  good  one. 
As  money  can  be  obtained  on  good  security  below  the  maximu^^ 
there  is  no  existing  evil.  Its  opponents  assert  only,  that  it  is  at- 
tended by  ill  effects  in  times  of  pressure  and  difficulty.  Surely^ 
the  natural  course  should  be,  to  apply  a  remedy  when  there  is  dis- 
ease, and  not  administer  to  a  body  politic,  that  is  perfectly  well, 
the  dangerous  physic  of  experimental  legislation. 

If  the  complaint  be  only  a  partial,  and  not  a  general  one,  is  il 
not  sufficient  to  apply  a  partial  remedy  ?  Duiing  war^  the  rate  of 
interest,  it  is  said,  was  too  low.  Money  could  not  always  be  ob» 
tained,  even  on  good  security ;  but  then  it  would  surely  be  suffi- 
cient, when  the  exigency  of  the  case  thus  really  required  it,  to  in- 
crease the  rate  during  the  season  of  distress.  The  question,  w 
present,  is  not,  however,  one  of  peculiar  emergency,  or  dependem 
on  extraordinary  circumstances,  but  it  is  of  a  general  and  perma- 
ne/nt  character.  It  is  admitted,  that  there  is  no  immediate  occasion 
for  the  alteration  of  the  law.  The  market  price  is  below  the  legal 
price.  It  is  a  question  of  universal  policy,  aikl  ought  not  to  be 
tried  by  the  difficulties  attendant  on  siich  an  unexampled  state  of 
affi^irs  as  existed  during  the  late  war.  The  principle,  on  which  Ais 
branch  of  jurisprudence  should,  like  all  others,  proceed,  is  a  prin- 
ciple of  general  benefit  to  the  state.  The  law  is  to  be  a  general 
rule,  not  a  case  of  exception.  It  may  be  wise,  indeed,  to  provide 
against  evils  before  they  approach ;  but  it  must  be  clear  diat  the 
provision  is,  on  the  whole,  beneficial.  It  would  be  rather  contrary 
to  good  policy  to  occasion,  or  even  to  incur  the  hazard  of  occa- 
sioning, a  large  portion  of  actual  mischief^  lest,  at  a  distant  tiaie^ 
some  degree  of  evil  might  possibly  arise,  but  of  which  there  was 
no  kind  of  certainty. 

SECT.  II. — Principles  and  Reasons  of  the  Laws — Encourage- 
ment of  Industry — Stability   of  Prcmerty,  and  Certainty  of 
Value — The  Evils  of  a  general  State  of  Borrowing  and  Lenaing. 
The  foundation   of  the  law  against  usury,  like  that  of  e^ery 
law,  depends,  of  course,  either  on  the  good  it  produces  or  the  evil 
it  prevents.'     The  object  of  all  legislation  is  to  benefit  the  coramu- 
bity  at  large,  and  to  restrain  whatever  is  injurious  to  it.     Indiistiy 


?  Mr.  Justice  Blackstoke  observes,  that  ''the  Mosaical  precept 
clearly  a  political,  and  not  a  moral  precept.    It  only  prohibited  the  Jews 


424  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [4 

is  beoeficial,  and  idleness  injurious.  Productive  labor  is  the  great 
source  of  national  wealth.  It  is  the  policy  of  these  laws,  there-f 
fore,  to  prevent  the  idle  from  reaping  too  large  a  portion  of  the 
fruits  of  industry.  A  large  profit  should  not  be  permitted  without 
some  adequate  portion  of  labor. 

A  moderate  rate  of  interest  ought  certainly  to  be  allowed,  not 
only  because  we  cannot  expect  money  will  be  lent  to  a  stranger 
without  some  return,  but  because  it  is  in  the  majority  of  instances 
just  and  proper.  The  money  has  been  acquired  by  industry.  The 
loan  enables  the  borrower  to  acquire  a  profit.  It  is  therefore  rea- 
sonable that  the  lender  should  receive  a  remuneration  during  the 
time  he  parts  from  it. 

A  fixed  rate  of  interest  secures  property  from  fluctuation  and 
uncertainty  in  value.  Without  this,  no  one  could  depend  on  any 
prospective  calculations  or  future  provision,  either  for  himself,  his 
family,  or  connexions.  AH  contracts,  to  be  executed  at  a  distant 
time,  would  be  entirely  speculative.  There  would  be  no  common 
standard  by  which  to  estimate  the  value  of  any  future  property,  con- 
tingent or  reversionary.  There  would  be  at  least  the  same  insta- 
bility that  there  now  is  in  die  price  of  the  government  stocks ;  and, 
in  all  probability,  the  fluctuation  would  be  still  greater ;  because, 
in  private  transactions,  each  individual  would  be  guided  by  his  own 
opinion,  and  be  influenced  by  his  own  interest ;  and,  though  there 
might  be  in  large  transactions,  and  amongst  the  principal  bankers 
and  merchants,  something  like  a  market  price  for  money,  yet 
every  lender  would  still  be  able  to  treat  the  cases  that  came 
before  him,  as  differing  from  the  general  rule,  and  forming  die 
exceptions. 

Borrounngf  in  general,  is  decidedly  an  evil.  There  are,  indeed, 
cases  of  exception.  There  are  some  occasions  in  which  the  rule 
should  be  relaxed  ;  but,  in  the  majority  of  instances,  borrowing 
should  be  checked,  and  the  laws  which  check  it  are  useful  and  ne- 
cessary. 

That  ^*  borrowing  dulls  the  edge  of  husbandry,'*  is  an  obvious 

from  taking  usury  from  their  brethren  the  Jews ;  but,  in  express  words,  per- 
mitted them  to  take  it  of  a  stranger/'— -(Deut  xxiii.  30.) 

It  nay  be  remarked,  however,  that,  if  this  precept  can  strictly  be  called 
political,  its  policy  depended  on  the  actual  hpnefit  it  produced  to  the  Jewish 
people ;  and,  if  the  observance  of  this  law  in  that  nation  was  beneficial,  it 
would  be  so  also  in  other  nations.  The  permission  to  take  usury  of  stran- 
gers appears  sufficiently  founded  in  reason.  In  the  hands  of  their  own  bre- 
thren, the  money  either  remained  in  specie,  or  was  exchanged  for  articles 
useful  to  the  community.  The  common  good  was  the  object.  If  the  indi- 
vidual suffered,  the  community  gained.  But  it  was  not  so  in  the  hands  of 
strangers.  It  was  in  hazard.  The  general  stock  was  diminished ;  and,  ac- 
cording to  the  uncertainty  of  its  return,  might  fairly  be  the  estimate  of  tlM 
sum  demanded  for  its  use. 


6]  ;         of  J  he  Usury  Laws.\   .  ^  42^ 

truism/  He  who  can  borrow  with  ease  will  not  husband  his  re- 
sources;  and,  in  proportion  to  the  facility  of  borrowing,  will  be  the 
diminution  of  cautious  savings  and  industriobs  exertions.  The 
jourqeyman  and  the  young  tradesman,  instead  of  frugality  and  labor, 
by  which  alone,  at  present,  they  can  advance  themselves,  are,  accord- 
ing, to  the  new  system,  to  depend  on  the  favors  of  money-lenders ; 
and,  instead  of  commencing  or  proceeding  in  their  career  with  a 
small  capital  unincumbered,  and  on  the  credit  gained  by  good 
conduct,  they  are  invited  to  start  with  a  mill-stone  of  usury  around 
their  neck.     A  speedy  race  they  will  make  of  it ! 

It  is  not  wise  to  tempt  persons  to  lend  money  on  ir^secure  con* 
tracts.  The  permission  to  receive  heavy  interest  will  not  secure 
the  principal.  It  is  injurious  to  both  parties,— inviting  the  one  to 
speculate  with  property  not  his  own,  and  the  other  to  calculate  on 
gains  which  he  has  never  earned,  and  frequently  never  receives. 

The  facility  to  borrow  diminishes  prudence.  This  vahiable  habit 
is  never  very  eminent  amongst  mankind,  even  under  every  induce- 
ment ;  and  it  would  be  still  farther  impaired,  and  brought  beneath 
its  lowest  standard,  by  increasing  the  opportunities  to  borrow. 
Those  laws,  which  favor  frugality  and  industry,  favor  also  national 
morality,  for  they  who  are  employed  in  useful  labor,  are  not  only 
the  most  important  members  of  society,  by  increasing  its  wealth, 
but  they  are  also  the  most  moral. 

SECT.  IlL^-Principles  and   Reasonsy  continued. — Effects  on 

Trade  and  Commerce. 

It  seems  to  be  assumed,  that,  as  the  facilities  to  borrow,  and  the 
temptations  to  lend,  will  encourage  speculation  and  increase  trade, 
so  the  community  must  necessarily  be  benefited.  But  the  quan* 
tity  of  trade  is  not  the  criterion  of  permanent  advantage,  or  of 
durable  wealth.  One  cannot,  indeed,  but  suspect,  that  there  is 
some  mistake  in  supposing  that  we  shall  derive  advantage  in  pro- 
portion as  one  class  of  society  encounters  risk,  and  the  other  runs 
in  debt ! 

If  the  Usury  Laws  are  abolished,  the  means  of  procuring  money, 
it  is  maintained,  will  be  increased.  One  of  the  advocates  for  the 
repeal  has  stated  the  point  a  little  strangely:  ''Take  away  the 
Usury  Laws,  and  then  every  one  may  become  a  borrower."  In- 
deed !  We  are  then  to  be  a  nation  of  lenders  and  borrowers,  and 
farewell  to  that  thrifty  independence  which  has  been  the  boast  of 
the  British  farmer  and  the  British  ^tradesman  ! 

The  fairy  prospect  held  out  to  the  view  of  the  commercial 
world,  is  that  capital  may  be  borrowed  to  increase  the  trading 
community ;  and  that  we  shall  consequently  have  more  tradesmen 
and  more  merchants.  An  admirable  project !  Need  any  one  be 
reminded  that,  in  all  branches  of  trade  and  manufacture,  the  num* 


i 


426  Mr.  Maugham  an' the  Principles  [6 

ber  of  persons  embarked  is  already  sufficieut?  Admit  the  prospect 
to  be  realized,  the  number  of  the  masters  will  be  increased,  and 
that  of  the  workmen  diminished.  Will  that  be  an  advantage  i  No ; 
the  result  plainly  will  be,  that,  from  the  increased  coaipetition,  the 
profits  must  be  diminished  ;  and  out  of  these  profits  is  to  be  psud 
the  enormous  interest,  which  the  lender  will  necessarily  exact  to 
guard  him  against  the  very  probable  loss  of  his  principal. 

It  is  not  every  apparent  benefit  that  is  a  real  one.  The  advo- 
cates of  unlimited  freedom  in  money  transactions,  like  the  advocates 
of  some  other  species  of  freedom,  might,  perhaps,  if  their  demands 
were  allowed,  obtain  more  than  they  either  expected  or  desired. 
All  individual,  as  well  as  all  general  good,  must  be  duly  moderated. 
'Every  thing  has  its  boundary.  There  is  nothing  on  eardi  illimit- 
able. Commerce,  however  advantageous,  may  be  too  extensivei 
There  may  be  too  many  merchants  and  traders^  and  there  may  be 
more  merchandize  than  necessary.  Admitting  the  assumption,  that 
more  articles  would  be  manufactured^  and  more  adventurers  come 
forward,  it  is  no  necessary  consequence  that  the  country  in  general 
would  be  benefited.  General  plenty  and  cheapness  are  pecuiiariy 
desirable;  but  the  abundance  which  may  add  to  the  comforts  of 
one  class  may,  in  the  same  proportion,  diminish  those,  of  anotfa^; 
as  cheapness  in  London  may  produce  poverty  at  Manchester* 

It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  some  eminent  mercantile  men 
should  favor  unlimited  usance.  Their  extensive  credit  and  influ- 
ence enable  them  at  all  times  to  obtain  money  at  a  moderate  rate. 
They  need  not  fear  extortion.  They  have  abundance  of  good  secu- 
rity to  offer  the  lender.  But  the  evil  will  fall  on  the  small  trader, 
and  those  who  have  not  die  first-rate  security  to  deposit.  Thus, 
it  will  naturally  happen  that  they  who  can  least  afford  to  pay 
a  high  rate  of  interest,  will  be  obliged  to  pay  it.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  their  profits  are  larger,  in  comparison,  than  thoae  of  the 
great  merchant ;  but  then  they  have  to  bear  all  the  aumerous  ex-* 
penses  incident  to  business,  out  of  a  limited  return.' 

^  The  probable  effect  of  a  repeal  of  the  law  on  the  great  m^iority  of 
traders  and  manufacturers  in  this  country,  is  well  pointed  out  in  the  valuable 
testimony  of  Mr.  Rothschild,  He  says, "  I  think  the  operation  of  the  Usury 
Laws,  as  bearing  on  the  value  of  money  in  England,  of  great  importance 
to  tradesmen.  In  this  country  it  is  different  to  those  on  the  continent :  a 
bill  drawn  on  such  persons  is  seldom,  if  ever,  seen;  while  in  this  country 
they  abound,  and  are  doubtless  a  great  and  necessary  accommodatioa  to  that 
part  of  the  community.  Small  manufacturers,  likewise,  derive  many  advan- 
tages from  this  kind  of  assistance,  as  many  of  them  have  friends  or  a  con- 
fioential  person  in  town,  on  whom  they  draw  at  short  dates,  a^inst  their 

goods  sent  to  the  London  tnarket.  These  bills  become  negociable  attbi 
sgal  rate  of  five  per  cent,  discount,  which  enables  suoh  persons  to  carry  oa 
tli^ir  concern,  not  only  with  more  facility  and  advantage,  but  to  a  much 
greater  extent,  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  j^sitively  what  would  be  the 
consequence  tb  these,  and  many  others  of  a  similar  description,  were  the 


7]  ef  the  Usury  Laws.  427 

SECT.  IV. --^Principles  and  Reasons,  coniimied.^^D^erefKe  in 
the  Nature  of  Money  and  <Hher  Species  of  Property. 
There  are  sufficient  reasons  why  there  should  be  a  distinction  in 
the  iaw  between  the  dealing  in  money  and  in  other  spec^iei  of  pro* 
perty.  They  are  essentially  different  in  nature  and  intrinsic  value^ 
Money  is  not  like  any  other  commodity «  Metal  id  the  shape  of 
money  is  ^no  intrinsic  value.  Its  importance^  necessity^  or  nse^ 
is  merely  relative  and  convekitional*  It  is  only  a  representative  or 
weahh>  jUst  as  paper  money  is  yaluable  ofily  as  the  Substitute  of 

It  is  imperishable.  It  occasiiins  no  expense  to  replace  h,  and 
scarcely  any  to  preserve  it.  Houses^  and  every  specie  of  property^ 
dimini&h  in  value  by  use,  and  require  the  coiitinued  application  of 
ifidastry  and  capital  to  preserve  and  renew  them :  tli^refore  they 
1^  ^Htitted  to  a  higher  rate^  and^  from  various  circuttisianceS)  that 
rlite  oa^mot  be  precisely  fixed.  If  it  could  be  fixed,  and  it  wera 
the  interest  of  the  community  to  fix  it,  it  would  be  jufit  to  do  90^ 

Security  is  given  for  the  return  of  the  money,  which  is  not  thi 
ease  in  the  loan  cf  other  property .  A  less  profit  therefore  should^ 
in  justice,  be  required^  because  the  rit^k  is  obviously  less.  If  I 
borrow  a  honse^  I  lam  to  pay  theiiire  of  it.  The  lender  has  no 
pledge  of  other  pr&pefrty  to  secure  the  return  of  the  horse ;  hut  he 
is  protected,  ^  far  as  he  can  be  protected,  by  the  terror  of  the  cri-^ 
minal  code*  The  owner  of  a  house,  also,  receives  no  direct  secu^ 
rity ;  but  then  the  hirer  is  subject  to  a  stricter  rule  of  law  than  other 
conliiaetors ;  for,  if  he  does  not  pay  the  rent  wheti  due,  his  property 
may  be  immediately  seized ;  and,  even  if  he  remove  it,  it  may  be 
followed  and  taken  possession  of,  and  in  five  -days  sold :  so  that 
the  law  does,  in  truth,  adapt  itself  to  the  necessity  or  utility  of  each 
particular  class  of  ca^es ;  and  the  general  pra(ctice,  as  weU  as  the 
principles,  of  legislation,  tJie^efore)  justify  the  adoptioll  of  such  m^a^ 
^^Erres  as  may  be  expedient  in  pecuniary  contracts. 

The  dealing  in  money  partakes  of  the  evils  of  monopoly^ '  It  IS 
not  a  production  common  to  mankind.  They  who  hold  it,  if  un- 
restrained by  law,  are  enabled  to  dictate  terms  to  those  who  want 
it.  It  is  tiot,  like  other  articles  of  property,  capable,  by  industry, 
of  ittc'reasre.     Cotn,  for  instance,  may  bt  puix^hased  or  bartered  for 

Usury  taws  repealed ;  b(it  I  believe  great  advantage  would,  hi  many  6ases, 
be  taken  of  the  necesfiities  of  such  persons,  by  the  lender  demanding,  jn-oba^ 
bly,  two  or  three  times  the  rate  of  interest  from  them  on  this  security,  as 
would  be  required  in  discounting  the  bills  of  first  and  second-rate  houses  : 
therefore,  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  less  opulent  should  he  ptolecied  in  some 
way  from  being  exposed  to  so  great  a  reduction  in  their  profits,  through  the  ne- 
cessity of  turning  their  capitals,  by  immediately  discounting  their  drafts  at 
an  extravagant  rate;  those  persons  not  having  hitherto  had  much  difficulty 
in  discounting  their  bills  at  the  legal  rate  of  five  per  desft.  diaceunt.^ 


428  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [8 

by  any  one,  and  will  increase  in  proportion  to  the  labor  and  culti- 
vation bestowed.  Here  we  observe  the  just  reward  of  industry. 
We  need  not  adopt  the  reasoning  of  Aristotle,  that,  ^'  because 
money  is  naturally  barren,  it  is  preposterous  to  make  it  breed 
money/''  It  is  enough  to  show  that  it  differs  in  nature  and  utility 
from  every  other  commodity.  But  the  law  does  not  rest  on  this 
intrinsic  difference ;  it  is  grounded  on  public  utility  and  justice. 
Though  money  is  in  itself  incapable  of  increase,  it  was  produced 
by  industry  ;  but  then  these  investments  of  surplus  should  not  re- 
ceive so  high  a  reward  as  present  and  actual  industry.  It  does  not 
need  it,  and  it  is  not  wise  to  afford  it. 

Another  difference  between  money  and  all  other  articles,  consists 
in  its  being  comparatively  immutable  in  nature  and  extent.  It  is 
useless  to  make  laws  to  fix  the  price  of  merchandize,  because  it 
varies  indefinitely,  both  in  quantity  and  quality.  It  is  not  so  with 
respect  to  money.  The  aggregate  quantity  in  Europe  has  not  much 
differed  for  many  ages,  and  the  quality  never  varies.  There  is  but 
little  risk  or  speculation  in  dealing  in  it ;  in  merchandize  there  is 
generally  considerable  hazard.  The  principle  of  encouraging  in- 
•  dustry  also  applies  in  favor  of  merchandize.  Some  acts  of  extor- 
tion may  be  tolerated  for  the  sake  of  the  general  benefit ;  but  the 
impossibility  of  framing  regulations  that  can  be  carried  into  any 
thing  like  general  effect  in  a  vast  trading  community,  sufficiently 
accounts  for  the  absence  of  restriction  on  the  price  of  merchandize. 

SECT.  V. — Historical  View  of  the  Subject — The  Restriction  pro- 
portioned  to  the  Progress  and  State  of  Society — Charges  in 
Agricultural  and  Commercial  Profits — Market  Kate  of  Interest 
•--Present  Prices. 

Independent  of  the  policy  of  the  law,  founded  on  the  general 
principles  of  public  utility,  which  have  been  stated,  there  are  rea- 
sons, grounded  in  fact,  which  are  sufficiently  conclusive  in  favor 
of  a  restriction  of  interest. . 

The  laws  against  usury  have  kept  exact  pace  with  the  progress 
of  society,  and  the, general  state  of  its  affairs.  Tl^e  rate  of  interest 
has  been  gradually  diminished  from  age  to  age  by  legal  enactments, 
according  to  the  profits  on  commerce,  and  the  uses  for  which 
money  was  required.  When  commerce  was  limited,  and  its  gains 
considerable,  the  amount  of  usance  was  high.  There  was  formerly 
greater  danger  than  there  is^now  of  the  loss  of  capital.  The  demand 

^  This  passage,  Blackstone  observes,  has  been  suspected  to  be  spurious. 
But  there  is  no  improbability  in  Aristotle's  having,  in  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  entertained  such  an  opinion.  Usury  was  held  in  public  reprobatioD^ 
and  the  form  in  which  the  objection  is  couched  by  Aristotle  was  in  all  pro- 
babiliu  the  most  popular  argument  against  it.  The  opinion  is  also  quoted 
in  Puffenthrf,  p.  509,  without  any  doubt  of  its  authenticity.  - 


0]  of  the  Usury  Laws.         /  429 

for  mercantile  commodities  was  casual  and  limited  :  they  are  now 
comparatively  certain^  and  aggregately  extensive,  though  ih  parti- 
cular departments  subject  to  fluctuation  ;  but  even  then  the  average 
profit  amounts  to  nearly  the  same  result. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that,  until  commerce  became  extensive^ 
and  formed  an  object  of  national  concern,  the  laws  against  usury 
were  chiefly  founded   on  the  difference  between  the   nature   of 
money  and    other  commodities,    and  on  the    natural    hostility 
which  exists  between  hoarders  of  money  and  those  who  are  in  need 
of  it;  aided  by  a  common   feeling,  which  preferred  a  generous, 
and  even  profuse  expenditure,  to  the  thrifty  habits  of  parsimony. 
It  appears  that  society  at  that  time,  in  the  very  nature  and  neces- 
sities of  its  constitution,  was  impelled,  for  its  own  welfare,  to  ori- 
ginate and  encourage  these  sentiments.    At  that  time  the  interests 
of  mankind  depended  more  on  the  diffusion  of  the  existing  wealth' 
than  they  do  now.     The  necessaries,  as  well  as  luxuries  of  life, 
were  not  in  the  same  abundance;  and,  especially  at  that  peculiar 
era,  property  was  in  fewer  hands,  and  held  in  comparatively  larger 
proportions  :  it  followed,  consequently,  that,  if  the  few  great  pos- 
sessors of  wealth  retained  it  unemployed,  they  did  greater  mischief 
than  the  same  number  of  persons  have  now  the  power  to  do :  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  they  who  disseminated  tlieir  revenues  in  acts  of 
bounty  and  hospitality,  were  the  greatest  benefactors  to  mankind. 
'   It  is  certainly  in  favor  of  the  reasonableness  and  moderation  of 
these  restrictions,  that  they  have  followed  at  an  humble  distance  the 
progressive  state  of  agriculture  and  commerce.    The  law  cannot  be 
charged,  as  it  sometimes,  perhaps  justly,  has  been,  with  an  attempt 
to  drive,  or  even  to  lead,  either  one  way  or  the  other,  the  natural  or 
accidental  operations  of  trade  and  manufactures.     It  has  accom- 
panied their  footsteps,  and  been  regulated  in  all  its  successive 
changes  by  their  movements.     The  market  price  has  been  the 
standard  it  has  followed. 

Before  the  specific  provisions  by  statute,  the  laws  relating  to 
usury  were  entirely  prohibitory,  and  confined  to  its  punishment, 
either  canonically  as  a  sin,  or  civilly  as  a  crime.  The  effects  of  a 
usurer,  after  his  death,  according  to  the  ancient  law,  belonged  to 
the  king.  Inquisitions  were  held  on  persons  dying  in  this 
offence ;  and,  if  the  fact  was  proved,  the  personal  effects  were 
seized,  the  heir  was  disinherited,  and  the  land  reverted  to  the  feudal 
lord.  Reformation  and  penitence,  however,  saved  the  cu1prit*s 
property ;  and  it  was  only  when  he  died  a  usurer  that  his  effects 
could  be  confiscated.    (Glan.  lib.  vii.  16.) 

Ry  the  statute  of  Merton  (90  Henry  III.  chap.  5),  usury  was 
put  under  particular  restraint  in  favor  of  minors.  In  the  reign  of 
£dward  I.  by  the  statute  de  Judaismo,  all  usury  was  absolutely  pro- 
hibited. There  were  threq^acts  also  passed  during  the  time  of  Henry 


430  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [10 

VJI.  ia  which  the  t^rw  ''  u«ur>"  U  applied  to  all  loans  on  interest, 
and  probihitcsd  under  certain  penalties. 

DQwn  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  such  was  the  state 
of  the  law  of  England  on  this  subject. 

In  this  early  stage  of  our  national  commerce^  in  the  37 tb  year  of 
King  Henry  VIH.  an  act  was  passed,  by  which  interest  was  (ier- 
mitted  at  ten  per  cent«  At  that  time  both  maunfactures  and  trade 
were  comparatively  in  their  infancy^  and  the  difficulties  and  hazard 
which  accompanied  their  operations  naturally  enhanced  the  amount 
of  profit,  and  we  find  that  the  l^gal  rate  of  interest  was  correlative* 

Though  the  taking  of  interest  was  entirely  forbiddeh  by  the  6tb 
and  6th  of  Edward  VI.  it  was  again  legalized  by  the  13th  of  E)iza« 
beth,  and  limited  to  ten  per  cent* 

In  the  year  1 6^  (just  two  hundred  years  ago),  the  interest  was 
reduced  to  eight  per  cent,  by  the  statute  of  ^l  James  I. ;  and  this 
reduction,  being  about  eighty  years  after  the  act  of  Henry  VIU. 
appears  to  have  corresponded  with  the  progressive  prices  of  coov- 
mercial  and  landed  property. 

We  then  pass  to  the  I2th  of  Charles  I[.  in  the  year  l66l.  In 
the  intermediate  period,  of  thirty-seven  years  only,  Great  Britmn 
had  acquired  several  colonial  possessions,  and  her  commercial 
capital  had  increased  with  rapid  steps,  llie  rate  of  profit  had  na- 
turally falleui  and  usance  was  limited  to  six  per  cent. 

In  the  year  ITH,  after  the  lapse  of  fifty-three  years,  when  capi- 
tal was  still  further  extended,  and  profits  still  further  reduced,  the 
legal  rate  of  interest  was  fixed,  by  the  ]  ^th  of  Anne,  at  five  per 
cent.,  the  amount  a:t  which  it  has  ever  sioce  remained. 

It  is  a  most  important  fact,  which  should  constantly  be  borne  in 
recollection^  in  cQn.sideiing  the  expediency  of  a  repeal  of  the  present 
law,  that  at  this  period,  and  for  a  considerable  time  past,  the  profits 
of  the  agriculture,  manufacture,  and  trade,  of  this  country^  will  not 
allow  of  the  payment  of  more  than  five  per  cent,  for  the  use  or 
extension  of  capital.  Indeed,  tio  farmer,  manufacturer,  or  mer- 
chant,  generally  speaking,  can  afford  to  pay  even  so  much  as' five 
per  cent,  out  of  his  profits.  The  average  profit  on  caffital  does 
not,  in  fact,  exceed  eight  or  ten  per  cent. ;  and,  though  it  may  be 
the  interest  of  the  conmiunity,  that  articles  of  use  or  necessity  should 
be  cheap,  it  can  never  be  its  permanent  interest  that  they  should  be 
so  cheap,  that  the  farmer,  the  manufacturer,  and  trader,  should  be 
ruined,  instead  of  being  enriched.  The  law,  therefore,  without  any 
violation  of  justice,  may  surely  restrain  those  measures  wbich^  >l 
permitted,  would  thus  evidently  be  injurious  to  the  major  part  of 
these  essential  classes  of  the  country. 

in  an  extensive  community,  it  may  not  be  a  fit  office  of  the 
legislature  to  enact  provisions  for  the  regulation  or  restraint  of  a  few 
spendihritts ;  iHtt  it  is  at  all  times  just  aud  important  to -check,  if 


11]  of  the  Usury  Laws.  43 1 

we  cannot  wholly  prevent,  a  system  which  tends  to  injure  the  pro-» 
ductive  classes ;  a  system  which,  whilst  it  pretends  to  serve  andi 
facilitate  the  views  of  those  classes,  in  effect,  tempts  them  with  the 
fairy  prospect  of  riches,  but,  '^a3  they  follow,  flies,"  and  ultimately 
allures  them  to  their  ruin. 

An  increase  of  farming,  manufacturing,  and  mercantile  capital, 
is  Qo  doubt  beneficial  to  the  state.  Those  who  can  spare  money 
SQ  to  employ  it,  increase  the  quantity  of  useful  productions,  and 
their  profit  is  a  just  return  for  their  industry  and  the  hazard  of  tbei^ 
capitid.  But  this  supposes  the  capitalist  to  employ  his  money  in  a 
direct,  and  not  in  an  indirect  manner.  It  supposes  that  he  fairly 
embarks  his  property,  and  '^  stands  the  hazard  of  the  die ;"  that  1^ 
does  not  place  '^  a  middle  roan''  in  the  gap  to  fight  the  battle, 
whilst  he  securely  reaps  the  victory,  it  is  obvious,  indeed,  tli^l 
they  who  diminish  the  profits  of  agriculture,  trade,  and  manufac- 
ture, by  exorbitant  usance,  though  they  add  to  the  capital  employed 
in  them,  are  not  really  the  benefactors  of  the  community.  Mer^ 
increase  of  business,  in  an  abstract  sense,  may  be  an  evil  as  often^ 
as  a  good ;  just  as  extent  of  territory,  on  many  occasions,  enla^rges 
the  difficulties  and  expense  of  government,  without  securing  thQ 
power  or  strength  of  the  state,^ 

SECT.  Vh-^The  Arguments  against  the  L(its>&  comidered*'-^Mr^ 

Beritham. 

It  has  been  said,  that  ^'  the  celebrated  work  of  Mr.  Jeremy 
Bentham,  on  this  subject,  is  one  of  the  most  complete  and  satis-* 
factory  answers  that  ever  proceeded  front  the  head  of  man,  and  thati 
it  is  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  logical  accuracy,  in  all  its  pails, 
that  ever  was  written." 

Mr.  Bentham  alone  would  be  a  formidable  antagonist ;  and  his 
opinions,  thu6  supported  by  eminent  authority,  carry  so  much 
weight  with  them,  that  an  unknown  writer  who  ventures  to  dispute 
his  premises,  and  contest  his  conclusions,  will  probably  be  censured. 
for  great  presumption.  Yet  the  question  is  one  on  whicli  the 
public  opinion  is  much  divided,  and  there  is  not  only  the  evidence) 
of  practical  men,  but  the  authority  of  many  learned  writers,  in  op- 
position to  Mr.  Bentham.  Thus  countenanced,  I  am  induced  ta 
hazard  a  reply  to  the  celebrated  ^'  Defence  of  Usury." 

Mr.  Bentham  says,  that  the  **  fixing  the  rate  of  interest,  being  a 
coercive  measure,  and  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  in  favor  q£ 

'  Some  of  the  principles  above  referred  to  are  more  fully  stated  and  explain- 
ed in  a  subsequent  part  of  these  pages.  One  of  the  objects  of  the  treatise' 
being  to  discuss  the  arguments  adduced  against  the  laws,  some  of  the  rea- 
sons on  which  they  are  founded  are  investigated,  by  way  of  reply  to  the  ob- 
jections of  Mr.  Bentham  and  other  writers. 


432  .  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [12 

the  enforcement  of  contracts,  it  lies  on  the  advo<!ates  of  the  mea- 
sure to  produce  reasons  for  it."* 

Nothing,  certainly,  can  be  clearer  than  the  necessity  of  enforcing 
contracts  ;  but  then  the  contracts  must  be  legal,  and  before  we  can 
be  called  back  to  examine  the  grounds  of  the  law^  a  prima  fade 
case  must  be  established  against  its  justice.  Common  necessity 
and  convenience  require  such  to  be  the  mode  of  proceeding. 
Were  it  otherwise,  nothing  could  be  more  easy  than  applications 
to  change  or  abolish  the  jurisprudence  of  the  land.  Every  trouble- 
some caviller  might  present  his  petition  to  repeal  laws  which  he 
disliked,  and  demand  of  others  to  show  their  reason  and  utility.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  the  law  exists.  Its  foundation  was  discussed 
when  it  passed,  and  its  utility  must  be  presumed  until  the  contrary 
be  shown. 

If  it  be  obsolete,  there  is  no  harm  done ;  it  may  prevent  evil,  and 
prevention  is  better  than  cure.  If  it  be  in  actual  operation  and 
produce  mischief,  let  its  antagonists  show  in  what  that  mischief 
consists. 

We  must  not^  however,  expect  that  Mr.  Bentham  will  be  satis- 
fied with  a  legal  consideration  of  the  question.  He  is  a  philosopher, 
and  traces  the  causes  and  reasons  as  well  as  the  existence  of  things. 
''  No  one  rate  of  interest/'  says  he,  **  is  naturally  more  ^^roper  than 
another."  Naturally  perhaps  not,  because  in  a  state  of  nature 
there  would  be  no  interest  at  all.  The  value  of  money  is  purely 
artificial  or  conventional, — inherently  it  is  of  no  more  value  than 
wood  or  stone :  but  it  is  more  durable  and  more  scarce  than  either, 
and.  therefore  serves  well  to  represent  value. 

Take  another  step  in  the  social  progress  of  the  world,  and  tre 
deny  that  one  rate  of' interest  is  naturally  as  proper  as  another. 
Even  a  savage,  if  we  can  suppose  him  to  possess  any  sense  of  pro- 
priety whatever,  must  be  conscious  that  to  exact  5  or  50,  cannot 
be  equally  '^  proper,"  under  precisely  the  same  circumstances. 
Suppose  a  barbarian  to  lend  his  neighbor  a  cow  or  a  measure  of 
corn,  will  he  be  impressed  with  precisely  the  same  sentiment  of 
rectitude  or  well-doing,  if  he  exact  a  double  return,  or  be  content 
with  a  tithe  ?  Even  supposing  that  he  has  no  moral  sense,  still  it 
could  be  shown  to  him  that  the  general  interest  of  his  tribe  con- 
sisted in  requiring  only  a  moderate  usance,  and  that  his  comrades 
would  be  prejudiced  by  an  excessive  one, — that  his  conduct  would 
be  approved  or  condemned  in  proportion  as  he  conformed  to  the 
general  interest  and  refrained  from  injuring  it ;  would  he  not  then 
both  feel  and  understand  that  '^  one  rate  of  interest  might  naturally 
"  be  more  proper  than  another  ?" 

^  Mr.  Bentham,  in  the  index  to  his  treatise,  has  briefly  and  accurately 
stated  the  substance  of  each  argument.  In  adopting  bis  own  words,  there- 
fore, I  am  relieved  from  any  apprehension  of  misquoting  the  scope  of  his 
reasoning. 


W  qf  th  Umry  Laws.        '  433 

**  No  idea  pf  proprietj,  however,  (aays  Mr.  Beotbam)  could 
have  been  formed  on  tjiis  head^  but  fpr  custom/'  Undoubtedly 
the  aense  of  propriety  in  every  thing  greatly  depends  on  custom. 
But  the  custom  may  havis  its  origin  in  the  natural  feelings  of  man- 
Icjnd.  How  did  the  custom  origmate  i  Some  one  must  have  firat 
done  that  which  was  afterwards  done  by  others^  and  which,  by  the 
extension  and  repetition  of  the  act,  becan^e  a  custom,  llie  s^nse 
of  propriety,  therefore^  must,  at  first,  have  been  natural*  The  con- 
sciences of  men  certainly  vary,  yet  a  moral  faculty  exists,  and,  diQUj^ 
differing  in  degree,  it  is  still  the  same  in  kind. 

^'Tbe  rate  indicated  by  custom  (continues  oiur  author)  varies 
from  age  to  age,  and  from  place  to  place ;"  yet  still  the  custom  ia 
founded  upon  the  circumstances  pf  vie  age  and  place.  The  rate  is 
tbe  same  in  Ireland  and  Jamaica,  and  differs  from  that  of  England* 
In  India  it  varies  still  more.  But  the  hazard  keeps  pace  with  the 
diversity  of  rate,  and  the  common  sense  and  feelings  of  mankind 
Assent  to  the  propriety  of  the  difference.  Tbe  custom  is  not  of  a 
random  nature.  It  is  regulated  by  the  occasion,  and  justice  pro- 
portions the  rate  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  It  is  this  coicrect 
proportion  which  constitutes  (be  moral  foundation  of  every  layy : 
thus  the  punishment  of  death  is  justly  inflicted  for  murder :  but, 
when  awarded  for  a  petty  theft,  all  our  natural  feelijpj^  revolt 
against  it. 

'^  Custom  (says  Mr.  Bentbam)  is  generated  by  convenience, 
and  we  should  submit  to  it  throughout." — '*  It  ;would  be  convenient 
to  me  (he  argues)  to  give  six  per  .cent,  for  money :  I  wish  to  do 
so.*'—*'  No,"  says  the  Law,  '*  you  4^an't.' V  Why  so  ?"  says  Mr. 
Bentbam. — "  Because  it  is. not  cpnyejnient  tp  your  neighbor  to,givja 
above  five  for  it." 

This  argument  of  individual  convenience  is  rather  dangerous ; 
and,  on  the  same  principle,  a  swindler  might  say,  '*  It  would  bje 
convenient  to  me  to  cheat  Mr.  Bentham."t-— *'  No,^'  says  the  Law* 
- — "  Why  so  t"  says  the  swindler. — "  Because^  though  Mr.  Ben- 
^  tham  be  easily  cheated,  it  js  «Qt  good  fpr  >the  .community  that  so 
valuable  a  jnember  should  be  cheated*^^ 

But  then,  it  may  be  said,  the  convenience  referred  to  means  a 
general  convenience*  So  I  understand  it,  and  it  is  precisely  upon 
this  principle  that  the  Laws  of  Usury  are  justifiable.  It  would,  no 
doubt,  occasionally  be  convenient  to  some  individuals  to  borrow 
money  beyond  the  legal  rate ;  b^t.it  could  never  be  generally  con" 
venient^  for  the  profits  nei(her  of  agriculture  nor  commerce  Can 
afford  the  payment,  and  the  market  raf e  of  intereat  proves  the  fact^ 
''There  is  no  more  reason  (says  Mr*  BentJiam)  for  fixipg 
Ahe  price  of  the  use  of  money,  than  the  price  of  goods."  I  say 
there  are  ver^  good  i^asons :  .the  one  Js  always  of  the  same  qualitv  ( 
tbe  other  vanes  indefinitely*  The  piice  of  money  can  be  fi^ed :  the 
VOL.  XXIIL  Fam.  NO.  XLVI.  2  E 


434  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [14 

price  of  goods  cannot.  The  dealers  in  goods  are  more  n^Ineroa8 
than  the  dealers  in  money :  there  is,  therefore^  more  competition. 
The  greater  part  of  goods  are^  more  or  less,  perishable.  Money 
is  not  so.  The  trader  is,  therefore,  more  strongly  impelled  to  bring 
forward  his  articles  for  the  benefit  of  the  general  market^  than  the 
miser  can  possibly  be. 

The  only  analogy  that  could  be  fairly  instituted  would  be,  as  it 
respects  corn  or  some  other  essential  commodity.  If  we  could 
suppose  the  possibility  of  a  few  individuals  holding  all  the  suste- 
nance of  the  country,  and  refusing  to  dispose  of  it,  except  at  an 
inordinate  rate,  which  the  people  in  general  could  not  possibly  pay, 
it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  interpose  its  authority, 
and  preserve  the  inhabitants  from  the  horrors  of  famine.  But  such 
a  case  is  impossible ;  reasoning  upon  it  is  idle,  and  the  analogy  fails. 

SECT.  VII. — The  Arguments  against  the  Lawsjtirther  considered 

— Prevention  of  Prodigality. 

"Interposing  to  prevent  prodigality  (Mr.  Bentham  asserts)  is 
not  necessary  to  the  existence  of  society ;  though  it  may  be  of  use, 
choosing  proper  methods." 

On  the  same  reasoning,  laws  to  prevent  fraud  and  theft  are  not 
necessary  to  the  jexistence  of  society,  though  somewhat  useful.  The 
frauds  and  thefts  are  few  :  the  acts  of  honesty  and  abstinence  from 
plunder  are  by  far  the  more  numerous.  Perhaps  it  may  be  said, 
without  much  appearance  of  paradox,  that,  if  the  law  did  not  offer 
its  protection  against  deceit  and  pilfering,  we  should  individually  be 
more  cautious  in  our  transactions,  and  arm  ourselves  more  effec- 
tually than  we  do  against  the  dexterity  of  the  pickpocket  and  the 
violence  of  the  robber  !  Let  each  man  take  care  of  himself.  Law 
is  unnecessary.  Let  him  be  the  redressing  Quixote  of  his  own 
wrongs  and  grievances ! 

*'  Borrowing  at  extraordinary  rates,'*  says  our  author,  *'  is  not  a 
natural  course  for  prodigals  to  take.**  ^'  Those  who  have  money  of 
their  own  don't  borrow.*'  There  needs  no  shost  to  tell  us  this! 
'^  Those  who  have  real  or  good  security  to  oner,  get  money  at  or- 
dinary rate."  That  is  to  say,  the  profligate  is  a  person  of  the  best 
information  and  the  greatest  caution.  He  has  the  discretion  to 
select  an  honest  solicitor ;  and  the  solicitor  selects  an  honest  money- 
lender ;  and  the  security  is  examined ;  and  the  'business  done  in- 
stantaneously,— to  enable  the  prodigal  to  go  to  the  gambling-table, 
or  to  the  horse-race.  All  this  is  remarkably  probable,  and  very 
consistent  with  fact ! 

Then,  again,  '^  he  does  not  borrow  if  he  possess  any  thing  to  sell, 
though  it  be  but  a  contingency."  If  he  could  not  borrow  on  the 
contingency,  he  would  probably  sell  i^;  but  the  fact  surely  is,  that 


15}  €f  the  Usury  Laws.  435 

they  who  want  money  only  for  a  temporary  purpose,  borrow  it  if 
they  can.  They  end  in  selling  when  the  security  will  afford  no 
farther  borrowing. 

We  are  next  told  that  '^  those  who  have  no  sufficient  security  to 
offer,  are  not  more  likely  to  get  money  at  an  extraordinary,  than 
at  an  ordinary,  rate.*' 

This  point  entirely  depends  upon  the  stfficiena/  of  the  security* 
A  freehold  estate  will  always  pay  a  certain  rental ;  and,  supposing 
the  rental  sufficient ,  the  tenure  of  the  property  is  clearly  so.;  But 
the  property  may  be  leasehold,  and  of  short  duration.  Here,  then, 
the  rate  of  interest  would  be  different ;  because,  at  a  certain  period, 
the  security  will  cease.  The  property,  also,  may  depend  on  the 
life  of  the  party,  or  on  his  prosperity ;  and  who  is  to  estimate  all 
these  degrees  of  sufficiency  i 

'^  What  they  do  get,''  it  is  said,  '^  they  get  at  the  ordinary  rate  of 
their  friends/'  But  it  will  often  happen, — perhaps,  more  often ;tbaD 
otherwise, — that  the  friends  of  the  prodigals  are  pot  rich  ;  nor  ju*^ 
they  always  inclined  to  give  up  their  money  :  so  th'4t  the  spendthrift 
must  frequently  be  driven  to  his  enemies,  or  those,  at  least,  who  are 
not  his  friends ;  and  Mr.  Bentham  would  leave  him  at  their  mercy ! 

'^Preventing  their  getting  what  they  want  at  a  high  rate,in  the 
way  of  borrowing,  prevents  not  their  getting  it  in  the  way  of  taking 
up  goods  on  credit."  It  is  true,  that  it  does  not :  but  then  we  have 
another  law,  which  reaches  the  case  supposed.  Obtaining  goods 
on  fake  pretences  is  punished  even  still  more  severely  than  usury. 
So  that,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  borrower,  the  l.aw  ^s  not  silent  in 
restraining  the  one  practice,  as  well  as  the  other :  and,  as  respects 
the  lender,  if,  in  order  to  provide  for  his  supposed  risk  beyond  the 
legal  rate,  he  charges  exorbitantly  for  his  goods, .  the  contract  is 
vitiated :  there  is,  therefore,  no  inconsistency  or  discrepancy 
{which  the  objection  supposes). in  the  existing  code. , 


^•ii« 


SECT.  Vlll. — The  Arguments  against  the  Laws  further  cWi' 

sidered — Protection  (f  Indigence:'     ,  •       .. 

'^  The  advantage  it  may  be  of  to  a  man  to  borrow  money,  and 
the  need  he  may  have  of  it,  admitting  of  an  undetermined  number 
of  degrees,  so  may  the  consideration  he  pays  for  it." 

''No  legislator  can  judge,  so  well  as  each  individual  for  himself, 
whether  money  is  worth  to  him  any  itung,  and  how  much,  beyond 
the  ordinary  interest." 

These  positions  of  Mo  Bentjiam  are  no  doubt  true  in  some, 
and  perhaps  in  many,  instances ;  b,ut  the  question  is  not  an  indivi- 
dual, but  2i  general,  question.  The  degrees  of  want  in  ^different 
men  may  be  various ;  and  several  individuals  may  be  disposed,  at 


488  Mr.  Maugham  on  ike  Principles  [16 

great  sacrifice^  to  borrow  money ;  and  others^  tempted  by  ^  pro- 
spect of  great  gain,  and  by  alluring,  and  perhaps  deceitful,  repre- 
aentations,  may  be  disposed  to  lend  it.  But  what  is  the  pubUc  in- 
terest and  the  general  good  i  Both  the  borrower  and  the  lender 
have  many  persons  who  are  more  or  less  dependent  upon  their  good 
fortune.  The  lender,  even,  may  possibly  have  creditors,  it  is 
not  every  one  that  pays  ready  money.  He  has  the  means  o(  ob- 
taining credit,  and  may  avail  himself  of  them.  He  may  also  have 
a  family,  who  will  be  injured  by  his  losses,  just  as  they  are  bene- 
iited  by  his  prudence.  The  borrower  also,  in  his  degree,  holds  a 
relative  situation  in  society.  He  has  obtained  the  money^  and 
trades  with  it :  he  pays  in  part,  and  on  the  faith  of  his  apparent 
affluence  he  obtains  credit.  Thus,  by  a  single  act,  now  denomi* 
nated  as  illegal,  a  hundred  persons,  if  the  speculation  be  untoward, 
may  be  seriously  injured.  Undoubtedly,  if  commerce  could  not 
exist  without  such  speculations,  the  evil  must  be  endured  for  the 
greater  good.  But  the  probability  is,  that  the  present  restraints 
induce  the  real,  and  not  the^ctitious,  capitalist  to  embark  in  trade. 
The  number  of  traders,  therefore,  is  not  reduced  by  the  Usury 
Laws.  The  industrious  are,  in  truth,  increased,  because  the  idle 
are  dioninished. 

SECT.  IX. — The  Armments  agdimt  the  Laws  further  con- 

sidered'^Kepression  of  Projectors. 

About  one-third  of  Mr.  Bentham's  Treatise  is  devoted  to  a  dis- 
quisition on  the  opinion  expressed  by  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  in  favor 
of  the  law  fixing  the  rate  of  interest,  on  account  of  it»  tendency  to 
repress  projectors. 

The  general  argument  in  favor  of  the  law  does  not  principally 
depend  on  this  point.  It  may  be  that  this  reason  is  the  weakest  of 
them  ally  especially  if,  by  ^^  projectors,"  Dr.  Smith  intended  (as 
Mr.  Bentham  assumes)  '^  die  authors  and  improvers  of  all  the 
arts  to  which  the  world  owes  its  prosperity  :'*  but,  I  apprehend, 
no  such  signification  was  really  intended,  and  cannot  be  fairly  in- 
ferred from  the  whole  context.  The  particular  instances  to  whidi 
Dr.  Smith  referred  were,  no  doubt,  those  which  form  the  ftr 
greater  number  of  projects.  In  the  passage  quoted  by  Mr.  Ben- 
tham, prodigals  and  projectors  are  spoken  of  generally.  What 
then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  description  of  the  largest  class  of  pro- 
jectors i  Certainly  not  of  the  ingenious  inventors  and  discoverers 
in  art  and  science.  They  form  but  a  small  number,  wben  com- 
pared with  the  bull^'  of  trading  and  other  adventurers,  who  are 
ambitious  to  leave  the  humble  path  of  secure  but  subordinate  in- 
dustry, and  to  advance  themselves  into  more  envied  and  conspics- 


17]  of  iM  Umry  Laws.  4ST 

OU8  Stations  of  life.  These  are  the  persons  who  are  ihe  most  nu- 
merous applicants  for  borrowed  capital^ — who  have  little  to  loae^ 
and  every  thing  \o  gain^*-and  who  are  willing  to  submit  to  any 
terms  on  which  they  can  obtain  money  to  commence  their  career. 

14  ow^  the  evil  of  permitting  capital  to  be  lent  on  exorbitant  in-^ 
terest  to  such  persons,  is  very  glaring.  The  ready  money  gains 
them  credit ;  they  get  largely  in  debt ;  they  resort  to  various  expe* 
dients  for  temporary  supply;  make  great  sacrifices  to  force  a 
trade;  and  the  majority  of  insolvencies  and  bankruptcies  which 
take  place  are  amongst  this  class  of  persons. 

The  lender  of  the  original  capital  takes  the  best  security  he  can^ 
The  borrower  feels  it  his  interest,  expecting  further  accommoda- 
tion, to  disclose  his  affairs,  and  the  lender  sweeps  away  whatever 
remains  to  satisfy  his  claim;  the  other  creditors  receive  nothing. 
Such  is  often  the  case,  under  all  the  restraints  that  at  present 
exist :  remove  those  restraints,  and  the  evil  will  increase. 

The  justice  of  the  law,  as  it  now  stands,  is  this :  The  lender 
cannot  receive  more  than  five  per  cent,  but  for  this  he  has  the  best 
security  in  the  borrower's  power ;  the  other  creditors  have  no  se* 
Gurity,  but  they  have  a  larger  profit  on  their  goods  than  the  other 
has  on  his  money.  If  he  desire  a  greater  profit  than  five  per  cent, 
let  him  fairly  embark  his  capital  as  a  partner ;  and,  as  he  claims 
the  profit,  let  him  also  incur  the  risk  of  loss.  According  to  the 
proposed  system,  he  is  to  escape  responsibility,  whilst  he  reaps 
advantage ;  and  the  idle  man  is  thus,  in  case  of  the  borrower's 
failure,  the  only  person  who  escapes  its  consequences. 

**  The  law,  it  is  said,  admits  of  no  discrimination  in  favor  of  the 
innocent  and  meritorious  projector."  Undoubtedly,  all  public  re* 
gulations  must  necessarily  be  general,  and  cannot  provide  for  every 
peculiar  case.  But  there  are  various  private  encouragements  held 
out  to  the  meritorious f  by  the  munificence  of  individuals,  as  well 
as  by  that  numerous  class  of  persons  in  this  country,  who  are  will- 
ing to  believe  a  great  deal  more  than  is  true  of  any  project.  One 
should  like  to  hear,  indeed,  of  some  authenticated  instances,  if  they 
exist,  in  which  an  important  or  useful  invention,  or  improvement, 
has  been  either  prevented  altogether,  or  for  a  time  impeded,  by  a 
want  of  the  means  of  making  the  experiment. 

And,  supposing  that  a  few  such  instances  could  be  pointed  out, 
still  it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  all  the  Usury  Laws  should  be 
abolished,  and  the  evil  they  prevent  let  loose  on  society,  for  the 
sake  of  giving  a  possible  chance  to  the  earlier  maturity  of  some 
specalative  scheme,  which,  if  it  be  really  important,  will,  in  no 
long  time,  find  its  way  to  public  notice.  Rewards  are  ever  ready 
to  be  bestoWed  on  meritonom  discoveries,  proportioned  to  their 
magnitude ;  and  the  Government  is  not  in  the  habit  of  refusing  re- 
muneration to  thosis  who  perform  great  public  services. 


438  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [18 

With  respect,  also,  to  projects  of  great  extent  and  importance, 
the  best  mode  of  advancing  them  has  long  been  found  to  be  to  in- 
vite the  public  to  take  shares  in  the  undertaking;  and,  by  the  mo- 
derate subscriptions  of  each  individual,  sums  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary magnitude  have  frequently  been  raised.  The  history  of  the 
projects  which  have  failed,  as  well  as  those  which,  in  various  de- 
grees, have  succeeded,  suQiciently  shows  that  there  is  no  real  want 
of  capital  to  encourage  any  species  of  project  in  this  country^  Of 
all  other  arguments,  mdeed,  that  is  the  most  unfounded  which  de- 
pends upon  any  public  necessity  to  increase  the  opportunities  and 
means  of  -gulling  the  credulity  and  good  nature  of  **  honest  John 
Bill/' 

SECT.  X. — The  Arguments  against  the  haws  further  com- 

dered — Protection  of  Simplicity. 

^'  No  simplicity,  short  of  idiotism,  can  render  an  individual  so 
bad  a  judge  in  this  case  as  the  legislator.*'' 

The  legislator  is,  of  -course,  ignorant  of  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  each  individual ;  but  he  is,  or  may  be,  well  informed  re- 
garding the  condition  of  individuals  in  general ;  and  though,  con- 
sequently, he  cannot  frame  a  rule  which  will  apply  to  every  case, 
he  may  provide  for  the  majority.  I'he  question  is  one  of  general 
policy  ;  and  the  impartial  statesman  is  more  likely  to  be  acquainted 
with  that  which  is  of  importance  to  the  community  at  large,  than 
any  interested  individual.  This  argument,  like  one  already  no- 
ticed, proceeds  too  far :  if  each  person  is  to  be  the  judge  of  the 
justice  and  utility  of  his  own  contracts,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that 
the  community  will  suffer. 

Our  author  continues :  ''  It  would  be  to  no  purpose  to  prevent 
a  man  from  being  imposed  upon  in  this  way,  unless  be  was  pre- 
vented from  being  imposed  upon  in  purchases  and  sales.  A  man 
is  not  so  liable  to  imposition  in  this  way  as  in  those;  and,  in  this 
way,  imprudence  admits  of  a  remedy,  which  it  does  not  in  those 
others :  viz.  borrowing  at  a  lower  rate,  to  pay  off  the  first  loan." 

The  essential  difference  between  money  and  articles  of  purchase 
and  sale,  has  been  already  referred  to.^  The  prices  of  merchan- 
dize, owing  to  the  variety  of  their  cost  and  quality,  as  well  as  their 
scarcity  and  necessity,  may  not  be  the  proper  subject  of  parliamen- 
tary regulation  ;  but  it  is  not  a  little  singular  to  assert,  that,  because 
imposition  may  be  practised,  and  cannot  conveniently  be  prevented, 
in  the  one  case,  we  should  therefore  permit  it  in  others,  where  we 
have  the  power  to  re8train.it.  Besides,  there  is  a  check  upon  im- 
position in  the  price  of  these  commodities,    it  is  only  when  the 

* 

>  Mr.  Benthlun.  *  Sect,  iv.,  ante. 


19]  of  the  Usury  Laws.  .  439 

purchaser  fixes  the  price  himselfi  that  he  is  bound  to  pay  it«  If 
the  goods  be  bought  without  the  rate  being  mentioned^  the  seller 
can  practise  no  imposition ;  for  the  buyer  is  only  liable  to  pay  the 
general  and  reasonable,  or  market  price.  The  law^  therefore, 
enables  every  person  to  avoid  imposition,  if  he  choose  to  avail 
himself  of  his  right ;  and  the  charge  of  inconsistency  is,  therefore, 
unfounded.  It  may  be  observed,  also,  that  the  cases  of  imposition 
in  the  purchase  of  merchandize  are  generally  of  small  amount,  and 
of  inconsiderable  importance,  compared  with  the  extent  of  money 
transactions. 

The  remedy  of  the  imprudence,  by  borrowing  at  a  lower  rate  to 
pay  off  the  loan,  like  some  other  remedies,  would  often  be  worse 
than  the  disease.  If  the  original  sum  were  not  of  great  amount, 
the  expenses' of  the  exchange  would  exceed  its  advantage  ;  and  the. 
greater  number  of  these  transactions,  under  the  proposed  repeal, 
would  no  doubt,  individually,  be  of  inconsiderable  extent.  The 
lender,  also,  might  easily  prevent  any  remedy,  in  the  way  suggested, 
by  extorting  a  bonus  out  of  his  own  money,  instead  of  accepting  a 
contract  for  an  annual  interest ;  and  this  consideration  will  show 
that  the  assertion  of  a  man's  not  being  so  liable  to  imposition  in 
borrowing  money  as  in  purchasing  property,  is  entirely  a  mistake. 

SECT.  XI. — The  Arguments  against  the  haws  further  consi' 
dered — Supposed  Mischiefs  of  the  Anti-usurious  Laws. 

'*  There  are  various  ways,'*  says  Mr.  Bentbam,  "  in  which  the 
laws. against  usury  may  do  mischief:  1.  by  precluding  many  from 
assistance  altogether;  2.  forcing  men  upon  more  disadvantageous 
ways  of  obtaining  it ;  3.  or  upon  more  disadvantageous  terms,  hi 
the  very  way  forbidden." 

It  is  very  questionable  whether  there  are  many  persons  pre- 
cluded from  assistance  altogether  by  the  present  laws.  I  believe 
there  are  very  few  who  are  so  precluded ;  and,  at  best,  it  is  only  a 
point  of  comparison  between  the  number  of  those  who  are  now 
precluded,  and  those  who,  it  is  supposed,  would  be  relieved  if  the 
law  were  altered.  And,  admitting  that  the  repeal  would  afford  to 
some  individuals  partial  relief,  we  must  still  be  called  back  to  the 
question,  of  the  general  interest  of  society.  Though  some  might 
be  relieved, — though  the  wants  of  a  few  borrowers  might,  for  the 
moment,  be  satisfied, — would  not  that  relief  be  purchased  at  the 
expense  of  other  members  of  the  community  ?  The  evil  would 
only  be  changed,  not  removed ;  and  it  might  probably  be  reoioved 
from  the  shoulders  of  the  undeserving  to  those  of  the  meritorious. 
The  class  of  persons  who  are  contemplated  in  this  objection,  are 
those  who  have  no  sufficient  security  to  offer,  or  property  to  charge 


449  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  fM 

of  dispose  of^  for  the  raising  of  money.  Why  should  thej  expect 
money  to  be  lent  to  them  on  any  terms  i  Let  them  work,  and  then 
it  will  be  paid  to  them.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  idle  specutatioo 
at  the  bottom  of  all  these  schemes  of  borrowing,  which  it  is  to  tiie 
interest  of  society,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  repress. 

The  difficulties  of  borrowing,  it  is  said,  are  increased,  tand  soflfe 
few  persons  are  forced  upon  disadfantageons  waytf  of  obtainhig 
money.  ''  During  the  war,  the  restriction  to  five  per  cent,  was  t 
great  detriment  to  raising  of  money/'  All  this  assumes  that  bor- 
rowing should 'be  encouraged,  and  that  the  more  extensive  it 
becomes^  the  better ;  instead  of  being  considered,  as  it  is,  an  evil, 
though  sometimes  it  may  be  palliated  by  peculiar  circumstances. 
When  men  cannot  borrow,  it  is  said,  they  sell,  and  sell  disadvan- 
tageously.  This  is  a  supposition  founded  in  mistake :  many  men 
will  often  run  in  debt,  by  borrowing  if  they  can,  who  will  not  sell 
their  patrimony ;  so  that  the  difficulty  of  borrowing,  in  such  cstses, 
impels  them  to  habits  of  economy. 

Another  supposed  mischief  of  the  anti-usurious  Laws,  is  alleged 
to  be  the  exposing  ''  an  useful  class  of  men  to  unmerited  suffering 
tifkd  disgrace." 

This  position  is  full  of  assumptions.    It  assumes  the  nsorer  te 
be  useful ;  that  he  is  a  sufferer,  and  his  disgrace  unmerited.    All 
these  things  are  very  questionable,  if  not  unfounded.     The  wliole 
preceding  considerations  show  that  the  exactor  of  usury  is  act 
generally  useful  to  the  community.     His  sufferings  are  of  his  own 
seeking,  and  his  disgrace  the  consequence  of  his  own  conduct.   If 
there  be  suffering  and  disgrace,  it  is  therefore  not  unmerited ;  hot 
the  quantity  of  this  sjupposed  suffering  is  very  inconsiderable.  The 
violation  of  the  law  is  not  an  act  of  sudden  passion ;  it  is  the  result 
of  cool  and  deliberate  decision  ;  and  those  who  practise  it  feel  no 
remorse,  and,  when  detected,  perhaps  little  shame.    Their  suffer- 
ing arises  frpm  their  occasional  want  of  success ; — a  suffering  to 
which  all  men,  whether  of  merit  or  demerit,  are  liable.     It  is  trae, 
they  are  sometimes  injured  in  their  interests^;  their  dear  '^  ducats* 
are  lost ;  yet  it  is  but  a  deduction  from  their  profits,  and  the  very 
argument  in  favor  of  usury  supposes  it  to  be  a  gainful  trader. 
The  disgrace  of  the  traffic,  if  it  exist  Jfco  any  great  extend  wouU 
not  be  encountered,  if  it  did  not  bear  with  it  the  sweets  of  com- 
pensation. 

Agara,  it  i^  urged,  that  the  laws  *^  eucourage  and  protect 
treachery  and  ingratitude." 

Those  who  deal  with  necessitous  men,  and  often  take  advantage 
of  necessity,  should  expect  that  sometimes  advantage  vrill  b«  taktfi 
of  themselves  in  return.  If  they  lend  money  upon  the  condition  of 
receiving  a  high  rale  of  interest,  provided  the  profits  afaoidd  be 


2if  of  (be  Usury  LinM.  44t 

greaV-tbat  ia/if  tbeir  loan  of  capital  is  to  yidd  a  certaia  propbr- 
tion  of  the  giins  produced  by  ita  empIoyineDt^ — the  transaction  it 
legd.  Here  there  can  be  no  treachery  or  ingratitude.  This  is  in 
the  nature  of  a  limited  partnership.  The  cme  party  supplies  capital^ 
and  the  other  skill  and  labor :  and  the  risk  is  fairly  and  equally 
ran*  But,  when  the  lender  insists  upon  '^  hit  bond/'  althot^h  the 
*'  argosy  be  cast  away^  coming  from  Tripolis/'  is  it  very  wonderful 
that  the  borrower  should  avail  himself  of  tbe  protection  of  Ihet 
btwl 

SECT*  XII.*— TAe  Arguments  against  the  Laws  farther  eon- 

sidered — rirtual  Usury  allowed* 

Several  cases  are  stated  by  Mr.  Bentham^  **  where  interest 
above  the  ordinary  rate  has  been  taken  by  evasion  of  the  law»  ia 
drawing  and  re-drawing,  and  selling,  of  bills  of  exchange/' 

These  evasions,  however,  are  only  casual,  and  not  more  frequent^ 
as  respects  this  law,  than  any  other.  Unless  the  evasions  were  as 
numerous  as  the  contrary,  so  as  to  render  the  law  generally  inopera* 
tive,  they  cannot  form  an  argument  against  it ;  and  the  instances 
mentioned  prove  only  that  the  evil,  against  which  the  law  provideS| 
has  been  too  quietly  submitted  to ;  for  no  lawyer  will  maintain  the 
legality  of  drawing  and  re*drawing  bills  so  frequently,  that  at  ten 
shillings'  commission^  the  merchant  may  obtain  13/.  or  14/.  per 
cent*  per  annum.  It  is  true,  the  law  would  depend  on  the  question 
of  fact,  and  a  jury  must  decide  it;  but  no  twelve  men  could  doubt 
of  the  intention  of  the  parties  in  such  a  transaction.  With  respect 
ta  selling  bills  at  under  price,  very  few,  I  beUeve,  have  ventured 
upon  the  practice  ;  and  there  is  an  obvious  mode  of  resisting  the 
practice,  (independently  of  the  Usury  Laws,)  namely,  by  compel- 
ling the  holder  to  prove  the  consideration ;  and  he  would  then  only 
recover  the  actual  money  he  had  advanced. 

There  are  cases,  also,  says  our  indefatigable  objector,  where  in*' 
terest  above  the  ordinary  rate  is  taken,  by  allowance  of  the  law,— 
as  in  pawnbroking,  bottomry,  and  respondentia. 

Now,  as  to  the  policy  of  pawnbroking,  in  the  extent  to  which  it 
is  carried,  it  is  not  here  the  place  to  inquire.  If  it  be  impolitic  in 
any  part  of  it,  let  a  remedy  be  applied.  The  extension  of  interest 
is  allowed  on  account  of  the  extent  of  the  risk  :  the  property 
pledged  may  have  been  stolen,  and  then  the  pawnbroker  loses  his 
tecurity.  He  must  also  insure  it  from  fire,  and  pay  the  expense 
of  its  preservation.  There  may  be  other  reasons  in  favor  of  the 
pawnbrokers,  but  these  are  the  principal  ones*  But  whether 
that  particular  law  be  well  or  ill  founded,  is  not  the  question. 
Human  legislation  b  imperfect ;  but  let  us  not,  therefore,  reject  it 
altogether. 


442  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [22 

Bottomry  and  respondentia  are  a  species  of  maritime  pawn- 
broking.  Mr.  Bentham  does  not  object  to  them^  but  denmnds 
'^  what  there  is  in  the  class  of  men,  embarked  in  this  trade,  that 
should  render  beneficial  to  them  a  liberty,  which  would  be  ruinous 
to  every  body  else  ?  Is  it  that  sea-adventures  have  less  hazard  on 
them  than  land  adventures?  or  that  the  sea  teaches  those  who 
have  to  deal  with  it,  a  degree  of  forecast  and  reflection  which  has 
been  denied  to  landmen  f" 

It  is  because  sea-adventures  are  more  hazardous  than  land- 
adventures,  that  a  different  rate  of  interest  prevails.  The  capital  of 
the  lender  is  in  greater  jeopardy  than  in  other  cases,  and  common 
justice  awards  him  a  larger  remuneration :  but  another  reason  is, 
that,  if  the  adventure  succeed  at  all,  it  is  more  profitable,  in  gene- 
ral, than  internal  trajQBc,  and  can  consequently  afford  to  pay  a 
higher  rate.  Besides,  in  one  class  of  these  cases  the  money  is  only 
to  be  paid  upon  the  success  of  the  undertaking, — namely,  the  arrival 
of  the  vessel ;  and  therefore  it  is,  in  effect^  a  partnership  in  the 
speculation. 

The  law,  it  is  observed,  is  also  evaded  indirectly,  in  the  form  of 
annuity  transactions^  which  are  conducted  at  the  expense  of  the 
borrower.  It  is  said,  that,  were  the  rate  of  interest  unrestrained, 
money  would  be  lent  on  mortgage  instead  of  annuity.'  The  heavy 
commission  and  law  charges  come  in,  along  with  the  usance,  for 
a  share  of  the  odium.  The  expenses,  however,  do  not  vary  in  any 
great  degree,  whether  the  money  be  raised  on  mortgage  or  annuity. 
In  both  cases  the  title  must  be  investigated,  and  the  property 
valued.  The  difference  in  stamps  is  certainly  considerable,  and 
especially  where  the  sum  to  be  raised  is  of  large  amount ;  but  the 
law  charges  ought  not  to  affect  the  general  argument. 

Besides,  it  should  be  recollected,  that  a  great  part  of  the  annui- 
ties are  chargeable  only  on  life  estates  ;  and  these,  of  course,  can- 
not be  the  subject  of  mortgage.  Leasehold  property,  unless 
held  for  a  long  term,  is  also  ineligible  as  a  mortgage  security. 

Some  of  the  annuities  which  are  now  granted  are,  undoubtedly, 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  the  law  against  usury  ;  since 
not  only  is  interest  beyond  five  per  cent,  charged,  but  also 
the  insurance,  which  enables  the  lender  to  receive  back  his 
principal.  Yet,  if  five  per  cent,  be  allowed  on  mortgage, 
where  the  money  in  a  short  period  may  be  called  in,  a  higher 
rate  should,  in  common  justice,  be  granted,  where  the  repay- 
ment depends  entirely  on  the  option  of  the  borrower ;  and,  on 
annuities  for  lives,  where  the  principal  is  absolutely  sunk,  the  rate 
of  interest  may  properly  be  still  further  extended. 

1  Some  of  these  positions  are  not  advanced  in  Mr.  Bentbam's  celebrated 
work,  but  they  have  been  adverted  to  by  other  political  economists,  and 
may  be  conveniently  noticed  under  the  same  general  head. 


S3]  of  the  Usury  Imws.  443 

The  jastice  of  all  these  contracts  depends  on  the  circumstances 
above  referred  to^  compared  with  the  ordinary  rate  of  interest/  and 
the  nature  of  the  security.  It  is,  therefore,  of  essential  importance 
that  there  should  be  a  common  standard  of  interest  where  the 
-money  is  to  be  returned,  and  the  pledge  for  its  return  is  really  suf- 
ficient. If  there  be  no  such  standard,  rapacity  has  no  check ;  and, 
to  eulogise  the  facilities  to  borrow,  where  ruin  is  the  probable  con- 
sequence, either  to  one  party  or  the  other,  is  perfectly  monstrous. 

t 

,  SECT.  XIII.-^jFttrMer  Arguments  against  the  Laws  consi- 
dered— Sir  William  David  Evans. 

In  a  note>  to  the  '^  Collection  of  th^  Statutes,"  by  Sir  W.  D. 
Evans,  it  is  remarked  by  the  learned  author,  '^  that  the  true  ques- 
tion, considered  in  its  general  effects,  is  not  between  the  obtaining 
the  benefit  of  assistance  gratuitously,  or  upon- more  favorable  terms, 
and  the  obtaining  it  for  a  particular  equivalent ;  but  between  the 
obtaining  it  upon  such  equivalent  as  the  lender  may  deem  more 
advantageous  than  a  different  application  of  his  property,  and  the 
suffering  the  loss  and  inconvenience  which  may  arise  from  its  being 
totally  withheld." 

In  other  words, — what  will  induce  the  possessor  to  part'from  his 
money,  at  the  risk  of  losing  it,  instead  of  employing  it  in  some 
>otherway? 

First,  l^t  it  be  observed,  there  is  always  some  risk  of  its  being 
lost,  in  whatever  way  it  be  kept  or  used.  There  is  no  absolute 
safety,  do  what  he  may  with  it,  so  long  as  it  continues  in  the  shape 
of  money.  According  to  the  present,  law,  the  lender  possesses  the 
utmost  freedom  of  choice  as  to  the  securities  on  which  to  invest  it. 
If  he  wish  for  considerable  profit,  and  has  no  objection  to  a  little 
exertion,  he  may  embark  in  trade,  and  thus  add  at  once  to  the 
capital  and  productive  labor  of  the  country.  If  he  prefer  a  state  of 
indolence,  and  yet  desire  great  profit,  he  may  risk  his  capital,  as  a 
dormant  partner ^  with  some  person  of  activity  :  the  law  imposes 
no.  obstacle  in  the  way.  But,  if  he  desire  to  limit  his  risk  to  a 
specific  sum,  and  to  do  no  manner  of  work^  whilst  he  reaps  the 
fruit  of  some  other  person's  labor,  he  must  be  content,  as  he  lives 
in  idleness,  to  live  in  moderation.  These  different  modes  of 
**  application  of  his  property"  are  placed  before  him ;  and  expe- 
rience shows  that  there  are  abundance  of  persons  to  embrace  each 
mode  of.applying  their  money.  There  is  no  hardship  towards  the 
holders. of  money  in  the  existing  regulations;  they  have  various 
modes  of  increasing  their  wealth,  or  adding  to  their  income,  and 
may  select  whichever  suits  their  peculiar  inclination,     llie  effect 


444  Mr*  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [f4 

of  the  law  is  to  restrain  the  profligate,  and  impose  frugality — to 
check  the  heedless  adventurer,  and  encourage  industrious  undertak- 
ings. 

Lord  Redes  dale  clearly  states/  in  bis  decisions  when  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Ireland,  *^  that  the  true  reason  on  which  the  legisla- 
ture has  said  that,  in  bargains  for  money,  no  more  than  a  fixed  sum 
shall  be  taken  by  way  of  interest  for  the  loan,  is  founded  on  great 
principles  of  public  policy.  It  is  more  advantageous  to  the  public, 
that  persons  who  are  in  possession  of  money  should  use^  their  own 
industry  in  the  employment  of  their  money,  than  that  they  should 
sit  idle,  and  take  the  benefit  of  it  through  the  industrjr  of  others: 
and  therefore  the  loan  of  money,  at  aiiy  large  rate  of  interest,  has  al- 
ways been  discouraged."  '*  If  every  man  could  obtain,  for  the 
loan  of  his  money,  as  high  a  rate  of  interest  without  hazard,  as  ftey 
do  who  employ  it  in  trade  or  manufactures,  which  are  hazardoos 
undertakings,  the  most  industrions  of  the  p^ple  would  be  ground 
down  by  the  usurers ;  they  would  get  the  profits  of  the  trade,  and 
the  enterprising  and  industrious  tnfder  would  be  ruined.*' 

Sir  W.  D.  Evans  remarks  upon  this  authority,  that  ^'  it  is  taken 
for  granted  that  there  is  a  certain  quantity  of  money,  which  must 
necessarily  be  lent  out  at  interest,  and  which  the  borrowers  wouM 
certainly  obtain  at  a  lower  interest,  if  the  lenders  were. restricted 
firom  advancing  it  at  a  higher.'' 

It  cannot,  perhaps,  be  absolutely  said,  that  the  money  must 
necessarily  be  lent ;  but  we  know  the  fact  to  be,  that  abundance 
of  money  is  lent,  and,  therefore,  we  may  presume  that  the  present 
inducement  to  lend  is  sufficient.  There  is  an  adequate  number  of 
the  holders  of  money  to  prefer  a  moderate  interest,  on  good  seci»- 
ri^,  to  embarking  in  trade,  at  great  hazard,  for  expected  profit, 
however  enormous;  and,  from  the  different  character  of  men's 
minds,  this  will  always  take  place.  The  cautious  and  moderate 
man  lends  money  at  legal  interest :  the  enterprising  and  profuse 
incur  all  hazards  to  obtain  a  larger  income.  Society  is  benefited 
by  both  classes.  If  there  were  too  many  of  the  former,  we  should 
scarcely  have  emerged  from  commercial  insignificance;  and,  were 
there  too  many  of  the  latter,  all  would  be  uncertainty  and  fluctua- 
tion, followed  by  frequent  distress,  and  sometimes  by  total  ruin. 
Such  is  the  case  with  the  individuals  themselves ;  and  such  woald 
naturally  be  the  fate  of  a  nation  of  such  individuals. 

It  is  further  observed  by  Sir  W.  D.  £vans,  that  it  is  alst) 
''  taken  for  granted  that  persons,  exercising  their  own  judgment, 
would  be  ground  down  and  oppressed  by  contracts,  whuk  tkq 
i^luntarify  enter  into  with  their  eyes  open,  for  the  acoommodatien 

^  lSch.andL.1L8S. 


tSl  of  th€  U$urjf  Laws.  445 

of  vaoMj,  to  wbich  they  have  no  more  claim  than  to  any  dlber  pro-' 
perty  of  the  person  advancing  it/' 

It  is  by  no  means  true  that  the  borrower  has  always  ^his  eyes 
open.''  He  is  in  great  distress,  and  is  obliged  to  submit  to  the 
terms  imposed  upon  him.  He  hopes  to  escape  from  his  difficul- 
ties. He  does  not  recolkct  that  the  majority  of  persons^  who 
borrow  at  enormous  interest,  are  at  last  rinned ;  or  he  fondly  trusts 
that  he  will  be  one  of  the^ev  fortunate  exceptions*  The  monied 
man  is,  or  might  be,  able  to  see  all  this ;  but,  if  he  can  obtain  tee, 
fifteen,  or  twenty  per  cent,  for  a  temporary  loan,  he  trusts  to  hU 
saperior  vigilance  to  obtain  back  his  principal.  Perhaps,  the 
tnttii  is,  on  these  occasions,  that  neither  party  have  ''  their  eyes 
properly  open ;"  for,  whilst  despair  and  hope  akemately  blind  the 
one,  excessive  cupidity  deludes  the  other.  But  with  each  pecu^ 
liar  case  we  canno  treason ;  the  law  is  general,  not  partial ;  and 
(as  Lord  Redesdale  has  stated)  it  considers  transactions  of  thb 
nature,  ^*  not  with  a  view  to  the  individual,  but  on  pubKc  srounji$, 
in  order  to  render  the  lending  of  money  generally  beneficial,  by 
facilitating  the  meaH^  of  procuring  it  on  reasonable  terms." 

SECT,  Xiy. — Review  of  the  Authorities  in  favor  of  the 

LawS'^Grotius. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  authority  of  the  Jewish  laws 
against  the  taking  of  usance,  and  its  foundation  in  Ihe  principles  of 
general  utility.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  precept  of  pa/t^tca/  benevolence  ; 
but  it  must  be  allowed,  Aat  the  total  restriction  against  the  taking 
of  interest  for  the  loan  of  money  is  not  adapted  to  large  commu- 
nities. As  society  expands,  its  ties  become  attenuated.  It  is  for- 
tunate that  private  benevolence  is  so  well  preserved,  and  that  the 
members  of  society  do  not  become  too  much  individualized.  We 
ought  not  to  expect  any  great  share  of  public  benevolence ;  and, 
pdliaps,  England  possesses  this  rare  quality  in  a  higher  degree 
than  any  other  commercial  country.  Still  even  Englishmen  will 
not  lend  their  money  without  some  expected  advantage ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  fit  that  an  inducement  should  be  permitted. 

It  is  remarkable  that  none  of  the  eminent  writers  on  the  princi- 
ples of  morality  and  the  law  of  nations  should,  in  any  respect, 
question  tiie  justice  or  policy  of  restraining,  within  certain  pre- 
scribed bounds,  the  rate  of  interest.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the 
point  did  not  occur  to  their  minds,  or  was  not  sufficiently  brought 
before,  them.  On  the  contrary,  they  discuss  the  very  principles 
and  foundation  of  the  enactments  against  usury.  They  are  unani- 
mous in  giving  up  the  injunction  of  the  sacred  law ;  and  ^dmit 
that,  in  the  different  and  altered  state  of  the  society  in  which  we 


446  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [26 

live,  compared  with  the  Jewish  institutions  arid  character,  it  is  not 
binding  upon  us.  But  they  are  all  equally  agreed  in  the  propriety 
and  necessity  of  confining  the  usance  to  a  moderate  rate. 
.  /Qrotius,'  after  discussing  the  anciefot  doctrines^  respecting 
usury, — the  nature  of  consumable  and  inconsumable  property, — the 
qatural  barrenness  of  inoney^-T-thje  distinction  .between  the  use  and 
profits  of  a  thing,  from  the  thing  itself, — and  referring  lo  the  Tea- 
sonipgs  of  Ca^o,  Cicero,  and  Plutarch^ — proceeds  to  contend  that 
^'  tho^e  human  laws,  which  allow  a  compensation  tp  be  made  for  the 
iise  .of  money,  or  any  other  thing,  are  neither  repugnant  to  oatursd 
Dor  revealed  law.  Thus,  in  Holland,  he  observes,  where  jthe  rate 
of  interest  upon  common  loans  was  eight  per  cent.,  there;  wi^  no 
injustice  in  requiring  twelve  per  cent,  of  merchants;  because  the 
hazard  was  greater.  The  justice  and  reasonableness,  indeed,  of  all 
these  regulations  mmt  be  measured  by  the  hazard  or  inconvenience 
of  lending  ;  for,  where  the  recompense  exceeds  this,  it  becomes  an 
act  of  extortion  or  oppression," 

.It  is  obvious  that  the  degree  of  the  inconvenience^  of  lending 
must  be  measured  by  the  amount  of  the  prpfit,  or  advantage, 
which  might  be  obtained  by  a  different  application  of  the  money, 
compared  with  tlie  rate  of  interest.  Now,  if,  in  the  general  and 
ordinary  routine  of  commerce  and  agriculture,  no  more  than  eight 
or  ten  per  cent,  can  be  obtained,  surely  five  per  cent,  is  a  suf- 
ficient recompense  for  sustaining  the  inconvenience,  or  .  foregoing 
the  advantage ;  because  the  higher  profit  cquld  not  be  reaped 
without  many  .hazards;  which  do  not  generally  belong  to  the  loaa 
of  money.  In  the  one  case,  there  is  at  first  the  ri:$k  of  mistake  in 
the  selection  of  the  articles  of  trade,  (independently  of  all  its  neces- 
sary expenses  ;)  and  next  the  still  greater  risk  of  giving  credit  to 
those  who  do  not  discharge  their  engagements.  In  the  other,  the 
lender  at  a  moderate  rate  has  his  own  choice  of  investment,  and 
need  give  no  credit  without  ample  security.  He  ought,  therefore, 
as  he  encounters  less  hazard,  to  be  satisfied  with  a  proportionate 
diminution  of  reward. .  It  is  difficult  to  reach  the  understandings 
— or,  perhaps,  the  sense  of  justice, — of  thojse  who  do  not  admit 
the  plain  truth  and. reason  of  these  considerations.  We  can  but 
appeal  to  the  common  feelings  and  faculties  of  the  human  race.on 
any  occ3sion.  If,  in  the  present  age,  the  majority  be  determined 
to  run  into  the  extreme  of  licentiousness,  as,  at  a  former  tioie,  they 
promoted,  or  encouraged,  the  extreme  of  ^restraint,  it  is  to  be 
lamented;  and,  when  the  evil  is  perceived,  if  it  be  not  too 
LATE,  they  will,  perhaps,  retrace  their  steps. 

'  "  Law  of  Nature  and  of  Nations;*'  Book  ii.  chap.  xii.  sect.  21. 


27]  of  the  Usury  Laws.  447 

SECT,  XV. — Continuation  of  the  Review  of  the  Authorities 

— Puffendorf 

r  The  subject  is  very  fully  discussed  by  Baron  Puffendorf, 
vnho  not  only  investigates  the  peculiar  law  against  usury,  accordrag 
to  the: divine  dispensation;  but  examines  the  arguments  brought 
against  it  from  the  general  laws  of  nature.  Me  says,  that  '^  most 
people  are  not  of  the  Persians'  opinion,  who,  among^  their  sins, 
give  iki^secimd  place  to  lying,  but  the^rs^  to  borrowing ;  because 
it  often  happens  that  they  that  borrow, /ie.  Though  i7eroJo/fr5, 
in  Clio,  in  my  opinion,  better  assigns  the  first  to  lying,  the  next  to 
borrowing."'  After  presenting  a  curious  disquisition  of^usui^ 
in  all  its  forms  and  devices,  and  showing  the  subtlety  with  which 
usurious  contracts  have  been  attempted  to  be  cloked  in  all  ages, 
he  adverts  to  the  philanthropic  endeavors  of  Mioses  to  benefit  his 
countrymen,  by  the  exercise  of  charity  and  liberality,  which  he 
establishes  by  several  laws. 

He  then  proceeds  to  point  out  that  money  is  now  borrowed  for 
other  ends  than  those  provided  for  in  the  legislation  of  the  Penta- 
teuch ;  that  it  is  borrowed  in  order  to  increase  and  improve  wealth. 
V  When  a  man  borrows  for  this  purpose,  why  should  another  lend 
for  nothing  i  Nay,  'tis  an  unreasonable  thing,  when  you  vastly  im- 
prove your  fortune  •  with  my 'money,  not  to  admit  me  into  some 
share^  of  the  gain  ;  for  I,  in  the  mean  time,  am  debarred  from 
making  that  advantage  which  1  might  otherwise  have  expected  by 
applying  it  to  my  own  use.  Besides,  1  have  parted  with  some- 
thing valuable,  which  ought  therefore  to  be  considered  ;  for,  in 
lieu  of  my  money,  I  hiive  only  an  action  against  your  person, 
which  cannot  be  prosecuted  without  some  trouble." 

Some  other  considerations  are  then  presented  relative  to  the  ex« 
pediency  of  allowing  none  but  merchants  to  take  up  money  at  use  ; 
^^  for  this  would  niake  the  poor  industrious^  and  force  them  to  fru- 
gality, who,  some  of  thetn,  are  not  afraid  to  pay  interest  for  money 
to  maintain  their  extravagancies;  and  monied  men,  rather  than 
let  their  money  lie  dead^  would  either  take  to  merchandize  them- 
selves^, or  would  put  out  their  money  to  those  that  do ;  which 
would  make  trade  flourish,  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  common- 
wealth."'  There  is  great  nicety  of  discrimination,  and  much  in- 
genuity both  of  sense  and  learning,  in  these  legal  classics,  which  are 

'  Book  5.  chap.  7.  sect.  8. 

^  In  a  note  to  the  text  above  quoted,  it  is  observed,  amongst  the  condi- 
tions which  are  necessary  to  make  interest  lawful,  **that  the  interest  is  not 
greater  than  the  advantage  which  the  debtor  hopes  to  gain  by  it  ;*^  and  ''  that  he 
does  not  go  beyond  the  bounds  fixed  by  the  laws,** 

*  Book  v.  chap.  7,  sect.  9. 


448  ;Mr.  Maugbaip  a»  the  Principki  (B8 

well  worthy  of  consideratioii  on  this  important  ^ubject^  Id  an  ^e 
like  the  present,  pluming  itself  upon  literary  and  scientific  emi- 
nence,  it  would  be  monstrous  to  change  a  system  of  jurispru- 
dencei  which  has  existed  in  this  country  from  its  very  faundationi 
as  well  as  in  eyery  other  civiU^ted  state  firom  the  mosi  remote  aa- 
tiquity,  until  we  have  investigated  the  wk^^  in  every  potyiUe 
bearing,  A  blunder  in  the  sciences  of  legislation  aiK^^Ndilical 
aconomy,  upon  so  vital  and  momentous  a  question  aa  this,  ivoiild 
.place  Cor  ever  the  stamp  of  ridicule  upon  the  brow  of  Ihia  '^«ii/%Ai^- 
tntd  age"  and  '*  the  fiwiger  of  acorn''  mig}^  to  all  poaiterity,  be  di- 
rected against  the  pseudo-philosophers  of  the  day  i  It  is,  tuaioabl- 
edly,  a  merit  to  march  in  advance  of  the  politicfd  schemes  by  whkh 
we  are  surrounded,  provided  we  can  do  so  aafaly  and  correctly ; 
but  it  is  better  to  remain  stationary  tiban  to  do  niachief  ^  audit 
would  be,  by  far^  a  less  degree  of  deg ra4ati<w  to  foUow  ibe  tooir 
ateps  of  Truth  slowly,  as  we  discovered  tbem,  than  hastily  to  |Mreai 
forward,  and  mistake  our  path.  But  ibis  does  not  suit  tb^.anh^ 
tiotts  purposes  of  the  times.  ModeraUon  is  out  of  feshiop^  sjmI; 
because  restrictions  have  been  unwisely  imposed  upon  parUouUr 
parts  of  the  commercial  system,  the  public  seem  dif poaed,  or  mt 
worthy,  but  mistaken,  speculatoia  represent  tbem  to  be  disposed, 
to  annihilate  all  restriction :  yet  Puflfendorf,  with  aH  hia  aeal  lor 
commerce,  and  all  his  inclination  to  favor  the  free  progress  of 
capital,  still  maintains  the  necessity  of  a  restraint  upon  usury.  ''It 
is  requisite,''  says  he,  ''  that  private  men  should  be  iindmd  h/ 
taw  from  exacting  what  interest  they  please,  and  ihat  it  should  1^ 
fixed  at  a  certain  rate" ' 

SECT.  XYL-^Coniinuation  of  the  Review  of  ike  jtuihoritieS'^ 

Vattel. 

I  do  not  find  that  M.  de  Vattel  has  any- where  exiurasaly  wrilteo 
upon  the  subject  of  usury  ;  but  he  very  dislittc%  condemas  tiie 
principle  on  which  the  defenders  of  unlimited  usury  nmsl  i^st  thor 
argument.  It  is  maintained  by  the  defenders  of  «8ury  that,  as 
there  exists  no  law  to  restrain  the  price  of  merdhandiae,  jsatAar 
should  the  price  of  money  be  restrained;  and  that,  as  e»tortioa  is 
permitted  in  the  one  case,  it  should  be  pertmitt^d  in  the  other.  But, 
though  we  have  no  municipal  law  upon  the  rates  of  laprrrhaafliTtT, 
and  it  would  be  impossible  to  execute  such  a  law,  (a  reason  thst 
does  not  exist  in  the  case  of  money,)  there  is,  as  laid  down  by 
Vattel,  a  law  applicable  to  nations,  which  forbids  imfocderatt 
\gain  as  an  offencei  ^^^  authorizes  those  nations  which  ara  injuced 

^  Book  V.  chap.T,  sect  1^. 


28}  of  the  Usury  Laws.  449 

by  the  moQopolj  of  tfae  necessariefl  of  life,  to  join  io  bringing  tbci 
avaricious  oppressor  to  reasonable  terms* 

The  passage  is  as  follows : — '^  Thus^  if  a  nation  alone  produce 
certain  things,  another  may  lawfully  procure  itself,  by  treaty,  the 
advantage  of  being  the  only  buyer ;  aind  then  sell  ihem  again  all 
over  the  world.  And  it  is  indifferent  to  nations  from  what  hand 
they  receive  the  commodities  they  want,  provided  the  price  be 
reasonably  equal,  and  the  monopoly  of  this  nation  does  not  clash 
with  the  general  duties  of  humanity,  unless  it  avails  itself  of  this 
^vantage,  for  setting  an  exorbitant  price  on  its  ^opds.  Should 
it  ahtie  its  monopoly  to  an  immoderate  gain,  this  would  be  ao 
ofl^nce  ftgi^t  the  law  of  nature,  as,  by  such  an  exaction,  it  de- 
prives other  uMons  of  a  necessary  or  agreeable  product,  which  na- 
ture designed  for  sU  men." 

*'  Did  the  question  celate  to  commodities  necessary  to  life,  and 
the  monopolizer  was  for  rusing  them  to  an  excessive  price,  other 
nations  would  be  authorized^  by.  the  care  of  their  own  safety,  and 
the  advantage  of  human  society^  to  join  in  bringing  an  avaricious 
oppressor  to  reasonable  terms.  The  risht  to  necpssaries  is  very 
dinerent  from  that  to  things  adapted  only  to  conveniency  and  de- 
light, which,  if  they  are  too  highly  raised,  we  e«ii  safely  go  without 
It  would  be  absurd  that  the  subsistence  and  being  of  nations  should 
depend  on  the  caprice  or  avidity  of  one/**  . 

SECT,  XVll. — Continuation  of  the  Review  of  the  Author%tie$-^ 

Francis  Bacon. 
llie  authority  of  Lord  Verulam  is  in  favor  of  a  moderate 
restriction  of  interest.  After  adverting,  in  his  **  Essay  on  Usury,'* 
to  the  invectives  against  it,^  he  says,  that,  '*  since  there  must  be 
borrowing  and  lending,  and  men  are  so  hard  of  heart  that  they  will 
not  lend  freely,  usury  must  be  permitted/'  He  then  enumerates 
the  evils  and  benefits  of  usury,  and  proceeds  to  consider  how  the 
one  may  be  avoided,  and  the  other  retained.  '^  Two  things,"  be 
says,  \*^  are  to  be  reconciled :  the  one,  that  the  tooth  of  usury  be 
grinded,  that  it  bite  not  too  much ;  the  other,  that  there  be  left 
open  a  means  to  invite  monied  men  to  lend  the  merchants,  for  the 
continuing  and  quickening  of  trade.''    He  contends,  therefore,  for 

*  Law  of  Nations,  book  ii.  chap.  ii.  sec.  S3. 

*  "  Many,"  saya  he,  **have  made  witty  invectives  against  usury.  They 
say,  It  is  pity  the  devil  should  have  God's  part,  which  is  the  tithe; — that 
the  usurer  is  the  greatest  8abbatii4>reaker,  because  his  plough  goeth  every 
Sunday  ; — that  the  usurer  is  the  dron&  that  Vireil  speaketh  of: 

lenavum  fucos  pecus  a  pnesepibus  arcent ; 
— that  the  usurer  breaketh  the  first  law  that  was  made  for  mankind  after  the 
fall,  which  was,  *  in  sudore  vultus  tui  comedes  panem  tiium  ;'  not  *  in  sudore 
vultus  alieni ;' — that  it  is  against  nature  for  money  to  beget  money,  and  the 
likei" 

VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.  2  F 


450  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [30 

f ^  two  rates  of  usury,  the  oiie  free  and  general  to  all,  the  other 
under  Ucence  only  to  certain  persons,  and  in  certain  places  of  mer- 
chandizing." 

'  It  is  remarkable,  that,  so  many  years  before  it  became  the  sub- 
ject of  legislative  enactment,  this  enlightened  philosopher  was  of 
opinion  that  five  per  cent,  should  be  the  legal  interest  in  general; 
ftnd  that,  for  the  encouragement  of  trade,  a  larger  rate,  under  cer- 
tain restrictions,  should  be  permitted. 

He  does  not  enter  into  any  discussion  of  the  nature  of  the  se- 
curities to  be  given,  but  rests  the  case  of  the  merchant  upon  ))is 
wants,  and  the  importance  of  encouraging  trade. 

Amongst  the  '^  discommodities  "  of  usury,  the  illiMtcious  author 
mentions,  first,  *^  that  it  makes^ea^er  merchants;  for,  were  it  not 
for  this  lazy  trade  of  usury,  money  would  not  lie  stilly  but  it 
would,  in  great  part,  be  employed  upon  merchandizing;  which  is 
the  *  vena  porta '  of  wealth  in  a  state."  Second^  that  it  makes 
poor  merchants ;  ''  for,  as  the  fanner  cannot  husband  his  ground  so 
l¥ell|  if  he  sit  at  great  rent,  so  the  merchant  cannot  drive  his  trade 
so  well,  if  he  sit  at  great  usury.*'  Thirds  "  the  decay  of  customs 
of  kings,  or  estates,  which  ebb  or  flow  with  merchandizing.'" 
Fourth,  ^*  that  it  bringeth  the  treasure  of  a  realm  or  state  into  a  few 
hands ;  for,  the  usurer  being  at  certainties,  and  the  other  at  uncer- 
tainties, at  the  end  of  the  game  most  of  the  money  will  be  in  the 
l)ox ;  and  ever  a  state  fiorisheth  when  wealth  is  more  equally 
spreadJ^  Fifth,  ^*  that  it  beats  down  the  price  of  land  ;  tor  the 
employment  of  money  is  chiefly  either  merchandizing  or  purchas- 
ing, and  usury  waylays  both."  Sixth,  ^^  that  it  doth  dull  and 
damp  all  industries,  improvements,  and  new  inventions,  wherein 
money  would  be  stirring,  if  it  were  not  for  this  slug.**  La$t^ 
*^  that  it  is  the  canker  and  ruin  of  many  men's  estates,  which^  in 
process  of  time,  breeds  a  public  poverty.'* 

Such  is  the  authority  of. Bacon,  and  such  are  the  reasons  which 
he  adduces  in  support  of  his  opinions;  and  yet  Mr.  Bentham 
l^ys, ''  the  world  has  no  mouth  of  its  own  to  plead  hy,  and  he 
must  even  find  arguments  for  it  at  a  venture,  and  ransack  his  own 
imagination  for  such  phantoms, as  he  can  fight  with.**  Lord  Ba- 
con was  not  a  sufficient  antagonist :  his  reasons  were  beneath  the 
notice  of  his  successor  in  legal  philosophy  ! 

SECT.  XVIII. — Review  of  the  Authorities  continued — Mr.  Jus- 
tice Bltickstone — Reply  to  Mr.  Bentham's  Considerations. 

Sir  William  Blackstone  is  clearly  opposed  to  an  exor- 
bitant interest  being  permitted  by  the  law,     **  To  demand,**  sajs 

^  This,  I  apprehend,  is  a  reason  of  the  same  nature  with  the  argument 
regarding  the  pemianency  o^f  the  value  of  property,  page  494. 


311  (if  the  Usury  Laws.  ^  451 

■  •  ■     .......     '         ,  ^  •  i  • 

he,  "  an  exorbitant  price  is  equally  contrary  to  conscience,  for  the 
loan  of  a  horse,  or  a  loan  of  a  sum  of  money;  but  a  redspiiablid' 
equivalent  for  the  temporary  inconvenience  which  the  owner  majr 
feel  by  the  want  of  it,  and  for  the  hazard  of  losing  it  entirely,  is  nbi 
nior6  immoral  in  the  one  case  than  it  is  in  the  other/^ 

«  The  exorbitance  or  moderation  of  interest  for  money  lent,"  he 
continues,  "  depends  upon  two  circumstances  :  the  inconvenience 
of  partihg  with  it  for  the  present,  and  the  hazard  of  losing  it  entire^ 
Jy.  The  inconvenience  to  individual  lenders  can  never  be  e'^t- 
QUfted  by  laws ;  the  rate,  therefore,  of  general  interest  must  depend 
iip^o  the  usual  or  general  inconvenience." 

Upo^  this  principle,  die  laws  should  from  time  to  time  be  varied, 
accordmg  t6  the  scarcity  or  abundance  of  specie.  But  there  will 
always  be  great  ^fficulty  in  ascertaining  the  fact  of  its  quantity! 
The  price  of  the  m^^ket,  it  will  be  said,  should  be  the  criterion: 
but  on  what  do  the  flUuuaiions  of  the  market  depend?  Perhaps 
on  the  speculations  of  a  ce.^ain  number  of  monopolists  andvleahhy 
and  powerfu  mdividuals,  or  'perhaps  on  the  state  of  political 
affairs.  So  that  the  permanent  y^xf^xe  of  the  community  is  Id 
bend  to  the  projects  of  great  capitalist  ^nd  the  intrigues  or  am^ 
bitioD  of  courtiers  and  statesmen  ! 

It  is  obvious  that  the  learned  Judge  was  by  .^^eans  disposed 
to  favor  any  thing  that  could  not  stand  the  test  of  ».^gQ,| .  ^^  ui 
refuted,  with  powerful  argijments,  the  obsolete  notibii^  4bo^t  ihe 
mortal  sin  of  usury.     Perhaps  he  carried  his  opppsition  v^  ^^ 
opinions  *of  the  ancient  writers  to  the  extreme;  but  this  fact  miis> 
give  added  weight  to  his  authority,  by  proving  his  severe  atid'  im- 
partial judgment.     Thus,  iti  quoting  the  words  of  Aristotle,  which 
are  before  mentioned,  regarding  the  barrenness  of  money,  the  dis^ 
tinguished  commentator  observes,  that  *^  the  same  may,  with  ^qual 
force,  be  alleged  of  houses,  which  never  breed  houses,  and  twenty 
other  things,  which  nobody  doubts  it  is  lawful  to  make  profit  of, 
by  letting  them  to  hire.'' 

But  houses  and  money,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are  not  analo- 
gous :  the  houses  decay  and  wear  out,  and  something  should  be 
allowed  to  rebuild  them.  Besides,  tabor  is  employed  upon  them, 
first  in  their  construction,  and  then  in  their  preservation.  The  in- 
crease of  them  is  favorable  to  national  industry,  to  convenience, 
and  comfort.  The  increase  of  money,  beyond  a  very  limited  ex- 
tent, is  of  no  advantage.  The  owner  of  the  houses  not  only  has 
done  something  towards  building  them,  but  he  employs  himself,  in 
some  degree,  in  attending  to  their  repair ;  and  is  therefore  entitled, 
on  the  principle  of  rewarding  industry,  to  an  iadequate  compensa- 
tion. 

This  is  an  objection  to  our  legal  classic,  founded  upon  his  pass- 
ing a  little  beyond  the  medium  line,  and  condemning,  in  rather 


46*2  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [32 

too  unmeasured  terms^  the  eminent  authority  of  Aristotle.  But, 
whilst  we  think  that  Blackstone  has  gone  quite  far  enough  in  his 
opposition  to  the  great  politician  of  Greece,  Mr.  Bentham  enter- 
tains the  idea  that  he  has  stopped  short  of  the  goal,  and  that  the 
course  of  the  nionied  man  is  not  yet  sufficiently  clear,  nor  his  race 
entirely  won.  The  common  image,  which  we  have  thus  accident- 
ally fallen  upon,  naturally  leads  to  the  remark  of  Mr.  Bentham, 
that,  "  in  Blackstone's  opinion,  the  harm  of  making  too  bard  a 
bargain  stands  on  the  same  fooling  in  the  hire  of  a  horse  as  of 
money  ;  and  "  the  disputant  contends  that,  "  if  so,  consist enc^^re- 
quires  the  subjecting  of  both  businesses  to  the  same  restraints. 

With  submission  to  Mr.  Bentham,  he  does  not  faWy  apprehend 
the  argument  of  the  late  learned  Judge,  and  neitt^^  naeets  nor  re- 
futes it.  The  point  is  plainly  this  :  If  an  ordinary  horse,  m  the 
usual  course  of  business,  may  be  hired  for  i^ilf-a^umea,  it  would 
be  an  extortion  to  charge  a  man  twice  ojthnce  that  amount^  who 
wanted  it  upon  a  pressing  occasiP'^  o*^  life  or  death,  or  who  was 
totally  ignorant  of  the  custom^y  ^aj®  of  hiring.  Every  honest 
man  would  object  to  such  -  a<^^  ^n^  consider  it  as  improper  and 
unjust.  Now,  the  len-J^g  ?f  »  s"™  ^f  money  at  twice  or  thrice 
the  established  ra»^  tmder  circumstances  of  distress  or  ignorance, 
is  precisely  ai^^^S^^s  to  the  case  of  the  horse,  so  far  as  moral  jus- 
tkeisco*'  °^^>  and  yet  consistency  does  not  require  that  both 
case^  -nould  be  subject  to  the  same  restraint,  because  the  value  of 
*i€  two  articles  is  not  alike,  and  not  equally  capable  qfapprecia' 
tion.  There  is  no  variety  in  the  value  of  money.  One  bag  of  a  hun- 
dred sovereigns  is  as  good  as  another  bag  containing  the  same 
number ;  [it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  bad  sovereigns  are  lent !] 
but  all  horses  are  not  alike ;  they  are  different  in  price,  from  five 
pounds  to  as  many  hundreds,  and  the  amount  of  hire  may  also 
vary  in  a  considerable  degree,  though  not  in  the  same  proportion ; 
and  the  only  reason  for  the  variation  being  different  is^  that  horses 
of  extraordinary  value  are  never  lent  at  all. 

Mr.  Bentham  has  attempted  to  turn  into  ridicule  this  compari- 
son of  the  loan  of  $t  sum  of  money  to  the  loan  of  a  horse,  and  has 
taken  the  trouble  to  furnish  a  parody  upon  the  occasion.  By  a 
little  transposition  of  language,  and  substituting  the  selling  of 
horses  for  the  lending  of  money,  he  endeavors  to  reduce  the  sup- 
posed parallel  to  an  absurdity.  The  pains  which  he  has  taken,  in 
the  occupation  of  ten  pages  upon  this  topic,  have  scarcely  been 
sufficiently  rewarded ;  for,  at  the  best,  it  is  but  a  criticism  on  a 
single  illustration,  and,  if  it  were  given  up  as  unhappily  chosen,  the 
argument  itself  would  remain  the  same.-  The  ridicule,  however, 
is  really  unfounded.  "  The  value  of  horses,"  says  Mr.  Bentham, 
"  differs  not  more  than  the  value  of  money  on  different  occasions." 
But  this  opinion  has  scarcely  the  slightest  foundation  in  truth  and 


33]  of  the  Usury  Laws.  453 

accuracy  :  the  value  of  horses  is,  of  all  other  species  of  property, 
the  most  fluctuating,  not  only  in  peculiar  instances,  but  in  the  ge' 
neral  trade.  The  price  varies  with  the  season  of  the  year ;  with 
the  demand  for  particular  kinds  of  horses,  for  agriculture,  war,  and 
other  purposes ;  with  the  age  and  condition  of  the  animal ;  its 
size,  strength,  form,  and  perhaps  even  its  color.  All  these  quali- 
ties relate  to  horses  in  general ;  and,  when  we  come  to  hunters 
and  racers,  and  those  which  are  used  for  private  riding,  the  value, 
or  supposed  value,  depends  so  much  on  personal  taste  and  opinion^ 
that  no  general  rate  could  possibly  be  fixed. 

On'th«  other  hand,  no  such  uncertainty  accompanies  the  value 
of  money .^  Ajuinea  will  last  for  centuries,  without  being  sensibly 
dimmished,  and^u  ig  perfectly  ludicrous  to  contrast  its  qualities  of 
siie,  form,  age,  or  ^lor,  with  those  of  a  horse.  But  then,  says 
our  author,  Ihe  valtj^jg  of  horses  are  not  more  different  than  the 
values  which  Ae  use  of  h..  game  sum  of  money  may  be  of  to  dif- 
ferent persons,  on  different  o^sions."  This  is  a  statement  not 
very  consistent  with  another,  whio.  j^  ^^de  in  the  same  letter  ^ 
namely,  the  instance  of  a  famous  racer^hi^h  was  sold  for  £2,000. 
The  ordinary  value  of  a  horse  is  only  tv^y  or  thirty  pounds; 
and  it  cannot,  surely,  be  said  that  the  valu^  f  ^'  ^^^^^  ^^ 
so  great  an  extent, — that  is,  from  one  pound  to  Oi^  hundred  n 
cent. !  ^^^' 

With  respect  to  Mr.  Bentham's  parody  on  a  passage  it.  ^j^^ 
Commentaries,  although  such  amusing  vivacities  might,  for  want  oi 
better  matter,  be  tolerated  in  an  election-speech,  or  an  election-pam- 

|>hlet,  they  are  scarcely  worthy  of  a  treatise  which  professes  to  be  phi- 
osophic,  and  has  been  pronounced,  by  a  learned  East-Indian  Judge, 
already  quoted,  as  "  a  very  acute  and  masterly  disquisition,  and  not 
die  less  profound  and  instructive  for  the  lively  and  amusing  manner 
in  which  it  is  conducted."  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  run  a  similar 
parallel  to  some  of  the  speculations  of  this  ingenious  author ;  but 
neither  time,  Aor  the  fitness  of  the  occasion,  will  permit  it. 

SECT.  XIX.— Ueviett?  of  the  Authorities  continued — Arch- 
deacon Paley. 

Dr.  Paley,  in  discussing  this  subject,  like  all  the  preceding 
^Titers  referred  to,  enters  briefly  into  a  refutation  of  the  ancient 
doctrine  against  the  receiving  of  interest,  and  then  notices  the  ge- 
neral history  of  the  law  of  usury.  ^'  The  policy  of  these  regula- 
tions," be  observes,  f  is  to  check  the  power  of  accumulating  wealth 
without  industry ;  to  give  encouragement  to  trade,  by  enabling 
adventurers  in  it  to  borrow  money  at  a  moderate  price ;  and,  of 
late  years,  to  enable  the  state  to  borrow  the  subject's  money 
itself." 

He  states  no  objection  to  this  policy,  and  it  therefore  may  be 


454  Mr.  Maugham  on  the  Principles  [34 

fairly  assumed  that  he  assented  to  its  justice,  as  well  as  its  wis- 
dom ;  and  that,  had  he  thought  otherwise,  it  is  obvious,  from  his 
Erevious  strictures  on  the  Mosaic  law,  and  the  general  scope  of 
is  valuable  writings,  that  he  would  freely  have  stated  bis  dissent, 
and  assigned  his  reasons,  if  he  did  not  concur  in  the  propriety  of 
the  modem  law. 

SECT.  XX.— Review  of  the  Authorities  continued--^ 

Adam  Smith.  .  . 

The  authority  of  Dr.  Smith,  on  the  reasonableness  of  Ae 
Usury  Laws,  has  been  already  vindicated  from  the  attacks  ^f  Mr. 
Bentham.*  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Smith  confessed  him?^^  to  be  mis- 
taken, and  Mr.  Bentham  to  be  correct.  If  thi*  acknowledgment 
related  to  the  identity  of  projectors  with  t^e  authors  and  im- 
provers  of  art  and  science,  the  admission  v^s  proper,  and  probably 
was  made.  It  is  not  desirable  to  incrp-/e  the  difficulties  of  im- 
provement. But  the  projectors  i-tended  by  the  author  of  the 
"  Wealth  of  Nations,"  were  e^^^^^y  of  «  ^^^7  different  character 
from  those  great  discover<  «."^  mventors,  who  have  immortalised 
their  names,  and  beup^^^  ^^^^  country. 

The  followin<»  **  ^^  passage  on  which  the  strictures  of  Mr. 

Bentham  h^-  ^^^"  ?°^^^  •  ^^^^^  "•  ^'^^P'  ^^     ^   -  i.         . 

,4  'jpu^  <egal  rate,  it  is  to  be  observed,  though  it  ought  to  be 

gQ^wWnat  above,  ought  not  to  be  much  above  the  lowest  market- 
rate.  If  the  legal  rate  of  interest  in  Great  Britain,  for  example, 
was  fixed  so  high  as  eight  or  ten  per  cent.,  the  greater  part  of 
the  money  which  was  to  be  lent  would  be  lent  to  prodigals 
and  projectors,  who  alone  would  be  willing  to  give  this  togh 
interest.  Sober  people,  who  will  give  for  the  use  of  money  no 
more  than  a  part  of  what  they  are  likely  to  make  by  the  use  of 
It,  would  not  venture  into  the  competition.  A  great  part  of  the 
jpapital  of  the  country  would  thus  be  kept  out  of  the  hands  which 
were  most  likely  to  make  a  profitable  and  advantageous  use  of  it, 
and  ^hrown  into  those  which  were  most  likely  to  waste  and  de- 
stroy it.  Where  the  legal  interest,  on  the  contrary,  is  fixed  but  a 
very  little  above  the  lowest  market-rate,  sober  people  are  uni- 
versally preferred  as  borrowers,  to  profligates  and  projectors.  The 
person  who  lends  money  gets  nearly  as  much  interest  from  the 
former  as  he  dares  to  take  from  the  latter,  and  his  money  is  much 
safer  in  the  hands  of  the  one  set  of  people  than  in  those  of  the 
other.  A  great  part  of  the  capital  of  the  country  is  thus  thrown 
into  the  hands  in  which  it  is  most  likely  to  be  employed  with  ad- 
vantage.*' 

In  another  part  of  the  same  work,  (also  in  book  ii.  chap.  4,) 
the  author  furnishes  a  clear  and  rational  account  of  the  data  by 

'  See  sect.  9. 


35]  of  the  Usury  Laws.  455 

iKrhich  the  rate  of  interest  should  be  guided :  He  says,  "  In 
countries  where  interest  is  permitted,  the  law,  iu  order  to  prevent 
extortion  of  usury^  generally  fixes  the  highest  rate  which  can  be 
taken  without  incurring  a  penalty.  This  rate  ought  always  to  Jlje 
somewhat  above  the  lowest  market-price,  or  the  price  wjiich  is 
commonly  paid  for  the  use  of  money^  by  those  who  can  give  the 
most  undoubted  security.  U  this  legal  rate  should  be  fixed  be- 
low the  lowest  market-rate,  the  eflfects  of  this  fixation  must  be 
nearly  the  same  as  those  of  a  total  prohibition  of  interest.  The 
^editor  will  not  lend  his  money  for  less  than  the  use  of  it  is  worth, 
and  !the  debtor  must  pay  him  for  the  risk  which  he  run$,  by  accept- 
ing the  full  value  of  that  use.  If  it  be  fixed  precisely  at  the 
lowest  market-price,  it  ruins,  with  honest  people  who  respect  the 
laws  of  th€ir  couinryy  the  credit  of  all  those  who  cannot  give  the 
very  best  secunty,  and  obliges  them  to  have  recourse  to  exorbitant 
usurers.  In  %  country  st-:h  as  Great  Britain,  where  money  is  lent 
to  government  at  three  per  ^nt.,  and  to  private  people,  on  good 
security,  at  four  and  four  and  i.  half,  the  present  legal  rate^five 
per  cent.,  is,  perhaps,  as  proper  as  a^iy." 

And,  looking  at  the  diminished  proWof  agriculture  and  trade 
since  the  time  of  Dr.  Smith,  and  the  conseq«(>Dt;  inability  to  pay  a 
high  rate  of  interest,  the  maximum  ought  .rather  w  be  reduced  and 
•limited  to  four  per  cent,  than  the  restriction  to  five  b%>. removed. 

SECT.  XXI. — Summary  and  Conclusion. 

Whether  we  consider  the  principles  of  this  important  subject, 
or  view  its  past  history  and  efiects,  or  the  circumstances  which 

'belong  to  it  at  the  present  time,  we  must  equally,  I  think,  arrive  at 
the  conclusion,  that  no  alteration  of  the  Laws  is  necessary,  and  that 
to  repeal  them  would  be  productive  of  incalculable  mischief.  We 
have  seen  that  the  object  of  the  enactments  against  usury  is  to 

•benefit  the  community  at  large ;  to  encourage  productive  labor,  by 

•the  employment  of  capital  at  a  reasonable  rate ;  to  check  the  tend- 
ency of  a  system  that,  if  permitted,  would  absorb  too.  much  of 

.^e  profits  of  industry,  and  afford  increased  temptation  to  idleness; 

« to  give,  so  far  as  human  affairs  will  permit,  stability  to  every  kind 
of  property,  and  to  fix  a  general  standard  by  which  its  value  may 
be  permanently  ascertahied.  We  have  shown,  that  -a  general 
system  of  borrowing  is  an  evil ;  that; its  facility  diminishes  pru- 

.  dence,  and  ^*  dulls  the  edge  of  husbandry ;"  that  it  is  unwise  ta 

'  offer  excessive  temptations  for  the  loan  of  money  on  deficient 
security ;  that  the  mature  of  money  differs  from  all  other  species 
of  property,  and  may  therefore,  consistently,  be  the  subject  of 

-regulations  differing  from  those  which  prevail  in  other  cases  ; 
that  money  is  of  no  intrinsic  or  abstract  value,  but  relative  and  con- 
ventional, and  therefore  comes  justly  within  the  scope  of  pQUti<;al 


456  Mr.  Maugham  an  the  Usury  Laws.  [36 

enactment ;  that,  unlike  otlier  commodities,  it  is  imperishable  in 
its  nature,  and  immutable  in  quality  and  extent. 

In  considering  the  effects  of  the  law  on  the  trading  community, 
it  has  been  conceded  that  the  repeal  might  benefit,  and  could  not 
injure,  Hie  Jirst-rate  merchant,  ^hose  credit  stands  next  to  that  of 
the  government ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  the  in- 
ferior classes  of  trade  and  manufacture,  which  constitute  the  great 
bulk  of  the  nation,  would  become  the  prey  to  every  species  of 
extortion;  that,  for  them,  there  would  be  no  general  market-rate, 
because  they  have  not  the  marketable  security ;  and  'they  would 
be  thrown,  therefore,  in  each  instance^  of  necessity,  upon  the 
mercy  of  the  money-lender. 

Whilst  such  are  the  grounds  and  principles  of  the  Law,  we  have 
perceived  that  the  facts  connected  with  its  operation  have  proved 
its  foundation  in  reason,  and  its  beneficial  effect  upon  society. 
The  nation  has  increased  in  wealth  fro«i  age  to  age;  commerce 
and  agriculture  nave  advanced ;  anc'  the  Law  has  followed  with 
equal  footsteps,  and  in  no  ins»*«ce  attempted  to   precede,  the 

Erogress  of  these  successive  /mprovements.  Of  all  other  laws,  it 
as  been  the  least  spe^»*lative :  it  has  taken  experience  for  its 
guide,  and  shaped  '^^  course  by  the  gradual  march  of  national 
prosperity.  A*  ^^^  average  profit  of  industry  has  diminished,  the 
rate  of  in^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  "s^  ^f  capital  has  been  reduced ;  apd  thus 
If  hap  i^t  to  skill  and  labor  their  proportionate  reward.  In  dis- 
cussing the  objections  to  the  restrictive  law,  it  was  intended  to 
meet  feirly  the  arguments  adduced  :  whether  the  reply  has  been 
successful  or  not,  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  public. 

The  writer  cannot  conclude  without  addressing  a  caution  to 
those  who  attempt  the  hazardous  enterprise  of  disturbing  a 
branch  of  our  jurisprudence,  which  is  intimately  engrafted  with 
all  the  transactions  of  society, — which  has  furnished  the  standard 
by  which  all  wealth  has  hitherto  been  compared  and  estimated, 
— and  by  which' ail  provisions  for  the  future  are  calculated  and 
arranged. 

If,  after  all  that  has  been  adduced,  the  policy  of  the  existing 
law  should  still  be  questioned, — if  doubts  still  hang  upon  the  mind, 
— ^let  us  pay  respect  to  the  authority  of  the  distinguished  writers, 
whose  opinions  have  passed  in  review  before  us ;  let  us  not  lightly 
reject  the  wisdom  of  ages ;  and,  though  we  bow  not  implicitly  to 
the  sages  of  old,  nor  to  the  larger  experience  of  modem  times, 
■till  we  cannot  dismiss  a  Grotius,  a  Puffendorf^  and  a  Bacon, 
without  due  regard;  nor  disdain  the  writings  of  Blackstone,  of 
Paley,  and  Smith.  In  a  doubtful  question,  their  weight  must 
turn  the  scale  ;  and  in  one  like  the  present,  where  reason,  prin- 
ciple, fact,  and  experience,  are  on  our  side,  their  antagonists  must 
speedily  kick  the  beam ! 


ETHICS, 


OR   THE 


ANALOGY 


OF   THE 


MORAL    SCIENCES 


INDICATED. 


COMPREHENDING  MORALS,  POLITICS,  AND  THEOLOGY. 


By  G.  field, 


author  op  "  an  essay  on   the  analogy  and   harmony   of 

colors/' — *'  tritogenea/'  &C. 


LONDON : 


1824. 


PREFACE. 


JLHE  design  of  the  following  outline  is  to  illustrate  that  Univer- 
sal Analogy  in  the  Intellectual  Sciences,  which  has  been 
shown  to  belong  to  the  Physical  and  Sensible,  in  several  essajs 
which  have  already  appeared  among  the  select  records  of  the  Pam- 
phleteer t* — the  aim  of  the  whole  being  to  instance  One 
MiND^  in  one  uniform  design^  pervading,  actuating^  and  regalatiug 
harmoniously^  all  nature^  science^  and  art. 

Ethics  are  distinguishable  into  Natural  and  Instituted:  the  first 
in  reference  to  universal  reason  or  nature^  the  latter  depending  on 
the  customs,  habits,  and  institutions  of  particular  countries  and 
communities ;  and  as  it  is  to  the  Natural  that  the  Instituted  owe 
their  force  and  obligation,  and  by  which  Ethics  are  to  be  appre- 
ciated and  improved,  in  seeking  the  true  relations  of  these  sciences, 
we  confine  our  view  to  Nature,  without  impugning  the  obligation 
of  man  in  society  to  the  practice  of  its  Ethical  Institutions* 

The  want  of  this  distinction,  and  of  an  entire  survey  of  the 
grbund  of  Ethics,  have  occasioned  confusion,  and  given  scope  to 
narrow  and  arbitrary  systems,  at  variance  with  truth  and  with  each 
other ;  to  attempt  to  trace  which,  through  the  entaoglemeot  of 
sectarism  and  controversy,  moral,  political,  and  religious,  would 
be  equally  fruitless  and  vain : — system  after  system  has  arisen,  and 
may  arise  on  every  subject  susceptible,  like  Ethics^  of  innumerable 
positions  and  infinite  views ;  to  class  them,  therefore,  generallj, 
may  sufiice  to  expose  their  deficiencies  and  their  failure. 

As  every  complete  system  comprehends  principles,  means,  and 
purpose,  essentially,  it  is  a  defect  in  system,  which  gives  to  either 
of  these  exclusive  influence ;  yet  some  philosophic  moralists  place 
all  ethical  virtue  in  good  principle,  and  vindicate  their  practice  by 

1  See  Pamphleteer,  Nos«  xvii,  xxiv,  xxix,  and  xxxiii. 


3]  PREFACE.  459 

the  merit  of  their  maxim : — other  religious  meralists  place  it  in  the 
righteousness  of  their  means,  and  justify  their  actions  by  their  law* 
fulness^ — and  lastly,  there  are  tfaose^  who  moralise  politically^  ivho 
place  all  virtue  in  purpose,  or  right  aim  or  intention^  and  defend 
their  principles  and  means  by  the  expedience  of  their  design  or 
purpose.  The  first  enjoins  us  to  act  according  to  just  principles, 
— the  second  according  to  right  means,  and  the  latter  according  to 
good  intentions :  so  long,  however,  as  principles,  means,  and  pur- 
pose, are  correlative  and  coincident,  will  these  moral  dogmatists 
oppose  each  other  with  all  the  powers  of  scepticism ;  each,  right 
according  to  his  own  point  of  view,  impugns  with  seeming  cogency 
the  dogmas  of  the  others^  Tlie  philosophist  condemns  means  and 
purpose,  as  insufficient  motives  to  reason,  and  demands  a  principle 
as  the  ground  of  action ;  but  principles,  however  plausible  and 
good,  are  universal,  and  actions  are  particular ;  and  if  imperfect  or 
fallible,  as  human  principles  are  apt  to  be,  will  conduct  us  in  error. 
The  religionist,  with  less  danger,  condemns  these  human  princi- 
ples, and  commands  not  to  do  evil  by  any  means,  that  good  may 
come  of  it  in  the  end,  which  is  future,  contingent,  and  hidden. 
Lastly,  the  politician  asserts,  with  equal  plausibility,  that  princi- 
ples atid  means  are  nugatory  and  invalid,  independent  of  their  end, 
and  that  ''it  is  the  end  that  governs  the  means ;"  a  maxim  as  infa- 
mous in  tnbral,  as  it  is  admirable  in  material  science.  We  con- 
.  chide^  therefore,  that  there  can  be  no  perfect  or  sufficient  system 
of  morals,  in  which  the  rules  of  moral  action  or  virtue  present  not 
a  right  concurrence  and  coincidence  of  principles,  means,  and 
purpose,  in  which  duty  and  interest  accord :  a  conclusion  War- 
ranted by  the  whole  history  of  morals. 

If,  after  all.  Ethical  systems  have  little  immediate  influence  on 
the  bulk  of  mankind,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  virtues  are  habits 
more  immediately  depending  on  education,  or  discipline,  than  doc- 
trines,— that  the  vicious  seek  not,  but  reject  moral  instruction,  and 
that  the  virtues  and  vices  of  men  in  general,  like  their  style  and 
language,  are  those  of  the  times  and  countries  they  live  in,  to 
which  few  rise  much  superior,  and  few  sink  far  beneath.  Moral- 
ists and  divines  may  reclaim  a  few  ill-disposed,  or  confirm  and 
improve  the  well-disposed ;  but  the  multitude  of  mankind  is  mo- 
delled by  the  laws  and  customs  of  society,  aided  by  the  force  of 
imitation,  and  the  influence  of  rank  and  example ;  in  a  word,  its 
morals  are  of  the  class  we  call  Instituted. 

Hence  the  necessity  of  political  institution  to  supply  the  absence 
of  self-direction  and  control  in  the  individual,  and  h^nce  the  con- 
nexion of  particular  morals  with  political  science : — Rulers  and 
politicians,  heads  of  families  and  heads  of  states,  are  therefore 
responsible  for  the  morals  of  mankind.    To  these,  the  framers  of 


460  PREFACE.  [4 

the  custoniSy  education,  laws^  and  fashions,  of  society^  and  the  dis- 
pensers under  Divinity  of  the  happiness  and  misery  of  the  species, 
belongs  the  chief  importance  of  a  right  system ;  for  knowledge 
precedes  action  with  those  who  act  not  blindly^  but  with  intelli- 
gence. 

If  political  science,  which  connects  men  in  community,  be  thus 
intimately  allied  to  the  morals  of  the  individual,  how  much  more 
intimately  are  these  connected  with  religion,  which  embraces  all 
intelligence  in  one  family,  under  the  parentage  of  Divinity  ;  the  sole 
sufficient  guarantee  of  the  morality  of  states  and  individuafs  ! 

Necessary,  however,  as  the  restraints  of  religion,  laws,  and  cus- 
toms, must  be  to  the  uncultivated,  unintelligent,  and  base,  there  is 
nevertheless  so  essential  a  propensity  to  rectitude  in  the  truly  ra- 
tional mind,  that  Ethics,  for  their  own  sake,  will  ever  share  its 
interest  and  attention  :  unfortunately,  however,  for  these  sciences, 
the  prevailing  fashion  of  philosophy,  by  engaging  the  mind  in  ex- 
periments, amid  the  infinite  particulars  of  material  nature,  disquali- 
fies it  for  that  wide  contemplation  which  is  necessary  to  a  science 
grounded  like  Ethics  in  universals,  and  for  that  breadth  of  princi- 
ples and  practice  which  is  necessary  to  an  art  that  comprehends 
the  world  ;  so  that^  while  society  is  justly  indebted  to  modem  times 
for  an  enlightened  and  heneficial  reform  in  its  physical  knowledge, 
the  moral  understanding  of  man  would  be  in  danger  of  subversion, 
should  not  the  superiority  of  moral  over  physical  force  be  suffi- 
cient to  resist  this  tendency  ultimately,  and  to  change  the  bias  of 
fashion  in  favor  of  moral  science. 

To  be  morally  good,  we  repeat,  is  imperative  in  the  natural 
constitution  of  a  truly  reasonable  or  intellectual  being, — for  reason, 
right,  just,  true,  wise,  and  good,  are  terms  strictly  coincident,  and 
of  the  same  signification  under  diiferent  views:  in  proportion, 
therefore,  as  men  are  criminal,  the  faculty  of  reason  fails  them, 
and  the  vicious  act  of  the  greatest  man  impugns  his  understanding, 
lowers  his  rank  in  society,  and  degrades  him  in  the  orders  of  being. 
It  follows  upon  the  same  ground,  in  the  opposite  direction,  that 
virtue  is  equally  elevating  of  character,  and  of  genius  too  ;  for  un- 
derstanding and  ability  are  coincident. 

Of  the  universality  of  this  moral  principle,  the  life  of  every  man 
bears  incontrovertible  evidence,  and  sooner  or  later  it  forces  his 
conviction  and  voluntary  testimony ;  if  not  happily  by  the  power 
of  understanding  in  early  life,  by  the  fallacious  or  fatal  conse- 
quences of  a  selfish  immorality. 

Important  as  Ethical  Science  must  ever  be;  that  it  is  so 
nevertheless  with  reference  principally  to  practice,  is  evident  from 
its  relation  to  active  intellect,  or  will ;  it  is  therefore  subordinate 
to  its  Art  :   and  as  the  excellence  of  the  material  or  physical 


5]  PREFACE.  461 

Artist  depends  upon  his  particularising  in  bis  art,  and  the  genius 
of  the  .^thetical  Artist  in  his  generalising,  so  must  the  excellence 
of  the  Ethical  or  Intellectual  Artist  depend  upon  his  universalising ; 
and  this  is  apparent  d priori,  since  there  is  no  true  morality  in  those 
principles  or  that  practice  which  aims  only  at  the  advantage  of  the 
mdividual  or  family ;  neither  in  politics  are  those  principles  or  that 
system  just  or  equitable^  which  are  designed  only  for  the  benefit  of 
a  party  or  community ;  nor,  finally,  in  Religion  in  particular^  are 
those  principles,  or  that  doctrine,  ethical  or  charitable,  which  con- 
cedes only  the  good  and  salvation  of  a  sect ;  or  even  of  a  race  of 
beings  to  the  exclusion  of  any  individual.  But  that  moral  artist 
does  not  act  virtuou&ly  or  morally,  nor  that  political  artist,  or  states* 
man,  with  true  policy,  nor  that  religious  artist,  or  divine,  reli- 
giously, whose  purpose,  while  it  is  good  for  an  individual  or  com- 
munity, is  not  so  universally. 

In  what  relative  sense  and  limitation  these  remarks  are  to  be 
understood,  will  appear  in  the  following  outline. 

Since,  then,  the  practical  reference  of  Ethics  renders  their 
science  subordinate  to  their  art,  and  ends  or  purposes  are  principal 
in  art ;  and  since  the  end  of  alt  art  is  some  good,  which  good  of 
ethical  art  is  happiness  or  felicity,  this  end  must  never  be  lost  sight 
of  by  the  ethical  artist : — and  as  his  means  and  principles  must  be 
subordinate,  or  co-ordinate,  to  his  purpose,  it  is  imperative  also 
that  they  partake  of  the  nature  of  his  end  in  being  good:  and 
although  virtue  as  a  principle  be  estimable  for  its  own  sake,  the 
practical  moralist  is  not  to  act  so  much  for  the  sake  of  virtue -as  for 
its  end. 

A  right  distinction  in  this  respect  appears  to  be  of  the  utmost 
importance,  because  the  most  rigid  moral  sects  have  been  opposed 
to  it ;  and  however  remarkable  they  may  have  been  in  some  in- 
stances for  fanatical  devotion,  or  heroic  fortitude,  have  given, 
nevertheless,  to  their  moral  systems,  the  greatest  fault  they  are 
capable  of,  by  rendering  them  impracticable :  for  practice  we  have 
shown  to  be  principal  in  morals. 

Man  cannot  be  disinterested  if  he  would,  and  at  the  same  time 
preserve  his  rationality,  since  a  reasonable  being  can  act  only  with 
counsel,  and  but  with  a  view  to  some  end : — to  put  the  end  out  of 
view  in  moral  action,  is  to  rob  virtue  of  her  object : — to  require 
man  to  act  only  from  the  imperative  of  duty,  or  obligatorily,  and 
without  interest  or  end,  stamps  necessity  upon  moral  motive,  and 
deprives  it  of  merit, — necessitates  man  to  act  like  a  slave,  and  not 
as  one  freely  engaged  for  a  reward.  Such  specious  disinterested- 
ness deprives  virtue  of  impulse,  and  assigns  the  greater  power  to 
the  weaker  motive. 

The  end  of  all  moral  action,  we  repeat,  is  goo'd; — moral  good 


462  PREFACE.  [6 

18  happiness,  s(nd  this  bappip^sis,  this  good,  aod  this  en^,  are  ne?ef 
to  be  lost  sight  of  by  the  moralist.  Freedom  to  act  for  an  end  is, 
indeed,  the  very  essence  of  morals  ;  neverthdesy,  it  is  evident  that 
duty  and  interest  concur  therein,  and  the  Divine  Moralist  inculcates 
l>oth«  We  are  fz^r,  therefore,  from  denouncing  the  motive  of  dutj, 
by  bringing  it  into  subordination  with  interest  in  practical  morals, 
and  confining  it  to  a  theoretic  station. 

Jf,  then^  Ethics  be,  as  \ye  have  attempted  to  show,  pre-emi- 
nently a  practical  ar.t|— and  if  practicable  through  right  or  virtue, 
be  is  the  best  moralist  whose  organ  or  system  renders  it  easiest  to 
the  individual  to  do  right;  he  the  best  politician  who  renders  it  easiest 
for  men  in  community  to  do  right,  and  he  ti^e  best  divine  who  ren- 
ders it  easiest  to  attain  religious. right.  To  multiply  duties  in  eidier 
way,  to  render  them  difficult  in  practice,  or  any  bow  unnecessarily 
discouraging,  is  to  frustrate  the  end  of  Ethics,  and  to  impede  the 
aim  at  excellence :  and  if  simplicity  be  a  principal  source  of  excel- 
lence in  the  inferior,  and  of  the  beautiful  in  the  fine  arts,  bow  much 
more  must  the  perfection  of  the  highest  of  all  arts  be  dependent 
upon  it ! 

How  wide  an  illustration  presents  itself,  upon  thi^  ground,  in  the 
history  of  religious  and  political  institutions,  and  in  the  moral  prac- 
tice of  past  times !  Nevertheless,  the  ethical  artist  has  to  guard 
equally  against  that  extreme  by  which  difficulties  ^nd  duties  are 
multiplied  to  the  prevention  of  practice,  and  that  by  which  the  aim 
at  simplicity  and  ease  becomes  destructive  of  duty,  and  subversive 
of  excellence ;  for,  according  to  the  Greek  proverb,  fine  things  are 
difficult  in  every  art,  and  more  especially  so  in  moral  art^  to  which 
iJl  othjer  arts  should  be  subservient* 

So  much  concerning  practical  morals,  as  opposed  to  the  tbeo^ 
retical  of  t|]ie  following  essay. 


ANALOGY 


OP 


THE  MORAL  SCIENCES 


§.  ].  1  HE  terms  Ethics  and  Morals,  in  their  original  ac 
ceptation,  denoted  the  science  of  human  manners,  or  the  self- 
government  of  man  :  and  the  first  of  these  terms  has  preserved  its 
original  sense,  while  the  term  Moral,  in  its  widest  acceptation, 
has  been  opposed  to  the  Material.  In  the  present  sketch  they  are 
confined  to  a  signification,  not  quite  so  contracted  as  that  of  tb^ 
former,  nor  so  extended  as  that  of  the  latter,  which  is  nearly  syqo*^ 
nymous  with  Intellectual.  jf 

§.  2.  Intellect  comprehends,  however,  a  passive  pozverhr 
understanding,  whence  knowledge,  and  an  active  or  Practical 
power  or  faculty,  whence  volition  ;  which  practical  faculty  has  been 
regarded  as  merely  Ethical  or  Moral,  notwithstanding  it  involves 
the  entire  sphere  of  Art  or  doing,  and  the  whole  science  of  Ends^ 
or  Teleology. 

§.  3.  But  Art  divides  universally  into  three  primary  ^genera, 
the  Material  or  Physical,  the  Sensible  or  JEstheticaly  and  the 
Intellectual  or  Metaphysical :  to  the  latter  of  which  we  assign 
£thics  or  Morals. 

§.4.  Again:  of  Intellectual  or  Metaphysical  Art, 
or  Practice,  there  are  also  three  genera ;  that,  in  the  one  extreme, 
which  regulates  the  knowledge  ;  that  in  the  mean,  which  directs  the 
judgment :  and  that,  in  the  other  extreme;,  which  r^ulates  the 
(actions  of  Intellectual  beings ;  to  denote  die  latter  of  which  we 
use  herein  the  term  Ethics  ;  and  as  all  art,  act,  or  practice^  implies 
design,  end,  or  purpose,  so  the  end  oi"  purpose  of  Ethical  att  is 
Happiness  or  Felicity.  ^ 


464  Field's  Analogy  of  [8 

§•  5.  £thics  involve,  therefore,  the  theory  and  practice,  the 
science  and  art  of  happiness,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  doctrine  or 
as  a  discipline  : — If  the  first,  the  view  will  be  universal  or  philoso* 
phical ; — if  the  latter,  it  will  be  particular  and  teleological. 

To  die  first  of  these,  or  the  Theoretic  view,  we  confine  oar 
Analysis. 

§.  6.  As  the  subject  of  £thics  extends  to  all  Moral  or  Intel- 
lectual Being,  its  distribution  branches  into  three  analogical  de- 
fartments  or  sciences ;  the  first  Particular ^  or  the  relations  of  the 
ndividualy  whence  Moral  Science  or  particular  Morab,  the 
second  General^  or  the  relations  of  a  plurality  or  community; 
whence  Political  Science;  and  the  third.  Universal,  or  die 
universal  relation  of  Intellectual  Being,  whence  Religious  Sci- 
ence, OR  Theology:  we  have  accordindy  distributed  it, by 
a  natural  analogy,  into  Morals,  Politics,  and  Theology. 

MORALS. 

§•  7*  As  Plastics  or  Geometry  are  at  the  foundation  of  the  Ms* 
thetical,  and  Chemistry  of  the  Physical  Sciences^  so  Morals  are  the 
basis  of  the  Ethical  Sciences.  By  Morals  we  herein  intend  or 
denote  the  science  of  the  relations  and  obligations  of  the  Individual 
Man,  or  mind. 

§.  8.  It  has  already  appeared'  that  the  Agent  and  Patient  of 
Morals  are  the  Will  and  Passions  of  Man,  whence  moral  effect, 
or  virtue  and  vice.  Yet,  in  strictness,  the  Will  and  Passions  are 
'but  distinct  principles  of  the  same  practical  faculty  of  mind ;  the 
nt,  being  more  purely  Active  and  voluntary,  is  termed  Will,  and 
the  latter,  being  Passive,  is  not  unaptly  termed  Passion. 

§.  9-  The  Will  then,  or  agent  of  all  Moral  effect^  is  that  power 
by  which  man  governs  all  his  voluntary  actions,  and  we  have  seen* 
that  the  Internal  agent  in  the  view  of  Nature,  which  constitutea 
the  Will  in  our  present  view,  is  a  portion  of  that  Original  J^ent 
by  which  the  universe  is  actuated ; — that  it  is  an  origmal  activity 
without  impulse  or  determinative,  other  than  the  laws  of  its  owa 
inscrutable  constitution,  and  therefore  it  is  Free.  Nor  is  it  in  the 
view  of  nature  alone,  that  the  freedom  of  the  human  will  is  estih 
blished ;  since  reason  and  science  demand  it,  and  consciousness 
confirms  it,  as  a  foundation  without  which  morals  vanish,  aod 
virtue  loses  all  obligation. 

§.  10.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Passions,  or  antagonist  of  Will, 
are  that  which  in  the  view  of  nature  we  have  termed  the  Internal 
Patient  (comprehending  the  appetites,  senses,  and  a£fections),  and 
are  therefore  subordinate  to  Will,  and  primarily  and  immediately 

'  Tritogenea,  Sam,  No.  xvii.  *  Ibid. 


9]  the  Moral  Sciences.  465 

subject  to  its  ordinance,  as  they  are  also^  mediately^  to  external 
agency,  and  therefore  they  are  not  free  ;  whence  the  natural  ne- 
cessity by  which  man  is  actuated  when  will  is  determined  by  pas- 
sion, and  his  moral  liberty  when  passion  is  subjected  to  will. 

'  ^.  11.  By  the  concurrence  of  the  will  and  passions,  the  agent 
and  patient  of  morals,  are  produced,  as  effects,  die  moral  virtues 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  moral  evil. or  vice :  if  therefore 
the  primary  genera  of  the  virtues  be  determined,  into  which  all 
particular  virtues  may  be  resolved,  the  vices  will  be  disclosed  in 
their  opposites. 

§.  12.  As  practical  morals  respect  the  end,  purpose^  or  interest 
of  moral  action,  the  theoretic  respect  its  principle,  or  obligation. 
Now  the  principle  of  all  moral  duty  or  obligation,  upon  which 
the  virtues  depend,  is  this,  that  according  to  that  which 

IS    GIVEN,    IS    THAT    WHICH    IS  REQUIRED  OR  DUE.      If  then 

human  agency  be,  as  we  have  seen,  derived  from  the  universal, 
man  is  bound  by  an  original  obligation  to  yield  an  equivalent  for 
that  with  which  he  has  been  invefsted  by  The  Giver  or  all  Good. 

§.  IS.  Accordingly,  He  has  given  him,  in  externat  relation, 
Power ^  and  duty  requires  the  proper  return  of  power,  its  full  and 
proper  use,  and  this  implies  (Economy. 

§.  14.  Again,  He  has,  in  medial  relation,  bestowed  upon  him 
Inclination  or  sense,  and  duty  demands  of  him  the  full  and  proper 
return  of  Inclination,  and  this  implies  decency  or  Decorum. 

§.  15.  Finally,  He  has  invested  him  internally  with  JRea^on  and 
Knowledge,  and  duty  requires  of  him  the  full  and  proper  return  <^P 
these^  and  this  implies  the  principle  of  all  moral  responsibility  dr^ 
duty,  Equity  or  equal  right.  * 

§.  16.  Since  therefore  Virtue  resolves  into  CEconomy,  Decorum, 
and  Equity,  Morals  may  be  divided  into  three  principal  sciences, 
that  of  OEconomi/,  that  of  Decorum,  and  that  of  Equity :  first 
therefore  of  the  first,  or  Science  of  CEconomy. 

§•  17.  To  make  the  most  of  the  Powers  with  which  he  has  been 
invested,  is  a  matter  not  only  desirable  to  every  man,  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  it  is  also  his  duty.  It  is  this  desire  which  prompts  him 
to  intend  and  commence  so  much  and  so  many  things,  and  thence 
to  do  and  finish  so  little  and  so  few.  Hence  order  and  (Economy 
are  essential  to-  realise  the  purposes  of  power. 

§.  18.  To  this  end,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  that  he  distinguish 
the  kinds,  and  estimate  the  extent  of  these  Powers,  assigning  to 
each  no  more  than  properly  belongs  to  it,  and  no  more  than  it  can 
accomplish. 

§.  19*  Now  there  are  no  other  human  powers  than  the  Physical, 
Sensible,  and  Intellectual,  and  of  these  the  foundation  must  be 
first  maintained,  or  the  superstructure  faHs.     Necessity  demands 

VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI-  2  G 


4§^  field's  4nahgy  qf  [IQ 

therefore  that  Physical  Powi^r  be  first  exe|^(|  in  constfuclji^ 
a  basis  for  the  rest :  i.  e.  Mao  mu$t  provide  for  bis  wa^^  an4 
well-beiug ;  but  when  he  grasps  at  more  than  re^pn  justifies  ip 
these  respects^  be  neglects  the  obhgations  of  his  (ligher  powers,  ^od 
becomes  an  ill  (economist  of  the  treasures  of  Intellect  and  Sense. 

§.  £0.  Next  to  his  Physical  lie  his  Sensible  Pqwer$.  N^ 
cessitj  here  too  demands  something  of  man,  and  inclination  fnore; 
so  much  therefore  is  diie  from  nian  to  his  Appetites^  Sei^se^^  and 
Affections,  as  is  essential  or  expedient  to  his  existepc^^  cpI)tm^9pce, 
and  rational  enjoyment.  'And  here  ought  to  termins^te  t}ie  exercise 
of  sensible  or  passive  power ;  but  when  it  is  allpwecl  to  exc^ 
this,  man  grasps  at  more  than  CEcqnon^y  justifies,  riiif)8  his  Ffajlj'' 
cal  and  Intellectual  Powers  and  means,  ^nd  Qap^'tne  touq^i^iipQ  aqil 
purpose  of  Sense  itself* 

§.  2i.  The  Intellectual,  though  last  ii]|  oxdet^  are  f^  first 
in  dignity  and  importance  of  the  Powers  subjec^  to  the  (Econ^ 
my  or  management  of  man.  Necessity  demand9  li^le  here.  Incli- 
nation more,  and  duty  most  of  all. 

^.  22.  Physical  Nature  and  Sense  being  provide^  for,  wi^  tbe 
best  (Economy,  duty  demands  the  rest  for  Intellect,  as  th^tupop 
which  depends  the  proper  use  of  his  Physical,  the  due  govermpent 
of  his  Sensible,  and  the  moral  excellence  of  bis  Intellectual  powers 
themselves ;  it  is  therefore  no  less  an  external  advs^itage  and  ac- 
cording to  inclination  properly  directed,  than  it  is  a  duty  in  man  to 
exert  and  economise  his  Intellectual  powers,  not  wasting  them  on 
^bjects  of  gross  possession,  nor  the  mere  enjoyment  of  agreeable 
^ll^ng,  but  directing  them  principally  to  the  more  important  con- 
cerns of  a  moral  and  intellectual  being. 

§.  23.  From  the  foregoing  it  is  evident  that  (Economy  is  tbe 
foundation  of  the  Moral  virtues,  deprived  of  which  Decorum  and 
Equity  lose  their  support;  it  is  likewise  sufl^cientljf  apparent 
that  Morals  may  be  interpreted  totally  upon  the  sole  doctrine  of 
either  CBconomy,  or  Decorum,  while  they  are  alsp  commonly  con- 
sidered as  the  mere  rules  of  Equity :  for  there  is  the  same  recipro- 
cal and  co-essential  relation  here  as  in  other  parts  qf  the  uqivfii]^ 
system  of  science,  whereby  the  virtues  become  intercbangeable, 
and  literature  susceptible  of  that  variety  of  pi^U8i(>Ip '  doctfines 
which  often  confounds  the  inquirer,  so  that  be  knows  lipt.  ^b^re  to 
fix,  since  each  perhaps  is  conclusive  ajccqrdin^  t.9  its  scqpe  ^i 
view:  lamentably  so  indeed  in  morals,  v^'b^rj^.  Y^v^rmg  8uf}fii;e9 
the  will,  and  delivers  the  most  sapred.  in^^resf^  and'  QbJjgjitiQn^^tp 
the  good  or  ill  disposition  of  unguided  nature  and  passippj^  the  in- 
fluence of  example,  or  the  detfsrmin^tiy^  pf  J^^^'S  s^nc^  in^tit^^onf• 

§.  24.  Secondly,  by  Decorum  or  Beciepcj,  tbe.  s^^qnd j^T?^^ 
of  Ajprals,  is  denoted  tbat  regui^t^on  of  tfje  Tnlch1!lflko^syf^^i{:\^  cp^ 


1 1]  the  Jkhral  Sciencei.  487 

ducts  tliein  t6  their  natural  and  proper  ends ;  bence^  thai  condnct 
of  the  Appetites,  Senses,  and  Affections,  which  reason  deems  un^ 
natural  or  intemperate^  b  indecent  and  void  of  decorum. 

§•  %5*  Now  Decorum  allows,  with  respect  to  the  Appetites, 
that  thej  be  licensed  only  so  ht  as  nature,  temperate  enjoyment^ 
and  reason,  require ;  all  inordinate  indulgence  has  accordingly  been 
deemed  indecent,  indecorous,  and  Ticious.  Hence  the  indeceticy  of 
Gluttony,  Druskenness,  and  Lust,  which,  when  unnatural,  are 
mortal  crinBOi,  See 

§.26.  Again,  with  regard  to  the  Setises,  Decorum  requires  that 
such  objects  only  be  sought  apd  presented  to  them  as  excite  agreeable 
^d  virtuous  feelings  and  that  al(  such  actions  and  objects  as  excite 
disgust  and  vice  be  put  away  from  them,  tience  personal  de- 
cency, hence  genteelness  (gentleness)  of  manners,  which  is  the 
medium  o^  decorum^  and  medial  in  morals  and  in  manners  \ — and 
iience.  lastly,  the  refinements  of  sense  in  the  morale  social,  and 
aacred  exercise  of  the  sensible  or  polite  arts,  &c. 

§•  27*  Finally,  with  regard  to  me  Affections,  Decorum  de- 
mands of  us  filial  and  fraternal  love^  love  of  country  and  love  of 
l^ind,  or  Friendship,  Patriotism,  and  Philanthropy ;  but  when  the 
affectiqns  are  exercised  on  unworthy  objects,  or  in  undue  degrees, 
decoruiip  and  propriety  are  violated :  hence,  devotion  to  lap-dogs, 
horses,  and  the  worthless,  are  offences  against  right  reason  and  pro- 
priety ;  while  intemperate  Friendship,  Patriotism,  and  Philanthro- 
py are  indecorous,  and  destructive  of  friends,  the  community,  or 
the  well-being  of  the  world. 

§.  28.  The  third  and  la^t  department  of  Morals,  we  have  teinult 
the  Science  of  Equity,  or  universal  right.  By  Equity  then 
we  aire  f e;qi)ii«d  Dot  to  deprive  others  of  their  external  goods  and 
power  by  §elfisb  and  unjust  exerci^  of  oir  own,-— thai  we  sacri- 
fice not  \irantoiiljf  ai|d  maliciously,  for  self-gratification,  the  feelings 
and  sensible  enjoyment  of  others,— ^and  that  we  put  no  unequitable 
cpntrot  upon  their  free-will  and  ccmsciisnce,  by  enforcing  laws  and 
Qpinions  of  our  own. 

^  48l.  Thus  we  see  how  £quity  pervades  the  whole  system  of 
T^r^ls,  and  why  they  have  been  ciMi^idered  only  as  a  doctrine  of 
]p)quit]i|;  and  mor4^  vulgarly  as  (h^e  n^les  of  mere  polity  and  custom 
in  respect  to  external  possessions. 

§.  $Q,  As  CEcQ^omy  relates  to  Bower,  and  Decorum  to  Inpli- 
oation,  so  does  Equity  to  Knowled^  or  Reason ;  for  without 
these  they  liave  no  objects  whereby  they  can  be  realiised. 

§.31.  So  much  by  way  of  outline  concerning  the  first  princi- 
ples off  Morals,,  the  practical  relations  of  which  involve  an  infinity 
of  particulars  appropriate  to  a  practical  treatise^  From  the  forego- 


468  Field's  Analogy  of  [12 

ingy  however,  arises  the  following  important  universal  corollary  or 
practical  moral  maxim : 

That  we  use  our  Power  tvith  OBconomy,  indulge  our  In- 
clination mth  Decorum^  seek  Knowledge  as  the  means 
of  Equity,  and  act  according  to  the  best  of  our 
IKnowledgb,  Inclination,  and  Power. 

§.  32.  To  be  perfectly  moral  or  good  will  require,  thereforCi 
perfect  Knowledge,  Inclination,  and  Power:  hence,  it  is  a  duty 
that  we  improve  them,  and  in  moral  art,  as  in  the  other  arts,  we 
can  but  approach  perfection  ;  and 

*^  There  is  none  good  but  One;*' 
and  that  One  is  the  universal  perfect  model,  according   to  which 
the  true  moral  artist  will  shape  his  works. 

§.  3d.  Accordingly  in  Nature  (the  manifestation  of  that  One, 
and  the  fountain  of  the  true  forms  of  art)  we  discover  perfect  (E- 
conomy,  without  waste  or  destruction  of  substanqe,  and  this  prin- 
cipally in  Physical  Nature,— -peifec^  Decorum,  or  Inclination  to  a 
natural  and  proper  end^  principally  in  Sensible  nature, — and  perfect 
Equity,  according  to  universal  knowledge  and  wisdom,  throughout 
all  nature. 

§.  34.  To  conclude ;  Equity,  the  last  and  principal  of  the  moral 
virtues,  is  the  beginning  and  basis  of  Politics,  to  which  we  pro- 
ceed. 


\  POLITICS. 

§.  35,  Politics, then,  are  the  second  or  general £thical  Science, 
according  to  which  the  Will  and  Passions  of  men,  in  community 
or  society,  are  riegulated  by  laws  founded  on  their  equal  rights  or 
Equity. 

§.  36.  Now  political  society  is  Domestic  or  Particular,  National 
or  General,  and  Universal  or  International :  consequently,  the 
science  of  government  or  politics  divides  into  three  branches  or 
sciences; — Domestic  government  or  (Economics;  National 
government  or  Polity ;  and  Universal  government,  or  the  law  (^ 
Nations, 

§.37.  CEcoNOMics,  the  first  branch  of  Politics,  teach  the  go- 
vernment of  a  Family  or  Domestic  Society ;  and  this  commences 
in  its  simplest  form  when  the  offspring  of  the  human 
FAIR  become  the  subjects  of  Domestic  Government. 
^.38.  Of  this  Pair  the  Male  is  qualified  by  mind  for  l^sl*- 
lion,  and  thence  of  right  the  ruler  of  the  family,  while  he  is  en- 


13)  the  Moral  Sciences.  46J^ 

powered  by  superior  strength  to  provide  for  and  protect  it,  as  well 
as  to  enforce  his  authority,  if  vice  should  render  force  necessary : 
and  herein  we  discover  the  origin  of  Legislative  power, 

§•  S9-  As  the  legislation  and  provision  of  a  family  are  the  pro- 
per occupations  of  the  mind  and  body  of  the  male,  so  the  gentler 
office  of  distributing  the  provisions  and  executing  the  laws  of  the' 
male  in  the  family,  belongs  to  the  Female,  who  is  peculiarly  quali- 
fied by  the.  tenderness  of  her  affections  to  dispense  the  one,  and 
soften  the  rigor  of  the  other :  and  herein  lies  the  origin  of  Execu^. 
tive  power. 

§.  40.  The  ofspring  of  this  establishment  are  its  proper  sub-* 
jects — its  natural  servants — till,  fitted  themselves  for  rule^by  power, 
progress,  and  education,  they  conjugate  in  like  manner  and  form 
other  domestic  societies  or  families;  and  here  begins  the  foundation 
of  popular  governments 

§.41.  Popular  society  is  therefore  but  a  federation  or  family  of 
families,  and  the  principles  of  its  government  are  the  same  ;'-^if 
not  male  and  female,  it  must  at  least- have  their  legislative  and  exe« 
cutive  offices. 

§•  42.  Thus  all  the  subordinate  domestic  societies  spring  from 
the  first  family,  all  own  one  common  origin  and  common  head  in 
their  original  parent;  hence  naturally  the  Regal  0^€,  whether 
we  name  it  Patriarchal,  Magisterial,  Judicial,  or  Monarchical,  8cc., 
and  this  office  and  authority  is  equally  represented  by  every  head 
or  president  of  a  state,  however  it  may  have  been  first  established. 

§.  43.  As  the  Father  of  the  first  family  advances  in  years,  his 
faculties  decline,  while  those  of  his  offspring  advance  to  maturity  ; 
he  is  not  on  this  account  deprived  of  precedence,  but  his  sons  be- 
come the  counsellors  of  his  age,  and  assist  in  the  legislative  duties, 
whereby  the  oeconomy  or  polity  of  their  family  or  families  is  regu- 
lated :  hence  the  origin  of  councils,  senates,  parliaments,  &c.  Thus 
while  the  power  of  the  patriarch  is  limited,  the  head  of  the  state  is 
preserved  with  reverence. 

§.  44.  When  the  Father  of  the  first  family  dies,  the  elder  son  of 
thiB  family  (having  no  incapacity)  is  the  best  qualified  by  strength 
and  experience  for  the  paternal  office,  and  therefore  it  belongs  to 
him  by  a  natural  right.  And  herein  lies  the  origin  of  Hereditary 
descent, 

§.  45.  The  elder  son  of  the  elder  branch  has  this  right  in  perpe- 
tuity, while  the  younger  sons  and  branches  of  families  have  a  like 
hereditary  right  of  council  and  control ;  and  hence  the  true  origin 
of  the  Patriciate  or  Nbfii/iVj^,  as  hereditary  counsellors  of  roonarcbs 
in  the  adult  state  of  society. 

§.  46.  As  Society  becomes  extended,  the  energy  of  government 
declines,  and,  influenced  by  local  and  other  circumstunces,  it  na- 


470  Fidd's  Analogy  qf  [14 

Aurally  sepaorates  into  distinct  commumties,  each  of  wbicli  rbgulaites 
its  own  internal  order  and  oeconomy :  hence  the  Divernty  of  H<h 
tions. 

§.  47.  The  relation  of  these  to  one  original  stock  is  itill  appa- 
lent,  and  to  provide  for  their  redprocal  righb  imd  inteicouise  is 
die  uaiveraal  office  and  origin  of  the  Law  of  Nations  c — law  nattt- 
ralfy  founded  oa  their  equal  rights  or  equity,  and  subject  lk>  lbs 
same  forms  of  polity  as  diose  which  govern  Aunilies  und  commor 
Bities. 

§.  48.  Thus  we  see  how  OBconomics  extend  throughout  every 
branch  of  Politics,  and  conistitiite  a  foundation  for  the  Whola^  ac- 
cording equally  with  Nature,  Science,  and  Sacred  Writ. 

^  49.  As  that,  however,  which  we  have  in  the  beginning  temed 
Polity  [§.  36w]ob  National  Govesnmbmt  is  medial  in  Po> 
litics,  and  that  to  which  we  owe  the  name,  a  more  particiilaf  view 
of  this  science  wiU  bietler  exhibit  "die  general  forms  bf  polity,  or  Ae 
constitutions  of  states ;  more  especially  since  the  prcigrcas  of  uni- 
versal politics,  which  we  have  traced  froat  the  iaofividual^  is  the  aa- 
tural  and  not  the  artificial  structure  subsisting  among  men  and  natioi»y 
disjointed,  diversifed,  and  lost  to  the  remembrance  even  of  ab  ori- 
ginal and  legitimate  stock ;  whence  the  sane  practical  politician  gfo- 
vems  men  rather  according  to  what  they  are  aCrtifieiaUy,  tbait  accord 
ing  to  what  they  ought  to  be  naturaUy  and  justly »  Yet  even  in  poli- 
tical practice  s6me  traces  of  nature  and  universal  relaiiilm  are  pre- 
served, affording  a  clue  to  their  true  principles  and  knproveoieot. 

§.  50.  To  comprehend  any  thing,  we  must  i»certein  tbe  extr&nes 
by  which  it  is  limited.  The  extremes  of  politieal  goVemnaeat  are 
the  government  of  an  Individual,  being  an  absolute  monarchy  or 
AUTOCRACY,  and  the  governilient  of  all,  being  an  univeirsid  re- 
public or  DEMOCRACY.  They  are  indeed  coneeivaUe,  but  io^ 
practicable  and  vicious  extremes.  Hence  a  moaareb  must  de* 
pute  at  least  an  executive,  and  a  people  or  repuUic  a  legisktive 
power.    The  mean  of  these  extremes  is  aristocbagy. 

§•51.  Of  these  extremes  and  mean  is  Constituted  the  milted 
government  which  may  be  called- ANALOCBACY,becauseit  eqaattf 
comprehends  the  other  three, — a  f6rm  vrfatcb,  discarding  the  akfh 
bite  in  prince  and  people,  renders  eVery  part  relative  to,  and 
harmonious  as  a  whole. 

§•  5^.  Again : — among  men  first  congtegated^  witbont  oyiganised 
government,  every  individual  is  naturally  his  own  defender  and 
avenger, — ^tbe  framer  and  executor  <rf  his  own  laws.  This  is  cdled 
tiie  state  of  Nature^  and  di£Fers  from  anarchy  lb  being  a  preparatioo 
for,  and  not  a  dissolution  of  government. 

§•  53.  The  next  conceivablie^  state  and  first  political  organisatioQ 
of  a  community  is  that  in  which  a  congi^ss  of  men  concur  to  de- 


i  ^  this  Moral  Sciences.  47  i 

fisHA  4tid  kieti^k  their  i-e'ciiirbcal  and  coniinbri  rij^hti  and  injuries ; 
a  state  in  which  eacl^  incll^iaual  has  e^ual  claiih  to  lej^islatlve  arid 
eikciiiivl^  power ;  ^nd  thisi  is  Democracy  or  i-epiiblicanisin  *  jl)ein^ 
piillstepreriio^^dfroiti  the  state  of  nature;  or^  ot\  the  di^soliiUoti  or 
dii  ^jtablish^d  goVernnierit,  it  id  i  remove  toward  anarchy. 

§.54*  Opposed  to  this  is  that  constitution  of  society  in  whicH 
dll  the  individusils  of  a  comiiiunity  are  united  under  oiie  individual, 
Thi3  is  called  Auldcrdc^  or  monarchy,  a  state  in  which  uhcon- 
trdlied  power,  legislJEitivey  Judicial  and  executive,  is  lodged  in  the 
hdifd  of  an  hereditary  pi-inee  or  chief,  in  whom  the  individual  ahd 
cbniiiiunity  riigard  tiieir  defender  and  avenger. 

§.^  55.  BetwJl^'h  these  }ic>s  Arhtoctdc^,  or  that  form  of  polity, 
in  whith  the  three  {^ov^ets  of  d  stdte  are  dl^tribiit^d  ih  M  Eaiids  of 
a  pjiurality  of  hereditary  hof/Teis  oir  chiefs. 

§.  AS.  Sata,  ^M,  afe  fee  three  prifaiarjf  fbtms  of  J)bli<j^,  of  which 
iHk  ^i^nfi61ed  dre  tiuni^rotis  dhd  tiotorious ;  yet  wherever  either 
hii  pfevaited,  some  itiixture  of  the  others  has  been  found ;  thus 
Aristocracy  add  Democracy  have  their  presidents,  and  the  monarch 
hi^  doiitisfellbrs,  8tc. 

^.  57 y  It  i^  hot  the  business  of  this  sketch  to  point  out  the  ad- 
vaiitdg^s  and  defi^bts  bf  each  ^riiiiarv  form,  nor  to  show  in  what 
manner  they  compound  iii  tlje  cotistitiitions  of  the  boundless  variety 
bf  ^iat^i  ahd  femjiii-e^;  for  thes^  belbtig  to  a  particular  and  practical 
tr'edti^e.  l^her^  r^maiii^  therefore  for  oiir  notice  only  that  codsti- 
tii'tloti  of  gbveiti<t(tij(t  in  wlilth  the  three  ar^  equally  united,  called 
tfa^  Mixed  forth,  wHereiri  th^  respective  advaritag^es  of  tlie  (irimary 
foJ'ms  are  cohlbiti^d,  d^hd' their  natural  defects  reciprocally  corrected 
abd  balanced. 

^.  58.  The  Mixed  govertiihent  or  Amlocrdctf,  then,  is  that  in 
\i^faibh  a  Det[iocra(;y  holds  the  legi^ative  power  arid  frames  the  laws 
according  to  which  the  Monarch  or  executive  governs  the  state^ 
between  whibb  is  placed  the  Aristocracy  in  medial  relation, 
virliile  each  reciprocally  controls  and  supports  the  others.  Of  this 
mbst  perfect  form  of  polity,  there  has  been  no  example  so  cele- 
brated arid  illtistfioud  as  that  bf  the  British  constitution,  ever  rising 
siiperibf  to  obloquy,  destined  to  ends  nobler  arid  more  beneficent 
than  the  famed  empires  of  Greece  and  Rome. — ^The  remotest  pos- 
terity will  regard  it  as  the  triumph  of  politics,  the  ornament  of  Eu- 
rope— the  palladium  bf  the  world ! 

§.  59.  Having  pointed  out  the  primary  forrins  by  which  the  con- 
stitutions of  states  are  di^tinguish^d^  there  yet  remains  for  more 
particular  considel-iation  that  which  is  common  to  them  all. 

§.  60.  Every  constitution  or  form  of  government  comprises  an 
active  and  passive,  or  a  legislative  and  executive   power,  and 


472  Fields  Analogy  of  [16 

divides  in  three  primary  views  into  departments  referring  to  objects 
of  a  physical,  sensible,  and  intellectual  nature. 

§.  6l.  Of  these  departments,  the  first,  and  of  most  necessity, 
administers  to  the  physical  power  and  well-being  of  a  state ;  the 
second  guides  and  fosters  its  arts  and  literature ;  and  the  third 
guards  and  maintains  its  morals  and  religion* 

\.  62.  Accordingly,  the  best  organised  governments  have  divided 
into  legislative  and  executive  departments  in  the  one  respect,  and 
in  the  other  they  have  resolved  into  church  and  state,  providing 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  religion  and  power,  while  arts,  taste, 
and  literature,  have  been  for  the  most  part  dependant  on  the  caprice 
of  fashion,  the  bounty  of  private  individuals,  or  the  patronage  of 
princes ;  whence  associations,  colleges,  chartered  companies,  &c., 
in  supply  of  this  department  of  a  government. 

§.  63.  In  practice,  however,  the  first  of  these  departments  is  that 
to  which  the  care  of  a  state  is  almost  exclusively  confined  ;  and  as 
it  is  its  chief  concern  as  well  as  practice,  law  and  power  are  princi- 
pally directed  to  defend  the  rights  and  avenge  the  wrongs  of  indi- 
viduals and  the  state;  first,  of  individual  with  individual,  ot private 
rights  and  wrongs ;  secondly,  of  individuals  with  the  community,  or 
public  rights  and  wrongs ;  and,  thirdly,  of  the  community  with  other 
communities,  or  national  rights  and  wrongs. 

\.  64.  The  last  of  these  is  the  foundation  of  the  third  and  ulti- 
mate genus  of  political  science,  the  law  or  governmbi<t 
OF  NATIONS  ;  and  notwithstanding  this  is  the  most  desirable  in- 
stitution of  society,  as  that  on  which  its  permanent  advantages  can 
alone  be  ensured  to  the  individual,  very  few  practical  traces  are 
hitherto  noticeable  in  the  history  and  progress  of  man  of  a  political 
constitution  of  states^  provided  with  power,  legislative  and  execu- 
tive, for  preserving  their  peace  and  equal  rights  ;  yet  it  is  evident,, 
upon  the  principle  of  the  present  sketch,  and  the  universal  demands 
of  reason  and  science,  that  government,  vested  with  power  aud 
authority  to  defend  the  rights  and  avenge  the  wrongs  of  nations, 
depends  upon  the  same  principles  of  polity  and  equity  as  that  of 
individual  man.  A  community  of  nations  is  therefore  universally 
susceptible  of  the  same  modes  and  forms  of  government  as  a  com- 
munity of  individuals. 

§.  6a.  Having  thus  run  rapidly  over  the  ground  of  politics,  and 
traced  it  from  particular  or  domestic  government  to  universal 
government  or  the  law  of  nations,  being  that  in  vihich  the  duties 
and  interest  of  all  men  become  united, — the  summit  of  politics  and 
foundation  of  religion  or  theology,  we  proceed  finally  to  the  investi- 
gation of  the  latter. 


1 7]  the  Moral  Sciences.  473 


THEOLOGY. 


li 


'  §.  66.  Last  of  the  Ethical  sciehcea^  and  the  pinnacle  of  all 
science^  is  religion,  or  theology,  being  die  science  of  the 
relations  of  particular  intelligences  with  universal  intelligence,  or 
of  human  beings  with  the  divine  essence,  or  of  man  with  God. 

§.  67.  Accordingly,  it  has  appeared  that  all  religious  effect  de- 
pends upon  the  concurrence  of  the  will  of  man  with  the  will  of 
God :  an  enquiry,  therefore,  concerning  the  nature  and  conception 
of  Deity  is  the  first  business  of  Theology  ;  and,  next,  that  of  man 
and  his  relations  to  God. 

§.  68.  Without  such  first  inquiry,  die  ichief  object  of  religion, 
THE  Supreme  Being,  though  universally  acknowledged,  must 
be  very  inadequately  and  variously  conceived,  and  the  relations  of 
man  to  God  as  inadequately  and  variously  understood : — hence 
the  innumerable  objects  of  adoration, — the  various  denominations 
under  which  the  I>eity  has  been  worshipped  in  different  ages  and 
countries, — and  the  variety  of  religious  opinions. 

§.  69*  The  highest  and  most  comprehensive  of  all  conceptions 
to  which  the  mind  of  man  can  be  elevated  by  the  powers  of  under* 
standing  and  philosophy,  is  the  totality  of  things  internal  and  ex- 
ternal,— that  in  which  all  is  united,  or  wherein  all  things  exist,— ^ 
the  subject  of  all  objects, — the  universal  essence, — the  Supreme 
Being ;  but  this  is  the  God  of  reason  and  science,  who,  like  the 
God  of  revelation,  ^  in  whom  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being,' 
is  one  and  indivisible. 

^.  70.  We  have  seen  that  all  things  individually  and  collectively 
resolve  into  Three  incorporeal  principles  or  essences,  each  absolute- 
ly and  reciprocally  essential  to  the  others : '  the  God  of  reason 
and  science,  like  the  God  of  revelation,  is  therefore  triune,  'not 
three  Gods  but  one  God,'  and  every  natural  object  becomes  a 
symbol  of  the  Deity. 

§.71.  Of  essences  and  first  principles  in  themselves  we  can 
know  nothing,  since  they  are  the  conditions  of  knowledge,  but  only 
their  effects  and  attributes ;  hence  the  attributes  and  effects  of  the 
universal  essence  can  alone  be  known,  and  the  God  of  reason,  like 
the  God  of  revelation,  is  incomprehensible  in  essence. 

%.  72.  In  universal  principles  we  discover  all  power ^  in  universal 
relations  all  wisdom,  and  in  universal  purposes  all  good ; — and  these 
are  the  attributes  of  God.     And  so  on  of  all  the  divine  attributes. 

§.  73.  The  God  of  reason,  then,  is  that  infinite  and  sole  absolute 
Being, — that  Essence  of  All, — which  the  universal  conception  of 

m 

'  Tritogenea,  Pamphleteer,  No.  XVII. 


iU  FieWfl  Amiogjf  of  118 

the  universal  system  points  to^  but  does  not  make  known,  otbenvise 
than  analogically  or  symbolically  in  bis  works  and  energies. 

§.  74.  Hence  conceptions  of  God  and  bis  attributes  can  be  ao 

Siired  in  intellc^ctual,  s^sible^  and  material  qature  alone,  whence 
e  personification  of  God  lina  the  diyine  hypostases,  whereby 
viitgar  conception  fs  assisted,  and  af  the  sanie  time  inclined  to 
idolatry,  when  tmsupported  by  the  juster  and  more  expanded  views 
of  revelation  and  science. 

§^  75.  The  power  by  which  every  piart  of  the  natural  sysiim 
may  be  traced  to  universality,  conducts  also  to  t)eity,  wbenjre  ever? 
science  and  every  part  of  nature  has  its  God :  ihdt  is,  a  cohtracted 
view  of  the  universal  rdations  or  principles  whicn  depend  upon 
the  universiil  essence :  and  such  has  been  ihe  ground  of  various 
partial  and  imperfect  doctrihes  and  conceptions  o^  Deity,  and  &e 
murtip1ici{j[  pi  Oods;  But  since  ^nythii^g  short  of  the.  iiniversal 
conception  affords  p6i  si  partial  and  defective  imajge  of  Goa,  su(£ 
Gods  a^e  idols,  and  such  doctrines  idolatrous. 

§.  76.  j^eitl^r,  in  fine,  does  the  universai  conception  of  ^e 
universal  system  itself  afford  any  other  than  the  most  coniiprehen- 
sive  image  or  jsymbol  of  God,  arid  by  no  nieaiis  a  knowledge  of 
his  intellectual  essence  ;  yet  siich  aliso  is  the  case  with  tne  physical 
elements^  which  a^e  no  otherwise  knowable  than  in  effect  or  energy; 
and  as  we  want  not  evidence  of  the  unknown  principles  of  matter, 
3o  God>  the  universal  principle  arid  essence  of  all,  does. not  leave 
himself  without  a  witness,  placing  his  Essence  alone,  like  that  of 
matter,  beyond  the  confines  of  knowledge,  where  reason  yields  its 
pbwers  in  humble  adoi'ation  df  its  source,  its  essetice,  and  its  eu(|. 

§.  77 •  Since  God,  the  universal  intellectual  being,  is unknowat>le 
in  essence,  it  follows  that  the  particular  intellectual  bein^,  bian, 
has  an  essence  related  to  the  universal,  also  beyond  the  confines  of 
knowledge,  which  essence  is  called  the  soul  or  spirit ;  whence  the 
essential  union  of  man  with  God — his  free  agency,  and  his  moral 
and  religious  obligations  and  dependance. 

§.  78.  Considered,  however,  in  his  universal  relation,  man  has 
the  same  triple  nature  in  which  oiir  universe  is  foiinded  ;  he  begins 
in  matter f  proceeds  to  sense,  and  thence  to  inieltect*  It  is  then  his 
ethical  relations  commence,  and  tlie  perrectioh  of  his  nature  re- 
quires that  his  individual  will  and  actions  should  harmonise  with 
the  will  of  God  or  universal  will,  as  the  essential  condition  of  moral 
harmony,  or  happiness. 

§•  79*  Philosophy  then  requires  and  demonstrates  (me  universal 
Go  J}  in  trinity,  and  trinity  in  unity,  of  three  co-essential,  incorpo- 
real subsistences,  personalities,  or  hypostases,  whose  essence, 
transcends  all  human  comprehension,  and  wlib   exhibits  hlinself 


Id)  the  Moral  Sciewes.  if^ 

ei^fy  wiiere  to  the  piotiis  philoddpbic  efd,  otttnipdiettt,  6ttitii^i^hf^ 
and  okittiipresent— imiTef  s%il  ih  ^isdoil),  bo W^,  trm!-  sdbdtte^l^. 

§.  90.  I^hilosopby  detttOtntrates  also  ttikt  mh  isfomid '  lU  m 
im^^  "df  Ood/-^fiaae  fa  tai  petMnaXity,^^^botAlSme,  depcfrdftttt 
on,  cotisubstantial  iA&  cb^titMi  Unth  €k](d^  SVMnt^  hfei  rel%ibttii 
duty  to  God  is  imperatively  that  of  a  part  to  the  whole;  and  to 
become  a  participant  of  universal  good  it  is  essential  that  his  indi-^ 
vidual  will  should  comport  with  the  Universal  will  of  God,  while 
his  hope  of  immortality  is  ensured  by  the  certainty  of  his  consub- 
stantiality  with  God* 

§.81.  How  it  happens  that  triunity,  which  belongs  to  divinity, 
.and  pervades  all  nature  and  science,  should  have  been  deemed  an 
impenetrable  mystery,  and  contrary  to  reason,  might  astonish,  were 
it  not  that  every  act,  sensation,  and  thought  involves  triunity,  and 
that  upon  the  separation  of  co-essentials  they  elude  conception  and 
vanish  as  realities,  of  which  nevertheless  we  have  clear  evidence  in 
union. 

§.  82.  So  much  with  respect  to  the  ground  of  Theology  ;  the 
various  doctrines  of  which^  prevalent  in  different  ages  and  countries, 
maybe  distributed,  according  to  our  analogy,  mio physical  theology, 
or  the  deification  of  nature  and  natural  objects,  whence  the  worship 
of  the  sun,  and  heavenly  bodies — the  elements,  &c. 

§.  83.  Secondly,  into  figurative  theology,  whence  the  adoration 
of  sensible  images  and  representations  or  personifications  of  the 
powers  of  nature  and  the  attributes  of  mind :  such  have  been 
the  poetical  and  allegorical  mythologies  of  Rome,  Greece,  Egypt, 
and  the  East. 

§.  84.  And  thirdly,  into  spiritual  theology,  or  the  deification  of 
mind  and  its  attributes,  whence  the  adoration  of  animated  beings, 
spiritual  intelligences,  the  demiurgus  or  soul  of  the  world,  &c. 

§.  85.  These  again  have  been  diversified  and  compounded  with- 
out end,  so  that  every  department  and  object  of  nature,  or  figure  of 
imagination,  has  been  deified  in  its  turn  ;  of  all  which,  as  of  true 
religion,  atheism  is  the  negation,  being  the  last  resort  of  scepticism, 
in  religion;  while  the  comprehensive  analogy  of  universal  theology 
and  revelation  absorbs  and  reconciles  them  all  in  the  adoration  of 
the  only  true  God  and  triune  Essence  of  All.' 

§.  86.  Thus  we  have  an  indication  of  this  most  sublime  and  im- 
portant of  all  sciences  upon  a  rational  foundation  alone ;  and, 
were  this  the  proper  place,  there  is  a  wide  and  fertile  field  open 

^  See  Isaiah  xliv.  24 ;  xlv.  12 ;  &c.  Psalms  czxxix.  6,  7,  8.  Job 
xxvi.  14 ;  xxxiii.  4  ;  xxxiv.  14,  15,  16 ;  Daniel  v.  23 ;  1  Kings  viii.  27 ; 
8  Chronicles  ii.  6;  Genesis  i.  1,  26,27;  John  iv.  24;x.  30,  31,  34;  xiv. 
10.  20;  Acts  xvii.  25.  28;  Romans  i.  20;  xiv.  7;  1  Corinth,  iii.  16;  xii.  4, 
5, 6 ;  2  Corinth,  iv,  18;  xi,  3, 


47tf  ¥k\d's  Analogy,  8ic;  [20 

whereon  the  identity  of  the  religion  of  reason  and  revelation  may 
be  established,  and  these^  which  have  been  set  at  continual  variance, 
reconciled  bj  the  power  of  an  unbounded  analogy  which  discovers 
tUe  saqie  simple  and  sublime  theology  that  pervades  the  Old  Tes- 
tapient/and  the  pure  nnoral  doctrine  of  the  New. 


AN    APPEAL 


TO 


THE    BRITISH     NATION, 


ON   THE 


HUMANITY  AND  POLICY 


OF  FORMING 


A  NATIONAL  INSTITUTION, 


FOR  THE  PRESERVATION  OF 


LIVES  AND  PROPERTY  FROM  SHIPWRECK. 


By  S^R  WILLIAM  HILLARY,  Bart. 


SECOND  EDITION. 


LONDON : 
1824. 


THE     KING. 

SIRE,  .  , 

From  Your  Majesty's  exited  station  as  Sovereign  of 
xhe  greatest  maiitime  power  on  earth,  and  Aran  the 
ardent  zeal  with  which  you  have  graciously  extended 
Your  Royal  patronage  to  every  measure  which  could 
promote  the  welfare  and  the  glory  of  the  British  Navyt 
I  have  presumed,  with  the  utmost  deferencej  to  dedic^ 
the  following  pages  to  Your  Majesty. 

With  the  most  dutiful  respect,  I  have  the  honor  to 
subscribe  myself. 

Sire, 

Your  Majesty's 
Most  devoted  subject  and  servant, 

WKXIAM  HILLARY. 


INTHOOUCTION 


SECOND  EDITION. 


rf^HE  few  pages,  of  wtiicb  the  present  editioa  is  cotnoosed,  ^ere 
principally  written  under  the  circumstances  there  stated,  -which  hswl 
forcibly  called  my  attention  to  the  fatal  effects  of  thps?  eier- 
Tecurring  temp^stSj  whi9li  scatter  deyastaupn  and  misery  ifound  our 
coasts,  where  the  vetenu)  commander  ^nd  lijs  ha^d^jr  cr^w,  ^I^ 
tljeir  helpless  passengers  of  eyery  qge  and  station  in  ^e»  are  i^f^ 
-wretchedly  to  pensh  (rooi  the 'K^nt  of  ttia^  aid  whl<r^  H h^s  becoi^e 
my  object  earnestly  to  solicit  for  these  destitute  yicdms  Qf  the  stoini^ 

Another  'winter  has  qcqrcely  yet  C9i^in,?ncedj  and.  o^r  cpast^  are 
Bp^esd  over  yrith  the  shattered  fi;a^inent3  of  tnor^  than,  ^wo  bv|q- 
dred  vessels,  ^h^ph,  ii^  one  fat^l  tempest^  jiitre  been  stran4ed  on  d^^ 
B^-itish  shor^Sf  attended  wil^,  a^i,  :|ppa^||  h^yog  of  huipgn  life, 
heyopd,  all  present  means  to  3Spei;tain  it^  treiifendous  extend, 
Mpides  tlj^  loss  of  property  to  an  enorinp'^s  amoujit :  and  s?iaU.this 
^earfifj  warning  a]so  be  without  avyl?  Sh^l  w^  8t,iU  close  pujf 
^jesoo  COiiyiijtioii,  until  fajrther  catastrophes  y?jing  fi^m.U^  t;hos^ 
reluctant  eSirts,  which  ought  to  spring  spontaneously;  from  ^ 
^pneyijlent  peppfc  ?  With  the  mosc  ^pipje  ipeaps,  for  the  rescue 
9f|  tj^usanda  of  human  beings  from  a,  vatery  graye>  shall  we- still 
leaye  them  to  their  fate  ?  Shall  we  hear  unmoved  of  this  widely- 
^re^ad  desff  uct^oH^  and  not  each  contribpte  to  those  effqrts,  to  which 
ffle  conunon  charities  of  buof^p  nature,  apd  t^p  convictipn  of  ths 
difefui  e^'i]f  ys  might^vprt,  apfl.  th.fi  ajifferiRgq,  ^ye  Wght  assuage, 
oiight  to  incite  us  to  lend  our  utmost  aid  ? 

TJI^e  con|Jiptilig  fpry  t^l  tb,e  elepienta,  iji^  <iMly>p8p  of  nigl^t,  the 
dJB^t^"t;3  oJE  the  sea,  artd  the  430ger^,  of  thp  adjacent  sKorps,  but  tq^ 
^eqj^efftly  combine  to  place  the  Hi^i^ppy  mariner  beyonfj.the  pp^^ 
Qf-iiim)!an  aiil.  But  if  all  CMinot  hs  rescued,  niusf  ^H  thqrefprp 
%  left  tp  perish  ?  If  every  effijrt,  cannot  be  affended  wifji  sijc^esSf 
must  not  any  attempt  be  made  to  mitigate  tl}gs,e  4^,fttl  <;i^ff^i|e^ 


480  INTRODUCTION.  [4 

which  bring  home  the  evil  to  our  very  doors,  and  force  conviction 
on  us  by  their  desolating  effects,  and  by  the  destruction  of  hundreds 
of  our  countrymen,  whose  wretched  remains  now  strew  our  shores  ? 
Whilst  we  pause,  they  continue  to  perish  ;  whilst  we  procrastinate, 
the  work  of  destruction  pursues  its  course  ;  and  each  delay  of  an- 
other whiter,  in  the  adoption  of  measures  more  commensurate  with 
the  extent  of  these  deplorable  events,  is  attended  with  the  sacrifice 
—perhaps  of  a  thousand  human  lives. 

Even  were  the  preservation  of  the  vessels  and  their  cargoes  alone 
the  objects  of  our  care,  the  present  want  of  all  system  for  such  a 
purpose  is,  in  its  consequences,  as  lavish  of  property  as  it  is  of 
life ;  and  from  the  vast  amount  now  annually  lost  on  our  shores, 
infinitely  more  might  unquestionably  be  preserved  to  the  commer- 
cial interests  of  the  country  by  the  establishment  of  the  Institution 
proposed,  than  its  support  would  cost  to  the  nation  on  its  most 
extended  scale. 

Actuated  by  these  convictions,  I  have  sought  by  every  argument 
to  rouse  the  dormant  energies  of  a  brave  and  a  humane  people  to 
the  rescue  of  their  fellow-creatures  ;  and  through  the  ardent  zeal, 
the  generous  enterprise,  and  the  liberal  bounty  of  a  great  nation,  to 
awaken  every  feeling  which  can  stimulate  to  the  effort,  and  pro- 
vide every  means  which  can  insure  its  success. 

In  our  great  insular  empire,  almost  every  individual,  from  the 
most  exalted  and  powerful  in  the  land  to  the  lowly  and  obscure, 
are  at  some  period  of  their  lives  induced,  by  their  various  avoca- 
tions and  pursuits,  to  leave  their  own  coasts.  The  brave  seamen^ 
the  gallant  soldiers,  and  the  various  subjects  of  these  realms^  of  all 
ranks  and  degrees,  are  to  be  found  traversing  every  stormy  sea,  and 
exposed  to  peril  on  every  dangerous  shore.  This  is  not  then  an 
object  for  which  the  great  and  the  affluent  are  called  upon  for  the 
relief  of  the  humble  and  the  destitute  alone — the  cause  is  individual, 
national,  and  universal,  perhaps  beyond  any  other  which  has  ever 
yet  been  addressed  to  a  country  for  support.  It  appeals  equally  to 
personal  interest  and  to  national  policy — to  private  benevolence 
and  to  public  justice ;  and  each  who  thus  extends  the  benefits  of 
his  efforts  and  his  bounty  to  his  countrymen  and  to  mankind,  may 
also  be  contributing  to  the  future  safety  of  his  family,  his  friends, 
or  himself. 

In  the  pursuit  of  this  arduous  undertaking,  I  have  felt  it  to  be  a 
duty  which  I  owed  to  the  cause  of  which  I  had  thus  become  an 
advocate,  to  offer  my  views  to  those  of  every  class  and  department 
who,  fronl  their  humanity,  their  talents,  or  their  station,  were  the 
most  calculated,  or  the  best  enabled,  to  promote  this  great  object 
of  national  benevolenqe. 

I  have  dedicated  this  cause,  with  all  deference,  to  a  most  gracious 


5]  INTRODUCTION.  481 

sovereign  i  I  have  addressed  myself  in  its  behalf  to  his  ministers ; 
and  I  have  appealed  to  various  distinguished  individuals^  to  almost 
all  the  great  national  and  benevolent  institutions  in  the  kingdom,  to 
the  commercial  and  shipping  interests,  and  to  the  public  at  large, 
for  the  support  of  an  object  well  worthy  the  deep  attention  of  the 
greatest  naval  power  of  the  present  or  of  any  former  age,  for  the 
rescue  of  her  numerous  seameq  and  subjects  from  one  of  the  most 
frequent  and  most  awful  of  all  the  various  calamities  which  desolate 
the  human  race. 

From  the  same  motives,  I  have  most  respectfully  submitted  this 
national  and  international  system  to  the  sovereigns  and  governments 
of  the  principal  maritime  powers  of  Europe  and  of  America ;  and 
I  avail  myself  with  pleasure  of  the  presentoccasion,  to  express  my 
grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  promptitude  with  which  various 
of  their  ministers,  resident  at  this  court,  have  transmitted  it  to  their 
respective  governments. 

Encouraged  to  persevere  in  my  endeavours,  by  the  flattering 
support  and  approbation  of  many  distinguished  and  enlightened 
characters,  I  am  induced  to  hope  the  day  is  not  remote  when  this 
contemplated  institution  may  be  established  on  a  permanent  basis, 
by  the  united  aid  of  a  noble  and  benevolent  nation,  to  whose  sup. 
port  such  a  cause  has  neveryetbeen  addressed  in  vain. 

The  interest  which  this  cause  hasalready  excited  has  induced 
me  to  commit  a  second  edition  of  my  pamphlet  to  the  press; 
whilst  the  magnitude  and  vital  importance  of  these  objects,  to  our 
country  and  tomankind, — on  our  own  and  every  foreign  shore, — 
in  the  present  and  every  future  age, — will,  I  trust,  best  plead  the 
excuse  of  a  retired  individual,  and  acquit  me  from  the  charge  of 
presumption,  in  having  had  the  temerity  to  submit  my  views  to  the 
consideration  of  so  many  illustrious  personages,  and  for  the  earnest 
solicitude  with  which  I  have  addressed  myself  to  the  humanity, 
the  benevolence,  and  the  justice  of  the  British  natioui 

10th  Noveniber,  182S. ' 


VOL.  XXIII.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.        2  H 


AN    APPEAL, 


^c.  4-c. 


Ton  many  years,  and  in  various  countries,  the  melandioiy  and 
fiatal  shipwrecks  which  I  have  witnessed,  have  excited  a  powerful 
interest  in  my  mind  for  the  situation  of  those  who  are  exposed  to 
this  awful  calamity  *,  but  the  idea  of  the  advantages  ^whicn  would 
result  from  the  establishment  of  a  national  institution  for  the  pre- 
servation of  human  life  from  the  perils  of  the  sea,  first  suggested 
Itself  to  me  during  my  residence  on  a  part  of  the  coast  often  ex- 
posed to  the  most  distressing  scenes  of  misery,  and  where  the 
dreadful  storms  of  the  last  autumn  prevailed  wfth  unusual  violence. 

On  some  occasions,  it  has  been  my  lot  to  witness  the  loss  of 
many  valuable  lives,  under  circumstances  where,  had  there  been 
establishments  previously  formed  for  affording  prompt  relief,  and 
encouragement  given  to  those  who  might  volunteer  on  such  a 
cause,  in  all  probability  the  greater  part  would  have  been  rescued 
from  destruction.  At  other  times  I  have  seen  the  noblest  instances 
of  self-devotion ;  men  have  saved  the  lives  of  their  fellow-creatures 
at  the  peril  of  their  own,  without  a  prospect  of  reward  if  success- 
ful, and  with  the  certainty  that  their  families  would  be  left  destitute 
if  they  perished. 

From  these  considerations,  I  have  been  induced  to  wish  that 
the  results  of  the  experience,  talent,  and  genius  of  the  most  disttn- 
guished  commanders  and  men  of  science,  should  be  united  in  the 
formation  of  one  great  Institution,  which  would  in  itself  embrace 
every  possible  means  for  the  preservation  of  life  from  the  hazards 
of  shipwreck. 

Though  many  individuals  have  employed  their  rime,  their  atten- 
tion, and  often  exposed  their  personal  safety  for  this  object,  j^ 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  most  extensive  and  dangerous  parts  of  oor 


7]  Sir  W.  Hillary  on  Shipwreck.  483 

• 

coasts  are  left  without  any  means  having  been  adopted,  any  pre- 
cautions taken»  for  rendering  assistance  to  vessels  in  distress  ;  and, 
winter  after  winter,  we  have  the  naost  afflicting  details  of  the 
disastrous  consequences  attendant  on  this  lamentable  apathy  to 
human  misery — an  awful  destruction  of  life,  on  almost  every  shore 
which  surrounds  the  British  dominions  :  acts  have  even  sometimes 
been  perpetrated  at  which  humanity  shudders,  and  which  have 
caused  other  nations  to  cast  reproach  and  opprobrium  on  the  British 
name. 

But  individual  efforts,  however  meritorious  in  themselves,  are 
unequal  to  produce  all  the  benefits,  or  remedy  all  the  evils,  attend- 
ant  on  one  of  the  most  inevitable  of  perils  to  which  human  nature 
is  exposed,  and  which  is  most  likely  to  fall  upon  those  who  are  in 
the  very  prime  of  manhood,  and  in  the  discharge  of  the  most  active 
and  important  duties  of  life.  From  the  calamity  of  shipwreck  no 
one  can  say  that  he  may  at  all  times  remain  free  ;  and  whilst  he  is 
now  providing  only  for  the  safety  of  others,  a  day  may  come  which 
will  render  the  cause  his  own. 

These  are  not  arguments  founded  on  the  visionary  contemplation 
of  remote  or  improbable  dangers.  Their  urgent  necessity  must 
be  obvious  to  every  mind.  So  long  as  man  shall  continue  to  na- 
vigate the  ocean,  and  the  tempests  shall  hold  their  course  over  its 
surface,  in  every  age  and  on  every  coast,  disasters  by  sea,  ship- 
wreck, and  peril  to  human  life,  must  inevitably  take  place ;  and 
with  this  terrible  xertainty  before  our  eyes,  the  duty  becomes  im- 
perative, that  we  should  use  every  means  to  obviate  and  to  mitigate 
the  disastrous  consequences. 

This  subject  in  a  peculiar  manner  appeals  to  the  British  people 
collectively  and  individually.  For  ages,  our  seamen  have  been  the 
acknowledged  support  of  our  splendor  and  our  power  3  and  until 
every  thing  which  the  ingenuity  of  man  can  suggest,  and  every 
inducement  and  regulation  which  social  institutions  can  offer  and 
arrange,  have  been  combined  into  one  great  plan  for  their  safety, 
we  shall  be  wanting  in  our  best  duties  to  them,  to  our  country^, 
and  to  ourselves^ 

Local  associations  cannot  call  forth  the  enerey  which  such  a 
cause  demands  at  our  hands ;  they  are  only  partial  benefits^  whilst 
the  great  evil  remains  unredressed.  We  have  many  noble  institu- 
tions, widely  spread  through  the  extent  of  the  British  dominions^ 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions,  and  exalting  our  name 
above  that  of  every  other  nation  by  our  disinterested  efforts  in  the 
cause  of  humanity ;  whilst  this  great  and  vital  object  ta  every 
]3ritpn|  seems  alone  to  have  been  strangely  and  unaccountably 
overlooked^  or  only  partially  undertaken. 

Our  coasts  are  surrounded  by  land-marks  as  a  guide  by  day,  and 


'     »  ■      

484  Sir  W,  Hillary  on  the  Preservation  of         [8 

lights  and  beacons  by  night ;  our  mariners  are  furnished  with 
charts  of  every  sea,  every  rock  is  pointed  out,  every  shoal  set 
down,  and  every  channel  buoyed.  Pilots  are  to  be  found  at  the 
entrance  of  every  port,  and  all  that  science,  indefatigable  labor, 
and  liberal  expenditure  can  effect,  to  warn  the  seaman  of  his  dan- 
ger, ^and  to  prevent  vessels  from  being  wrecked, — all  has  long,  and 
ardently,  and  ably  been  studied  and  accomplished. 

Whilst  the  vessels  are  yet  secure,  every  safeguard  is  at  their 
command,  amply  supplied  by  public  associations^  or  by  the  state ; 
and  towards  which,  on  their  safe  arrival  in  port,  they  contribute 
their  quota  for  the  benefits  they  have  received, — and  all  must  but 
too  often  prove  in  vain  ;  many  may  thus  be  warned  of  their  dan- 
ger, and  be  saved  \  shipwrecks  will  still  inevitably  take  place,  des- 
pite of  all  human  means,  and  their  crews  be  exposed  to  every  spe- 
cies of  peril  and  distress  ;  but  what  then  becomes  their  fate  ? 

Wretched,'  exhausted,  and  in  the  last  extremity  of  danger,  on 
whom  does  their  rescue  devolve  ?  to  what  body  or  class  of  men, 
or  to  which  of  our  numerous  departments,  does  it  now  become  an 
honorable  and  an  imperative  duty  to  afford  them  relief  in  this  their 
utmost  need  ? — where  are  the  national  funds  for  such  an  object, 
to  supply  ample  means  for  the  hazardous  attempt,  to  reward  the 
brave  efforts  of  those  who  succeed,  or  to  provide  for  the  destitute 
families  of  those  who  perish  in  so  honorable  a  cause  ? 

The  melancholy  catastrophe  closed,  every  human  being  on  board 
having  perished,  or  having  quitted  their  shattered  vessel  in  despair ; 
the  laws  and  usages  of  recompense  are  clearly  defined ;  salvage 
for  the  property  preserved,  in  proportion  to  its  amount. 

But  in  the  awful  crisis  between  these  two  extremes,  does  one 
law  of  the  land,  or  one  National  Institution,  hold  out  the  estab- 
lished claim  to  specific  reward  for  a  life  saved  ? 

In  the  nineteenth  century,  surrounded  by  every  improvement 
and  institution  which  the  benevolent  can  suggest,  or  the  art  of  man 
accomplish  for  the  mitigation  or  prevention  of  human  ills,  will  it 
for  a  moment  be  capable  of  belief,  that  there  does  not,  in  all  our 
great  and  generous  land,  exist  one  National  Institution  which  has 
for  its  direct  object  the  rescue  of  human  life  from  shipwreck  ? 

The  property  is  in  every  stage  a  subject  of  legislation  and  of 
care ;  the  rescue  of  life  from  shipwreck  has  never  yet  been  adopted 
as  a  national  and  a  legislative  object. 

With  the  exception  of  the  recompenses  voluntarily  given  by  the 
liberal  institution  of  Lloyd's,  the  very  few  associations  scattered 
thinly  on  the  coasts,  and  the  valuable  invetitions  and  gallant  efforts 
of  those  brave  and  enlightened  officers  who  do  honor  to  their 
country,  our  shipwrecked  seamen  are  left  in  this  awful  situation, 
to   the  spontaneous  exertions  of  enterprise  and   humanity,  the 


9]  Lives  and  Property  from  Shipwreck.  485 

chance  of  the  moment,  or  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and  waves ; — 
or  rather  let  us  say,  to  a  greater  mercy,  and  a  higher  Power. 

It  may  be  thought  that  this  picture  is  overcharged ;  but  un- 
happily, I  believe  it  will  be  found  too  faithfully  correct. 

I  am  firmly  convinced,  that  these  appalling  facts  have  never  yet 
reached  the  great  majority  of  the  nation  ;  but  the  veil  once  with- 
drawn, the  musion  must  vanish,  and  the  honor,  the  justice,  and 
the  humanity  of  Britain  will  be  deeply  compromised,  if  the  evil  is 
not  promptly  and  effectually  redressed  : — not  any  human  means 
should  be  spared  to  atone  for  the  past,  and  to  alleviate  the  future. 

In  bringing  this  deeply  interesting  subject  before  the  public,  it 
Is  my  ardent  hope  that  it  may  call  forth  the  attention  of  those 
better  qualified  to  bring  to  perfection  so  important  a  work.  Let 
this  great  national  object  but  once  engage  the  attention  of  the 
public  mind,  and  not  any  thing  can  arrest  its  course. 

The  power  of  united  effort,  in  the  attainment  of  any  great  work 
of  national  benevolence,  has  never  yet  failed  of  success.  The  in- 
stitution I  have  in  view  is  equally  a  claim  of  justice  and  of  bene* 
volence  ;  it  peculiarly  belpngs  to  the  greatest  maritime  nation  on 
earth,  and  will,  I  trust,  be  deemed  worthy  the  attention  of  the 
Admiralty  of  England,  who  have  so  long  held  their  high  station 
with  as  much  honor  to  themselves  as  benefit  to  their  country. 

By  whose  immediate  patronage  the  first  measures  for  the  or- 
ganisation of  such  a  system  may  be  honored,  or  under  the  sanction 
of  what  names  the  requisite  public  Aieetings  to  carry  them  into 
effect  may  be  announced,  it  would  be  the  utmost  presumption  in 
me  to  anticipate  ;  but  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  immediate  assem- 
bling of  such  meetings  in  London  would  best  contribute  to  the 
establishment  of  this  Institution  on  a  permanent  and  extensive 
foundation. 

To  the  consideration  of  such  meetings  most  respectfully  beg 
leave  to  submit : 

That  a  National  Institution  should  be  formed,  equally  worthy  of 
Great  Britain,  important  to  humanity,  and  beneficial  to  the  naval 
and  commercial  interests  of  the  United  Empire ;  having  for  its 
objects, 

Firstt  The  preservation  of  human  life  from  shipwreck ;  which 
should  always  be  considered  as  the  first  great  and  permanent 
object  of  the  Institution. 

Secondly^  Assistance  to  vessels  in  distress,  which  often  imme- 
diately connects  itself  with  the  safety  of  the  crews. 

Thirdly  J  The  preservation  of  vessels  and  property,  when  not 
so  immediately  connected  with  the  lives  of  the  people,  or  after  the 
crews  and  passengers  shall  already  have  been  rescued. 


466         Sir  W.  Hillary  on  ffte  PreservaHon  tf  [10 

FauriUy^  The  prevention  of  phinder  and  depredations  in  case  of 
shipwreck* 

Fifthly^  The  succour  and  support  of  diose  persons  who  may  be 
rescued  ;  the  promptly  obtaining  medical  aid,  food,  clothing,  and 
shelter,  for  those  whose  destitute  situation  may  require  such  relief, 
with  the  means  to  forward  them  to  their  homes,  friends,  or  coun- 
tries. The  people  and  vessels  of  every  nation,  whether  in  peace 
or  war,  to  be  equally  objects  of  this  Institution  ;  and  the  efforts  to 
be  made,  and  the  recompenses  to  be  given  for  their  rescue,  to  be 
in  all  cases  the  same  as  for  British  subjects  and  British  vessels. 

Sixthly y  The  bestowing  of  suitable  rewards  on  those  who  rescue 
the  lives  of  others  from  shipwreck,  or  who  assist  vessels  in  distress; 
and  the  establishment  of  a  provision  for  the  destitute  widows  or 
families  of  the  brave  men  who  unhappily  lose  their  lives  in  such 
meritorious  attempts. 

The  objects  of  the  Institution  being  thus  defined,  and  having, 
I  hope,  already  obtained  the  powerful  support  of  those  illustrious 
personages  and  distinguished  characters  in  the  state,  under  whose 
fostering  care,  as  patrons  and  presidents,  the  system  would  haYe 
the  best  prospect  of  being  brought  to  maturity  \  it  would  only  be 
requisite  to  proceed  to  the  next  duty  of  the  meeting,  which  would 
be  the  formation  of  a  numerous  Committee,  including  liberal  and 
enlightened  men  from  all  classes  and  departments,  naval  and 
military  officers,  members  of  the  Trinity  House  and  of  Lloyd's, 
merchants  and  commanders  in  the  East  India  and  other  ser- 
vices, &c. 

In  addition  to  this  central  Committee,  it  would  be  requisite,  in 
order  to  carry  the  objects  of  the  association  into  active  execution, 
that  branches  of  the  Institution,  and  subject  to  its  rules,  should  be 
formed  in  all  the  principal  ports,  and  on  the  most  dangerous  sea- 
coasts  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  each  having  its  own  separate 
Committee,  in  direct  communication  with  that  in  London,  of 
which  many  of  the  gentlemen  in  the  local  Committees  would,  no 
doubt,  also  be  members.  But,  on  the  general  central  meetings 
of  Presidents  and  Committee,  in  London,  would  devolve  the  pri- 
mary measures  for  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  Institution ; 
the  general  system  of  finance,  the  formation  of  rules  and  regula- 
tions, and  the  plans  for  giving  activity  and  efiect  to  the  whole. 

Perhaps  it  might  facilitate  the  progress  of  the  measures  in  view, 
if  the  labor  were  divided,  and  two  or  more  separate  Committees 
or  Boards  were  formed  from  the  whole,  consisting  of  individuals 
best  qualified  for  the  objects  of  each  separate  department,  whose 
reports,  before  being  finally  adopted,  should  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  Institution  at  large. 


1 1]  Lhei  and  Property  from  SKpweeh         487 

Under  this  view  of  the  subject,  a  Committee  of  finance  would 
be  desirable,  whose  duty,  in  the  first  instance,  would  be  to  arrange 
and  pursue  the  best  and  most  active  measures  to  diffuse  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  objects  and  principles  of  the  association ;  and 
to  obtain  donations  and  subscription^  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
them  into  effect. 

From  the  peculiarly  interesting  nature  of  this  Institution,  it  is 
to  be  presumed,  that  this  part  of  their  duty  would  be  found  easy  in 
its  progress,  and  successfal  in  its  results. 

When  we  see  long  columns  filled  with  the  first  names  in  the 
country,  with  large  sums  placed  opposite  to  them,  for  objects  tem- 
porary in  their  nature,  and  small  in  importance  compared  with  the 
present,  which  contemfdates  the  rescue  of  thousands  of  human 
beings  now  in  existence,  and  an  incakulable  number  yet  unborn, 
from  one  of  the  most  awful  of  all  perils, — ^who  is  there  to  whom 
such  an  Institution  once  became  known  that  would  refuse  his  aid  ? 
It  is  a  cause  which  extends  from  the  palace  to  the  cottage,  in 
which  politics  and  party  cannot  have  any  share,  and  which  ad- 
dresses itself  with  equal  force  to  all  the  best  feelings  of  every  class 
in  the  state. 

The  names  of  every  branch  of  the  Royal  Family  are  to  be  found 
at  the  h^ad  of  all  the  benevolent  Institutions  of  the  empire. 

From  the  nobility  and  gentry  large  donations  and  subscriptions 
may  naturally  be  expected.  The  clergy  of  every  class  will,  no 
doubt,  be  foremost  ia  the  cause  of  humanity.  To  the  whole  body 
of  the  navy,  the  marines,  and  to  the  army,  who,  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  professional  duties,  encounter  so  many  of  the  dangers  of 
the  sea,  such  an  appeal  will  never  be  nrade  in  vain.  Can  it  be  sup- 
posed  that  there  is  one  East  India  Director,  one  member  of  Lloyd's, 
an  under-writer,  a  merchant,  a  ship-owner,  or  commander  in  the 
India  or  merchants'  service,  from  whom  a  subscription,  liberal  in 
proportion  to  his  means,  will  not  be  obtained  ?  Nor  will  the 
generous  aid  of  any  class  of  society,  I  am  persuaded,  be  wanting 
for  such  a  purpose ;  and  as  a  stimulus  to  the  whole,  by  example  in 
dieir  donations,  and  by  the  widely- extended  circle  or  their  influ- 
ence, the  Briti^  females  of  every  station  in  life  will,  I  am  convin- 
ced, particularly  distinguish  themselves  in  aid  of  this  Institution. 

From  these  opinions,  which  I  so  confidently  entertain  of  the 
humanity  and  liberality  of  the  British  people,  I  rest  firmly  persuad- 
ed, that  the  most  ample  means  will  be  easily  and  speedily  ob- 
tained  for  every  possible  expenditure  which  can  attend  the  objects 
of  this  Institution. 

When  the  funds  of  the  society  are  once  established,  the  duty  of 
the  Committee  will  be,  to  have  the  permanent  superintendence  and 
regulation  of  their  finance  under  the  proper  control  of  the  whole 
society. 


488  Sir  W.  Hillary  on  the  Preservation  qf  [12 

A  second  Board,  or  0>mmittee,  should  be  formed  from  the 
most  experienced  and  enlightened  officers  of  the  navy,  seamen, 
engineers,  and  scientific  men,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  direct 
objects  of  the  Institution  into  effect. 

One  of  the  most  important  duties  of  this  Committee  will  be  to 
combine,  into  a  clear,  concise,  and  well-digested  system,  the  result 
of  the  joint  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  whole  bo^^  in  plain 
and  simple  language,  dirested  as  much  as  possible  oif  technical 
phraseology,  and  capable  of  being  understood  by  every  individual 
This  code  of  instruction  should  comprise  the  best  and  most  prompt 
measures  to  be  adopted  in  every  sort  of  danger  to  which  a  vessel 
can  be  exposed,  and  on  whatever  kind  of  coast,  in  order  that  the 
most  effectual  assistance  may  be  giren^  with  the  least  possible  loss 
of  time,  and  with  such  means  as  in  remote  situarions  can  most 
probably  be  obtained  \  and  the  Committee  should  be  requested  to 
report,  from  time  to  time,  the  result  of  those  measures  which  they 
had  found  from  experience  to  be  most  successful  ;  whilst  every 
friend  to  such  a  cause,  who  might  suggest  an  invention  or  a  means 
to  facilitate  these  objects,  would  be  certain  that  in  this  Committee 
his  plans  would  receive  the  most  attentive  consideration  from  those 
who  would  possess  the  power  and  the  inclination  to  carry  them 
into  effect* 

It  will  be  desirable  that  this  Committee  should  suggest  the  most 
eligible  plans  for  permanent  establishnients  in  all  greater  and  lesser 
sea-ports,  road-steads,  and  resorts  for  shipping,  and  particularly  on 
remote,  wild,  and  exposed  parts  of  the  coast,  where  life^boats, 
anchors,  cables,  hawsers,  and  the  beneficial  inventions  of  those 
enlightened  and  highly  patriotic  officers.  Sir  W.  Congreve,  Captains 
Marry  at,  Manby,  Dansey,  and  various  other  meritorious  individuals, 
should  be  kept  in  constant  readiness  for  use,  with  every  means  for 
the  preservation  of  lives  in  dangef,  and  the  assistance  of  vessels  in 
distress,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  coasts  on  which  the  re- 
spective depots  may  be  established.  The  purchase,  safe  custody, 
and  control  over  the  stores  of  the  Institutiouj  their  being  deposited 
in  places  best  situated  for  instant  issue  on  every  emergency,  and 
always  in  a  state  fit  for  immediate  service,  are  objects  which  de« 
mand  the  utmost  circumspection  and  care. 

This  department  is  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  whole — 
it  is  the  operative  ;  and  on  its  judicious  arrangements,  the  means 
of  prompt  and  effectual  efforts,  the  success  of  die  most  hazardous 
undertakings,  the  safety  of  those  employed,  and  the  rescue  of  those 
in  peril,  will  unquestionably  depend. 

For  these  purposes,  as  well  as  every  other  connected  with  the 
Institution,  the  respective  Committees  proposed  to  be  formed,  in 
every  port,  and  on  every  coast,  will  be  of  the  most  essential  use. 
The  zeal,  and  other  requisite  qualities,  which  the  members  of  such 


13]  Lives  and  Propefiy  from  SMpmeck^  489 

Committees  may  naturally  be  Supposed  to  possess,  point  them  ou( 
as  the  most  eligible  persons  to  have  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
measures  to  be  adopted.  From  them  also  it  is  to  be  expected  that 
the  most  experienced  in  nautical  affairs  may  be  selected  to  com-r 
mand. 

To  that  department  under  which  bSats  are  to  go  out,  and  men 
are  to  risk  their  lives,  for  the  rescue  of  those  who  may  be  in 
clanger,  the  utmost .  attention  is  due  :  that,  when  they  are  so  em<v 
ployed,  it  shall  be  under  the  direction  of  the  most  skilful  advice 
which  the  occasion  can  afford ;  that  their  boats  and  equipments 
shall  be  such  as  best  to  insure  their  safety ;  and  that  the  crews 
shall  be  selected  from  the  bravest  and  most  experienced  persons 
who  can  be  found. 

.  To  insure  order  and  promptitude  on  these  occasions,  where  the 
least  delay  or  indecision  may  be  to  lose  the  opportunity  of  acting 
with  effect,  a  previous  and  (as  far  as  practicable)  a  permanent  ar- 
rangement should  be  formed.  Volunteers  should  be  invited  to 
enrol  themselves  from  amongst  the  resident  pilots,  seamen,  fisherr 
men,  boatmen,  and  others,  in  sufficient  numbers  to  insure  the 
greatest  probability  of  having  every  aid  at  hand,  which,  in  the 
moment  of  danger,  may  be  requisite.  Each  man  should  have  his 
department  previously  assigned,  and  the  whole  act  under  their  re- 
spective leaders. 

To  these  regulations  might  be  added  a  system  of  signals,  by 
which  persons  on  board  of  vessels  in  distress  could  communicate 
the  nature  of  the  assistance  of  which  they  stood  in  need  \  and  those 
on  shore  warn  them  of  any  danger,  inform  them  of  the  aid  they 
were  going  to  afford,  or  give  them  any  instructions  requisite  to 
their  safety. 

In  addition  to  these  means,  a  great  source  of  aid  to  vessels  in 
distress  might  be  secured  to  be  at  all  times  within  reach,  by  per- 
manent and  judicious  arrangements  with  pilot  companies,  steam 
vessels,  anchor  vessels,  and  trawl  and  other  fishing  boats,  which, 
under  proper  indemnities,  and  for  reasonable  remuneration,  would 
at  all  times  contribute  their  assistance,  and  act  under  the  regulations 
of  the  Institution. 

But  at  the  same  time  care  should  be  taken  not  to  trammel  by 
unnecessary  regulations  the  spontaneous  efforts  of  those,  who, 
actuated  by  a  generous  ardor,  on  the  emergency  of  the  moment, 
seize  on  the  first  means  which  present  themselves,  and  often  ac- 
complish their  object  in  a  manner  which,  to  a  cooler  calculation, 
would  appear  impracticable. 

To  expect  a  large  body  of  men  to  enrol  themselves,  and  be  in 
constant  readiness  to  risk  their  own  lives  for  the  preservation  of 
those  whom  they  have  never  known  or  seen,  perhaps  of  another 


490         Sir  W.  Hillary  on  the  PreservaMan  of         [14 

0 

nation^  merelv  becauM  tbey  are  fellow-creatufes  in  extfeme  peril, 
18  to  pay  the  highest  possible  compliment  to  my  countrymen ;  and 
that  on  every  coast  there  are  such  men,  has  been  fully  erinced, 
even  under  the  present  want  of  system,  when  the  best  means  for 
their  purpose  are  not  supplied  ;  when  they  are  without  any  cer- 
tainty  of  reward  ;  and  act  under  the  peculiarly  appalling  c<msider- 
fttion,  that  if  they  perish,  they  may  leave  wives,  children,  and  every 
one  destitute  who  depend  on  them  for  support. 

If,  under  such  discouragement,  we  every  year  have  so  many  in* 
stances  of  self- devotion,  what  might  not  be  expected  from  the  same 
men^  when  they  knew  that  in  the  performance  of  their  arduom 
duties,  every  possible  means  to  execute  them,  with  safety  to  them- 
selves, and  success  to  the  objects  of  their  efforts^  woidd  be  supplied; 
that  if  theysucceeded,  they  would  be  honored  and  recompensed, 
according  to  their  merits  and  situation  in  life ;  and  if  it  were  thesr 
lot  to  perish  in  so  noble  a  cause,  they  had  at  least  the  consolatioA 
to  know,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  their  families  would  not  be  left  to 
deplore  their  loss  in  unprotected  poverty  ? 

To  these  objects  the  Institution  ought  unquestionably  to  extend, 
or  it  would  be  unworthy  of  the  great  country  to  which  it  belonged, 
and  of  the  high  patronage  with  which  I  hope  it  may  be  honored. 

Nor  will  I  suppose  that  those  whom  I  have  specified  are  the 
only  persons  who  will  take  an  active  part  on  such  occarions. 
There  is  another  class,  who,  from  what  I  have  individually  seen, 
will,  I  am  certain,  become  able  and  zealous  leaders, — not  only  the 
employed,  but  the  half-pay  officers  of  the  navy  now  so  widely  sprea<ft 
over  the  coasts  of  the  United  Kingdom.  Living  in  retirement  in 
time  of  peace,  they  would  not  allow  their  energies  to  sleep  whea 
their  brother  seamen  were  in  danger,  but  come  forward  with  the 
conscious  feeling,  that  those  distinguished  characters  who  preside 
over  the  British  navy  would  regard  such  noeritorious  services  as 
being  in  the  direct  path  of  honor ;  and  that  to  rescue  a  hum^i 
being  from  the  perils  of  shipwreck  would  not  be  less  acceptable  to 
their  country  than  to  subdue  her  enemies  in  battle. 

The  Romans  rewarded  with  the  civic  crown  those  who  had 
saved  the  life  of  a  fellow  citizen.  Our  late  venerable  sovereign  con- 
ferred the  baronetage  on  the  gallant  Viscount  Exmouth  (then  Cap- 
tain Fellew),  for  his  noble  and  successful  efforts,  at  the  extreme 
hazard  of  his  own  life,  to  save  the  crew  of  an  East  Indiaman, 
wrecked  at  Plymouth,  when  the  situation  of  every  one  on  board 
appeared  beyond  the  reach  of  human  aid. 

The  whole  class  of  the  preventive  service,  with  many  departments 
of  the  revenue,  could  not  be  more  honorably  employed,  and  thej 
must  naturally  feel  that  their  brave  exertions,  on  such  occasions) 
would  be  fully  estimated. 


15]  JUms  Mdpro]^€Tty  from  SMpmvck.  4dl 

The  assistance  of  medical  men,  who  would  etirol  themselves  to 
be  ready  to  attend,  might  frequently  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
succour  and  restore  those  who  might  have  sustained  severe  injury, 
or  whose  lives  might  be  nearly  extinct. 

There  is  not  perhaps  any  subject  connected  with  this  proposed 
Institution,  more  worthy  of  its  utmost  attention  and  care,  than  the 
protection  of  persons  and  property  from  the  cruel  rapacity  of  those 
abandoned  marauders,  who,  on  some  parts  of  our  coasts,  have  but 
too  long  followed  a  practice  disgraceful  to  a  civilised  state,  of  plun- 
dering from  wrecks,  and  there  is  much  reason  to  fear,  often  sufier- 
ing  to  perish,  for  want  of  aid,  many  who  might  otherwise  have 
been  rescued  from  peril,  and  restored  to  their  friends  and  their 
country.  Crimes,  even  of  a  still  deeper  dye,  as  dreadful  in  their 
example  as  fatal  to  their  victims,  are  said  to  have  been  sometimes 
perpetrated  on  our  coasts  \  but  by  means  of  the  numerous  establish* 
ments  oi  this  Institution,  the  effects  of  a  better  example,  the  sti* 
mulus  of  rewards  given  for  the  preservation  of  life,  the  vigilant  care 
and  the  vigorous  measures  which  in  such  cases  would  unquestion- 
ably be  pursued,  it  is  confidently  to  be  hoped  that  these  atrocities 
would  be  heard  of  no  more  on  our  shores. 

In  time  of  war,  it  might  be  advisable  that  a  limited  number  of 
known,  steady,  and  brave  seamen,  who  had  already  distinguished 
themselves  on  these  occasions,  should  be  protected  from  the  im« 
press,  by  belonging  to  this  service.  The  number  need  not  be 
large,  as  the  retired  veterans  of  the  navy,  and  the  fishermen  on  the 
toast,  would  constitute  the  majority  to  be  employed. 

The  nature  and  extent  of  the  recompenses  for  time  and  trouble, 
and  the  reward  of  those  who  hazard  their  own  lives  in  the  rescue 
of  others,  would  form  another  important  branch  of  the  Institution 
for  the  labors  of  this  Committee. 

The  qualifications  for  these  rewards  naturally  form  themselv^ 
into  classes. 

First,  in  case  of  successful  efforts,  where  persons,  at  the  risk  of 
their  own  lives,  save  from  imminent  peril  those  of  their  fellow-crea- 
tures,— it  should  be  established,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  they  are  intitled 
to  a  premium  of  such  sum  for  each  life  saved,  as  the  Institution,  on 
mature  consideration,  may  determine.  This  might  be  fixed  as  not 
less  than  a  certain  sum,  with  power  to  extend  it  to  a  greater  amount, 
to  be  decided  by  the  Committee,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
case ;  but,  at  all  events,  to  the  smallest  of  these  rewards  the  parties 
to  have  an  absolute  claim,  on  furnishing  unquestionable  evidence 
of  having  saved  a  life. 

In  many  cases  of  persons  rescued  from  the  wreck,  saved  amongst 
rocks,  or  when  found  washed  by  the  breakers  on  shore,  particu- 
larly on  remote  coasts,  but  too  often  exposed  to  scenes  of  lawless 


4fl2  Sir  ,W,  Hillary  on  the^Pre^ertmtion  of  [16 

depredation,  the  parties  should  equally  be  entitled  to  reward. 

Where  lives  are  saved,  without  those  employed  hazarding  their 
own,  they  should  at  least  receive  the  lesser  of  the  premiums  before- 
mentioned. 

Rewards  should  also  be  given  where  every  possible  eflFort  has 
been  made,  though  unhappily  without  success. 

When  vessels  are  actually  in  distress,  proportionate  premiums 
should  be  given  to  the  first,  second,  and  other  boats  which  get 
alongside,  and  for  other  assistance. 

Remunerations  should  be  given,  and  every  inducement  held  out, 
for  the  prevention  of  plunder,  and  for  the  preservation  ofyessels 
and  property,  in  every  situation  of  danger  to  which  they  may  be- 
come exposed. 

When  a  life  is  saved  by  a  person  who  had  been  equally  forta« 
nate  on  a  former  occasion,  his  reward  should  be  larger,  and  increase 
progressively  for  other  successful  efforts.  In  case  of  crime,  the  se- 
cond offence  is  punished  more  severely  than  the  first,  and  tlie  third 
than  the  second.  '  In  meritorious  acts,  it  were  only  sound  policy 
that  the  rewards  should  bear  a  similar  proportion. 

Where  an  individual  perishes  in  his  attempts  to  rescue  lives  from 
shipwreck,  or  when  assisting  vessels  in  distress,  his  wife,  children, 
or  aged  parents  (if  dependant  on  him  for  support),  should  at  least 
have. the  same  provision  from  the  funds  of  the  Institution,  as  they 
would  have  received  from  the  nation,  if  he  had  been  killed  on 
board  of  a  king's  vessel  in  action  with  the  enemy. 

The  Institution  should  also  recompense  for  severe  injuries,  ascer^ 
tained  to  have  been  unquestionably  sustained  in  the  actual  perform- 
ance o£such  services. 

Ample  and  general  powers  should  be  given  to  confer  rewards  for 
such  other  acts  as  the  Committee  may  consider  justly  entitled  to 
them. 

It  might,  perhaps,  also  be  worthy  the  consideration  of  the  Insti- 
tution at  large,  whether  any  badge  or  medal  conferred  on  a  man 
who  had  saved  a  life  from  shipwreck  at  the  hazard  of  his  own, 
might  not  have  a  very  powerful  effect  To  many  minds,  even  in 
the  humblest  walks  of  life,  such  a  recompense  would  be  more  ac- 
ceptable than  a  pecuniary  reward,  whilst  a  laudable  ambition  might 
be  thus  excited  in  others  to  imitate  so  meritorious  an  example— 
thus  holding  out  every  species  of  inducement ;  to  the  brave  and 
the  generous —to  the  humble  but  humane — even  to  the  sordid  and 
avaricious,  to  render  their  utmost  aid  to  the  shipwrecked  of  every 
land,  in  the  moment  of  their  extreme  distress. 

To  receive  applications  for  rewards,  to  examine  into  the  nature 
and  extent  of  services  performed,  and  to  make  reports,  and  forward 
certificates  and  recommendations  to  the  general  Committee^  would 


1 7]  Lives  and  property  from  Skipxt^reck.  493 

become  one  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the  local  departments, 
on  the  judicious  and  faithful  performance  of  which  the  honor  and 
credit  of  the  Institution  would  materially  depend. 

These  appear  to  me  to  be  the  principal  objects  to  which  the  at- 
tention of  the  two  Committees  should  be  directed  in  the  original 
formation  of  the  establishment,  and  subject  to  the  decision  of  the 
general  meetings  of  the  Institution,  to  whom  their  reports  should 
be  submitted  for  final  adoption* 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  various  parts  of  the  interior  of  the 
United  Kingdom  will  furnish  considerable  funds  to  the  Institution, 
without  calling  upon  it  for  any  aid ;  that  many  of  the  great  sea-ports 
may  perhaps  supply  means  equal  to  the  amount  of  their  expendi- 
ture in  their  immediate  district ;  whilst  there  i^  a  vast  extent  of 
the  most  rueged  coasts  lying  far  distant  from  any  prompt  assistance, 
6n  which,  above  all  others,  vessels  are  exposed  to  the  greatest  dan- 
ger. For  such  places  establishments  could  only  be  formed  at  the 
greatest  expense  j  it  being  obvious,  that  from  the  solitude  and  re- 
moteness of  the  surrounding  country,  only  small  pecuniary  sup- 
plies  could  be  obtained ;  yet  in  these  situations  the  seamen  and  fish- 
ermen ought  to  be  stimulated  by  every  possible  incitement  to  take 
an  active  and  decided  part  in  the  cause  of  humanity  ^  since  on  these 
very  coasts  the  vessels  belonging  to  the  most  distant  ports  might 
be  lost^  and  the  relatives  of  those  who  resided  in  the  very  interior 
of  the  kingdom  might  perish.  The  cause,  therefore,  becomes  com- 
mon to  all,  and  it  is  no  less  just  than  politic  that  the  whole  amount 
•f  the  funds  obtained  should  centre  in  the  Institution  at  large ;  that 
there  should  not  be  any  attempts  made  to  establish  separate  in- 
terests, whilst  from  these  funds  the  expenses  of  every  department 
should  be  supplied,  the  rewards  be  given,  and  the  pensions  guaran- 
teed through  the  whole  extent  of  the  British  dominions. 

How  far  it  may  be  desirable  to  apply  for  an  act  of  parliament ' 
to  establish  the  Institution  into  a  chartered  association,  in  order  to 
secure  the  funds  for  payment  of  the  pensions  which  may  be  grant- 
ed, and  for  various  other  purposes,  will  remain  for  the  general 
Committee  to  decide,  when  the  whole  has  assumed  a  distinct  form. 
It  is  also  probable  that  great  advantages  might  result  from  the  in- 
vestigations of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  into  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  enactments  and  regulations  now  in  force  for  the 
preservation  of  life,  the  prevention  of  plunder,  and  the  salvage  of 
property,  from  vessels  which  may  b^  wrecked  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  our  laws. 

I  also  venture,  with  deference,  to  recommend,  that  other  mari- 
time nations  should  be  invited  to  form  similar  establishments,  so 
far  as  accords  with  their  respective  laws  and  usages^  and  to  concur 
in  mutual  airrangements  with  Great  Britain  for  the  reciprocal  aid 
of  the  subjects  and  vessels  of  each  other. 


494  Sir  W.  Hillary  on  Shipwreck.  [18 

Nor  is  the  universal  adoption  of  this  system  more  imperativelj 
demanded  by  those  feelings  which  should  incite  us  to  afford  our 
utmost  aid  to  the  people  of  every  country  who  may  be  in  danger 
of  shipwreck  on  our  shores^  than  it  is  consistent  with  a  wise  and 
enlightened  policy,  which  should  extend  our  views  fron^.our  own 
immediate  coasts  to  the  most  remote  quarters  of  the  globe>  and  to 
every  neighbouring  state  i  more  particularly  from  the  entrance  of 
the  English  Channel  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  And 
when  we  recollect  the  vase  commercial  fleets  which  the  enterprise 
of  our  merchants  adventures  into  every  sea,  and  during  every  sea- 
son ;  when  nearly  a  thousand  sail  of  British  vessels  pass  the  Sound 
of  the  Baltic  each  year ;  ought  we  not  to  bear  in  mind  to  what  ha- 
zards the  subjects  and  vessels  of  Great  Britain  are  constantly  ex* 
posed,  on  the  whole  of  so  eictended  a  coast,  and  in  every  stormj 
and  dangerous  sea  ?  and  shall  we  not  be  wanting  to  them  and  to 
humanity,  if  we  do  not  endeavour  to  obtain  for  our  own  shipwrecked 
countrymen,  in  every  foreign  land,  the  same  effectual  aid  in  the 
hour  of  danger,  which,  I  doubt  not,  it  will  beconie  one  of  the 
proudest  objects  of  this  Institution  to  extend  to  the  vessels  of  every 
nation  which  may  be  in  distress  on  the  British  shores  ?  Even  du- 
ring  the  most  arduous  prosecution  of  war,  the  catuse  of  humanity) 
and  the  progress  of  civilisation,  would  be  eminently  promoted  by 
these  noble  and  generous  efforts,  for  the  rescue  of  those,  whom  the 
fury  of  the  elements  had  divested  of  all  hostile  character,  and  thrown 
helpless  and  powerless  on  a  foreign  coast. 

Thus  would  nations  be  drawn  by  mutual  benefits  into  more 
strict  bonds  of  amity  during  peace,  and  thus  might  the  rigors  of 
war  be  ameliorated  by  having  one  common  object  of  benevolence 
remaining ;  in  the  exercise  of  which  the  jealousies  and  angry 
passions  incident  to  a  state  of  hostility  could  not  have  any  part 
with  a  generous  and  high-minded  people  i  whilst  the  experience 
and  penetration  of  liberal  and  enlightened  governments  could, 
without  difficulty,  form  such  arrangements  as  would  prevent  that 
which^was  intended  as  a  benefit  to  mankind,  from  being  made  sub- 
servient to  any  political  abuse. 

My  utmost  wishes  would  be  accomplished  by  seeing  these  inter* 
national  regulations  established,  in  connexion  with  one  great  Insti- 
tution, to  extend  to  the  most  remote  province  of  the  empire,  on  the 
exalted  principle,  that  wherever  the  British  flag  should  flyi  her  sea- 
men should  be  protected  i  and  that  those  who  risked  their  own 
lives  to  save  their  fellow-creatures  from  the  perils  of  shipwreck 
•bottld  be  honored  and  rewarded  \  wlulst  every  strangeri  whom  the 
disasters  of  the  sea  may  cast  on  her  shores,  should  n^v^r  look^fof 
refuge  in  vain. 


SUMMARY 


OF   TBB 


REPORT  OF  A  SELECT  COMMITTEE, 


APPOINTED  TO  ENQUIRE  INTO  THE  CAUSES 


WHICR  HAVE  LBD  TO  THE 


EXTENSIVE    DEPRECIATION    OR   REDUCTION 


IN    THE 


REMUNERATION    FOR    LABOR 


IN 


d^teat   jsdxitain. 


AND  THE 


EXTREME  PRIVATION  AND  CALAMITOUS  DISTRESS 


CONSEQUENT  THEREUPON. 


LONDON ; 


mu. 


49T  , 

Tii5   Artizans  of  Great  Britain,  baving    deputed    a   Sekct 

•      Comiiuttee  to  inquire  into  the  causes  whicn  have  led  tor  the 

extensive  Depreciation,  or  Reduction,  in  the  Remuneration 

for  Labour,  and  the  extreme  privation  and  calamitous  distress 

consequent  thereupon ,  the  Select  Committee  have  at  length 

concluded  their  labours,  and  drawn  up  a  Report,  which  has 

been  ordered  to  be  printed;  but,  the  numerous  Appendices^ 

and  minuteness  of  detail  of  the  Report  itself,  requiring  more 

than  an  ordinary  share  of  attention  in  the  examination  of  the 

proofi,  will  necessarily  occasion  considerable  delay  in  the 

printing.     The  following  Summary  is  therefore  in  the  mean 

time  submitted. 

I. 

<^  That  the  entire  harden  and  consequences  of  the  war,  declared  against  the 
French  republic  in  February,  1793,  and  which  continued,  with  but  a  siiort  inter- 
mission, until  the  close  of  the  year  1815,  were  sustained  by  the  energies  of  the 
operative  artizans  of  Great  Britain,  as  is  manifest  by  the  fuct,  that  about 
600,000,000/.  value  of  property,  the  produce  of  their  genius  and  lab^nr,  was, 
exported  during  the  same  period^  beyond  what  any  substantive  equivalent  was 
received  for  in  return. 

II. 

'*  That  the  exhausting  effects  of  this  enormous  drain  of  the  products  of  tlio 
labour  of  the  British  artizan  were  obviated  and  rendered  imperceptible  under  its 
operation  by  the  substitution  of  an  ideal  property  to  a  corresponding  amount, 
under  the  denomination  of  *' The  National  Debt,'*  which  ideal  property,  in  its 
formation  and  growth,  diffused  an  excitement  and  a  reciprocating  influence  ori 
the  internal  interests  of  the  country,  corresponding  in  extent  with  the  external 
drain. 

*,  III. 

*'That  the  excitement  to  (he  external  drain  consisted  in  the  large  amount  and 
forced  distribution  of  the  Bills  drawn  in  foreign  parts  on  the  British  government, 
and  that  the  reciprocating  influence  consbted  in  converting  those  Bills,  or  a  cor- 
responding  amount,  into  a  permanent  ideal  property,  under  the  above  stated  deno* 
mfnation  of  ''  National  Debt.*' 

iV. 

f*  That,  as  the  drawing  and  distribution  of  Bills  in  foreign  parts  on  the  British 
government  and  its  several  agents  (and  which,  during  the  five  or  six  last  years  of 
the  war  did  not  amount  to  less  than  30  to  35,000,000/.  per  apnum,)  ceased  with 
the  termination  of  the  war»  the  safest  and  most  politic  course  for  the  nation  iq  iti 
aggregate  capacity  to  have  pursued,  would  have  been  to  havediQiinish^d  the  quan- 
tity of  property  exported,  in  a  corresponding  degree,  to  the  amount  of  Bills  with* 
held  from  circulation  by  the  agents  of  the  government  in  foreign  parts;  had  this 
been  done,  although  it  would  have  produced  a  very  serious  oonvolsion,  by  the 
instantaneous  suspension  in  the  demand  for  labour,  the  effects  would  have  been  but 
momentary  and  trifling,  comparatively  speaking,  when  compared  with  the  effects 
which  have  resulted  from  a  contrary  course  having  been  iMirflfied;  and,  had- the 
exportation  been  restrained  on  judicious  principles,  compatiMo  with  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  in  which  the  nation  then  stood,  it  fliust  inevitably  have 
led  to  the  adoption  of  measures,  or  treaties  of  intercourse  with  the  several  nations 
of  the  world,  from  which  mutual  and  reciprocal  advantages  would  necessarily  have 
resulted,  measures  which  doubtless  would  have  produced  an  excitement  in  foreign 
nations  to  have  increased  their  productions  so  far  as  to  have  had  wherewith  to  have 
given  substance  for  substance,  and  value  for  vaine^ 

VOL.  XXir.  Pam.  NO.  XLVI.    .     2  I 


493  Report  of  a  Sfkct  Committee  [4 

V. 

**Tbat  by  the  conrse  parsaed,  of  exporting  as  large  an  amoant  iu  1816,  when 
(he  30  to  35,000,000/.  of  Bills  were  wiUibeld,  as  when  such  un  amount  were  annoaUy 
issued  without  any  corresponding  equivalent  or  means  of  payment  beinp  substi* 
tuted  in  their  stead,  of  necessity  depreciated  the  value  of  such  quantity,  proportion, 
ate  to  the  amount  of  Bills  withheld  from  cu-colation;  and  consequently  prodiced 
a  convulsion  more  violent,  and  worse  ulterior  eflfects,  than  would  have  resulted  hid 
the  exportation  been  restrained  to  a  quantity  proportionate  to  the  eqaivaIentS|  or 
means  of  payment,  of  the  nations  to  which  the  exports  were  made. 

VI. 

''That  the  consequences  of  the  depreciatbn  in  the  products  pf  the  Brttiik 
artizan,  occasioned  by  such  an  excessive  exportation,  althougk  it  involved  the 
greater  portion  of  the  parties  more  immediately  instrumental  and   concerned  ia 
the  exportation,  in  ruin,  dis^ace,  and  misery,  have  fallen  more  particularly,  Iml 
with  greater  pressure,  on  the  artizan  and  labourer,  than  on  any  other  class  of  tbe 
community.    The  artizan,  in  the  lirst  instance,  being  compelled  to  yield  to  i 
reiiuction  in  bis  remuneration  for  labour,  necessarily  diminished  bis  expenditura  - 
and  consumption  of  agricultural  and   foreign  productions  in  a  corresponding 
degree  to  the  diminution  in  his  rate  of  wages ;  and  this  depreciating  principk^  ■ 
thus  established,  necessarily  diffused  itself  through  all  the  operatire  and  productiio  . 
olasies, 

VII. 

"That  the  fact  of  having  exported  in  1822  a  quantity  of  British  produce  and 
manufactures,  tu  the  amount  of  43,558,490/.  for  a  declared  real  value  of  imly 
36,170,897/.  whilst  on  an  average  of  the  tcu  years,  1798-1807,  an  annual  qo&ntity 
of  only  24,457,721/.  was  declared  in  value  to  amount  to  40,707,491/.  it  proves  a 
wasteful  exportation  in  quantity  in  the  year  1822,  to  die  amount  of  21,735,668(1 
the  value  of  which,  accordiug  to  the  average  value  of  the  like  quantity  exported  ia 
the  ten  years  1798-1807,  amounts  to  the  sum  of  37,220,298/.  and  that  the  annual 
remuneration  for  manufacturing  labour  is  reduced,  in  the  aggregate,  by  a  cones-  ' 
ponding" sum,  and  which  aggregate  reduction  iolbe  remuneration  for  labour  is  coo* 
firmed  by  the  reduction  in  the  rate  of  wages^  as  exemplified  in  column  No.  6  of 
Table  P. 

VIII. 

^  That  the  charge  for  annuities,  place,  pay^  and  pension,  created  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  in  1793,  amounts  as  near  as  possible  to  a  corresponding 
sum  to  the  aggregate  depreciation  in  the  remuneration  for  manufacturing  iHbonr, 
say  37,220,298/.  per  annum ;  and,  that  the  combined  operations  of  the  war,  excess 
of  export,  and  syMem  of  funding,  collectively  resolve  themselves  into  an  indirf>ct, 
but  exclusive,  taxation  and  pressure  on  the  British  artizan  and  labourer  to  tbtt 
amount,  and  falling  with  more  peculiar  force  and  oppression  on  the  weaver  than 
on  any  other  class  of  aitizans. 

IX. 

^  Tliat  the  circumstance  of  maintaining  the  anouitsnts,  placemen*  pay-rcceiven,    ' 
and  pensioners,  and  other  dependents  of  the  government  at  the  same  fixed  moae)- 
rate,  at  which  they  were  created,  whilst  all  production  hasdeoreaaed  in  value  oao 
half,  is  not  only  ufyustandoppressive  to  the  producers,  but  the  inequality  is  ohvi- 
ously  as  impolitic  aail  Is  ui^iis^ }  because,  the  taxation  which  it  renders  neeessary  > 
to  impose,  occasions  the  eoDsaming  price  of  all  foreign  productions,  and  Usable  : 
comnsodities,  to  be  such  as  to  retard  consumption ;  and,  consequently,  to  rendcf  - 
the  importation  of  all  foreign  production  as  unprofitable  as  it  is  limited  in  amoaiil;  ■ 
and  the  diminution  or  limitation  of  amount,  a  consequence  of  snob  taxation ;  whiht  > 
quantity  for  quantity,  quantity  imported  for  quantity  exporte<l,  is  the  only  priaci* 
pie  which  can  iustify  exportation^  or  render  it  either  profitable  or  desirable* 


5J  on  F.emu7icrationfor  Labor,  ^c.  499 

X. 

^f  That,  bad  tbe  qaantity  of  foreign  production  imported,  increased  in  proportion 
to  tbe  quantity  of  British  prodacc  and  mannfactures  exported,  llic  dcprcciaOou  in 
value,  althougb  it  might  have  produced  a  momentary  and  parliai  derangement  in 
the  aggregate,  would  have  been  of  no.  importance,  (value  and  price  beiii^  mere 
lelative  terms,-  having  no  signification  or  definite  racaninj^  nhen  applied  to  the 
:  iSSairs  of  nations,)  iMJcause  the  British  artizan  and  labotircr  might  then  have, 
obtained  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  means  of  comfort  in  proportion  to  the 
iDcreaso  of  the  products  of  their  labour  ;  but  so  far  from  any  increase  of  qaantity  of 
fiireign  productions  imported,  the  quantity  is  actually  less,  on  an  averaj^e  of  the 
)  JkciM  last  yean,  than  it  was  on  an  average  of  the  five  years  1798-1 8()2,  as  shewn 
I  m  TUbJe   P;  and   taxation  rendering  importation  unprofitable,  and  its  being 
I  anprofitabie*  rendering  It  limited ;  whilst  the  British  artizan  and  labourer  have 
( been  reduced  two-tbirds  in  their  remuneration  for  labour,  taxation  has  rendered 
p  tropioal  and  other  foicign  productions,  as  well  as  all  taxed  internal  commodities, 
I  ti  remain  nearly  stationary  in  their  consulting  price,  and  the  main  articles  of  sub« 
I  rfitence  to  be  reduced  only  about  one-tbinl;  the  reduction,  therefore,  in  theremu* 
.  neration  for  labour  resolves  itself  into  an  increase  of  privation  and  distress  ;  and, 
.  irbere  the  weight  of  family  has  bung  heavy,  misery  may  be  added,  proportionate  to 
I  Mioh  reduction ;  tbe  redaction  in  the  value  of  tbe  main  articles  of  subsistence 
being  in  no  proportion  to,  nor  affording  any  adequate,  or  hardly  any  compensation 
ii  all,  for  the  so  much  greater  reduction  in  tbe  remuneration  for  labour. 

XL 

^  That  tbe  privation,  and  distress  of  the  British  artizan  and  labourer  are  further' 
llggraTated  by  tbe  increasing  mani&atation  of  tbe  cflScacy  of  the  power  of  steam, 
Hild  Its  unrestrained  application  to-  ermj^ffmKfms^  and  every  object,  heretofore 
tMrrformed  by  the  band  of  man;  thereby  aiminiahiQg  the  demsmd  for  human  labour, 
Itbilst  the  supply  of  labour  increases;  and,  consequently,  tending  still  further  to 
[timinish  tbe  remuneration  for  such  portion  as  is  called  into  action,  and  whilst  the 
income  of  the  annuitant,  placeman,  Pjuikiceiver,  and  pensioner,  of  the  government, 
remains  fixed  and  permanent  i  and^mlst  the  burthen,  and  all  tbe  consequences ' 
nrsalting  from  that  inordinate  extent  uid  pressure  of  taxation  which  sustains  those 
■bKed  incomes,  remain  with  undiminished  force  and  pressure'  on  the  artizan  and 
Isb  oarer,  with  their  progressive  diminution  of  power  and  means  to  bear  it. 

XII, 

^*  Ttiat  tbe  condition  of  tlie.  artiasan  and  labourer  is  rendered  infim*tely  more 
iiatreasing  and  poignant  by  tbe  indirect  and  insidious  way  in  which  the  pressure  of 
Ibe  taxation  falls  upon  them,  inasmuch  as  it  tends  to  render  their  sulTerings  insen- 
■i^le  to  tbe  feelings  of  other?.  It  is  vanntingly  said,  that  they  do  not  materially 
contribute  to  tbe  taxes;  and,  it  is  true,  that  directly  they  do  not  to  any  material 
nc tent ;  and  for  why?  because  the  snbtle  and  Insidious  workings  of  tbe  system 
deprive  them  of  the  means;  but  it  is  the  fruits  of  their  labour,  produced. 
bj  tbe  sweat  of  their  brow,  and  exhaustion  of  their  heart's  blood,  at  the  ex- 
|ience  of  tbe  most  tedioas  and  unremitting  application  and  laborious  exertion,  and 
mt  the  sacrifice  of  ail  mental  and  social,  as  well  as  of  at!  physical  enjoyment,  whicli, 
without  any  commensurate  reward,  furnishes  those  who  directly  contribute  to  tbe 
taxes  with  tbe  means  of  paying  them ;  the  amount  paid  in  takes  being  so  much 
withheld  from  the  fair  remuneration  for  labour*  The  it^jnry  6f  the  labourer,  there- 
ibre,  consists  not  altogether  in  what  be  pays  in  taxes,  (although  that  is  still  in  tbe 
highest  degree  oppressive,)  but  in  what  others  pay  in  taxes  being  withheld  from 
thin,  to  whom,  on  eVery  principle  of  common  justice,  it  is  strictly  due;  for,  inde- 

fiendent  of  tbe  iinalienabie  axiom,  of  'Mbe  labourer  being  worthy  of  his  hire,  and 
abonr  of  its  jnst  reward,*'  it  was  them  who  sustained  the  war ;  it  was  them,  and 
4bem  cxclusivel),  who  fhmisbed  the  pubslanoe.  The  37,000,0002  per  annum 
Bocrease  of  taxes  since  1798,  therefore,  wliich  is  now  withheld  from  the  artizuii  ai.d 


500  Report  of  a  Select  Committee  CO  I 

labourer,  in  discbarge  of  a  fair  remuneration  for  labour,  is  not  merely  withheld 
from  them  iu  i^iolation  of  every  piinciple  of  sound  policy  and  common  jaBtiee,io 
discharge  for  such  fair  remuneration  for  labour  now  performing,  but  aA  thcnrdoe 
for  interest  on  the  substantive  products  of  their  labour  wbich  sostained  fliewv. 

XIII. 

. ''  That,  so  far  fVom  time  and  patience  having  any  tendency  to  prodace  an  eqoS* 
brium,  or  fair  adjustment  of  tho  several  interests  of  the  nation,  or  to  restore  fts 
British  artizan  and  Ial>ourer  to  their  wonted  sphere  of  interest,  tbe  bnrrentof 
existing  policy  will,  if  not  speedily  arrested  in  its  course,  accelerate  the  sinkhigof 
their  condition  to  tlie  lowest  possible  degree  in  the  scale  of  subsistence,  and  to  i 
physical  and  moral  degradation  and  misery,  as  abject  and  deplorable  as  that  4 
the  great  bulk  of  the  people  of  Hindostan,  China,  and  Japan  ;  and,  witb'aifmak 
b^  it  said^  the  people  of  Ireland  may  also  be  included 

XIV. 

**  That  the  propositions  which  have  recently  become  popular,  and  been  landed 
more  or  less  by  all  classes  of  tho  community,  of  giving  to  external  cominefeea 
more  unrestrained  freedom  of  action,  your  Committee  caonot  but. regard  with 
the  most  deep  and  unmingled  feelings  of  anxiety  and  dismay,  arisii^  from  tin 
deceptive  illusion  which  they  so  extensively  excite. 

XV. 

''That,' whilst  your  Committee  canqot  refrain  from  pronouncing  tbe  rarioai 
Statutes,  enacted  partly  in  ages  of  barbarism,  and  partly  in  ages  of  coniDacatiTO 
infancy  of  the  nation,  and  enacted  wholly  under  circumstances  totally  dlfliereBt 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  present  tiroc,  which  preclude  the  artizaii  aid 
labourer,  by  penalty  of  fine  and  imprisonment,  vrithont  bail  or  mainprize^  fron  ! 
acting  in  concert  in  demanding  a  just  and  fair  rcmuneratlop  for  their  labour,  if  | 
reproachful  to  the  philanthropic  pretensions  and  legislative  charactered  tbe  a|;e,u 
they  have  been  injurious  and  instrumental  in  producing  the  privation  anddistRS 
by  which  the  artizans  and  labourers  are  ri)|)^  sorroundcd.  JSnt  that,  whflst  tout 
Cfommittee  consider  the  unconditional  repeal,  of  oil  those  Statutes  alike  poMtie^ 
just,  and  desirable,  they  deem  it  of  the  utmost  importance  to  caution  their coostiti- 
ents,  and  the  whole  body  of  artizans  and  labonrers  at  large,  from  indulging  in  asy 
expectations  of  relief  as  resulting  from  their  repeal.  Your  Committee  tsA  the 
consequences  of  the  privation  and  distress  in  which  the  greater  moiety  of  the 
people  are- now  involved,  too  deep  and  indelible  to  be  effaced  by  measoresof  sKte 
nullity,  and  that  nothing  short  of  the  most  powerful  and  comprelietnive  iMiBrei 
of  active  effect  can  possibly  reinstate  tbe  artizan  and  labourer  io  their  wonted  aad 
just  sphere  of  reward  and  influence. 

XVI. 

''  That  the  Warehousing  Bill,  the  reciprocity  of  Duties  Bill,  &c.  &c.  of  tbe  put 
session,  and  tbe  unrestrained  exportation  of  machinery  and  free  eraigratioD  d 
artizans,  which  your  Committee  understand  it  is  intended  to  propose  in  tbe enaiBS 
session,  they  can  only  regard  as  mere  theoretical  conceits  and  pedantic  affiectatioBS, 
and  as  bespeaking  either  a  wilful  intention  to  delude,  or  a  total  incapacity  to  take 
that  acute  and  comprehiensivo  view  of  all  the  intricate,  involved,  extensivei  and 
complicated  interests  of  the  nation,  which  a  purely  philosophical  and  legiilaiive 
consideration  of  the  subject  demands. 

XVII. 

''  That  whilst  your  Committee  admit  in  tlie  most  nnqnali^ed  mamier,  tbttsetriy 
all  the  existing  regulations  and  measures  of  existing  policy  tend  to  retard  ruKtsA 
of  advancing  the  prosperity  of  the  country;  the  propositions  reccmtly  become  i^ 
popnlarand  partially  acted  upon,  instead  of  tending  to  produce  the  desired  ad- 


7]  on  Remuneration  for  Labor,  ^c.  501 

j  ustnicnl  or  .  jiHpoise,  posscFs  an  immutable  tendency  1o  increase  the  existinjif  dis- 
proportion of  intcreet  of  tlie  respective  classes  of  society,  and  tbat  sach  equipoise  in 
only  to  bo  obtained  by  the  substitution  (in  direct  opposition  to  prevailing  notions)  ot 
restraints  and  regulations  commensurate  with,  and  adapted  to,  the  magnitude  and 
complication  of  existing  interests  in  subversion  of  those  so  obviously  incompatible, 
iinudapted,  and  iuadequatc* 

XVIII. 

''That  the  extent  of  taxation  which  the  erroneous  and  unjust  system  of  funding 
liitherto*actcd  upon,  .na8*im|)osed  on  the  British  people  to  sustain  the  tbirty-«evcn 
millions  of  annuities,  pay,  and  pension,  wliich  have  been  created  since  1793,  possess 
a  tendency  to  excite  excessive  exportation  equally  stron^Ty  although  influenced  by 
the  extreme  of  opposite  principles,  to  the  forced  issue  of  the  Bills  drawn  in 
foreign  parts,  duiitig  the  war;  which  tended  so  materially  to  tlie  creation  and 
growth  of  those  aim :ii1ies,  pay,  and  pensions;  the  extent,  and  depreciated  rate  at 
which  the  Bills  in  question  were  issued,  was  the  excitement  to  an  excessive  exporta- 
tion in  the  first  instance,  the  drain  of  which  was  obviated,  and  rendered  impercep- 
tible by  the  counteracting  influence  whi6h  the  creation  of  ideal  representations  of 
amount  and  the  funding  system  adopted,  under  its  operation  internally  produced: 
but  now,  the  consequences  of  taxation  which  that  false,  delusive,  and  unjust  system 
has  established,  drive  a  great  portion  of  the  receivers  of  tlie  thirty-seven  millions  of 
annuities,  pay,  and  pension,  with  other  unproductive  inheritors  of  fixed  money  in- 
comes, to  go  and  reside  in  foreign  parts,  for  the  express  and  avowed  purpose  of 
avoiding  tlie  oppressive  consequences  of  that  same  taxation  from  which  their  own 
incomes  are  deduced ;  and  thus  a  corresponding  amount,  or  nearly  so,  of  Bills 
are  drawn  annually  in  foreign  parts,  by  temporary  and  )>crmanent  British  absentees, 
on  private  bankers,  as  used  to  be  drawn  during  the  war  by  the  commissaries  and 
agents  of  the  British  government;  and  the  Bills  no\x:  drawn  by  absentees  in  foreign 
parts,  or  the  letters  of  credit,  which  resolve  themselves  into  the  same  thing,  which 
Ibe  absentees  obtain  and  occasion  others  to  draw,  produce  the  same  excitement  to 
an  excess  of  exportation  as  the  Bills  formerly  drawn  by  the  commissaries  or  agents 
of  the  government ;  with  this  diflference  in  the  result,  without  any  counteracting 
influence  either  real  or  imaginag-now  being  produced;  and,  consequently,  now 
it  is  that  the  drain  and  exhausfioPKianirests  itself  so  fearfully. 

XIX. 

^'That  the  roanufactuiing  interests  of  the  country  at  large  are  especially  injured 
and  the  interest  of  all  classes  of  the  British  people  more  or  less  injured,  and  the  pri- 
Tation  and  distress  of  the  artizan  and  labourer  greatly  aggravated  by  the  blind,  the 
selfish,  and  the  mistaken,  policy  whicli  precludes  the  importation  of  grain  of  fo- 
reign growth,  thereby  rejecting  the  only  Tiieans  of  payment  which  the  greater 
part  of  Europe  and  America  have  to  give  in  return  for  the  products  of  the  mines  and 
labor.of  the  British  proprietor  and  artizan ;  operating  with  multiplied  pressure  on 
the  artizan  and  laborer,  inasmuch  as  it  tends  to  increase  the  price  of  their  means  of 
•subsistence  on  one  side,  whilst  it  necessarily  and  immutably  tends  to  diminish  the 
remuneration  for  their  labor  on  the  other. 

XX.     ■  . 

^'That  all  classes  of  the  British  people  are  further  injured,  and  tlie  artizan  and  la- 
borer especially  so,  by  the  abuse  of  the  monopoly  vested  in  the  East-India  Company 
for  the  importation  of  tea  ;  an  article  which  the  utipreeedented  application,  toil, 
and  exertion  of  the  British  artizan,  as  well  as  its  long  tise,  remler  not  merely  ne- 
cessary to  their  comfort,  but  almost  to  their  subsistence,  yet  independent  of  the 
unprecedented  pressure  of  taxation  which  the  thirty-seven  millions  of  annuities, 
pay,  and  pension,  created  since  1793,  occasions ;  some  2000  individuals  only,  or 
thereabouts,  are  wantonly  snScred  to  tax  the  British  people  upwards  of  two  mil- 
lions per  annum,  over  ami  above  a  fair  conHnercial  profit  on  the  single  article  of 
tea  alone,— a  rule  of  policy  which  your  committee  caMuot  refrain  from  pointing  oat 


502  Report  of  a  Salecl  Committee  [8 

as  despicable  Tor  i(s  incanncss>  as  it  is  unjust  and  oppressiTO  to  ilie  people  at  lar^ ; 
because,  without  the  monopolists  diminishing  their  aggregate  profits,  the  public 
might  be  relieved  of  three-fourths  of  the  pressure  by  their  quadrupling  the  supplj, 
which  increase  of  supply  even  would  not  afford  half  an  ounce  per  day  for  each 
individual  of  Great  Jiritain  (to  say  nothing  of  Ireland)  above  fifteen  yean 
of  ago,  (leaving  only  the  drainings  and  washings  of  the  pot  for  all  under  that  age,) 
whilst  such  increase  of  supply  would  increase  iu  a  corresponding  degree  the  de- 
mand for  shipping  and  seamen,  and  produce  an  especial  general  activity  and  in- 
terest among  all  classes  coucerned  in  and  dependent  on  a  growiug^  and  actiie 
marine. 

XXI. 

'*  That  the  monopoly  vested  in  tlio  Bank  of  England  is  not  less  reprehensible 
than  that  >ested  In  the  East  India  company,  for  tlie  collusion  aud  cajolery  between 
the  government  and  directors  of  the  Bank,  to  which  it  gives  rise,  than  it  is  iiijo- 
rious  to  the  general  interests  of  the  people  at  large,  inasmuch  as  it  resolves  itself 
into  a  bmxdfiiU  tax  on  the  people  of  upwards  of  a  million  and  a  half  per  annum,  over 
and  above  what  defrays  all  the  expeuces  of  the  e>tahlishmenty  in-all  its  profuse  and 
extended  departments,  more  than  that  sum  being  divided  annually  among  a  few  thou- 
sand  persons  only,  under  the  denomination  of  proprietors  of  ''  Bank  stock,*'  wliidi 
stock,  like  that  constituting  w  hat  is  called  the  **  National  debt,''  Is  exclusively  ideal. 
The  Bank  of  England  never  having  substantively  or  absolutely  contributed  to  (be 
state  or'the  public,  since  its  first  establishment  in  1694,  more  tlian  l,200>0001.ahidi 
sum  was  originally  subscribed  to  lend  to  the  government,  at  the  exorbitant  nte  sf 
8  per  cent,  interest  per  annum,  against  which,  indepenilent  uf  a  progressively In- 
creosing  interest  up  to  1797,  and  814,9681.  per  annum,  ^vhicb  was  divided  ataongst 
the  proprietors  from  1797  to  1816;  no  less  a  sum  than  11,933,4601.  was  divided 
amongst  them  as  tionusscs  from  June  1799,  to  June  1816,  siiice  which  latter  dale, 
upwards  of  1,600,0001.  per  annum  has  been  divided  amongst  tliem ;  and,  as/rn^ 
on  an  establishment  avowedly  national,  must  be  admitted  to  be  as  completely  a 
paradox  and  solecism^  in  fact  as  well  as  in  language ;  the  more  than  1,500,0001.  per 
annum  now  divided,  as  well  as  every  shilling  which  has  been  previously  divided, 
beyond  a  fair  remuneration  for  interest  on  l|f  1,200,0001.  originally  subscribed, 
resolves  itself  into  an  absolute  tax  on  the  people  at  large,  for  the  benefit  of 
a  few,  thereby  enabling  them  to  aid  and  abeit  in  the  oppression  of  the  many; 
and,  as  tiraugh  no  limit  was  to  be  assigned  to  the  aggrandizement  on  one 
side,  and  oppression  on  the  other,  another  negociatiop  was  agreed  upon  between 
the  government  and  the  Directors  of  Uie  Bank,  and  which  was  sanctioned  by  a 
majoril^y  of  Parliament  iu  the  session  of  1823 ;  which  transaction,  in  its  ultimate 
result,  gives  a  further  bonus  of  more  than  two  millions  to  the  Bank,  and  iollicls 
an  increase  I'f  taxation  of  185,0001.  per  annum  for  thirty-eight  years  and  a-hal( 
and  upwiirds  of  100,0001.  per  annum  for  ever,  without  any  benefit  whatever  in 
return,  either  present  dr  future ;  and  « hich  transaction  is  the  more,  repceheoii- 
ble  for  tlie  ^pcciousness  and  delusiou  of  the  pretext  set  up  to  obtain  it,  inasmocfa 
as  its  complication  and  involution  precludes  the  actual  result  from  being  under* 
stoo  1  without  a  patience  and  an  acuteness  of  investigation  beyond  the  power  of 
the  people  in  general  to  bestow. . 

XXII. 

''That  an  excess  of  exportation  is  further  excited,  exhaustion  further  acee 
leratcd,  and  the  oppression  of  the  British  artizan  further  aggravated,  by  the  lacilily 
given  by  the  British  government  to  a  system  of  loan- jobbing  with  foreign  nations. 
The  British  government,  not  content  with  the  taxation  necessary  to  meet  all  legiti- 
mate demands  on  the  state,  to  the  utmost  extent  of  profusion,  annually  inflicts;  Imt 
they  tax  the  people  5,000,000/.  per  annum  more,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  87  to  902i 
for  the  same  ideal  denomination  of  amount  for  which  they  received  only  63or64l'w 
1813  and  1815  i  and,  with  the  5,000,000/.  per  annum  so  wrong  from  the  British  peo- 
ple in  taxes,  and  so  applied,  the  sellers  of  the  ideal  denomination  of  amount  are 
refending  the  proceeds  to  the  different  governments  of  Europe  and  America,  aJlof 
which  transactions,  in  their  ultimate  result,  resolve  themselves  into  an  increasing 
drain  and  exhaustion  of  the  pecuniary  and  physical  powers  of  the  Britisli  artizan. 


91  en  Remuncrnimi  for  Labor ^  8^c.  503 

XXIII. 

^In  conclu^dn,  your  Committee  state,  that  every  document  which  they  havo 
examined,  susceptible  of  affording  incontroYertible  evidencey  has  led  to  the  most 

■  unqualified  proof,  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  British  people  are  living  in  a  state 
of  unprecedented  distress  and  privation;  and  that  the  exhaustion  of -their  pecuni- 
ary and  physical  powers  has  attained  a  degree  which,  in  itself,  is  sufficient  to  acce- 

■  lerate  the  total  derangement  of  the  whole  community;  and  that,  so  far  from  any 
one  measure  of  existing  policy,  or  any  one  of  those  more  recently  proposed 

:  operating  as  restoratives,  the  greater  portion  are  calculated  to  aggravate  the  evil, 
whilst  the  others  may  be  regarded  as  nugatory. 

XXIV. 

''Your  Committee,  therefore,  cannot  express  these  conclusions  without  fear  and 
trembling,  when  they  look  at  the  bold  and  hardened  manner  in  which  the  revival 
of  national  prosperity  has  been  reiterated,  by  certain  persons  in  certain  places ;  and 
more  particularly  so,  when  they  consider  that  first  impressions,  the  impressions 
.  which  a  slight  and  superficial  view  of  the  subject  excite,  are  calculated  to  lead  to 
conclusions  diametrically  the  reverse  of  those  which  your  Committee  have  been 
led  to  draw  from  the  fullest  possible  investigation,     z  our  Committee  are  aware, 
that  the  facile  manner  in  which  60,000,000/.  of  taxes  per  annum  are  collected, 
>  abstractedly  considered,  affords  strung  presumptive  evidence  of  efficiency  in  power 
.  and  means,  but  it  requires  no  very  great  depth  of  investigation  to  dispel  the  illu- 
,  sion  which  the  abstract  consideration  of  the  subjeqt  diffuses.     As  a  matter  of 
course,  60,000,000/.  of  taxes  cannot  be  collected  and  re-distributed  without  some 
counteracting  and  exciting  influence  being  produced ;  and  your  Committee  have 
shewn,  that  as  long  as  opinion  can  he  rendere<i  subservient  to  the  system,  the 
annuitant,  pay-receiver,  pensioner,  add  all  inheritors  of  fixed  money  incomes,  are 
,■  benefited  in  proportion  as  the  producer  is  injured ;  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
.advantage  which  the  annuitant,  pay-receiver,  pensioner,,  and  inheritor  of  a  fixed 
.money  income,  thus  derives,  Is  calculated  tp  produce  re-aption,  excitement,  and 
.restoratives.  But  the  great  and  important  fact,  which  a  full  and  due  investigation 
.of  the  whole  subject  dcvelopes,  b  this;  that  the  state  of  decay  and  exhaustion  on 
the  part  of  the  greater  moiety  of  the  people  is  too  great  for  tlic  re-active,  exciting, 
and  restoring  influence  of  the  lessor  portion  of  the  people,  to  produce  effects  suffi- 
cient to  retard  the  distress  in  which  the  greater  portion  are. so  poignantly  and  unhap- 
pily involved ;  the  re-action  that  is  produced  operating  invertcdly,  progressively 
converging  more  and  more  to  a  centre  or  point,  whilst  the  vonsequeuces  of  pri- 
vation and  distress  are  progressively   diverging  more  and  more,  towards  the 
extremities,  and  over  the  entire  body.     And  the  poignancy  of  the  distress  of  the 
part  tliat  suffer,  ts  additionally  aggravated  by  the  circumstHnce  of  each  class  of  the 
community  not  bearing  their  proportionate  share  of  the  drain  and  exhaustion 
which  occasions  it ;  it  renders  those  that  do  not  suffer,  alike  unconscious,  insensi- 
ble, and  indifferent  to  the  distresses,  of  those  that  do. 

XXV. 

^'Thatthe  notion  of  one  portion  of  a  community  not  being  flonrishing  and 
prosperous  without  diffusing  the  like  benefits  through  the  whoN*,  though  not  falla- 
cious tit  toto,  becomes  more  and  more  fallacious  in  proportion  us  a  people  rccrdc 
from  the  simplest  forms  of  society,  and  in  proportion  as  society  becomes  varied, 
artificial,  and  complex;  and  on  this  latter  principle  it  is  that  a  benefit  arises  from 
the  collection  and  distribution  of  sixty  millions  of  taxes  to  the  smaller  portion  of 
the  community,  whilst  the  greater  portion  are  subjected  to  increasing  privation  and 
distress;  and  a  due  consideration  of  this  position  exemplifies  and  demonstrates,  that 
the  benefits  so  derived  are  of  an  artificial  and  precarious,  and  not  of  a  solid,  a  real* 
«nd  permanent,  nature,  as  is  manifest,  but  from  a  slight  consideration  of  what  is 
called  the  *'  National  Debt,*'  as  the  thing  which  gives  rise  to  the  bulk  of  the  ta!ie8, 
and  the  pretended  benefits  which  it  is  presumed  by  some  to  produce.  The  ideal  or 
pominal  denomination  of  800  millions  in  amount,  of  which  the  '*  National  DeUt"  so 


'i 


/:d4  Report  of  a  Select  Commit  lee  [10 

called  Is  corApo^cd,  your  Committee  round  not  to  posiesa  flie  snbitaoce  of  m  gtVav, 
to  consist  of:  nothing  but  imagination  and  ideal  representation,  and  to  l>e  beld%j 
the  most  precarious  and  unworliiy  of  ail  teiiarcs, — the  capricious  tenure  of  nnfte 
opinion.  Had  the  government  borrowed  means  wherewith  to  have  effected  aay 
given  object,  that  would  have  yielded  an  annual  produetioo,  e(|iiivalent  to  tke 
annuity  agreed  to  be  paitl,  the  fee  siuiplc  «ni^ht  Utea  have  been  held  by  tfts 
gorvmmcnt  in  trust,  fur  and  against  the  ainnliut  received.  But  yonr  Comniittte 
fiud  no  fie  f  to  exist  in  refercace  to  this  ideal  rofisesentatioa  of  600  milli^as  ia 
amount ;  the  parties  who  purport  to  have  leot,  have  lent  nothing  of  the  Bubstantie 
of  a  feather,  nor  have  Ihe-guvernmcnt  ever  received  any  thing  of  the  substance 
or  value  of  a  feather ;  it  was  entirely  an  ideal  creation  of  amount  on  paper ;  conse- 
quentty,  ncrflef  in  substance  exists,  in  reference  to  it;  it  exists  only  in  luiagiuafiun, 
and  ^ests  on  no  solider  basis  than  the  airy,  capricious,  and  fleeting  basis  of  opiuiua 
which  a  breatli  may  dissolve. 

XXVI. 

That,  as  far  as  the  sttbstance  connect^  with  the  account  was  concerned^  it  wu 
indirect  and  remote,  and  was  produced  by  the  British  artisan  and  labourer :  but,  to 
far  (rom  its  being  held  in  6ef  or  in  trust  by  the  British  government,  for  the  benefit  of 
those  that  produced  it,  or  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation  at  large,  it  is  gone,  and  not 
even  the  shadow  remaim ;  and,  to  add  to  the  calamity  and  distress  of  the  artian 
and  labourer,  an  ideal  representation  of  amount,  equal  tothevaiaeof  tite  substance 
of  which  they  have  been  drained,  has  been  fabricated  for  the  benefit  of  a  party  who 
contributed  nothing  of  snbstance ;  the  pi'etext  set  up  in  justification  being,  thst 
the  amount  was  derived  from  profits;  .but  your  Committee  have  ahewn,  that  so 
far  from  the  nation  in  its  collective  capacity  having  derived  any  profit  or  accession 
of  substance  during  the'  war,  that  ^  aggregate  transactions  of  the  period  demon- 
strate a  quantity  of  property  in  substance  to  have  been  exported  to  the  value  of 
upwards  of  500,000,000/.  over  and  above  what  any  equivalent  in  substance,  eitiier 
directly  or  indirectly,  was  received  for  in  return ;  consequently,  nationally  consi- 
dered, a  loss  to  that  amount,  and  ne  profit  I  The  idea  of  profit,  therefore,  is  a  spe- 
oioos  pretext,  set  up  in  substitution  of  despoilment  of  the  just  reward  of  the  arti- 
■an  and  labourer,  and  the  injury  and  injustice  inflicted  upon  them  rendered 
ob5cure  by  the  dazzling  illusion  of  the  multiplied  artificial  interests  to  which 
it  has  given  rise;  and  trhiob,  as  long  as  opinion  can  be  made  to  snstahi 
them,  operate  to  the  oppression  and  injury  of  the  artizan  nnd  labourer  in  a 
fourfold  proportion.  Were  tlie  interests  of  the  country  administered  with  reason 
and  justice,  the  thirty -seven  millions  per  annum  now  distributed  to  certain  aonni- 
tants,  pay- receivers,  and  pensioners,  would-  be  distributed  to  the  British  labourer 
and  artizan,  inasmuch  as  it  is  manifest  that  such  a  sum  in  1822  wag  deducted  Droffl 
their  remuneration  for  labour  actually  performed  in  producing  substantive  com- 
nodities ;  and  being  also  their  due  in  discharge  of  the  interest  on  the  excess  of  their 
productions  exported  during  the  war. 

XXVII. 

''That,  whilst  your  Committee  believe  that  they  have  exbihit'od  the  fallacy  and 
Injustice  of  the  funding  system,  which  has  occasioned  such  an  unprecedented 
extent  of  taxation,  in  a  broader,  stronger^  and  darker,  point  of  view,  than  has  ever 
been  done  before,  tliey  are  desirous  of  its  being  understood,  that  the.  dark  and 
repulsive  colour  in  which  they  have  felt  it  their  duty  to  exhibit  iU  has  not  resulted 
from  any  disposition  to  dispossess  or  diminish,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  advan- 
tages of  those  who  now  derive  a  benefit  from  it ;  but  that  they  have  been  actuated 
solely  by  a  desire  to  secure  those  interests  to  the  parties  who  at  present  enjoy 
ihera,  by  pointing  out  to  them  the  doubtful,  capricious,  and  precarious,  basis  on 
ivhich  it  at  present  rests,  and  that  it  can  pnly  be  rendered  secure  by  a  fair  remi* 
neration  for  labour. 

xxvm. 

''^That  your  Committee  are  also  desirous  of  its  being  understood,  that  on  nsin; 
the  t^rms  aUju&tmcnt,  equalization,  and  equipoise,  thcj^  have  no  intention  of 


IIV  ort  'HemUmration  for  Labor,  8^.  605 

pM>|HifiiilffOT  recommending  relkrbeins  asked  for  at  tbe  cxporne  of  niijt  esMling 
in'lorctt ;  tur,  howerer  reprehensible,  impolilio,  and  unjust,  ma;  hnvc  been  tlia' 
«Iesi)rn  Hurt  origio  of  tlic  ideal  and  artificial  iutercsta  whicli  new  exist,  time  and 
iiaase  lias  gif eu  tlicm  aiiatlier  cliarabler,  aod  so  far  invoKed  lliousiinds  and  tcua  of 
t1  ion  sands  o{  uDsaspontitij;  individnaJs  in  thoir  cansequeniies,  lliat  an;  extinction  or 
siibTerckin  would  now  brinK  on  greater ealamilies than  bate  Iwcn  produced  by. 
their  creation ; nor  (lu  jour  Cotninittee  consider  the  subveiaion  of  an;  existinjc 
intercBt  n^KWisary  i  tiecniue  tbe  artiiiciBl  power  already  in  operation  (and  wlijch.  ' 
indicates  a  multiplfed  cx|)iinion,)  under  judiciciui  and  commensurate  control  and' 
regnlatinn,  the;  oonHider  more  tiian  adequate  to  sustain  a  slill  greater  treigUt  of 
ideal  orartilioial  interests,  or,  in  other  word*,  to  suslMU  tm  infinite!;  greater  extent 
of  unproductive  Intrabiianla. 

XXIX. 
"Tliat,  as  propMitions  for  relief  Ibrmed  no  part  of  the  instnicfioas  given  at 
duties «otru8t«d  to  yoarCominiltee.tlio;  purposely  refrain  from  ulTeringan;  sug- 
gestions to  tliat  effeot,  Tbe;  oannot,  faowcTer,  refrain  from  exprcsaing  the  higfi 
gratification  the;  have  derlTcil  from  the  moltijilied  means  of  relief  which,  in  tlu  ' 
discharge  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  the  comprebensivc  and  miuute  analysb 
and  inTestigationoftheaggr^ateinleresIsof  the  nation,  se vera  11;  and  colEccliTely, 
presented  to  their  view;  and,  as  tbo  measuren  beat  calcu luted  to  re-iiistate  the 
artizan  and  latioarer  In  their  jnst  npliere  of  influence  and  reward,  instead  of  tendinff 
fo  subvert,  oreren  in  tbe  slightest  degree  to  diminUh,  an;  existing  iolereiit,  tbrj 
will  tend  to  render  those  interest!!  :^ceurc,  and  elevate  in  imporlanca  the  pomes- 
aors,  and  progressive!;  increase  their  advantagen.  Ynnr  Committee,  therefore, 
as  a  reward  for  tbe  anxious  tolicitii<te  excited  h;  tbe  varied  and  contlicling 
evidence  which  monthii  of  tcdions  and  toiltomo  inTostigation  iinfoldcirtu  them, 
look  forward,  with  fond  hope  and  expectation,  to  the  adoption  of  sncli  nieasures  u 
shall  set  all  the  varied  iaieresls  of  the  coiiiilr;  in  a  riglit  direction,  irhcrcb;  they 
will  in  themselves  accelerato  their  own  advancement,  and  thereb;  claim  the 
unanimous  and  nnrjualiftcd  concurrence  of  all  claucs  of  tlw  communiij." 


STi'reHEKT  ihowing  the  Anhdac  Variatiok  In  die  STtTS  and  CniiniTioH  of 
Great  Britain,  ai  regards  her  MAKuv^cTuaev  Coaimkhci!,  TaX4tiun,  and 
Parochial  AsSElsxBNTifOn  an  Average  of  each  five  Yean  since  ihe  general 
Peace  in  IT9S, 


Britiih    Prodtite    oirf 

Calonlal  ind 

PERIODS. 

IS/ir 

'ZST 

Tuie.. 

pJirorhbl 

A.SCWIIICDU. 

At  Dccland 

llK  WorW. 

Rc-eiliorioJ, 

OuintilJ. 

"vslne. 

rf 

,e 

m 

* 

le 

* 

1783 

9,919,000 

mere  kis  ni 

9,n4,000 

So  Retnrn 

17,000,000 

2,000,000 

17B*— 17BB 

11,989, 17« 

16,683,910 

4,584,139 

18,000,000 

2,167,748 

1789— 179* 

15,961,866 

rj^«  prior  to 

19,07I1,«B3 

5,703,108 

1793—1797 

lfi,59i!,SM 

1798. 

31,696,756 

8,203,209 

,798—1803 

23,840,865 

16,3!!,3S1 

29,678,490 

ll,631,S.iO 

33,670,195 

5,300,000 

1B04— 1B09 

37 ,1!2 1,957 

43,594/)50 

30,100,807 

10,3.10,564 

55,888,19* 

6,500,000 

1810—1815 

3S,li67,738 

44,471,855 

3^,181,181 

15,181,555 

57,939,000 

0,500,000 

1816— IBal 

37,81B,,125 

37,865,836 

30,601,500 

10,9J5,6I6 

.55,400,088 

8,545,6711 

IS-i'i 

13,558,490 

36,176,897 

59,401,807 

9,211,928 

54,974.343 

7,761,441 

Report  of  a  Select  Commiltee 


[12 


TABLE  (N)  tbowiapE  tlic  Pbopoktiom  of  MaRCHAiiDitB  KXPORnn  Ami  tA 
iMPoRTEii  into  OitiAT  BHiiJtiN.  to  ind  ftooi  UiF scTent  CoitntTicB  «i  tbe  Worid, 
in  tbe  ihrec  year*  181H-tU;  ind  Ihe  ExrcM  of  Exporli  oisr  Importf.  (Vid*  PuGt- 
MMiUr;  Vsper,  No.  ST4,  Seuian  of  182S.) 


WcsIIndiM    

East  Iiidirs  aad  Chins  ■ 
TliB  Fisbcrj  ........i 


.    5,7B4,551 
.    3,1H5,75I 


*,490,{110  I  4,S47,0« 

9,37S,9BJ     S.STS.BiT 

!,9« 


4,999,343       Contn. 


J»,648  \  C 
i3,7T0  y 


TatBl  Briludi  FoMeationi'  a,973,SU 


Germany    

Italy    

Holland 

POTln|«I  —  --"- 

Gibraltar 

.Flmdrra 

Tiirliey    •■■■ 

DenmBifc    

SwcdrD  and  Norway  , 

Malta 

Ionian  IkU*    

United  StatcB  of  A  me  tie 

BrHZJis     

Foreign  West  Indiei->- 

Sonili  America 

Britbh  North  America- 
New  HoUiind    

Cape  ofGaod  Hope- -■ 


8,6B4,I3S 

4,S!8(J,854 

.    «,820,r41 

,    8,046  ISS 

B96,l7a 

60f,ea9 

I,9Sr*,099 

.  j,oi)<,aoo 

1,194,7= 

i,oei,Bio 

377,6! 
167,748 
674,878 
13,K" 

8,383,437 
3,19], est 
1,609,75J 
8SO,944 
1,795,36* 
10,074 

ins,S93 

173,649 

380,981 

.  43,823,030   a 


6,S65,y37 

S,4l>a,971 

3,806,349 

S,03S.O64 

S,*  87,67  6 

1,533,940 

1,115,127 

664,d3<l 

1, 771^17 

974,633 

9Sl,S^tj 

T67,«6 


,6Si,81 
9,e94,t08 

3,767  ,eas 

3,668,383 

S,(147,6iS 

I,8S4,905 

1,765,963 

666,913 

1,54!,331 

1,31!,a80 

1,16*,756 

96l,74fi 

3lta,570 

S11,44i 


16,1 


7,7  54.' 

641,085 
817,597 
2r^(J0,S»l 
56S,ei4 
400.537  ■> 
15,309  S 
936,698  J 
99,198 

761,564 
4.17,158 
141,«30 
141,930 
«1,*65 
98,8SB 


4,301,676 
I,B96,3J6 
1,1-13,719 


179,508 
«13,507 
e9e,83S 


3,910,3«0 

S,378,469 
l,ta7,050 
917,916 
1,676,316 
118,086 
tC56,465 
309,586 
30e,3&ll 


a41,STj 
5,031 

78,494 


544,588 
ie7,3<6 
69,51* 
4t8^9 


i68,8ea 

984,4  M 
458.430 
6B4,5i05 
8S5,lH* 
113,055 
lT7,tf7I 
SI  3,668 
168,817 


Id  referenre  to  IliU  StateiiMiil,  it  ■■  inpcrtaBt  to  obterve,  llut  tli«  notion  d 
"balance  of  trade"  doei  not  apply  to  the  cig«>i  of  imports  from  tlie  Eait  Indinind 
CliiDa,and  Iba  Weit  Indict,  in  lending  to  balance  ar  equalize  tlie  cxcem  of  eiporti  t> 
Mbct  pari*  of  tlie  world  %  tlie  notion  applies  to  some  of  tlie  Enropean  atatei  with  eiik 
Mbor,  and  parliaily  to  tlie  United  Stales  of  Amerira  wilb  F.arnpu  ;  and  especiilly  ti 
Oibraltar  wilh  Spain  and  Porttigal,  wliicb  are  circiimftexcd  for  the  piirpoHS  of  more 
diitinclly  notirs  ibe  cirrnniitance. — Hie  niwndiliire  of  British  absentm,  and  iIk 
Utii  drawn  on  Uie  Britiih  government  Ibr  tlia  maintenance  of  tlie  Britisb  iqlditi't 
Milon,  and  officen,  of  llie  several  garritona  and  naval  itRlioni  in  Europe  and  BritiA 
North  America,  and  for  diplomatic  and  otiirr  cxiirnieA,  and  n  trifling  eicpMoftiDldiB' 
^iier  imported,  not  Inclnded  in  tlie  areonntj  lojiPtbcrj  tend  very  c*nn<l«nbl*  >* 
nenlralize  tbe  excest  of  ctportn,  st-  far  as  the  commercial  Jnteieat  it  directly  conrtn^ 
(d ;  bat  the  actoa)  Ioh>  to  the  nation  ia  viriiially  what  in  rp|iTi'tcntcd  by  tlie  latl  colaM 
of  (he  accaunt,  via.  abont  twrnty-fite  niitiions  per  aunum. 


1.11 


(m  Utmunevat'mn  fnr  LaJinr,  Sfc. 


li(\7 


TABT.G  fO\  ihowiig  fte  Qoaxtitt  of  Mskchubiik  ExPonrtD  tttm  mA. 
iMFURTEti  into  Okkat  Bkitain  in  Mch  ypar  nnce  VT63,  •UntiiigiuAlBg  the 
ProportJoos  Expoitod  to  liie  East  Indict  aod  China  and  the  Uent  Indici,  from  tlie 
Proportion  KximnW  to  all  other  ParLi  of  the  World;  and  ■howing  alio  tb*- exceM  oT 
waste  of  tliG  PnudBcUoftlieBritiiili  Aitizao  and  Labourer  ipeadi  Year :  Table  (S) 
showing  the  QiMDhty  Imported  in  each  Year  from  tlie  £ait  ludiei  and  China  and 
from  the  Wnt  Indtei. 


BIPORTl. 

B.  purls.  SB  pri 
t<l\i.  Nni.  S 

tna  iDHJri;         DrltlFh      1     Anolher     i      Toml. 

^d  Cliiiid. 

W»l  Indiu. 
7. 

rarlk. 

4. 

6. 

tS 

rf 

^ 

^ 

«M 

1,870,066 

15,101,491 

8,871,105 

4,200,000 

if«* 

1,KS,SS8 

16,1 17,.  69 

9,221,067 

^,200,000 

VI96 

1,336.063 

16,S05,B66 

0,185,995 

4,400,m»0 

tw 

l,T33,*fiS 

16,869,789 

10,6B9,85B 

4,000,000 

i«3 

1,766.4.54 

17,472,238 

10,4B4,8eo 

5,000.000 

17B9 

1,763,937 

19,340.549 

10,552,153 

7,000,000 

17H0 

1,986,J01 

20,120,181 

12,090,089 

6.500,000 

791 

2,649,066 

22,731,995 

12,280.031 

7,000,000 

.792 

703,168 

«,9!«,119 

30,B41,5l3 

24,467 ,20C 

13,774,735 

8,067,176 

iro3 

763.168 

S,695,42» 

16,218,096 

19,676,686 

11,366,536 

4,852,560 

irsi 

9U7.751 

3,631,762 

hO,490,930 

25,111,446 

13,047,803 

7.343,127 

1795 

958,313 

2,460,BBB 

21,428,138 

24,847,339 

12,876,788 

8,5,^1,350 

1796 

1,093.607 

3,KJOe68 

23,702,703 

38,026,068 

15,874,286 

7,628,417 

1707 

9rH.5a3 

3,143,878 

22,195,252 

56,315,713 

12,800,685 

9,394,567 

1798 

898,046 

5,197,913 

84,194,068 

3O.s:90,02g 

14,818,996 

9,375,060 

1799 

l,0i'?.(i56 

5,943,501 

Si6,60+,400 

33,640,357 

16,403,113 

10,201,087 

1,S6l,8i!4 

4,082,100 

32,776,196 

38,130,120 

18,a7  5,620 

14,500,376 

1,431.271 

4,373,318 

31,982,367 

37,786,856 

18,956,605 

13,035,763 

1,58*.463 

3.878,59* 

35,948,909 

41,411,966 

17,143,764 

18,804,134 

IBOS 

1,696.086 

2,344,647 

87,537,762 

31,57(1,495 

15,606,903 

11,930,860 

1804 

1,499,855 

4,ei!<l,025 

2B,7aa,48T 

34,«1,367 

16,397,631 

12,524,856 

1803 

1,5*6,910 

3,800,782 

a9,627,lJ3 

34,954,845 

17,636,783 

11,990,360 

1806 

1,605,078 

4,705,200 

30,216,906 

36,527,184 

16,355,004 

13,861,901 

1807 

1,776,413 

4,536,563 

2B,e53,.'>95 

34,566.571 

17,487,348 

10,766,353 

1808 

1,833,657 

5,850,773 

86,869,836 

34,554,167 

15,0fi7,608 

11,803,218 

1809 

l,4b7,99e 

5,902,686 

42,896,216 

50,286,900 

22,798,767 

30,097,449 

1810 

1,555,896 

4,579,809 

39,735.274 

45,869,869 

26,356,096 

11,479,178 

laii 

1,589,568 

4,001,000 

96,979,003 

32,409,671 

16,178,160 

10,700,843 

1B19 

4,740,216 

43,243,172 

15,804,907 

22,000,000 

1813 

46,000,000 

15,000,000 

27,000,000 

1814 

1,656,40* 

6.28*,35S 

44,477.641 

52,358,398 

13,620,000 

30,657,641 

IBIS 

£,054,666 

6,863,371 

48,503,499 

57,430,436 

14,000,000 

34,503,499 

1816 

*,185,6.H 

4.559,66.^ 

41,470,879 

48,316,185 

10,000,000 

31,470,879 

■    1B17 

9,779,625 

6,762,069 

39,962,974 

49,504,668 

14,000,000 

25,962,974 

laia 

3,185,750 

6,784,554 

43,828,013 

52,796,317 

20,124,662 

24,181,711 

IB19 

V72,9B2 

4,490,010 

35,839,619 

49,802,811 

14,2?9,668 

22,147,515 

1820 

3,229,811 

4,347,043 

4«,766,2('8 

48,343,062 

15,943,908 

25,329,300 

an 

4,333,0.17 

5,069,372 

41,415,563 

50,797,98* 

14,400,000 

97,015,563 

I8;i 

1823 

3,886,950 

4,145,463 

44,738,005 

52,770,418 

16,000,000 

38,738,005 

The  AnionnlsinCol.No.  3,  ofthii.  SUteinenl,  hate  been  deilured,  b;  dedoelini:  tUa 
AmooniB  in  Coll.  1  and  3  from  the  Totals  in  Col.  No.  4,  and  Col.  No.  3,  ofTable  flL 
viU  ihow  that  the  Amonuli  in  Co).  No.  5  of  Uiis  Tahle  exiiibil  all  thai  ha^  been 
received  agaimt  Ihe  Amonuts  in  Cot.  No.  3.  There  being  no  authentic  retnra  tor  the 
EMt  Indici  and  China  prior  to  1792,  occaeinns  tlie  Ainoiinls  in  Col.  Ko.  6,  for  tlie  fint 
^^tycari)  lolieaMaDiedi  but  the  general  accnracy  of  tbeacconnt  i^  not  affected 


Jitpvrt  of  a  Select  Committa 


[U 


TABLE  (V)  ifaowing  tlie  Ihchkarbd  Quantitv  of  BKiTitH  Frodvce  m 
M* HUPACTURBS  EiPoRTtD  ID  cacli  year  nince  179r.  and  Ibnr  X>«prprintiDn  k 
Valne  eince  IS07,  at  the  Exponie  of  the  Artnan  and  Labonrer,  in  the  Kedaclion  of 
their  Wage)  without  any  corresponding  Equivalent ;  and  the  statiOBary  Qaantii)  if 
Inpott*  aj  a  coniequcnce  of  the  hn]k  o(  the  I'eopli!  being  precluded  from  coonndn; 


^i"= 

BritUh    Pradiui   md 

JHonu/uclurej  Exported. 

V.!ii« 

ill 

diicIiSlli  InH 

.SI'isS". 

ofQmiillty 

™l?n'^°fti 

.QlUDtllf. 

1. 

Real  Vtias. 

S.          1          4. 

Ill  s?it 

*■         dportea.-r. 

nw 

9£19,bf,S 

33,34U,68S 

15     0  17,840,45(1 

1799 

S4,(}a4,yi3 

311,941,498 

10  lhe»  t«d  ye««,  lh;,l  nHhouEh  (hf  nj- 

I-*      0   W.-Sl,?!!! 

1800 

i(4,304,»84 

39.47  l.SOS 

1-1     Oii6,T5*,7oa 

IBOl 

S5,J  19,930 

41,770,354 

hilf,  ItHtrj  »u  DO  mulsrlil  iltenilion  In 
Iberilui  of  lilt Ir  prodadi  naUl  liOSi 

1-1     0  8O.t96,J0 

laoii 

S7,01J,10a 

48,i0il,fi83 

Id     0 

16,971,996 

iBoa 

i1^bi,\»t 

40,100,870 

or  Ihe  riir  irosrd  fDclibour  topioGl>i 

11     0 

I«,lS7Vy9 

1S04 

13,931,193 

411,3  *9,e4i 

^tK^K.Vl.  lind  tbe  nine  4«i,!d;  491. 

11      u 

lB.69»,Ma 

1805 

«5.0<)3,3ua 

4l,068;y4J 

&0,395,li)l 

180Q 

i7  ,-103,653 

4l,S4»,t76 

.KfcunJed. 

^                     ^          1          ^ 

a    o 

19,715,3fll 

1BI17 

i:5,lH0,T6« 

40,479,865 

7      0 

ly.4IV^ 
21,769,ME 

1808 

!6,aga,aaa 

I0.i!81,67l 

44,977,S(I4 

4,095,533 

S.lO^SSi 

e    6 

tEMlD 

35.l07,43y 

50,349,761 

5tf,l  56,950 

8,914,ti83 

y    0 

IK.  675,261 

iai03*,'J4l),5iO 
)8l  134,109,931 

49,975,634 

5B,''75,7-iO 

8,900,106 

4,914,389 

10     0 

il>,ia5,!M.i 

a4,9iT,sai 

40,6a5i864 

6,708,583 

3,131,061 

e    o 

10,35  l,6i4 

iaiilSl,!(i3,96* 

43,657,Be4 

5^,643,83,1 

8,988,018 

5,013,009 

lfi.59S,98t 

IBi33K,00(l,(K)0 
lai  4  33,200,580 

43,000,mKJ 

54,0O0,O0C 

1 1,000,000 

6,164,900 

i7,uoe,(Wi 

43,447,37* 

45,343,845 

11,496,473 

7,0!'6,69* 

13      (1 

13.46!,9.^! 

ISli 

i\,Tii,i^xti 

49,6a3,*45 

70,aBi,Bl4 

90,fi3»,569 

l],a79,5ir 

6    e 

16,H.i,f.lU 

1816 

34,774,520 

4O,3i8,940 

58,595,97; 

1B,S67,035 

I0,5+4,«.3V 

4     O 

H,933,S55 

1817 

39,S35,397 

40,337,118 

66,11  J, e7U 

35,775,56S 

14,095,397 

19,6J7,0t9 

leia 

45,188,850 

7o,7Oy,G40 

a^sav'-si 

14,813,537 

14,983,998 
19,77  3,M* 

1819 

3*,<K3,576 

55,477,084 

9l,iSB,CO0 

]»,346,5i4 

IStl 

37,818,036 

3^.568,670 

6S,7«4,3H1 

(8,155.711 

I6,447,8i6 

.4     6 

iO,99S,76.'i 

tssi 

40,194,893 

35,8r6,0B* 

67,7S9,44f 

31,90.1,364 

18,669.993 

5      0 

m.lM.OB* 

18M 

13,6511,490 

36,176,097 

73,3g7,19J 

aT,2S0,I98 

tl,BS»,7S4 

4      0 

10,189,879 

180a-li«,  DiitomjiarisonofaTerogeva-  ] 
IneofpreTiuHsill  vpflrr,  IJ98-1807    J 

a57,I59,24» 

154,''65,93fl 

4      OJ 

>   18J3-4 
4     o5 

Do.  do   compaiedwilhlltP  ji-arilBoa^ 

92G.nOB,SS7 

l.lS.aj3,944 

hadtha  qaaau^ofiapiini 

, _ — .,___.,  —  ^...-^  „..._.  ■BdnmnrKnuMcnnM. 

.         bHT  ■<  BB  impoitaKfi  bal  k  aiUI  IWMin,  tn  cot.  Ila.1,rint  i(  «H 

jcd  quaiUt  BftiwiaiHilaliirniBuhaanmrbicti  hu  been  n^non^ 

VBderth*  hfidof  InilihMaiHiBeiiHlBualMnm.tHtaHlot  under  ihehctdol  cnlmlil  andlnnWiiin- 
c,lhu  IhcquiX'ITin  Coli>ililiadhRlnnnidiicliauiinpi>TIe<1ind  iculixil  br  bume  BiniiiDHiui.  ■ 
four  liH  t«ri  I8I94>,  hxuniuli  bcHncHlhin  It  vuln  Ihe  four  lein  ini-I«ai,  tberebr  dcBHum- 
lini  ■  Hcrilu  n  caHeof  ihe  nnduMlBU  •(()>■  Bntnh  (rttUB  iBd  libmii  rr  ^nd  ■■  iheit  •hc1diiti>««i«;1 
,olM  iMiaiBoaM  M  t*luc  iBilKlftKii  I«ni7l»-I[inih»i  iCC57.milU.in  «DM>t»VinTu ti^nnt' 
VilMof  ihcDrudacaoliheirliboiirduilnithrleBTran  1796- ISm,  and  nl  jfSnMUST.  tf  compacidnik 
ihenlaa  of  iln  uuiMce  of  their  Iibairinilwrun  jeDt-3;ud.waathccoBpariMn  iDbemide^M 
Ik*  Mloe  or  ilw  pndace  oT  their  libi>Di  dirisf  dx  (oumea  rmm  ITH-ai.lba  »«if(e  «  waaw  aMM 
Btoie»b*nalewiliinUiiu>i«4aMIUiJ)N|  bui. » iben  waa  noaatbeiile  Rlwi  of  ihe  nal'alwol 
Briiiah  pnidoce  and  iiunuiicHini  npucMd  )irn  Ui  CSB,  i«h«n  •  duff  mu  leiteri  OBdir  ihe-tu**'' 
detiarini  ih>  cipFnaci  ul  rDnnat,  the  caw  liiubmlueri  id  ml  on  the  rODlii  wMch  the  aBthcuiicin  t  Ibc 
dtfcuneDU  tliJi  l:#vc  annuiililTr-' Ml  '  fmJ'-  b— — i ^  ,i  '"TH.ilnauuliiliU. 


T51  on  Jff^mnfffirfffiffri  fnr^  Labor,  3^c.  609 

SiNCB  the  preceding  Statement  was  printed,  the  Committee  have  been  ilisfres.scd 
at  noticing  the  assertions  made  hy  the  Chancellor  of  the  iSxchcquer  hi  his  place 
in  Parliament,  on  Monday,  the  2dd  of  Fehraary :  *'  That  he  believed  tlie  cuaqtry 
to  be  in  a  state  of  unexampled  prosperity;  that  the  finances  exhibited  excess ; 
that  trade  was  flourishing]: ;  that  CHpital  actaally  floated  about  seeking  for  em*- 
ployment;  that  the  people  were  cotiteu ted,  happy,  and  grateful  f*  and,  to  add  to 
the  distress  excited  by  noticin;^  these  assertions,  the  sensatiou  was  rendered  still 
more  poignant  in  having  to  notice  that,  out  of  658  members,  pur|)orting  to  be  the 
reiirescntatives  of  the  interests  of  the  British  people,  not  one  was  present  to  ques- 
tion tlie  assertions,  and  expose  their  fallacy.  The  Committee,  therefore,  deem  it 
tiielrduty  to  offer  the  following  illustration  of  the  several  positions  adverted  to. 

"  Tiiat  trade  is  expanding,  and  that  capital,  so  called,  is  actually  floating  about 
seeking  for  employment,*'  are  both  positions  which  the  Committee  are  ready  to 
admit;  but,  so  far  from  these  facts  being  proofs  of  national  prosperity,  bowevar 
paraxodical  the  declaration  may  at  first  appear,  it  will  be  seen,  on  a  fair  and  fuU 
examination  of  all  their  bearings,  that  the  privation  and  distress  of  nine* tentlis  of 
the  community  has  increased,  and  must  of  necessity  continue  to  increase,  as  long 
as  trade  is  suffered  to  expand,  and  capital  is  suffered  io  stalk  about  to  seek  for 
e:nployment,  on  the  prmciplesnow  pursuing;  and  that  the  priyation  and  distress 
of  tlic  bulk  of  the  people  must,  and  wilU  of  necessity,  increase  in  a  ratio  exactly 
corresponding  with  the  increase  of  liade,  and  the  force  with  which  the  capifal,  so 
called,  seeks  its  present  course  of  illegitimate  application. 

In  proof  of  this  declaration;  the  Committee,  in  the  first  place,  direct  attenlkm 
to  the  following  statement  of  capital^  so  called,  vested  in  Loans  to  •  foreign  na- 
tions, within  the  last  four  years.  In  some  points  of  minor  detail,  the  statement 
may  probably  be  a  little  exceptionable ;  and  those  items  noted  with  an  *  are  not 
\(t  pHJd  up.  It  is  pretended,  also,  that  about  seventeen  millions  out  of  the  flfty* 
tvvo  contracted  tor  have  been  exported,  and  are  held  by  foreigners.  Whether  it 
U  so  (»r  not,  is  not  very  material  to  the  present  view  of  the  subject ;  but^  admit- 
;.ii<;  it  to  bo  so,  and  subtracting  it  from  the  total  amount,  together,  with  tliose 
^  Mils  not  yet  paid  up,  it  will  leave  about  twenty  millions'  value  of  somethings 
a  .UHlly  despoiled,  or  subtracted  from  the  resources  of  Great  Britain,  within  the 
K  lioil  iu  question.  Of  what,  then,  has  that  something  been  composed?  is  a 
(]  irstion  which  appears  to  have  excited  the  attention  of  others  as  well  as  of  ydor 
i  oinniittee ;  and  an  attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to  account  for  it  partly, 
lit  tiie  following  manner,  viz. — 

Silver  imported  by  the  East-India  Company    !  2,500,000 

Unemployed  capital  on  the  1st  of  January,  1622  ....  3,500,000 

Increase  of  discounts  by  the  Bauk    1,500,000 

IVloney  imported'  from  France    3,500,000 

Exchequer  Bills  to  pay  off  5  per  Cents 2,700,000 

Total aei3,700,000 

But  in  all  this,  with  the  exception  of  the  silver  imported  by  the  East-India  Com* 
puiiy,  there  ise  no  meaning ;  and  even  that  has  no  Immediate  bearing  on  Ilia 
Mihject.    The  preceding  statements,  however,  pages  10  and  12  will  atford  a  just 


■   ff 


.solution  as  to  the  means  whereby  the  Loans  are  made  iit>. 

That  capital,  so  called,  stalks  about  seekuig  for  employment,  may  be  justly 
inferred  from  the  following  statement;  and  the  preceding  statement, . P,  verifins 
the  assertion,  that  trade  has  increased,  and  that  it  still  indicates  a  further  increase! 
hut  it  also  shows  that,  in  proportion  as  the  products  of  the  British  artizan  and 
labourer  exported  are  increased,  their  value  decreases;  and  that,  such  deorea^o 
is  effected  exclusively  at  a  corresponding  diminution  in  the  remuneration  for 
labour,  without  any  equivalent  being  afforded  to  the  artizan  and  labourer,  ia..(he 
redaction  of  their  means  of  subsistence^  either  in  whole  or  in  part;  and  consO' 


pi  • « 


Report  of  a  Select  Committee 


fie 


STATEMENT  oribe  kumnt  4npoflcd  from  tlie  Briti»h  Abtiuh  «nd  t>A>ovtn, 

virliiiilliulj-HtFrnir  Years,  ]B20-1R-J;1,  lo  form  aud  siiataiiiillliXV  Npcvies  of  Idnl 
Capjlul,  under  llie  Deiittiniintion  of  LuAN^  lij  Fukkign  Nations. 


PranMi  to  IBt! 


■)U|  47  i 


In  18!3, 

Do 


840,000 


i,yo(),ooo 

S„tOO,{ 


W.  HaJilimuDd,  m.p. 
N.  M.  UoOucluld, 


W.  RaMiinaiKl,  H.p. 
L.  A.  (iolitedimiilt 
'T.  M.  Kotludiild. 
Do. 
I>o. 
Hnllcr,  BrDrliCT9,iCo 
Huiry  and  Powlei. 
Kuidct. 


1,305,000 

f, 70(1,000 

600,000 


N.  M.  Rotlwdiild. 
W.  Hs1diinanit,M.p. 
J.Ci»npbetl«iLubliock 

(  J.Itvilllt,  M.P.  * 

-  A.  Bnrine,  m.p. 
M.  H.KoiliMbild. 
'.  A .  Gokdsckimjclu 
lullei'  and  Brolberl 
L.  A.  GulilscbuiidL 
Do,  (  varioBB. 
Mining  Co. 
HuUel,  Uiollieri,&Cl 


3B,536,3< 

19, '190 ,000  Foreigner 


^  6, 046  .aUOl  England 


qneatljlbeiipriTalionaDd  didren  miul,  of  neiHiitj,  incicasc  m  anlio  Fxaetl; 
'(Mne»pordiiiji  nillj  (he  iiicrrase  or  iIjc  proilnrls  of  their  laLuot;  and,  byaddjn;  ' 
tbe  latni  vcbIci)  In  roTciga  i^onnn  lo  ilio  ulliei  iiemi  in  the  note  to  the  ■falenenl 
N,  *l  pafo  10,  B  fbtl  and  mi  iinrc|iiivuri)[  M)lutioB  ii  aObrded  to  tbe  excew  rf 
upward!  of  80,000,000/.  vhluc  cifilic  jiroiliicls  of  Ibe  Britiib  arlizaM-aiMl  iBboBM 
exporied,  over  and  above  the  qauility  of  produclioB  inpiflnf,  in  tba  IhrnM 
fean,  u  exhibited  in  the  ilateaiGiit  O,  tt  page  11< 


nl 


hn  Remuneration  fn^  T,tiihr.  Sfc" 


5U 


STATEMENT  ihowing  the  Oroh  AKV&:t£  lncbMES  of  ijia  Wti.SS,;  Fa.hil.i 
coin  posing  thB  Populatichi  of  ^S*t  SHiTAti),  aftcordinn  (o  tMe  tieruRN  am 
■o  Parliament  in  I8ii ;  (he  PunlllePi  dividnd  into  (8  Claut^,  sliawins  ilie  Aimn 
Income  of  eacb  Clue,  Bad  its  Order  »rApplicition,  unthr  tbe  Pour  sevcml  Hcji 
of  Bxpendilare  in  AgricuUtre  or  NiUnrul  Pradaeiiaui  Artificial  «r  Muiaifadtr 
Produetim;  Tam^  Rata,  ft-c;  and  Sur^bu. 


Rateef 


Afpt>eMvn^  lnuamefer 


.Inire,    ArttBeial,  o. 
ural     Muolutncri 


S<l  16,'ilW,000 
.--c  6e  l«^00,00() 
a  &  lOOJ  16,500,000 


3,000,000 
5,000,0011 
3,000 


20,000 .( 
si),ooo.* 


Ijne  of  demarMtioa  lietween  diatieu  and  privation,  apd  aubiistiag  cotnforl. 


100,000 

WO 

i*,500,ono 

5,000,001 

a,5oo,o.>o 

66.66( 

lO.OOO.OOf 

7,000,00( 

«,000,00< 

■§      4ft 
g      500 

9,000,00( 

7,00O,0lH 

3,000,001 

7,000,OOC 

6,000,00( 

6,tO0,O0( 

e,soo,ooi 

4,000,001 

i   'oc 

6,000,OOC 

8,000,00( 

A,000.00( 

S5,000 

S,000,OCH 

6,000,000 

5,000,00< 

Zt.ttt 

S     uot 

».U0O,OOL 

B,00O,0[H 

i  1000 

5,.«0,000 

9,000,001 

5,000,00o| 

Line  of  deaurcntioa  h«l«een  si 


13,333 

tsooi 

9,000,000 

4,000,000 

10,01  K 

=  j«00( 

j,000,00( 

ifioaflof. 

4,000,000 

a,o»: 

5,000,00( 

10,000.00( 

4,000,000 

6,mt. 

::-3ooi 

5,000,001 

10,000,001 

4,000,000 

5,7  It 

5,00l),00( 

ii,ooo,ao< 

3,000,000 

5,'OOC 

SS400t 

4,000,00( 

1»,000,OM 

3,000,000 

3,001) 

5000{ 

S,500,00l 

9,000,000 

8,500,000 

1,0011,000 

1,0011, OCX  I 

1,000,00c 
1,000,000   S0,( 
8,000,000      " 

e,(Joo,( 
a,ooo,{ 

:than  salScitacy. 

8,000,000 


!0,000,«00 
90,000.000 
£0,000,090 

l£0,000,ODJ 


Line  ofdeiiurcBrian  between  in<>re  tlian  ■nfficienc]',  aod 


7,500 
ta  15,000 
S  *4,r-- 

2    S0.( 


,SO0,OOO|  10,(50,000      1,500,000 


1,000,000 
1,000,000 
500,000 
300,000 
150,000 
100,000 


l,S50,000 
9,500,000 
4,500.000 
S.OOO,!"-" 
3,iJ00,l 


;f  163  tWAOOiOOG  147,000. 


\t6l.  i»O.00O.0O0) 


i 
It  IS  not  that  priTatinn  add  distreu  are  DeoesMry  coiiacqDcnces  of  Ibe  increaM 
of  grodttolion ;  but,  whilst  such  an  inference  comport*  nitt)  tlie  talents  Bnil  con- 
duct of  tbe  exislitif;  Admintstration  of  England,  it  muit  remain  a  necctinrj 
conseqaence  and  an  incTilable  reault  of  their  policj,  as  will  be  ntiuiifeit  froB 
tiie  following  lUastratioD.  The  preceding  statement  exhibits  a  sum  of  abotit 
30,000,000/.,  purported  to  bav«  been  giTcn  for  an  annual  iibligatinn  of  about 
2,000,0001.  per  annum,  and  an  obligation  to  repay  to  the  amonnt  of  40,000,GOO£.; 
ing  mStcicnt  to  saliaff  tiie  masf  asurions  appetite;  and  no  doabt 
o  called,  are  indulging  in  tbe  fbrnkst  expeclaliDns  of  a  prospec- 


512  Report  of  a  Select  Committee  •  \  18 

tive  increase  of  wcaltli.  But  lapposing  it  alioulc!  over  X>c  rtfft!:zrf1»  whfti  Hieniu. 
At  whose  expenc<^  wilt  it  be  obtained  ?  Why,  at  the  expeiice  hf  foreign  nations,  to 
be  sure,  some  will,  no  doubt,  be  ready  to  assert :  but  sueb  will  not  be  the  fact 
If  realized  at  all,  it  will  be  realized  at  the  expenee  of  the  artizans  and  labourers 
of  Great  Britain  ;  because  whatever  is  obtained  must,  and  will,  be  obtained  oat 
of  the  means  which  would  otherwise  remain  as  a  good  commercial  eqaivaleot 
against  the  products  of  the  British  artisan  and  labourer  exported,  and  conse- 
quently depreciate  the  Value  of  those  products  in  a  ratio  exactly  correspondiD^ 
with  whatever  portion  of  the  equivalents  in  payment  may  be  absorbed,  either  ia 
discharge  of  part  of  the  principal  of  the  respective  Loans,  or  in  discharge  of  the 
annual  obligations  to  which  they  arc  subject;  and,  us  a  further  inevitable  C0Die> 

3uence,  the  remuneration  for  labour  will  be  furtlicr  reduced  in  a  corresponding 
egree  to  such  depreciation :  that  is,  if  the  quantity  of  the  products  of  the  BrJtisb 
arlizan  and  labourer  exported  be  43,558,490  for  a  value  of  36,176,807/.,  as  is 
1822,  and  which  was  at  a  loss  of  no  less  than  37,220,298/.  in  comparison  with  (lie 
value  of  the  like  quantity  of  products  exported,  on  an  average  of  the  ten  years, 
1798-1807.  Then,  if  the  capitalists,  so  called,  slionld  absorb  2,000,000/.  vaioe 
of  the  equivalents,  in  discharge  of  the  aniiu:)!  obligation  of  Ibeir  Ix>ans,  wbich 
would  form  part  payment  of  ihe  43.558,490  of  tiie  products  of  the  British 
artizan  and  labourer  exported ;  iustciid  of  36,176,897/.  such  absorption  of 
2,000,000^  for  interest  on  the  Loans  will,  of  ueeessKy,  reduce  their  value  to 
34,176,897/.,  at  the  loss,  in  the  first  instance,  of  the  exporter,  but,  in  the  next 
and  ultimate  result,  labour  is  oitlier  further  reduced  or  diminished ;  in  either  case 
resolving  itself  into  an  increase  of  privation  and  distress,  in  a  ratio  exactly  cor- 
responding with  whatever  amount  the  €€pitaHsti,  so  called,  may  obtain,,  be  it 
more  or  be  it  less. 

It  will,  it  is  true,  as  long  as  opinion  can  be  rendered  subservient  to  the  system, 
and  the  artizans  and  labourers  of  the  country  be  kept  in  subjection  thento,  trod 
to  increase  the  influence  of  tlie  third  and  fourth  divisions  of  the  t;liissifieati:.'n  ol' 
families  in  the  preceding  Statement;  but  it  will  at  tlie  same  time  be  seen  that tho 
first  and  seccmd  divisions,  constituting  fifty-five  parts  out  of  fifty-six  of  the  total 
population,  will  experience  a  despoilment  corresponding  with  tlie  increase  uf 
influence  aequired  by  the  remaining  few. 

But,  in  the  next  place,  what  must  be  the  future  consequences?  TJie  traDsac- 
tions,  as  at  present  carried  on,  thoogb  diflTerent  in  tbcir  nature,  resolve  themsrlv(*s 
precisely  into  the  same  result  as  the  transactions  during  the  war,  (vide  Sections  I. 
to  III.  of  the  Report,)  and  suspend  tb^  transactions,  that  is,  of  for6i;;n  loans; 
and  a  revulsion  more  fatal  than  that  of  1817  (tfide  Sections  IV.  and  V.)  mast  in- 
evitably ensue;  for,  as  the  suspension  of  funding  in  England,  in  1816, tended  to 
reduce  the  remuneration  for  labour  in  the  proportion  of  from  Ss.  to  4s.,  the  sni^ 
pending  of  foreign  Loans  will  as  inevitahly  tend  to  reduce  it  from  4s.  to  28.:  aiKl 
the  question  then  is,  Arc  the  people  capable  or  susceptible  by  nature  of  subsistii-^ 
under  such  reduction  ?  Such  is  tho  dilemma  into  which  a  long  course  of  seifisJi 
and  speculative  policy  has  involved  the  country,  that  she  must  either  continue  to 
submit  to  a  progressive  despoilment  of  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  millions  value  ptr 
annum  of  the  products  of  the  labour  of  her  people,  or  yield  to  a  shock,  at  the  risk 
of  involving  the  whole  community  in  one  common  ruin. 

correctly 

exhibited 

Hon.  auJ 

Learned  Gentlemau  said,  '*  That,  in  January  of  that  year,  (with  reference  to  the 
cotton  manufacture,)  the  remuneration  for  labour  hail  reached  the  fearful  point 
of  depression  of  4s.  did.  per  week;  from  xbich,  when  the  usnal  expenres  for  tlie 
Joom  were  deducted,  there  remained  no  more  than  3s.  3d.  to  support  iiomanlife 
fin  some  cases  of  five  |)ersons,)  for  seven  days :  there  u>iserablo  beings,*'  said  be, 
(and  mark  the  designation,)  *'  could  barely  purchase,  with  their  ii&rd  and  scasty 
earnings,  half  a  pound  of  oatmeal' daily,  which,  mixed  with  a  little  salt  and  witer, 
constitoted  their  whole  food  T*    *^  Theae  wretched  creatures/*  aaid  the  Hoi^  aiil 


1 9] j  mi  Remuneration  for  Labor ^  Sgc.  513 

learned  Gcnileman,  '<  are  compelled  first  to  part,  for  their  sostenance,  witk' 
hII  their  trifling  property,  piecemeal,  from  the  little  furniture  of  their  cf>t* 
fagcs  to  the  very  bedding  and'  clothOvS  that  used  to  cover  them  from  the 
weather.    They  struggle  on  with-hrunger,  and  go  to  sleep  at  nightfall,  upon 
tiie  calculation,  that  if  they  worked  an  hour  or  two  later,  they  might  indeed 
earn  three  halfpence  more,  one  of  which  must  be  paid  for  a  candle;  but- 
then  the  clear  gain  of  a  penny  would  be  too  dearly  bought,  as  it  might  dis- 
able them  from  earning  two  pence  the  next  day/'    Such  was  the  condition 
of  half  a  million  of  Weavers  in  1817,  as  depicted  by  Mr.  Brougham  to  the 
Parliament  of  the  Nation ;  which  •  melancholy  and  degrading  picture  was 
pronounced  by  one  of  His  Majesty's  Ministers  in  his  place  in  Parliament,  on 
the  12th  day  of  June,  1823,  (vide  proceedings  of  that  date)  to  be  not  more 
melancholy  and  degrading  than  correct.     But  this  Minister  of  His  Majesty 
said,  that  be  did  not  state  his  belief  in  the  correctness  of  that  melancholy  and 
dcgradingpietore,  for  the  purpose  of  revivingtinpleasant  allusions,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  drawing  a  contrast  between  thestato  of  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests at  that  period^  and  at  the  then  moment  (June  1823);  and  hethen  assert- 
ed, though  falsely,  that  the  Weavers  who  in  1817  earned  3s.  3d.  per  week, 
then  earned  10s.-  It  is  true  that  the  condition  of  the  Weavers,  and  the  Arti- 
sans and  Laborers  of  the  Country  generally,  in  1823,  was  better  than  it  was 
in  1817 ;  but  not  in  the  slightest  degree  from  any  advance  in  their  remune- 
ration for  labor,  for  wages  were  the  same,  (vide  Column  6,  Table  P)  their 
condition  was  only  better  in  proportion  as  subsistence  was  reduced,  and 
which  reduction  effected  the  total  ruin  of  full  half  the  Agriculturists  oftbo 
kingdom ;  and  the  misery  of  one  portion  of  the  community  was  increased; 
as  that  of  the  other  portion  decreased ;  and  in  the  very  month  (June  1823) 
that  this  Minister  of  His  Majesty  so  unblushingly  asserted  the  then  im- 
proved condition  of  the  Country,  the  Directors  and  Acting  Guardians  of  tho 
poor  within  the  Hundreds  of  Ciavering  and  Loddon,  in  the  County  of  Nor- 
folk, passed  the  following  resolution,  vis; 

*'  That  necessitous  poor  persons  resident  in  and  belongingto  these  Hun- 
dreds, when  destitute  of  employment,  be  relieved  until  the  Monday  after 
the  next  quarterly  meeting,  according  to  the  following  scale  of  allowance^ 
the  expense  to  be  borne  by  the  Corporation : 

"A  Man  with  a  Wife  and  three  Children  at  home,  per  day  ....  lOd. 

(and  to  be  permitted  to  send  such  other -Child  or  Children  as  he  bath 
at  home  above  8  in  number,  into  the  Workhouse.) 

<'  A  Man  with  a  Wife  and  two  Children  at  home,  at  per  day   . .    9d. 
do.  do.  and  one  Child  do.  -    do.    ...    8d. 

do.  do.  but  no  Child  do.  do.    . . .    6d. 

Single  Men  of  20  years  of  age  and  upwards,  at  per  day   ......    4d.'' 

And  the  following  is  a  picture  of  the  condition  and  degradation  of  tho 
people  at  a  parish  in  Essex,  in  February  of  the  present  year.  =  '*  The  Labo- 
rers are  to  dig  and  drag  gravel ;  the  diggers  are  to  dig  a  cubic  yard  every 
day,  at  the  rate  of  two  shillings  the  cubic  yard,  which  two  shillings  ar«  to 
be  divided  between  two  men.  The  draggers  are  to  take  each  ten  turns 
with  his  band,  a  distance  of  near  a  mile,  at  the  rate  of  one  penny  per  turn; 
so  that  each  dragger  receives  a  penny  for  walking  over  the  space  of  nearly 
two  miles,  one  of  which  he  is  encumbered  with  the  weight  of  nearly  200 
pounds,  and  that  none  are  entitled  to  this  high  privilege  except  married 
men  with  families!  !**  And  a  picture  equally  degrading  to  this  was  exhi- 
iHted  in  Marylebone,  the  most  opulent  parish  in  th^  Kingdom :  almost 
«very  day  in  1823,  a  dozen  hand-carts,  each  laden  with  about  a  ton  of 
stones,  were  dragged  by  four  men  each;  by  the  doors  of  Mr.  Hume  and 
•several  other  Members  of  Parliament,  about  the  aforesaid  parish  of  Mary- 
lebone, with  an  Oterseer  by^  their  side  to  keep  them  np  to  the  mark  of  un- 
ceasing labor.  These  are  not  solitary  iiitstanoes  of  the  condition  and- de- 
gradation of  the  people  of  England,  selected  merely  to  color  or  make  oat 
a  case ;  k  is  the  condition,  of  half  a  million  of  families  spread  over  the  whole 

VOL.  XXm.  Pam.  NO.  XLVl.  2  K 


414  Report  of  a  Select  Committee  [20 

kingdom,  whilst  a  million  more  families  are  bnt  in  one  grade  better  con- 
dition— and  yet  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  says,  that  the  people  are 
contented,  happy,  and  grateful ! !  That  the  people  have  bent  to  circum- 
fttanoes,  and  that  they  are  not  in  a  state  of  revolt,  is  a  fact  that  most  be 
admitted ;  but  how  far  their  subjugation  can  be  considered  a  source  of 
contentment  to  themselves,  or  for  gratulation  to  their  subjogatora*  either 
on  the  score  of  humanity  or  of  policy,  is  a  position  which  your  Committee 
must  forbear  to  oflfer  any  observation  upon. 

That,  amidst  all  this  misery  and  degradation,  the  finances  should  exhibit 
excess,  may  to  some  appear  paradoxical,  and  excite  a  doubt  as  to  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  misery  and  distress  of  the  people  being  so^  extensive  and 
severe  as  your  Committee  have  represented  it ;  but  a  slight  attention  to  the 
statement  at  page  15  will  suffice  to  prove,  that  as  long  as  the  bulk  of  the 
people  can  be  kept  in  subjection,  and  opinion  kept  in  subservience  to  the 
system  now  pursuing,  ihejfiaanees  exhibiting  excess  is  no  paradox,  because 
it  is  seen  that  full  five-sixths  of  the  people  are  precluded  from  contributiog 
to  the  taxes,  whilst  the  facility  of  the  remaining  sixth  to  cootribate  is  in- 
creased as  a  consequence  of  the  despoilment  and  privation  of  the  grreater 
portion;  and  one-sixth  of  the  total  number  of  families  being  sufficient  to 
contribute  the  full  amount  of  taxes  required,  there  will  be  a  tendency  to 
excess  as  long  as  the  greater  portion  of  the  people  remain  susceptible  of 
any  further  privation. 

As  a  further  elucidation  of  the  delusiveness  and  falsehood  of  the  assertions 
of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  made  to  Parliament  on  the  23d  Febru- 
ary, the  Committee  request  attention  to  the  circumstance  of  the  £2,500,000 
purported  to  have  been  paid  into  the  Exchequer  of  England  by  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  in  discharge  of  £6,220,000  lent  to  him  in  1795  and  7,  which  with 
accumulated  interest  (never  paid  by  Austria)  at  the  exorbitant  rate  of  about 
7  per  cent,  per  annum,  amounts  to  upwards  of  £20,000,000 ;  yet  this 
£2,500,000  was  pronounced  and  hailed  by  all  the  Right  Honorable  Gentle- 
man's coadjutors  as  a  God  send!  such  was  the  Right  Honorable  Gentle- 
man's own  expression.    Can  it  be  believed  then,  that  this  £2,500,000  is  a 
despoilment  from  the  British  Artisan  and  Laborer,  not  one  farthing  of  the 
amount  being  contributed  by  Austria?    Whatever  sensation  this  view  of 
the  subject  may  momentarily  excite,  such  will  be  seen  to  be  tb^  fact  of  the 
case,  as  the  following  explanation  of  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  transac- 
tion will  shew.  How  then  did  it  originate,  and  what  is  its  nature  ?  Look  at 
the  statement  of  Loans,  page  14,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  one  of 
£3,500,000  for  Austria,  contracted  for  at  the  rate  of  77.     That  is,  John 
Irving  and  A.  Baring,  both  Members  of  Parliament,  and  N.  M.  Rothschild, 
issue  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  or  Government  of  Austria,  a  written  do- 
cument, purporting  to  be  an  obligation  of  the  said  Emperor  or  Governmeut 
of  Austria,  to  pay  some  time  or  other  £100,  and  5  per  cent,  per  annum  for 
interest  op  the  same  until  the  principal  be  paid.    These  obligations,  or 
bonds  of  £100,  to  the  amount  of  £3,500,000,  the  aforesaid  John  Irving, 
Alexander  Baring,  and  N.  M.  Rothschild,  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor  or 
Government  of  Austria,  ofier  for  sale  in  London  at  £77  money  for  every 
£i00  Obligation  or  Bond,  and,  at  that  rate  or  thereabouts,  the  £3,500,000 
are  disposed  of;  and  out  of  the  proceeds  collected  or  obtained  from  the 
amounts  in  column  Mo.  6  of  the  Table,  at  page  15,  and  which  amounts  it 
will  be  seen  are  despoiled  from  the  Artizans  and  Laborers  of  Great  Britain, 
the  £2,500,000  hailed  as  a  God-send  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer 
and  his  coadjutors,  is  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  British  Government 
Nor  does  the  evil  rest  here,  for  if  the  Emperor  or  Government  of  Austria 
should  remit  the  £175,000  per  Annum  for  Interest  on  the  £3,500,000, 
the  Country  collectively  will  derive  nothing  additional;  it  will  be  a  mere 
conversion  of  that  ainount  into  the  bands  of  the  monied  interest,  so  called, 
te  the  deprivation  of  its  application,  as  an  equivalent  against  the  prodacts 
of  the  British  Artizan  aiid  Laborer,  which  may  be  carried  to  Austria  for 


21]  on  Remuneration /or  Labor^  Sj^c.  515 

sale  and  consmnption,  and  ultimately  lead  to  a  further  reduction  in  the 
remuneration  for  labor  to  a  corresponding  extent ;  as  before  expressed, 
with  reference  to  the  general  question  of  the  Foreign  Loans. 

The  limits  which  the  Committee  have  prescribed  to  themselves  on  this 
occasion,  will  preclude  them  from  entering  into  that  minutiae  of  detail  which 
the  peculiar  interest  of  the  several  subjects  here  adverted  to  so  imperiously 
demand  ;  they  can  only  further  direct  attention  to  a  general  view  of  the 
statement  of  the  classification  and  exhibition  of  the  relative  condition  of  the 
people  of  Great  Britain  at  page  15,  which  will  be  found  to  lead  to  various 
important  reflections  and  conclusions,  not  the  least  important  of  which  will 
be  seen  to  be  the  futility  of  the  notions  heretofore  entertained  respecting 
National  Wealth.  It  will  be  seen  that  £240,900,000  is  assigned  as  the  total 
money  value  of  the  aggregate  production  of  the  soil  of  Great  Britain;  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  whatever  value  the  aggregate  products  of  the  soil  may 
obtain,  that  there  is  an  immutable  tendency  to  give  the  like  value  to  aU 
other  produetiOD  and  ineome ;  and,  it  will  be  seen,  to  establish  the  axiom 
long  contended  for,  though  never  yet  rendered  demonstrative,  that  labor, 
and  labor  alone,  constitutes  the  only  real  wealth  of  a  natioi^ ;  for  nothing 
can  be  more  clear,  than  that  as  long  as  the  Artizans  and  Laborers  of  the 
Country  produce  the  same  quantity  of  commodity,  the  Nation  is  just  as 
rich,  valuing  the  total  products  of  the  soil  at  240,000,000  of  farthings,  as  it 
is  valuing  it  at  £a40,000,00a 


Erratum.*— First  page  of  the  Supplement,  16th  line  from  the  top,  in* 
stead  ofnine^enths,  xt9A  five-sixthi. 


THE 


OPINIONS 


OF  THE  lATB 


MR.  RICARDO  AND  OF  ADAM  SMITH, 


Oil 


SOME  OF  THE  LEADING  DOCTRINES 


of 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY, 


STATEti  AKD  COMPAReo. 


,   LONDON: 


1894. 


POLITICAL    ECONOMY,  &c. 


IVIr.  Ricardo  having  acquired  considerable  fame  by  the  light  he 
has  thrown  on  some  of  the  most  intricate  questions  in  Political 
Economy,  it  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  those  who  take  an  inter- 
est in  these  subjects,  to  gire  them  &  short  statement  of  the  chief 
points  in  which  his  opinions  differ  from  those  of  Adam  Smith 
and  other  distinguished  economists  of  his  school ;  and  the  foUowiif 
view  of  some  of  his  leading  doctrines,  in  which  ihey  are  coaciasted 
with  those  of  that  great  author  iitnd  founder  of  the  science,  may 
serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  merits  of  their  respective  theories. 

It  has  been  justly  stated  by  Mr.  Ricardo,  that  the  most  impor- 
tam  practicar problem  in  Political  Economy  is  to  ezplaia  die 
lattrs  \vhich  regulate  the  dis^tribtition  of  Ae  produce  6f  industry 
between  the  proprietors  of  the  land,  the  owners  of  capital,  and 
the  laborers  or  workmen.  The  chief  points  then,  which  it  offers 
to  our  consideration,  are  those  which  relate  to  value,  rent,  profit, 
and  wages.  Thcfse  we  propose  btiefly  tt)  review  in  succession, 
confining  ourselves  for  the  present  to  the  question  of  valtiey  which 
is  the  key,  as  it  were,  to  the  rest,  and  the  main  hinge  on  which  the 
whole  01  the  science  may  be  said  to  turn.  The  explanation  which 
A.  Smith  gives  of  this  subject  is  as  follows  : — 

That  in  the  early  periods  of  Society,  and  prior  to  the  accumula- 
tion of  capital,  the  quantity  of  labor  which  commodities  cost  is 
the  only  circumstance  which  can  affbrd  any  rule  as  to  the  propor- 
tions in  which  they  would  exchange  for  each  other,  and  as  die 
whole  of  the  commodities  produced  in  that  case,  belonged  to  the 
laborer,  (labor  being  the  sole  condition  of  their  supply)  they 
would  on  the  average,  and  independently  of  accidental  circum- 
stances, be  worth  precisely  the  Saihe  quantity  of  labor  which  they 


3]  Opinions  {>/  Mr ^  Ricardo  and  Dr.  Adam  Smithy  ^.519 

had  cost.  In  this  state  of  things  then,  the  quantity  of  labor  which 
commodities  cost  being  equal  to  that  which  they  would  be  worth 
or  would  command,  either  would  serve  as  the  measure  of  their 
exchangeable  value. 

But  when  once  capital  had  accumulated  and  that  commodities 
were  no  longer  produced  by  labor  alone,  but  by  labor  and  capital 
combined,  their  value  necessarily  exceeded  that  of  the  simple 
labor  bestowed  on  them.  In  whatever  shape  capital  is  employed, 
whether  it  be  fixed  or  circulating,  if  it  be  superadded  to  labor  it  is 
because  labor  produces  more  with  it  than  without  it.  It  takes  the 
place  as  it  were  of  so  much  additional  labor,  ^  a  part  of  the  pro-^ 
duce  is  the  result  of  it,  and  would  not  have  existed  without  it,— « 
and  unless  its  value  were  greater  than  when  labor  alone  was  em* 
ployed,  there  would  be  no  profit,  and  consequently  no  inducement 
Co  employ  the  capital.  Whenever  therefore  capital  enters  as  a 
component  part  into  commodities,  they  are  in  the  usual  and  ordi* 
nary  state  of  things  of  higher  value  than  their  cost.  The  quantity 
of  labor  they  will  command  then  becomes  the  measure  of  their 
value,  and  the  degree  in  which  it  exceeds  that  which  they  have 
cost  is  the  measure  of  profits,  or  of  the  increase  of  value  which 
arises  from  the  use  of  the  capital.   Such  is  A.  Smith's  doctrine. 

Mr.  Ricardo's  view  of  the  subject  is  very  different. 

According  to  him^  the  quantity  of  labor  which  commodities 
cost  does  in  all  states  of  society  regulate  their  exchangeable  value. 
He  allows,  indeed,  diat  this  rule  can  only  be  applied  as  a  measure 
of  relative  value,  and  is  subject  to  considerable  modifications,  in 
consequence  of  the  different  kinds  and  degrees  of  durability  of  the 
capital  employed ;  but  as  a  general  principle  he  holds  that  com^ 
modities  never  rise  in  value,  unless  more  labor  be  bestowed  oti 
them,  nor  ever  fall  in  value  except  less  labor  be  required  tp  produce 
them. 

The  principle  of  demand  and  supply,  which  A.  Smith  looked 
on  as  at  all  times  regulating  the  prices  of  commodities,  is  cousin- 
dered  by  Mr.  Ricardo  as  of  a  temporary  nature,  and  as  acting 
only  for  short  periods,  the  value  of  all  commodities  being  finally 
determined  by  the  quantity  of  labor  worked  up  in  them. 

In  order  to  form  some  judgment  as  to  the  correctness  or  incor- 
rectness of  either  of  these  systems,  the  best  mode  of  proceeding 
seems  to  be,  first, — to  inquire,  whether  there  be  any  invariable 
iX)mmodity  to  which  the  values  of  all  others  can  be  referred  as  a 
standard  ;  or,  in  the  absence  of  such  a  standard,  to  ascertain  what 
would  be  the  conditions  of  an  invariable  commodity,  if  any  such 
really  existed  or  could  be  procured.  Now  it  is  universally  agreed 
that  there  is  ik>  such  thing  as  an  invariable  commodity,  all  being 
produced  at  different  times  under  very  different  circumstances, 


520  Opifuam  of  Mr.  Rkardo  and  Dr.  Adam  Smith    [4 

and  being  also  at  different  times  more  scarce  or  abundant  com« 
pared  with  the  demand  for  them.     It  remains  then  to  be  seen 
what  would  constitute  invariability  in  any  commodity^  and  this  is 
die  course  which  has  been  adopted  by  Mr.  Ricardo.     Perceiving 
how  important  it  was  to  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  question, 
first,  to  determine  what  the  essential  quaUties  of  a  standard  were, 
he  commenced  his  inquiries  into  the  subject  by  stating,  that  a 
commodity  which  would  always  cost  the  same  quantity  of  labor 
and  capital  to  produce  it  would  be  an  invariable  measure  of  the 
value  of  others.    This  opinion,  however,  which  is  confined  to  die 
earlier  editions  of  his  work,  he  subsequently  retracted,  and  allowed 
that  such  a  conunodity  would  be  liable  to  variation  from  the  rise 
and  fall  of  profits,  owing  to  the  different  combinations  of  circulat- 
ing and  fixed  capital  which  might  enter  its  composition.     It  would 
therefore  be  a  good  measure  of  relative  value  for  such  only  as  were 
produced  precisely  under  the  same  circumstances  as  itself,  but  for 
no  others.    Still,  however,  he  adhered  to  the  opinion,  that  a  com- 
modity compounded  partly  of  labor  and  partly  of  capital,  was 
the  nearest  approximation  to  an  invariable  standard  of  any  that 
could  be  conceived.    Now  it  is  remarkable,  that  from  the  several 
causes  of  variation  noticed  by  Mr.  Ricardo,  as  well  as  from  all 
others  whatever,  a  commodity  would  be  exempt  wluch  could  at 
all  times  be  procured  by  the  same  quantity  of  simple  unassisted 
labor  without  any  capital.     In  order  that  a  commodity  made  up  of 
labor  and  capital  jointly  be  invariable,  it  must  be  compounded  of 
both  elements  in  such  proportions  that  in  all  the  variations  to 
which  they  are  subject  relatively  to  each  other,  what  is  gained  by 
the  one  is  lost  by  the  other,  so  that  the  two  together  shall  always 
make  up  the  same  quantity.     But  this  is  not  necessary,  neitto 
indeed  can  it  possibly  be  the  case  in  regard  to  a  commodity  pro- 
cured by  one  of  these  elements  singly  ;  and  as  labor  may  produce 
without  capital,  although  capital  never  can  without  labor,  it  will 
be  found  that  a  commodity  made  up  solely  of  labor  would  always 
be  of  the  same  value  provided  the  quantity  of  labor   required  to 
produce  it  were  always  the  same.     Such  a  commodity  then,  if  it 
existed  or  could  be  procured,  would  be  strictly  invariable,  and 
would  at  all  times  form  a  correct  and  undeviating  standard  by 
which  the  values  of  all  others  could  be  accurately  compared  and 
estimated.     But  the  conditions  of  its  supply  are  necessarily  such 
as  to  make  it  an  exact  representative  of  labor,  and  consequently  if 
it  be  a  correct  measure  of  value,  labor  must  be  so  too. 

If,  for  instance,  the  laborer  could  always  by  a  day's  search  (with- 
out the  assistance  of  any  capital  or  advances  whatsoever)  procure  one- 
tenth  of  an  ounce  of  gold,  one-tenth  of  an  ounce  of  gold  would 
be  precisely  worth  a  day's  conmion  labor,  or  one  ounce  worth  10 


5]  on  Political  Economy^  compared.  521 

days'  labor.  It  is  obvious  that  no  laborer  would  consent  to  takelessi 
and  if  any  offered  more,  the  competition  of  laborers  who  would  rush 
to  the  employment  offered  by  this  generous  individual  would  speeds 
ily  reduce  labor  to  its  just  level. '  If  gold  were  really  so  obtained, 
we  might  accurately  measure  the  value  of  all  other  commodities 
by  the  quantity  of  it  which  they  were  worth  or  would  exchange 
for ;  and  whenever  they  purchased  more  or  less  of  it,  we  should 
not  hesitate  to  say,  that  they  had  risen  or  fallen  in  value,  and  not 
that  the  gold  had  fallen  or  risen,  since  the  gold  in  respect  to  the 
conditions  of  its  supply  would  ever  remain  the  same.*- If  labor 
too  were  paid  in  such  gold,  we  should  never  hear  of  the  rise  or 
fall  of  labor ;  but  labor  would  appear  to  be  what  it  in  reality  is,  of 
an  uniform  and  constant  value.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  laborer 
woulu  get  with  his  gold  more  of  food  and  of  the  other  necessaries  x)f 
life,  and  sometimes  less;  but  this  would  arise  from  their  being  more 
or  less  plentiful,  and  therefore  more  or  less  valuable,  and  not  from 
the  gold  being  altered  in  its  value.  But  if  gold  would,  under  these 
circumstances,  be  a  perfect  measure  of  value,  it  is  impossible  to 
deny  that  labor  itself  is  that  very  measure,  since  labor  is  now  and 
at  all  timps  precisely  that  which  gold  would  be  then.  A  refe- 
rence then  to  an  invariable  commodity  necessarily  leads  to  the 
confirmation  of  A.  Smith's  doctrine,  that  the  quantity  of  labor 
which  commodities  are  worth  is  the  real  measure  of  '  their  ex- 
changeable value.  It  is  their  real  price-^money  or  any  other 
medium  of  exchange  is  their  hominal  price  only. 

It  has  however  been  objected  to  this  doctrine  of  A.  Smith  that 
its  correctness  depends  on  the  propriety  of  assuming  labor  as 
the  measure  of  profits ;  and  this  observation  is  no  doubt  true. 
But,  that  the  excess  of  labor  which  commodities  are  worth  over 
and  above  that  which  they  have  cost  is  practically  as  well  as 
theoretically  the  measure  of  the  value  of  profits,  the  following 
illustration  may  suffice  to  show. 

Suppose  that  a  manufacturer  employs  a  number  of  workmen, 
who,  for  wages  equivalent  to  100  quarters  of  cojpn  and  100  suits 
of  clothing,  produce  him  a  certain  quantity  of  chairs  and  tables, 
which  sell  in  the  market  for  120  quarters  of  com  and  120  suits  of 
clothing,  he  cannot  possibly  estimate  his  profits  by  the  surplus 
corn  and  clothing  ;  for  suppose  that  with  the  120  quarters  and  the 
120  suits  he  camiot  command  as  much  labor  as  he  did  before  with 
the  100  of  each,  it  is  obvious,  that  so  far  from  having  made  any 
profit,  he  will  not  even  have  replaced  his  capital.  The  necessity 
of  giving  to  each  laborer  more  than  before,  is  to  him  a  fall  in  the 
value  of  those  commodities  with  which  he  purchases  their  labor. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  sells  his  chairs  and  tables  for  90  quarters 
of  com  and  90  suits  of  clothing  only,  yet  if  with  these  smaller 


522  Opinions  of  Mr.  Ricardo,  and  Dr^  Adam  Smith     [6 

quanddes  he  can  put  more  labor  into  motion  than  before,  it  is  dear 
he  will  have  made  a  profit  equal  to  the  difference* 

The  same  observation  16  true  of  money  or  of  any  other  commoditf. 
It  is  impossible  to  measure  value  by  the  quantity  of  money,  coni) 
doth,  iron,  or  any  thing  else  which  a  commodity  will  exchange 
for,  because  such  money,  com,  cloth,  or  iron,  &c.  must  agaia  be 
exchanged  for  labor  before  the  producer  can  know  in  what  posi* 
tion  he  is,  and  whether  he  has  made  any  profit  or  not.'  The  vahe 
then  of  capital  depends  entirely  on  its  power  of  purchasing  labor* 
The  saine  quatidty  of  money,  com,  clothes,  dioea,  hats,  && 
may  put  very  much  more  labor  into  motion  at  one  period  than  at 
another,  and  their  value  as  capital  wilt  always  be  precisely  is 
proportion  to  the  extent  of  this  power  they  convey  to  their  owntn 
This  is  a  very  important  view  of  the  subject,  because  it  is  a  pno 
tidd  one.  It  b  continually  being  remarked,  that  commodities  are 
of  high  or  low  value  compared  with  their  cost,  and  yield  a  hrge 
or  small  profit ;  but  there  is  no  other  mode  of  ascertaiciing  thu 
than  by  comparing  the  labor  they  have  cost  with  that  wht<£  they 
will  command,  and  estimadng  the  profit  by  the  difference. 

In  like  manner  labor  is  the  measure  of  that  part  of  ralue  which 
resolves  itself  into  rent,  since  ir  precisely  measures  the  extra  value 
which  the  state  of  the  demand  and  the  supply  adds  to  those  com" 
inodities  which  pay  rent  over  and  above  the  ordinary  profit  which 
they  yield ;  and  thus,  as  A.  Smith  says,  the  valne  of  each  of  the 
component  parts  of  price  is  measured  by  the  quantity  of  labor 
whidk  they  are  severally  worth  or  will  command,  and  the  total 
value  of  commodities  is  measured  by  the  total  quantity  of  hbor 
they  will  command. 

The  great  use  to  be  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  the  real  mes- 
•ore  of  value  is,  that  it  always  affords  us  an  accurate  criterion  of 
die  value  of  money  in  difinerent  places  and  at  different  periods, 
and  enables  us  at  all  times  to  ascertain  whether  a  rise  in  mov^ 
prices  be  owing  to  a  real  rise  in  the  value  of  the  commodities  or 
to  a  fall  in  the  value  of  money.  If  when  goods  rise  in  price, 
the  money  price  of  labor  remains  the  same,  the  goods  will  yield 
their  owner  a  higher  profit  than  usual,  and  he  wiU  be  practically 
sensible  that  their  value  has  risen;  but  if,  as  they  rise,  the 
money  price  of  labor  rises  with  them  so  as  to  teave  the  propoidoa 
which  the  profits  bear  to  the  advances  the  same,  then  the  rise 
is  merely  nominaL-^It  is  a  fall  in  the  value  of  money. 

If  this  test  had  been  applied  to  the  long-disputed  bullion  questiosi 

•  *  • 

*  In  all  cases  the  replacement  of  the  capital  consists  in  the  repurchase 
of  the  labor  >vbich  was  required  to  produce  tbe  commodity  i  whatever  iiwil 
purchase  more  than  that,  is  profit. 


'    7]  <m  Political  Economy ^  carnpared.  523 

*  it  would  at  otice  have  decided  the  ^ntrdvetsy;  The  point  yin^ 
Utrhether  gold  had  risen  or  paper  had  hWeA  in  y&lu6.  Now  it  i^ipem 

'  that  during  the  war  the  paper  price  of  labor  rose  coimlefablyy 
find  the  bullion  price  of  labor  rose  also,  but  in  a  mudb  lets  do'** 
gree.  While  goM  then  was  getting  in  appearance  deaMr,  it  was  in 
reality  gettulg  cheaper.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  w^  labor  fell 
considerably,  estimated  in  paper,  and  a  Utde  ^sdmated  in  gokl^ 
which  shows  that  gold,  while  it  has  been  getting  apparently  a 
^ood  deal  cheaper,  has  become  in  tstSktf  lather  dearer.  It  aha 
.shows  that  paper  wa&  gready  dqweciated  in  value  during  the 
walr  atid  has^  risen  considerably  since  its  termination^  even  more 
jthan  the  di£Ference  whkh  iBau0&i  between  it  and  gold  at  the  time 
when  ibe  latter  was  fiommflUy  dearer. 

But  to  return  from  <this  digression^  Value,  as  explakied  by  Mn 
iUcatdo^  te  relaiipe  value,  and  as  explained  by  A^  Smith,  positive 
<*  aiMide  value.  Tht  object  of  Mr.  Ricardo  was  to  give  a  rule^ 
tfad^^  an  imperfect  one,  as  he  allows,  which  might  determine 
llie  proportion  in  vriiich  commodities  exchanged  for  each  other* 
The  object  of  A.  SmitH  was  to  state  the  conditions  of  their  supply  t 
bence  it  is  that  Mtv  Ricardo  in  estimating  value  takes  the  labor 
lonly  and  omits  the  profits,  because  a  rise  or  fall  of  profits,  being 
common  to  all  commodities,  cannot  on  the  average  afiect  their 
relative  value,  except  in  the  degree  and  manner  admitted  in  the 
several  modificatiotis  virhich  he'^llovirs  of;  and  on  the  other  hand  it 
is  that  A.  Smith  takes  the  quantity  of  labor  which  commodities 
ias«e  worth  as  the  measure  of  their  value,  because  it  includes  the 
profits  as  well  as  the  labor;  and  profit,  where  capital  is  concerned, 
-is  iin  essential  condition  of  the  Supjidy.  In  the  light  in  which 
Mt.  Ricardo  considers  value,  no  alteration  in  the  proportion 
between  wages  aod  profits,  afiects  the  value  of  commodities^ 
whereas,  according  to  A.  Smith's  explanation  of  value,  and  indeed 
ki  the  ^ense  in  winch  the  term  is  ordinarily  understood^  in  altera^- 
tion  between  wages  and  profits  does  affect  the  valuer  or  ratber^^ 
what  that  proportion  is,  depends  altogether  on  the  value. 

If  100  bales  of  cotlton  which  have  cdst  100(W.  sell  for  1200/., 
83 y^  bales  go  to  the  laborer  (that  is,  go  tX)  replace  the  wages),  and 
IQ{''^  remain  for  profit ;  but  if  they  sell  for  l^OO/.,  Tl-f^;  bates  go 
to  wages  and  28^^^ to  profits;  and  if  they  sell  for  1500/.,  66^ 
bales  go  to  wages  and  33  -^-^  to  profits. 

The  proportion  which  goes  to  wages  is  less  with  every  rise  of 
value,  and  greater  with  every  fall  of  value ;  but  in  whatever  way 
the  total  number  of  bales  be  divided,  the  proportion  which  goes  to 
wages,  whether  greater  or  less,  will  always  be  of  the  same  money 
pricey  viz.  1000/. »  attd  wiU  be  of  the  same  value,  if  money  itsetf 
has  tibt  in  the  mean  time  varied. 


524  Opinions  of  Mr.  Ricardo  and  Dr.  Adam  Smith     [8 

i-  This  18  the  point  of  view  in  which  the  question  had  been  con* 
«idered  by  Mr.  Malthus,  in  his  late  elaborate  defence  of  A.Smith's 
doctrine  on  this  subject.  He  has  shown  that,  whatever  be  the 
quantity  of  wages,  their  value  is  invariable,  because  the  cost  of 
producing-  them  is  always  the  same.  If  is  not  true^  as  ha$  been 
asserted,  that  he  has  assumed  theinviariability  of  lab  or, and  theft 
inferred  that  commodities  are  more  or  less  valuable  as  they  ait 
.worth  more  or  less  labor  (as  A.  Smith  has  done)  ;  but  he  has 
shown  the  grounds  of  this  invariability  by  proving  that  of  every 
commodity,  whatever  be  the  share  which  the  state  of  the  de- 
mand and  the  supply  awards  to  the  laborer,  the  quantity  of  labor 
and  .profits  necessary  to  produce  that  share  never  vary,  but  make 
up  together  a  constant  quantity.  Thus,  if  10  men  produce  100 
quarters  of  com,  and  80  go  to  wages,  profits  will  be  25  per 
cent.  Now,  the  proportion  of  labor  required  to  produce  the  6^ 
quarters  will  be  8,  and  i25  per  cent,  added  to  8  make  lip  10.  If 
the  laborer  get  only  70  quarters^  leaving  SO  for  profits,  or  42|j 
per  cent.,  42 1-^  per  cent,  added  to  7,  the  labor  required  to  produce 
.70  quarters,  sdso  make  up  10.  Whatever  be  the  quantity  pro- 
duced, or  the  laborer's  share  of  that  quantity,  the  result  is  always 
the  same ;  arid  hence  it  follows,  that  though  the  quantify  of  wages 
is  perpetually  varying  according  to  the  state  of  the  demand  and  the 
supply,  their  value  is  invariable. 

,  This  uniformity  in  the  value  of  Wages  is  the  necessary  conse- 
quence of  profits  falling  or  rising  in  proportion  as  the  laborer  absolb 
a  larger  or  smaller  share  of  the  produce,  a  proposition  which  was  first 
stated  by  Mr.  Ricardo,  and  which,  from  its  having  been  ezplsdned 
by  him  with  great  clearness  and  perspicuity,  has  thro^wn  consider- 
able light  on  the  whole  of  this  difficult  and  obscure  subject. — ^But 
Mr.  Ricardo  did  not  draw  the  same  consequence  from'  his  own 
doctrine.  He  estimated  vxiges  solely  by  the  labor  bestowed  on 
them.  To  him  therefore  they  appeared  variable  in  their  value, 
because  they  required  more  or  Jess  labor  precisely  as  the  laborer 
absorbed  more  or  less  of  the  produce. 

Now,  when  Mr.  Ricardo  was  inquiring  into  the  x?alu€  of  com- 
modities, his  object  was  to  find  out  a  rule  which  would  determine 
the  proportions  in  which  they  exchanged  for  each  other,  and  the 
quantity  of  labor  which  they  cost  might,  under  given  circum- 
stances, answer  his  purpose  ;  but  when  he  came  to  inquire  into  the 
value  of  wages,  it  was  quite  another  affair.  What  he  then  had 
in  view  was  to  measure  the  cost  of  producing  the  wages  of  labori 
and  as  a  part  of  this  cost  consisted  in  profits,  he  ought  to  have  in- 
cluded them.  That  he  omitted  to  do  so  is  very  remarkable,  since 
he  states,  (Princip.  of  Folit.  Ecom.  page  50.  3d  edit.)  "Wages 
are  to  be  estimated  by  their  real  value,  viz.  the  quantity  of  labor 


9]  on  Foliticql  Econoyvy^  compared.  525 

and  capital  necessary  to  produce  theni)  not  by  their  nominal  ralue 
in  hatSi  shoes,  cloth,  or  com,  &c. ;"  and  again,  (page  46)  that  <<  the 
cost  of  production,  including  profits^  is  the  same  as  value  ;''  and 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  last  chapter  he  particularly  dwells  on 
the  real  price  of  every  commodity  being  made  up  of  the  labor 
and  capital  required  to  produce  it.  To  be  consistent  with  him- 
self, then,  in  estimating  wages  he  ought  to  have  included  the  pro- 
fits on  tlie  capital  employed,  inasmuch  as  they  are  an  essential 
condition  of  die  supply ;  and  if  he  had  done  so,  he  would  have 
found  that  their  value  is  always  the  same,  and  he  would  have 
arrived  at  A.  Smith's  doctrine  of  value  by  the  very  same  process 
that  Mr.  Malthus  has  done. 

To  conclude,  then. — ^These   two  systems  of  A.   Smith    and 
Mr.  Ricardo  are  not   contradictory  to  each  other,  but  both  are 
correct  in  the  peculiar  sense  which  each  of  them  attaches  to  the 
term  value.    We  must,  however,  own,  we  prefer  the  view  which 
A.  Smith  takes  of  the  subject,  as  it  is  more  conformable  to  gene- 
ral experience,  and  serves  to  explain  things  under  all  the  variations 
to  which  they  are  liable  \   whereas  Mr.  Ricardo's  view  seems  de- 
signed to  show  how  things  should  be  under  given  circumstances, 
rather  than  how  they  are  in  reality  found  to  exist.     It  is  no  doubt 
true,  as  he  has  justly  stated,  that  the  greater  or  less  quantity  of 
labor  required  to  produce  commodities  is  the  main  cause  of  their 
being  more  or  less  valuable ;  and,  other  things  being  equal,  it  would 
on  the  average  form  a  gocni  criterion  of  their  relative  value.     But 
other  things  are  not  equal ;  the  capital  employed  in  production, 
besides  labor,  is  so  various  both  in  kind  and  quantity,  that  there  are 
not  perhaps  two  commodities  out  of  ten  thousand  where  it  is 
precisely  die  same  ;  and  to  attempt  to  estimate  their  value  solely  by 
the  respective  quantities  of  labor  bestowed  on  them,  would  (even 
if  it  were  practicable,  which  it   is  not)  lead  to  perpetual  error. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  labor  which  commodities  are  worth  or  will 
command,  not  only  includes  every  circumstance  which  can  possi- 
bly afiect  their  exchangeable  value,  but  is  at  all  times  easily  to 
be  got  at,  and  is  in  fact  practically  ascertained  by  the  intervention 
of  money,  and  by  the  necessity  which  all  classes  of  producers  feel 
themselves  to  be  under,  of  comparing  the  money  price  of  their 
commodities  with  the  money  price  of  labor,  in  order  to  judge 
of  their  real  value  and  of  the  profit  which  they  each  of  them 
yield. 

We  shall  close  these  remarks  on  this  branch  of  the  subject,  with 
the  following  additional  argument  in  favor  of  A.  Smith's  doctrine, 
which  we  believe  is  a  new  one,  and  which  from  its  simplicity  may, 
perhaps,  be  more  convincing  to  the  generality  of  readers  than 
those  which  have  hitherto  been  brought  forward  in  support  of  it. 


S26  Opinions  of  Mr.  Rtcardo  and  Dr.  Adam  Sfmthj  S^c.  [10 

Value  is.  a  quality  which  ha^  its  origin  in  scarcity.  If  com* 
modities  coutd  be  procured  in  unlimited  abundancej.  like  air  or 
watery  however  useful^  desjrablei  or  eveo  necessaryi  they  would 
be  utterly  destitute  of  exchangeable  value ;  and  there  is  no  excep- 
tion to  the  universal  propo&itiQn»  that  all  conrnioditie^^  whether 
produced  by  monopolies  or  by  the  freest  competition^  are  always 
more  or  less  valuable  in  proportion  48  they  are  more  scarce  or 
plentiful  compared  with  the  demand  for  them.  Now  by  a  ^an- 
dard  ofvatv£  we  mean  a  test  of  the  comparative  degree  of  scarci* 
ty  or  plentifulness  in  which  they  exist  \  and  the  peculiar  reason 
why  labor  forms  a  most  accurate  test  is,  that  considering  what  a 
large  part  of  every  community  the  laborers  are^  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible they  can  at  any  time  absorb  a  larger  quantity  than  usuals 
either  of  any  particular  commodity  or  of  the  mass  of  commodities 
generally,,  but  by  reason  of  their  greater  plenty.  In  like  manneri 
if  they  receive  a  less  share  than  usual^^  it  can  only  arise  from  the 
produce  being  scarcer  than  usual,  and  therefore  more  valuable. 

No  other  commodity  is  capable  of  affording  this  test.  If  more 
hats  be  given  for  corn  than  before,  we  cannot  by  merely  compar- 
ing them  together  ascertain  whether  the  one  has  riseq  or  the 
other  has  fallen  in  value.  But,  if  we  compare  them  both  with 
labor,  we  shall  at  once  have  an  answer  to  the  question.  If^  for 
instance,  it  be  found  that  the  laborer  can  conunana  as  much  coiQ 
as  before,  and  more  hats,  it  will  appear  that  hats  have  become 
more  plentiful,  and  have  therefore  fallen  in  value  \  vrhile»  on  the 
other  hand,  in  case  it  should  be  found  that  he  gets  no  more  hat$ 
and  less  com,  it  will  be  evident  that  the  latter  has  become  more 
scarce,  and  has  risen  in  value. 

According  to  Mr.  Ricardo's  doctrine,  wherever  the  laborer  is 
better  paid,  or  that  he  absorbs  a  greater  quantity  of  the  produce, 
his  labor  is  more  in  demand.  But  is  it  n6t  evident,  that  the  spe- 
cific cause  of  this  better  payment  is  the  j^eater  plentifulness  of  the 
commodity  or  commodities  with  which  his  labor  is  purchased  ? 
In  no  case  can  more  be  given  to  the  laborer  unless  the  produce  be 
more  plentiful  compared  with  the  demand  for  it  \   and  if  more 

Slentirul>  it  has  fallen  in  value  :  in  like  manner,  if  less  be  given, 
:  is  the  plain  and  unequivocal  sign  of  its  being  scarce  or  having 
risen  in  value. 

From  this  reason,  which  we  own  appears  to  us  very  simple  and 
very  satisfactory,  we  conclude,  that  labor  is  the  true  and  only  test 
of  tne  comparative  scarcity  or  abundance  of  commodities  ^  or,  19 
the  language  of  A.  Smith,  that  it  is  the  real  and  sole  measure  of 
their  exchangeable  value. 


REFORM. 


IN  TWO  PARTS. 


PART  THE  FIRST 

CONTAINS   AN   INTRODUCTORY   LETTER   ADDRESSED   TO 

JOHN  GEORGE  LAMBTON,  ESQ.,  M.  P., 

WITH  A  FORM  OF  A  PROPOSED 

Bill 

FOR  A  GENERAL  REFORM 
IN  THE  COMMONS*  HOUSE  OF  PARUAMENT. 


PART  THE  SECOND, 


OK 


THE  TOUCHSTONE, 

CONTAINS  SOME  PREFATORY  OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  PRESENT  SYS- 
TEM OF  ELECTIONS,  A  PROPOSED  PETITION,  AND  FORM  OF  A 


Bill 


FOR  THE  REFORM  OF  A  BOROUGH, 

WITH  GENERAL  REMARKS. 


Bv   PHILO-JUNIUS. 


LONDON:— 1824. 


R  E  F  O  R  M 


IN  TWO  PARTS. 


PART  I. 

As  an  humble  individual,  living  in  retirement,  I  have  not  inter- 
fered with  politics ;  yet  there  is  one  thing  which  has  excited  mj 
wonder  and  astonishment. 

1  am  continually  reading  of  meltings  for  Reform,  and  in  all  of 
them  the  very  essence  of  Reform  is  omitted  :  that  which  alone  can 
save  the  ruinous  expenses,  and  prevent  the  lamentable  corruption, 
vice,  and  immorality,  consequent  on  every  contested  election  under 
the  present  system  ; — ^ihal  which  is  the  we  plus  ultra  of  Reform, 
and  ought  to  be  the  sine  qua  non  of  every  real  Reformer,  is  never 
mentioned. 

It  is  allowed  on  all  sides  that  elections  ought  to  be  free,  and 
statute  on  statute  have  been  enacted  professedly  to  render  them 
both  free  and  incorrupt:  but  to  be  free,  elections  must  be  by 
BALLOT ;  without  it,  an  extended  franchise  would  be  extended 
corruption.  Hitherto  I  have  considered  the  cry  for  Reform  amongst 
the  gentlemen  of  the  country  as  a  mere  somethiog  to  procure 
popularity,  and  myself  and  thousands  more  are  convinced  that  it 
is  utterly  impossible  for  any  experienced  person  to  be  seriously  a 
Reformer,  unless  ballot  be  his^rs^  and  principal  object.  1  have 
lately  been  Veading,  not  only  your  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons on  the  subject  of  Reform,  but  also  the  copy  of  your  intended 
Bill,  from  which  I  am  led  to  think  you  are  a  real  Reformer,  but 
cannot  account  for  your  omitting  the  proposal  of  a  ballot. 

This  has  induced  me  thus  to  address  you,  and  to  draw  up  a  Bill; 
which  in  my  opinion  would  secure  a  moderate,  constitutional,  and 
efficient  Reform  in  the  Commons'  House  of  Parliament.  The 
influence  exercised  in  small  places  is  guarded  against  by  the  elec- 
tors of  a  whole  county  having  a  vote  for  every  member  to  be  re- 
turned for,  or  anywise  in  respect  of,  such  county ;  instead  of  having 
separate  elections  for  the  county,  city,  and  the  separate  boroughs. 


3]         Proposed  Plan  for  Reform  in  Parliament.       526 

The  convenience  of  having  the  polls  near  the  homes  of  ibe 
electors  is  provided  for,  by  polling  in  the  hundreds,  or  districts ; 
and  local  infldeiice.  ptfev^ted  in  imalt  huttdttdk,  by  annextix^  then^ 
to  others*  Eqimlity  of  representation  would  be»  produced^  by  (qua- 
lifying occupiers  to  a  certain  extent^  or  amount^  to  vote  in  their 
respective  counties  only,  instead  of  the  absurd  plan  of  vesting  the 
franchise  in  forty-shilling  freeholder s,  freemen  and  burgesses^  the 
two'  former  of  which  (improp'erly)  bi^t  Votes  hi  diviers' places ; 
aitti  the  balfot  wtnilrf  enaUe"  the  eltetttpr  fearle^ly  to  give  ffid  vot^ 
comckntiomty.  There  are  some*  of  the  Reformers,  or  pretended 
Reformers,  who  smy^  every  elector  can^  if  he  pleatjes,  vote  as^  he 
likes^the  assertion  tlnrt  a  mad  may,  if  he  plt^ses,  leap  fromtib^ 
top*  of  St.  Paul's,  is  equally  reasonable  r  both  may  be  done,  but 
vrin  any  rational  being  brave  the  consequence  ?    . 

The  proposed  assessment  (A)  would  show  the  number  of  elfedt^ 
drs  in  each  parish,  iK>hicb,  when  retnrnetf  to  the  clerk  of  the  peatejt 
would  enable  him  to  n»ake  his  return  (B)  to  parliament,  by  whidh 
the  number  of  electors  in  England  and  Wafes  might  easily  be  as- 
certained, so  as  to  apportion  the  proper  number  of  members  ta  (re 
retirmed  by  each  county.  Suppose,  for  instance,  the  number  of 
e^lectors  in  England  and  Wafes  to:  amount  to  5  td,000,  f  believe 
that  wouM  be  1000  electors  for  each=  member  ;  hence  it  follows^ 
that  a  county,  containing  10,000*  electors,  should  in  sucb  caW 
return  10  members,  anda  county  of  5000  electors  shotildf  retumf 
5  members,  with  certain  allowances  to  be  given-  and  taken  fW 
fractional  parts  of  1000,  which,  when  once  apportioned,  would 
be  a  sufficient  equalisation,  and  prevent  the  iiecessity  of  any  further 
sfheration  at  any  future  period,  as  comities  do  not  decay  and  new^ 
ones  rise  up,  like  cities  and  large  towns  :  thus  I  think  every  conr- 
tingency  i»  here  providisd  tor. 

I  have  the  honor  %o'  be,.  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  aiMl 

very  hunibte  serVanC, 

PHI'LOJfJWIWIj 


VOL.  XXIIl.  Pam.  NO.  XLVL  2L 


530 


Proposed  Bill  for  effecting  a  rational,  constitutional^ 
and  effectual  Reform  in  the  Commons  House  of  Par- 
liament. 

Whereas  many  boroughs  and  towns  in  England  and  Wales, 
which  now  send  burgesses  to  parliament,  have  fallen  greatly  into 
decay,  and  contain  but  few  voters  to  return  such  members ;  aiui 
Whereas  many  other  towns  of  great  wealth,  population,  and  con- 
sequence, do  not  return  burgesses  to  serve  in  parliament;  and 
Whereas  the  population  of  boroughs  and  towns  is  more  fluctuating 
and  uncertain  than  the  population  of  whole  counties;  and  Whereas 
the  vesting  the  right  of  voting  in  forty-shilling  freeholders,  burgesses, 
and  freemen  of  cities,  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  is  partial  and  un- 
just, and  the  payment  of  taxes  fluctuating  and  uncertain ;  and 
Whereas  many  persons  inhabitant  householders  in  various  parts  of 
England  and  Wales  have  consequently  no  vote  or  voice  in  the 
election  of  members  to  serve  in  parliament,  and  yet  are  liable  to 
all  payments,  rates,  and  taxes,  granted  by  parliament,  equally 
(and  frequently  in  greater  proportions)  with  persons  at  present 
voting  iu  the  election  of  members  to  serve  in  parliament,  and  are 
therefore  equally,  or  in  a  greater  degree,  interested  in,  and  con- 
cerned with  them,  to  be  truly  and  faithfully  represented  in  parlia- 
ment, by  means  whereof,  and  of  the  ruinous  expense^  and  inde- 
scribable and  boundless  corruption  incurred  and  exercised,  at  all 
contested  elections  where  the  votes  are  publicly  given  and  recorded, 
the  representation  of  the  people  of  England  and  Wales  in  the 
Commons  House  of  Parliament  has  become,  and  is,  greatly  de- 
fective; and  Whereas  it  is  just  and  equitable  that  that  which 
affects  all  should  be  imposed  by  a  more  general  and  common  con- 
sent, and  that  the  members  serving  in  parliament  should  be  duly, 
FREELY,  and  fairly  chosen  :  For  remedy  whereof,  and  for  the  pro- 
moting and  maintaining  the  prosperity  of  the  crown,  and  the  satis- 
faction and  contentment  of  the  people — 

[Qualification  of  the  Toten.] 

Bk  it  enacted  by  the  King's  most  excellent  majesty,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and 
Commons  in  this  present  parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  same,  That  from  and  immediately  after  the  termination 
of  this  present  parliament,  every  inhabitant  householder  in  England 
and  Wales,  being  in  the  actual  occupation  of  lands  or  tenements, 
or  lands  and  tenements,  worth  to  let  by  the  year  the  sum  of  six 


5]         Proposed  Plan  for  Reform  in  Parliament.      &3\ 

pounds^  aod  none  others^  shall  have  a  right,  and  be  entitljed  to  vote 
in  the  election  of  all  members  to  be  returned  by,  anil  to  serve  in 
parliament  for,  the  county  wherein  such  inhabitant  householder 
shall  at  the  time  of  such  election  reside;  having  so  resided  and  occu- 
pied to  the  amount  aforesaid  in  such  county^  for  the  full  term  of 
twelve  calendar  months  next  preceding  the  day  of  voting ;  and  that  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  every  such  elector  to  vote  by  private  ballot, 
in  the  manner  hereinafter  mentioned,  and  not  otherwise, 

[To  be  Countj  Members. — ^Triennial  Parliaments.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  from 
and  immediately  after  the  termination  of  this  present  parliament, 
all  the  members  to  serve  in  parliament  ior  England  and  Wales 
shall  be  county  members,  and  shall  be  returned  at  least  once  in 
every  three  year*,  by  the  inhabitant  householders  of  the  counties 
at  large,  and  the  cities  and  bofoughs  belonging  thereto^  being  so 
qualified  as  last  mentioned,  and  by  none  others,  or  otherwise. 
And  that  no  member  be  capable  of  retaining  his  seat  for  any  longer 
period  than  three  years,  without  being  re-elected;  and  tl?at  the 
number  of  members  to  serve  in  parliament  for  each  county  shall 
be  duly  apportioned  according  to  the  number  of  electors  residing 
in  such  county,  or  as  itear  as  may  be,  b]^  a  committee  for  that  pur- 
pose to  be  appointed. 

[Assessments  to  be  paid. — Penalty.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  within 
months  from  the  passing  of  this  act  the  assessors  of  every 
parish  within  England  and  Wales  shall  be  furnished  by  parliament 
widi  two  blank  assessments  in  the  form  of  schedule  (A)  to  this  act 
annexed,  whi^  h  assessments  shall  by  the  assessor  op  assessors  of 
the  respective  parishes,  be  duly  filled  up  and  signed,  and  one  copy 
returned  to  the  clerk  of  the  peace  of  the  respective  counties,  or  his 
deputy,  within  months  from  the  passing  of  this  act,  under  the 
penalty  of  /.,  to  be  levied  by  warrant  of  two  justices,  and  to  he 
applied  in  aid  of  the  poor  rates  of  that  or  some  other  parish  in  the 
same  county,  as  the  justices  in  sessions  shall  direct. 

[Clerk  of  the  peace  to  make  returns. — Penalty.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  within 
months  from  the  passing  of  this  act  the  clerk  of  the  peace  in 
every  county  in  England  and  Wales  shall  be  furnished  by  parlia- 
ment with  blank  copies  of  a  return,  to  be  by  him  made  in  the  form 
of  schedule  (B)  to  this  act  annexed,  which  return  shall  by  the  clerk 
of  the  peace  of  and  for  every  county  hi  England  and  Wales,  be  duly 
and  truly  made,  filled  up,  and  signed,  according  to  the  form  of 
the  said  schedule  (B);  and  every  such  clerk  of  the  peace  shall. 


«33  Prope^d  Pianfor  [« 

under  the.  penalty  of  hundred  pounds,,  to  be  ]«iried  and  appbd 
as  aforesaid,  transmit  one  copy  of  such  his  rettitn  to  parliament 
within  days  of  the  meeting  of  the  next  session  of  partiaaBent,  to 
enable  the  committee  to  be  then  and  there  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose^  duly  to  apportion  the  number  of  members  to  be  in  future 
returned  by  each  county. 

[Candidate  to  give  notiee.— Sheriff  to  give  notice.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  from 
and  after  the  passing  af  this  act,  every  person  who  shall  ^ffer  him- 
self as  a  candidate  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  any  county  in  England 
or  Wales,  shall  give  twenty-eight  days'  notice  to  the  sheriff  of  such 
county,  to  enable  such  sheriff  to  fill  up  a  list  of  the  candidates  in 
the  form  of  schedule  (C)  to  this  act  annexed,  and  copies  of  which 
list  the  said  sheriff  shall  advertise  and  affix ;  or,  by  the  respective 
constables  cause  to  be  advertised  in  soai<e  newspaper  of  his  county, 
and  affixed  against  the  doors  of  all  churches  and  chapels  within  tis 
said  county,  so  as  to  appear  in  such  newspapers,  and  to  remaia 
on  such  church  doors,  at  least  two  Sundays  next  previous  to  the 
day  of  election,  on  pain  of  /.,  to  be  levied  and  applied  in  man- 
ner before  mentioned. 

[Polls  to  be  proyidedk] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the 
sheriff  of  every  county  in  England  and  Wales,,  and  at  the  expense 
of  the  same  county,  shall  at  least  two  weeks  previous  to  the  day  of 
election,  provide  the  constables  of  every  parish  within  his  county 
with  a  sufficient  number  of  polls  or  ballots,  in  the  form  of  schedule 
(D)  to  this  act  annexed,  under  the  penalty  of  /.,  to  be  levied 
and  applied  as  aforesaid. 

[Boxes  to  be  provided. — ^Ballot.] 

^nd  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the 
sheriff  of  every  county  in  England  and  Wales,  at  the  expense  of 
such  county,  shall  for  each  place  of  polling  provide  a  large  strong 
poll-box,  with  a  slit  in  the  centre  of  the  lid  thereof,  and  with  as 
many  locks  thereto,  and  different  keys,  as  there  may  be  candidates, 
into  which  slit  the  voters  shall  put  their  said  polls  or  ballots,  closely 
and  privately  folded  up,  after  having  marked  off  their  favorite  can- 
cfidates  as  in  the  form  of  schedule  (£)  to  this  act  annexed,  and  shall 
also  provide  another  strong  box,  without  any  slit  or  opeoing^  in  the 
lid,  with  the  like  number  of  different  locks,  and  different  keys,  ia 
which  is  to  be  deposited  the  said  poll-box  at  the  close  of  eachcb/s 
poll,  (if  continued  for  more  than  one  day)  for  safe  custody,  until 
the  polls  or  ballots  be  opened  in  the  presence  of  the  candidates,  or 
their  friends,  duly  ^pointed  by  thenii  in  writing  for  that  purpose 
ais  after  mentioned. 


7]  Reform  in  PnrlianienL  5S9: 

[District . statements  to  be  provided— ^nd  Aiiesunents.] 

And  he  it  further  enacted,  by  the  atrthority  aforesaid,  that  the 
sheriff  of  every  county  shall,  at  the  expense  of  such  county,  pro- 
vide each  poU-clerk  with  blank  statement's  of  the  poll  for  each 
hundred  or  district,  in  the  form  of  schedule  (F)  to  this  act  annexed, 
which  shail  he  filled  up  in  the  presence  of,  and  signed  by,  the  can- 
didates, or  their  friends  for  that  purpose  by  them  duly  appointed 
in  writing,  according  to  the  form  of  the  said  schedule  (F),  in  the 
manner  hereinafter  m^titioned,  and  also  shall  provide  copies  of  the 
assessments  for  each  polling  district,  alphabetically  prepared,  to 
enable  the  poll-clerk  to  maHk  off  the  -voters  as  they  poll. 

£Fjnal  Return.]  / 

AnH  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  autliority  aforesaid,  that  the 
sheriff  of  each  of  the  said  counties  shall,  within  days  after  th^ 

day  of  election,  make  out  his  final  return  in  the  form  of  schedule 
(G)  to  this  act  annexed,  under  the  penalty  of  /.,  to  be  levied 
and  applied  as  aforesaid. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  if  any 
candidate,  or  any  elector,  shail  require  it,  the  poll-clerk  shall  ad- 
minister to  each  elector,  or  to  four  at  a  time,  previous  to  his  or 
their  polling  or  voting,  the  following  oath,  and  which  oath  shall 
be  printed  in  the  plainest  manner,  at  the  foot  of  each  poH  or 
ballot : 

[Voter's  Oath.] 

I,  A.  B.,  do  swear  (or  being  a  Quaker  do  affirm),  that  I  have 
not  made  known  to  any  one  what  candidate  or  candidates 
I  have  approved  or  rejected  in  my  ballot.  And  that  on 
the  contrary,  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  conceal  th^ 
contents  of  my  ballot  or  poll  at  this  election.  So  help 
me  God. 

[PoU-books  to  be  provided. — Polls  to  be  opened  in  the  presence  of  the  candidates,  and 
entered. — Statements  to  be  si|;ned  and  transmitted  to  the  Sheriff.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  the 
sheriff  of  every  st*ch  county  as  aforesaid  shall  provide  each  and 
every  poll-clerk  within  hb  county  with  proper  copies  oi  the  assess- 
ments for  the  parishes  within  the  district  of  such  polUderk,  and 
also  with  a  proper  poll-book  with  three  columns,  wherein  such  poU- 
clerk  shall  enter  the  names,  residence,  and  description,  or  addition, 
of  every  elector  at  the  time  of  bis  vodug ;  and  that  at  the  close  of 
each  poll,  the  poll-clerk,  in  the  presence  of  the  candidates,  or  thef* 
friends  duly  appointed  as  aforesaid,  shall  count  over  the  names 
of  the  voters  who  have  polled,  and  having  so  done,  the  candidates 
or  their  friends  shall  each  produce  his  key  of  the  poll-box,  and 
open  the  same,  and  the  polls  or  ballots  in  the  poll-box  shall  be 


534  Proposed  Plan  for  [8 

counted,  and  if  the  polls  or  ballots  exceed  the  number  of  persons 
¥7ho  have  voted,  the  extra  number  shall  be  destroyed  before  any  be 
opened,  and  without  such  extra  number  being  opened  at  all,  and 
th)e  polls  or  ballots,  in  the  presence  of  the  candidates  or  their  friends 
as  aforesaid,  shall  then  be  opened,  one  by  one,  and  the  contents 
entered  in  the  statement  of  the  poll  for  the  hundred  or  district,  in 
the  form  of  schedule  (F)  to  this  act  annexecf,  which  statement  shall 
be  signed  by  the  candidates,  or  their  friends  duly  appointed  as 
aforesaid,  or  by  the  poll-clerk  for  such  of  them  as  shall  refuse  or 
neglect  to  sign  the  same  when  required ;  and  the  respective  poll- 
clerks  shall  forthwith  transmit  such  statements  of  the  districts  to 
the  several  sheriffs  ;  and  if  on  opening  any  poll  or  ballot  it  be  found 
to  contain  more  than  one  ballot  filled  up,  the  whole  of  them  so 
inclosed  shall,  with  the  one  covering  them,  be  destroyed,  without 
being  entered. 

[Districts.] 
And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  from  and 
after  the  termination  of  this  present  parliament,  the  elections  or  polls 
shall  be  taken  in  the  several  hundreds  in  each  county,  unless  where 
the  hundreds  be  small,  or  a  thin  population,  in  which  case  the  she- 
riff shall  cause  two  or  more  hundreds  to  be  united,  and  form  one 
polling  district ;  and  in  all  cases  the  elections  shall  be  held  at  the 
most  convenient  town  or  place  within  the  hundred,  or  united  hun- 
dreds, as  aforesaid. 

[To  be  county  members.} 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  from 
and  after  the  termination  of  this  present  parliament,  no  member  or 
members  shall  be  elected,  or  returned,  or  sit,  or  serve,  for  any 
city,  borough,  or  other  place  in  England  or  Wales,  other  than  and 
except  the  same  number  of  members  which  have  hitherto  been 
elected  for  England  and  Wales,  and  which  after  this  present  par- 
liament shall  all  be  returned  as  county  members,  at  the  times,  in 
the  proportions,  by  the  persons,  and  in  the  manner  and  form  pro- 
vided by  this  act,  any  law,  act,  or  usage,  to  the  contrary,  in  any 
wise  notwithstanding :  Provided  always,  that  nothing  in  this  act 
shall  extend,  or  be  construed,  to  the  qualifying  of  any  person  or 
persons  to  vote  at  elections  of  members  to  serve  in  parliament  for 
England  or  Wales,  who  now  are,  or  hitherto  have  been,  disqualified 
by  rank,  office,  or  employment,  from  so  voting,  previous  to  the 
passing  of  this  act. 


9]  Refbrmin  Parliament.  535 


SCHEDULE  A. 

Assessment  for  the  parish  of  in  the  Hundred  of 

in  the  County  of  for  the  year  183  9  pursuant  to  Act  of  Parlia- 

menty  by  which  it  appears  there  are  8  Electors  in  this  Parish.  * 

Description         Numbier      Value  of  Occupation.  Sums 

Names.       of  Premises.  of        Electors  6L  Non  Electors  assessed. 

Electors,  ik  upwards.      under  6/. 
A.  B.    House  and  Garden. 
C.  D.    Hpuse. 
£  .F.    Cottage. 
G.  H.   House  and  Land. 
1.  K.     House  and  Garden.  ^ 
L.  M.  Cottage. 
N.  O.   House  and  Garden. 
P.  Q.    House. 
R.  S.     House  and  Land. 
T.  V.    House. 

A.  B.  Assessor. 

183 


1         £7 

2           6 

5    5 

3          20 

4            8 

4    4 

5           9 

5 

7          16 

16 

8          10 

A.  B.  Assessor. 

The 

^ 

lay  of 

SCHEDULED. 

Return  of  the  nnmber  of  InhabiuntHouseholders^  entitled  to  TOte  in  the 
Election  of  Members  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  the  county  of  , 

being  in  the  actual  occupation  of  Lands  and  Tenements,  or  Lands  or  Tene- 
ments, of  the  yearly  value  of  six  pounds,  as  appears  by  the  assessments  of 
the  several  parishes  returned  to  me  by  the  assessors,  pursuant  to  act  of 
Parliament. 


Parishes. 

Hundreds. 

Number  of  Electors. 

A. 

B. 

86 

B. 

Do. 

38 

C. 

Do. 

48 

D. 

E. 

7% 

£. 

Do. 

83 

F. 

Do. 

97 

&c. 

&c. 

• 

Total  5000 
A.  R,  Deputy  clerk  of  the  P^ace  for  the  County  of  »  the 

.  day  of  ,  188  . 


SCHEDULE  C 


ADVERTIbEMEKT. 


List  of  persons  who  have  entered  their  names  at  my  office  as  candidates 
to  serve  in  Parliament  for  the  ensuing  three  jtearsy  for  the  county  of  , 


Frisposed  Plmfbr  Lit 

six  of  whom  are  to  be  elected.    The  elections  will  oommence  on  Monday, 
the       day  of  ,  182  ,  at  the  usual  places. 

Title. 
Esq. 


day  of 

,182  , 

at  the  usual  places. 

Names. 

Residence. 

A.B. 

Park. 

Hob.  €.  D. 

Hall. 

Sir  E.  F. 

Abbey. 

G.H. 

I.K. 

« 

L.M. 

N.O. 

Sir  P.  Q. 

R.S. 

T.V. 

^sq. 

Esq. 

lEsq. 

Esq. 

Bart. 

Esq. 

Esq. 

A.B.ySheriffof  the  County  of  y^he        day  of        ,  189 


■r^- 


SCHEDULE  D. 


POX.!.  OR  BAIrLOT  FOB  THE  ELECTOBS. 


list  of  Candidates  to  serve  in  pArUament  for  the  County  of  , 

for  the  ensuing  three  years,  six  of  whom  are  to  be  elected.  Against  the 
names  of  those  you  approve  put  a  cross,  thus  x  ;  and  strike  a  pen  through 
the  names  of  those  you  reject. 

Names.  Residenoe.  Titie. 

A.  B.  Par^  Esq. 

Hon.  C.  D.  Hali. 

Sir  E.  F.  Abbey.  Bart. 

G.  H.  Esq. 

I.  K.  Esq. 

L.  M.  Esq. 

N.  O.  Esq. 

Sir  P.  Q.  Bart. 

R.  S.  Esq. 

T.  V.  Esq. 

ELECTOR'S  OATH. 

ly  A.  B.,  do  swear  (or  being  a  Quaker  do  affirm),  that  I  hoye  not  made 
known  to  any  one  what  Candidate  or  Candidates  I  have  approved  or  rejected 
in  my  ballot ;  and  that  on  the  contrary,  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to 
conceal  the  contents  of  my  ballot  or  poll  at  this  Election^  So  help  me  (>od. 


SCHEDULE  £. 

POLL  oil  BALLOT  AS  COMPLIKTXD  BT  THE  ELECTOB. 

List  of  Candidates  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  the  CottBty  oi  , 

for  the  ensuiflg  three  years,  six  •«£  whom  Are  tabs  eksted*    ^Agauultbi 


11]  R^brmJm  Foi^tMpnt.  iiSf 

names  of  those  you  approve  put^crosi,  thas  X  ;  ^^^  strike  a  pen  through 
the  names  of  those  you  reject. 

Names.  Residence.  Title. 

At©.  Park.                            Esq. 

X  Hon.  CD.  Hall. 

SkJLjr,  Abbey.                          Bart. 

xO.  H.  '  Esq. 

$r4^.  Esq. 

iiTlSr.  Esq. 

X  N.  O.  Esqi 

X  Sir  P.  Q.  Bart. 

X  R.  S.  Esq. 

TrT.  Esq. 

ELECTOR'S  OATH. 

I,  A.  B.,  do  swear  (or  being  a  Quaker  do  affirm),  that  I  have  not  made 
known  to  any  one  what  Candidate  or  Candidates  I  have  approved  or  rejected 
in  my  Ballot ;  and  that  on  ihe  contrary,  I  have  jdone  all  in  my  {u>wer  to  con- 
ioeal  the  contents  of  my  baUfit  or  fwil  at  this  Eleccion,  So  help  me  God. 


SCHEDULE  F. 

Statement  of  the  Poll  taken  in  District  No.  1.  containing  the  Hundred  of 
(or  the  united  Hundreds  of  and  )  in  the  County 

of       -  9  in  the  month  of  ,  182  . 

No.  of  A.  B.    Hon.      Sir     G.  H.  1.  K.  L.  M.  N.  O.     Sir     R.  S.  T.  V. 
Polls.    Esq.    CD.    E.  F.    Esq.    Esq.     Esq.     Ksq.    P.  Q.  Esq.    Esq. 

1  X  XX  XXX 

3 

4 
5 


348        96        306       109       294       S90       128       280       292      316      48 


The  above  U  a  correct  slate  of  the  PoU^  taken  ihe  day  of  .,  182    . 

In  the  presence  of 

A.  B.  in  person. 
I.G.  for  the  Hon.  CD. 
Sir  E.  T,  in  person. 
G.  H.     Do. 
1.  Iw.       D<o. 
L.  M.      Do. 
N.  a      Do. 
Sir  P.  Q.  Do. 

O.  S.  Poll-Clerk,  Ibr  E.  8.  and  T.  V.^  who  ifcre 
ifbaent  or  neglected  to  sign  tills  statement  or  spfiMUt  aItmuL 


Hundreds. 


538  Prapoitd  Plan  far  [12 

SCHEDULE  G. 

Final  state  of  the  Poll  for  the  County  of  ,  taken  the  daj 

of  ,182    . 

A.  B.  Hon.     Sir     G.  H.  I.  K,  L.  M.  N.  O.     Sir    R.  S.  T.  V. 
Esq.  C.  D.  £.  F.    Esq.    Esq.    Esq.    Esq.    P.  Q.    Esq.    Esq. 

A.      96    306   104   394   290   128   S80   393   316   48 

B. 
C.  &  D. ) 
united.  ) 

E. 

F. 

G. 
H.  &  I. 
united. 

K. 

L. 

Totals  341    3331     3196    3148    8993     ^6    8976    3817    3176     M 

I  do  declare  the  ahove  to  be  a  true  state  of  the  Poll,  and  that  the  Hoo. 
€.  D.  G.  H.  Esq.  I.  K.  Esq.  N.  O.  Esq.  Sir  P.  Q.  Bart,  and  A.  S.  Esq. 
are  duly  elected,  as  witness  my  hand  this  .    day  of  ,  183  . 

F.  R.  Esq. 
Sheriff  of  the  County  of 


i\ 


PART  THE  SECOND. 

The  Reformers'  Touchstone,  or  the  way  to  Prove 


THEM. 


At  a  period  like  the  present^  when  there  are  meetings  in  almost 
every  county,  professedly  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  a 
Reform  in  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament — When  speeches 
are  made,  apparently  for  the  mere  purpose  of  saying  something, 
liut  without  coming  to  any  real  understanding  on  the  subject— 
When  at  the  meeting  of  the  Freeholders  (should  have  been  Inha- 
bitant Householders)  of  such  a  county  as  Yorkshire,  a  man  shall 
make  the  most  stupid  and  ridiculous  speech,  without  being  directly 
answered — When  a  man  can  rise  at  a  public  meeting,  acfmtY  the 
existence  of  corruption,  and  say  that  the  mode  of  election  may  re- 
quire alteration,  but  that  as  the  system  (which  he  could  not  upboM) 


13]  Reform  in  Parliament.  539 

had  been  such  for  400  jears^  therefore  he  would  defetid  it  with 
his  blood : — When  such  things  be,  the  sincerity  of  the  professed 
Reformers  may  be  considered  questionable,  and  it  is  proper  to  try 
them  vihetber  they  be  real  metal  or  no.  Was  there  no  man  to  be 
found  at  the  York  meeting  to  ask  the  honorable  gentleman 
whether  he  preferred  a  coach,  a  coat,  or  any  other  article  of  the 
fashion  of  the  fourteenth  century,  to  the  similar  articles  of  the 
fashion  of  the  present  day,  merely  on  account  of  antiquity  i  wa» 
there  not  a  man  to  be  found  at  the  meeting  to  tell  him  that  a  pro^ 
per  alteration  in  the  mode  of  election,  was  all  that  was  required  i 
not,  ''  a  simple  instrument  instead  of  a  tripartite  government,^'  but 
a  real  tripartite  government,  namely,  a  King  as  he  is,  Lords  as  they 
are,  and  Commons  as  they  ought  to  be.  He  should  have  been 
told,  that  annual  discord,  and  universal  confusion,  was  not  wanted; 
no,  that  extending  the  right  of  voting  to  the  Inhabitant  Househol-> 
ders  occupying  to  the  amount  of  six  pounds  yearly,  and  a  return  to 
triennial  elections,  would  be  sufficient,  provided  the  piles  of  laws 
and  statutes,  which  have,  by  various  Parliaments,  ieen  passed  and 
enacted,  professedly  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  bribery,  treat- 
ing, influence,  expence,  tumult,  vice,  drunkenness,  deba'uchery, 
immorality,  and  every  species  of  crime  at  elections,  were  rendered 
effectual,  and  which  can  only  be  done  by  establishing  vote  by  Bal- 
lot, which  is  the  only,  yet  effectual,  means  of  carrying  those  statutes 
into  full  force,  and  of  putting  an  end  to  that,  which  has,  at  all 
times,  and  by  all  legislators,  been  condemned,  and  allowed  to  be 
contrary  to  every  principle  of  right  smd  justice.  Were  the  Author 
possessed  of  a  close  Borough,  he  would  throw  open  the  gates  to 
Reform,  and  he  here  points  out  clearly  how  it  may  be  done,  to  see 
whether  the  Borough  Reformers  will  act  upon  it  or  no.  This  is  the 
Touchstone  by  which  he  means  to  try  them,  and  prove  them  :  the 
way  being  shown  them,  if  they  will  not  walk  in  it  they  are  no  Re- 
formers— no,  it  is  quite  useless  to  talk  about  Reform,  unless  Bal- 
lot be  included.  There  are  thousands  of  persons  who  prefer 
leaseholds  to  freeholds,  unless  they  could  vote  by  ballot :  to  pos- 
sess a  right  which  must  be  publicly  exercised  is  an  incumbrance, 
and  not  a  privilege.  The  proprietor  of  a  close  Borough,  if  he 
were  a  patriot,  and  a  Reformer,  would  call  a  meeting  of  the  Inha- 
bitant Householders  within  his  Borough  occupying  to  the  amount 
of  six  pounds  yearly,  whether  Parishioners  or  no  Parishioners,  and 
request  them  to  join  him  in  the  following  short  petition  to  Parlia- 
ment, even  if  the  expence  of  a  local  act  fell  upon  himself.  Yet  he 
would  soon  save  that  expence  in  the  proposed  Reform. 

[PetiUon,] 

^'  To  tbe&c*  &c.  in  Parliament  assembled ;  the  bumble  petition 


440>  Fnoposed  Flan  far  [14 

of  Ui«  Riglit  Honorable  A.  B.tbe  patron  of  the   Boroagh  of 
,  in  the  Cotiuty  of  .  ,  and  of  the  lahabitaiit 

Houaefaolders  of  the  same  B'orougb — 

Sben^tti,  That  your  petitioners  anxiously  desiring  finally  and 
effectually  to  put  an  end  to  all  ruinous  expences^  tamult,  party 
sfdeen^  wickedness,  corruption,  vice  and  immorality  within  their 
said  Jioronglii,  ceased  by,  and  consequent  upon,  every  contested 
Section  where  ihe  votes  of  the  electors  are  publicly  received  sod 
^^ciarded,  noat  hombly  pray  that  an  act  may  be  passed,  to  allow 
hencelonth  all  the  Inhabitant  Householders  occupying  laads  and 
tenements,  or  lands  or  tenements  within  the  said  Boroagh,  -worth 
to  let  by  the  year  the  sum  of  six  pounds,  to  have  an  election  of 
»«nbers  to  serve  in  Parlianent  every  three,  years,  and  to  vote 
thereat  by  private  Ballot.  And  your  petitioners,  as  in  duty  hound, 
kc. 


FORM  OF  BILL  FOR  THE  ABOVE  PURPOSE. 

Proposed  bill  for  extinguishing  all  corruption,  vice,  and  immorality, 
in  the  election  of  members  to  serve  in  Parliament,  for  the  Bo* 
rough  of  ,  in  the  County  of 

[Triennial  elections. — Ballot — Qualification.] 

Whereas  it  is  declared  by  all  the  laws -and  statutes  relating  to  die 
election  of  members  to  serve  in  Parliament,  that  such  ekctioos 
ought  to  he  free ;  And  whereas  numerous  acts  have  been  passed, 
professedly  for  the  express  purpose  of  preventing  treating,  briberyj 
and  influence  at  elections,  which  said  acts  are  wholly  inadequate  to 
such  purpose^  as  must  every  other  act  so  long  as  voting  publicly 
be  continued ;  And  whereas  the  continuance  of  influence,  bribeiy, 
and  treating  at  elections^  produces  great  strife,  tumult,  xiissentios, 
and  animosity  amongst  the  electors,  and  tends  greatly  to  demoralise 
them,  and  also  is  productive  of  great  and  ruinous  expence  to  the 
Candidates  themselves:  For  remedy  whereof,  and  for  the  increase  of 
morality  and  good  friendship.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  King's  most 
Excellent  Majesty,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  t^ 
Lords  spiritual  and  temporal  and  Commons  in  tliis  present  Parlia- 
ment assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same.  That  from  and 
after  the  passing  of  this  act  the  election  of  members  to  serve  in 
Parliamemt  for  the  Borough  of  ,  in  the  County  of 

,  shall  be  held  and  take  place  once  in  every  three 
years,  and  that  the  members  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  the  said 
Borough,  shall  every  three  years  be  elected  by  private  Ballot,  and 
oniy  by  private  BtiUot,  l^ythe  inhabitant  Houschcddera  »t.  large 


]  5]  JRc/brwr  in  FarUsment.  641 

tesideBt  in  the  aaid  Borottgb^  and  occuf^iog  ItndA  and  tenements, 
jor  lands  or  tenements^  worth,  (o  let  at  ttie  sum- of  six.  poands  y^ezriji, 
having  been  so  resklent  and  occU'pjiBg  as  afbresaidlfoo  the  f«iU  space 
of  six  Bttonths  next  pcevioius  ta  the  daf  of  election,  and  by  none 
otbera. 

[Assessments  to  b«  provldedt] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority  aforesaktj  tbatthe 
assessor  and  assessors  of  the  taxes  \tithin  and.forlihe  said  Borough, 
shall  at  all  times  when,  required  furnish  the  returning  cfficev  for 
the  time  being  of  the  said  Borough  with  true  copies  of  the  assessr 
nient  of  the  said  Borough,  with  columns  filled  up  with  the  yearly 
value  of  the  premises  occupied  by  each  inhabitant,  in  the  form  of 
Schedule  (A),  to  this  act  annexed,  to  enable  such  returning  officer 
to  determine  at  every  election  who  is,  and  who  is  not,  entitled  to 
vote  in  the  flection  of  members  to  serve  in  Parliament  for  the  said 
Borough  of  ,  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

[And  Poll-Boxes.] 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  at^thority  aforesaid,  that  hence- 
forth the  returning  officer  or  officers  for  the  time  being  for  the  said 
Borough  of  ,  at  the  expence  of  such  Borough,  and 

to  be  paid  for  out  of  the  rate  for  the  same,  shall  provide  a  strong 
poll-box,  with  a  slit  in  the  centre  of  the  lid  or  top  thereof,  and 
with  as  many  different  locks  and  keys  as  there  may  be  Candidates ; 
into  which  slip  the  voters,  sbalt  put  their  polls  or  ballots^  closely 
and  privately  folded  up,  after  having  marked  off  their  favorite  Gan^ 
didates,  as  in  the  form  of  Schedule  (B)>  to  this  act  annexed;'  And 
shall  also  provide  another  strong  box,  without  any  slit  or  openmg 
in  the  lid  thereof,  and  with  the  like  number  of  different  locks  and 
keys,  in  which  is  to  be  deposited  the  said  polt^box  at  the  elose^  of 
each  day's  poll  (if  continued  for  more  than  one  day),  for  safe  custody, 
until  the  polls  or  ballots  be  opened,  which  polls  or  ballots  shall 
be  opened,  one  by  one,  and  duly  entered  in  the  presence  of  the 
Candidates,  or  their  friends  duly  appointed  by  thenoiin  writing,  if 
they  shall  think  fit  to  attend. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  by  the  authority,  aforesaid^  that  hence«- 
forth  the  returning  officer  or  officers  for  the  time  being  for  the  said 
Borough  of  ,  at  the  expence  of  the  same  Borough, 

shall  provide  two  blank  statements,  and  shall  therein  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Candidates,  or  tlieir  friends  duly  appointed  by  them,  in 
writing  (if  they  shall  attend),  enter,  or  cause  to  be  entered,  the 
contents  of  the  polls  or  ballots,  which  polls  or  ballots  shall  be 
opened,  one  by  one,  and  entered  in  the  said  statement  in  the  form 
of  Schedule  (C)*  to  this  act  annexed,,  in  the  presence  of  the  Candi- 
dates, or  their  friends  as  aforesaid. 


S44  Prop0sedP1anf9r  [tt 

Presentias  witness  our  hands: 

A.  H.  in  person. 
C,  D.      Do. 
SirE.F.Dow 
6.  H.     Do. 
t  R.  for  I.  K.  Esq. 

L,  T.,  Returning  Officer^  for  L.  M.,  who  neglect- 
ed to  sign,  or  appoint  a  friiend; 


GENERAL  REMARKS. 

Thb  foregoing  has  been  wnitten  some  time,  and'  apprcMred  bj 
persons  frequently  employed  in,  and  well  acquainted  with  the  na- 
ture of,  ejection*.     They  aM  agree,  that  retttrning  one-third  ef  tbe 
members  of  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament  annually  in  ro- 
tation^ by  the  su£frages  ef  the  resident  honseholders,  occupying  to 
a  certain  amount,  exercieed  by  voting  by  private  bali»ot,  aid 
having  the  number  of/  members  for  each  county  regulated  by  tbe 
number  of  such  inhabitant  householders,  resident  in  that  eoinitj, 
would  be  the  mosX  perfect  of  any  plan  yet  proposed ;  and-  that  giv- 
ing the  entire  nomination  and  return  to  tbe  holder  ef  a  borough,  of 
one  of  the  two  members,  for  the  life  of  such  present  borougb 
holder,  as  aii  equivalent  for  the  capital  invested  in  such  borougb, 
would  be  the  most  just  as  well  as  the  most  perfect  of  any  proposi- 
tion yet  made.     That  next  in  degree  to  the  above  would  be  tbe  plan 
of  election  by  private  ballot.  Triennial  Parliaments^  and  resident 
householders'  suffrage  in  whole  counties,  after  which,  election  by 
ballot  and  Triennial  Parliaments,  without  further  alteration,  which 
last  is  the  lowest  rate  of  Reform  worth  acceptance,       &l1ot  is 
what  ought  to  be  allowed  to  every  elector  in  the  exercise  of  so  im- 
portant a  duty  as  voting  for  a  member  of  Parliament.     JPf  is  not 
only  the  hazard  of  offending  persons  in  higher  situations  in  life;  of 
offending  tyrannical  employers,  relentless  creditors,  or   ginnding 
landlords,  which  an  elector  should  be  secured  against,  but  against 
all  that  virulence  amongst  the  electors  themselves,  which  is  creaid 
hj/y  and  exists  at,  every  election-contest  under  the  present  systeov 
which  should  be  guarded  against ;  and  if  but  one^  only  one  man  at 
each  election,  experienced  tbe  benefit  of  voting  by  ballot,  it  is  a 
sufficient  reason  for  such  a.  mode  of  election  being  establisbcd|  8» 
no  inconvenience  could  possibly  arise  from  it  to  any  person ;[  but 
the  arguments'  in  £avor  of  private  ballot  are  numeroiis  and  unaf^ 


19]  Reform  in  Parliament.  545 

SBoerable. — If  the  electors  voted  by  ballot,  no  candidate  would 
violate  the  laws  now  in  existence  against  bribery,  treating,  &c. ; 
consequently  there  would  be  no  revelling,  no  drunkenness,  mobs, 
riots,  perjuries,  &c.  &c.  which  lead  to  every  kind  of  vice,  debauch- 
ery, and  immorality,  sometimes  accompanied  with  murder.  Ballot 
would  entirely  prevent  all  these  things ;  it  would  alsQ  save  the  for- 
tunes of  the  candidates,  and  produce  the  most  beneficial  efiect  in 
every  point  of  view.  Some  persons  fear,  or  affect  to  fear  ^  that  the 
House  of  Commons  would  be  filled  with  men  of  small  fortunes, 
and  bad  dispositions ;  but  this  is  sheer  nonsense — do  people  choose 
bad  characters  to  conduct  their  private  affairs  ?  certainly  not,  nor 
viould  they,  if  free,  elect  bad  men  for  public  purposes.  A  few 
men  of  such  a  description  might  be  returned  at  the  first  election 
by  private  ballot,  (and  such  there  are  now,)  but  if  they  misconducted 
themselves,  their  constituents  would  elect  others  at  the  seco;?(f  elec- 
tion, which  is  more  perhaps  than  they  can  do  now,  and  the  num- 
bers of  such  (if  any)  would  be  quite  insignificant  in  a  House  of 
668  members.  Ballot  is  the  principle  resorted  to  on  almost  all 
other  occasions — the  Pitt  clubs  choose  their  members  by  ballot-^' 
and  yet  in  this,  the  most  important  of  all ,  it  is  not  permitted.  It 
is  however  questioned  by  many,  whether  there  be  any  positive  law 
to  prevent  the  electors  voting  in  any  manner  they  please ;  but  cus- 
tom has  long  been  otherwise,  although  ballot  is  the  most  reasonable; 
the  cheapest,  the  most  convenient  and  only  proper  mode  of  election. 
Can  it  be  possible  that  one  man  exists,  who  has  witnessed  the  de- 
bauchery, seduction,  beastly  drunkenness,  vice,  breach  of  solemn- 
engagements,  bribery,  perjury,  and  every  kind  of  vice  and  immo-' 
rality,  consequent  on  elections  without  ballot  ?  Can  one  such  ex- 
ist, and  be  a  member  of  a  Bible  Society,  or  Society  for  the  Sup- 
pression of  Vice,  and  not  at  the  same  time  call,  and  loudly  call,- 
day  and  night,  and  for  ever,  upon  the  legislature  for  election  by 
private  ballot!!!  The  duration  of  Parliaments  should  most  cer- 
tainly be  shortened ;  and  if  the  members  be  not  returned  one-third 
of  them  annually  in  rotation,  as  the  most  perfect  mode,  a  return  to 
Triennial  Parliaments  would  be  a  great,  and  (without  ballot)  per- 
haps a  sufiicient  amendment  in  that  respect ;  but  the  distribution' 
of  the  elective  franchise,  however  reasonable  as  applied  to  former 
periods,  (when  the. anxiety  to  be  in  Parliament  was  so  trifling,  that 
instead  of  paying  for  his  seat,  the  member  was  paid  for  taking  it) 
is,  by  tlie  change  of  times  and  circumstances,  become  extremely 
ridiculous  and  improper,  and  stands  in  need  of  a  material  altera- 
tion. Can  any  thing  be  more  absurd  than  annexing  the  qualifica- 
tion to  the  generations  of  any  particular  man  on  account  of  his- 
privilege,  without  regard  to  residence  ?  the  consequence  of  which' 
is^  that  thousands  of  persons  are  qualified  as  freemen  of  cities  they 
VOL.  XXni.  Pam.  NO.  Xl.Vl.        2  M 


546  Frapo^d  Flan  for  0^ 

know  nothing  of^  except  by  going  onoy  two,  or  tfaretf  hundred  milet^ 
Ht  the  expence  of  a  ruined  candidate,  to  vote  at  a  contested  election^ 
perhaps  once,  or  perhaps  ten  times  in  his  life-time,  and  that  too  for 
a  man  he  knows  nothing  of.  He  is  told  and  compelled  to  vote  hj 
some  one  who  knows  just  as  much  as  himself,  and  thua  assists  id 
promoting  the  good  or  ruin  of  his  country,  as  chance  or  influence 
may  direct  him,  whilst  persons  living  and  having  considerable  wealth 
an  that  city,  and  well  knowing  the  candidates,  have  no  vote,  at  all. 
Can  such  a  system  be  defended?  Again,  is  the  man  who  happens 
to  be  free  of  a  city,  who  by  chance  resides  in  a  borough,  or  to  pes- 
aess  a  forty-shilling  freehold  in  a  county,  more  capable,  or  more 
worthy,  of  being  an  elector,  than  any  other  man  in  the  some  sphere 
of  life,  or  perhaps  higher?  Is  not  the  resident  of  any  other  place 
than  a  borough,  or  the  owner  of  a  leasehold  or  copyhold  estate,  of 
equal  or  greater  value  than  forty  shillings  yearly,  or  the  possessor 
of  considerable  personal  property,  e^tia/Zy  capable  and  worthy? 
To  obviate  so  much  absurdity  and  injustice  amongst  the  people^ 
and  to  prevent  such  niinous  expenses  to  the  candidates,  of  taking 
(contrary  to  law)  non-resident  voters  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  place 
of  election,  the  franchise  should  be  6iSeTeni]y  distributed,  not  per- 
haps much  extended,  by  permitting  all  the  householdera  in  the  king- 
dom occupying  lands  and  tenements,  or  lands  or  tenements,  worth 
the  yearly  rent  of  six  or  seven  pounds,  to  vote  by  ballot  for  all  the 
members  serving  for  the  respective  counties  wherein  such  elec' 
tors  reside^  having  so  resided  and  occupied  for  one  year,  or  perhaps 
six  months,  next  previous  to  the  day  of  election.  This  night  not 
materially  enlarge  the  number  of  electors ;  but  if  they  were  in" 
ereased,  they  would  not  have  to  travel  out  of  their  own  counties. 
The  freemen  of  cities  so  occupying  would  then  have  the  privilege 
of  voting  at  home  for  persons  they  knew  and  wished  to  elect,  which 
would  amply  compensate  them  for  the  loss  of  their  franchise  as 
freemen,  as  it  is  called,  and  being  called  upon  ta  vote  for  persons 
diey  know  nothing  of,  and  about  whom  they  care  nothing. 
1  There  are  advocates  for  universal  sii£frage  and  annual  electionsi 
but  surely  they  cannot  see  the  mischief  such  a  measure  must  pro- 
duce—-uiUess  accompanied  by  vote  by  ballot,  it  would  be  universal 
strife,  and  annual,  or  rather  continual,  confusion.  If  every  male 
inhabitant  in  the  kingdom  were  an  elector,  and  must  vote  other" 
wise  than  by  ballot,  there  is  not  a  town  or  village  in  .the  kingdom 
but  would  be  in  a  broil  at  the  time  of  election ;  and  if  that  electioa 
were  annuaJ,  the  six  months  pre^ous  to  the  period  of  electioa 
would  be  consumed  in  disputation  as  to  who  should  next  be  elect* 
ed,  and  the  following  half-year  in  revenge,  hatred,  and  ill  will,  and 
the  elections  would  in  fact  then  be  carried  by  the  employers,  mort- 
gagees, and  landlords,  as  at  present,  and  not  by  those  who  wouU^ 


21}  Reform  in  Parliament.  £47 

come  in  under  the  universal-suffrage  measure.  There  would  fhen; 
without  any  advantage  on  4he  score  of  extension  of  suffrage  and 
freedom  of  election,  be  one  continual /round  of  disturbance  and 
strife,  all  of  wliich  would  be  prevented  by  ballot ;  axid  ever.y  thing 
that  is  requisite  would,  with  ballot,  he  obtainied^  hj  Vesting  the 
franchise  in  the  hands  of  the  inhabitant  householders  occapying  tq 
the  amount  and  in  the  manner  before«n»entioned,  and  by  shortening 
the  duration  of  Parliaments  to  three  years*  A  great  objection  i§ 
made  to  any  Reform  at  all,  and  to  some  of  the  plans,  perhaps,  the 
reasons  may  be  good,  ^ut  to  the  sober,  and  equitable,  yet  efficient^ 
plan  suggested  in  the  foregoing  sheets,  it  is  believed  no  rational 
objection  can  be  made — even  the  eloquence  of  a  Cicero  or  Demos^ 
thenes  must  be  worse  than  useless :  eloquence  cannot  beat  down 
stubborn  facts;  it  may  do  a  great  deal,  but  the  public  must  be  con« 
vinced  that  the  sun  neither  gives  light  or  heat,  that  water  will  not 
drown,  that  day  is  night,  and  that  night  is  day,  before  they  can  be 
persuaded  that  it  is  reasonable  or  just  to  give  a  man  a  franchise 
mthout  the  free  use  of  it^  To  call  him  a  free  man,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  clog  him  with  a  form  of  exercising  that  franchise, 
which  may  prevent  him  acting  as  he  wishes,  unless,  at  the  risk  ejf 
ruin  to  himself  and  his  family ,  is  an  insult,  and  is  rendering  him  a 
slave  rather  than  a  free  man.  The  opposers  of  Reform  must  be 
sufficiently  ingenious  to  persuade  the  public  that  wrong  is  rights 
and  that  right  is  wrong,  that  black  is  white,  and  white  black,  before 
they  can  persuacde  any  man  (who  thinks  for  one  moment  only)  that 
the  electors  of  members  of  Parliament  are  not  entitled  to  vote  by 
ballot.  It  has  created  surprise  that  the  speakers  at  the  different 
Reform  Meetings  should  have  considered  it  wise  not  to  mention  a 
plan.  The  opposers  of  Reform  (tibey  say)  would  take  advantage 
of  different  plans  being  proposed;  so  they  tak-e  advantage  of  n9 
plan  being  offered ;  in  the  one  Case  they  might  Bdty,  the  Reformeri 
differ  in  their  {^ans,  so  in  the  other  case  they  do  say,  the  Reformeri 
bave  no  plan  to  propose.  Th^e  is  only  one  way  of  getting  at  the 
reiU  opinions  of  the  people  to  any  extent,  respecting  the  questioil 
of  Reform,  and  that  is  by  permitting  them  to  vote  by  ballot  at 
every- meeting,  and  in  every  place,  for  or  against  the  question  of 
Reform,  first  making  the  several  plans  well  understood.  So  m^ch 
are  the  supporters  of  the.  present  system  opposed  to  Reform,  that 
any  other  attempt  to  obtain  the  genoral  opinion  extensively  would 
(though  sufficiently  so  to  be  successful)  fall  far  short  of  how  widely 
and  universally  the  desire  for  Reform  extends.  The  ministerial  party 
are  aifraid  without  any  reason,  and  so  are  the  Ofkposition  party.  Each 
paKy  16  fearful  of  josiog  influence,  forgetting  that  it  cuts  both  ways 
•^--^ch  party  foorgets  that  borough  influence  is  used  on  both  sides, 
and  abo  that  treating,  i>ribery,  and  corruption,  prevails  at  this  time 


648  Proposed  Plan  for  [2Jl 

nearly  alike  on  all  sides.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  good  of 
the  people  is  ultimately  the  real,  good  of  all,  ministers  as  well  a« 
others ;  and  we  continually  hear  the  weaker  party  at  an  election 
exclaiming  against  the  undue  influence  of  some  Whig  Lord,  or 
Tory  Lord,  indirectly  exercised,  but  both  carefully  avoiding  to 
propose  the  proper  remedy,  Ballot, 

As,  however,  there  appeafs  such  a  dread  of  Reform,  the  better 
way  may  be,  for  some  one  county  to  pray  a  Reform  of  that  county 
only;  suppose,  for  instance,  the  inhabitant  householders  of  some 
city  and  county  were  to  obtain  the  privilege  exclusively,  of  electing 
at  one  election,  under  one  writ,  the  number  of  meiiibers  now  re- 
turned by  such  county  and  city  and  the  boroughs  within  sucb 
county,  and  of  electing  them  every  three  years  by  private  ballot,  in 
the  manner  before-mentioned.     Such  a  number  of  roembe: ;,  let 
the  description  of  them  be  what  it  might,  could  not  possibly  do  any 
harm  amongst  658  members;  or  even  suppose  such  a  privilege 
were  granted  for  only  four  or  five  returns  or  elections,  and  if  any 
the  least  inconvenience  occurred^  then  not  to  have  such  privilege 
renewed ;  but  if  on  the  contrary  the  plan  be  found  beneficial,  then 
extend  it.    The  proprietor  of  a  borough  would  do  himself  great 
honor  if  he  would  join  the  inhabitants  thereof  to  implore  the  Par- 
liament, and  thereby  obtain  such  a  Reform,  for  the  election  of  two 
members,  or  even  one  of  the  two  members,  and  to  appoint  the 
other  himself  during  his  own  life.     If  such  an  application  were 
made  by  any  single  county  or  borough — if  the  trial  of  so  small  an 
experiment  only  were  required,  even  the  present  opposers  of  Re- 
form must  consent,  if  their  opposition  really  arises  only  from  any 
fear  of  the  effects  of  a  general  Reform.     If  they  did  not  give  way 
on  the  making  so  moderate  a  request,  their  characters  would  be 
stamped  for  ever ;  never  again  let  them  open  their  mouths  about 
the  wickedness  and  immorality  of  the  people,  or  propose  measures 
to  punish  vice  at  elections,  after  refusing  election  by  ballot  to  only 
one  county  or  one  borough — never  let  those  persons  show  their 
faces  to  the  light  of  Heaven,  if  they  can  refuse  what  is  Just,  and 
support  the  continuance  of  elections  upon  a  principle  of  every 
thing  that  is  wicked,  vicious,  illegal,  (as  bribery,  &c.)  corrupt,  hor- 
rible, immoral,  and  detestable.     Let  the  Parliament  be  pressed 
hard  for  such  a  local  Reform ;  it  may  be  persuaded  by  continual 
applications  to  try  the  effect  upon  some  county  for  a  few  returns, 
and  thereby  be  led  to  a  conviction,  that  instead  of  injury  to  any,  it 
would  be  productive  of  good  to  all.     Let  the  plan  here  set  forth 
be  only  locally  tried;  let  it  be  practised  in  only  one  county,  or  large 
city,  for  three  or  four  returns  or  Parliaments,  and  then  there  will 
.be  no  further  necessity  for  writing  to  explain  the  utility  of  such  a 
Reform,  or  to  recommend  its  further  adoption.     Some  noblemsA 


233  Reform  in  Parliament.  549 

(perhaps  the  Duke  of  Bedford)  lately  said  he  should  be  glad  to  see 
his  owu  boroughs  open — here  then  is  the  path  marked  out:  if  such 
nobleman  will  not  walk  in  it^  let  the  people  persevere,  and  in  the 
end  truth  and  justice  must  prevail. 

As  a  proof  of  the  cruelty  of  not  voting  by  ballot,  I  annex  a  song 

founded  on  foots,  and  written  by  a  laboring  man  with  a  family,  so 

circumstanced ;  the  composition  is  not  elegant,  but  it  would  be  as 

great  a  pity  to  destroy  its  originality  as  to  alter  the  celebrated  ballad 

called  "  George  Kidler's  Oven/' 

"  SONG. 

"  Says  Richard  to  Robert,  I'm  very  much  vext, 
And  to  know  what  to  do  1  am  quite  perplext : 
Three  of  my  best  friends  are  all  fully  intent 
To  try  for  a  seat  in  the  next  Parliament. 

My  landlord  is  one,  another  my  master. 
The  third  by  a  mortgage  holds  me  still  faster; 
If  for  either  I  vote,  t'other  two  prove  my  fall. 
And  I'm  ruin'd  for  ever  if  I  don't  vote  at  all. 

A  curse  on  this  franchise  for  which  some  contend. 
The  evils  of  which  many  wish  to  extend ; 
The  candidates  ruin'd,  the  electors  still  worse. 
The  system  is  bad  which  proves  such  a  curse. 

To  remove  all  the  evil  'tis  easy.  Bob  said. 

Tell  me  how,  then,  said  Richard ;  I'll  give  you  my  bread. 

My  beer  and  my  bottle,  aye,  even  my  wallet; 

Says  Bob,  it  is  only  by  *'  Foting  by  Ballot.'* 

Whether  the  above  song  was  ever  set  to  music  or  no  is  not 
known. 

The  author's  desire  to  see  Reform  on  the  principle  of  ballot 
originates  in  pure  patriotism :  he  himself  is  a  gainer  by  the  profli- 
gacy and  disorder  of  elections,  but  having  witnessed  in  about  twenty 
election  contests,  at  various  places,  counties,  cities,  and  boroughs, 
e^ry  thing  that  is  shocking ;  and  being  well  acquainted  with  the 
consequent  trickery  and  corruption ;  he  is  quite  prepared  to  say, 
that  nothing  short  of  ballot  will  produce  any  material  benefit:— and 
lastly,  he  reluctantly  observes,  that  having  heard  the  Great  pri^ 
vately  condemn  that  Reform  they  publicly  advocate^  he  suspects 
the  attendance  of  such  men  at  the  Reform  Meetings  is  purposely 
to  keep  back  the  more  sincere  Reformers,  for  which  reason  he 
recommends  the  inhabitants  of  every  place  to  send  up  petitions 
during  every  sitting  of  Parliament,  praying  at  the  leasts  for 
TRIENNIAL  ELECTIONS  AND  VOTE  BY  BALLOT. 


END    OF    NO.   XLVl. 


\bOc 


^Ul 


•3. 


I'  5,64 

«.   M  no 

^*  l6,n 

5,07 

8.  1-  '^ 

9.  V 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 


5. 
6. 

7. 


6,9 
4,» 


I 


I 

14.  A 


'2y3«: 


15. 

16. 
17. 

18. 

19. 


1,6J 

«,0^ 

V 

•7,7 
»3,9 


^1  6 


24.    m 


SO. 
SI. 

23 


S 

1 


t 


61 


6^ 


0 


{ 


fH 


95.  18,9  3 

26.  117,5  "* 

27.  87,9  1 

28.  11,7 

29.  i6,S  4 


SO.  ]2,{ 

31.  13,2 

32.  C6,( 
S3.  I9,j 
34.  11,41 

3r>.  ]9,al 

36.  <7,Q| 
S7.  i4,3j 

38.  -^5,0] 

39.  S 

40.  17,4 

41.  1)0,5 
48.  05,3 
43.  1 


3 


YEARS 


inrconiEi. 

1 ,  CnstoniH 

2.  Excise  

a.  Stamps  

4.  Post-office. 

5.  P(Miiida§e,  PeUs,  &c - 

6.  From  Orrat  Britain  Lottery, 

7.  (lain  by  Exchange 

8.  Suinlriea 


9. 

10. 
II.. 

12. 

13. 


Total 


Drawbacks 
Balances   .. 


Total  Deduction  ,*£ 
Actual  Taxation  • .  £ 


14.  Tioans  raised  In  Ireland   . 

15,  Dilto  in  Great  Britain... 


16. 


Total  Income  ,...£ 


181 


2,533;a» 
3,004« 

887^ 
238jii 

33.* 

I2Kni 
___Jil 

6,9S7,^'j; 
8 


313^t] 
1,173,A 


1,486 


D 


6,460,^ 

2,600,J 

3,406,T 

— — no 


17.  Interest  of  Debt    

18.  Management 

19.  Sinking  Fund .y. 

20.  Interest  on  Exchequer  Bills 

21.  Issues 

22.  I^ca!  Purposes 

23.  Civil  List,  &c 

24.  Bounties,  &c 

25.  Ordnance •  • 

26.  Army  Ordioary 

27.  .. Extraordinary 

28*.  Miscellaneous 

29.  Vote  of  Credit..;.. 

30.  Charges  of  Collection 


II.467^.| 


Grand  Total  of  Expenditure^ 


■      eli 

am 
*h< 

3»028,^ 

20,.m 

1,430,  J 

1,664,1S 

28,^( 

448.^»' 

>50Jr 
512jUi 
2,9403if 

172^te 
_898g| 

1 


omplacei^Q 

NoJIL— Statement  o/Miarco*Sfe 
of  the  Union  of  its  Excknl'd,  icfc 
5th  Jan.  1817  to  the  preSSi^ca\^,\ 

lid.  di&trey^, 


YEARS 


1.  Cnstoms 

«.  Excise    

8.  Stamps  

Af  Taxes 

5.  Post-Office  ... 
0.  Fees 

7.  Repayments 

8.  Local  Duties 


9. 

10. 
11. 

1«. 

13. 


Total  Receipt 


Drawbacks  .........«•• 

Balances 

Charges  of  CoUeotion 


T<^\  I>«dLVLQ\.\c(a 


^ease,  m  ^f 
1iinstanc<|^^ 
^crease  o    »; 

The  forcpg 
jble,  iu  e^„ 
gigaprogiti 

le  mean^f 
^^xtemal  ii 

r  as  far  \^ ' 

f  the  peciol 

^Qaestiorm, 
«peoted  Vol 

^acorom^, 
gate  the  „. 
ir  laboar^Q 
r  the  we^^ 


>  Kingdoms^  on  the  5th  January^  18 17* 

•pective  loans :  a  corretpondinf  amount  hatheen  regularly  charged  ok'the  debit  side  of 
-»  aecount.  making  a  sum  total  of  nearly  four  millions  excess  of  enarge,-or  a  sbort  credit 
Lbe  receipts  to  tliat  amount,  which  resoWes  itself  into  tht'  same  thing.  Again,  in  I81S 
i  1819,  the  sum  of  780,096/.  is  charged  for  debentures  created  in  1813,  paid  off;  which  sum 
I  never  been  accounted  for  in  the  receipts.  As  a  contrast  to  this  gulping  by  millions,  it 
mot  fail  to  be  equally  amusing  and  interesting  to  the  British  people  to  see  the 
ctional  and  minute  solicitude  and  regard  manifested  in  their  favor  by  the  public 
n^istrators  of  their  intere&ts. — ^fuming  over,  indiscriminately,  the  aecoants   of  the 

E active  years,  the  following  items  of  credit  presented  themselves : — 
e  accounts  for  the  year  1800,  folio  01,  is  the  following  credit,  under  the  bead  of 
f  onies,  paid  into  the  Exchequer :— Paid  by  Fludyer  Maitland  and  Co*  cm  accoutre 
f  woollen  cloths  sold  for  the  public  service  .  •  •  .  £ti    S    5 

i,  at  the  same  page,  is  a  further  credit  of  monies  received  from  Colonel  Thomas 
fepean,  on  account  of  building  a  Court-house  and  Gaol  in  Newfoundlanti  in  1788  0    9  11 
1  in  1807,  folio  OS,  there  b  credited  3  Imprest  monies  repaid  by  Lord  Castlereagb   0  is    0 
to  by  Lord  Melville  .  .  •  .  .  .  .  0  11    U 

1  in  1800,  folio  38,  is  the  following— Imprested  from  the  Earl  of  Liverpool 
etween  the  11th  of  May,  1804,  and  the  0th  of  February,  1806,  on  account  of 
ecret  Service        .  .  .  •  .  .  •  .006 

page  ISO,  for  the  year  1819,  nnder  the  head  of  Arrears  and  Balances  of  Public 
.Gcountants  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the  amount  of  arrears  and  balan'ces,  stated 
>  be  due  on  the  5th  of  January,  18S0,  from  William  Gillespie,  collector  of  ej^ciue 
tTivlotdale,  is       .  .  .  .  •  .  .  .    0    0    | 

A  at  page  SSO,  for  the  same  year,  an  account  exceeding  8S,i00/.  for  disburse* 
tents  for  deserters  from  the  French  Army  in  Spain,  during  the  years  lOltO  to  1813, 
worked  out  to  the  340th  iiarl  of  a  penny,  the  fractional  balance  brought  down 
*:ing  .  •'  .  .  .  .  •  i7428    8    llj^J 

0  ulTer  any  comment  on  the  contrast  would  be  a  waste  of  lime;  it  is  its  own  best  coui- 
•itary,  it  speaks  for  itself. 

lie   other  features  of  magnitude  claiming    attention,  are  the  amoants    remitted  to, 

1  received  from  Ireland,  lines  23  and  40 ;  and  the  Sinking  Fund,  line  27 ;  these  items  teml 
«  «veil  the  totals  of  the  account  in  the  aggregate  of  the  period  to  the  extent  of  about  350 

lions;  the  absurdity  and  impolicy  of  which  are  fully  exemplified  in  the  resolution^ 

sative  to  the  National  Debt,  and  0|>erations  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  submitted  to  Pariia- 

nt  in  the  session  of  18S2,  paper  No.  557,  and  entered  on  the  Journals,  J»vit  25*^  die  Ja/ii. 

s  amounts  remitted  to  Ireland  were  Lir)ans,  raised  (as  was  pretended)  for  the  speciiic 

^rice  of  Ireland,  but  guaranteed  by  England,  and,  subsequent  to  180S,  a  further  sum  is 

raitted,  purporting  to  be  one-thiird  of  the  proceeds  of  tbe  Lottery  in  England  ;'  and  the 

chants  in  line  83,  subsequent  to  1707,  purport  to  be  for  Interest  and  Sinking  Fund  on  the 

.■IS  raised  in  England  ;  and,  in  1812,  an  account  was  made  out,  bringing  Ireland  In  debt  to 

»>«lC  Britain  to  tlie  amount  of  several  -millions,  under  a  clause  in  the  Act  of  Union, 

.mcli  stipulates  that  Ireland  shall    bear  two  seventeenths  of  the  expence  of  the  United 

30dom,  and  the  excess  of  amount,  remitted  in  the  years  181^—10,  is  purported  to  be  on 

sount  of  arrears,  and  quota,  of  such  stipulated  portion  of  expenditure.— On  the  5th  of 

-B  aaryt  1&17,  the  two  Exchequers  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  were   united,   and  the 

c>untsin  line  83,  subsequent  to  1818,  (noted  by  a*)  imply  the  net  amountof  re  venue  raised 

Ireland,  (vide   statement,  3)'  and,  from  that    date,  the  expenditure  of  the  United 

rai^om  is  included  in  the  statement  for  Great  Britain;  that  is,  there  is  but  one  account 

«*jcpenditure  since  1810.    The  war  customs  and  excise,  first  levied  in  1798,  were  not  re- 

-aied  separately,  in  the  five  years  1800 — 1804;  part  of  them  ex(nred  with  the  terniina- 

^-B  of  the  war ;  but  the  greater  portion  were  consolidated,  and  rendered  permanent  in  18i7 ; 

•   elimination  in  the  customs,  subsequent  to  1818,  does  not  arue  from  remission  or  dimi- 

C:ion  of  rate,  or  falling  off  in  commerce,  so  much  as  from  part  of  the  tax  on  tea,  spirits, 

>atcco,  &c.  &c«  being  wholly  transferred  to  the  excise,  by  which  tlie  excise  was  propoi- 

viably  increased. 

17 lie  item  of  Taxation  mainly  affected  by  the  termination  of  the  war  was  the  Property 

.«K«   line  11,  which  species  of  tax  was  first  denominated   Income  Tax,  converted  inio 

perty  Tax,  on  the  renewal  of  the  war  subsequent  to  the  peace  of  Amiens,  and  the  rale 

t>led  by  the  short  administration  in  1807.    The  amounts  in  col.  IS  (income  Tax)  subse- 

^11 1  to  1802  up  to  1818  ;  ri5  years)  purport  to  he  for  arrears  ;  the  amounts,  in  the  same  lins, 
i>se<iuent  to  1815, (noted  by  a  *)  are  unclaimed  dividends;  not  that  the  Income  Tax  hss 
gji^ed,  for  arrears  still  continue  to  be  wrung  from  the  wreck  of  means ;  the  amount  ere- 
-^^d  in  1821,  was  232.  \%s.  7}rf.  and  in  182«,  741^  1«.  Otf.  included  in  line  4;  and  the  Fro- 
sty Tax,  it  will  be  seen,  in  the  same  manner,  continues  like  a  vampire,  to  suck  the  last 
-yp  of  blood  that  remains,  from  its  impoverished  victims. 

'_  ai  1822,  another  Committee  was  appomted,  to  revise  the  form  and  manner  of  making  up 
^  naiitmal  accounts;  and,  in  that  year,  m  different  f(n*m  was  adopted,  in  some  respeciii, 
^  tlie  better ;  but,  as  a  whole,  they  continue  as  imperfect  a»  ever.  The  little  improveuieni 
^letail  does  not  compensate  for  the  inconvenience  occasioned  by  the  variation  in  luiui 
9  an  the  preceding  years. 

g.*tie  amounts  in  the  year  1823,  are  taken  from  the  balance  sheet  statement  presented  to 

^a*l  lament  at  the  commencement  of  the  session:  but,  though  differing  in  form  from  the 

ements  exhibited  quarterly,  does  not  exhibit  the  extent  of  taxation  by  about  0  mil  lions ; 

exhibited  here,  for  the  purpose  of  contrast  with  the  regular  order  of  accounts,  which 

not  made  up  and  presented  to  Parliament  before  June  or  July  in  each  year. 

^ s  regards  the  irregularity  of  the  Income  and  Expenditure  in  several  of  the  years, 

^«f  ill  be  seen,  that  on  an  average  of  five  or  seven  years  they  shew  an  approximation 

j^WLrd%  equaUxation;  the  inequality  in  the  years  specifically,  being  occasioned,  mainly, 

tHe  greater  or  lesser  amount  of  bills  and  balances  at  the  end^of  each  year,  not  only 

i^ta*  Exchequer,  but  in  the  hands  of  the  collectors  an4  recciv«i(|^.i)f  the  several  deparV 

_  pits  of  the  revenue;  but,  after  every  reasonjis  advanced  In  etodeavoaring  to  account 

^    tMe  variooa  discrepancies  whicli  appear,  an  examiiwtioii- of  Uie  fHrinctpleon  which 

^    national  finances  are  conducted,  with  reference  to  tbe  urdtrand  arrangement  of  the 

^•os^nts,  is  calculated  to  excite  the  most  fearful  forebodings,  la^the  event  of  any  suddeu 

^^r^ency  requiring  great  national  energy  and  increase  of  financial  means;  whilst  the 

^  joiiai  accounts,  in  detaW,  in  some  of  Uie  departments,  are  arranged  and  conducted  lu 

^^B.y  in  the  highest  degree  credXiabW  \»  \Yv«  «vk^vvn\KtvdA\\\a  «»(  «acU  dei»artmenia.    The 

axe'     -  .         .  ..  V    «>^_»  v«»  v... 

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