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(of 12), by Edmund Burke + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12) + +Author: Edmund Burke + +Release Date: March 27, 2005 [EBook #15043] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDMUND BURKE, VOL. I. (OF 12) *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Murray, Michael Punch and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from +images generously made available by the Bibliotheque +nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><!-- Page 1 --><a name="Page_-3" id="Page_-3"></a></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p /> +<h1 style="text-align: center"><a name="BURKES_WRITINGS_AND_SPEECHES" id="BURKES_WRITINGS_AND_SPEECHES"></a>BURKE'S WRITINGS AND SPEECHES</h1> +<p /> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h2>VOLUME THE FIRST</h2> + +<!-- Page 2 --><div><a name="Page_-2" id="Page_-2"></a><!-- Page 3 --></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<!-- Page 4 --><div><a name="Page_0" id="Page_0"></a></div> +<p /> +<div style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images/edburke.jpg" alt="EDMUND BURKE." title="EDMUND BURKE" /> +<p><b>EDMUND BURKE.</b></p> +</div> + +<!-- Transcriber's note: line of writing immediately below the illustration (probably engraver's name, etc.) is unreadable --> +<div><!-- Page 5 --><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i" title="i"></a></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><span style="text-align: center">THE WORKS +<br /><br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">OF</span> +<br /><br /> +THE RIGHT HONOURABLE<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 200%">EDMUND BURKE</span></span></h2> + +<h3><span style="text-align: center">IN TWELVE VOLUMES<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: smaller">VOLUME THE FIRST</span></span></h3> +<p /> +<div style="text-align: center"> +<img src="images/001.png" alt="BURKE COAT OF ARMS." title="BURKE COAT OF ARMS"/> +</div> +<p /> +<p style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0"><b>London</b><br /> +<br /> +JOHN C. NIMMO<br /> +<br /> +14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND, W.C.<br /> +<br /> +MDCCCLXXXVII<br /></p> +<!-- Page 6 --><div><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii" title="ii" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 7 --><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii" title="iii" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS_OF_VOL_I" id="CONTENTS_OF_VOL_I"></a>CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</h2> + +<p /> <!-- bizarrely, without this line, IE5 doesn't show the TOC at all!! (just a big blank) --> +<ul class="TOC"> +<li><a href="#ADVERTISEMENT"> +ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER, PREFIXED TO THE FIRST +OCTAVO EDITION</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_v">v</a></span></li> +<li /><li> <!-- Empty list element gives better spacing in IE --> +<a href="#ADVERTISEMENT2">ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND OCTAVO EDITION</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a></span></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#A_VINDICATION_OF_NATURAL_SOCIETY">A VINDICATION OF NATURAL SOCIETY: OR, A VIEW OF +THE MISERIES AND EVILS ARISING TO MANKIND FROM +EVERY SPECIES OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETY</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></span></li> +<li> +<ul class="TOCSub"> +<li><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a></li> +<li><a href="#A_LETTER_TO_LORD__mdash">A LETTER TO LORD ****</a></li> +</ul></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#A_PHILOSOPHICAL_INQUIRY">A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF OUR +IDEAS OF THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL; WITH AN INTRODUCTORY +DISCOURSE CONCERNING TASTE</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></span></li> +<li> +<ul class="TOCSub"> +<li><a href="#PREFACE2">PREFACE</a></li> +<li><a href="#CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></li> +<li><a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</a></li> +<li><a href="#PART_I">PART I</a></li> +<li><a href="#PART_II">PART II</a></li> +<li><a href="#PART_III">PART III</a></li> +<li><a href="#PART_IV">PART IV</a></li> +<li><a href="#PART_V">PART V</a></li> +<li><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX</a></li> +</ul></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#A_SHORT_ACCOUNT_OF_A_LATE_SHORT_ADMINISTRATION"> +A SHORT ACCOUNT OF A LATE SHORT ADMINISTRATION</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></span></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#OBSERVATIONS_ON_A_LATE_PUBLICATION">OBSERVATIONS ON A LATE PUBLICATION, INTITULED, "THE +PRESENT STATE OF THE NATION"</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_269">269</a></span></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#THOUGHTS_ON_THE_CAUSE_OF_THE_PRESENT_DISCONTENTS_"> +THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_433">433</a></span></li> +</ul> + +<!-- Page 8 --><div><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv" title="iv" class="pagenum"></a></div> +<!-- Page 9 --><div><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v" title="v" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ADVERTISEMENT" id="ADVERTISEMENT"></a>ADVERTISEMENT</h2> + +<p>TO THE READER.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor" +title="Prefixed to the first octavo edition: London, F. and C. Rivington, +1801: comprising Vols. I.-VIII. of the edition in sixteen volumes issued +by these publishers at intervals between the years 1801 and 1827.">[1]</a></p> + +<p>The late Mr. Burke, from a principle of unaffected +humility, which they who were the most intimately +acquainted with his character best know to +have been in his estimation one of the most important +moral duties, never himself made any collection +of the various publications with which, during a +period of forty years, he adorned and enriched the +literature of this country. When, however, the rapid +and unexampled demand for his "Reflections on the +Revolution in France" had unequivocally testified +his celebrity as a writer, some of his friends so far +prevailed upon him, that he permitted them to put +forth a regular edition of his works. Accordingly, +three volumes in quarto appeared under that title in +1792, printed for the late Mr. Dodsley. That edition, +therefore, has been made the foundation of the present, +for which a form has been chosen better adapted +to public convenience. Such errors of the press as +have been discovered in it are here rectified: in other +<!-- Page 10 --><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi" title="vi" class="pagenum"></a>respects it is faithfully followed, except that in one +instance an accident of little moment has occasioned +a slight deviation from the strict chronological arrangement, +and that, on the other hand, a speech of +conspicuous excellence, on his declining the poll at +Bristol, in 1780, is here, for the first time, inserted +in its proper place.</p> + +<p>As the activity of the author's mind, and the lively +interest which he took in the welfare of his country, +ceased only with his life, many subsequent productions +issued from his pen, which were received in a +manner corresponding with his distinguished reputation. +He wrote also various tracts, of a less popular +description, which he designed for private circulation +in quarters where he supposed they might produce +most benefit to the community, but which, with some +other papers, have been printed since his death, from +copies which he left behind him fairly transcribed, +and most of them corrected as for the press. All +these, now first collected together, form the contents +of the last two volumes.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor" +title="Comprising the last four papers of the fourth volume, and the whole +of the fifth volume, of the present edition.">[2]</a> They are disposed in +chronological order, with the exception of the "Preface +to Brissot's Address," which having appeared +in the author's lifetime, and from delicacy not being +avowed by him, did not come within the plan of this +edition, but has been placed at the end of the last +volume, on its being found deficient in its just bulk.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 11 --><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii" title="vii" class="pagenum"></a>The several posthumous publications, as they from +time to time made their appearance, were accompanied +by appropriate prefaces. These, however, as +they were principally intended for temporary purposes, +have been omitted. Some few explanations +only, which they contained, seem here to be necessary.</p> + +<p>The "Observations on the Conduct of the Minority" +in the Session of 1793 had been written and +sent by Mr. Burke as a paper entirely and strictly +confidential; but it crept surreptitiously into the +world, through the fraud and treachery of the man +whom he had employed to transcribe it, and, as +usually happens in such cases, came forth in a very +mangled state, under a false title, and without the +introductory letter. The friends of the author, without +waiting to consult him, instantly obtained an injunction +from the Court of Chancery to stop the sale. +What he himself felt, on receiving intelligence of the +injury done him by one from whom his kindness deserved +a very different return, will be best conveyed +in his own words. The following is an extract of a +letter to a friend, which he dictated on this subject +from a sick-bed.</p> + +<p>BATH, 15th Feb., 1797.</p> + +<p>"My Dear Laurence,—</p> + +<p>"On the appearance of the advertisement, all +newspapers and all letters have been kept back +from me till this time. Mrs. Burke opened yours, +<!-- Page 12 --><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii" title="viii" class="pagenum"></a>and finding that all the measures in the power +of Dr. King, yourself, and Mr. Woodford, had been +taken to suppress the publication, she ventured to +deliver me the letters to-day, which were read to me +in my bed, about two o'clock.</p> + +<p>"This affair does vex me; but I am not in a state +of health at present to be deeply vexed at anything. +Whenever this matter comes into discussion, I authorize +you to contradict the infamous reports which +(I am informed) have been given out, that this +paper had been circulated through the ministry, and +was intended gradually to slide into the press. To +the best of my recollection I never had a clean copy +of it but one, which is now in my possession; I never +communicated that, but to the Duke of Portland, +from whom I had it back again. But the Duke will +set this matter to rights, if in reality there were two +copies, and he has one. I never showed it, as they +know, to any one of the ministry. If the Duke has +really a copy, I believe his and mine are the only +ones that exist, except what was taken by fraud from +loose and incorrect papers by S——, to whom I gave +the letter to copy. As soon as I began to suspect +him capable of any such scandalous breach of trust, +you know with what anxiety I got the loose papers +out of his hands, not having reason to think that he +kept any other. Neither do I believe in fact (unless +he meditated this villany long ago) that he did or +does now possess any clean copy. I never commu<!-- Page 13 --><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix" title="ix" class="pagenum"></a>nicated +that paper to any one out of the very small +circle of those private friends from whom I concealed +nothing.</p> + +<p>"But I beg you and my friends to be cautious how +you let it be understood that I disclaim anything +but the mere act and intention of publication. I do +not retract any one of the sentiments contained in +that memorial, which was and is my justification, addressed +to the friends for whose use alone I intended +it. Had I designed it for the public, I should have +been more exact and full. It was written in a tone +of indignation, in consequence of the resolutions of +the Whig Club, which were directly pointed against +myself and others, and occasioned our secession from +that club; which is the last act of my life that I shall +under any circumstances repent. Many temperaments +and explanations there would have been, if I +had ever had a notion that it should meet the public +eye."</p> + + +<p>In the mean time a large impression, amounting, it +is believed, to three thousand copies, had been dispersed +over the country. To recall these was impossible; +to have expected that any acknowledged +production of Mr. Burke, full of matter likely to +interest the future historian, could remain forever +in obscurity, would have been folly; and to have +passed it over in silent neglect, on the one hand, +or, on the other, to have then made any considerable +<!-- Page 14 --><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x" title="x" class="pagenum"></a>changes in it, might have seemed an abandonment of +the principles which it contained. The author, therefore, +discovering, that, with the exception of the introductory +letter, he had not in fact kept any clean +copy, as he had supposed, corrected one of the pamphlets +with his own hand. From this, which was +found preserved with his other papers, his friends +afterwards thought it their duty to give an authentic +edition.</p> + +<p>The "Thoughts and Details on Scarcity" were +originally presented in the form of a memorial to +Mr. Pitt. The author proposed afterwards to recast +the same matter in a new shape. He even advertised +the intended work under the title of "Letters +on Rural Economics, addressed to Mr. Arthur +Young"; but he seems to have finished only two +or three detached fragments of the first letter. +These being too imperfect to be printed alone, his +friends inserted them in the memorial, where they +seemed best to cohere. The memorial had been +fairly copied, but did not appear to have been examined +or corrected, as some trifling errors of the transcriber +were perceptible in it. The manuscript of the +fragments was a rough draft from the author's own +hand, much blotted and very confused.</p> + +<p>The Third Letter on the Proposals for Peace was +in its progress through the press when the author +died. About one half of it was actually revised in +print by himself, though not in the exact order of the +<!-- Page 15 --><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi" title="xi" class="pagenum"></a>pages as they now stand. He enlarged his first draft, +and separated one great member of his subject, for +the purpose of introducing some other matter between. +The different parcels of manuscript designed +to intervene were discovered. One of them he seemed +to have gone over himself, and to have improved and +augmented. The other (fortunately the smaller) was +much more imperfect, just as it was taken from his +mouth by dictation. The former reaches from the +two hundred and forty-sixth to near the end of the +two hundred and sixty-second page; the latter nearly +occupies the twelve pages which follow.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor" +title="The former comprising the matter included between the paragraph +commencing, "I hear it has been said," &c., and that ending with the +words, "there were little or no materials"; and the latter extending +through the paragraph concluding with the words, "disgraced and plagued +mankind."">[3]</a> No important +change, none at all affecting the meaning of any +passage, has been made in either, though in the more +imperfect parcel some latitude of discretion in subordinate +points was necessarily used.</p> + +<p>There is, however, a considerable member for the +greater part of which Mr. Burke's reputation is not +responsible: this is the inquiry into the condition of +the higher classes, which commences in the two hundred +and ninety-fifth page.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor" +title="At the paragraph commencing with the words, "In turning our +view from the lower to the higher classes," &c.">[4]</a> The summary of the +whole topic, indeed, nearly as it stands in the three +hundred and seventy-third and fourth pages,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor" +title="In the first half of the paragraph commencing, "If, then, the real +state of this nation," &c.">[5]</a> was +<!-- Page 16 --><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii" title="xii" class="pagenum"></a>found, together with a marginal reference to the +Bankrupt List, in his own handwriting; and the +actual conclusion of the Letter was dictated by him, +but never received his subsequent correction. He +had also preserved, as materials for this branch of his +subject, some scattered hints, documents, and parts +of a correspondence on the state of the country. He +was, however, prevented from working on them by +the want of some authentic and official information, +for which he had been long anxiously waiting, in +order to ascertain, to the satisfaction of the public, +what, with his usual sagacity, he had fully anticipated +from his own personal observation, to his own +private conviction. At length the reports of the different +committees which had been appointed by the +two Houses of Parliament amply furnished him with +evidence for this purpose. Accordingly he read and +considered them with attention: but for anything +beyond this the season was now past. The Supreme +Disposer of All, against whose inscrutable counsels it +is vain as well as impious to murmur, did not permit +him to enter on the execution of the task which he +meditated. It was resolved, therefore, by one of his +friends, after much hesitation, and under a very painful +responsibility, to make such an attempt as he could +at supplying the void; especially because the insufficiency +of our resources for the continuance of the war +was understood to have been the principal objection +urged against the two former Letters on the Proposals +<!-- Page 17 --><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii" title="xiii" class="pagenum"></a>for Peace. In performing with reverential diffidence +this duty of friendship, care has been taken not to +attribute to Mr. Burke any sentiment which is not +most explicitly known, from repeated conversations, +and from much correspondence, to have been decidedly +entertained by that illustrious man. One passage +of nearly three pages, containing a censure of +our defensive system, is borrowed from a private letter, +which he began to dictate with an intention of +comprising in it the short result of his opinions, but +which he afterwards abandoned, when, a little time +before his death, his health appeared in some degree +to amend, and he hoped that Providence might have +spared him at least to complete the larger public letter, +which he then proposed to resume.</p> + +<p>In the preface to the former edition of this Letter +a fourth was mentioned as being in possession of Mr. +Burke's friends. It was in fact announced by the +author himself, in the conclusion of the second, which +it was then designed to follow. He intended, he said, +to proceed next on the question of the facilities possessed +by the French Republic, <i>from the internal state +of other nations, and particularly of this</i>, for obtaining +her ends,—and as his notions were controverted, to +take notice of what, in that way, had been recommended +to him. The vehicle which he had chosen +for this part of his plan was an answer to a pamphlet +which was supposed to come from high authority, and +was circulated by ministers with great industry, at the +<!-- Page 18 --><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv" title="xiv" class="pagenum"></a>time of its appearance, in October, 1795, immediately +previous to that session of Parliament when his Majesty +for the first time declared that the appearance +of any disposition in the enemy to negotiate for general +peace should not fail to be met with an earnest +desire to give it the fullest and speediest effect. In +truth, the answer, which is full of spirit and vivacity, +was written the latter end of the same year, but +was laid aside when the question assumed a more +serious aspect, from the commencement of an actual +negotiation, which gave rise to the series of printed +letters. Afterwards, he began to rewrite it, with a +view of accommodating it to his new purpose. The +greater part, however, still remained in its original +state; and several heroes of the Revolution, who are +there celebrated, having in the interval passed off the +public stage, a greater liberty of insertion and alteration +than his friends on consideration have thought +allowable would be necessary to adapt it to that +place in the series for which it was ultimately designed +by the author. This piece, therefore, addressed, +as the title originally stood, to his noble +friend, Earl Fitzwilliam, will be given the first in the +supplemental volumes which will be hereafter added +to complete this edition of the author's works.</p> + +<p>The tracts, most of them in manuscript, which have +been already selected as fit for this purpose, will +probably furnish four or five volumes more, to be +printed uniformly with this edition. The principal +<!-- Page 19 --><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv" title="xv" class="pagenum"></a>piece is an Essay on the History of England, from the +earliest period to the conclusion of the reign of King +John. It is written with much depth of antiquarian +research, directed by the mind of an intelligent statesman. +This alone, as far as can be conjectured, will +form more than one volume. Another entire volume +also, at least, will be filled with his letters to public +men on public affairs, especially those of France. +This supplement will be sent to the press without +delay.</p> + +<p>Mr. Burke's more familiar correspondence will be +reserved as authorities to accompany a narrative of +his life, which will conclude the whole. The period +during which he flourished was one of the most memorable +of our annals. It comprehended the acquisition +of one empire in the East, the loss of another in +the West, and the total subversion of the ancient system +of Europe by the French Revolution, with all +which events the history of his life is necessarily and +intimately connected,—as indeed it also is, much +more than is generally known, with the state of literature +and the elegant arts. Such a subject of biography +cannot be dismissed with a slight and rapid +touch; nor can it be treated in a manner worthy of +it, from the information, however authentic and extensive, +which the industry of any one man may have +accumulated. Many important communications have +been received; but some materials, which relate to +the pursuits of his early years, and which are known +<!-- Page 20 --><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi" title="xvi" class="pagenum"></a>to be in existence, have been hitherto kept back, notwithstanding +repeated inquiries and applications. It +is, therefore, once more earnestly requested, that all +persons who call themselves the friends or admirers +of the late Edmund Burke will have the goodness to +transmit, without delay, any notices of that or of any +other kind which may happen to be in their possession +or within their reach, to Messrs. Rivingtons,—a +respect and kindness to his memory which will be +thankfully acknowledged by those friends to whom, +in dying, he committed the sacred trust of his reputation.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Prefixed to the first octavo edition: London, F. and C. Rivington, +1801: comprising Vols. I.-VIII. of the edition in sixteen volumes +issued by these publishers at intervals between the years 1801 and 1827.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Comprising the last four papers of the fourth volume, and the +whole of the fifth volume, of the present edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The former comprising the matter included between the paragraph +commencing, "I hear it has been said," &c., and that ending +with the words, "there were little or no materials"; and the latter +extending through the paragraph concluding with the words, "disgraced +and plagued mankind."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> At the paragraph commencing with the words, "In turning our +view from the lower to the higher classes," &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> In the first half of the paragraph commencing, "If, then, the real +state of this nation," &c.</p></div><!-- Page 21 --><div><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii" title="xvii" class="pagenum"></a></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="ADVERTISEMENT2" id="ADVERTISEMENT2"></a>ADVERTISEMENT</h2> + +<p>TO THE SECOND OCTAVO EDITION.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor" +title="London, F. and C. Rivington, 1803. 8 vols.">[6]</a></p> + + +<p>A new edition of the works of Mr. Burke having +been called for by the public, the opportunity +has been taken to make some slight changes, it is +hoped for the better.</p> + +<p>A different distribution of the contents, while it has +made the volumes, with the exception of the first and +sixth, more nearly equal in their respective bulk, has, +at the same time, been fortunately found to produce +a more methodical arrangement of the whole. The +first and second volumes, as before, severally contain +those literary and philosophical works by which Mr. +Burke was known previous to the commencement of +his public life as a statesman, and the political pieces +which were written by him between the time of his +first becoming connected with the Marquis of Rockingham +and his being chosen member for Bristol. +In the third are comprehended all his speeches and +pamphlets from his first arrival at Bristol, as a candidate, +in the year 1774, to his farewell address +from the hustings of that city, in the year 1780. +<!-- Page 22 --><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii" title="xviii" class="pagenum"></a>What he himself published relative to the affairs of +India occupies the fourth volume. The remaining +four comprise his works since the French Revolution, +with the exception of the Letter to Lord Kenmare on +the Penal Laws against Irish Catholics, which was +probably inserted where it stands from its relation to +the subject of the Letter addressed by him, at a later +period, to Sir Hercules Langrishe. With the same +exception, too, strict regard has been paid to chronological +order, which, in the last edition, was in some +instances broken, to insert pieces that wore not discovered +till it was too late to introduce them in their +proper places.</p> + +<p>In the Appendix to the Speech on the Nabob of +Arcot's Debts the references were found to be confused, +and, in many places, erroneous. This probably +had arisen from the circumstance that a larger +and differently constructed appendix seems to have +been originally designed by Mr. Burke, which, however, +he afterwards abridged and altered, while the +speech and the notes upon it remained as they were. +The text and the documents that support it have +throughout been accommodated to each other.</p> + +<p>The orthography has been in many cases altered, +and an attempt made to reduce it to some certain +standard. The rule laid down for the discharge of +this task was, that, whenever Mr. Burke could be perceived +to have been uniform in his mode of spelling, +that was considered as decisive; but where he varied, +<!-- Page 23 --><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix" title="xix" class="pagenum"></a>(and as he was in the habit of writing by dictation, +and leaving to others the superintendence of the +press, he was peculiarly liable to variations of this +sort) the best received authorities were directed to be +followed. The reader, it is trusted, will find this object, +too much disregarded in modern books, has here +been kept in view throughout. The quotations which +are interspersed through the works of Mr Burke, and +which were frequently made by him from memory, +have been generally compared with the original authors. +Several mistakes in printing, of one word for +another, by which the sense was either perverted or +obscured, are now rectified. Two or three small insertions +have also been made from a quarto copy corrected +by Mr. Burke himself. From the same source +something more has been drawn in the shape of notes, +to which are subscribed his initials. Of this number +is the explanation of that celebrated phrase, "the +swinish multitude": an explanation which was uniformly +given by him to his friends, in conversation +on the subject. But another note will probably interest +the reader still more, as being strongly expressive +of that parental affection which formed so amiable a +feature in the character of Mr. Burke. It is in page +203 of Vol. V., where he points out a considerable +passage as having been supplied by his "lost son".<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor" +title="In "Reflections on the Revolution in France,"—indicated by +foot-note _in loco_.">[7]</a> +Several other parts, possibly amounting altogether to +<!-- Page 24 --><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx" title="xx" class="pagenum"></a>a page or thereabout, were indicated in the same +manner; but, as they in general consist of single sentences, +and as the meaning of the mark by which they +were distinguished was not actually expressed, it has +not been thought necessary to notice them particularly.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> London, F. and C. Rivington, 1803. 8 vols.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> In "Reflections on the Revolution in France,"—indicated by +foot-note <i>in loco</i>.</p></div><!-- Page 25 --><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1" title="1" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_VINDICATION_OF_NATURAL_SOCIETY" id="A_VINDICATION_OF_NATURAL_SOCIETY"></a> +<span style="font-size: 60%">A</span><br /> +<br /> +VINDICATION OF NATURAL SOCIETY:<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">OR,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">A VIEW OF THE MISERIES AND EVILS ARISING TO MANKIND<br /> +FROM EVERY SPECIES OF ARTIFICIAL SOCIETY.</span><br /> +<br /> +IN A LETTER TO LORD ****,<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">BY A LATE NOBLE WRITER.<br /> +<br /> +1756.</span><br /> +</h2> +<!-- Page 26 --><div><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2" title="2" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 27 --><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3" title="3" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>Before the philosophical works of Lord Bolingbroke +had appeared, great things were expected +from the leisure of a man, who, from the splendid +scene of action in which his talents had enabled him +to make so conspicuous a figure, had retired to employ +those talents in the investigation of truth. Philosophy +began to congratulate herself upon such a +proselyte from the world of business, and hoped to +have extended her power under the auspices of +such a leader. In the midst of these pleasing expectations, +the works themselves at last appeared in +<i>full body</i>, and with great pomp. Those who searched +in them for new discoveries in the mysteries of nature; +those who expected something which might +explain or direct the operations of the mind; those +who hoped to see morality illustrated and enforced; +those who looked for new helps to society and government; +those who desired to see the characters +and passions of mankind delineated; in short, all +who consider such things as philosophy, and require +some of them at least in every philosophical +work, all these were certainly disappointed; they +found the landmarks of science precisely in their +former places: and they thought they received but +a poor recompense for this disappointment, in seeing +every mode of religion attacked in a lively manner, +<!-- Page 28 --><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4" title="4" class="pagenum"></a>and the foundation of every virtue, and of all government, +sapped with great art and much ingenuity. +What advantage do we derive from such writings? +What delight can a man find in employing a capacity +which might be usefully exerted for the noblest +purposes, in a sort of sullen labor, in which, if +the author could succeed, he is obliged to own, that +nothing could be more fatal to mankind than his +success?</p> + +<p>I cannot conceive how this sort of writers propose +to compass the designs they pretend to have in view, +by the instruments which they employ. Do they +pretend to exalt the mind of man, by proving him +no better than a beast? Do they think to enforce +the practice of virtue, by denying that vice and virtue +are distinguished by good or ill fortune here, or +by happiness or misery hereafter? Do they imagine +they shall increase our piety, and our reliance +on God, by exploding his providence, and insisting +that he is neither just nor good? Such are the doctrines +which, sometimes concealed, sometimes openly +and fully avowed, are found to prevail throughout the +writings of Lord Bolingbroke; and such are the reasonings +which this noble writer and several others +have been pleased to dignify with the name of philosophy. +If these are delivered in a specious manner, +and in a style above the common, they cannot want a +number of admirers of as much docility as can be +wished for in disciples. To these the editor of the +following little piece has addressed it: there is no +reason to conceal the design of it any longer.</p> + +<p>The design was to show that, without the exertion +of any considerable forces, the same engines which +were employed for the destruction of religion, might +<!-- Page 29 --><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5" title="5" class="pagenum"></a>be employed with equal success for the subversion of +government; and that specious arguments might be +used against those things which they, who doubt of +everything else, will never permit to be questioned. +It is an observation which I think Isocrates makes in +one of his orations against the sophists, that it is far +more easy to maintain a wrong cause, and to support +paradoxical opinions to the satisfaction of a common +auditory, than to establish a doubtful truth by solid +and conclusive arguments. When men find that +something can be said in favor of what, on the very +proposal, they have thought utterly indefensible, +they grow doubtful of their own reason; they are +thrown into a sort of pleasing surprise; they run +along with the speaker, charmed and captivated to +find such a plentiful harvest of reasoning, where all +seemed barren and unpromising. This is the fairy +land of philosophy. And it very frequently happens, +that those pleasing impressions on the imagination +subsist and produce their effect, even after the +understanding has been satisfied of their unsubstantial +nature. There is a sort of gloss upon ingenious +falsehoods that dazzles the imagination, but which +neither belongs to, nor becomes the sober aspect of +truth. I have met with a quotation in Lord Coke's +Reports that pleased me very much, though I do not +know from whence he has taken it: "<i>Interdum fucata +falsitas</i> (says he), <i>in multis est probabilior, at sæpe rationibus +vincit nudam veritatem</i>." In such cases the +writer has a certain fire and alacrity inspired into +him by a consciousness, that, let it fare how it will +with the subject, his ingenuity will be sure of applause; +and this alacrity becomes much greater if +he acts upon the offensive, by the impetuosity that +<!-- Page 30 --><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6" title="6" class="pagenum"></a>always accompanies an attack, and the unfortunate +propensity which mankind have to the finding and +exaggerating faults. The editor is satisfied that a +mind which has no restraint from a sense of its own +weakness, of its subordinate rank in the creation, +and of the extreme danger of letting the imagination +loose upon some subjects, may very plausibly attack +everything the most excellent and venerable; that +it would not be difficult to criticise the creation itself; +and that if we were to examine the divine fabrics +by our ideas of reason and fitness, and to use +the same method of attack by which some men have +assaulted revealed religion, we might with as good +color, and with the same success, make the wisdom +and power of God in his creation appear to many no +better than foolishness. There is an air of plausibility +which accompanies vulgar reasonings and +notions, taken from the beaten circle of ordinary +experience, that is admirably suited to the narrow +capacities of some, and to the laziness of others. But +this advantage is in a great measure lost, when a +painful, comprehensive survey of a very complicated +matter, and which requires a great variety of considerations, +is to be made; when we must seek in a profound +subject, not only for arguments, but for new +materials of argument, their measures and their +method of arrangement; when we must go out of +the sphere of our ordinary ideas, and when we can +never walk surely, but by being sensible of our blindness. +And this we must do, or we do nothing, whenever +we examine the result of a reason which is not +our own. Even in matters which are, as it were, +just within our reach, what would become of the +world, if the practice of all moral duties, and the +<!-- Page 31 --><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7" title="7" class="pagenum"></a>foundations of society, rested upon having their reasons +made clear and demonstrative to every individual?</p> + +<p>The editor knows that the subject of this letter is +not so fully handled as obviously it might; it was +not his design to say all that could possibly be +said. It had been inexcusable to fill a large volume +with the abuse of reason; nor would such an +abuse have been tolerable, even for a few pages, if +some under-plot, of more consequence than the apparent +design, had not been carried on.</p> + +<p>Some persons have thought that the advantages of +the state of nature ought to have been more fully +displayed. This had undoubtedly been a very ample +subject for declamation; but they do not consider the +character of the piece. The writers against religion, +whilst they oppose every system, are wisely careful +never to set up any of their own. If some inaccuracies +in calculation, in reasoning, or in method, be +found, perhaps these will not be looked upon as +faults by the admirers of Lord Bolingbroke; who +will, the editor is afraid, observe much more of his +lordship's character in such particulars of the following +letter, than they are likely to find of that rapid +torrent of an impetuous and overbearing eloquence, +and the variety of rich imagery for which that writer +is justly admired.<!-- Page 32 --><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8" title="8" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 33 --><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9" title="9" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_LETTER_TO_LORD__mdash" id="A_LETTER_TO_LORD__mdash"></a>A LETTER TO LORD ****.</h2> + + +<p>Shall I venture to say, my lord, that in our +late conversation, you were inclined to the +party which you adopted rather by the feelings of +your good nature, than by the conviction of your +judgment? We laid open the foundations of society; +and you feared that the curiosity of this search +might endanger the ruin of the whole fabric. You +would readily have allowed my principle, but you +dreaded the consequences; you thought, that having +once entered upon these reasonings, we might be carried +insensibly and irresistibly farther than at first +we could either have imagined or wished. But for +my part, my lord, I then thought, and am still of the +same opinion, that error, and not truth of any kind, +is dangerous; that ill conclusions can only flow from +false propositions; and that, to know whether any +proposition be true or false, it is a preposterous +method to examine it by its apparent consequences.</p> + +<p>These were the reasons which induced me to go so +far into that inquiry; and they are the reasons which +direct me in all my inquiries. I had indeed often +reflected on that subject before I could prevail on +myself to communicate my reflections to anybody. +They were generally melancholy enough; as those +usually are which carry us beyond the mere surface +of things; and which would undoubtedly make the +<!-- Page 34 --><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10" title="10" class="pagenum"></a>lives of all thinking men extremely miserable, if the +same philosophy which caused the grief, did not at +the same time administer the comfort.</p> + +<p>On considering political societies, their origin, their +constitution, and their effects, I have sometimes been +in a good deal more than doubt, whether the Creator +did ever really intend man for a state of happiness. +He has mixed in his cup a number of natural evils, +(in spite of the boasts of stoicism they are evils,) and +every endeavor which the art and policy of mankind +has used from the beginning of the world to this day, +in order to alleviate or cure them, has only served to +introduce new mischiefs, or to aggravate and inflame +the old. Besides this, the mind of man itself is too +active and restless a principle ever to settle on the +true point of quiet. It discovers every day some +craving want in a body, which really wants but little. +It every day invents some new artificial rule to +guide that nature which, if left to itself, were the best +and surest guide. It finds out imaginary beings prescribing +imaginary laws; and then, it raises imaginary +terrors to support a belief in the beings, and an +obedience to the laws.—Many things have been +said, and very well undoubtedly, on the subjection +in which we should preserve our bodies to the government +of our understanding; but enough has not +been said upon the restraint which our bodily necessities +ought to lay on the extravagant sublimities and +eccentric rovings of our minds. The body, or as +some love to call it, our inferior nature, is wiser +in its own plain way, and attends its own business +more directly than the mind with all its boasted subtlety.</p> + +<p>In the state of nature, without question, mankind +<!-- Page 35 --><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11" title="11" class="pagenum"></a>was subjected to many and great inconveniences. +Want of union, want of mutual assistance, want of a +common arbitrator to resort to in their differences. +These were evils which they could not but have felt +pretty severely on many occasions. The original +children of the earth lived with their brethren of the +other kinds in much equality. Their diet must have +been confined almost wholly to the vegetable kind; +and the same tree, which in its flourishing state produced +them berries, in its decay gave them an habitation. +The mutual desires of the sexes uniting +their bodies and affections, and the children which +are the results of these intercourses, introduced first +the notion of society, and taught its conveniences. +This society, founded in natural appetites and instincts, +and not in any positive institution, I shall +call <i>natural society</i>. Thus far nature went and succeeded: +but man would go farther. The great error +of our nature is, not to know where to stop, not to be +satisfied with any reasonable acquirement; not to +compound with our condition; but to lose all we +have gained by an insatiable pursuit after more. +Man found a considerable advantage by this union +of many persons to form one family; he therefore +judged that he would find his account proportionably +in an union of many families into one body politic. +And as nature has formed no bond of union to +hold them together, he supplied this defect by <i>laws</i>.</p> + +<p>This is <i>political society</i>. And hence the sources of +what are usually called states, civil societies, or governments; +into some form of which, more extended +or restrained, all mankind have gradually fallen. +And since it has so happened, and that we owe an +implicit reverence to all the institutions of our ances<!-- Page 36 --><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12" title="12" class="pagenum"></a>tors, +we shall consider these institutions with all that +modesty with which we ought to conduct ourselves +in examining a received opinion; but with all that +freedom and candor which we owe to truth wherever +we find it, or however it may contradict our own +notions, or oppose our own interests. There is a +most absurd and audacious method of reasoning +avowed by some bigots and enthusiasts, and through +fear assented to by some wiser and better men; it is +this: they argue against a fair discussion of popular +prejudices, because, say they, though they would be +found without any reasonable support, yet the discovery +might be productive of the most dangerous +consequences. Absurd and blasphemous notion! as +if all happiness was not connected with the practice +of virtue, which necessarily depends upon the knowledge +of truth; that is, upon the knowledge of those +unalterable relations which Providence has ordained +that every thing should bear to every other. These +relations, which are truth itself, the foundation of +virtue, and consequently the only measures of happiness, +should be likewise the only measures by which +we should direct our reasoning. To these we should +conform in good earnest; and not think to force nature, +and the whole order of her system, by a compliance +with our pride and folly, to conform to our artificial +regulations. It is by a conformity to this +method we owe the discovery of the few truths we +know, and the little liberty and rational happiness +we enjoy. We have something fairer play than a +reasoner could have expected formerly; and we derive +advantages from it which are very visible.</p> + +<p>The fabric of superstition has in this our age and +nation received much ruder shocks than it had ever +<!-- Page 37 --><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13" title="13" class="pagenum"></a>felt before; and through the chinks and breaches of +our prison, we see such glimmerings of light, and +feel such refreshing airs of liberty, as daily raise our +ardor for more. The miseries derived to mankind +from superstition under the name of religion, and of +ecclesiastical tyranny under the name of church government, +have been clearly and usefully exposed. +We begin to think and to act from reason and from +nature alone. This is true of several, but by far the +majority is still in the same old state of blindness +and slavery; and much is it to be feared that we +shall perpetually relapse, whilst the real productive +cause of all this superstitious folly, enthusiastical +nonsense, and holy tyranny, holds a reverend place +in the estimation even of those who are otherwise +enlightened.</p> + +<p>Civil government borrows a strength from ecclesiastical; +and artificial laws receive a sanction from +artificial revelations. The ideas of religion and +government are closely connected; and whilst we receive +government as a thing necessary, or even useful +to our well-being, we shall in spite of us draw in, +as a necessary, though undesirable consequence, an +artificial religion of some kind or other. To this the +vulgar will always be voluntary slaves; and even +those of a rank of understanding superior, will now +and then involuntarily feel its influence. It is therefore +of the deepest concernment to us to be set right in +this point; and to be well satisfied whether civil government +be such a protector from natural evils, and +such a nurse and increaser of blessings, as those of +warm imaginations promise. In such a discussion, +far am I from proposing in the least to reflect on +our most wise form of government; no more than +<!-- Page 38 --><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14" title="14" class="pagenum"></a>I would, in the freer parts of my philosophical writings, +mean to object to the piety, truth, and perfection +of our most excellent Church. Both, I am sensible, +have their foundations on a rock. No discovery +of truth can prejudice them. On the contrary, the +more closely the origin of religion and government +is examined, the more clearly their excellences must +appear. They come purified from the fire. My business +is not with them. Having entered a protest +against all objections from these quarters, I may the +more freely inquire, from history and experience, +how far policy has contributed in all times to alleviate +those evils which Providence, that perhaps has +designed us for a state of imperfection, has imposed; +how far our physical skill has cured our constitutional +disorders; and whether it may not have introduced +new ones, curable perhaps by no skill.</p> + +<p>In looking over any state to form a judgment on +it, it presents itself in two lights; the external, and +the internal. The first, that relation which it bears +in point of friendship or enmity to other states. The +second, that relation which its component parts, the +governing and the governed, bear to each other. +The first part of the external view of all states, +their relation as friends, makes so trifling a figure in +history, that I am very sorry to say, it affords me but +little matter on which to expatiate. The good offices +done by one nation to its neighbor;<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor" +title="Had his lordship lived to our days, to have seen the noble relief +given by this nation to the distressed Portuguese, he had perhaps +owned this part of his argument a little weakened; but we do not +think ourselves entitled to alter his lordship's words, but that we are +bound to follow him exactly.">[8]</a> the support +given in public distress; the relief afforded in gen<!-- Page 39 --><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15" title="15" class="pagenum"></a>eral +calamity; the protection granted in emergent +danger; the mutual return of kindness and civility, +would afford a very ample and very pleasing subject +for history. But, alas! all the history of all times, +concerning all nations, does not afford matter enough +to fill ten pages, though it should be spun out by the +wire-drawing amplification of a Guicciardini himself. +The glaring side is that of enmity. War is the matter +which fills all history, and consequently the only +or almost the only view in which we can see the +external of political society is in a hostile shape; +and the only actions to which we have always seen, +and still see all of them intent, are such as tend to the +destruction of one another. "War," says Machiavel, +"ought to be the only study of a prince"; and by a +prince, he means every sort of state, however constituted. +"He ought," says this great political doctor, +"to consider peace only as a breathing-time, +which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes +ability to execute military plans." A meditation on +the conduct of political societies made old Hobbes +imagine, that war was the state of nature; and truly, +if a man judged of the individuals of our race by +their conduct when united and packed into nations +and kingdoms, he might imagine that every sort of +virtue was unnatural and foreign to the mind of +man.</p> + +<p>The first accounts we have of mankind are but so +many accounts of their butcheries. All empires have +been cemented in blood; and, in those early periods, +when the race of mankind began first to form themselves +into parties and combinations, the first effect +of the combination, and indeed the end for which it +seems purposely formed, and best calculated, was +<!-- Page 40 --><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16" title="16" class="pagenum"></a>their mutual destruction. All ancient history is dark +and uncertain. One thing, however, is clear,—there +were conquerors, and conquests in those days; and, +consequently, all that devastation by which they are +formed, and all that oppression by which they are +maintained. We know little of Sesostris, but that he +led out of Egypt an army of above 700,000 men; +that he overran the Mediterranean coast as far as +Colchis; that in some places he met but little resistance, +and of course shed not a great deal of blood; +but that he found in others a people who knew the +value of their liberties, and sold them dear. Whoever +considers the army this conqueror headed, the +space he traversed, and the opposition he frequently +met, with the natural accidents of sickness, and the +dearth and badness of provision to which he must +have been subject in the variety of climates and countries +his march lay through, if he knows anything, +he must know that even the conqueror's army must +have suffered greatly; and that of this immense number +but a very small part could have returned to enjoy +the plunder accumulated by the loss of so many +of their companions, and the devastation of so considerable +a part of the world. Considering, I say, the +vast army headed by this conqueror, whose unwieldy +weight was almost alone sufficient to wear down its +strength, it will be far from excess to suppose that +one half was lost in the expedition. If this was the +state of the victorious, and from the circumstances it +must have been this at the least; the vanquished +must have had a much heavier loss, as the greatest +slaughter is always in the flight, and great carnage +did in those times and countries ever attend the first +rage of conquest. It will, therefore, be very reason<!-- Page 41 --><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17" title="17" class="pagenum"></a>able +to allow on their account as much as, added to +the losses of the conqueror, may amount to a million +of deaths, and then we shall see this conqueror, the +oldest we have on the records of history, (though, as +we have observed before, the chronology of these remote +times is extremely uncertain), opening the scene +by a destruction of at least one million of his species, +unprovoked but by his ambition, without any motives +but pride, cruelty, and madness, and without any +benefit to himself (for Justin expressly tells us he did +not maintain his conquests), but solely to make so +many people, in so distant countries, feel experimentally +how severe a scourge Providence intends for the +human race, when he gives one man the power over +many, and arms his naturally impotent and feeble +rage with the hands of millions, who know no common +principle of action, but a blind obedience to the +passions of their ruler.</p> + +<p>The next personage who figures in the tragedies of +this ancient theatre is Semiramis; for we have no +particulars of Ninus, but that he made immense and +rapid conquests, which doubtless were not compassed +without the usual carnage. We see an army of about +three millions employed by this martial queen in a +war against the Indians. We see the Indians arming +a yet greater; and we behold a war continued with +much fury, and with various success. This ends in +the retreat of the queen, with scarce a third of the +troops employed in the expedition; an expedition +which, at this rate, must have cost two millions of +souls on her part; and it is not unreasonable to judge +that the country which was the seat of war must have +been an equal sufferer. But I am content to detract +from this, and to suppose that the Indians lost only +<!-- Page 42 --><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18" title="18" class="pagenum"></a>half so much, and then the account stands thus: in +this war alone (for Semiramis had other wars) in this +single reign, and in this one spot of the globe, did +three millions of souls expire, with all the horrid and +shocking circumstances which attend all wars, and in +a quarrel, in which none of the sufferers could have +the least rational concern.</p> + +<p>The Babylonian, Assyrian, Median, and Persian +monarchies must have poured out seas of blood in +their formation, and in their destruction. The armies +and fleets of Xerxes, their numbers, the glorious stand +made against them, and the unfortunate event of all +his mighty preparations, are known to everybody. +In this expedition, draining half Asia of its inhabitants, +he led an army of about two millions to be +slaughtered, and wasted by a thousand fatal accidents, +in the same place where his predecessors had +before by a similar madness consumed the flower of +so many kingdoms, and wasted the force of so extensive +an empire. It is a cheap calculation to say, that +the Persian empire, in its wars against the Greeks and +Scythians, threw away at least four millions of its +subjects; to say nothing of its other wars, and the +losses sustained in them. These were their losses +abroad; but the war was brought home to them, first +by Agesilaus, and afterwards by Alexander. I have +not, in this retreat, the books necessary to make very +exact calculations; nor is it necessary to give more +than hints to one of your lordship's erudition. You +will recollect his uninterrupted series of success. +You will run over his battles. You will call to mind +the carnage which was made. You will give a glance +at the whole, and you will agree with me, that to +form this hero no less than twelve hundred thousand +<!-- Page 43 --><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19" title="19" class="pagenum"></a>lives must have been sacrificed; but no sooner had +he fallen himself a sacrifice to his vices, than a thousand +breaches were made for ruin to enter, and give +the last hand to this scene of misery and destruction. +His kingdom was rent and divided; which served to +employ the more distinct parts to tear each other to +pieces, and bury the whole in blood and slaughter. +The kings of Syria and of Egypt, the kings of Pergamus +and Macedon, without intermission worried +each other for above two hundred years; until at last +a strong power, arising in the west, rushed in upon +them and silenced their tumults, by involving all the +contending parties in the same destruction. It is +little to say, that the contentions between the successors +of Alexander depopulated that part of the +world of at least two millions.</p> + +<p>The struggle between the Macedonians and Greeks, +and, before that, the disputes of the Greek commonwealths +among themselves, for an unprofitable superiority, +form one of the bloodiest scenes in history. +One is astonished how such a small spot could furnish +men sufficient to sacrifice to the pitiful ambition of +possessing five or six thousand more acres, or two or +three more villages; yet to see the acrimony and +bitterness with which this was disputed between the +Athenians and Lacedemonians; what armies cut off; +what fleets sunk and burnt; what a number of cities +sacked, and their inhabitants slaughtered and captived; +one would be induced to believe the decision +of the fate of mankind, at least, depended upon it! +But those disputes ended as all such ever have done, +and ever will do; in a real weakness of all parties; +a momentary shadow, and dream of power in some +one; and the subjection of all to the yoke of a stran<!-- Page 44 --><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20" title="20" class="pagenum"></a>ger, +who knows how to profit of their divisions. This, +at least, was the case of the Greeks; and surely, from +the earliest accounts of them, to their absorption into +the Roman empire, we cannot judge that their intestine +divisions, and their foreign wars, consumed less +than three millions of their inhabitants.</p> + +<p>What an Aceldama, what a field of blood Sicily +has been in ancient times, whilst the mode of its +government was controverted between the republican +and tyrannical parties, and the possession struggled +for by the natives, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans, your lordship will easily recollect. You +will remember the total destruction of such bodies as +an army of 300,000 men. You will find every page +of its history dyed in blood, and blotted and confounded +by tumults, rebellions, massacres, assassinations, +proscriptions, and a series of horror beyond the +histories perhaps of any other nation in the world; +though the histories of all nations are made up of +similar matter. I once more excuse myself in point +of exactness for want of books. But I shall estimate +the slaughters in this island but at two millions; which +your lordship will find much short of the reality.</p> + +<p>Let us pass by the wars, and the consequences of +them, which wasted Grecia-Magna, before the Roman +power prevailed in that part of Italy. They are perhaps +exaggerated; therefore I shall only rate them +at one million. Let us hasten to open that great +scene which establishes the Roman empire, and forms +the grand catastrophe of the ancient drama. This +empire, whilst in its infancy, began by an effusion of +human blood scarcely credible. The neighboring +little states teemed for new destruction: the Sabines, +the Samnites, the Æqui, the Volsci, the Hetrurians, +<!-- Page 45 --><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21" title="21" class="pagenum"></a>were broken by a series of slaughters which had no +interruption, for some hundreds of years; slaughters +which upon all sides consumed more than two millions +of the wretched people. The Gauls, rushing +into Italy about this time, added the total destruction +of their own armies to those of the ancient inhabitants. +In short, it were hardly possible to conceive +a more horrid and bloody picture, if that the +Punic wars that ensued soon after did not present +one that far exceeds it. Here we find that climax of +devastation, and ruin, which seemed to shake the +whole earth. The extent of this war, which vexed +so many nations, and both elements, and the havoc +of the human species caused in both, really astonishes +beyond expression, when it is nakedly considered, +and those matters which are apt to divert our attention +from it, the characters, actions, and designs of +the persons concerned, are not taken into the account. +These wars, I mean those called the Punic wars, could +not have stood the human race in less than three +millions of the species. And yet this forms but a +part only, and a very small part, of the havoc caused +by the Roman ambition. The war with Mithridates +was very little less bloody; that prince cut off at one +stroke 150,000 Romans by a massacre. In that war +Sylla destroyed 300,000 men at Cheronea. He defeated +Mithridates' army under Dorilaus, and slew +300,000. This great and unfortunate prince lost +another 300,000 before Cyzicum. In the course of +the war he had innumerable other losses; and having +many intervals of success, he revenged them severely. +He was at last totally overthrown; and he crushed +to pieces the king of Armenia, his ally, by the greatness +of his ruin. All who had connections with him +<!-- Page 46 --><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22" title="22" class="pagenum"></a>shared the same fate. The merciless genius of Sylla +had its full scope; and the streets of Athens were not +the only ones which ran with blood. At this period, +the sword, glutted with foreign slaughter, turned +its edge upon the bowels of the Roman republic itself; +and presented a scene of cruelties and treasons +enough almost to obliterate the memory of all the +external devastations. I intended, my lord, to have +proceeded in a sort of method in estimating the numbers +of mankind cut off in these wars which we have +on record. But I am obliged to alter my design. +Such a tragical uniformity of havoc and murder +would disgust your lordship as much as it would me; +and I confess I already feel my eyes ache by keeping +them so long intent on so bloody a prospect. I shall +observe little on the Servile, the Social, the Gallic, +and Spanish wars; nor upon those with Jugurtha, +nor Antiochus, nor many others equally important, +and carried on with equal fury. The butcheries of +Julius Cæsar alone are calculated by somebody else; +the numbers he has been the means of destroying +have been reckoned at 1,200,000. But to give your +lordship an idea that may serve as a standard, by +which to measure, in some degree, the others; you +will turn your eyes on Judea; a very inconsiderable +spot of the earth in itself, though ennobled by the +singular events which had their rise in that country.</p> + +<p>This spot happened, it matters not here by what +means, to become at several times extremely populous, +and to supply men for slaughters scarcely credible, +if other well-known and well-attested ones had not +given them a color. The first settling of the Jews +here was attended by an almost entire extirpation of +all the former inhabitants. Their own civil wars, and +<!-- Page 47 --><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23" title="23" class="pagenum"></a>those with their petty neighbors, consumed vast multitudes +almost every year for several centuries; and +the irruptions of the kings of Babylon and Assyria +made immense ravages. Yet we have their history +but partially, in an indistinct, confused manner; so +that I shall only throw the strong point of light upon +that part which coincides with Roman history, and +of that part only on the point of time when they received +the great and final stroke which made them, +no more a nation; a stroke which is allowed to have +cut off little less than two millions of that people. I +say nothing of the loppings made from that stock +whilst it stood; nor from the suckers that grew out +of the old root ever since. But if, in this inconsiderable +part of the globe, such a carnage has been made +in two or three short reigns, and that this great carnage, +great as it is, makes but a minute part of what +the histories of that people inform us they suffered; +what shall we judge of countries more extended, and +which have waged wars by far more considerable?</p> + +<p>Instances of this sort compose the uniform of history. +But there have been periods when no less than +universal destruction to the race of mankind seems +to have been threatened. Such was that when the +Goths, the Vandals, and the Huns, poured into Gaul, +Italy, Spain, Greece, and Africa, carrying destruction +before them as they advanced, and leaving horrid +deserts every way behind them. <i>Vastum ubique silentium, +secreti colles; fumantia procul tecta; nemo exploratoribus +obvius</i>, is what Tacitus calls <i>facies victoriæ</i>. +It is always so; but was here emphatically so. From +the north proceeded the swarms of Goths, Vandals, +Huns, Ostrogoths, who ran towards the south, into +Africa itself, which suffered as all to the north had +<!-- Page 48 --><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24" title="24" class="pagenum"></a>done. About this time, another torrent of barbarians, +animated by the same fury, and encouraged by +the same success, poured out of the south, and ravaged +all to the northeast and west, to the remotest +parts of Persia on one hand, and to the banks of the +Loire or farther on the other; destroying all the +proud and curious monuments of human art, that +not even the memory might seem to survive of the +former inhabitants. What has been done since, and +what will continue to be done while the same inducements +to war continue, I shall not dwell upon. I +shall only in one word mention the horrid effects of +bigotry and avarice, in the conquest of Spanish +America; a conquest, on a low estimation, effected +by the murder of ten millions of the species. I shall +draw to a conclusion of this part, by making a general +calculation of the whole. I think I have actually +mentioned above thirty-six millions. I have not particularized +any more. I don't pretend to exactness; +therefore, for the sake of a general view, I shall lay +together all those actually slain in battles, or who +have perished in a no less miserable manner by the +other destructive consequences of war from the beginning +of the world to this day, in the four parts of it, +at a thousand times as much; no exaggerated calculation, +allowing for time and extent. We have not +perhaps spoke of the five-hundredth part; I am sure +I have not of what is actually ascertained in history; +but how much of these butcheries are only expressed +in generals, what part of time history has never +reached, and what vast spaces of the habitable globe +it has not embraced, I need not mention to your +lordship. I need not enlarge on those torrents of +silent and inglorious blood which have glutted the +<!-- Page 49 --><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25" title="25" class="pagenum"></a>thirsty sands of Afric, or discolored the polar snow, +or fed the savage forests of America for so many ages +of continual war. Shall I, to justify my calculations +from the charge of extravagance, add to the account +those skirmishes which happen in all wars, without +being singly of sufficient dignity in mischief, to merit +a place in history, but which by their frequency compensate +for this comparative innocence? shall I inflame +the account by those general massacres which +have devoured whole cities and nations; those wasting +pestilences, those consuming famines, and all +those furies that follow in the train of war? I have +no need to exaggerate; and I have purposely avoided +a parade of eloquence on this occasion. I should +despise it upon any occasion; else in mentioning +these slaughters, it is obvious how much the whole +might be heightened, by an affecting description of +the horrors that attend the wasting of kingdoms, and +sacking of cities. But I do not write to the vulgar, +nor to that which only governs the vulgar, their passions. +I go upon a naked and moderate calculation, +just enough, without a pedantical exactness, to give +your lordship some feeling of the effects of political +society. I charge the whole of these effects on political +society. I avow the charge, and I shall presently +make it good to your lordship's satisfaction. The +numbers I particularized are about thirty-six millions. +Besides those killed in battles I have said something, +not half what the matter would have justified, but +something I have said concerning the consequences +of war even more dreadful than that monstrous carnage +itself which shocks our humanity, and almost +staggers our belief. So that, allowing me in my exuberance +one way for my deficiencies in the other, +<!-- Page 50 --><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26" title="26" class="pagenum"></a>you will find me not unreasonable. I think the +numbers of men now upon earth are computed at +five hundred millions at the most. Here the slaughter +of mankind, on what you will call a small calculation, +amounts to upwards of seventy times the +number of souls this day on the globe: a point which +may furnish matter of reflection to one less inclined +to draw consequences than your lordship.</p> + +<p>I now come to show that political society is justly +chargeable with much the greatest part of this destruction +of the species. To give the fairest play to +every side of the question, I will own that there is a +haughtiness and fierceness in human nature, which +will cause innumerable broils, place men in what situation +you please; but owning this, I still insist in +charging it to political regulations, that these broils +are so frequent, so cruel, and attended with consequences +so deplorable. In a state of nature, it had +been impossible to find a number of men, sufficient for +such slaughters, agreed in the same bloody purpose; +or allowing that they might have come to such an +agreement (an impossible supposition), yet the means +that simple nature has supplied them with, are by no +means adequate to such an end; many scratches, +many bruises undoubtedly would be received upon all +hands; but only a few, a very few deaths. Society +and politics, which have given us these destructive +views, have given us also the means of satisfying +them. From the earliest dawnings of policy to this +day, the invention of men has been sharpening and +improving the mystery of murder, from the first rude +essays of clubs and stones, to the present perfection +of gunnery, cannoneering, bombarding, mining, and +all those species of artificial, learned, and refined cru<!-- Page 51 --><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27" title="27" class="pagenum"></a>elty, +in which we are now so expert, and which make +a principal part of what politicians have taught us to +believe is our principal glory.</p> + +<p>How far mere nature would have carried us, we +may judge by the example of those animals who still +follow her laws, and even of those to whom she has +given dispositions more fierce, and arms more terrible +than ever she intended we should use. It is an incontestable +truth that there is more havoc made in one +year by men of men, than has been made by all the +lions, tigers, panthers, ounces, leopards, hyenas, rhinoceroses, +elephants, bears and wolves, upon their +several species, since the beginning of the world; +though these agree ill enough with each other, and +have a much greater proportion of rage and fury in +their composition than we have. But with respect to +you, ye legislators, ye civilizers of mankind! ye +Orpheuses, Moseses, Minoses, Solons, Theseuses, Lycurguses, +Numas! with respect to you be it spoken, +your regulations have done more mischief in cold +blood, than all the rage of the fiercest animals in their +greatest terrors, or furies, has ever done, or ever +could do!</p> + +<p>These evils are not accidental. Whoever will take +the pains to consider the nature of society will find +that they result directly from its constitution. For +as <i>subordination</i>, or, in other words, the reciprocation +of tyranny and slavery, is requisite to support these +societies; the interest, the ambition, the malice, or +the revenge, nay, even the whim and caprice of one +ruling man among them, is enough to arm all the +rest, without any private views of their own, to the +worst and blackest purposes: and what is at once +lamentable, and ridiculous, these wretches engage +<!-- Page 52 --><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28" title="28" class="pagenum"></a>under those banners with a fury greater than if they +were animated by revenge for their own proper +wrongs.</p> + +<p>It is no less worth observing, that this artificial +division of mankind into separate societies is a +perpetual source in itself of hatred and dissension +among them. The names which distinguish them +are enough to blow up hatred and rage. Examine +history; consult present experience; and you will +find that far the greater part of the quarrels between +several nations had scarce any other occasion than +that these nations were different combinations of people, +and called by different names: to an Englishman, +the name of a Frenchman, a Spaniard, an +Italian, much more a Turk, or a Tartar, raises of +course ideas of hatred and contempt. If you would +inspire this compatriot of ours with pity or regard +for one of these, would you not hide that distinction? +You would not pray him to compassionate the poor +Frenchman, or the unhappy German. Far from it; +you would speak of him as a <i>foreigner</i>; an accident +to which all are liable. You would represent him as +a <i>man</i>; one partaking with us of the same common +nature, and subject to the same law. There is something +so averse from our nature in these artificial +political distinctions, that we need no other trumpet +to kindle us to war and destruction. But there is +something so benign and healing in the general voice +of humanity that, maugre all our regulations to prevent +it, the simple name of man applied properly, +never fails to work a salutary effect.</p> + +<p>This natural unpremeditated effect of policy on the +unpossessed passions of mankind appears on other +occasions. The very name of a politician, a states<!-- Page 53 --><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29" title="29" class="pagenum"></a>man, +is sure to cause terror and hatred; it has +always connected with it the ideas of treachery, cruelty, +fraud, and tyranny; and those writers who have +faithfully unveiled the mysteries of state-freemasonry, +have ever been held in general detestation, for even +knowing so perfectly a theory so detestable. The +case of Machiavel seems at first sight something hard +in that respect. He is obliged to bear the iniquities +of those whose maxims and rules of government he +published. His speculation is more abhorred than +their practice.</p> + +<p>But if there were no other arguments against artificial +society than this I am going to mention, methinks +it ought to fall by this one only. All writers +on the science of policy are agreed, and they agree +with experience, that, all governments must frequently +infringe the rules of justice to support themselves; +that truth must give way to dissimulation; honesty +to convenience; and humanity itself to the reigning +interest. The whole of this mystery of iniquity is +called the reason of state. It is a reason which I +own I cannot penetrate. What sort of a protection +is this of the general right, that is maintained by +infringing the rights of particulars? What sort of +justice is this, which is enforced by breaches of its +own laws? These paradoxes I leave to be solved by +the able heads of legislators and politicians. For my +part, I say what a plain man would say on such an +occasion. I can never believe that any institution, +agreeable to nature, and proper for mankind, could +find it necessary, or even expedient, in any case +whatsoever, to do what the best and worthiest instincts +of mankind warn us to avoid. But no wonder, +that what is set up in opposition to the state of +<!-- Page 54 --><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30" title="30" class="pagenum"></a>nature should preserve itself by trampling upon the +law of nature.</p> + +<p>To prove that these sorts of policed societies are a +violation offered to nature, and a constraint upon the +human mind, it needs only to look upon the sanguinary +measures, and instruments of violence, which +are everywhere used to support them. Let us take a +review of the dungeons, whips, chains, racks, gibbets, +with which every society is abundantly stored; by +which hundreds of victims are annually offered up +to support a dozen or two in pride and madness, +and millions in an abject servitude and dependence. +There was a time when I looked with a reverential +awe on these mysteries of policy; but age, experience, +and philosophy, have rent the veil; and I view this +<i>sanctum sanctorum</i>, at least, without any enthusiastic +admiration. I acknowledge, indeed, the necessity of +such a proceeding in such institutions; but I must +have a very mean opinion of institutions where such +proceedings are necessary.</p> + +<p>It is a misfortune that in no part of the globe natural +liberty and natural religion are to be found +pure, and free from the mixture of political adulterations. +Yet we have implanted in us by Providence, +ideas, axioms, rules, of what is pious, just, fair, honest, +which no political craft, nor learned sophistry +can entirely expel from our breasts. By these we +judge, and we cannot otherwise judge, of the several +artificial modes of religion and society, and determine +of them as they approach to or recede from this +standard.</p> + +<p>The simplest form of government is <i>despotism</i>, +where all the inferior orbs of power are moved +merely by the will of the Supreme, and all that +<!-- Page 55 --><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31" title="31" class="pagenum"></a>are subjected to them directed in the same manner, +merely by the occasional will of the magistrate. +This form, as it is the most simple, so it is infinitely +the most general. Scarcely any part of the world +is exempted from its power. And in those few places +where men enjoy what they call liberty, it is continually +in a tottering situation, and makes greater and +greater strides to that gulf of despotism which at +last swallows up every species of government. The +manner of ruling being directed merely by the will +of the weakest, and generally the worst man in the +society, becomes the most foolish and capricious +thing, at the same time that it is the most terrible +and destructive that well can be conceived. +In a despotism, the principal person finds that, let +the want, misery, and indigence of his subjects +be what they will, he can yet possess abundantly +of everything to gratify his most insatiable wishes. +He does more. He finds that these gratifications increase +in proportion to the wretchedness and slavery +of his subjects. Thus encouraged both by passion +and interest to trample on the public welfare, and by +his station placed above both shame and fear, he proceeds +to the most horrid and shocking outrages upon +mankind. Their persons become victims of his suspicions. +The slightest displeasure is death; and a +disagreeable aspect is often as great a crime as high +treason. In the court of Nero, a person of learning, +of unquestioned merit, and of unsuspected loyalty, +was put to death for no other reason, than that he +had a pedantic countenance which displeased the +emperor. This very monster of mankind appeared +in the beginning of his reign to be a person of virtue. +Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of +<!-- Page 56 --><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32" title="32" class="pagenum"></a>history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. +But the truth is, this unnatural power corrupts both +the heart and the understanding. And to prevent +the least hope of amendment, a king is ever surrounded +by a crowd of infamous flatterers, who find +their account in keeping him from the least light of +reason, till all ideas of rectitude and justice are utterly +erased from his mind. When Alexander had +in his fury inhumanly butchered one of his best +friends and bravest captains; on the return of reason +he began to conceive an horror suitable to the guilt +of such a murder. In this juncture his council came +to his assistance. But what did his council? They +found him out a philosopher who gave him comfort. +And in what manner did this philosopher comfort +him for the loss of such a man, and heal his conscience, +flagrant with the smart of such a crime? +You have the matter at length in Plutarch. He told +him, "<i>that let a sovereign do what he wilt, all his actions +are just and lawful, because they are his</i>." The palaces +of all princes abound with such courtly philosophers. +The consequence was such as might be expected. +He grew every day a monster more abandoned +to unnatural lust, to debauchery, to drunkenness, +and to murder. And yet this was originally a +great man, of uncommon capacity, and a strong propensity +to virtue. But unbounded power proceeds +step by step, until it has eradicated every laudable +principle. It has been remarked, that there is no +prince so bad, whose favorites and ministers are not +worse. There is hardly any prince without a favorite, +by whom he is governed in as arbitrary a manner +as he governs the wretches subjected to him. Here +the tyranny is doubled. There are two courts, and +<!-- Page 57 --><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33" title="33" class="pagenum"></a>two interests; both very different from the interests +of the people. The favorite knows that the regard +of a tyrant is as unconstant and capricious as that +of a woman; and concluding his time to be short, he +makes haste to fill up the measure of his iniquity, in +rapine, in luxury, and in revenge. Every avenue to +the throne is shut up. He oppresses and ruins the +people, whilst he persuades the prince that those murmurs +raised by his own oppression are the effects of +disaffection to the prince's government. Then is the +natural violence of despotism inflamed and aggravated +by hatred and revenge. To deserve well of +the state is a crime against the prince. To be popular, +and to be a traitor, are considered as synonymous +terms. Even virtue is dangerous, as an aspiring +quality, that claims an esteem by itself, and independent +of the countenance of the court. What has +been said of the chief, is true of the inferior officers +of this species of government; each in his province +exercising the same tyranny, and grinding the people +by an oppression, the more severely felt, as it is near +them, and exercised by base and subordinate persons. +For the gross of the people, they are considered as a +mere herd of cattle; and really in a little time become +no better; all principle of honest pride, all +sense of the dignity of their nature, is lost in their +slavery. The day, says Homer, which makes a man +a slave, takes away half his worth; and, in fact, he +loses every impulse to action, but that low and base +one of fear. In this kind of government human +nature is not only abused and insulted, but it is +actually degraded and sunk into a species of brutality. +The consideration of this made Mr. Locke say, +with great justice, that a government of this kind +<!-- Page 58 --><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34" title="34" class="pagenum"></a>was worse than anarchy: indeed it is so abhorred +and detested by all who live under forms that have a +milder appearance, that there is scarcely a rational +man in Europe that would not prefer death to Asiatic +despotism. Here then we have the acknowledgment +of a great philosopher, that an irregular state +of nature is preferable to such a government; we +have the consent of all sensible and generous men, +who carry it yet further, and avow that death itself +is preferable; and yet this species of government, so +justly condemned, and so generally detested, is what +infinitely the greater part of mankind groan under, +and have groaned under from the beginning. So +that, by sure and uncontested principles, the greatest +part of the governments on earth must be concluded +tyrannies, impostures, violations of the natural rights +of mankind, and worse than the most disorderly +anarchies. How much other forms exceed this we +shall consider immediately.</p> + +<p>In all parts of the world, mankind, however debased, +retains still the sense of <i>feeling</i>; the weight +of tyranny at last becomes insupportable; but the +remedy is not so easy: in general, the only remedy +by which they attempt to cure the tyranny is to +change the tyrant. This is, and always was, the case +for the greater part. In some countries, however, +were found men of more penetration, who discovered +"<i>that to live by one man's will was the cause of all men's +misery</i>." They therefore changed their former +method, and assembling the men in their several +societies the most respectable for their understanding +and fortunes, they confided to them the charge of the +public welfare. This originally formed what is called +an <i>aristocracy</i>. They hoped it would be impossible +<!-- Page 59 --><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35" title="35" class="pagenum"></a>that such a number could ever join in any design +against the general good; and they promised themselves +a great deal of security and happiness from the +united counsels of so many able and experienced persons. +But it is now found by abundant experience, +that an <i>aristocracy</i>, and a <i>despotism</i>, differ but in +name; and that a people who are in general excluded +from any share of the legislative, are, to all intents +and purposes, as much slaves, when twenty, independent +of them, govern, as when but one domineers. +The tyranny is even more felt, as every individual of +the nobles has the haughtiness of a sultan; the people +are more miserable, as they seem on the verge of +liberty, from which they are forever debarred; this +fallacious idea of liberty, whilst it presents a vain +shadow of happiness to the subject, binds faster the +chains of his subjection. What is left undone by the +natural avarice and pride of those who are raised +above the others, is completed by their suspicions, and +their dread of losing an authority, which has no support +in the common utility of the nation. A Genoese +or a Venetian republic is a concealed <i>despotism</i>; +where you find the same pride of the rulers, the same +base subjection of the people, the same bloody maxims +of a suspicious policy. In one respect the <i>aristocracy</i> +is worse than the <i>despotism</i>. A body politic, whilst it +retains its authority, never changes its maxims; a +<i>despotism</i>, which is this day horrible to a supreme degree, +by the caprice natural to the heart of man, may, +by the same caprice otherwise exerted, be as lovely +the next; in a succession, it is possible to meet with +some good princes. If there have been Tiberiuses, +Caligulas, Neros, there have been likewise the serener +days of Vespasians, Tituses, Trajans, and Antonines; +<!-- Page 60 --><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36" title="36" class="pagenum"></a>but a body politic is not influenced by caprice or +whim, it proceeds in a regular manner, its succession +is insensible; and every man as he enters it, either +has, or soon attains, the spirit of the whole body. +Never was it known that an <i>aristocracy</i>, which was +haughty and tyrannical in one century, became easy +and mild in the next. In effect, the yoke of this species +of government is so galling, that whenever the +people have got the least power, they have shaken it +off with the utmost indignation, and established a +popular form. And when they have not had strength +enough to support themselves, they have thrown +themselves into the arms of <i>despotism</i>, as the more +eligible of the two evils. This latter was the case of +Denmark, who sought a refuge from the oppression +of its nobility, in the strong hold of arbitrary power. +Poland has at present the name of republic, and it is +one of the <i>aristocratic</i> form; but it is well known that +the little finger of this government is heavier than the +loins of arbitrary power in most nations. The people +are not only politically, but personally slaves, and +treated with the utmost indignity. The republic of +Venice is somewhat more moderate; yet even here, +so heavy is the <i>aristocratic</i> yoke, that the nobles have +been obliged to enervate the spirit of their subjects +by every sort of debauchery; they have denied them +the liberty of reason, and they have made them +amends by what a base soul will think a more valuable +liberty, by not only allowing, but encouraging +them to corrupt themselves in the most scandalous +manner. They consider their subjects as the farmer +does the hog he keeps to feast upon. He holds him +fast in his sty, but allows him to wallow as much as +he pleases in his beloved filth and gluttony. So +<!-- Page 61 --><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37" title="37" class="pagenum"></a>scandalously debauched a people as that of Venice +is to be met with nowhere else. High, low, men, +women, clergy, and laity, are all alike. The ruling +nobility are no less afraid of one another than they +are of the people; and, for that reason, politically +enervate their own body by the same effeminate luxury +by which they corrupt their subjects. They are +impoverished by every means which can be invented; +and they are kept in a perpetual terror by the horrors +of a state inquisition. Here you see a people deprived +of all rational freedom, and tyrannized over by about +two thousand men; and yet this body of two thousand +are so far from enjoying any liberty by the subjection +of the rest, that they are in an infinitely +severer state of slavery; they make themselves the +most degenerate and unhappy of mankind, for no +other purpose than that they may the more effectually +contribute to the misery of a whole nation. In +short, the regular and methodical proceedings of an +<i>aristocracy</i> are more intolerable than the very excesses +of a <i>despotism</i>, and, in general, much further from +any remedy.</p> + +<p>Thus, my lord, we have pursued <i>aristocracy</i> through +its whole progress; we have seen the seeds, the +growth, and the fruit. It could boast none of the +advantages of a <i>despotism</i>, miserable as those advantages +were, and it was overloaded with an exuberance +of mischiefs, unknown even to <i>despotism</i> itself. In +effect, it is no more than a disorderly tyranny. This +form, therefore, could be little approved, even in +speculation, by those who were capable of thinking, +and could be less borne in practice by any who were +capable of feeling. However, the fruitful policy of +man was not yet exhausted. He had yet another +<!-- Page 62 --><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38" title="38" class="pagenum"></a>farthing candle to supply the deficiencies of the sun. +This was the third form, known by political writers +under the name of <i>democracy</i>. Here the people +transacted all public business, or the greater part of +it, in their own persons; their laws were made by +themselves, and, upon any failure of duty, their officers +were accountable to themselves, and to them +only. In all appearance, they had secured by this +method the advantages of order and good government, +without paying their liberty for the purchase. Now, +my lord, we are come to the masterpiece of Grecian +refinement, and Roman solidity,—a popular government. +The earliest and most celebrated republic of +this model was that of Athens. It was constructed +by no less an artist than the celebrated poet and +philosopher, Solon. But no sooner was this political +vessel launched from the stocks, than it overset, even +in the lifetime of the builder. A tyranny immediately +supervened; not by a foreign conquest, not by +accident, but by the very nature and constitution of +a <i>democracy</i>. An artful man became popular, the +people had power in their hands, and they devolved a +considerable share of their power upon their favorite; +and the only use he made of this power was, to plunge +those who gave it into slavery. Accident restored +their liberty, and the same good fortune produced +men of uncommon abilities and uncommon virtues +amongst them. But these abilities were suffered to +be of little service either to their possessors or to the +state. Some of these men, for whose sakes alone we +read their history, they banished; others they imprisoned, +and all they treated with various circumstances +of the most shameful ingratitude. Republics have +many things in the spirit of absolute monarchy, but +<!-- Page 63 --><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39" title="39" class="pagenum"></a>none more than this. A shining merit is ever hated +or suspected in a popular assembly, as well as in a +court; and all services done the state are looked +upon as dangerous to the rulers, whether sultans or +senators. The <i>ostracism</i> at Athens was built upon +this principle. The giddy people whom we have now +under consideration, being elated with some flashes +of success, which they owed to nothing less than any +merit of their own, began to tyrannize over their +equals, who had associated with them for their common +defence. With their prudence they renounced +all appearance of justice. They entered into wars +rashly and wantonly. If they were unsuccessful, instead +of growing wiser by their misfortune, they threw +the whole blame of their own misconduct on the ministers +who had advised, and the generals who had +conducted, those wars; until by degrees they had cut +off all who could serve them in their councils or their +battles. If at any time these wars had a happier +issue, it was no less difficult to deal with them on +account of their pride and insolence. Furious in their +adversity, tyrannical in their successes, a commander +had more trouble to concert his defence before the +people, than to plan the operations of the campaign. +It was not uncommon for a general, under the horrid +<i>despotism</i> of the Roman emperors, to be ill received +in proportion to the greatness of his services. Agricola +is a strong instance of this. No man had done +greater things, nor with more honest ambition. Yet, +on his return to court, he was obliged to enter Rome +with all the secrecy of a criminal. He went to the +palace, not like a victorious commander who had +merited and might demand the greatest rewards, but +like an offender who had come to supplicate a pardon +<!-- Page 64 --><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40" title="40" class="pagenum"></a>for his crimes. His reception was answerable; +"<i>Exceptusque brevi osculo et nullo sermone, turbæ servientium +immixtus est</i>." Yet in that worst season of +this worst of monarchical<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor" +title="Sciant quibus moris illicita mirari, posse etiam sub malis principibus +magnos viros, &c. See 42, to the end of it.">[9]</a> tyrannies, modesty, discretion, +and a coolness of temper, formed some kind +of security, even for the highest merit. But at +Athens, the nicest and best studied behavior was not +a sufficient guard for a man of great capacity. Some +of their bravest commanders were obliged to fly their +country, some to enter into the service of its enemies, +rather than abide a popular determination on their +conduct, lest, as one of them said, their giddiness +might make the people condemn where they meant +to acquit; to throw in a black bean even when they +intended a white one.</p> + +<p>The Athenians made a very rapid progress to the +most enormous excesses. The people, under no restraint, +soon grew dissolute, luxurious, and idle. +They renounced all labor, and began to subsist themselves +from the public revenues. They lost all concern +for their common honor or safety, and could +bear no advice that tended to reform them. At this +time truth became offensive to those lords the people, +and most highly dangerous to the speaker. The orators +no longer ascended the <i>rostrum</i>, but to corrupt +them further with the most fulsome adulation. These +orators were all bribed by foreign princes on the one +side or the other. And besides its own parties, in +this city there were parties, and avowed ones too, for +the Persians, Spartans, and Macedonians, supported +each of them by one or more demagogues pensioned +and bribed to this iniquitous service. The people, +<!-- Page 65 --><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41" title="41" class="pagenum"></a>forgetful of all virtue and public spirit, and intoxicated +with the flatteries of their orators (these courtiers +of republics, and endowed with the distinguishing +characteristics of all other courtiers), this people, I +say, at last arrived at that pitch of madness, that they +coolly and deliberately, by an express law, made it +capital for any man to propose an application of the +immense sums squandered in public shows, even to +the most necessary purposes of the state. When you +see the people of this republic banishing and murdering +their best and ablest citizens, dissipating the public +treasure with the most senseless extravagance, and +spending their whole time, as spectators or actors, in +playing, fiddling, dancing, and singing, does it not, +my lord, strike your imagination with the image of a +sort of complex Nero? And does it not strike you +with the greater horror, when you observe, not one +man only, but a whole city, grown drunk with pride +and power, running with a rage of folly into the same +mean and senseless debauchery and extravagance? +But if this people resembled Nero in their extravagance, +much more did they resemble and even exceed +him in cruelty and injustice. In the time of Pericles, +one of the most celebrated times in the history of that +commonwealth, a king of Egypt sent them a donation +of corn. This they were mean enough to accept. +And had the Egyptian prince intended the ruin of +this city of wicked Bedlamites, he could not have +taken a more effectual method to do it than by such +an ensnaring largess. The distribution of this bounty +caused a quarrel; the majority set on foot an inquiry +into the title of the citizens; and upon a vain pretence +of illegitimacy, newly and occasionally set up, +they deprived of their share of the royal donation no +<!-- Page 66 --><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42" title="42" class="pagenum"></a>less than five thousand of their own body. They went +further; they disfranchised them; and, having once +begun with an act of injustice, they could set no +bounds to it. Not content with cutting them off from +the rights of citizens, they plundered these unfortunate +wretches of all their substance; and, to crown +this masterpiece of violence and tyranny, they actually +sold every man of the five thousand as slaves in +the public market. Observe, my lord, that the five +thousand we here speak of were cut off from a body +of no more than nineteen thousand; for the entire +number of citizens was no greater at that time. +Could the tyrant who wished the Roman people but +one neck; could the tyrant Caligula himself have +done, nay, he could scarcely wish for, a greater mischief +than to have cut off, at one stroke, a fourth of +his people? Or has the cruelty of that series of sanguine +tyrants, the Cæsars, ever presented such a piece +of flagrant and extensive wickedness? The whole +history of this celebrated republic is but one tissue of +rashness, folly, ingratitude, injustice, tumult, violence, +and tyranny, and, indeed, of every species of wickedness +that can well be imagined. This was a city of +wise men, in which a minister could not exercise his +functions; a warlike people, amongst whom a general +did not dare either to gain or lose a battle; a +learned nation, in which a philosopher could not venture +on a free inquiry. This was the city which banished +Themistocles, starved Aristides, forced into exile +Miltiades, drove out Anaxagoras, and poisoned +Socrates. This was a city which changed the form +of its government with the moon; eternal conspiracies, +revolutions daily, nothing fixed and established. +A republic, as an ancient philosopher has observed, is +<!-- Page 67 --><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43" title="43" class="pagenum"></a>no one species of government, but a magazine of every +species; here you find every sort of it, and that in the +worst form. As there is a perpetual change, one rising +and the other falling, you have all the violence +and wicked policy by which a beginning power must +always acquire its strength, and all the weakness by +which falling states are brought to a complete destruction.</p> + +<p>Rome has a more venerable aspect than Athens; +and she conducted her affairs, so far as related to the +ruin and oppression of the greatest part of the world, +with greater wisdom and more uniformity. But the +domestic economy of these two states was nearly or +altogether the same. An internal dissension constantly +tore to pieces the bowels of the Roman commonwealth. +You find the same confusion, the same +factions, which subsisted at Athens, the same tumults, +the same revolutions, and, in fine, the same +slavery; if, perhaps, their former condition did not +deserve that name altogether as well. All other republics +were of the same character. Florence was a +transcript of Athens. And the modern republics, as +they approach more or less to the democratic form, +partake more or less of the nature of those which I +have described.</p> + +<p>We are now at the close of our review of the three +simple forms of artificial society; and we have shown +them, however they may differ in name, or in some +slight circumstances, to be all alike in effect: in +effect, to be all tyrannies. But suppose we were +inclined to make the most ample concessions; let +us concede Athens, Rome, Carthage, and two or +three more of the ancient, and as many of the modern, +commonwealths, to have been, or to be, free +<!-- Page 68 --><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44" title="44" class="pagenum"></a>and happy, and to owe their freedom and happiness +to their political constitution. Yet, allowing all this, +what defence does this make for artificial society in +general, that these inconsiderable spots of the globe +have for some short space of time stood as exceptions +to a charge so general? But when we call these +governments free, or concede that their citizens were +happier than those which lived under different forms, +it is merely <i>ex abundanti</i>. For we should be greatly +mistaken, if we really thought that the majority of +the people which filled these cities enjoyed even that +nominal political freedom of which I have spoken so +much already. In reality, they had no part of it. +In Athens there were usually from ten to thirty +thousand freemen; this was the utmost. But the +slaves usually amounted to four hundred thousand, +and sometimes to a great many more. The freemen +of Sparta and Rome were not more numerous in proportion +to those whom they held in a slavery even +more terrible than the Athenian. Therefore state +the matter fairly: the free states never formed, +though they were taken altogether, the thousandth +part of the habitable globe; the freemen in these +states were never the twentieth part of the people, +and the time they subsisted is scarce anything in +that immense ocean of duration in which time and +slavery are so nearly commensurate. Therefore call +these free states, or popular governments, or what +you please; when we consider the majority of their +inhabitants, and regard the natural rights of mankind, +they must appear, in reality and truth, no better +than pitiful and oppressive oligarchies.</p> + +<p>After so fair an examen, wherein nothing has +been exaggerated; no fact produced which cannot +<!-- Page 69 --><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45" title="45" class="pagenum"></a>be proved, and none which has been produced in +any wise forced or strained, while thousands have, +for brevity, been omitted; after so candid a discussion +in all respects; what slave so passive, what bigot +so blind, what enthusiast so headlong, what politician +so hardened, as to stand up in defence of a system +calculated for a curse to mankind? a curse under +which they smart and groan to this hour, without +thoroughly knowing the nature of the disease, and +wanting understanding or courage to supply the +remedy.</p> + +<p>I need not excuse myself to your lordship, nor, +I think, to any honest man, for the zeal I have +shown in this cause; for it is an honest zeal, and +in a good cause. I have defended natural religion +against a confederacy of atheists and divines. I +now plead for natural society against politicians, and +for natural reason against all three. When the +world is in a fitter temper than it is at present to +hear truth, or when I shall be more indifferent about +its temper, my thoughts may become more public. +In the mean time, let them repose in my own bosom, +and in the bosoms of such men as are fit to be initiated +in the sober mysteries of truth and reason. +My antagonists have already done as much as I could +desire. Parties in religion and politics make sufficient +discoveries concerning each other, to give a +sober man a proper caution against them all. The +monarchic, and aristocratical, and popular partisans, +have been jointly laying their axes to the root of all +government, and have, in their turns, proved each +other absurd and inconvenient. In vain you tell me +that artificial government is good, but that I fall out +only with the abuse. The thing! the thing itself is +<!-- Page 70 --><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46" title="46" class="pagenum"></a>the abuse! Observe, my lord, I pray you, that grand +error upon which all artificial legislative power is +founded. It was observed, that men had ungovernable +passions, which made it necessary to guard +against the violence they might offer to each other. +They appointed governors over them for this reason. +But a worse and more perplexing difficulty arises, +how to be defended against the governors? <i>Quis +custodiet ipsos custodes?</i> In vain they change from a +single person to a few. These few have the passions +of the one; and they unite to strengthen themselves, +and to secure the gratification of their lawless passions +at the expense of the general good. In vain +do we fly to the many. The case is worse; their +passions are less under the government of reason, +they are augmented by the contagion, and defended +against all attacks by their multitude.</p> + +<p>I have purposely avoided the mention of the mixed +form of government, for reasons that will be very +obvious to your lordship. But my caution can avail +me but little. You will not fail to urge it against +me in favor of political society. You will not fail to +show how the errors of the several simple modes +are corrected by a mixture of all of them, and a +proper balance of the several powers in such a state. +I confess, my lord, that this has been long a darling +mistake of my own; and that of all the sacrifices I +have made to truth, this has been by far the greatest. +When I confess that I think this notion a mistake, I +know to whom I am speaking, for I am satisfied that +reasons are like liquors, and there are some of such +a nature as none but strong heads can bear. There +are few with whom I can communicate so freely as +with Pope. But Pope cannot bear every truth. He +<!-- Page 71 --><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47" title="47" class="pagenum"></a>has a timidity which hinders the full exertion of his +faculties, almost as effectually as bigotry cramps those +of the general herd of mankind. But whoever is a +genuine follower of truth keeps his eye steady upon +his guide, indifferent whither he is led, provided that +she is the leader. And, my lord, if it be properly considered, +it were infinitely better to remain possessed +by the whole legion of vulgar mistakes, than to reject +some, and at the same time to retain a fondness +for others altogether as absurd and irrational. The +first has at least a consistency, that makes a man, +however erroneously, uniform at least; but the latter +way of proceeding is such an inconsistent chimera +and jumble of philosophy and vulgar prejudice, that +hardly anything more ridiculous can be conceived. +Let us therefore freely, and without fear or prejudice, +examine this last contrivance of policy. And, without +considering how near the quick our instruments +may come, let us search it to the bottom.</p> + +<p>First, then, all men are agreed that this junction of +regal, aristocratic, and popular power, must form a +very complex, nice, and intricate machine, which +being composed of such a variety of parts, with such +opposite tendencies and movements, it must be liable +on every accident to be disordered. To speak without +metaphor, such a government must be liable to +frequent cabals, tumults, and revolutions, from its +very constitution. These are undoubtedly as ill +effects as can happen in a society; for in such a case, +the closeness acquired by community, instead of serving +for mutual defence, serves only to increase the +danger. Such a system is like a city, where trades +that require constant fires are much exercised, where +the houses are built of combustible materials, and +where they stand extremely close.<!-- Page 72 --><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48" title="48" class="pagenum"></a></p> + +<p>In the second place, the several constituent parts +having their distinct rights, and these many of them +so necessary to be determined with exactness, are yet +so indeterminate in their nature, that it becomes a +new and constant source of debate and confusion. +Hence it is, that whilst the business of government +should be carrying on, the question is, Who has a +right to exercise this or that function of it, or what +men have power to keep their offices in any function? +Whilst this contest continues, and whilst the balance +in any sort continues, it has never any remission; all +manner of abuses and villanies in officers remain +unpunished; the greatest frauds and robberies in the +public revenues are committed in defiance of justice; +and abuses grow, by time and impunity, into customs; +until they prescribe against the laws, and +grow too inveterate often to admit a cure, unless such +as may be as bad as the disease.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, the several parts of this species of government, +though united, preserve the spirit which each +form has separately. Kings are ambitious; the nobility +haughty; and the populace tumultuous and +ungovernable. Each party, however in appearance +peaceable, carries on a design upon the others; and it +is owing to this, that in all questions, whether concerning +foreign or domestic affairs, the whole generally +turns more upon some party-matter than upon +the nature of the thing itself; whether such a step +will diminish or augment the power of the crown, or +how far the privileges of the subject are likely to be +extended or restricted by it. And these questions +are constantly resolved, without any consideration of +the merits of the cause, merely as the parties who +uphold these jarring interests may chance to prevail; +<!-- Page 73 --><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49" title="49" class="pagenum"></a>and as they prevail, the balance is overset, now upon +one side, now upon the other. The government is, +one day, arbitrary power in a single person; another, +a juggling confederacy of a few to cheat the prince +and enslave the people; and the third, a frantic and +unmanageable democracy. The great instrument of +all these changes, and what infuses a peculiar venom +into all of them, is party. It is of no consequence +what the principles of any party, or what their pretensions +are; the spirit which actuates all parties is the +same; the spirit of ambition, of self-interest, of oppression +and treachery. This spirit entirely reverses +all the principles which a benevolent nature has +erected within us; all honesty, all equal justice, and +even the ties of natural society, the natural affections. +In a word, my lord, we have all <i>seen</i>, and, if any outward +considerations were worthy the lasting concern +of a wise man, we have some of us <i>felt</i>, such oppression +from party government as no other tyranny can +parallel. We behold daily the most important rights, +rights upon which all the others depend, we behold +these rights determined in the last resort, without the +least attention even to the appearance or color of +justice; we behold this without emotion, because we +have grown up in the constant view of such practices; +and we are not surprised to hear a man requested to +be a knave and a traitor, with as much indifference +as if the most ordinary favor were asked; and we +hear this request refused, not because it is a most +unjust and unreasonable desire, but because this +worthy has already engaged his injustice to another. +These and many more points I am for from spreading +to their full extent. You are sensible that I do not +put forth half my strength; and you cannot be at a +<!-- Page 74 --><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50" title="50" class="pagenum"></a>loss for the reason. A man is allowed sufficient freedom +of thought, provided he knows how to choose +his subject properly. You may criticise freely upon +the Chinese constitution, and observe with as much +severity as you please upon the absurd tricks, or destructive +bigotry of the bonzees. But the scene is +changed as you come homeward, and atheism or treason +may be the names given in Britain, to what would +be reason and truth if asserted of China. I submit +to the condition, and though I have a notorious advantage +before me, I waive the pursuit. For else, +my lord, it is very obvious what a picture might be +drawn of the excesses of party even in our own nation. +I could show, that the same faction has, in +one reign, promoted popular seditions, and, in the +next, been a patron of tyranny: I could show that +they have all of them betrayed the public safety at +all times, and have very frequently with equal perfidy +made a market of their own cause and their own +associates. I could show how vehemently they have +contended for names, and how silently they have +passed over things of the last importance. And I +could demonstrate that they have had the opportunity +of doing all this mischief, nay, that they themselves +had their origin and growth from that complex form +of government, which we are wisely taught to look +upon as so great a blessing. Revolve, my lord, our +history from the Conquest. We scarcely ever had a +prince, who, by fraud or violence, had not made some +infringement on the constitution. We scarcely ever +had a Parliament which knew, when it attempted to +set limits to the royal authority, how to set limits to +its own. Evils we have had continually calling for +reformation, and reformations more grievous than any +<!-- Page 75 --><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51" title="51" class="pagenum"></a>evils. Our boasted liberty sometimes trodden down, +sometimes giddily set up, and ever precariously fluctuating +and unsettled; it has only been kept alive by the +blasts of continual feuds, wars, and conspiracies. In +no country in Europe has the scaffold so often blushed +with the blood of its nobility. Confiscations, banishments, +attainders, executions, make a large part of +the history of such of our families as are not utterly +extinguished by them. Formerly, indeed, things had +a more ferocious appearance than they have at this +day. In these early and unrefined ages, the jarring +part of a certain chaotic constitution supported their +several pretensions by the sword. Experience and +policy have since taught other methods.</p> + +<blockquote style="text-align: center"> +<p>At nunc res agitur tenui pulmone rubetæ.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">But how far corruption, venality, the contempt of +honor, the oblivion of all duty to our country, and +the most abandoned public prostitution, are preferable +to the more glaring and violent effects of faction, +I will not presume to determine. Sure I am that +they are very great evils.</p> + +<p>I have done with the forms of government. During +the course of my inquiry you may have observed +a very material difference between my manner of reasoning +and that which is in use amongst the abettors +of artificial society. They form their plans upon +what seems most eligible to their imaginations, for +the ordering of mankind. I discover the mistakes in +those plans, from the real known consequences which +have resulted from them. They have enlisted reason +to fight against itself, and employ its whole force to +prove that it is an insufficient guide to them in the +conduct of their lives. But unhappily for us, in proportion +as we have deviated from the plain rule of our +<!-- Page 76 --><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52" title="52" class="pagenum"></a>nature, and turned our reason against itself, in that +proportion have we increased the follies and miseries +of mankind. The more deeply we penetrate into the +labyrinth of art, the further we find ourselves from +those ends for which we entered it. This has happened +in almost every species of artificial society, and +in all times. We found, or we thought we found, an +inconvenience in having every man the judge of his +own cause. Therefore judges were set up, at first, +with discretionary powers. But it was soon found a +miserable slavery to have our lives and properties precarious, +and hanging upon the arbitrary determination +of any one man, or set of men. We fled to laws +as a remedy for this evil. By these we persuaded +ourselves we might know with some certainty upon +what ground we stood. But lo! differences arose upon +the sense and interpretation of those laws. Thus +we were brought back to our old incertitude. New +laws were made to expound the old; and new +difficulties arose upon the new laws; as words multiplied, +opportunities of cavilling upon them multiplied also. +Then recourse was had to notes, comments, glosses, +reports, <i>responsa prudentum</i>, learned readings: eagle +stood against eagle: authority was set up against +authority. Some were allured by the modern, others +reverenced the ancient. The new were more enlightened, +the old were more venerable. Some adopted +the comment, others stuck to the text. The confusion +increased, the mist thickened, until it could be discovered +no longer what was allowed or forbidden, +what things were in property, and what common. In +this uncertainty, (uncertain even to the professors, +an Egyptian darkness to the rest of mankind), the +contending parties felt themselves more effectually +<!-- Page 77 --><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53" title="53" class="pagenum"></a>ruined by the delay, than they could have been by +the injustice of any decision. Our inheritances are +become a prize for disputation; and disputes and litigations +are become an inheritance.</p> + +<p>The professors of artificial law have always walked +hand in hand with the professors of artificial theology. +As their end, in confounding the reason of man, and +abridging his natural freedom, is exactly the same, +they have adjusted the means to that end in a way +entirely similar. The divine thunders out his <i>anathemas</i> +with more noise and terror against the breach +of one of his positive institutions, or the neglect of +some of his trivial forms, than against the neglect or +breach of those duties and commandments of natural +religion, which by these forms and institutions he pretends +to enforce. The lawyer has his forms, and his +positive institutions too, and he adheres to them with +a veneration altogether as religious. The worst cause +cannot be so prejudicial to the litigant, as his advocate's +or attorney's ignorance or neglect of these +forms. A lawsuit is like an ill-managed dispute, in +which the first object is soon out of sight, and the +parties end upon a matter wholly foreign to that on +which they began. In a lawsuit the question is, who +has a right to a certain house or farm? And this +question is daily determined, not upon the evidence +of the right, but upon the observance or neglect of +some forms of words in use with the gentlemen of the +robe, about which there is even amongst themselves +such a disagreement, that the most experienced veterans +in the profession can never be positively assured +that they are not mistaken.</p> + +<p>Let us expostulate with these learned sages, these +priests of the sacred temple of justice. Are we judges +<!-- Page 78 --><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54" title="54" class="pagenum"></a>of our own property? By no means. You then, who +are initiated into the mysteries of the blindfold goddess, +inform me whether I have a right to eat the +bread I have earned by the hazard of my life or the +sweat of my brow? The grave doctor answers me in +the affirmative; the reverend serjeant replies in the +negative; the learned barrister reasons upon one side +and upon the other, and concludes nothing. What +shall I do? An antagonist starts up and presses me +hard. I enter the field, and retain these three persons +to defend my cause. My cause, which two farmers +from the plough could have decided in half an +hour, takes the court twenty years. I am however at +the end of my labor, and have in reward for all my +toil and vexation a judgment in my favor. But hold—a +sagacious commander, in the adversary's army, +has found a flaw in the proceeding. My triumph is +turned into mourning. I have used <i>or</i>, instead of +<i>and</i>, or some mistake, small in appearance, but dreadful +in its consequences; and have the whole of my +success quashed in a writ of error. I remove my +suit; I shift from court to court; I fly from equity +to law, and from law to equity; equal uncertainty +attends me everywhere; and a mistake in which I +had no share, decides at once upon my liberty and +property, sending me from the court to a prison, and +adjudging my family to beggary and famine. I am +innocent, gentlemen, of the darkness and uncertainty +of your science. I never darkened it with absurd and +contradictory notions, nor confounded it with chicane +and sophistry. You have excluded me from any +share in the conduct of my own cause; the science +was too deep for me; I acknowledged it; but it was +too deep even for yourselves: you have made the way +<!-- Page 79 --><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55" title="55" class="pagenum"></a>so intricate, that you are yourselves lost in it; you +err, and you punish me for your errors.</p> + +<p>The delay of the law is, your lordship will tell me, +a trite topic, and which of its abuses have not been +too severely felt not to be complained of? A man's +property is to serve for the purposes of his support; +and therefore, to delay a determination concerning +that, is the worst injustice, because it cuts off the +very end and purpose for which I applied to the +judicature for relief. Quite contrary in the case of +a man's life; there the determination can hardly be +too much protracted. Mistakes in this case are as +often fallen into as many other; and if the judgment +is sudden, the mistakes are the most irretrievable of +all others. Of this the gentlemen of the robe are +themselves sensible, and they have brought it into a +maxim. <i>De morte hominis nulla est cunctatio longa.</i> +But what could have induced them to reverse the +rules, and to contradict that reason which dictated +them, I am utterly unable to guess. A point concerning +property, which ought, for the reasons I have +just mentioned, to be most speedily decided, frequently +exercises the wit of successions of lawyers, +for many generations. <i>Multa virûm volvens durando +sæcula vincit.</i> But the question concerning a man's +life, that great question in which no delay ought to +be counted tedious, is commonly determined in +twenty-four hours at the utmost. It is not to be +wondered at, that injustice and absurdity should be +inseparable companions.</p> + +<p>Ask of politicians the end for which laws were originally +designed; and they will answer, that the laws +were designed as a protection for the poor and weak, +against the oppression of the rich and powerful. +<!-- Page 80 --><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56" title="56" class="pagenum"></a>But surely no pretence can be so ridiculous; a man +might as well tell me he has taken off my load, because +he has changed the burden. If the poor man +is not able to support his suit, according to the vexatious +and expensive manner established in civilized +countries, has not the rich as great an advantage +over him as the strong has over the weak in a state +of nature? But we will not place the state of nature, +which is the reign of God, in competition with +political society, which is the absurd usurpation of +man. In a state of nature, it is true that a man of +superior force may beat or rob me; but then it is +true, that I am at full liberty to defend myself, or +make reprisal by surprise or by cunning, or by any +other way in which I may be superior to him. But +in political society, a rich man may rob me in another +way. I cannot defend myself; for money is +the only weapon with which we are allowed to fight. +And if I attempt to avenge myself the whole force of +that society is ready to complete my ruin.</p> + +<p>A good parson once said, that where mystery begins, +religion ends. Cannot I say, as truly at least, +of human laws, that where mystery begins, justice +ends? It is hard to say, whether the doctors of law +or divinity have made the greater advances in the +lucrative business of mystery. The lawyers, as well +as the theologians, have erected another reason besides +natural reason; and the result has been, another +justice besides natural justice. They have so +bewildered the world and themselves in unmeaning +forms and ceremonies, and so perplexed the plainest +matters with metaphysical jargon, that it carries the +highest danger to a man out of that profession, to +make the least step without their advice and as<!-- Page 81 --><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57" title="57" class="pagenum"></a>sistance. +Thus, by confining to themselves the +knowledge of the foundation of all men's lives and +properties, they have reduced all mankind into the +most abject and servile dependence. We are tenants +at the will of these gentlemen for everything; +and a metaphysical quibble is to decide whether the +greatest villain breathing shall meet his deserts, or +escape with impunity, or whether the best man in +the society shall not be reduced to the lowest and most +despicable condition it affords. In a word, my lord, +the injustice, delay, puerility, false refinement, and +affected mystery of the law are such, that many who +live under it come to admire and envy the expedition, +simplicity, and equality of arbitrary judgments. +I need insist the less on this article to your lordship, +as you have frequently lamented the miseries derived +to us from artificial law, and your candor is the more +to be admired and applauded in this, as your lordship's +noble house has derived its wealth and its +honors from that profession.</p> + +<p>Before we finish our examination of artificial society, +I shall lead your lordship into a closer consideration +of the relations which it gives birth to, and the +benefits, if such they are, which result from these relations. +The most obvious division of society is into +rich and poor; and it is no less obvious, that the +number of the former bear a great disproportion to +those of the latter. The whole business of the poor +is to administer to the idleness, folly, and luxury of +the rich; and that of the rich, in return, is to find +the best methods of confirming the slavery and increasing +the burdens of the poor. In a state of nature, +it is an invariable law, that a man's acquisitions +are in proportion to his labors. In a state of artificial +<!-- Page 82 --><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58" title="58" class="pagenum"></a>society, it is a law as constant and as invariable, that +those who labor most enjoy the fewest things; and +that those who labor not at all have the greatest number +of enjoyments. A constitution of things this, +strange and ridiculous beyond expression! We scarce +believe a thing when we are told it, which we actually +see before our eyes every day without being in +the least surprised. I suppose that there are in +Great Britain upwards of a hundred thousand people +employed in lead, tin, iron, copper, and coal mines; +these unhappy wretches scarce ever see the light of +the sun; they are buried in the bowels of the earth; +there they work at a severe and dismal task, without +the least prospect of being delivered from it; they +subsist upon the coarsest and worst sort of fare; they +have their health miserably impaired, and their lives +cut short, by being perpetually confined in the close +vapor of these malignant minerals. A hundred thousand +more at least are tortured without remission by +the suffocating smoke, intense fires, and constant +drudgery necessary in refining and managing the +products of those mines. If any man informed us +that two hundred thousand innocent persons were +condemned to so intolerable slavery, how should we +pity the unhappy sufferers, and how great would be +our just indignation against those who inflicted so +cruel and ignominious a punishment! This is an instance—I +could not wish a stronger—of the numberless +things which we pass by in their common +dress, yet which shock us when they are nakedly represented. +But this number, considerable as it is, and +the slavery, with all its baseness and horror, which +we have at home, is nothing to what the rest of the +world affords of the same nature. Millions daily +<!-- Page 83 --><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59" title="59" class="pagenum"></a>bathed in the poisonous damps and destructive effluvia +of lead, silver, copper, and arsenic. To say nothing +of those other employments, those stations of +wretchedness and contempt, in which civil society +has placed the numerous <i>enfans perdus</i> of her army. +Would any rational man submit to one of the most +tolerable of these drudgeries, for all the artificial enjoyments +which policy has made to result from them? +By no means. And yet need I suggest to your lordship, +that those who find the means, and those who +arrive at the end, are not at all the same persons? +On considering the strange and unaccountable fancies +and contrivances of artificial reason, I have somewhere +called this earth the Bedlam of our system. +Looking now upon the effects of some of those fancies, +may we not with equal reason call it likewise +the Newgate and the Bridewell of the universe? Indeed +the blindness of one part of mankind co-operating +with the frenzy and villany of the other, has been +the real builder of this respectable fabric of political +society: and as the blindness of mankind has caused +their slavery, in return their state of slavery is made +a pretence for continuing them in a state of blindness; +for the politician will tell you gravely, that +their life of servitude disqualifies the greater part of +the race of man for a search of truth, and supplies +them with no other than mean and insufficient ideas. +This is but too true; and this is one of the reasons +for which I blame such institutions.</p> + +<p>In a misery of this sort, admitting some few lenitives, +and those too but a few, nine parts in ten of the +whole race of mankind drudge through life. It may +be urged perhaps, in palliation of this, that at least +the rich few find a considerable and real benefit from +<!-- Page 84 --><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60" title="60" class="pagenum"></a>the wretchedness of the many. But is this so in fact? +Let us examine the point with a little more attention. +For this purpose the rich in all societies may he +thrown into two classes. The first is of those who are +powerful as well as rich, and conduct the operations +of the vast political machine. The other is of those +who employ their riches wholly in the acquisition of +pleasure. As to the first sort, their continual care +and anxiety, their toilsome days, and sleepless nights, +are next to proverbial. These circumstances are sufficient +almost to level their condition to that of the +unhappy majority; but there are other circumstances +which place them, in a far lower condition. Not only +their understandings labor continually, which is the +severest labor, but their hearts are torn by the worst, +most troublesome, and insatiable of all passions, by +avarice, by ambition, by fear and jealousy. No part +of the mind has rest. Power gradually extirpates +from the mind every humane and gentle virtue. Pity, +benevolence, friendship, are things almost unknown +in high stations. <i>Veræ amicitiæ rarissime inveniuntur +in iis qui in honoribus reque publica versantur</i>, says +Cicero. And indeed courts are the schools where +cruelty, pride, dissimulation, and treachery are studied +and taught in the most vicious perfection. This +is a point so clear and acknowledged, that if it did +not make a necessary part of my subject, I should +pass it by entirely. And this has hindered me from +drawing at full length, and in the most striking colors, +this shocking picture of the degeneracy and +wretchedness of human nature, in that part which is +vulgarly thought its happiest and most amiable state. +You know from what originals I could copy such +pictures. Happy are they who know enough of them +<!-- Page 85 --><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61" title="61" class="pagenum"></a>to know the little value of the possessors of such +things, and of all that they possess; and happy they +who have been snatched from that post of danger +which they occupy, with the remains of their virtue; +loss of honors, wealth, titles, and even the loss of +one's country, is nothing in balance with so great an +advantage.</p> + +<p>Let us now view the other species of the rich, those +who devote their time and fortunes to idleness and +pleasure. How much happier are they? The pleasures +which are agreeable to nature are within the +reach of all, and therefore can form no distinction in +favor of the rich. The pleasures which art forces up +are seldom sincere, and never satisfying. What is +worse, this constant application to pleasure takes +away from the enjoyment, or rather turns it into the +nature of a very burdensome and laborious business. +It has consequences much more fatal. It produces +a weak valetudinary state of body, attended by all +those horrid disorders, and yet more horrid methods +of cure, which are the result of luxury on the one +hand, and the weak and ridiculous efforts of human +art on the other. The pleasures of such men are +scarcely felt as pleasures; at the same time that they +bring on pains and diseases, which are felt but too +severely. The mind has its share of the misfortune; +it grows lazy and enervate, unwilling and unable to +search for truth, and utterly uncapable of knowing, +much less of relishing, real happiness. The poor by +their excessive labor, and the rich by their enormous +luxury, are set upon a level, and rendered equally +ignorant of any knowledge which might conduce to +their happiness. A dismal view of the interior of all +civil society! The lower part broken and ground down +<!-- Page 86 --><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62" title="62" class="pagenum"></a>by the most cruel oppression; and the rich by their +artificial method of life bringing worse evils on themselves +than their tyranny could possibly inflict on those +below them. Very different is the prospect of the natural +state. Here there are no wants which nature +gives, and in this state men can be sensible of no +other wants, which are not to be supplied by a very +moderate degree of labor; therefore there is no slavery. +Neither is there any luxury, because no single +man can supply the materials of it. Life is simple, +and therefore it is happy.</p> + +<p>I am conscious, my lord, that your politician will +urge in his defence, that this unequal state is highly +useful. That without dooming some part of mankind +to extraordinary toil, the arts which cultivate life +could not be exercised. But I demand of this politician, +how such arts came to be necessary? He answers, +that civil society could not well exist without +them. So that these arts are necessary to civil society, +and civil society necessary again to these arts. +Thus are we running in a circle, without modesty, +and without end, and making one error and extravagance +an excuse for the other. My sentiments about +these arts and their cause, I have often discoursed +with my friends at large. Pope has expressed them +in good verse, where he talks with so much force of +reason and elegance of language, in praise of the +state of nature:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Then was not pride, nor arts that pride to aid,</div> +<div>Man walked with beast, joint tenant of the shade."</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>On the whole, my lord, if political society, in whatever +form, has still made the many the property of the +few; if it has introduced labors unnecessary, vices +and diseases unknown, and pleasures incompatible +<!-- Page 87 --><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63" title="63" class="pagenum"></a>with nature; if in all countries it abridges the lives of +millions, and renders those of millions more utterly +abject and miserable, shall we still worship so destructive +an idol, and daily sacrifice to it our health, our +liberty, and our peace? Or shall we pass by this monstrous +heap of absurd notions, and abominable practices, +thinking we have sufficiently discharged our +duty in exposing the trifling, cheats, and ridiculous +juggles of a few mad, designing, or ambitious priests? +Alas! my lord, we labor under a mortal consumption, +whilst we are so anxious about the cure of a sore finger. +For has not this leviathan of civil power overflowed +the earth with a deluge of blood, as if he were +made to disport and play therein? We have shown +that political society, on a moderate calculation, has +been the means of murdering several times the number +of inhabitants now upon the earth, during its +short existence, not upwards of four thousand years +in any accounts to be depended on. But we have +said nothing of the other, and perhaps as bad, consequence +of these wars, which have spilled such seas of +blood, and reduced so many millions to a merciless +slavery. But these are only the ceremonies performed +in the porch of the political temple. Much more horrid +ones are seen as you enter it. The several species +of government vie with each other in the absurdity +of their constitutions, and the oppression which they +make their subjects endure. Take them under what +form you please, they are in effect but a despotism, +and they fall, both in effect and appearance too, after +a very short period, into that cruel and detestable species +of tyranny: which I rather call it, because we have +been educated under another form, than that this is +of worse consequences to mankind. For the free gov<!-- Page 88 --><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64" title="64" class="pagenum"></a>ernments, +for the point of their space, and the moment +of their duration, have felt more confusion, and +committed more flagrant acts of tyranny, than the +most perfect despotic governments which we have +ever known. Turn your eye next to the labyrinth +of the law, and the iniquity conceived in its intricate +recesses. Consider the ravages committed in the +bowels of all commonwealths by ambition, by avarice, +envy, fraud, open injustice, and pretended friendship; +vices which could draw little support from a state of +nature, but which blossom and flourish in the rankness +of political society. Revolve our whole discourse; +add to it all those reflections which your own good +understanding shall suggest, and make a strenuous +effort beyond the reach of vulgar philosophy, to confess +that the cause of artificial society is more defenceless +even than that of artificial religion; that it +is as derogatory from the honor of the Creator, as subversive +of human reason, and productive of infinitely +more mischief to the human race.</p> + +<p>If pretended revelations have caused wars where +they were opposed, and slavery where they were received, +the pretended wise inventions of politicians +have done the same. But the slavery has been much +heavier, the wars far more bloody, and both more +universal by many degrees. Show me any mischief +produced by the madness or wickedness of theologians, +and I will show you a hundred resulting +from the ambition and villany of conquerors and +statesmen. Show me an absurdity in religion, and I +will undertake to show you a hundred for one in political +laws and institutions. If you say that natural +religion is a sufficient guide without the foreign aid +of revelation, on what principle should political laws +<!-- Page 89 --><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65" title="65" class="pagenum"></a>become necessary? Is not the same reason available +in theology and in politics? If the laws of nature are +the laws of God, is it consistent with the Divine wisdom +to prescribe rules to us, and leave the enforcement +of them to the folly of human institutions? +Will you follow truth but to a certain point?</p> + +<p>We are indebted for all our miseries to our distrust +of that guide which Providence thought sufficient for +our condition, our own natural reason, which rejecting +both in human and divine things, we have given +our necks to the yoke of political and theological slavery. +We have renounced the prerogative of man, +and it is no wonder that we should be treated like +beasts. But our misery is much greater than theirs, +as the crime we commit in rejecting the lawful dominion +of our reason is greater than any which they +can commit. If, after all, you should confess all these +things, yet plead the necessity of political institutions, +weak and wicked as they are, I can argue with equal, +perhaps superior, force, concerning the necessity of +artificial religion; and every step you advance in +your argument, you add a strength to mine. So that +if we are resolved to submit our reason, and our liberty +to civil usurpation, we have nothing to do but +to conform as quietly as we can to the vulgar notions +which are connected with this, and take up the theology +of the vulgar as well as their politics. But if +we think this necessity rather imaginary than real, +we should renounce their dreams of society, together +with their visions of religion, and vindicate ourselves +into perfect liberty.</p> + +<p>You are, my lord, but just entering into the world; +I am going out of it. I have played long enough to +be heartily tired of the drama. Whether I have acted +<!-- Page 90 --><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66" title="66" class="pagenum"></a>my part in it well or ill, posterity will judge with +more candor than I, or than the present age, with +our present passions, can possibly pretend to. For +my part, I quit it without a sigh, and submit to the +sovereign order without murmuring. The nearer we +approach to the goal of life, the better we begin to +understand the true value of our existence, and the +real weight of our opinions. We set out much in +love with both; but we leave much behind us as we +advance. We first throw away the tales along with +the rattles of our nurses: those of the priest keep +their hold a little longer; those of our governors the +longest of all. But the passions which prop these +opinions are withdrawn one after another; and the +cool light of reason, at the setting of our life, shows +us what a false splendor played upon these objects +during our more sanguine seasons. Happy, my lord, +if instructed by my experience, and even by my errors, +you come early to make such an estimate of things, as +may give freedom and ease to your life. I am happy +that such an estimate promises me comfort at my +death.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p> +<a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> +Had his lordship lived to our days, to have seen the noble relief +given by this nation to the distressed Portuguese, he had perhaps +owned this part of his argument a little weakened; but we do not +think ourselves entitled to alter his lordship's words, but that we are +bound to follow him exactly.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p> +<a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> +Sciant quibus moris illicita mirari, posse etiam sub malis principibus +magnos viros, &c. See 42, to the end of it.</p></div> +<!-- Page 91 --><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67" title="67" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_PHILOSOPHICAL_INQUIRY" id="A_PHILOSOPHICAL_INQUIRY"></a> +<span style="font-size: 60%">A</span><br /> +<br /> +PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">INTO THE ORIGIN OF OUR IDEAS OF</span><br /> +<br /> +THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">WITH</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">CONCERNING</span><br /> +<br /> +TASTE,<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">AND SEVERAL OTHER ADDITIONS</span><br /> +</h2> +<p /> +<p style="text-indent: 0">*** <i>The first edition of this work was published in 1756;<br /> + the second with large additions, in the year 1757.</i><br /> +<!-- Page 92 --><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68" title="68" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 93 --><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69" title="69" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE2" id="PREFACE2"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>I have endeavored to make this edition something +more full and satisfactory than the first. I +have sought with the utmost care, and read with +equal attention, everything which has appeared in +public against my opinions; I have taken advantage +of the candid liberty of my friends; and if by these +means I have been better enabled to discover the +imperfections of the work, the indulgence it has +received, imperfect as it was, furnished me with a +new motive to spare no reasonable pains for its improvement. +Though I have not found sufficient reason, +or what appeared to me sufficient, for making +any material change in my theory, I have found it +necessary in many places to explain, illustrate, and +enforce it. I have prefixed an introductory discourse +concerning Taste; it is a matter curious in +itself; and it leads naturally enough to the principal +inquiry. This, with the other explanations, has +made the work considerably larger; and by increasing +its bulk has, I am afraid, added to its faults; so +that notwithstanding all my attention, it may stand +in need of a yet greater share of indulgence than it +required at its first appearance.</p> + +<p>They who are accustomed to studies of this nature +will expect, and they will allow too for many faults. +They know that many of the objects of our inquiry +<!-- Page 94 --><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70" title="70" class="pagenum"></a>are in themselves obscure and intricate; and that +many others have been rendered so by affected refinements, +or false learning; they know that there are +many impediments in the subject, in the prejudices +of others, and even in our own, that render it a matter +of no small difficulty to show in a clear light the +genuine face of nature. They know that whilst the +mind is intent on the general scheme of things, some +particular parts must be neglected; that we must +often submit the style to the matter, and frequently +give up the praise of elegance, satisfied with being +clear.</p> + +<p>The characters of nature are legible, it is true; +but they are not plain enough to enable those who +run, to read them. We must make use of a cautious, +I had almost said, a timorous method of proceeding. +We must not attempt to fly, when we can +scarcely pretend to creep. In considering any complex +matter, we ought to examine every distinct +ingredient in the composition, one by one; and reduce +everything to the utmost simplicity; since the +condition of our nature binds us to a strict law +and very narrow limits. We ought afterwards to +re-examine the principles by the effect of the composition, +as well as the composition by that of the +principles. We ought to compare our subject with +things of a similar nature, and even with things of +a contrary nature; for discoveries may be, and often +are made by the contrast, which would escape us on +the single view. The greater number of the comparisons +we make, the more general and the more +certain our knowledge is likely to prove, as built +upon a more extensive and perfect induction.</p> + +<p>If an inquiry thus carefully conducted should fail +<!-- Page 95 --><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71" title="71" class="pagenum"></a>at last of discovering the truth, it may answer an end +perhaps as useful, in discovering to us the weakness of +our own understanding. If it does not make us knowing, +it may make us modest. If it does not preserve +us from error, it may at least from the spirit of error; +and may make us cautious of pronouncing with positiveness +or with haste, when so much labor may end in so much +uncertainty.</p> + +<p>I could wish that, in examining this theory, the +same method were pursued which I endeavored to +observe in forming it. The objections, in my opinion, +ought to be proposed, either to the several principles +as they are distinctly considered, or to the +justness of the conclusion which is drawn from them. +But it is common to pass over both the premises and +conclusion in silence, and to produce, as an objection, +some poetical passage which does not seem +easily accounted for upon the principles I endeavor +to establish. This manner of proceeding I should +think very improper. The task would be infinite, if +we could establish no principle until we had previously +unravelled the complex texture of every +image or description to be found in poets and orators. +And though we should never be able to reconcile +the effect of such images to our principles, +this can never overturn the theory itself, whilst it is +founded on certain and indisputable facts. A theory +founded on experiment, and not assumed, is always +good for so much as it explains. Our inability to +push it indefinitely is no argument at all against it. +This inability may be owing to our ignorance of some +necessary <i>mediums</i>; to a want of proper application; +to many other causes besides a defect in the principles +we employ. In reality, the subject requires a +<!-- Page 96 --><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72" title="72" class="pagenum"></a>much closer attention than we dare claim from our +manner of treating it.</p> + +<p>If it should not appear on the face of the work, I +must caution the reader against imagining that I intended +a full dissertation on the Sublime and Beautiful. +My inquiry went no farther than to the origin +of these ideas. If the qualities which I have ranged +under the head of the Sublime be all found consistent +with each other, and all different from those which I +place under the head of Beauty; and if those which +compose the class of the Beautiful have the same +consistency with themselves, and the same opposition +to those which are classed under the denomination of +Sublime, I am in little pain whether anybody chooses +to follow the name I give them or not, provided he +allows that what I dispose under different heads are +in reality different things in nature. The use I +make of the words may be blamed, as too confined +or too extended; my meaning cannot well be misunderstood.</p> + +<p>To conclude: whatever progress may be made +towards the discovery of truth in this matter, I do +not repent the pains I have taken in it. The use of +such inquiries may be very considerable. Whatever +turns the soul inward on itself, tends to concentre its +forces, and to fit it for greater and stronger flights of +science. By looking into physical causes our minds +are opened and enlarged; and in this pursuit, whether +we take or whether we lose our game, the chase is +certainly of service. Cicero, true as he was to the +academic philosophy, and consequently led to reject +the certainty of physical, as of every other kind of +knowledge, yet freely confesses its great importance +to the human understanding: "<i>Est animorum inge</i><!-- Page 97 --><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73" title="73" class="pagenum"></a><i>niorumque +nostrorum naturale quoddam quasi pabulum +consideratio contemplatioque naturæ</i>." If we can +direct the lights we derive from such exalted +speculations upon the humbler field of the imagination, +whilst we investigate the springs, and trace the +courses of our passions, we may not only communicate +to the taste a sort of philosophical solidity, but +we may reflect back on the severer sciences some of +the graces and elegances of taste, without which the +greatest proficiency in those sciences will always have +the appearance of something illiberal. +<!-- Page 98 --><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74" title="74" class="pagenum"></a> +<!-- Page 99 --><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75" title="75" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p /> <!-- see comment above on TOC --> +<ul class="TOC"> +<li> <!-- without this , firefox puts the 1st numbers in wrong place ! --> +<span class="tocright">Page</span></li> +<li> +<a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION: On Taste</a> +<span class="tocright"> <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span></li> +<li /><li> <!-- Empty list element gives better spacing in IE --> +<a href="#PART_I">PART I</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></span></li> +<li><ul class="TOCSub"> +<li> +I. Novelty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></span></li> +<li> +II. Pain and Pleasure +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></span></li> +<li> +III. The Difference between the Removal of Pain and Positive +Pleasure +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></span></li> +<li> +IV. Of Delight and Pleasure, as opposed to each other +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></span></li> +<li> +V. Joy and Grief +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></span></li> +<li> +VI. Of the Passions which belong to Self-Preservation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></span></li> +<li> +VII. Of the Sublime +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></span></li> +<li> +VIII. Of the Passions which belong to Society +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></span></li> +<li> +IX. The Final Cause of the Difference between the Passions +belonging to Self-Preservation, and those which regard +the Society of the Sexes +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></span></li> +<li> +X. Of Beauty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></span></li> +<li> +XI. Society and Solitude +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></span></li> +<li> +XII. Sympathy, Imitation, and Ambition +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></span></li> +<li> +XIII. Sympathy +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></span></li> +<li> +XIV. The Effects of Sympathy in the Distresses of Others +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></span></li> +<li> +XV. Of the Effects of Tragedy +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></span></li> +<li> +XVI. Imitation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></span></li> +<li> +XVII. Ambition +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></span></li> +<li> +XVIII. The Recapitulation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></span></li> +<li> +XIX. The Conclusion +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></span></li> +</ul></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#PART_II">PART II.</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></span></li> +<li><ul class="TOCSub"> +<li> +I. Of the Passion caused by the Sublime +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></span></li> +<li> +II. Terror +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></span></li> +<li> +III. Obscurity +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></span></li> +<li><!-- Page 100 --><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76" title="76" class="pagenum"></a> +IV. Of the Difference between Clearness and Obscurity +with regard to the Passions +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></span></li> +<li> +[IV.] The Same Subject continued +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></span></li> +<li> +V. Power +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></span></li> +<li> +VI. Privation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></span></li> +<li> +VII. Vastness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></span></li> +<li> +VIII. Infinity +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></span></li> +<li> +IX. Succession and Uniformity +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></span></li> +<li> +X. Magnitude in Building +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></span></li> +<li> +XI. Infinity in Pleasing Objects +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></span></li> +<li> +XII. Difficulty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></span></li> +<li> +XIII. Magnificence +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></span></li> +<li> +XIV. Light +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_156">156</a></span></li> +<li> +XV. Light in Building +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></span></li> +<li> +XVI. Color considered as productive of the Sublime +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></span></li> +<li> +XVII. Sound and Loudness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></span></li> +<li> +XVIII. Suddenness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></span></li> +<li> +XIX. Intermitting +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></span></li> +<li> +XX. The Cries of Animals +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></span></li> +<li> +XXI. Smell and Taste—Bitters and Stenches +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></span></li> +<li> +XXII. Feeling.—Pain +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></span></li> +</ul></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#PART_III">PART III.</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></span></li> +<li><ul class="TOCSub"> +<li> +I. Of Beauty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></span></li> +<li> +II. Proportion not the Cause of Beauty in Vegetables +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></span></li> +<li> +III. Proportion not the Cause of Beauty in Animals +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></span></li> +<li> +IV. Proportion not the Cause of Beauty in the Human +Species +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></span></li> +<li> +V. Proportion further considered +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></span></li> +<li> +VI. Fitness not the Cause of Beauty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></span></li> +<li> +VII. The Real Effects of Fitness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></span></li> +<li> +VIII. The Recapitulation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></span></li> +<li> +IX. Perfection not the Cause of Beauty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></span></li> +<li> +X. How far the Idea of Beauty may be applied to the +Qualities of the Mind +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></span></li> +<li> +XI. How far the Idea of Beauty may be applied to Virtue +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></span></li> +<li> +XII. The Real Cause of Beauty +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></span></li> +<li><!-- Page 101 --><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77" title="77" class="pagenum"></a> +XIII. Beautiful Objects Small +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></span></li> +<li> +XIV. Smoothness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></span></li> +<li> +XV. Gradual Variation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></span></li> +<li> +XVI. Delicacy +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></span></li> +<li> +XVII. Beauty in Color +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></span></li> +<li> +XVIII. Recapitulation +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></span></li> +<li> +XIX. The Physiognomy +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></span></li> +<li> +XX. The Eye +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></span></li> +<li> +XXI. Ugliness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></span></li> +<li> +XXII. Grace +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></span></li> +<li> +XXIII. Elegance and Speciousness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></span></li> +<li> +XXIV. The Beautiful in Feeling +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></span></li> +<li> +XXV. The Beautiful in Sounds +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></span></li> +<li> +XXVI. Taste and Smell +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></span></li> +<li> +XXVII. The Sublime and Beautiful compared +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></span></li> +</ul></li> +<li /> +<li><a href="#PART_IV">PART IV.</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></span></li> +<li><ul class="TOCSub"> +<li> +I. Of the Efficient Cause of the Sublime and Beautiful +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></span></li> +<li> +II. Association +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></span></li> +<li> +III. Cause of Pain and Fear +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></span></li> +<li> +IV. Continued +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></span></li> +<li> +V. How the Sublime is produced +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></span></li> +<li> +VI. How Pain can be a Cause of Delight +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></span></li> +<li> +VII. Exercise necessary for the Finer Organs +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></span></li> +<li> +VIII. Why Things not Dangerous sometimes produce a +Passion like Terror +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></span></li> +<li> +IX. Why Visual Objects of Great Dimensions are Sublime +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></span></li> +<li> +X. Unity, why requisite to Vastness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></span></li> +<li> +XI. The Artificial Infinite +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_220">220</a></span></li> +<li> +XII. The Vibrations must be Similar +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></span></li> +<li> +XIII. The Effects of Succession in Visual Objects explained +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></span></li> +<li> +XIV. Locke's Opinion concerning Darkness considered +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></span></li> +<li> +XV. Darkness Terrible in its own Nature +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></span></li> +<li> +XVI. Why Darkness is Terrible +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></span></li> +<li> +XVII. The Effects of Blackness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></span></li> +<li> +XVIII. The Effects of Blackness moderated +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></span></li> +<li> +XIX. The Physical Cause of Love +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></span></li> +<li> +XX. Why Smoothness is Beautiful +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></span></li> +<li><!-- Page 102 --><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78" title="78" class="pagenum"></a> +XXI. Sweetness, its Nature +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></span></li> +<li> +XXII. Sweetness relaxing +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></span></li> +<li> +XXIII. Variation, why Beautiful +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_239">239</a></span></li> +<li> +XXIV. Concerning Smallness +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></span></li> +<li> +XXV. Of Color +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></span></li> +</ul></li> +<li /><li> +<a href="#PART_V">PART V.</a> +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></span></li> +<li><ul class="TOCSub"> +<li> +I. Of Words +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></span></li> +<li> +II. The Common Effect of Poetry, not by raising Ideas +of Things +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></span></li> +<li> +III. General Words before Ideas +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></span></li> +<li> +IV. The Effect of Words +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></span></li> +<li> +V. Examples that Words may affect without raising +Images +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></span></li> +<li> +VI. Poetry not strictly an Imitative Art +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></span></li> +<li> +VII. How Words influence the Passions +<span class="tocright"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></span></li> +</ul></li> +</ul> +<!-- Page 103 --><div><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79" title="79" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<h3>ON TASTE.</h3> + + +<p>On a superficial view we may seem to differ very +widely from each other in our reasonings, and +no less in our pleasures: but, notwithstanding this +difference, which I think to be rather apparent than +real, it is probable that the standard both of reason +and taste is the same in all human creatures. For if +there were not some principles of judgment as well +as of sentiment common to all mankind, no hold +could possibly be taken either on their reason or their +passions, sufficient to maintain the ordinary correspondence +of life. It appears, indeed, to be generally +acknowledged, that with regard to truth and falsehood +there is something fixed. We find people in +their disputes continually appealing to certain tests +and standards, which are allowed on all sides, and +are supposed to be established in our common nature. +But there is not the same obvious concurrence in +any uniform or settled principles which relate to +taste. It is even commonly supposed that this delicate +and aerial faculty, which seems too volatile to +endure even the chains of a definition, cannot be +properly tried by any test, nor regulated by any +standard. There is so continual a call for the exercise +of the reasoning facility; and it is so much +strengthened by perpetual contention, that certain +<!-- Page 104 --><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80" title="80" class="pagenum"></a>maxims of right reason seem to be tacitly settled +amongst the most ignorant. The learned have improved +on this rude science, and reduced those maxims +into a system. If taste has not been so happily +cultivated, it was not that the subject was barren, but +that the laborers were few or negligent; for, to say +the truth, there are not the same interesting motives +to impel us to fix the one, which urge us to ascertain +the other. And, after all, if men differ in their opinion +concerning such matters, their difference is not +attended with the same important consequences; else +I make no doubt but that the logic of taste, if I may +be allowed the expression, might very possibly be as +well digested, and we might come to discuss matters +of this nature with as much certainty, as those which +seem more immediately within the province of mere +reason. And, indeed, it is very necessary, at the entrance +into such an inquiry as our present, to make +this point as clear as possible; for if taste has no +fixed principles, if the imagination is not affected according +to some invariable and certain laws, our labor +is likely to be employed to very little purpose; as +it must be judged an useless, if not an absurd undertaking, +to lay down rules for caprice, and to set up +for a legislator of whims and fancies.</p> + +<p>The term taste, like all other figurative terms, is +not extremely accurate; the thing which we understand +by it is far from a simple and determinate idea +in the minds of most men, and it is therefore liable +to uncertainty and confusion. I have no great opinion +of a definition, the celebrated remedy for the +cure of this disorder. For, when we define, we seem +in danger of circumscribing nature within the bounds +of our own notions, which we often take up by hazard +<!-- Page 105 --><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81" title="81" class="pagenum"></a>or embrace on trust, or form out of a limited and partial +consideration of the object before us; instead of +extending our ideas to take in all that nature comprehends, +according to her manner of combining. We +are limited in our inquiry by the strict laws to which +we have submitted at our setting out.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Circa vilem patulumque morabimur orbem,</div> +<div>Unde pudor proferre pedem vetat aut operis lex.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a +very little way towards informing us of the nature of +the thing defined; but let the virtue of a definition +be what it will, in the order of things, it seems rather +to follow than to precede our inquiry, of which it +ought to be considered as the result. It must be acknowledged +that the methods of disquisition and +teaching may be sometimes different, and on very +good reason undoubtedly; but, for my part, I am +convinced that the method of teaching which approaches +most nearly to the method of investigation +is incomparably the best; since, not content with +serving up a few barren and lifeless truths, it leads to +the stock on which they grew; it tends to set the +reader himself in the track of invention, and to direct +him into those paths in which the author has +made his own discoveries, if he should be so happy +as to have made any that are valuable.</p> + +<p>But to cut off all pretence for cavilling, I mean by +the word taste, no more than that faculty or those +faculties of the mind, which are affected with, or +which form a judgment of, the works of imagination +and the elegant arts. This is, I think, the most general +idea of that word, and what is the least connected +with any particular theory. And my point in +<!-- Page 106 --><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82" title="82" class="pagenum"></a>this inquiry is, to find whether there are any principles, +on which the imagination is affected, so common +to all, so grounded and certain, as to supply the +means of reasoning satisfactorily about them. And +such principles of taste I fancy there are; however +paradoxical it may seem to those, who on a superficial +view imagine that there is so great a diversity of +tastes, both in kind and degree, that nothing can be +more indeterminate.</p> + +<p>All the natural powers in man, which I know, that +are conversant about external objects, are the senses; +the imagination; and the judgment. And first with +regard to the senses. We do and we must suppose, +that as the conformation of their organs are nearly or +altogether the same in all men, so the manner of perceiving +external objects is in all men the same, or +with little difference. We are satisfied that what appears +to be light to one eye, appears light to another; +that what seems sweet to one palate, is sweet to +another; that what is dark and bitter to this man, is +likewise dark and bitter to that; and we conclude in +the same manner of great and little, hard and soft, +hot and cold, rough and smooth; and indeed of all +the natural qualities and affections of bodies. If we +suffer ourselves to imagine, that their senses present +to different men different images of things, this sceptical +proceeding will make every sort of reasoning on +every subject vain and frivolous, even that sceptical +reasoning itself which had persuaded us to entertain +a doubt concerning the agreement of our perceptions. +But as there will be little doubt that bodies present +similar images to the whole species, it must necessarily +be allowed, that the pleasures and the pains which +every object excites in one man, it must raise in all +<!-- Page 107 --><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83" title="83" class="pagenum"></a>mankind, whilst it operates naturally, simply, and by +its proper powers only: for if we deny this, we must +imagine that the same cause, operating in the same +manner, and on subjects of the same kind, will produce +different effects; which would be highly absurd. +Let us first consider this point in the sense of taste, +and the rather as the faculty in question has taken +its name from that sense. All men are agreed to call +vinegar sour, honey sweet, and aloes bitter; and as +they are all agreed in finding those qualities in those +objects, they do not in the least differ concerning their +effects with regard to pleasure and pain. They all +concur in calling sweetness pleasant, and sourness +and bitterness unpleasant. Here there is no diversity +in their sentiments; and that there is not, +appears fully from the consent of all men in the metaphors +which are taken, from the souse of taste. A +sour temper, bitter expressions, bitter curses, a bitter +fate, are terms well and strongly understood by all. +And we are altogether as well understood when we +say, a sweet disposition, a sweet person, a sweet condition +and the like. It is confessed, that custom +and some other causes have made many deviations +from the natural pleasures or pains which belong to +these several tastes; but then the power of distinguishing +between the natural and the acquired relish remains +to the very last. A man frequently comes to +prefer the taste of tobacco to that of sugar, and the +flavor of vinegar to that of milk; but this makes no +confusion in tastes, whilst he is sensible that the tobacco +and vinegar are not sweet, and whilst he knows +that habit alone has reconciled his palate to these alien +pleasures. Even with such a person we may speak, +and with sufficient precision, concerning tastes. But +<!-- Page 108 --><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84" title="84" class="pagenum"></a>should any man be found who declares, that to him +tobacco has a taste like sugar, and that he cannot +distinguish between milk and vinegar; or that tobacco +and vinegar are sweet, milk bitter, and sugar +sour; we immediately conclude that the organs of +this man are out of order, and that his palate is utterly +vitiated. We are as far from conferring with +such a person upon tastes, as from reasoning concerning +the relations of quantity with one who should +deny that all the parts together were equal to the +whole. We do not call a man of this kind wrong in +his notions, but absolutely mad. Exceptions of this +sort, in either way, do not at all impeach our general +rule, nor make us conclude that men have various +principles concerning the relations of quantity or the +taste of things. So that when it is said, taste cannot +be disputed, it can only mean, that no one can strictly +answer what pleasure or pain some particular man +may find from the taste of some particular thing. +This indeed cannot be disputed; but we may dispute, +and with sufficient clearness too, concerning the +things which are naturally pleasing or disagreeable +to the sense. But when we talk of any peculiar or +acquired relish, then we must know the habits, the +prejudices, or the distempers of this particular man, +and we must draw our conclusion from those.</p> + +<p>This agreement of mankind is not confined to the +taste solely. The principle of pleasure derived from +sight is the same in all. Light is more pleasing than +darkness. Summer, when the earth is clad in green, +when the heavens are serene and bright, is more +agreeable than winter, when everything makes a +different appearance. I never remember that anything +beautiful, whether a man, a beast, a bird, or a +<!-- Page 109 --><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85" title="85" class="pagenum"></a>plant, was ever shown, though it were to a hundred +people, that they did not all immediately agree that +it was beautiful, though some might have thought +that it fell short of their expectation, or that other +things were still finer. I believe no man thinks a +goose to be more beautiful than a swan, or imagines +that what they call a Friesland hen excels a peacock. +It must be observed too, that the pleasures of +the sight are not near so complicated, and confused, +and altered by unnatural habits and associations, as +the pleasures of the taste are; because the pleasures +of the sight more commonly acquiesce in themselves; +and are not so often altered by considerations which +are independent of the sight itself. But things do +not spontaneously present themselves to the palate as +they do to the sight; they are generally applied to it, +either as food or as medicine; and from the qualities +which they possess for nutritive or medicinal purposes +they often form the palate by degrees, and by force +of these associations. Thus opium is pleasing to +Turks, on account of the agreeable delirium it produces. +Tobacco is the delight of Dutchmen, as it +diffuses a torpor and pleasing stupefaction. Fermented +spirits please our common people, because +they banish care, and all consideration of future or +present evils. All of these would lie absolutely neglected +if their properties had originally gone no +further than the taste; but all these, together with +tea and coffee, and some other things, have passed +from the apothecary's shop to our tables, and were +taken for health long before they were thought of for +pleasure. The effect of the drug has made us use it +frequently; and frequent use, combined with the +agreeable effect, has made the taste itself at last +<!-- Page 110 --><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86" title="86" class="pagenum"></a>agreeable. But this does not in the least perplex +our reasoning; because we distinguish to the last the +acquired from the natural relish. In describing the +taste of an unknown fruit, you would scarcely say +that it had a sweet and pleasant flavor like tobacco, +opium, or garlic, although you spoke to those who +were in the constant use of those drugs, and had great +pleasure in them. There is in all men a sufficient remembrance +of the original natural causes of pleasure, +to enable them to bring all things offered to their +senses to that standard, and to regulate their feelings +and opinions by it. Suppose one who had so vitiated +his palate as to take more pleasure in the taste of +opium than in that of butter or honey, to be presented +with a bolus of squills; there is hardly any doubt but +that he would prefer the butter or honey to this nauseous +morsel, or to any other bitter drug to which he +had not been accustomed; which proves that his palate +was naturally like that of other men in all things, +that it is still like the palate of other men in many +things, and only vitiated in some particular points. +For in judging of any new thing, even of a taste +similar to that which he has been formed by habit to +like, he finds his palate affected in the natural manner, +and on the common principles. Thus the pleasure +of all the senses, of the sight, and even of the +taste, that most ambiguous of the senses, is the same +in all, high and low, learned and unlearned.</p> + +<p>Besides the ideas, with their annexed pains and +pleasures, which are presented by the sense; the +mind of man possesses a sort of creative power of +its own; either in representing at pleasure the images +of things in the order and manner in which they +were received by the senses, or in combining those +<!-- Page 111 --><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87" title="87" class="pagenum"></a>images in a new manner, and according to a different +order. This power is called imagination; and to this +belongs whatever is called wit, fancy, invention, and +the like. But it must be observed, that this power of +the imagination is incapable of producing anything +absolutely new; it can only vary the disposition of +those ideas which it has received from the senses. +Now the imagination is the most extensive province +of pleasure and pain, as it is the region of our fears +and our hopes, and of all our passions that are connected +with them; and whatever is calculated to affect +the imagination with these commanding ideas, +by force of any original natural impression, must have +the same power pretty equally over all men. For +since the imagination is only the representation of the +senses, it can only be pleased or displeased with the +images, from the same principle on which the sense is +pleased or displeased with the realities; and consequently +there must be just as close an agreement in +the imaginations as in the senses of men. A little attention +will convince us that this must of necessity +be the case.</p> + +<p>But in the imagination, besides the pain or pleasure +arising from the properties of the natural object, a +pleasure is perceived from the resemblance which the +imitation has to the original: the imagination, I conceive, +can have no pleasure but what results from one +or other of these causes. And these causes operate +pretty uniformly upon all men, because they operate +by principles in nature, and which are not derived +from any particular habits or advantages. Mr. Locke +very justly and finely observes of wit, that it is chiefly +conversant in tracing resemblances; he remarks, at the +same time, that the business of judgment is rather in +<!-- Page 112 --><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88" title="88" class="pagenum"></a>finding differences. It may perhaps appear, on this +supposition, that there is no material distinction between +the wit and the judgment, as they both seem to +result from different operations of the same faculty +of <i>comparing</i>. But in reality, whether they are or are +not dependent on the same power of the mind, they +differ so very materially in many respects, that a perfect +union of wit and judgment is one of the rarest +things in the world. When two distinct objects are +unlike to each other, it is only what we expect; things +are in their common way; and therefore they make +no impression on the imagination: but when two distinct +objects have a resemblance, we are struck, we +attend to them, and we are pleased. The mind of +man has naturally a far greater alacrity and satisfaction +in tracing resemblances than in searching for differences; +because by making resemblances we produce +<i>new images</i>; we unite, we create, we enlarge our stock; +but in making distinctions we offer no food at all to +the imagination; the task itself is more severe and irksome, +and what pleasure we derive from it is something +of a negative and indirect nature. A piece of +news is told me in the morning; this, merely as a +piece of news, as a fact added to my stock, gives me +some pleasure. In the evening I find there was nothing +in it. What do I gain by this, but the dissatisfaction +to find that I had been imposed upon? Hence it is +that men are much more naturally inclined to belief +than to incredulity. And it is upon this principle, that +the most ignorant and barbarous nations have frequently +excelled in similitudes, comparisons, metaphors, and +allegories, who have been weak and backward in distinguishing +and sorting their ideas. And it is for a +reason of this kind, that Homer and the oriental writ<!-- Page 113 --><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89" title="89" class="pagenum"></a>ers, +though very fond of similitudes, and though they +often strike out such as are truly admirable, seldom +take care to have them exact; that is, they are taken +with the general resemblance, they paint it strongly, +and they take no notice of the difference which may +be found between the things compared.</p> + +<p>Now as the pleasure of resemblance is that which +principally flatters the imagination, all men are nearly +equal in this point, as far as their knowledge of the +things represented or compared extends. The principle +of this knowledge is very much accidental, as it +depends upon experience and observation, and not on +the strength or weakness of any natural faculty; and +it is from this difference in knowledge, that what we +commonly, though with no great exactness, call a difference +in taste proceeds. A man to whom sculpture +is new, sees a barber's block, or some ordinary piece +of statuary; he is immediately struck and pleased, +because he sees something like a human figure; and, +entirely taken up with this likeness, he does not at +all attend to its defects. No person, I believe, at the +first time of seeing a piece of imitation ever did. +Some time after, we suppose that this novice lights +upon a more artificial work of the same nature; he +now begins to look with contempt on what he admired +at first; not that he admired it even then for +its unlikeness to a man, but for that general though +inaccurate resemblance which it bore to the human +figure. What he admired at different times in these +so different figures, is strictly the same; and though +his knowledge is improved, his taste is not altered. +Hitherto his mistake was from a want of knowledge in +art, and this arose from his inexperience; but he may +be still deficient from a want of knowledge in nature. +<!-- Page 114 --><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90" title="90" class="pagenum"></a>For it is possible that the man in question may stop +here, and that the masterpiece of a great hand may +please him no more than the middling performance +of a vulgar artist; and this not for want of better or +higher relish, but because all men do not observe with +sufficient accuracy on the human figure to enable them +to judge properly of an imitation of it. And that the +critical taste does not depend upon a superior principle +in men, but upon superior knowledge, may appear +from several instances. The story of the ancient painter +and the shoemaker is very well known. The shoemaker +set the painter right with regard to some +mistakes he had made in the shoe of one of his figures, +which the painter, who had not made such accurate +observations on shoes, and was content with a +general resemblance, had never observed. But this +was no impeachment to the taste of the painter; it +only showed some want of knowledge in the art of +making shoes. Let us imagine, that an anatomist +had come into the painter's working-room. His piece +is in general well done, the figure in question in a good +attitude, and the parts well adjusted to their various +movements; yet the anatomist, critical in his art, +may observe the swell of some muscle not quite just +in the peculiar action of the figure. Here the anatomist +observes what the painter had not observed; +and he passes by what the shoemaker had remarked. +But a want of the last critical knowledge in anatomy +no more reflected on the natural good taste of the +painter, or of any common observer of his piece, than +the want of an exact knowledge in the formation of +a shoe. A fine piece of a decollated head of St. John +the Baptist was shown to a Turkish emperor: he +praised many things, but he observed one defect: +<!-- Page 115 --><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91" title="91" class="pagenum"></a>he observed that the skin did not shrink from the +wounded part of the neck. The sultan on this +occasion, though his observation was very just, discovered +no more natural taste than the painter who +executed this piece, or than a thousand European +connoisseurs, who probably never would have made +the same observation. His Turkish majesty had +indeed been well acquainted with that terrible spectacle, +which the others could only have represented +in their imagination. On the subject of their dislike +there is a difference between all these people, arising +from the different kinds and degrees of their +knowledge; but there is something in common to +the painter, the shoemaker, the anatomist, and the +Turkish emperor, the pleasure arising from a natural +object, so far as each perceives it justly imitated; +the satisfaction in seeing an agreeable figure; the +sympathy proceeding from a striking and affecting +incident. So far as taste is natural, it is nearly +common to all.</p> + +<p>In poetry, and other pieces of imagination, the +same parity may be observed. It is true, that one +man is charmed with Don Bellianis, and reads Virgil +coldly; whilst another is transported with the Æneid, +and leaves Don Bellianis to children. These two men +seem to have a taste very different from each other; +but in fact they differ very little. In both these +pieces, which inspire such opposite sentiments, a tale +exciting admiration is told; both are full of action, +both are passionate; in both are voyages, battles, +triumphs, and continual changes of fortune. The +admirer of Don Bellianis perhaps does not understand +the refined language of the Æneid, who, if it +was degraded into the style of the "Pilgrim's Pro<!-- Page 116 --><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92" title="92" class="pagenum"></a>gress," +might feel it in all its energy, on the same +principle which made him an admirer of Don Bellianis.</p> + +<p>In his favorite author he is not shocked with the +continual breaches of probability, the confusion of +times, the offences against manners, the trampling +upon geography; for he knows nothing of geography +and chronology, and he has never examined the +grounds of probability. He perhaps reads of a shipwreck +on the coast of Bohemia: wholly taken up +with so interesting an event, and only solicitous for +the fate of his hero, he is not in the least troubled at +this extravagant blunder. For why should he be +shocked at a shipwreck on the coast of Bohemia, who +does not know but that Bohemia may be an island +in the Atlantic ocean? and after all, what reflection +is this on the natural good taste of the person here +supposed?</p> + +<p>So far then as taste belongs to the imagination, its +principle is the same in all men; there is no difference +in the manner of their being affected, nor in the +causes of the affection; but in the <i>degree</i> there is a +difference, which arises from two causes principally; +either from a greater degree of natural sensibility, or +from a closer and longer attention to the object. To +illustrate this by the procedure of the senses, in +which the same difference is found, let us suppose +a very smooth marble table to be set before two men; +they both perceive it to be smooth, and they are both +pleased with it because of this quality. So far they +agree. But suppose another, and after that another +table, the latter still smoother than the former, to be +set before them. It is now very probable that these +men, who are so agreed upon what is smooth, and +<!-- Page 117 --><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93" title="93" class="pagenum"></a>in the pleasure from thence, will disagree when +they come to settle which table has the advantage in +point of polish. Here is indeed the great difference +between tastes, when men come to compare the excess +or diminution of things which are judged by degree +and not by measure. Nor is it easy, when such a +difference arises, to settle the point, if the excess or +diminution be not glaring. If we differ in opinion +about two quantities, we can have recourse to a common +measure, which may decide the question with +the utmost exactness; and this, I take it, is what +gives mathematical knowledge a greater certainty +than any other. But in things whose excess is not +judged by greater or smaller, as smoothness and +roughness, hardness and softness, darkness and +light, the shades of colors, all these are very easily +distinguished when the difference is any way considerable, +but not when it is minute, for want of +some common measures, which perhaps may never +come to be discovered. In these nice cases, supposing +the acuteness of the sense equal, the greater +attention and habit in such things will have the +advantage. In the question about the tables, the +marble-polisher will unquestionably determine the +most accurately. But notwithstanding this want +of a common measure for settling many disputes +relative to the senses, and their representative the +imagination, we find that the principles are the same +in all, and that there is no disagreement until we +come to examine into the pre-eminence or difference +of things, which brings us within the province of the +judgment.</p> + +<p>So long as we are conversant with the sensible +qualities of things, hardly any more than the imagi<!-- Page 118 --><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94" title="94" class="pagenum"></a>nation +seems concerned; little more also than the +imagination seems concerned when the passions are +represented, because by the force of natural sympathy +they are felt in all men without any recourse +to reasoning, and their justness recognized in every +breast. Love, grief, fear, anger, joy, all these passions +have, in their turns, affected every mind; and +they do not affect it in an arbitrary or casual manner, +but upon certain, natural, and uniform principles. +But as many of the works of imagination are +not confined to the representation of sensible objects, +nor to efforts upon the passions, but extend themselves +to the manners, the characters, the actions, +and designs of men, their relations, their virtues and +vices, they come within the province of the judgment, +which is improved by attention, and by the +habit of reasoning. All these make a very considerable +part of what are considered as the objects of +taste; and Horace sends us to the schools of philosophy +and the world for our instruction in them. +Whatever certainty is to be acquired in morality +and the science of life; just the same degree of certainty +have we in what relates to them in works of +imitation. Indeed it is for the most part in our skill +in manners, and in the observances of time and +place, and of decency in general, which is only to +be learned in those schools to which Horace recommends +us, that what is called taste, by way of distinction, +consists: and which is in reality no other +than a more refined judgment. On the whole, it +appears to me, that what is called taste, in its most +general acceptation, is not a simple idea, but is partly +made up of a perception of the primary pleasures of +sense, of the secondary pleasures of the imagination, +<!-- Page 119 --><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95" title="95" class="pagenum"></a>and of the conclusions of the reasoning faculty, concerning +the various relations of these, and concerning +the human passions, manners, and actions. All +this is requisite to form taste, and the groundwork of +all these is the same in the human mind; for as the +senses are the great originals of all our ideas, and +consequently of all our pleasures, if they are not +uncertain and arbitrary, the whole groundwork of +taste is common to all, and therefore there is a sufficient +foundation for a conclusive reasoning on these +matters.</p> + +<p>Whilst we consider taste merely according to its +nature and species, we shall find its principles entirely +uniform; but the degree in which these principles +prevail, in the several individuals of mankind, is altogether +as different as the principles themselves are +similar. For sensibility and judgment, which are the +qualities that compose what we commonly call a <i>taste</i>, +vary exceedingly in various people. From a defect in +the former of these qualities arises a want of taste; a +weakness in the latter constitutes a wrong or a bad +one. There are some men formed with feelings so +blunt, with tempers so cold and phlegmatic, that they +can hardly be said to be awake during the whole +course of their lives. Upon such persons the most +striking objects make but a faint and obscure impression. +There are others so continually in the agitation +of gross and merely sensual pleasures, or so occupied +in the low drudgery of avarice, or so heated in the +chase of honors and distinction, that their minds, +which had been used continually to the storms of +these violent and tempestuous passions, can hardly be +put in motion by the delicate and refined play of the +imagination. These men, though from a different +<!-- Page 120 --><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96" title="96" class="pagenum"></a>cause, become as stupid and insensible as the former; +but whenever either of these happen to be struck with +any natural elegance or greatness, or with these qualities +in any work of art, they are moved upon the +same principle.</p> + +<p>The cause of a wrong taste is a defect of judgment. +And this may arise from a natural weakness of understanding +(in whatever the strength of that faculty +may consist), or, which is much more commonly the +case, it may arise from a want of a proper and well-directed +exercise, which alone can make it strong and +ready. Besides, that ignorance, inattention, prejudice, +rashness, levity, obstinacy, in short, all those passions, +and all those vices, which pervert the judgment in +other matters, prejudice it no less in this its more refined +and elegant province. These causes produce +different opinions upon everything which is an object +of the understanding, without inducing us to suppose +that there are no settled principles of reason. And +indeed, on the whole, one may observe, that there +is rather less difference upon matters of taste among +mankind, than upon most of those which depend upon +the naked reason; and that men are far better agreed +on the excellence of a description in Virgil, than on +the truth or falsehood of a theory of Aristotle.</p> + +<p>A rectitude of judgment in the arts, which may be +called a good taste, does in a great measure depend +upon sensibility; because if the mind has no bent to +the pleasures of the imagination, it will never apply +itself sufficiently to works of that species to acquire +a competent knowledge in them. But though a degree +of sensibility is requisite to form a good judgment, +yet a good judgment does not necessarily arise +from a quick sensibility of pleasure; it frequently +<!-- Page 121 --><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97" title="97" class="pagenum"></a>happens that a very poor judge, merely by force of +a greater complexional sensibility, is more affected +by a very poor piece, than the best judge by the most +perfect; for as everything now, extraordinary, grand, +or passionate, is well calculated to affect such a person, +and that the faults do not affect him, his pleasure +is more pure and unmixed; and as it is merely +a pleasure of the imagination, it is much higher than +any which is derived from a rectitude of the judgment; +the judgment is for the greater part employed +in throwing stumbling-blocks in the way of the imagination, +in dissipating the scenes of its enchantment, +and in tying us down to the disagreeable yoke +of our reason: for almost the only pleasure that +men have in judging better than others, consists in a +sort of conscious pride and superiority, which arises +from thinking rightly; but then this is an indirect +pleasure, a pleasure which does not immediately result +from the object which is under contemplation. +In the morning of our days, when the senses are unworn +and tender, when the whole man is awake in +every part, and the gloss of novelty fresh upon all +the objects that surround us, how lively at that time +are our sensations, but how false and inaccurate the +judgments we form of things! I despair of ever receiving +the same degree of pleasure from the most +excellent performances of genius, which I felt at that +age from pieces which my present judgment regards +as trifling and contemptible. Every trivial cause of +pleasure is apt to affect the man of too sanguine a +complexion: his appetite is too keen to suffer his taste +to be delicate; and he is in all respects what Ovid +says of himself in love,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Molle meum levibus cor est violabile telis,</div> +<div>Et semper causa est, cur ego semper amem.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 122 --><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98" title="98" class="pagenum"></a>One of this character can never be a refined judge; +never what the comic poet calls <i>elegans formarum +spectator</i>. The excellence and force of a composition +must always he imperfectly estimated from its effect +on the minds of any, except we know the temper and +character of those minds. The most powerful effects +of poetry and music have been displayed, and perhaps +are still displayed, where these arts are but in +a very low and imperfect state. The rude hearer is +affected by the principles which operate in these arts +even in their rudest condition; and he is not skilful +enough to perceive the defects. But as the arts +advance towards their perfection, the science of criticism +advances with equal pace, and the pleasure of +judges is frequently interrupted by the faults which +we discovered in the most finished compositions.</p> + +<p>Before I leave this subject, I cannot help taking +notice of an opinion which many persons entertain, +as if the taste were a separate faculty of the mind, +and distinct from the judgment and imagination; a +species of instinct, by which we are struck naturally, +and at the first glance, without any previous reasoning, +with the excellences or the defects of a composition. +So far as the imagination, and the passions are concerned, +I believe it true, that the reason is little consulted; +but where disposition, where decorum, where +congruity are concerned, in short, wherever the best +taste differs from the worst, I am convinced that the +understanding operates, and nothing else; and its +operation is in reality far from being always sudden, +or, when it is sudden, it is often far from being +right. Men of the best taste by consideration come +frequently to change these early and precipitate judgments, +which the mind, from its aversion to neutrality +and doubt, loves to form on the spot. It is +<!-- Page 123 --><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99" title="99" class="pagenum"></a>known that the taste (whatever it is) is improved +exactly as we improve our judgment, by extending +our knowledge, by a steady attention to our object, +and by frequent exercise. They who have not taken +these methods, if their taste decides quickly, it is +always uncertainly; and their quickness is owing to +their presumption and rashness, and not to any sudden +irradiation, that in a moment dispels all darkness +from their minds. But they who have cultivated +that species of knowledge which makes the object of +taste, by degrees and habitually attain not only a +soundness but a readiness of judgment, as men do +by the same methods on all other occasions. At +first they are obliged to spell, but at last they read +with ease and with celerity; but this celerity of its +operation is no proof that the taste is a distinct faculty. +Nobody, I believe, has attended the course of +a discussion which turned upon matters within the +sphere of mere naked reason, but must have observed +the extreme readiness with which the whole process +of the argument is carried on, the grounds discovered, +the objections raised and answered, and the +conclusions drawn from premises, with a quickness +altogether as great as the taste can be supposed to +work with; and yet where nothing but plain reason +either is or can be suspected to operate. To multiply +principles for every different appearance is useless, +and unphilosophical too in a high degree.</p> + +<p>This matter might be pursued much farther; but +it is not the extent of the subject which must prescribe +our bounds, for what subject does not branch +out to infinity? It is the nature of our particular +scheme, and the single point of view in which we +consider it, which ought to put a stop to our researches.<!-- Page 124 --><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100" title="100" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 125 --><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101" title="101" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<!-- DONT SEE THE NEED TO REPEAT THE TITLE +<h2>A PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY ****</h2> + +<p> +A<br /> +<br /> +PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY<br /> +<br /> +INTO THE ORIGIN OF OUR IDEAS OF<br /> +<br /> +THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL<br /> +</p> + +--> + +<h2><a name="PART_I" id="PART_I"></a>PART I.</h2> + + +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +<br /> +NOVELTY.</h3> + +<p>The first and the simplest emotion which we discover +in the human mind is curiosity. By curiosity +I mean whatever desire we have for, or whatever +pleasure we take in, novelty. We see children +perpetually running from place to place, to hunt out +something new: they catch with great eagerness, and +with very little choice, at whatever comes before +them; their attention is engaged by everything, +because everything has, in that stage of life, the +charm of novelty to recommend it. But as those +things, which engage us merely by their novelty, cannot +attach us for any length of time, curiosity is the +most superficial of all the affections; it changes its +object perpetually; it has an appetite which is very +sharp, but very easily satisfied; and it has always an +appearance of giddiness, restlessness, and anxiety. +Curiosity, from its nature, is a very active principle; +it quickly runs over the greatest part of its objects, +and soon exhausts the variety which is commonly to +be met with in nature; the same things make frequent +returns, and they return with less and less of any +<!-- Page 126 --><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102" title="102" class="pagenum"></a>agreeable effect. In short, the occurrences of life, by +the time we come to know it a little, would be incapable +of affecting the mind with any other sensations +than those of loathing and weariness, if many things +were not adapted to affect the mind by means of +other powers besides novelty in them, and of other +passions besides curiosity in ourselves. These powers +and passions shall be considered in their place. +But, whatever these powers are, or upon what principle +soever they affect the mind, it is absolutely necessary +that they should not be exerted in those things +which a daily and vulgar use have brought into a +stale unaffecting familiarity. Some degree of novelty +must be one of the materials in every instrument +which works upon the mind; and curiosity +blends itself more or less with all our passions.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +<br /> +PAIN AND PLEASURE.</h3> + +<p>It seems, then, necessary towards moving the passions +of people advanced in life to any considerable +degree, that the objects designed for that purpose, +besides their being in some measure new, +should be capable of exciting pain or pleasure from +other causes. Pain and pleasure are simple ideas, +incapable of definition. People are not liable to be +mistaken in their feelings, but they are very frequently +wrong in the names they give them, and in +their reasonings about them. Many are of opinion, +that pain arises necessarily from the removal of some +pleasure; as they think pleasure does from the ceasing +or diminution of some pain. For my part, I am +<!-- Page 127 --><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103" title="103" class="pagenum"></a>rather inclined to imagine, that pain and pleasure, +in their most simple and natural manner of affecting, +are each of a positive nature, and by no means necessarily +dependent on each other for their existence. +The human mind is often, and I think it is for the +most part, in a state neither of pain nor pleasure, +which I call a state of indifference. When I am carried +from this state into a state of actual pleasure, it +does not appear necessary that I should pass through +the medium of any sort of pain. If in such a state +of indifference, or ease, or tranquillity, or call it what +you please, you were to be suddenly entertained with +a concert of music; or suppose some object of a fine +shape, and bright, lively colors, to be presented before +you; or imagine your smell is gratified with +the fragrance of a rose; or if, without any previous +thirst, you were to drink of some pleasant kind of +wine, or to taste of some sweetmeat without being +hungry; in all the several senses, of hearing, smelling, +and tasting, you undoubtedly find a pleasure; +yet, if I inquire into the state of your mind previous +to these gratifications, you will hardly tell me that +they found you in any kind of pain; or, having satisfied +these several senses with their several pleasures, +will you say that any pain has succeeded, though the +pleasure is absolutely over? Suppose, on the other +hand, a man in the same state of indifference to +receive a violent blow, or to drink of some bitter potion, +or to have his ears wounded with some harsh +and grating sound; here is no removal of pleasure; +and yet here is felt, his every sense which is affected, +a pain very distinguishable. It may be said, perhaps, +that the pain in these cases had its rise from the +removal of the pleasure which the man enjoyed +<!-- Page 128 --><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104" title="104" class="pagenum"></a>before, though that pleasure was of so low a degree as +to be perceived only by the removal. But this seems +to me a subtilty that is not discoverable in nature. +For if, previous to the pain, I do not feel any actual +pleasure, I have no reason to judge that any such +thing exists; since pleasure is only pleasure as it is +felt. The same may be said of pain, and with equal +reason. I can never persuade myself that pleasure +and pain are mere relations, which can only exist as +they are contrasted; but I think I can discern clearly +that there are positive pains and pleasures, which do +not at all depend upon each other. Nothing is more +certain to my own feelings than this. There is nothing +which I can distinguish in my mind with more +clearness than the three states, of indifference, of +pleasure, and of pain. Every one of these I can perceive +without any sort of idea of its relation to anything +else. Caius is afflicted with a fit of the colic; +this man is actually in pain; stretch Caius upon the +rack, he will feel a much greater pain: but does this +pain of the rack arise from the removal of any pleasure? +or is the fit of the colic a pleasure or a pain +just as we are pleased to consider it?</p> + + +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +<br /> +THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REMOVAL OF PAIN +AND POSITIVE PLEASURE.</h3> + +<p>We shall carry this proposition yet a step further. +We shall venture to propose, that pain and pleasure are +not only not necessarily dependent for their existence +on their mutual diminution or removal, but that, in +reality, the diminution or ceasing of pleasure does not +<!-- Page 129 --><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105" title="105" class="pagenum"></a>operate like positive pain; and that the removal or +diminution of pain, in its effect, has very little resemblance +to positive pleasure.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor" +title="Mr. Locke [Essay on Human Understanding, l. ii. c. 20, sect. 16,] +thinks that the removal or lessening of a pain is considered and operates +as a pleasure, and the loss or diminishing of pleasure as a pain. +It is this opinion which we consider here.">[10]</a> The former of these +propositions will, I believe, be much more readily allowed +than the latter; because it is very evident that +pleasure, when it has run its career, sets us down +very nearly where it found us. Pleasure of every +kind quickly satisfies; and, when it is over, we relapse +into indifference, or, rather, we fall into a soft +tranquillity which is tinged with the agreeable color +of the former sensation. I own it is not at first view +so apparent that the removal of a great pain does not +resemble positive pleasure: but let us recollect in what +state we have found our minds upon escaping some imminent +danger, or on being released from the severity +of some cruel pain. We have on such occasions found, +if I am not much mistaken, the temper of our minds in +a tenor very remote from that which attends the presence +of positive pleasure; we have found them in a +state of much sobriety, impressed with a sense of awe, +in a sort of tranquillity shadowed with horror. The +fashion of the countenance and the gesture of the +body on such occasions is so correspondent to this +state of mind, that any person, a stranger to the cause +of the appearance, would rather judge us under some +consternation, than in the enjoyment of anything like +positive pleasure.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Hôs d' hotan andr' atê pykinê labê, host' eni patrê,"> +Ὡς δ' ὅταν ἄνδρ' ἄτη πυκινὴ λἁβῃ, ὅστ' ἐνὶ πἁτρῃ, +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Phôta katakteinas, allôn exiketo dêmon,"> +Φὢτα κατακτεἱνας, ἄλλων ἐξἱκετο δἢμον, +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Andros es aphneiou, thambos d' echei eisoroôntas."> +Ἁνδρὀς ἐς ἀφνειοὒ, θἁμβος δ' ἔcἑι εἰσορὀωντας. +</span></div> +</div></div> + +<!-- Transliteration +Hôs d' hotan andr' atê pykinê labê, host' eni patrê, +Phôta katakteinas, allôn exiketo dêmon, +Andros es aphneiou, thambos d' echei eisoroôntas. +--> +<!-- Unicode +Ὡς δ' ὅταν ἄνδρ' ἄτη πυκινὴ λἁβῃ, ὅστ' ἐνὶ πἁτρῃ, +Φὢτα κατακτεἱνας, ἄλλων ἐξἱκετο δἢμον, +Ἁνδρὀς ἐς ἀφνειοὒ, θἁμβος δ' ἔcἑι εἰσορὀωντας. +--> +<!-- Betacode +Ô(s d' o(/tan a)/ndr' a)/tê pykinê\ la(bê|, o(/st' e)ni\ pa(trê|, +Phô)\ta kataktei(nas, a)/llôn e)xi(keto dê)\mon, +A(ndro)s e)s a)phneioy)\, tha(mbos d' e)/ce(i ei)soro)ôntas. +--> +<!-- HTML Entities +Ὡς δ' ὅταν ἄνδρ' ἄτη πυκινὴ λἁβῃ, ὅστ' ἐνὶ πἁτρῃ, +Φὢτα κατακτεἱνας, ἄλλων ἐξἱκετο δἢμον, +Ἁνδρὀς ἐς ἀφνειοὒ, θἁμβος δ' ἔcἑι εἰσορὀωντας. +--> + +<p class="citation">Iliad, +<span lang="el" title="Ô">Ω</span><!-- HTML Entity Ω -->. 480. +</p> + +<div class="poem" style="margin-left: 4em; font-size: 95%"><div class="stanza"><!-- Page 130 --><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106" title="106" class="pagenum"></a> +<div><span style="margin-left: -.5em;">"As when a wretch, who, conscious of his crime,</span></div> +<div>Pursued for murder from his native clime,</div> +<div>Just gains some frontier, breathless, pale, amazed;</div> +<div>All gaze, all wonder!"</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">This striking appearance of the man whom Homer +supposes to have just escaped an imminent danger, +the sort of mixed passion of terror and surprise, with +which he affects the spectators, paints very strongly +the manner in which we find ourselves affected upon +occasions any way similar. For when we have suffered +from any violent emotion, the mind naturally +continues in something like the same condition, after +the cause which first produced it has ceased to operate. +The tossing of the sea remains after the storm; +and when this remain of horror has entirely subsided, +all the passion which the accident raised subsides +along with it; and the mind returns to its usual +state of indifference. In short, pleasure (I mean +anything either in the inward sensation, or in the +outward appearance, like pleasure from a positive +cause) has never, I imagine, its origin from the removal +of pain or danger.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +<br /> +OF DELIGHT AND PLEASURE, AS OPPOSED TO EACH +OTHER.</h3> + +<p>But shall we therefore say, that the removal of +pain or its diminution is always simply painful? or +affirm that the cessation or the lessening of pleasure +is always attended itself with a pleasure? By no +means. What I advance is no more than this; first, +that there are pleasures and pains of a positive and +<!-- Page 131 --><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107" title="107" class="pagenum"></a>independent nature; and, secondly, that the feeling +which results from the ceasing or diminution of pain +does not bear a sufficient resemblance to positive +pleasure, to have it considered as of the same nature, +or to entitle it to be known by the same name; and +thirdly, that upon the same principle the removal or +qualification of pleasure has no resemblance to positive +pain. It is certain that the former feeling (the +removal or moderation of pain) has something in it +far from distressing, or disagreeable in its nature. +This feeling, in many cases so agreeable, but in all so +different from positive pleasure, has no name which I +know; but that hinders not its being a very real one, +and very different from all others. It is most certain, +that every species of satisfaction or pleasure, +how different soever in its manner of affecting, is +of a positive nature in the mind of him who feels it. +The affection is undoubtedly positive; but the cause +may be, as in this case it certainly is, a sort of <i>privation</i>. +And it is very reasonable that we should distinguish +by some term two things so distinct in +nature, as a pleasure that is such simply, and without +any relation, from that pleasure which cannot +exist without a relation, and that, too, a relation to +pain. Very extraordinary it would be, if these affections, +so distinguishable in their causes, so different in +their effects, should be confounded with each other, +because vulgar use has ranged them under the same +general title. Whenever I have occasion to speak of +this species of relative pleasure, I call it <i>delight</i>; and +I shall take the best care I can to use that word +in no other sense. I am satisfied the word is not +commonly used in this appropriated signification; +but I thought it better to take up a word already +<!-- Page 132 --><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108" title="108" class="pagenum"></a>known, and to limit its signification, than to introduce +a new one, which would not perhaps incorporate +so well with the language. I should never have +presumed the least alteration in our words, if the +nature of the language, framed for the purposes of +business rather than those of philosophy, and the +nature of my subject, that leads me out of the +common track of discourse, did not in a manner +necessitate me to it. I shall make use of this liberty +with all possible caution. As I make use of the +word <i>delight</i> to express the sensation which accompanies +the removal of pain or danger, so, when I speak +of positive pleasure, I shall for the most part call it +simply <i>pleasure</i>.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION V.<br /> +<br /> +JOY AND GRIEF.</h3> + +<p>It must be observed, that the cessation of pleasure +affects the mind three ways. If it simply ceases +after having continued a proper time, the effect +is <i>indifference</i>; if it be abruptly broken off, there +ensues an uneasy sense called <i>disappointment</i>; if +the object be so totally lost that there is no chance +of enjoying it again, a passion arises in the mind +which is called <i>grief</i>. Now there is none of these, +not even grief, which is the most violent, that I think +has any resemblance to positive pain. The person +who grieves suffers his passion to grow upon him; +he indulges it, he loves it: but this never happens +in the case of actual pain, which no man ever +willingly endured for any considerable time. That +grief should be willingly endured, though far from +a simply pleasing sensation, is not so difficult to be +<!-- Page 133 --><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109" title="109" class="pagenum"></a>understood. It is the nature of grief to keep its +object perpetually in its eye, to present it in its most +pleasurable views, to repeat all the circumstances +that attend it, even to the last minuteness; to go +back to every particular enjoyment, to dwell upon +each, and to find a thousand new perfections in all, +that were not sufficiently understood before; in grief, +the <i>pleasure</i> is still uppermost; and the affliction we +suffer has no resemblance to absolute pain, which is +always odious, and which we endeavor to shake off as +soon as possible. The Odyssey of Homer, which +abounds with so many natural and affecting images, +has none more striking than those which Menelaus +raises of the calamitous fate of his friends, and his +own manner of feeling it. He owns, indeed, that he +often gives himself some intermission from such melancholy +reflections; but he observes, too, that, melancholy +as they are, they give him pleasure.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div><span lang="el" +title="All empês pantas men odyromenos kai acheuôn,"> +Ἁλλ' ἔμπηστ πάντας μἐv ὀδυρόμενοστ καὶ ἀχεὐων, +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Pollakis en megaroisi kathêmenos hêmeteroisin,"> +Πολλάκις ἐv μεγάροισι καθήμενος ἡμετέροισιν, +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Allote men te goô phrena terpomai, allote d' aute"> +Ἁλλοτε μέν τε γόῳ φρένα τέρπομαι, ἄλλοτε δ' αὐτε +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Pauomai; aipsêros de koros kryeroio gooio."> +Παύομαι; αἰψηρὀς δἐ κόρος κρυεροἲο γόοιο. +</span></div> +</div></div> + +<!-- Transliteration +All empês pantas men odyromenos kai acheuôn, +Pollakis en megaroisi kathêmenos hêmeteroisin, +Allote men te goô phrena terpomai, allote d' aute +Pauomai; aipsêros de koros kryeroio gooio. +--> +<!-- Unicode +Ἁλλ' ἔμπηστ πάντας μἐv ὀδυρόμενοστ καὶ ἀχεὐων, +Πολλάκις ἐv μεγάροισι καθήμενος ἡμετέροισιν, +Ἁλλοτε μέν τε γόῳ φρένα τέρπομαι, ἄλλοτε δ' αὐτε +Παύομαι; αἰψηρὀς δἐ κόρος κρυεροἲο γόοιο. +--> +<!-- Betacode +A(ll' e)/mpêst pa/ntas me)v o)dyro/menost kai\ a)ch-ey)ôn, +Polla/kis e)v mega/roisi kathê/menos ê(mete/roisin, +A(llote me/n te go/ô| phre/na te/rpomai, a)/llote d' ay)te +Pay/omai; ai)psêro)s de) ko/ros kryeroi)\o go/oio. +--> +<!-- HTML Entities +Ἁλλ' ἔμπηστ πάντας μἐv ὀδυρόμενοστ καὶ ἀχ-εὐων, +Πολλάκις ἐv μεγάροισι καθήμενος ἡμετέροισιν, +Ἁλλοτε μέν τε γόῳ φρένα τέρπομαι, ἄλλοτε δ' αὐτε +Παύομαι; αἰψηρὀς δἐ κόρος κρυεροἲο γόοιο. +--> + +<p class="citation">Hom. Od. +<span lang="el" title="D">Δ</span><!-- HTML Entity Δ -->. 100. +</p> + +<div class="poem" style="margin-left: 4em; font-size: 95%"><div class="stanza"> +<div><span style="margin-left: -.5em;">"Still in short intervals of <i>pleasing woe</i>,</span></div> +<div>Regardful of the friendly dues I owe,</div> +<div>I to the glorious dead, forever dear,</div> +<div><i>Indulge</i> the tribute of a <i>grateful</i> tear."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">On the other hand, when we recover our health, +when we escape an imminent danger, is it with joy +that we are affected? The sense on these occasions +is far from that smooth and voluptuous satisfaction +which the assured prospect of pleasure bestows. The +delight which arises from the modifications of pain +confesses the stock from whence it sprung, in its +solid, strong, and severe nature.<!-- Page 134 --><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110" title="110" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION VI.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE PASSIONS WHICH BELONG TO SELF-PRESERVATION.</h3> + +<p>Most of the ideas which are capable of making a +powerful impression on the mind, whether simply of +pain or pleasure, or of the modifications of those, may +be reduced very nearly to these two heads, <i>self-preservation</i>, +and <i>society</i>; to the ends of one or the other +of which all our passions are calculated to answer. +The passions which concern self-preservation, turn +mostly on <i>pain</i> or <i>danger</i>. The ideas of <i>pain</i>, <i>sickness</i>, +and <i>death</i>, fill the mind with strong emotions of +horror; but <i>life</i> and <i>health</i>, though they put us in a +capacity of being affected with pleasure, make no +such impression by the simple enjoyment. The passions +therefore which are conversant about the preservation +of the individual turn chiefly on <i>pain</i> and +<i>danger</i>, and they are the most powerful of all the +passions.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VII.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE SUBLIME.</h3> + +<p>Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas +of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any +sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, +or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a +source of the <i>sublime</i>; that is, it is productive of the +strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling. +I say the strongest emotion, because I am satisfied +the ideas of pain are much more powerful than +those which enter on the part of pleasure. Without +all doubt, the torments which we may be made to +<!-- Page 135 --><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111" title="111" class="pagenum"></a>suffer are much greater in their effect on the body +and mind, than any pleasures which the most learned +voluptuary could suggest, or than the liveliest imagination, +and the most sound and exquisitely sensible +body, could enjoy. Nay, I am in great doubt whether +any man could be found, who would earn a life of +the most perfect satisfaction at the price of ending it +in the torments, which justice inflicted in a few hours +on the late unfortunate regicide in France. But as +pain is stronger in its operation than pleasure, so +death is in general a much more affecting idea than +pain; because there are very few pains, however exquisite, +which are not preferred to death: nay, what +generally makes pain itself, if I may say so, more +painful, is, that it is considered as an emissary of this +king of terrors. When danger or pain press too nearly, +they are incapable of giving any delight, and are +simply terrible; but at certain distances, and with +certain modifications, they may be, and they are, delightful, +as we every day experience. The cause of +this I shall endeavor to investigate hereafter.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VIII.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE PASSIONS WHICH BELONG TO SOCIETY.</h3> + +<p>The other head under which I class our passions, +is that of <i>society</i>, which may be divided into two sorts. +1. The society of the <i>sexes</i>, which answers the purpose +of propagation; and next, that more <i>general +society</i>, which we have with men and with other +animals, and which we may in some sort be said to +have even with the inanimate world. The passions +<!-- Page 136 --><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112" title="112" class="pagenum"></a>belonging to the preservation of the individual turn +wholly on pain and danger: those which belong to +<i>generation</i> have their origin in gratifications and <i>pleasures</i>; +the pleasure most directly belonging to this purpose +is of a lively character, rapturous and violent, +and confessedly the highest pleasure of sense; yet the +absence of this so great an enjoyment scarce amounts +to an uneasiness; and, except at particular times, I +do not think it affects at all. When men describe in +what manner they are affected by pain and danger, +they do not dwell on the pleasure of health and the +comfort of security, and then lament the <i>loss</i> of these +satisfactions: the whole turns upon the actual pains +and horrors which they endure. But if you listen to +the complaints of a forsaken lover, you observe that +he insists largely on the pleasures which he enjoyed, +or hoped to enjoy, and on the perfection of the object +of his desires; it is the <i>loss</i> which is always uppermost +in his mind. The violent effects produced +by love, which has sometimes been even wrought up +to madness, is no objection to the rule which we seek +to establish. When men have suffered their imaginations +to be long affected with any idea, it so wholly +engrosses them as to shut out by degrees almost +every other, and to break down every partition of the +mind which would confine it. Any idea is sufficient +for the purpose, as is evident from the infinite variety +of causes, which give rise to madness: but this at +most can only prove, that the passion of love is capable +of producing very extraordinary effects, not that +its extraordinary emotions have any connection with +positive pain.</p> + + +<h3><!-- Page 137 --><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113" title="113" class="pagenum"></a>SECTION IX.<br /> +<br /> +THE FINAL CAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE +PASSIONS BELONGING TO SELF-PRESERVATION AND +THOSE WHICH REGARD THE SOCIETY OF THE SEXES.</h3> + +<p>The final cause of the difference in character between +the passions which regard self-preservation, +and those which are directed to the multiplication of +the species, will illustrate the foregoing remarks yet +further; and it is, I imagine, worthy of observation +even upon its own account. As the performance of +our duties of every kind depends upon life, and the +performing them with vigor and efficacy depends upon +health, we are very strongly affected with whatever +threatens the destruction of either: but as we were not +made to acquiesce in life and health, the simple +enjoyment of them is not attended with any real +pleasure, lest, satisfied with that, we should give ourselves +over to indolence and inaction. On the other +hand, the generation of mankind is a great purpose, +and it is requisite that men should be animated to +the pursuit of it by some great incentive. It is therefore +attended with a very high pleasure; but as it is +by no means designed to be our constant business, it +is not fit that the absence of this pleasure should be +attended with any considerable pain. The difference +between men and brutes, in this point, seems to be +remarkable. Men are at all times pretty equally disposed +to the pleasures of love, because they are to be +guided by reason in the time and manner of indulging +them. Had any great pain arisen from the want +of this satisfaction, reason, I am afraid, would find +great difficulties in the performance of its office. But +<!-- Page 138 --><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114" title="114" class="pagenum"></a>brutes that obey laws, in the execution of which their +own reason has but little share, have their stated +seasons; at such times it is not improbable that the +sensation from the want is very troublesome, because +the end must be then answered, or be missed in many, +perhaps forever; as the inclination returns only with +its season.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION X.<br /> +<br /> +OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>The passion which belongs to generation, merely +as such, is lust only. This is evident in brutes, +whose passions are more unmixed, and which pursue +their purposes more directly than ours. The only +distinction they observe with regard to their mates, +is that of sex. It is true, that they stick severally to +their own species in preference to all others. But +this preference, I imagine, does not arise from any +sense of beauty which they find in their species, as +Mr. Addison supposes, but from a law of some other +kind, to which they are subject; and this we may +fairly conclude, from their apparent want of choice +amongst those objects to which the barriers of their +species have confined them. But man, who is a creature +adapted to a greater variety and intricacy of +relation, connects with the general passion the idea +of some <i>social</i> qualities, which direct and heighten +the appetite which he has in common with all +other animals; and as he is not designed like them +to live at large, it is fit that he should have some +thing to create a preference, and fix his choice; and +this in general should be some sensible quality; as +no other can so quickly, so powerfully, or so surely +<!-- Page 139 --><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115" title="115" class="pagenum"></a>produce its effect. The object therefore of this mixed +passion, which we call love, is the <i>beauty</i> of the <i>sex</i>. +Men are carried to the sex in general, as it is the +sex, and by the common law of nature; but they are +attached to particulars by personal <i>beauty</i>. I call +beauty a social quality; for where women and men, +and not only they, but when other animals give us a +sense of joy and pleasure in beholding them (and +there are many that do so), they inspire us with sentiments +of tenderness and affection towards their +persons; we like to have them near us, and we enter +willingly into a kind of relation with them, unless we +should have strong reasons to the contrary. But to +what end, in many cases, this was designed, I am +unable to discover; for I see no greater reason for a +connection between man and several animals who are +attired in so engaging a manner, than between him +and some others who entirely want this attraction, or +possess it in a far weaker degree. But it is probable +that Providence did not make even this distinction, +but with a view to some great end; though we cannot +perceive distinctly what it is, as his wisdom is +not our wisdom, nor our ways his ways.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XI.<br /> +<br /> +SOCIETY AND SOLITUDE.</h3> + +<p>The second branch of the social passions is that +which administers to <i>society in general</i>. With regard +to this, I observe, that society, merely as society, +without any particular heightenings, gives us no positive +pleasure in the enjoyment; but absolute and +entire <i>solitude</i>, that is, the total and perpetual exclu<!-- Page 140 --><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116" title="116" class="pagenum"></a>sion +from all society, is as great a positive pain as can +almost be conceived. Therefore in the balance between +the pleasure of general <i>society</i>, and the pain of +absolute solitude, <i>pain</i> is the predominant idea. But +the pleasure of any particular social enjoyment outweighs +very considerably the uneasiness caused by +the want of that particular enjoyment; so that the +strongest sensations relative to the habitudes of <i>particular +society</i> are sensations of pleasure. Good company, +lively conversations, and the endearments of +friendship, fill the mind with great pleasure; a temporary +solitude, on the other hand, is itself agreeable. +This may perhaps prove that we are creatures designed +for contemplation as well as action; since +solitude as well as society has its pleasures; as from +the former observation we may discern, that an entire +life of solitude contradicts the purposes of our being, +since death itself is scarcely an idea of more terror.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XII.<br /> +<br /> +SYMPATHY, IMITATION, AND AMBITION.</h3> + +<p>Under this denomination of society, the passions +are of a complicated kind, and branch out into a variety +of forms, agreeably to that variety of ends they +are to serve in the great chain of society. The three +principal links in this chain are <i>sympathy</i>, <i>imitation,</i> +and <i>ambition</i>.</p> + + +<h3><!-- Page 141 --><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117" title="117" class="pagenum"></a>SECTION XIII.<br /> +<br /> +SYMPATHY.</h3> + +<p>It is by the first of these passions that we enter +into the concerns of others; that we are moved as +they are moved, and are never suffered to be indifferent +spectators of almost anything which men can +do or suffer. For sympathy must be considered as a +sort of substitution, by which we are put into the +place of another man, and affected in many respects +as he is affected: so that this passion may either partake +of the nature of those which regard self-preservation, +and turning upon pain may be a source of the +sublime; or it may turn upon ideas of pleasure; +and then whatever has been said of the social affections, +whether they regard society in general, or only +some particular modes of it, may be applicable here. +It is by this principle chiefly that poetry, painting, +and other affecting arts, transfuse their passions from +one breast to another, and are often capable of grafting +a delight on wretchedness, misery, and death itself. +It is a common observation, that objects which in the +reality would shock, are in tragical, and such like +representations, the source of a very high species of +pleasure. This, taken as a fact, has been the cause +of much reasoning. The satisfaction has been commonly +attributed, first, to the comfort we receive in +considering that so melancholy a story is no more +than a fiction; and, next, to the contemplation of our +own freedom from the evils which we see represented. +I am afraid it is a practice much too common in inquiries +of this nature, to attribute the cause of feelings +which merely arise from the mechanical struc<!-- Page 142 --><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118" title="118" class="pagenum"></a>ture +of our bodies, or from the natural frame and +constitution of our minds, to certain conclusions of +the reasoning faculty on the objects presented to us; +for I should imagine, that the influence of reason in +producing our passions is nothing near so extensive +as it is commonly believed.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIV.<br /> +<br /> +THE EFFECTS OF SYMPATHY IN THE DISTRESSES OF OTHERS.</h3> + +<p>To examine this point concerning the effect of +tragedy in a proper manner, we must previously consider +how we are affected by the feelings of our fellow creatures +in circumstances of real distress. I am +convinced we have a degree of delight, and that no +small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of +others; for let the affection be what it will in appearance, +if it does not make us shun such objects, +if on the contrary it induces us to approach them, if +it makes us dwell upon them, in this case I conceive +we must have a delight or pleasure of some species +or other in contemplating objects of this kind. Do +we not read the authentic histories of scenes of this +nature with as much pleasure as romances or poems, +where the incidents are fictitious? The prosperity +of no empire, nor the grandeur of no king, can so +agreeably affect in the reading, as the ruin of the +state of Macedon, and the distress of its unhappy +prince. Such a catastrophe touches us in history as +much as the destruction of Troy does in fable. Our +delight, in cases of this kind, is very greatly heightened, +if the sufferer be some excellent person who +<!-- Page 143 --><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119" title="119" class="pagenum"></a>sinks under an unworthy fortune. Scipio and Cato +are both virtuous characters; but we are more deeply +affected by the violent death of the one, and the ruin +of the great cause he adhered to, than with the deserved +triumphs and uninterrupted prosperity of the +other: for terror is a passion which always produces +delight when it does not press too closely; and pity +is a passion accompanied with pleasure, because it +arises from love and social affection. Whenever we +are formed by nature to any active purpose, the passion +which animates us to it is attended with delight, +or a pleasure of some kind, let the subject-matter be +what it will; and as our Creator has designed that we +should be united by the bond of sympathy, he has +strengthened that bond by a proportionable delight; +and there most where our sympathy is most wanted,—in +the distresses of others. If this passion was +simply painful, we would shun with the greatest care +all persons and places that could excite such a passion; +as some, who are so far gone in indolence as +not to endure any strong impression, actually do. +But the case is widely different with the greater part +of mankind; there is no spectacle we so eagerly pursue, +as that of some uncommon and grievous calamity; +so that whether the misfortune is before our +eyes, or whether they are turned back to it in history, +it always touches with delight. This is not an unmixed +delight, but blended with no small uneasiness. +The delight we have in such things hinders us from +shunning scenes of misery; and the pain we feel +prompts us to relieve ourselves in relieving those +who suffer; and all this antecedent to any reasoning, +by an instinct that works us to its own purposes without +our concurrence.<!-- Page 144 --><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120" title="120" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XV.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE EFFECTS OF TRAGEDY.</h3> + +<p>It is thus in real calamities. In imitated distresses +the only difference is the pleasure resulting +from the effects of imitation; for it is never so perfect, +but we can perceive it is imitation, and on that +principle are somewhat pleased with it. And indeed +in some cases we derive as much or more pleasure +from that source than from the thing itself. But +then I imagine we shall be much mistaken if we +attribute any considerable part of our satisfaction in +tragedy to the consideration that tragedy is a deceit, +and its representations no realities. The nearer it +approaches the reality, and the further it removes +us from all idea of fiction, the more perfect is its +power. But be its power of what kind it will, it never +approaches to what it represents. Choose a day on +which to represent the most sublime and affecting +tragedy we have; appoint the most favorite actors; +spare no cost upon the scenes and decorations; unite +the greatest efforts of poetry, painting, and music; +and when you have collected your audience, just at +the moment when their minds are erect with expectation, +let it be reported that a state criminal of high +rank is on the point of being executed in the adjoining +square; in a moment the emptiness of the theatre +would demonstrate the comparative weakness of +the imitative arts, and proclaim the triumph of the +real sympathy. I believe that this notion of our +having a simple pain in the reality, yet a delight in +the representation, arises from hence, that we do not +sufficiently distinguish what we would by no means +<!-- Page 145 --><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121" title="121" class="pagenum"></a>choose to do, from what we should be eager enough +to see if it was once done. We delight in seeing +things, which so far from doing, our heartiest wishes +would be to see redressed. This noble capital, the +pride of England and of Europe, I believe no man is +so strangely wicked as to desire to see destroyed by a +conflagration or an earthquake, though he should be +removed himself to the greatest distance from the +danger. But suppose such a fatal accident to have +happened, what numbers from all parts would crowd +to behold the ruins, and amongst them many who +would have been content never to have seen London +in its glory! Nor is it, either in real or fictitious +distresses, our immunity from them which produces +our delight; in my own mind I can discover nothing +like it. I apprehend that this mistake is owing to a +sort of sophism, by which we are frequently imposed +upon; it arises from our not distinguishing between +what is indeed a necessary condition to our doing or +suffering anything in general, and what is the <i>cause</i> +of some particular act. If a man kills me with a +sword, it is a necessary condition to this that we +should have been both of us alive before the fact; +and yet it would be absurd to say that our being both +living creatures was the cause of his crime and of my +death. So it is certain that it is absolutely necessary +my life should be out of any imminent hazard, before +I can take a delight in the sufferings of others, real or +imaginary, or indeed in anything else from any cause +whatsoever. But then it is a sophism to argue from +thence that this immunity is the cause of my delight +either on these or on any occasions. No one can +distinguish such a cause of satisfaction in his own +mind, I believe; nay, when we do not suffer any very +<!-- Page 146 --><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122" title="122" class="pagenum"></a>acute pain, nor are exposed to any imminent danger +of our lives, we can feel for others, whilst we suffer +ourselves; and often then most when we are softened +by affliction; we see with pity even distresses which +we would accept in the place of our own.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVI.<br /> +<br /> +IMITATION.</h3> + +<p>The second passion belonging to society is imitation, +or, if you will, a desire of imitating, and consequently +a pleasure in it. This passion arises from +much the same cause with sympathy. For as sympathy +makes us take a concern in whatever men feel, +so this affection prompts us to copy whatever they +do; and consequently we have a pleasure in imitating, +and in whatever belongs to imitation merely as +it is such, without any intervention of the reasoning +faculty, but solely from our natural constitution, +which Providence has framed in such a manner as +to find either pleasure or delight, according to the +nature of the object, in whatever regards the purposes +of our being. It is by imitation far more than +by precept, that we learn everything; and what we +learn thus, we acquire not only more effectually, +but more pleasantly. This forms our manners, our +opinions, our lives. It is one of the strongest links +of society; it is a species of mutual compliance, +which all men yield to each other, without constraint +to themselves, and which is extremely flattering +to all. Herein it is that painting and many other +agreeable arts have laid one of the principal foundations +of their power. And since, by its influence on +<!-- Page 147 --><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123" title="123" class="pagenum"></a>our manners and our passions, it is of such great +consequence, I shall here venture to lay down a rule, +which may inform us with a good degree of certainty +when we are to attribute the power of the arts to +imitation, or to our pleasure in the skill of the imitator +merely, and when to sympathy, or some other +cause in conjunction, with it. When the object represented +in poetry or painting is such as we could have +no desire of seeing in the reality, then I may be sure +that its power in poetry or painting is owing to the +power of imitation, and to no cause operating in the +thing itself. So it is with most of the pieces which +the painters call still-life. In these a cottage, a +dung-hill, the meanest and most ordinary utensils +of the kitchen, are capable of giving us pleasure. +But when the object of the painting or poem is such +as we should run to see if real, let it affect us with +what odd sort of sense it will, we may rely upon it +that the power of the poem or picture is more owing +to the nature of the thing itself than to the mere +effect of imitation, or to a consideration of the skill +of the imitator, however excellent. Aristotle has +spoken so much and so solidly upon the force of +imitation in his Poetics, that it makes any further +discourse upon this subject the less necessary.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVII.<br /> +<br /> +AMBITION.</h3> + +<p>Although imitation is one of the great instruments +used by Providence in bringing our nature towards +its perfection, yet if men gave themselves up to imitation +entirely, and each followed the other, and so on +<!-- Page 148 --><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124" title="124" class="pagenum"></a>in an eternal circle, it is easy to see that there never +could be any improvement amongst them. Men +must remain as brutes do, the same at the end that +they are at this day, and that they were in the beginning +of the world. To prevent this, God has planted +in man a sense of ambition, and a satisfaction arising +from the contemplation of his excelling his fellows in +something deemed valuable amongst them. It is this +passion that drives men to all the ways we see in use +of signalizing themselves, and that tends to make +whatever excites in a man the idea of this distinction +so very pleasant. It has been so strong as to make +very miserable men take comfort, that they were supreme +in misery; and certain it is that, where we +cannot distinguish ourselves by something excellent, +we begin to take a complacency in some singular +infirmities, follies, or defects of one kind or other. +It is on this principle that flattery is so prevalent; +for flattery is no more than what raises in a man's +mind an idea of a preference which he has not. +Now, whatever, either on good or upon bad grounds, +tends to raise a man in his own opinion, produces a +sort of swelling and triumph, that is extremely grateful +to the human mind; and this swelling is never +more perceived, nor operates with more force, than +when without danger we are conversant with terrible +objects; the mind always claiming to itself some part +of the dignity and importance of the things which it +contemplates. Hence proceeds what Longinus has +observed of that glorying and sense of inward greatness, +that always fills the reader of such passages in +poets and orators as are sublime: it is what every +man must have felt in himself upon such occasions.<!-- Page 149 --><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125" title="125" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVIII.<br /> +<br /> +THE RECAPITULATION.</h3> + +<p>To draw the whole of what has been said into a +few distinct points:—The passions which belong to +self-preservation turn on pain and danger; they are +simply painful when their causes immediately affect +us; they are delightful when we have an idea of pain +and danger, without being actually in such circumstances; +this delight I have not called pleasure, because +it turns on pain, and because it is different +enough from any idea of positive pleasure. Whatever +excites this delight, I call <i>sublime</i>. The passions +belonging to self-preservation are the strongest +of all the passions.</p> + +<p>The second head to which the passions are referred +with relation to their final cause, is society. There +are two sorts of societies. The first is, the society of +sex. The passion belonging to this is called love, +and it contains a mixture of lust; its object is the +beauty of women. The other is the great society +with man and all other animals. The passion subservient +to this is called likewise love, but it has no +mixture of lust, and its object is beauty; which is a +name I shall apply to all such qualities in things as +induce in us a sense of affection and tenderness, or +some other passion the most nearly resembling these. +The passion of love has its rise in positive pleasure; +it is, like all things which grow out of pleasure, capable +of being mixed with a mode of uneasiness, that is, +when an idea of its object is excited in the mind with +an idea at the same time of having irretrievably lost +it. This mixed sense of pleasure I have not called +<!-- Page 150 --><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126" title="126" class="pagenum"></a><i>pain</i>, because it turns upon actual pleasure, and because +it is, both in its cause and in most of its effects, +of a nature altogether different.</p> + +<p>Next to the general passion we have for society, to +a choice in which we are directed by the pleasure we +have in the object, the particular passion under this +head called sympathy has the greatest extent. The +nature of this passion is, to put us in the place of another +in whatever circumstance he is in, and to affect +us in a like manner; so that this passion may, as the +occasion requires, turn either on pain or pleasure; +but with the modifications mentioned in some cases +in Sect. 11. As to imitation and preference, nothing +more need be said.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIX.<br /> +<br /> +THE CONCLUSION.</h3> + +<p>I believed that an attempt to range and methodize +some of our most leading passions would be a good +preparative to such an inquiry as we are going to +make in the ensuing discourse. The passions I have +mentioned are almost the only ones which it can be +necessary to consider in our present design; though +the variety of the passions is great, and worthy, in +every branch of that variety, of an attentive investigation. +The more accurately we search into the human +mind, the stronger traces we everywhere find of +His wisdom who made it. If a discourse on the use +of the parts of the body may be considered as a hymn +to the Creator; the use of the passions, which are the +organs of the mind, cannot be barren of praise to him, +nor unproductive to ourselves of that noble and un<!-- Page 151 --><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127" title="127" class="pagenum"></a>common +union of science and admiration, which a contemplation +of the works of infinite wisdom alone can +afford to a rational mind; whilst, referring to him +whatever we find of right or good or fair in ourselves, +discovering his strength and wisdom even in our own +weakness and imperfection, honoring them where we +discover them clearly, and adoring their profundity +where we are lost in our search, we may be inquisitive +without impertinence, and elevated without +pride; we may be admitted, if I may dare to say so, +into the counsels of the Almighty by a consideration +of his works. The elevation of the mind ought to be +the principal end of all our studies; which, if they do +not in some measure effect, they are of very little service +to us. But, besides this great purpose, a consideration +of the rationale of our passions seems to me +very necessary for all who would affect them upon +solid and sure principles. It is not enough to know +them in general; to affect them after a delicate manner, +or to judge properly of any work designed to affect +them, we should know the exact boundaries of +their several jurisdictions; we should pursue them +through all their variety of operations, and pierce +into the inmost, and what might appear inaccessible +parts of our nature,</p> + +<blockquote style="text-align: center"> +<p>Quod latet arcanâ non enarrabile fibrâ.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">Without all this it is possible for a man, after a confused +manner sometimes to satisfy his own mind of +the truth of his work; but he can never have a certain +determinate rule to go by, nor can he ever make +his propositions sufficiently clear to others. Poets, +and orators, and painters, and those who cultivate +other branches of the liberal arts, have, without this +<!-- Page 152 --><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128" title="128" class="pagenum"></a>critical knowledge, succeeded well in their several +provinces, and will succeed: as among artificers +there are many machines made and even invented +without any exact knowledge of the principles they +are governed by. It is, I own, not uncommon to be +wrong in theory, and right in practice: and we are +happy that it is so. Men often act right from their +feelings, who afterwards reason but ill on them from +principle; but as it is impossible to avoid an attempt +at such reasoning, and equally impossible to prevent +its having some influence on our practice, surely it is +worth taking some pains to have it just, and founded +on the basis of sure experience. We might expect +that the artists themselves would have been our +surest guides; but the artists have been too much +occupied in the practice: the philosophers have done +little; and what they have done, was mostly with a +view to their own schemes and systems; and as for +those called critics, they have generally sought the +rule of the arts in the wrong place; they sought it +among poems, pictures, engravings, statues, and +buildings. But art can never give the rules that +make an art. This is, I believe, the reason why artists +in general, and poets, principally, have been confined +in so narrow a circle: they have been rather +imitators of one another than of nature; and this +with so faithful an uniformity, and to so remote an +antiquity, that it is hard to say who gave the first +model. Critics follow them, and therefore can do little +as guides. I can judge but poorly of anything, +whilst I measure it by no other standard than itself. +The true standard of the arts is in every man's power; +and an easy observation of the most common, +sometimes of the meanest things in nature, will give +<!-- Page 153 --><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129" title="129" class="pagenum"></a>the truest lights, where the greatest sagacity and industry, +that slights such observation, must leave us +in the dark, or, what is worse, amuse and mislead us +by false lights. In an inquiry it is almost everything +to be once in a right road. I am satisfied I have done +but little by these observations considered in themselves; +and I never should have taken the pains to +digest them, much less should I have ever ventured +to publish them, if I was not convinced that nothing +tends more to the corruption of science than to suffer +it to stagnate. These waters must be troubled, before +they can exert their virtues. A man who works +beyond the surface of things, though he may be wrong +himself, yet he clears the way for others, and may +chance to make even his errors subservient to the +cause of truth. In the following parts I shall inquire +what things they are that cause in us the affections +of the sublime and beautiful, as in this I have considered +the affections themselves. I only desire one favor,—that +no part of this discourse may be judged +of by itself, and independently of the rest; for I am +sensible I have not disposed my materials to abide +the test of a captious controversy, but of a sober and +even forgiving examination; that they are not armed +at all points for battle, but dressed to visit those who +are willing to give a peaceful entrance to truth.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Mr. Locke [Essay on Human Understanding, l. ii. c. 20, sect. 16,] +thinks that the removal or lessening of a pain is considered and operates +as a pleasure, and the loss or diminishing of pleasure as a pain. +It is this opinion which we consider here.</p></div><!-- Page 154 --><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130" title="130" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_II" id="PART_II"></a>PART II.</h2> + + +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE PASSION CAUSED BY THE SUBLIME.</h3> + +<p>The passion caused by the great and sublime in +<i>nature</i>, when those causes operate most powerfully, is +astonishment: and astonishment is that state of the +soul in which all its motions are suspended, with +some degree of horror.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor" +title="Part I. sect. 3, 4, 7.">[11]</a> In this case the mind is so +entirely filled with its object, that it cannot entertain +any other, nor by consequence reason on that object +which employs it. Hence arises the great power of +the sublime, that, far from being produced by them, it +anticipates our reasonings, and hurries us on by an +irresistible force. Astonishment, as I have said, is +the effect of the sublime in its highest degree; the +inferior effects are admiration, reverence, and respect.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +<br /> +TERROR.</h3> + +<p>No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its +powers of acting and reasoning as <i>fear</i>.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 3, 4, 5, 6.">[12]</a> For fear +being an apprehension of pain or death, it operates +in a manner that resembles actual pain. Whatever +therefore is terrible, with regard to sight, is sublime +too, whether this cause of terror be endued with +greatness of dimensions or not; for it is impossible +to look on anything as trifling, or contemptible, that +<!-- Page 155 --><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131" title="131" class="pagenum"></a>may be dangerous. There are many animals, who, +though far from being large, are yet capable of raising +ideas of the sublime, because they are considered +as objects of terror. As serpents and poisonous animals +of almost all kinds. And to things of great +dimensions, if we annex an adventitious idea of terror, +they become without comparison greater. A +level plain of a vast extent on land, is certainly no +mean idea; the prospect of such a plain may be as +extensive as a prospect of the ocean; but can it ever +fill the mind with anything so great as the ocean +itself? This is owing to several causes; but it is +owing to none more than this, that the ocean is an +object of no small terror. Indeed terror is in all +cases whatsoever, either more openly or latently, the +ruling principle of the sublime. Several languages +bear a strong testimony to the affinity of these ideas. +They frequently use the same word to signify indifferently +the modes of astonishment or admiration and +those of terror. +<span lang="el" title="Thambos">Θάμβος</span> +<!-- HTML Entities Θάμβος Betacode: Tha/mbos --> +is in Greek either fear or +wonder; +<span lang="el" title="deinos">δεινός</span> +<!-- HTML Entities δεινός Betacode: deino/s --> +is terrible or respectable; +<span lang="el" title="ahideo">αἰδέο</span> +<!-- HTML Entities αἰδέο Betacode: a)ide/o --> +to reverence or to fear. <i>Vereor</i> in Latin is what +<span lang="el" title="ahideo">αἰδέο</span> +<!-- HTML Entities αἰδέο Betacode: a)ide/o --> +is in Greek. The Romans used the verb <i>stupeo</i>, a term which strongly +marks the state of an astonished mind, to express the effect either of simple fear, +or of astonishment; the word <i>attonitus</i> (thunderstruck) +is equally expressive of the alliance of these +ideas; and do not the French <i>étonnement</i>, and the +English <i>astonishment</i> and <i>amazement</i>, point out as +clearly the kindred emotions which attend fear and +wonder? They who have a more general knowledge +of languages, could produce, I make no doubt, many +other and equally striking examples.<!-- Page 156 --><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132" title="132" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +<br /> +OBSCURITY.</h3> + +<p>To make anything very terrible, obscurity<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 14, 15, 16.">[13]</a> seems +in general to be necessary. When we know the full +extent of any danger, when we can accustom our +eyes to it, a great deal of the apprehension vanishes. +Every one will be sensible of this, who considers how +greatly night adds to our dread, in all cases of danger, +and how much the notions of ghosts and goblins, +of which none can form clear ideas, affect minds +which give credit to the popular tales concerning +such sorts of beings. Those despotic governments +which are founded on the passions of men, and principally +upon the passion of fear, keep their chief as +much as may be from the public eye. The policy +has been the same in many cases of religion. Almost +all the heathen temples were dark. Even in +the barbarous temples of the Americans at this day, +they keep their idol in a dark part of the hut, which is +consecrated to his worship. For this purpose too the +Druids performed all their ceremonies in the bosom +of the darkest woods, and in the shade of the oldest +and most spreading oaks. No person seems better to +have understood the secret of heightening, or of setting +terrible things, if I may use the expression, in +their strongest light, by the force of a judicious +obscurity than Milton. His description of death in +the second book is admirably studied; it is astonishing +with what a gloomy pomp, with what a significant +and expressive uncertainty of strokes and coloring, +he has finished the portrait of the king of terrors:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><!-- Page 157 --><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133" title="133" class="pagenum"></a> +<div class="i9">"The other shape,</div> +<div>If shape it might be called that shape had none</div> +<div>Distinguishable, in member, joint, or limb;</div> +<div>Or substance might be called that shadow seemed;</div> +<div>For each seemed either; black he stood as night;</div> +<div>Fierce as ten furies; terrible as hell;</div> +<div>And shook a deadly dart. What seemed his head</div> +<div>The likeness of a kingly crown had on."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">In this description all is dark, uncertain, confused, +terrible, and sublime to the last degree.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLEARNESS AND OBSCURITY +WITH REGARD TO THE PASSIONS.</h3> + +<p>It is one thing to make an idea clear, and another +to make it <i>affecting</i> to the imagination. If I make a +drawing of a palace, or a temple, or a landscape, I +present a very clear idea of those objects; but then +(allowing for the effect of imitation which is something) +my picture can at most affect only as the +palace, temple, or landscape, would have affected in +the reality. On the other hand, the most lively and +spirited verbal description I can give raises a very +obscure and imperfect <i>idea</i> of such objects; but then +it is in my power to raise a stronger <i>emotion</i> by +the description than I could do by the best painting. +This experience constantly evinces. The proper +manner of conveying the <i>affections</i> of the mind from +one to another is by words; there is a great insufficiency +in all other methods of communication; and +so far is a clearness of imagery from being absolutely +necessary to an influence upon the passions, that +they may be considerably operated upon, without +<!-- Page 158 --><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134" title="134" class="pagenum"></a>presenting any image at all, by certain sounds +adapted to that purpose; of which we have a sufficient +proof in the acknowledged and powerful effects +of instrumental music. In reality, a great clearness +helps but little towards affecting the passions, as it is +in some sort an enemy to all enthusiasms whatsoever.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION [IV].<br /> +<br /> +THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.</h3> + +<p>There are two verses in Horace's Art of Poetry +that seem to contradict this opinion; for which reason +I shall take a little more pains in clearing it up. +The verses are,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,</div> +<div>Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>On this the Abbé du Bos founds a criticism, +wherein he gives painting the preference to poetry +in the article of moving the passions; principally on +account of the greater <i>clearness</i> of the ideas it represents. +I believe this excellent judge was led into this +mistake (if it be a mistake) by his system; to which +he found it more conformable than I imagine it will +be found to experience. I know several who admire +and love painting, and yet who regard the objects of +their admiration in that art with coolness enough in +comparison of that warmth with which they are +animated by affecting pieces of poetry or rhetoric. +Among the common sort of people, I never could +perceive that painting had much influence on their +passions. It is true that the best sorts of painting, as +well as the best sorts of poetry, are not much understood +in that sphere. But it is most certain that +<!-- Page 159 --><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135" title="135" class="pagenum"></a>their passions are very strongly roused by a fanatic +preacher, or by the ballads of Chevy Chase, or the +Children in the Wood, and by other little popular +poems and tales that are current in that rank of life. +I do not know of any paintings, bad or good, that +produce the same effect. So that poetry, with all its +obscurity, has a more general, as well as a more +powerful dominion over the passions, than the other +art. And I think there are reasons in nature, why +the obscure idea, when properly conveyed, should be +more affecting than the clear. It is our ignorance of +things that causes all our admiration, and chiefly +excites our passions. Knowledge and acquaintance +make the most striking causes affect but little. It is +thus with the vulgar; and all men are as the vulgar +in what they do not understand. The ideas of eternity, +and infinity, are among the most affecting we +have: and yet perhaps there is nothing of which we +really understand so little, as of infinity and eternity. +We do not anywhere meet a more sublime description +than this justly-celebrated one of Milton, wherein +he gives the portrait of Satan with a dignity so suitable +to the subject:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i6">"He above the rest</div> +<div>In shape and gesture proudly eminent</div> +<div>Stood like a tower; his form had yet not lost</div> +<div>All her original brightness, nor appeared</div> +<div>Less than archangel ruined, and th' excess</div> +<div>Of glory obscured: as when the sun new risen</div> +<div>Looks through the horizontal misty air</div> +<div>Shorn of his beams; or from behind the moon</div> +<div>In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds</div> +<div>On half the nations; and with fear of change</div> +<div>Perplexes monarchs."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Here is a very noble picture; and in what does this +<!-- Page 160 --><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136" title="136" class="pagenum"></a>poetical picture consist? In images of a tower, an +archangel, the sun rising through mists, or in an +eclipse, the ruin of monarchs and the revolutions of +kingdoms. The mind is hurried out of itself, by a +crowd of great and confused images; which affect +because they are crowded and confused. For separate +them, and you lose much of the greatness; and +join them, and you infallibly lose the clearness. The +images raised by poetry are always of this obscure +kind; though in general the effects of poetry are by +no means to be attributed to the images it raises; +which point we shall examine more at large hereafter.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor" +title="Part V.">[14]</a> +But painting, when we have allowed for the +pleasure of imitation, can only affect simply by the +images it presents; and even in painting, a judicious +obscurity in some things contributes to the effect of +the picture; because the images in painting are +exactly similar to those in nature; and in nature, +dark, confused, uncertain images have a greater +power on the fancy to form the grander passions, +than those have which are more clear and determinate. +But where and when this observation may +be applied to practice, and how far it shall be extended, +will be better deduced from the nature of +the subject, and from the occasion, than from any +rules that can be given.</p> + +<p>I am sensible that this idea has met with opposition, +and is likely still to be rejected by several. +But let it be considered that hardly anything can +strike the mind with its greatness, which does not +make some sort of approach towards infinity; which +nothing can do whilst we are able to perceive its +bounds; but to see an object distinctly, and to per<!-- Page 161 --><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137" title="137" class="pagenum"></a>ceive +its bounds, is one and the same thing. A clear +idea is therefore another name for a little idea. +There is a passage in the book of Job amazingly +sublime, and this sublimity is principally due to +the terrible uncertainty of the thing described: <i>In +thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep +falleth upon men, fear came upon me and trembling, +which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed +before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up. It +stood still</i>, but I could not discern the form thereof; +<i>an image was before mine eyes; there was silence; and +I heard a voice,—Shall mortal man be more just than +God?</i> We are first prepared with the utmost solemnity +for the vision; we are first terrified, before +we are let even into the obscure cause of our +emotion: but when this grand cause of terror makes +its appearance, what is it? Is it not wrapt up in the +shades of its own incomprehensible darkness, more +awful, more striking, more terrible, than the liveliest +description, than the clearest painting, could possibly +represent it? When painters have attempted to give +us clear representations of these very fanciful and +terrible ideas, they have, I think, almost always +failed; insomuch that I have been at a loss, in all +the pictures I have seen of hell, to determine whether +the painter did not intend something ludicrous. Several +painters have handled a subject of this kind, with +a view of assembling as many horrid phantoms as their +imagination could suggest; but all the designs I have +chanced to meet of the temptations of St. Anthony +were rather a sort of odd, wild grotesques, than any +thing capable of producing a serious passion. In all +these subjects poetry is very happy. Its apparitions, +its chimeras, its harpies, its allegorical figures, are +<!-- Page 162 --><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138" title="138" class="pagenum"></a>grand and affecting; and though Virgil's Fame and +Homer's Discord are obscure, they are magnificent +figures. These figures in painting would be clear +enough, but I fear they might become ridiculous.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION V.<br /> +<br /> +POWER.</h3> + +<p>Besides those things which <i>directly</i> suggest the +idea of danger, and those which produce a similar +effect from a mechanical cause, I know of nothing +sublime, which is not some modification of power. +And this branch rises, as naturally as the other two +branches, from terror, the common stock of everything +that is sublime. The idea of power, at first +view, seems of the class of those indifferent ones, +which may equally belong to pain or to pleasure. +But in reality, the affection arising from the idea of +vast power is extremely remote from that neutral +character. For first, we must remember<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor" +title="Part I. sect. 7.">[15]</a> that the +idea of pain, in its highest degree, is much stronger +than the highest degree of pleasure; and that it preserves +the same superiority through all the subordinate +gradations. From hence it is, that where the +chances for equal degrees of suffering or enjoyment +are in any sort equal, the idea of the suffering must +always be prevalent. And indeed the ideas of pain, +and, above all, of death, are so very affecting, that +whilst we remain in the presence of whatever is supposed +to have the power of inflicting either, it is impossible +to be perfectly free from terror. Again, we +know by experience, that, for the enjoyment of pleas<!-- Page 163 --><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139" title="139" class="pagenum"></a>ure, +no great efforts of power are at all necessary; +nay, we know that such efforts would go a great way +towards destroying our satisfaction: for pleasure must +be stolen, and not forced upon us; pleasure follows the +will; and therefore we are generally affected with it +by many things of a force greatly inferior to our own. +But pain is always inflicted by a power in some way +superior, because we never submit to pain willingly. +So that strength, violence, pain, and terror, are ideas +that rush in upon the mind together. Look at a +man, or any other animal of prodigious strength, and +what is your idea before reflection? Is it that this +strength will be subservient to you, to your ease, to +your pleasure, to your interest in any sense? No; +the emotion you feel is, lest this enormous strength +should be employed to the purposes of<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor" +title="Vide Part III. sect. 21.">[16]</a> rapine and destruction. +That power derives all its sublimity from +the terror with which it is generally accompanied, +will appear evidently from its effect in the very few +cases, in which it may be possible to strip a considerable +degree of strength of its ability to hurt. When +you do this, you spoil it of everything sublime, and it +immediately becomes contemptible. An ox is a creature +of vast strength; but he is an innocent creature, +extremely serviceable, and not at all dangerous; for +which reason the idea of an ox is by no means grand. +A bull is strong too; but his strength is of another +kind; often very destructive, seldom (at least amongst +us) of any use in our business; the idea of a bull is +therefore great, and it has frequently a place in sublime +descriptions, and elevating comparisons. Let us +look at another strong animal, in the two distinct +lights in which we may consider him. The horse in +<!-- Page 164 --><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140" title="140" class="pagenum"></a>the light of an useful beast, fit for the plough, the +road, the draft; in every social useful light, the horse +has nothing sublime; but is it thus that we are affected +with him, <i>whose neck is clothed with thunder, +the glory of whose nostrils is terrible, who swalloweth +the ground with fierceness and rage, neither believeth +that it is the sound of the trumpet</i>? In this description, +the useful character of the horse entirely disappears, +and the terrible and sublime blaze out together. We +have continually about us animals of a strength that +is considerable, but not pernicious. Amongst these we +never look for the sublime; it comes upon us in the +gloomy forest, and in the howling wilderness, in the +form of the lion, the tiger, the panther, or rhinoceros. +Whenever strength is only useful, and employed for +our benefit or our pleasure, then it is never sublime; +for nothing can act agreeably to us, that does not act +in conformity to our will; but to act agreeably to +our will, it must be subject to us, and therefore can +never be the cause of a grand and commanding conception. +The description of the wild ass, in Job, is +worked up into no small sublimity, merely by insisting +on his freedom, and his setting mankind at defiance; +otherwise the description of such an animal +could have had nothing noble in it. <i>Who hath loosed +</i> (says he) <i>the bands of the wild ass? whose house I +have made the wilderness and the barren land his +dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither +regardeth he the voice of the driver. The range +of the mountains is his pasture.</i> The magnificent description +of the unicorn and of leviathan, in the same +book, is full of the same heightening circumstances: +<i>Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee? canst thou +bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? wilt thou +<!-- Page 165 --><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141" title="141" class="pagenum"></a>trust him because his strength is great?—Canst thou +draw out leviathan with an hook? will he make a covenant +with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant forever? +shall not one be cast down even at the sight of +him?</i> In short, wheresoever we find strength, and in +what light soever we look upon power, we shall all +along observe the sublime the concomitant of terror, +and contempt the attendant on a strength that is subservient +and innoxious. The race of dogs, in many +of their kinds, have generally a competent degree of +strength and swiftness; and they exert these and +other valuable qualities which they possess, greatly +to our convenience and pleasure. Dogs are indeed +the most social, affectionate, and amiable animals of +the whole brute creation; but love approaches much +nearer to contempt than is commonly imagined; and +accordingly, though we caress dogs, we borrow from +them an appellation of the most despicable kind, when +we employ terms of reproach; and this appellation is +the common mark of the last vileness and contempt +in every language. Wolves have not more strength +than several species of dogs; but, on account of their +unmanageable fierceness, the idea of a wolf is not +despicable; it is not excluded from grand descriptions +and similitudes. Thus we are affected by +strength, which is <i>natural</i> power. The power which +arises from institution in kings and commanders, has +the same connection with terror. Sovereigns are frequently +addressed with the title of <i>dread majesty</i>. +And it may be observed, that young persons, little +acquainted with the world, and who have not been +used to approach men in power, are commonly struck +with an awe which takes away the free use of their +faculties. <i>When I prepared my seat in the street,</i> +<!-- Page 166 --><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142" title="142" class="pagenum"></a>(says Job,) <i>the young men saw me, and hid themselves.</i> +Indeed so natural is this timidity with regard to +power, and so strongly does it inhere in our constitution, +that very few are able to conquer it, but by +mixing much in the business of the great world, or +by using no small violence to their natural dispositions. +I know some people are of opinion, that no +awe, no degree of terror, accompanies the idea of +power; and have hazarded to affirm, that we can +contemplate the idea of God himself without any +such emotion. I purposely avoided, when I first considered +this subject, to introduce the idea of that +great and tremendous Being, as an example in an +argument so light as this; though it frequently occurred +to me, not as an objection to, but as a strong +confirmation of, my notions in this matter. I hope, +in what I am going to say, I shall avoid presumption, +where it is almost impossible for any mortal to speak +with strict propriety. I say then, that whilst we consider +the Godhead merely as he is an object of the +understanding, which forms a complex idea of power, +wisdom, justice, goodness, all stretched to a degree +far exceeding the bounds of our comprehension, +whilst we consider the divinity in this refined and abstracted +light, the imagination and passions are little +or nothing affected. But because we are bound, by +the condition of our nature, to ascend to these pure +and intellectual ideas, through the medium of sensible +images, and to judge of these divine qualities by +their evident acts and exertions, it becomes extremely +hard to disentangle our idea of the cause from the +effect by which we are led to know it. Thus, when +we contemplate the Deity, his attributes and their +operation, coming united on the mind, form a sort of +<!-- Page 167 --><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143" title="143" class="pagenum"></a>sensible image, and as such are capable of affecting +the imagination. Now, though in a just idea of the +Deity, perhaps none of his attributes are predominant, +yet, to our imagination, his power is by far the +most striking. Some reflection, some comparing, is +necessary to satisfy us of his wisdom, his justice, and +his goodness. To be struck with his power, it is only +necessary that we should open our eyes. But whilst +we contemplate so vast an object, under the arm, as it +were, of almighty power, and invested upon every +side with omnipresence, we shrink into the minuteness +of our own nature, and are, in a manner, annihilated +before him. And though a consideration of +his other attributes may relieve, in some measure, +our apprehensions; yet no conviction of the justice +with which it is exercised, nor the mercy with which +it is tempered, can wholly remove the terror that naturally +arises from a force which nothing can withstand. +If we rejoice, we rejoice with trembling; and +even whilst we are receiving benefits, we cannot but +shudder at a power which can confer benefits of such +mighty importance. When the prophet David contemplated +the wonders of wisdom and power which +are displayed in the economy of man, he seems to be +struck with a sort of divine horror, and cries out, +<i>fearfully and wonderfully am I made</i>! An heathen +poet has a sentiment of a similar nature; Horace +looks upon it as the last effort of philosophical fortitude, +to behold without terror and amazement, this +immense and glorious fabric of the universe:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Hunc solem, et stellas, et decedentia certis</div> +<div>Tempora momentis, sunt qui formidine nulla</div> +<div>Imbuti spectent.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Lucretius is a poet not to be suspected of giving way +<!-- Page 168 --><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144" title="144" class="pagenum"></a>to superstitious terrors; yet, when he supposes the +whole mechanism of nature laid open by the master +of his philosophy, his transport on this magnificent +view, which he has represented in the colors of such +bold and lively poetry, is overcast with a shade of +secret dread and horror:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>His ibi me rebus quædam divina voluptas</div> +<div>Percipit, atque horror; quod sic natura, tua vi</div> +<div>Tam manifesta patens, ex omni parte retecta est.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">But the Scripture alone can supply ideas answerable +to the majesty of this subject. In the Scripture, +wherever God is represented as appearing or speaking, +everything terrible in nature is called up to +heighten the awe and solemnity of the Divine presence. +The Psalms, and the prophetical books, are +crowded with instances of this kind. <i>The earth shook,</i> +(says the Psalmist,) <i>the heavens also dropped at the +presence of the Lord.</i> And what is remarkable, the +painting preserves the same character, not only when +he is supposed descending to take vengeance upon +the wicked, but even when he exerts the like plenitude +of power in acts of beneficence to mankind. +<i>Tremble, thou earth! at the presence of the Lord; at +the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock +into standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters!</i> +It were endless to enumerate all the passages, both +in the sacred and profane writers, which establish the +general sentiment of mankind, concerning the inseparable +union of a sacred and reverential awe, with +our ideas of the divinity. Hence the common maxim, +<i>Primus in orbe deos fecit timor</i>. This maxim may +be, as I believe it is, false with regard to the origin +of religion. The maker of the maxim saw how +inseparable these ideas were, without considering +<!-- Page 169 --><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145" title="145" class="pagenum"></a>that the notion of some great power must be always +precedent to our dread of it. But this dread must +necessarily follow the idea of such a power, when it +is once excited in the mind. It is on this principle +that true religion has, and must have, so large a mixture +of salutary fear; and that false religions have +generally nothing else but fear to support them. Before +the Christian religion had, as it were, humanized +the idea of the Divinity, and brought it somewhat +nearer to us, there was very little said of the love of +God. The followers of Plato have something of it, +and only something; the other writers of pagan +antiquity, whether poets or philosophers, nothing at +all. And they who consider with what infinite attention, +by what a disregard of every perishable object, +through what long habits of piety and contemplation +it is that any man is able to attain an entire love and +devotion to the Deity, will easily perceive that it is +not the first, the most natural, and the most striking +effect which proceeds from that idea. Thus we have +traced power through its several gradations unto the +highest of all, where our imagination is finally lost; +and we find terror, quite throughout the progress, +its inseparable companion, and growing along with +it, as far as we can possibly trace them. Now, as +power is undoubtedly a capital source of the sublime, +this will point out evidently from whence its energy +is derived, and to what class of ideas we ought to +unite it.<!-- Page 170 --><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146" title="146" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION VI.<br /> +<br /> +PRIVATION.</h3> + +<p>ALL <i>general</i> privations are great, because they are +all terrible; <i>vacuity</i>, <i>darkness</i>, <i>solitude</i>, and <i>silence</i>. +With what a fire of imagination, yet with what severity +of judgment, has Virgil amassed all these circumstances, +where he knows that all the images of +a tremendous dignity ought to be united at the +mouth of hell! Where, before he unlocks the secrets +of the great deep, he seems to be seized with a +religious horror, and to retire astonished at the boldness +of his own design:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Dii, quibus imperium est animarum, umbræque <i>silentes</i>!</div> +<div>Et Chaos, et Phlegethon! loca <i>nocte silentia</i> late!</div> +<div>Sit mihi fas audita loqui! sit numine vestro</div> +<div>Pandere res alta terra et <i>caligine</i> mersas!</div> +<div>Ibant <i>obscuri</i>, <i>sola</i> sub <i>nocte</i>, per <i>umbram</i>,</div> +<div>Perque domos Ditis <i>vacuas</i>, et <i>inania</i> regus.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Ye subterraneous gods! whose awful sway</div> +<div>The gliding ghosts, and <i>silent</i> shades obey:</div> +<div>O Chaos hoar! and Phlegethon profound!</div> +<div>Whose solemn empire stretches wide around;</div> +<div>Give me, ye great, tremendous powers, to tell</div> +<div>Of scenes and wonders in the depth of hell;</div> +<div>Give me your mighty secrets to display</div> +<div>From those <i>black</i> realms of darkness to the day."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="citation">PITT.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"<i>Obscure</i> they went through dreary <i>shades</i> that led</div> +<div>Along the <i>waste</i> dominions of the <i>dead</i>."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="citation">DRYDEN. +<!-- Page 171 --><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147" title="147" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION VII.<br /> +<br /> +VASTNESS.</h3> + +<p>Greatness<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 9.">[17]</a> of dimension is a powerful cause of +the sublime. This is too evident, and the observation +too common, to need any illustration; it is not +so common to consider in what ways greatness of +dimension, vastness of extent or quantity, has the +most striking effect. For, certainly, there are ways +and modes wherein the same quantity of extension +shall produce greater effects than it is found to do +in others. Extension is either in length, height, or +depth. Of these the length strikes least; a hundred +yards of even ground will never work such an effect +as a tower a hundred yards high, or a rock or mountain +of that altitude. I am apt to imagine, likewise, +that height is less grand than depth; and that we +are more struck at looking down from a precipice, +than looking up at an object of equal height; but of +that I am not very positive. A perpendicular has +more force in forming the sublime, than an inclined +plane, and the effects of a rugged and broken surface +seem stronger than where it is smooth and polished. +It would carry us out of our way to enter in this +place into the cause of these appearances, but certain +it is they afford a large and fruitful field of speculation. +However, it may not be amiss to add to these +remarks upon magnitude, that as the great extreme +of dimension is sublime, so the last extreme of littleness +is in some measure sublime likewise; when we +attend to the infinite divisibility of matter, when we +pursue animal life into these excessively small, and +<!-- Page 172 --><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148" title="148" class="pagenum"></a>yet organized beings, that escape the nicest inquisition +of the sense; when we push our discoveries yet +downward, and consider those creatures so many degrees +yet smaller, and the still diminishing scale of +existence, in tracing which the imagination is lost +as well as the sense; we become amazed and confounded +at the wonders of minuteness; nor can we +distinguish in its effect this extreme of littleness from +the vast itself. For division must be infinite as well +as addition; because the idea of a perfect unity can +no more be arrived at, than that of a complete whole, +to which nothing may be added.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VIII.<br /> +<br /> +INFINITY.</h3> + +<p>Another source of the sublime is <i>infinity</i>; if it +does not rather belong to the last. Infinity has a +tendency to fill the mind with that sort of delightful +horror, which is the most genuine effect, and truest +test of the sublime. There are scarce any things +which can become the objects of our senses, that are +really and in their own nature infinite. But the eye +not being able to perceive the bounds of many things, +they seem to be infinite, and they produce the same +effects as if they were really so. We are deceived in +the like manner, if the parts of some large object are +so continued to any indefinite number, that the imagination +meets no check which may hinder its extending +them at pleasure.</p> + +<p>Whenever we repeat any idea frequently, the mind, +by a sort of mechanism, repeats it long after the first +cause has ceased to operate.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 11.">[18]</a> After whirling about, +<!-- Page 173 --><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149" title="149" class="pagenum"></a>when we sit down, the objects about us still seem to +whirl. After a long succession of noises, as the fall +of waters, or the beating of forge-hammers, the hammers +beat and the waters roar in the imagination +long after the first sounds have ceased to affect it; +and they die away at last by gradations which are +scarcely perceptible. If you hold up a straight pole, +with your eye to one end, it will seem extended to a +length almost incredible.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 13.">[19]</a> Place a number of uniform +and equi-distant marks on this pole, they will +cause the same deception, and seem multiplied without +end. The senses, strongly affected in some one +manner, cannot quickly change their tenor, or adapt +themselves to other things; but they continue in their +old channel until the strength of the first mover decays. +This is the reason of an appearance very frequent in +madmen; that they remain whole days and nights, +sometimes whole years, in the constant repetition of +some remark, some complaint, or song; which having +struck powerfully on their disordered imagination, +in the beginning of their frenzy, every repetition +reinforces it with new strength, and the hurry of their +spirits, unrestrained by the curb of reason, continues +it to the end of their lives.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IX.<br /> +<br /> +SUCCESSION AND UNIFORMITY.</h3> + +<p>Succession and <i>uniformity</i> of parts are what constitute +the artificial infinite. 1. <i>Succession</i>; which is +requisite that the parts may be continued so long and +in such a direction, as by their frequent impulses on +<!-- Page 174 --><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150" title="150" class="pagenum"></a>the sense to impress the imagination with an idea of +their progress beyond their actual limits. 2. <i>Uniformity</i>; +because, if the figures of the parts should +be changed, the imagination at every change finds a +check; you are presented at every alteration with the +termination of one idea, and the beginning of another; +by which means it becomes impossible to continue +that uninterrupted progression, which alone can +stamp on bounded objects the character of infinity. +It is in this kind of artificial infinity, I believe, we +ought to look for the cause why a rotund has such a +noble effect.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor" +title="Mr. Addison, in the Spectators concerning the pleasures of the +imagination, thinks it is because in the rotund at one glance you see +half the building. This I do not imagine to be the real cause.">[20]</a> For in a rotund, whether it be a building +or a plantation, you can nowhere fix a boundary; +turn which way you will, the same object still +seems to continue, and the imagination has no rest. +But the parts must be uniform, as well as circularly +disposed, to give this figure its full force; because +any difference, whether it be in the disposition, or in +the figure, or even in the color of the parts, is highly +prejudicial to the idea of infinity, which every change +must check and interrupt, at every alteration commencing +a new series. On the same principles of +succession and uniformity, the grand appearance +of the ancient heathen temples, which were generally +oblong forms, with a range of uniform pillars on every +side, will be easily accounted for. From the same +cause also may be derived the grand effect of the +aisles in many of our own old cathedrals. The form +of a cross used in some churches seems to me not so +eligible as the parallelogram of the ancients; at least, +I imagine it is not so proper for the outside. For, +<!-- Page 175 --><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151" title="151" class="pagenum"></a>supposing the arms of the cross every way equal, if +you stand in a direction parallel to any of the side +walls, or colonnades, instead of a deception that +makes the building more extended than it is, you +are cut off from a considerable part (two thirds) of +its <i>actual</i> length; and, to prevent all possibility of +progression, the arms of the cross taking a new direction, +make a right angle with the beam, and thereby +wholly turn the imagination from the repetition of +the former idea. Or suppose the spectator placed +where he may take a direct view of such a building, +what will be the consequence? the necessary consequence +will be, that a good part of the basis of each +angle formed by the intersection of the arms of the +cross, must be inevitably lost; the whole must of +course assume a broken, unconnected figure; the +lights must be unequal, here strong, and there +weak; without that noble gradation which the perspective +always effects on parts disposed uninterruptedly +in a right line. Some or all of these objections +will lie against every figure of a cross, in whatever +view you take it. I exemplified them in the Greek +cross, in which these faults appear the most strongly; +but they appear in some degree in all sorts of crosses. +Indeed, there is nothing more prejudicial to the +grandeur of buildings than to abound in angles; a +fault obvious in many; and owing to an inordinate +thirst for variety, which, whenever it prevails, is +sure to leave very little true taste.<!-- Page 176 --><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152" title="152" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION X.<br /> +<br /> +MAGNITUDE IN BUILDING.</h3> + +<p>To the sublime in building, greatness of dimension +seems requisite; for on a few parts, and those small, +the imagination cannot rise to any idea of infinity. +No greatness in the manner can effectually compensate +for the want of proper dimensions. There is no +danger of drawing men into extravagant designs by +this rule; it carries its own caution along with it. +Because too great a length in buildings destroys the +purpose of greatness, which it was intended to promote; +the perspective will lessen it in height as it +gains in length; and will bring it at last to a point; +turning the whole figure into a sort of triangle, the +poorest in its effect of almost any figure that can be +presented to the eye. I have ever observed, that colonnades +and avenues of trees of a moderate length +were, without comparison, far grander than when +they were suffered to run to immense distances. A +true artist should put a generous deceit on the spectators, +and effect the noblest designs by easy methods. +Designs that are vast only by their dimensions +are always the sign of a common and low imagination. +No work of art can be great, but as it deceives; +to be otherwise is the prerogative of nature only. A +good eye will fix the medium betwixt an excessive +length or height (for the same objection lies against +both), and a short or broken quantity: and perhaps +it might be ascertained to a tolerable degree of exactness, +if it was my purpose to descend far into the +particulars of any art.<!-- Page 177 --><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153" title="153" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XI.<br /> +<br /> +INFINITY IN PLEASING OBJECTS.</h3> + +<p>Infinity, though of another kind, causes much of +our pleasure in agreeable, as well as of our delight in +sublime images. The spring is the pleasantest of the +seasons; and the young of most animals, though far +from being completely fashioned, afford a more agreeable +sensation than the full-grown; because the imagination +is entertained with the promise of something +more, and does not acquiesce in the present object of +the sense. In unfinished sketches of drawing, I have +often seen something which pleased me beyond the +best finishing; and this I believe proceeds from the +cause I have just now assigned.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XII.<br /> +<br /> +DIFFICULTY.</h3> + +<p>Another source of greatness is <i>difficulty</i>.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 4, 5, 6.">[21]</a> When +any work seems to have required immense force and +labor to effect it, the idea is grand. Stonehenge, +neither for disposition nor ornament, has anything +admirable; but those huge rude masses of stone, set +on end, and piled each on other, turn the mind on +the immense force necessary for such a work. Nay, +the rudeness of the work increases this cause of +grandeur, as it excludes the idea of art and contrivance; +for dexterity produces another sort of effect, +which is different enough from this.<!-- Page 178 --><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154" title="154" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIII.<br /> +<br /> +MAGNIFICENCE.</h3> + +<p>Magnificence is likewise a source of the sublime. +A great profusion of things, which are splendid or +valuable in themselves, is <i>magnificent</i>. The starry +heaven, though it occurs so very frequently to our +view never fails to excite an idea of grandeur. This +cannot be owing to the stars themselves, separately +considered. The number is certainly the cause. The +apparent disorder augments the grandeur, for the appearance +of care is highly contrary to our ideas of +magnificence. Besides, the stars lie in such apparent +confusion, as makes it impossible on ordinary occasions +to reckon them. This gives them the advantage +of a sort of infinity. In works of art, this kind +of grandeur which consists in multitude, is to be very +cautiously admitted; because a profusion of excellent +things is not to be attained, or with too much +difficulty; and because in many cases this splendid +confusion would destroy all use, which should be attended +to in most of the works of art with the greatest +care; besides, it is to be considered, that unless you +can produce an appearance of infinity by your disorder, +you will have disorder only without magnificence. +There are, however, a sort of fireworks, and some +other things, that in this way succeed well, and are +truly grand. There are also many descriptions in +the poets and orators, which owe their sublimity to a +richness and profusion of images, in which the mind +is so dazzled as to make it impossible to attend to +that exact coherence and agreement of the allusions, +which we should require on every other occasion. I +<!-- Page 179 --><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155" title="155" class="pagenum"></a>do not now remember a more striking example of +this, than the description which is given of the king's +army in the play of Henry IV.:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i6">"All furnished, all in arms,</div> +<div>All plumed like ostriches that with the wind</div> +<div>Baited like eagles having lately bathed:</div> +<div>As full of spirit us the month of May,</div> +<div>And gorgeous as the sun in midsummer,</div> +<div>Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls.</div> +<div>I saw young Harry with his beaver on</div> +<div>Rise from the ground like feathered Mercury;</div> +<div>And vaulted with such ease into his seat,</div> +<div>As if an angel dropped down from the clouds</div> +<div>To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus."</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>In that excellent book, so remarkable for the vivacity +of its descriptions, as well as the solidity and +penetration of its sentences, the Wisdom of the Son +of Sirach, there is a noble panegyric on the high-priest +Simon the son of Onias; and it is a very fine +example of the point before us:—</p> + +<blockquote style="text-align: justify;"> +<p><i>How was he honored in the midst of the people, in his +coming out of the sanctuary! He was as the morning +star in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at the +full; as the sun shining upon the temple of the Most +High, and as the rainbow giving light in the bright +clouds: and as the flower of roses in the spring of the +year, as lilies by the rivers of waters, and as the frankincense-tree +in summer; as fire and incense in the censer, +and as a vessel of gold set with precious stones; as +a fair olive-tree budding forth fruit, and as a cypress +which groweth up to the clouds. When he put on the +robe of honor, and was clothed with the perfection of +glory, when he went up to the holy altar, he made the +garment of holiness honorable. He himself stood by the +hearth of the altar, compassed with his brethren round</i><!-- Page 180 --><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156" title="156" class="pagenum"></a><i> +about; as a young cedar in Libanus, and as palm-trees +compassed they him about. So were all the sons of +Aaron in their glory, and the oblations of the Lord in +their hands, &c.</i></p> +</blockquote> + + +<h3>SECTION XIV.<br /> +<br /> +LIGHT.</h3> + +<p>Having considered extension, so far as it is capable +of raising ideas of greatness; <i>color</i> comes next under +consideration. All colors depend on <i>light</i>. Light +therefore ought previously to be examined; and with +it its opposite, darkness. With regard to light, to +make it a cause capable of producing the sublime, it +must be attended with some circumstances, besides +its bare faculty of showing other objects. Mere light +is too common a thing to make a strong impression +on the mind, and without a strong impression nothing +can be sublime. But such a light as that of the +sun, immediately exerted on the eye, as it overpowers +the sense, is a very great idea. Light of an inferior +strength to this, if it moves with great celerity, has +the same power; for lightning is certainly productive +of grandeur, which it owes chiefly to the extreme velocity +of its motion. A quick transition from light to +darkness, or from darkness to light, has yet a greater +effect. But darkness is more productive of sublime +ideas than light. Our great poet was convinced of +this; and indeed so full was he of this idea, so entirely +possessed with the power of a well-managed +darkness, that in describing the appearance of the +Deity, amidst that profusion of magnificent images, +which the grandeur of his subject provokes him to +<!-- Page 181 --><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157" title="157" class="pagenum"></a>pour out upon every side, he is far from forgetting the +obscurity which surrounds the most incomprehensible +of all beings, but</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">"With majesty of <i>darkness</i> round</div> +<div>Circles his throne."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">And what is no less remarkable, our author had the +secret of preserving this idea, even when he seemed +to depart the farthest from it, when he describes the +light and glory which flows from the Divine presence; +a light which by its very excess is converted into a +species of darkness:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"<i>Dark</i> with excessive <i>light</i> thy skirts appear."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Here is an idea not only poetical in a high degree, +but strictly and philosophically just. Extreme light, +by overcoming the organs of sight, obliterates all objects, +so as in its effect exactly to resemble darkness. +After looking for some time at the sun, two black +spots, the impression which it leaves, seem to dance +before our eyes. Thus are two ideas as opposite as +can be imagined reconciled in the extremes of both; +and both, in spite of their opposite nature, brought to +concur in producing the sublime. And this is not +the only instance wherein the opposite extremes operate +equally in favor of the sublime, which in all +things abhors mediocrity.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XV.<br /> +<br /> +LIGHT IN BUILDING.</h3> + +<p>As the management of light is a matter of importance +in architecture, it is worth inquiring, how far +this remark is applicable to building. I think, then, +<!-- Page 182 --><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158" title="158" class="pagenum"></a>that all edifices calculated to produce an idea of the +sublime, ought rather to be dark and gloomy, and +this for two reasons; the first is, that darkness itself +on other occasions is known by experience to have a +greater effect on the passions than light. The second +is, that to make an object very striking, we should +make it as different as possible from the objects with +which we have been immediately conversant; when +therefore you enter a building, you cannot pass into +a greater light than you had in the open air; to go +into one some few degrees less luminous, can make +only a trifling change; but to make the transition +thoroughly striking, you ought to pass from the greatest +light, to as much darkness as is consistent with +the uses of architecture. At night the contrary rule +will hold, but for the very same reason; and the more +highly a room is then illuminated, the grander will +the passion be.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVI.<br /> +<br /> +COLOR CONSIDERED AS PRODUCTIVE OF THE SUBLIME.</h3> + +<p>Among colors, such as are soft or cheerful (except +perhaps a strong red, which is cheerful) are unfit to +produce grand images. An immense mountain covered +with a shining green turf, is nothing, in this +respect, to one dark and gloomy; the cloudy sky is +more grand than the blue; and night more sublime +and solemn than day. Therefore in historical painting, +a gay or gaudy drapery can never have a happy +effect: and in buildings, when the highest degree of +the sublime is intended, the materials and ornaments +ought neither to be white, nor green, nor yellow, nor +<!-- Page 183 --><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159" title="159" class="pagenum"></a>blue, nor of a pale red, nor violet, nor spotted, but of +sad and fuscous colors, as black, or brown, or deep +purple, and the like. Much of gilding, mosaics, painting, +or statues, contribute but little to the sublime. +This rule need not be put in practice, except where +an uniform degree of the most striking sublimity is +to be produced, and that in every particular; for it +ought to be observed, that this melancholy kind of +greatness, though it be certainly the highest, ought +not to be studied in all sorts of edifices, where yet +grandeur must be studied; in such cases the sublimity +must be drawn from the other sources; with a +strict caution however against anything light and riant; +as nothing so effectually deadens the whole taste +of the sublime.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVII.<br /> +<br /> +SOUND AND LOUDNESS.</h3> + +<p>The eye is not the only organ of sensation by which +a sublime passion may be produced. Sounds have a +great power in these as in most other passions. I do +not mean words, because words do not affect simply +by their sounds, but by means altogether different. +Excessive loudness alone is sufficient to overpower the +soul, to suspend its action, and to fill it with terror. +The noise of vast cataracts, raging storms, thunder, +or artillery, awakes a great and awful sensation in the +mind, though we can observe no nicety or artifice +in those sorts of music. The shouting of multitudes +has a similar effect; and by the sole strength of +the sound, so amazes and confounds the imagination, +that, in this staggering and hurry of the mind, +<!-- Page 184 --><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160" title="160" class="pagenum"></a>the best established tempers can scarcely forbear being +borne down, and joining in the common cry, and +common resolution of the crowd.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVIII.<br /> +<br /> +SUDDENNESS.</h3> + +<p>A sudden beginning, or sudden cessation of sound +of any considerable force, has the same power. The +attention is roused by this; and the faculties driven +forward, as it were, on their guard. Whatever, either +in sights or sounds, makes the transition from one +extreme to the other easy, causes no terror, and +consequently can be no cause of greatness. In everything +sudden and unexpected, we are apt to start; +that is, we have a perception of danger, and our nature +rouses us to guard against it. It may be observed +that a single sound of some strength, though +but of short duration, if repeated after intervals, has +a grand effect. Few things are more awful than the +striking of a great clock, when the silence of the +night prevents the attention from being too much +dissipated. The same may be said of a single stroke +on a drum, repeated with pauses; and of the successive +firing of cannon at a distance. All the effects +mentioned in this section have causes very nearly +alike.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIX.<br /> +<br /> +INTERMITTING.</h3> + +<p>A low, tremulous, intermitting sound, though it +seems, in some respects, opposite to that just men<!-- Page 185 --><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161" title="161" class="pagenum"></a>tioned, +is productive of the sublime. It is worth +while to examine this a little. The fact itself must +be determined by every man's own experience and +reflection. I have already observed, that night<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor" +title="Sect. 3.">[22]</a> +increases our terror, more perhaps than anything +else; it is our nature, when we do not know what +may happen to us, to fear the worst that can happen; +and hence it is that uncertainty is so terrible, +that we often seek to be rid of it, at the hazard of a +certain mischief. Now some low, confused, uncertain +sounds, leave us in the same fearful anxiety concerning +their causes, that no light, or an uncertain +light, does concerning the objects that surround us.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Quale per incertam lunam sub luce maligna</div> +<div>Est iter in sylvis.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">"A faint shadow of uncertain light,</div> +<div>Like as a lamp, whose life doth fade away;</div> +<div>Or as the moon clothed with cloudy night</div> +<div>Doth show to him who walks in fear and great affright."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="citation">SPENSER.</p> + +<p>But light now appearing, and now leaving us, and so +off and on, is even more terrible than total darkness; +and a sort of uncertain sounds are, when the necessary +dispositions concur, more alarming than a total +silence.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XX.<br /> +<br /> +THE CRIES OF ANIMALS.</h3> + +<p>Such sounds as imitate the natural inarticulate +voices of men, or any animals in pain or danger, are +capable of conveying great ideas; unless it be the +well-known voice of some creature, on which we are +used to look with contempt. The angry tones of wild +<!-- Page 186 --><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162" title="162" class="pagenum"></a>beasts are equally capable of causing a great and +awful sensation.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Hinc exaudiri gemitus, iræque leonum</div> +<div>Vincia recusantum, et sera sub nocte rudentum;</div> +<div>Setigerique sues, atque in præsepibus ursi</div> +<div>Sævire; et formæ magnorum ululare luporam.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">It might seem that those modulations of sound carry +some connection with the nature of the things they +represent, and are not merely arbitrary; because the +natural cries of all animals, even of those animals +with whom we have not been acquainted, never fail +to make themselves sufficiently understood; this cannot +be said of language. The modifications of sound, +which may be productive of the sublime, are almost +infinite. Those I have mentioned are only a few +instances to show on what principles they are all +built.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXI.<br /> +<br /> +SMELL AND TASTE.—BITTERS AND STENCHES.</h3> + +<p><i>Smells</i> and <i>tastes</i> have some share too in ideas of +greatness; but it is a small one, weak in its nature, +and confined in its operations. I shall only observe +that no smells or tastes can produce a grand +sensation, except excessive bitters, and intolerable +stenches. It is true that these affections of the +smell and taste, when they are in their full force, and +lean directly upon the sensory, are simply painful, +and accompanied with no sort of delight; but when +they are moderated, as in a description or narrative, +they become sources of the sublime, as genuine as any +other, and upon the very same principle of a moderated +pain. "A cup of bitterness"; "to drain the bit<!-- Page 187 --><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163" title="163" class="pagenum"></a>ter +cup of fortune"; "the bitter apples of Sodom"; +these are all ideas suitable to a sublime description. +Nor is this passage of Virgil without sublimity, where +the stench of the vapor in Albunea conspires so happily +with the sacred horror and gloominess of that +prophetic forest:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>At rex sollicitus monstris oracula Fauni</div> +<div>Fatidici genitoris adit, lucosque sub alta</div> +<div>Consulit Albunea, nemorum quæ maxima sacro</div> +<div>Fonte sonat; <i>sævamque exhalat opaca Mephitim</i>.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">In the sixth book, and in a very sublime description, +the poisonous exhalation of Acheron is not forgotten, +nor does it at all disagree with the other images +amongst which it is introduced:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Spelunca <i>alta</i> fuit, <i>vastoque immanis</i> hiatu</div> +<div>Scrupea, tuta <i>lacu nigro</i>, nemorumque <i>tenebris</i>;</div> +<div>Quam super haud ullæ poterant impune volantes</div> +<div>Tendere iter pennis: <i>talis sese halitus atris</i></div> +<div><i>Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat</i>.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">I have added these examples, because some friends, +for whose judgment I have great deference, were of +opinion that if the sentiment stood nakedly by itself, +it would be subject, at first view, to burlesque and +ridicule; but this I imagine would principally arise +from considering the bitterness and stench in company +with mean and contemptible ideas, with which it +must be owned they are often united; such an union +degrades the sublime in all other instances as well as +in those. But it is one of the tests by which the sublimity +of an image is to be tried, not whether it becomes +mean when associated with mean ideas; but +whether, when united with images of an allowed +grandeur, the whole composition is supported with +dignity. Things which are terrible are always great; +<!-- Page 188 --><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164" title="164" class="pagenum"></a>but when things possess disagreeable qualities, or +such as have indeed some degree of danger, but of a +danger easily overcome, they are merely <i>odious</i>; as +toads and spiders.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXII.<br /> +<br /> +FEELING.—PAIN.</h3> + +<p>Of <i>feeling</i> little more can be said than that the idea +of bodily pain, in all the modes and degrees of labor, +pain, anguish, torment, is productive of the sublime; +and nothing else in this sense can produce it. I need +not give here any fresh instances, as those given in +the former sections abundantly illustrate a remark +that, in reality, wants only an attention to nature, +to be made by everybody.</p> + +<p>Having thus run through the causes of the sublime +with reference to all the senses, my first observation +(Sect. 7) will be found very nearly true; that the +sublime is an idea belonging to self-preservation; +that it is, therefore, one of the most affecting we +have; that its strongest emotion is an emotion of +distress; and that no pleasure<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor" +title="Vide Part I. sect. 6.">[23]</a> from a positive cause +belongs to it. Numberless examples, besides those +mentioned, might be brought in support of these +truths, and many perhaps useful consequences drawn +from them—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Sed fugit interea, fugit irrevocabile tempus,</div> +<div>Singula dum capti circumvectamur amore.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Part I. sect. 3, 4, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 3, 4, 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 14, 15, 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Part V.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Part I. sect. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Vide Part III. sect. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Mr. Addison, in the Spectators concerning the pleasures of the +imagination, thinks it is because in the rotund at one glance you see +half the building. This I do not imagine to be the real cause.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 4, 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Sect. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Vide Part I. sect. 6.</p></div><!-- Page 189 --><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165" title="165" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_III" id="PART_III"></a>PART III.</h2> + + +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +<br /> +OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>It is my design to consider beauty as distinguished +from the sublime; and, in the course of the inquiry, +to examine how far it is consistent with it. But previous +to this, we must take a short review of the opinions +already entertained of this quality; which I +think are hardly to be reduced to any fixed principles; +because men are used to talk of beauty in a +figurative manner, that is to say, in a manner extremely +uncertain, and indeterminate. By beauty, I +mean that quality, or those qualities in bodies, by +which they cause love, or some passion similar to it. +I confine this definition to the merely sensible qualities +of things, for the sake of preserving the utmost +simplicity in a subject, which must always distract us +whenever we take in those various causes of sympathy +which attach us to any persons or things from +secondary considerations, and not from the direct +force which they have merely on being viewed. I +likewise distinguish love, (by which I mean that +satisfaction which arises to the mind upon contemplating +anything beautiful, of whatsoever nature it may be,) +from desire or lust; which is an energy of the mind, +that hurries us on to the possession of certain objects, +that do not affect us as they are beautiful, but by +means altogether different. We shall have a strong +desire for a woman of no remarkable beauty; whilst +the greatest beauty in men, or in other animals, +<!-- Page 190 --><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166" title="166" class="pagenum"></a>though it causes love, yet excites nothing at all of +desire. Which shows that beauty, and the passion +caused by beauty, which I call love, is different from +desire, though desire may sometimes operate along +with it; but it is to this latter that we must attribute +those violent and tempestuous passions, and the consequent +emotions of the body which attend what is +called love in some of its ordinary acceptations, and +not to the effects of beauty merely as it is such.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +<br /> +PROPORTION NOT THE CAUSE OF BEAUTY IN VEGETABLES.</h3> + +<p>Beauty hath usually been said to consist in certain +proportions of parts. On considering the matter, I +have great reason to doubt, whether beauty be at all +an idea belonging to proportion. Proportion relates +almost wholly to convenience, as every idea of order +seems to do; and it must therefore be considered as +a creature of the understanding, rather than a primary +cause acting on the senses and imagination. It +is not by the force of long attention and inquiry that +we find any object to be beautiful; beauty demands +no assistance from our reasoning; even the will is +unconcerned; the appearance of beauty as effectually +causes some degree of love in us, as the application +of ice or fire produces the ideas of heat or cold. To +gain something like a satisfactory conclusion in this +point, it were well to examine what proportion is; +since several who make use of that word do not +always seem to understand very clearly the force of +the term, nor to have very distinct ideas concerning +the thing itself. Proportion is the measure of rela<!-- Page 191 --><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167" title="167" class="pagenum"></a>tive +quantity. Since all quantity is divisible, it is +evident that every distinct part into which any quantity +is divided must bear some relation to the other +parts, or to the whole. These relations give an origin +to the idea of proportion. They are discovered by +mensuration, and they are the objects of mathematical +inquiry. But whether any part of any determinate +quantity be a fourth, or a fifth, or a sixth, or a +moiety of the whole; or whether it be of equal length +with any other part, or double its length, or but one +half, is a matter merely indifferent to the mind; it +stands neuter in the question: and it is from this +absolute indifference and tranquillity of the mind, +that mathematical speculations derive some of their +most considerable advantages; because there is nothing +to interest the imagination; because the judgment +sits free and unbiassed to examine the point. +All proportions, every arrangement of quantity, is +alike to the understanding, because the same truths +result to it from all; from greater, from lesser, from +equality and inequality. But surely beauty is no +idea belonging to mensuration; nor has it anything +to do with calculation and geometry. If it had, we +might then point out some certain measures which +we could demonstrate to be beautiful, either as simply +considered, or as related to others; and we could +call in those natural objects, for whose beauty we +have no voucher but the sense, to this happy standard, +and confirm the voice of our passions by the +determination of our reason. But since we have not +this help, let us see whether proportion can in any +sense be considered as the cause of beauty, as hath +been so generally, and, by some, so confidently affirmed. +If proportion be one of the constituents of +<!-- Page 192 --><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168" title="168" class="pagenum"></a>beauty, it must derive that power either from some +natural properties inherent in certain measures, +which operate mechanically; from the operation of +custom; or from the fitness which some measures +have to answer some particular ends of conveniency. +Our business therefore is to inquire, whether the +parts of those objects, which are found beautiful in +the vegetable or animal kingdoms, are constantly so +formed according to such certain measures, as may +serve to satisfy us that their beauty results from those +measures, on the principle of a natural mechanical +cause; or from custom; or, in fine, from their fitness +for any determinate purposes. I intend to examine +this point under each of these heads in their order. +But before I proceed further, I hope it will not be +thought amiss, if I lay down the rules which governed +me in this inquiry, and which have misled me in it, +if I have gone astray. 1. If two bodies produce the +same or a similar effect on the mind, and on examination +they are found to agree in some of their properties, +and to differ in others; the common effect is +to be attributed to the properties in which they agree, +and not to those in which they differ. 2. Not to account +for the effect of a natural object from the effect +of an artificial object. 3. Not to account for the +effect of any natural object from a conclusion of our +reason concerning its uses, if a natural cause may be +assigned. 4. Not to admit any determinate quantity, +or any relation of quantity, as the cause of a certain +effect, if the effect is produced by different or opposite +measures and relations; or if these measures and +relations may exist, and yet the effect may not be produced. +These are the rules which I have chiefly followed, +whilst I examined into the power of proportion +<!-- Page 193 --><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169" title="169" class="pagenum"></a>considered as a natural cause; and these, if he thinks +them just, I request the reader to carry with him +throughout the following discussion; whilst we inquire, +in the first place, in what things we find this +quality of beauty; next, to see whether in these we +can find any assignable proportions in such a manner +as ought to convince us that our idea of beauty results +from them. We shall consider this pleasing +power as it appears in vegetables, in the inferior animals, +and in man. Turning our eyes to the vegetable +creation, we find nothing there so beautiful as +flowers; but flowers are almost of every sort of +shape, and of every sort of disposition; they are +turned and fashioned into an infinite variety of +forms; and from these forms botanists have given +them their names, which are almost as various. +What proportion do we discover between the stalks +and the leaves of flowers, or between the leaves and +the pistils? How does the slender stalk of the rose +agree with the bulky head under which it bends? but +the rose is a beautiful flower; and can we undertake +to say that it does not owe a great deal of its beauty +even to that disproportion; the rose is a large flower, +yet it grows upon a small shrub; the flower of the +apple is very small, and grows upon a large tree; yet +the rose and the apple blossom are both beautiful, +and the plants that bear them are most engagingly +attired, notwithstanding this disproportion. What +by general consent is allowed to be a more beautiful +object than an orange-tree, nourishing at once with +its leaves, its blossoms, and its fruit? but it is in vain +that we search here for any proportion between the +height, the breadth, or anything else concerning the +dimensions of the whole, or concerning the relation +<!-- Page 194 --><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170" title="170" class="pagenum"></a>of the particular parts to each other. I grant that +we may observe in many flowers something of a regular +figure, and of a methodical disposition of the +leaves. The rose has such a figure and such a disposition +of its petals; but in an oblique view, when this +figure is in a good measure lost, and the order of the +leaves confounded, it yet retains its beauty; the rose +is even more beautiful before it is full blown; in the +bud; before this exact figure is formed; and this is +not the only instance wherein method and exactness, +the soul of proportion, are found rather prejudicial +than serviceable to the cause of beauty.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +<br /> +PROPORTION NOT THE CAUSE OF BEAUTY IN ANIMALS.</h3> + +<p>That proportion has but a small share in the formation +of beauty is full as evident among animals. +Here the greatest variety of shapes and dispositions +of parts are well fitted to excite this idea. The +swan, confessedly a beautiful bird, has a neck longer +than the rest of his body, and but a very short tail: +is this a beautiful proportion? We must allow that +it is. But then what shall we say to the peacock, +who has comparatively but a short neck, with a tail +longer than the neck and the rest of the body taken +together? How many birds are there that vary infinitely +from each of these standards, and from every +other which you can fix; with proportions different, +and often directly opposite to each other! and yet +many of these birds are extremely beautiful; when +upon considering them we find nothing in any one +part that might determine us, <i>à priori</i>, to say what +<!-- Page 195 --><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171" title="171" class="pagenum"></a>the others ought to be, nor indeed to guess anything +about them, but what experience might show to be +full of disappointment and mistake. And with regard +to the colors either of birds or flowers, for there +is something similar in the coloring of both, whether +they are considered in their extension or gradation, +there is nothing of proportion to be observed. Some +are of but one single color; others have all the colors +of the rainbow; some are of the primary colors, others +are of the mixed; in short, an attentive observer may +soon conclude that there is as little of proportion +in the coloring as in the shapes of these objects. +Turn next to beasts; examine the head of a beautiful +horse; find what proportion that bears to his +body, and to his limbs, and what relation these +have to each other; and when you have settled +these proportions as a standard of beauty, then take +a dog or cat, or any other animal, and examine how +far the same proportions between their heads and +their necks, between those and the body, and so on, +are found to hold; I think we may safely say, that +they differ in every species, yet that there are individuals, +found in a great many species so differing, that +have a very striking beauty. Now, if it be allowed +that very different, and even contrary forms and +dispositions are consistent with beauty, it amounts I +believe to a concession, that no certain measures, +operating from a natural principle, are necessary to +produce it; at least so far as the brute species is +concerned.<!-- Page 196 --><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172" title="172" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +<br /> +PROPORTION NOT THE CAUSE OF BEAUTY IN THE +HUMAN SPECIES.</h3> + +<p>There are some parts of the human body that are +observed to hold certain proportions to each other; +but before it can be proved that the efficient cause of +beauty lies in these, it must be shown that, wherever +these are found exact, the person to whom they belong +is beautiful: I mean in the effect produced on the +view, either of any member distinctly considered, or +of the whole body together. It must be likewise +shown, that these parts stand in such a relation to +each other, that the comparison between them may +be easily made, and that the affection of the mind +may naturally result from it. For my part, I have +at several times very carefully examined many of +those proportions, and found them hold very nearly, +or altogether alike in many subjects, which were not +only very different from one another, but where one +has been very beautiful, and the other very remote +from beauty. With regard to the parts which are +found so proportioned, they are often so remote from +each other, in situation, nature, and office, that I +cannot see how they admit of any comparison, nor +consequently how any effect owing to proportion can +result from them. The neck, say they, in beautiful +bodies, should measure with the calf of the leg; it +should likewise be twice the circumference of the +wrist. And an infinity of observations of this kind +are to be found in the writings and conversations of +many. But what relation has the calf of the leg to +the neck; or either of these parts to the wrist? +<!-- Page 197 --><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173" title="173" class="pagenum"></a>These proportions are certainly to be found in handsome +bodies. They are as certainly in ugly ones; as +any who will take the pains to try may find. Nay, I +do not know but they may be least perfect in some of +the most beautiful. You may assign any proportions +you please to every part of the human body; and I +undertake that a painter shall religiously observe +them all, and notwithstanding produce, if he pleases, +a very ugly figure. The same painter shall considerably +deviate from these proportions, and produce a +very beautiful one. And, indeed, it may be observed +in the masterpieces of the ancient and modern statuary, +that several of them differ very widely from the +proportions of others, in parts very conspicuous and +of great consideration; and that they differ no less +from the proportions we find in living men, of forms +extremely striking and agreeable. And after all, +how are the partisans of proportional beauty agreed +amongst themselves about the proportions of the +human body? Some hold it to be seven heads; +some make it eight; whilst others extend it even +to ten: a vast difference in such a small number of +divisions! Others take other methods of estimating +the proportions, and all with equal success. But are +these proportions exactly the same in all handsome +men? or are they at all the proportions found in +beautiful women? Nobody will say that they are; +yet both sexes are undoubtedly capable of beauty, and +the female of the greatest; which advantage I believe +will hardly be attributed to the superior exactness +of proportion in the fair sex. Let us rest a +moment on this point; and consider how much difference +there is between the measures that prevail in +many similar parts of the body, in the two sexes of +<!-- Page 198 --><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174" title="174" class="pagenum"></a>this single species only. If you assign any determinate +proportions to the limbs of a man, and if you +limit human beauty to these proportions, when you +find a woman who differs in the make and measures +of almost every part, you must conclude her not to be +beautiful, in spite of the suggestions of your +imagination; or, in obedience to your imagination, you +must renounce your rules; you must lay by the +scale and compass, and look out for some other +cause of beauty. For if beauty be attached to +certain measures which operate from a <i>principle +in nature</i>, why should similar parts with different +measures of proportion be found to have beauty, and +this too in the very same species? But to open our +view a little, it is worth observing, that almost all +animals have parts of very much the same nature, +and destined nearly to the same purposes; a head, +neck, body, feet, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; yet +Providence, to provide in the best manner for their +several wants, and to display the riches of his wisdom +and goodness in his creation, has worked out of +these few and similar organs, and members, a diversity +hardly short of infinite in their disposition, measures +and relation. But, as we have before observed, +amidst this infinite diversity, one particular is common +to many species: several of the individuals +which compose them are capable of affecting us with +a sense of loveliness: and whilst they agree in producing +this effect, they differ extremely in the relative +measures of those parts which have produced it. +These considerations were sufficient to induce me to +reject the notion of any particular proportions that +operated by nature to produce a pleasing effect; but +those who will agree with me with regard to a par<!-- Page 199 --><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175" title="175" class="pagenum"></a>ticular +proportion, are strongly prepossessed in favor +of one more indefinite. They imagine, that although +beauty in general is annexed to no certain measures +common to the several kinds of pleasing plants and +animals; yet that there is a certain proportion in +each species absolutely essential to the beauty of that +particular kind. If we consider the animal world in +general, we find beauty confined to no certain measures; +but as some peculiar measure and relation of +parts is what distinguishes each peculiar class of animals, +it must of necessity be, that the beautiful in +each kind will be found in the measures and proportions +of that kind; for otherwise it would deviate +from its proper species, and become in some sort +monstrous: however, no species is so strictly confined +to any certain proportions, that there is not a considerable +variation amongst the individuals; and as it has +been shown of the human, so it may be shown of the +brute kinds, that beauty is found indifferently in all the +proportions which each kind can admit, without quitting +its common form; and it is this idea of a common +form that makes the proportion of parts at all +regarded, and not the operation of any natural cause: +indeed a little consideration will make it appear, that +it is not measure, but manner, that creates all the +beauty which belongs to shape. What light do we +borrow from these boasted proportions, when we +study ornamental design? It seems amazing to me, +that artists, if they were as well convinced as they +pretend to be, that proportion is a principal cause of +beauty, have not by them at all times accurate measurements +of all sorts of beautiful animals to help +them to proper proportions, when they would contrive +anything elegant; especially as they frequently +<!-- Page 200 --><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176" title="176" class="pagenum"></a>assert that it is from an observation of the beautiful in +nature they direct their practice. I know that it has +been said long since, and echoed backward and forward +from one writer to another a thousand times, +that the proportions of building have been taken from +those of the human body. To make this forced analogy +complete, they represent a man with his arms raised +and extended at full length, and then describe a sort +of square, as it is formed by passing lines along the +extremities of this strange figure. But it appears very +clearly to me that the human figure never supplied +the architect with any of his ideas. For, in the first +place, men are very rarely seen in this strained posture; +it is not natural to them; neither is it at all +becoming. Secondly, the view of the human figure +so disposed, does not naturally suggest the idea of a +square, but rather of a cross; as that large space be +tween the arms and the ground must be filled with +something before it can make anybody think of a +square. Thirdly, several buildings are by no means +of the form of that particular square, which are +notwithstanding planned by the best architects, and produce +an effect altogether as good, and perhaps a +better. And certainly nothing could he more unaccountably +whimsical, than for an architect to model +his performance by the human figure, since no two +things can have less resemblance or analogy, than a +man, and a house or temple: do we need to observe +that their purposes are entirely different? What I +am apt to suspect is this: that these analogies were +devised to give a credit to the works of art, by showing +a conformity between them and the noblest works +in nature; not that the latter served at all to supply +hints for the perfection of the former. And I am +<!-- Page 201 --><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177" title="177" class="pagenum"></a>the more fully convinced, that the patrons of proportion +have transferred their artificial ideas to nature, +and not borrowed from thence the proportions they +use in works of art; because in any discussion of this +subject they always quit as soon as possible the open +field of natural beauties, the animal and vegetable +kingdoms, and fortify themselves within the artificial +lines and angles of architecture. For there is in mankind +an unfortunate propensity to make themselves, +their views, and their works, the measure of excellence +in everything whatsoever. Therefore having +observed that their dwellings were most commodious +and firm when they were thrown into regular figures, +with parts answerable to each other; they transferred +these ideas to their gardens; they turned their trees +into pillars, pyramids, and obelisks; they formed +their hedges into so many green walls, and fashioned +their walks into squares, triangles, and other mathematical +figures, with exactness and symmetry; and +they thought, if they were not imitating, they were +at least improving nature, and teaching her to know +her business. But nature has at last escaped from +their discipline and their fetters; and our gardens, if +nothing else, declare, we begin to feel that mathematical +ideas are not the true measures of beauty. And +surely they are full as little so in the animal as the +vegetable world. For is it not extraordinary, that in +these fine descriptive pieces, these innumerable odes +and elegies which are in the mouths of all the world, +and many of which have been the entertainment of +ages, that in these pieces which describe love with such +a passionate energy, and represent its object in such +an infinite variety of lights, not one word is said of +proportion, if it be, what some insist it is, the princi<!-- Page 202 --><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178" title="178" class="pagenum"></a>pal +component of beauty; whilst, at the same time, +several other qualities are very frequently and warmly +mentioned? But if proportion has not this power, +it may appear odd how men came originally to be so +prepossessed in its favor. It arose, I imagine, from +the fondness I have just mentioned, which men bear +so remarkably to their own works and notions; it +arose from false reasonings on the effects of the customary +figure of animals; it arose from the Platonic +theory of fitness and aptitude. For which reason, in +the next section, I shall consider the effects of custom +in the figure of animals; and afterwards the idea of +fitness: since if proportion does not operate by a natural +power attending some measures, it must be +either by custom, or the idea of utility; there is no +other way.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION V.<br /> +<br /> +PROPORTION FURTHER CONSIDERED.</h3> + +<p>If I am not mistaken, a great deal of the prejudice +in favor of proportion has arisen, not so much from +the observation of any certain measures found in beautiful +bodies, as from a wrong idea of the relation which +deformity bears to beauty, to which it has been considered +as the opposite; on this principle it was concluded +that where the causes of deformity were removed, +beauty must naturally and necessarily be introduced. +This I believe is a mistake. For <i>deformity</i> is opposed +not to beauty, but to the <i>complete common form</i>. If +one of the legs of a man be found shorter than the +other, the man is deformed; because there is something +wanting to complete the whole idea we form of +<!-- Page 203 --><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179" title="179" class="pagenum"></a>a man; and this has the same effect in natural faults, +as maiming and mutilation produce from accidents. +So if the back be humped, the man is deformed; because +his back has an unusual figure, and what carries +with it the idea of some disease or misfortune; +So if a man's neck be considerably longer or shorter +than usual, we say he is deformed in that part, because +men are not commonly made in that manner. +But surely every hour's experience may convince us +that a man may have his legs of an equal length, and +resembling each other in all respects, and his neck of +a just size, and his back quite straight, without having +at the same time the least perceivable beauty. Indeed +beauty is so far from belonging to the idea of +custom, that in reality what affects us in that manner +is extremely rare and uncommon. The beautiful +strikes us as much by its novelty as the deformed itself. +It is thus in those species of animals with which +we are acquainted; and if one of a new species were +represented, we should by no means wait until custom +had settled an idea of proportion, before we decided +concerning its beauty or ugliness: which shows that +the general idea of beauty can be no more owing to +customary than to natural proportion. Deformity +arises from the want of the common proportions; but +the necessary result of their existence in any object is +not beauty. If we suppose proportion in natural +things to be relative to custom and use, the nature +of use and custom will show that beauty, which is a +<i>positive</i> and powerful quality, cannot result from it. +We are so wonderfully formed, that, whilst we are +creatures vehemently desirous of novelty, we are as +strongly attached to habit and custom. But it is the +nature of things which hold us by custom, to affect +<!-- Page 204 --><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180" title="180" class="pagenum"></a>us very little whilst we are in possession of them, but +strongly when they are absent. I remember to have +frequented a certain place, every day for a long time +together; and I may truly say that, so far from finding +pleasure in it, I was affected with a sort of weariness +and disgust; I came, I went, I returned, without +pleasure; yet if by any means I passed by the usual +time of my going thither, I was remarkably uneasy, +and was not quiet till I had got into my old track. +They who use snuff, take it almost without being sensible +that they take it, and the acute sense of smell is +deadened, so as to feel hardly anything from so sharp +a stimulus; yet deprive the snuff-taker of his box, and +he is the most uneasy mortal in the world. Indeed +so far are use and habit from being causes of pleasure +merely as such, that the effect of constant use is to +make all things of whatever kind entirely unaffecting. +For as use at last takes off the painful effect of many +things, it reduces the pleasurable effect in others in +the same manner, and brings both to a sort of mediocrity +and indifference. Very justly is use called a +second nature; and our natural and common state is +one of absolute indifference, equally prepared for pain +or pleasure. But when we are thrown out of this state, +or deprived of anything requisite to maintain us in it; +when this chance does not happen by pleasure from +some mechanical cause, we are always hurt. It is so +with the second nature, custom, in all things which +relate to it. Thus the want of the usual proportions in +men and other animals is sure to disgust, though their +presence is by no means any cause of real pleasure. It +is true that the proportions laid down as causes of +beauty in the human body, are frequently found in +beautiful ones, because they are generally found in +<!-- Page 205 --><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181" title="181" class="pagenum"></a>all mankind; but if it can be shown too that they are +found without beauty, and that beauty frequently exists +without them, and that this beauty, where it exists, +always can be assigned to other less equivocal +causes, it will naturally lead us to conclude that +proportion and beauty are not ideas of the same nature. +The true opposite to beauty is not disproportion or +deformity, but <i>ugliness</i>: and as it proceeds from +causes opposite to those of positive beauty, we cannot +consider it until we come to treat of that. Between +beauty and ugliness there is a sort of mediocrity, in +which the assigned proportions are most commonly +found; but this has no effect upon the passions.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VI.<br /> +<br /> +FITNESS NOT THE CAUSE OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>It is said that the idea of utility, or of a part's being +well adapted to answer its end, is the cause of beauty, +or indeed beauty itself. If it were not for this opinion, +it had been impossible for the doctrine of proportion +to have held its ground very long; the world +would be soon weary of hearing of measures which +related to nothing, either of a natural principle, or of +a fitness to answer some end; the idea which mankind +most commonly conceive of proportion, is the +suitableness of means to certain ends, and, where this +is not the question, very seldom trouble themselves +about the effect of different measures of things. +Therefore it was necessary for this theory to insist +that not only artificial, but natural objects took their +beauty from the fitness of the parts for their several +purposes. But in framing this theory, I am apprehen<!-- Page 206 --><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182" title="182" class="pagenum"></a>sive +that experience was not sufficiently consulted. +For, on that principle, the wedge-like snout of a swine, +with its tough cartilage at the end, the little sunk +eyes, and the whole make of the head, so well adapted +to its offices of digging and rooting, would be extremely +beautiful. The great bag hanging to the bill of a +pelican, a thing highly useful to this animal, would +be likewise as beautiful in our eyes. The hedge-hog, +so well secured against all assaults by his prickly +hide, and the porcupine with his missile quills, would +be then considered as creatures of no small elegance. +There are few animals whose parts are better contrived +than those of a monkey: he has the hands of +a man, joined to the springy limbs of a beast; he +is admirably calculated for running, leaping, grappling, +and climbing; and yet there are few animals +which seem to have less beauty in the eyes of all mankind. +I need say little on the trunk of the elephant, +of such various usefulness, and which is so far from +contributing to his beauty. How well fitted is the +wolf for running and leaping! how admirably is the +lion armed for battle! but will any one therefore call +the elephant, the wolf, and the lion, beautiful animals? +I believe nobody will think the form of a +man's leg so well adapted to running, as those of a +horse, a dog, a deer, and several other creatures; at +least they have not that appearance: yet, I believe, +a well-fashioned human leg will be allowed to far exceed +all these in beauty. If the fitness of parts was +what constituted the loveliness of their form, the actual +employment of them would undoubtedly much +augment it; but this, though it is sometimes so upon +another principle, is far from being always the case. +A bird on the wing is not so beautiful as when it is +<!-- Page 207 --><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183" title="183" class="pagenum"></a>perched; nay, there are several of the domestic fowls +which are seldom seen to fly, and which are nothing +the less beautiful on that account; yet birds are so extremely +different in their form from the beast and human +kinds, that you cannot, on the principle of fitness, +allow them anything agreeable, but in consideration +of their parts being designed for quite other purposes. +I never in my life chanced to see a peacock fly; and +yet before, very long before I considered any aptitude +in his form for the aërial life, I was struck with the +extreme beauty which raises that bird above many of +the best flying fowls in the world; though, for anything +I saw, his way of living was much like that of +the swine, which fed in the farm-yard along with him. +The same may be said of cocks, hens, and the like; +they are of the flying kind in figure; in their manner +of moving not very different from men and beasts. +To leave these foreign examples; if beauty in our own +species was annexed to use, men would be much more +lovely than women; and strength and agility would +be considered as the only beauties. But to call +strength by the name of beauty, to have but one +denomination for the qualities of a Venus and Hercules, +so totally different in almost all respects, is surely +a strange confusion of ideas, or abuse of words. The +cause of this confusion, I imagine, proceeds from our +frequently perceiving the parts of the human and +other animal bodies to be at once very beautiful, and +very well adapted to their purposes; and we are deceived +by a sophism, which makes us take that for +a cause which is only a concomitant: this is the +sophism of the fly; who imagined he raised a great +dust, because he stood upon the chariot that really +raised it. The stomach, the lungs, the liver, as well +<!-- Page 208 --><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184" title="184" class="pagenum"></a>as other parts, are incomparably well adapted to their +purposes; yet they are far from having any beauty. +Again, many things are very beautiful, in which it is +impossible to discern any idea of use. And I appeal +to the first and most natural feelings of mankind, +whether on beholding a beautiful eye, or a well-fashioned +mouth, or a well-turned leg, any ideas of +their being well fitted for seeing, eating, or running, +ever present themselves. What idea of use is it that +flowers excite, the most beautiful part of the vegetable +world? It is true that the infinitely wise and +good Creator has, of his bounty, frequently joined +beauty to those things which he has made useful to +us; but this does not prove that an idea of use and +beauty are the same thing, or that they are any way +dependent on each other.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VII.<br /> +<br /> +THE REAL EFFECTS OF FITNESS.</h3> + +<p>When I excluded proportion and fitness from any +share in beauty, I did not by any means intend to say +that they were of no value, or that they ought to be +disregarded in works of art. Works of art are the +proper sphere of their power; and here it is that they +have their full effect. Whenever the wisdom of our +Creator intended that we should be affected with +anything, he did not confide the execution of his design +to the languid and precarious operation of our +reason; but he endued it with powers and properties +that prevent the understanding, and even the will; +which, seizing upon the senses and imagination, captivate +the soul, before the understanding is ready +<!-- Page 209 --><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185" title="185" class="pagenum"></a>either to join with them, or to oppose them. It is by +a long deduction, and much study, that we discover +the adorable wisdom of God in his works: when we +discover it the effect is very different, not only in the +manner of acquiring it, but in its own nature, from +that which strikes us without any preparation from +the sublime or the beautiful. How different is the +satisfaction of an anatomist, who discovers the use of +the muscles and of the skin, the excellent contrivance +of the one for the various movements of the body, +and the wonderful texture of the other, at once a +general covering, and at once a general outlet as well +as inlet; how different is this from the affection +which possesses an ordinary man at the sight of a +delicate, smooth skin, and all the other parts of beauty, +which require no investigation to be perceived! +In the former case, whilst we look up to the Maker +with admiration and praise, the object which causes +it may be odious and distasteful; the latter very often +so touches us by its power on the imagination, +that we examine but little into the artifice of its +contrivance; and we have need of a strong effort of our +reason to disentangle our minds from the allurements +of the object, to a consideration of that wisdom which +invented so powerful a machine. The effect of proportion +and fitness, at least so far as they proceed +from a mere consideration of the work itself, produce +approbation, the acquiescence of the understanding, +but not love, nor any passion of that species. When +we examine the structure of a watch, when we come +to know thoroughly the use of every part of it, satisfied +as we are with the fitness of the whole, we are +far enough from perceiving anything like beauty in +the watch-work itself; but let us look on the case, +<!-- Page 210 --><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186" title="186" class="pagenum"></a>the labor of some curious artist in engraving, with +little or no idea of use, we shall have a much livelier +idea of beauty than we ever could have had from the +watch itself, though the masterpiece of Graham. In +beauty, as I said, the effect is previous to any knowledge +of the use; but to judge of proportion, we must +know the end for which any work is designed. According +to the end, the proportion varies. Thus +there is one proportion of a tower, another of a +house; one proportion of a gallery, another of a hall, +another of a chamber. To judge of the proportions +of these, you must be first acquainted with the purposes +for which they were designed. Good sense and +experience acting together, find out what is fit to be +done in every work of art. We are rational creatures, +and in all our works we ought to regard their +end and purpose; the gratification of any passion, +how innocent soever, ought only to be of secondary +consideration. Herein is placed the real power of fitness +and proportion; they operate on the understanding +considering them, which <i>approves</i> the work and +acquiesces in it. The passions, and the imagination +which principally raises them, have here very little to +do. When a room appears in its original nakedness, +bare walls and a plain ceiling: let its proportion be +ever so excellent, it pleases very little; a cold +approbation is the utmost we can reach; a much worse +proportioned room with elegant mouldings and fine +festoons, glasses, and other merely ornamental furniture, +will make the imagination revolt against the +reason; it will please much more than the naked +proportion of the first room, which the understanding +has so much approved, as admirably fitted for its purposes. +What I have here said and before concerning +<!-- Page 211 --><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187" title="187" class="pagenum"></a>proportion, is by no means to persuade people absurdly +to neglect the idea of use in the works of art. It is +only to show that these excellent things, beauty and +proportion, are not the same; not that they should +either of them be disregarded.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VIII.<br /> +<br /> +THE RECAPITULATION.</h3> + +<p>On the whole; if such parts in human bodies as are +found proportioned, were likewise constantly found +beautiful, as they certainly are not; or if they were +so situated, as that a pleasure might flow from the +comparison, which they seldom are; or if any assignable +proportions were found, either in plants or animals, +which were always attended with beauty, which +never was the case; or if, where parts were well adapted +to their purposes, they were constantly beautiful, +and when no use appeared, there was no beauty, +which is contrary to all experience; we might conclude +that beauty consisted in proportion or utility. +But since, in all respects, the case is quite otherwise; +we may be satisfied that beauty does not depend on +these, let it owe its origin to what else it will.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IX.<br /> +<br /> +PERFECTION NOT THE CAUSE OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>There is another notion current, pretty closely +allied to the former; that <i>perfection</i> is the +constituent cause of beauty. This opinion has been made +to extend much further than to sensible objects. +<!-- Page 212 --><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188" title="188" class="pagenum"></a>But in these, so far is perfection, considered as +such, from being the cause of beauty; that this +quality, where it is highest, in the female sex, +almost always carries with it an idea of weakness +and imperfection. Women are very sensible of this; +for which reason they learn to lisp, to totter in their +walk, to counterfeit weakness, and even sickness. +In all this they are guided by nature. Beauty in +distress is much the most affecting beauty. Blushing +has little less power; and modesty in general, +which is a tacit allowance of imperfection, is itself +considered as an amiable quality, and certainly heightens +every other that is so. I know it is in every +body's mouth, that we ought to love perfection. This +is to me a sufficient proof, that it is not the proper +object of love. Who ever said we <i>ought</i> to love a fine +woman, or even any of these beautiful animals which +please us? Here to be affected, there is no need of +the concurrence of our will.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION X.<br /> +<br /> +HOW FAR THE IDEA OF BEAUTY MAY BE APPLIED TO +THE QUALITIES OF THE MIND.</h3> + +<p>Nor is this remark in general less applicable to the +qualities of the mind. Those virtues which cause +admiration, and are of the sublimer kind, produce +terror rather than love; such as fortitude, justice, +wisdom, and the like. Never was any man amiable +by force of these qualities. Those which engage our +hearts, which impress us with a sense of loveliness, +are the softer virtues; easiness of temper, compassion, +kindness, and liberality; though certainly those +<!-- Page 213 --><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189" title="189" class="pagenum"></a>latter are of less immediate and momentous concern +to society, and of less dignity. But it is for that +reason that they are so amiable. The great virtues +turn principally on dangers, punishments, and +troubles, and are exercised, rather in preventing the +worst mischiefs, than in dispensing favors; and are +therefore not lovely, though highly venerable. The +subordinate turn on reliefs, gratifications, and +indulgences; and are therefore more lovely, though inferior +in dignity. Those persons who creep into the +hearts of most people, who are chosen as the companions +of their softer hours, and their reliefs from care +and anxiety, are never persons of shining qualities or +strong virtues. It is rather the soft green of the +soul on which we rest our eyes, that are fatigued with +beholding more glaring objects. It is worth observing +how we feel ourselves affected in reading the +characters of Cæsar and Cato, as they are so finely +drawn and contrasted in Sallust. In one the <i>ignoscendo +largiundo</i>; in the other, <i>nil largiundo</i>. In one, +the <i>miseris perfugium</i>; in the other, <i>malis perniciem</i>. +In the latter we have much to admire, much to reverence, +and perhaps something to fear; we respect +him, but we respect him at a distance. The former +makes us familiar with him; we love him, and he +leads us whither he pleases. To draw things closer +to our first and most natural feelings, I will add a remark +made upon reading this section by an ingenious +friend. The authority of a father, so useful to +our well-being, and so justly venerable upon all accounts, +hinders us from having that entire love for +him that we have for our mothers, where the parental +authority is almost melted down into the mother's +fondness and indulgence. But we generally have a +<!-- Page 214 --><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190" title="190" class="pagenum"></a>great love for our grandfathers, in whom this authority +is removed a degree from us, and where the +weakness of age mellows it into something of a feminine +partiality.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XI.<br /> +<br /> +HOW FAR THE IDEA OF BEAUTY MAY BE APPLIED TO +VIRTUE.</h3> + +<p>From what has been said in the foregoing section, +we may easily see how far the application of beauty +to virtue may be made with propriety. The general +application of this quality to virtue has a strong tendency +to confound our ideas of things, and it has +given rise to an infinite deal of whimsical theory; as +the affixing the name of beauty to proportion, congruity, +and perfection, as well as to qualities of +things yet more remote from our natural ideas of +it, and from one another, has tended to confound our +ideas of beauty, and left us no standard or rule to +judge by, that was not even more uncertain and fallacious +than our own fancies. This loose and inaccurate +manner of speaking has therefore misled us +both in the theory of taste and of morals; and induced +us to remove the science of our duties from +their proper basis (our reason, our relations, and +our necessities), to rest it upon, foundations altogether +visionary and unsubstantial.<!-- Page 215 --><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191" title="191" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XII.<br /> +<br /> +THE REAL CAUSE OF BEAUTY.</h3> + +<p>Having endeavored to show what beauty is not, it +remains that we should examine, at least with equal +attention, in what it really consists. Beauty is a +thing much too affecting not to depend upon some +positive qualities. And since it is no creature of our +reason, since it strikes us without any reference to +use, and even where no use at all can be discerned, +since the order and method of nature is generally very +different from our measures and proportions, we must +conclude that beauty is, for the greater part, some +quality in bodies acting mechanically upon the human +mind by the intervention of the senses. We +ought, therefore, to consider attentively in what manner +those sensible qualities are disposed, in such things +as by experience we find beautiful, or which excite in +us the passion of love, or some correspondent affection.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIII.<br /> +<br /> +BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS SMALL.</h3> + +<p>The most obvious point that presents itself to us in +examining any object is its extent or quantity. And +what degree of extent prevails in bodies that are held +beautiful, may be gathered from the usual manner of +expression concerning it. I am told that, in most +languages, the objects of love are spoken of under +diminutive epithets. It is so in all the languages of +which I have any knowledge. In Greek the +<span lang="el" title="ion">ιον</span> +<!-- HTML Entities ιον --> +and +other diminutive terms are almost always the terms +<!-- Page 216 --><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192" title="192" class="pagenum"></a>of affection and tenderness. These diminutives were +commonly added by the Greeks to the names of persons +with whom they conversed on terms of friendship +and familiarity. Though the Romans were a +people of less quick and delicate feelings, yet they +naturally slid into the lessening termination upon the +same occasions. Anciently, in the English language, +the diminishing <i>ling</i> was added to the names of persons +and things that were the objects of love. Some +we retain still, as <i>darling</i> (or little dear), and a few +others. But to this day, in ordinary conversation, it +is usual to add the endearing name of <i>little</i> to everything +we love; the French and Italians make use of +these affectionate diminutives even more than we. +In the animal creation, out of our own species, it is +the small we are inclined to be fond of; little birds, +and some of the smaller kinds of beasts. A great +beautiful thing is a manner of expression scarcely +ever used; but that of a great ugly thing is very +common. There is a wide difference between admiration +and love. The sublime, which is the cause of +the former, always dwells on great objects, and terrible; +the latter on small ones, and pleasing; we submit +to what we admire, but we love what submits to +us; in one case we are forced, in the other we are +flattered, into compliance. In short, the ideas of the +sublime and the beautiful stand on foundations so +different, that it is hard, I had almost said impossible, +to think of reconciling them in the same subject, +without considerably lessening the effect of the one +or the other upon the passions. So that, attending +to their quantity, beautiful objects are comparatively +small.<!-- Page 217 --><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193" title="193" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIV.<br /> +<br /> +SMOOTHNESS.</h3> + +<p>The next property constantly observable in such +objects is <i>smoothness</i>;<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 20.">[24]</a> a qualify so essential to beauty, +that I do not now recollect anything beautiful +that is not smooth. In trees and flowers, smooth +leaves are beautiful; smooth slopes of earth in gardens; +smooth streams in the landscape; smooth +coats of birds and beasts in animal beauties; in +fine women, smooth skins; and in several sorts of +ornamental furniture, smooth and polished surfaces. +A very considerable part of the effect of beauty is +owing to this quality; indeed the most considerable. +For, take any beautiful object, and give it a broken, +and rugged surface; and, however well formed it +may be in other respects, it pleases no longer. +Whereas, let it want ever so many of the other +constituents, if it wants not this, it becomes more +pleasing than almost all the others without it. This +seems to me so evident, that I am a good deal surprised +that none who have handled the subject have +made any mention of the quality of smoothness in +the enumeration of those that go to the forming of +beauty. For, indeed, any ruggedness, any sudden, +projection, any sharp angle, is in the highest degree +contrary to that idea.<!-- Page 218 --><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194" title="194" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XV.<br /> +<br /> +GRADUAL VARIATION.</h3> + +<p>But as perfectly beautiful bodies are not composed +of angular parts, so their parts never continue long +in the same right line.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 23.">[25]</a> They vary their direction +every moment, and they change under the eye by a +deviation continually carrying on, but for whose beginning +or end you will find it difficult to ascertain a +point. The view of a beautiful bird will illustrate +this observation. Here we see the head increasing +insensibly to the middle, from whence it lessens gradually +until it mixes with the neck; the neck loses +itself in a larger swell, which continues to the middle +of the body, when the whole decreases again to the +tail; the tail takes a new direction, but it soon varies +its new course, it blends again with the other parts, +and the line is perpetually changing, above, below, +upon every side. In this description I have before +me the idea of a dove; it agrees very well with most +of the conditions of beauty. It is smooth and downy; +its parts are (to use that expression) melted into one +another; you are presented with no sudden protuberance +through the whole, and yet the whole is continually +changing. Observe that part of a beautiful +woman where she is perhaps the most beautiful, +about the neck and breasts; the smoothness, the softness, +the easy and insensible swell; the variety of the +surface, which is never for the smallest space the +same; the deceitful maze through which the unsteady +eye slides giddily, without knowing where to +fix, or whither it is carried. Is not this a demonstra<!-- Page 219 --><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195" title="195" class="pagenum"></a>tion +of that change of surface, continual, and yet +hardly perceptible at any point, which forms one of +the great constituents of beauty? It gives me no +small pleasure to find that I can strengthen my theory +in this point by the opinion of the very ingenious +Mr. Hogarth, whose idea of the line of beauty I take +in general to be extremely just. But the idea of +variation, without attending so accurately to the <i>manner</i> +of the variation, has led him to consider angular +figures as beautiful; these figures, it is true, vary +greatly, yet they vary in a sudden and broken manner, +and I do not find any natural object which is +angular, and at the same time beautiful. Indeed, few +natural objects are entirely angular. But I think +those which approach the most nearly to it are the +ugliest. I must add, too, that so for as I could observe +of nature, though the varied line is that alone +in which complete beauty is found, yet there is no +particular line which is always found in the most +completely beautiful, and which is therefore beautiful +in preference to all other lines. At least I never +could observe it.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVI.<br /> +<br /> +DELICACY.</h3> + +<p>An air of robustness and strength is very prejudicial +to beauty. An appearance of <i>delicacy</i>, and even +of fragility, is almost essential to it. Whoever examines +the vegetable or animal creation will find this +observation to be founded in nature. It is not the +oak, the ash, or the elm, or any of the robust trees +of the forest which we consider as beautiful; they are +<!-- Page 220 --><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196" title="196" class="pagenum"></a>awful and majestic, they inspire a sort of reverence. +It is the delicate myrtle, it is the orange, it is the +almond, it is the jasmine, it is the vine which we +look on as vegetable beauties. It is the flowery species, +so remarkable for its weakness and momentary +duration, that gives us the liveliest idea of beauty +and elegance. Among animals, the greyhound is +more beautiful than the mastiff, and the delicacy of a +jennet, a barb, or an Arabian horse, is much more +amiable than the strength and stability of some horses +of war or carriage. I need here say little of the fair +sex, where I believe the point will be easily allowed +me. The beauty of women is considerably owing to +their weakness or delicacy, and is even enhanced by +their timidity, a quality of mind analogous to it. I +would not here be understood to say, that weakness +betraying very bad health has any share in beauty; +but the ill effect of this is not because it is weakness, +but because the ill state of health, which produces +such weakness, alters the other conditions of beauty; +the parts in such a case collapse, the bright color, the +<i>lumen purpureum juventæ</i> is gone, and the fine variation +is lost in wrinkles, sudden breaks, and right +lines.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVII.<br /> +<br /> +BEAUTY IN COLOR.</h3> + +<p>As to the colors usually found in beautiful bodies, +it may be somewhat difficult to ascertain them, because, +in the several parts of nature, there is an infinite +variety. However, even in this variety, we may +mark out something on which to settle. First, the +colors of beautiful bodies must not be dusky or +<!-- Page 221 --><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197" title="197" class="pagenum"></a>muddy, but clean and fair. Secondly, they must not +be of the strongest kind. Those which seem most +appropriated to beauty, are the milder of every sort; +light greens; soft blues; weak whites; pink reds; +and violets. Thirdly, if the colors be strong and +vivid, they are always diversified, and the object is +never of one strong color; there are almost always +such a number of them (as in variegated flowers) +that the strength and glare of each is considerably +abated. In a fine complexion there is not only some +variety in the coloring, but the colors: neither the +red nor the white are strong and glaring. Besides, +they are mixed in such a manner, and with such gradations, +that it is impossible to fix the bounds. On +the same principle it is that the dubious color in the +necks and tails of peacocks, and about the heads of +drakes, is so very agreeable. In reality, the beauty +both of shape and coloring are as nearly related as +we can well suppose it possible for things of such +different natures to be.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVIII.<br /> +<br /> +RECAPITULATION.</h3> + +<p>On the whole, the qualities of beauty, as they are +merely sensible qualities, are the following: First, to +be comparatively small. Secondly, to be smooth. +Thirdly, to have a variety in the direction of the +parts; but, fourthly, to have those parts not angular, +but melted, as it were, into each other. Fifthly, to +be of a delicate frame, without any remarkable appearance +of strength. Sixthly, to have its colors +clear and bright, but not very strong and glaring. +<!-- Page 222 --><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198" title="198" class="pagenum"></a>Seventhly, or if it should have any glaring color, to +have it diversified with others. These are, I believe, +the properties on which beauty depends; properties +that operate by nature, and are less liable to be altered +by caprice, or confounded by a diversity of +tastes, than any other.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIX.<br /> +<br /> +THE PHYSIOGNOMY.</h3> + +<p>The <i>physiognomy</i> has a considerable share in beauty, +especially in that of our own species. The manners +give a certain determination to the countenance; +which, being observed to correspond pretty regularly +with them, is capable of joining the effect of certain +agreeable qualities of the mind to those of the body. +So that to form a finished human beauty, and to give +it its full influence, the face must be expressive of +such gentle and amiable qualities, as correspond with +the softness, smoothness, and delicacy of the outward +form.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XX.<br /> +<br /> +THE EYE.</h3> + +<p>I have hitherto purposely omitted to speak of the +<i>eye</i>, which has so great a share in the beauty of the +animal creation, as it did not fall so easily under the +foregoing heads, though in fact it is reducible to the +same principles. I think, then, that the beauty of +the eye consists, first, in its <i>clearness</i>; what <i>colored</i> +eye shall please most, depends a good deal on particular +fancies; but none are pleased with an eye whose +<!-- Page 223 --><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199" title="199" class="pagenum"></a>water (to use that term) is dull and muddy.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor" +title="Part IV. sect. 25.">[26]</a> We +are pleased with the eye in this view, on the principle +upon which we like diamonds, clear water, glass, and +such like transparent substances. Secondly, the motion +of the eye contributes to its beauty, by continually +shifting its direction; but a slow and languid +motion is more beautiful than a brisk one; the latter +is enlivening; the former lovely. Thirdly, with regard +to the union of the eye with the neighboring +parts, it is to hold the same rule that is given of other +beautiful ones; it is not to make a strong deviation +from the line of the neighboring parts; nor to verge +into any exact geometrical figure. Besides all this, +the eye affects, as it is expressive of some qualities of +the mind, and its principal power generally arises +from this; so that what we have just said of the +physiognomy is applicable here.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXI.<br /> +<br /> +UGLINESS.</h3> + +<p>It may perhaps appear like a sort of repetition of +what we have before said, to insist here upon the nature +of <i>ugliness</i>; as I imagine it to be in all respects +the opposite to those qualities which we have laid +down for the constituents of beauty. But though +ugliness be the opposite to beauty, it is not the opposite +to proportion and fitness. For it is possible that +a thing may be very ugly with any proportions, and +with a perfect fitness to any uses. Ugliness I imagine +likewise to be consistent enough with an idea of +the sublime. But I would by no means insinuate +<!-- Page 224 --><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200" title="200" class="pagenum"></a>that ugliness of itself is a sublime idea, unless united +with such qualities as excite a strong terror.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXII.<br /> +<br /> +GRACE.</h3> + +<p>Gracefulness is an idea not very different from +beauty; it consists in much the same things. Gracefulness +is an idea belonging to <i>posture</i> and <i>motion</i>. +In both these, to be graceful, it is requisite that there +be no appearance of difficulty; there is required a +small inflection of the body; and a composure of the +parts in such a manner, as not to incumber each +other, not to appear divided by sharp and sudden +angles. In this case, this roundness, this delicacy of +attitude and motion, it is that all the magic of grace +consists, and what is called its <i>je ne sçai quoi</i>; as will +be obvious to any observer, who considers attentively +the Venus de Medicis, the Antinous or any statue +generally allowed to be graceful in a high degree.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXIII.<br /> +<br /> +ELEGANCE AND SPECIOUSNESS.</h3> + +<p>When any body is composed of parts smooth and +polished, without pressing upon each other, without +showing any ruggedness or confusion, and at the +same time affecting some <i>regular shape</i>, I call it <i>elegant</i>. +It is closely allied to the beautiful, differing +from it only in this <i>regularity</i>; which, however, as it +makes a very material difference in the affection produced, +may very well constitute another species. Un<!-- Page 225 --><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201" title="201" class="pagenum"></a>der +this head I rank those delicate and regular works +of art, that imitate no determinate object in nature, +as elegant buildings, and pieces of furniture. When +any object partakes of the above-mentioned qualities, +or of those of beautiful bodies, and is withal of great +dimensions, it is full as remote from the idea of mere +beauty; I call <i>fine</i> or <i>specious</i>.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXIV.<br /> +<br /> +THE BEAUTIFUL IN FEELING.</h3> + +<p>The foregoing description of beauty, so far as it is +taken in by the eye, may he greatly illustrated by describing +the nature of objects, which produce a similar +effect through the touch. This I call the beautiful in +<i>feeling</i>. It corresponds wonderfully with what causes +the same species of pleasure to the sight. There is a +chain in all our sensations; they are all but different +sorts of feelings calculated to be affected by various +sorts of objects, but all to be affected after the same +manner. All bodies that are pleasant to the touch, are +so by the slightness of the resistance they make. +Resistance is either to motion along the surface, or to the +pressure of the parts on one another: if the former be +slight, we call the body smooth; if the latter, soft. +The chief pleasure we receive by feeling, is in the one +or the other of these qualities; and if there be a +combination of both, our pleasure is greatly increased. +This is so plain, that it is rather more fit to illustrate +other things, than to be illustrated itself by an example. +The next source of pleasure in this sense, as in every +other, is the continually presenting somewhat new; +and we find that bodies which continually vary their +<!-- Page 226 --><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202" title="202" class="pagenum"></a>surface, are much the most pleasant or beautiful to the +feeling, as any one that pleases may experience. The +third property in such objects is, that though the surface +continually varies its direction, it never varies it +suddenly. The application of anything sudden, even +though the impression itself have little or nothing of +violence, is disagreeable. The quick application of a +finger a little warmer or colder than usual, without notice, +makes us start; a slight tap on the shoulder, not +expected, has the same effect. Hence it is that angular +bodies, bodies that suddenly vary the direction of +the outline, afford so little pleasure to the feeling. +Every such change is a sort of climbing or falling in +miniature; so that squares, triangles, and other angular +figures are neither beautiful to the sight nor feeling. +Whoever compares his state of mind, on feeling soft, +smooth, variated, unangular bodies, with that in which +he finds himself, on the view of a beautiful object, will +perceive a very striking analogy in the effects of both; +and which may go a good way towards discovering +their common cause. Feeling and sight, in this respect, +differ in but a few points. The touch takes in +the pleasure of softness, which is not primarily an object +of sight; the sight, on the other hand, comprehends +color, which can hardly he made perceptible to +the touch: the touch, again, has the advantage in a +new idea of pleasure resulting from a moderate degree +of warmth; but the eye triumphs in the infinite extent +and multiplicity of its objects. But there is such a +similitude in the pleasures of these senses, that I am +apt to fancy, if it were possible that one might discern +color by feeling (as it is said some blind men have +done) that the same colors, and the same disposition +of coloring, which are found beautiful to the sight, +<!-- Page 227 --><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203" title="203" class="pagenum"></a>would be found likewise most grateful to the touch. +But, setting aside conjectures, let us pass to the other +sense; of hearing.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXV.<br /> +<br /> +THE BEAUTIFUL IN SOUNDS.</h3> + +<p>In this sense we find an equal aptitude to be affected +in a soft and delicate manner; and how far +sweet or beautiful sounds agree with our descriptions +of beauty in other senses, the experience of every one +must decide. Milton has described this species of +music in one of his juvenile poems.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor" +title="L'Allegro.">[27]</a> I need not say +that Milton was perfectly well versed in that art; and +that no man had a finer ear, with a happier manner +of expressing the affections of one sense by metaphors +taken from another. The description is as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">"And ever against eating cares,</div> +<div>Lap me in <i>soft</i> Lydian airs;</div> +<div>In notes with many a <i>winding</i> bout</div> +<div>Of <i>linked sweetness long drawn</i> out;</div> +<div>With wanton heed, and giddy cunning,</div> +<div>The <i>melting</i> voice through <i>mazes</i> running;</div> +<div><i>Untwisting</i> all the chains that tie</div> +<div>The hidden soul of harmony."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Let us parallel this with the softness, the winding +surface, the unbroken continuance, the easy gradation +of the beautiful in other things; and all the diversities +of the several senses, with all their several +affections, will rather help to throw lights from one +another to finish one clear, consistent idea of the +whole, than to obscure it by their intricacy and variety.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 228 --><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204" title="204" class="pagenum"></a>To the above-mentioned description I shall add one +or two remarks. The first is; that the beautiful in +music will not hear that loudness and strength of +sounds, which may be used to raise other passions; +nor notes which are shrill, or harsh, or deep; it +agrees best with such as are clear, even, smooth, +and weak. The second is; that great variety, and +quick transitions from one measure or tone to another, +are contrary to the genius of the beautiful in +music. Such<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor" +title=""I ne'er am merry, when I hear sweet music."--SHAKESPEARE.">[28]</a> transitions often excite mirth, or +other sudden or tumultuous passions; but not that +sinking, that melting, that languor, which is the +characteristical effect of the beautiful as it regards +every sense. The passion excited by beauty is in +fact nearer to a species of melancholy, than to jollity +and mirth. I do not here mean to confine music to +any one species of notes, or tones, neither is it an art +in which I can say I have any great skill. My sole +design in this remark is to settle a consistent idea of +beauty. The infinite variety of the affections of the +soul will suggest to a good head, and skilful ear, a +variety of such sounds as are fitted to raise them. It +can be no prejudice to this, to clear and distinguish +some few particulars that belong to the same class, +and are consistent with each other, from the immense +crowd of different and sometimes contradictory ideas, +that rank vulgarly under the standard of beauty. +And of these it is my intention to mark such only of +the leading points as show the conformity of the +sense of hearing with all the other senses, in the article +of their pleasures.<!-- Page 229 --><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205" title="205" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXVI.<br /> +<br /> +TASTE AND SMELL.</h3> + +<p>This general agreement of the senses is yet more +evident on minutely considering those of taste and +smell. We metaphorically apply the idea of sweetness +to sights and sounds; but as the qualities of +bodies by which they are fitted to excite either pleasure +or pain in these senses are not so obvious as they +are in the others, we shall refer an explanation of +their analogy, which is a very close one, to that part +wherein we come to consider the common efficient +cause of beauty, as it regards all the senses. I do +not think anything better fitted to establish a clear +and settled idea of visual beauty than this way of +examining the similar pleasures of other senses; for +one part is sometimes clear in one of the senses that +is more obscure in another; and where there is a +clear concurrence of all, we may with more certainty +speak of any one of them. By this means, they bear +witness to each other; nature is, as it were, scrutinized; +and we report nothing of her but what we +receive from her own information.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXVII.<br /> +<br /> +THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL COMPARED.</h3> + +<p>On closing this general view of beauty, it naturally +occurs that we should compare it with the sublime; +and in this comparison there appears a remarkable +contrast. For sublime objects are vast in their dimensions, +beautiful ones comparatively small; beauty +<!-- Page 230 --><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206" title="206" class="pagenum"></a>should be smooth and polished; the great, rugged +and negligent: beauty should shun the right line, +yet deviate from it insensibly; the great in many +cases loves the right line; and when it deviates, it +often makes a strong deviation: beauty should not +be obscure; the great ought to be dark and gloomy: +beauty should be light and delicate; the great ought +to be solid, and even massive. They are indeed ideas +of a very different nature, one being founded on pain, +the other on pleasure; and, however they may vary +afterwards from the direct nature of their causes, yet +these causes keep up an eternal distinction between +them, a distinction never to be forgotten by any +whose business it is to affect the passions. In the +infinite variety of natural combinations, we must +expect to find the qualities of things the most remote +imaginable from each other united in the +same object. We must expect also to find combinations +of the same kind in the works of art. But +when we consider the power of an object upon our +passions, we must know that when anything is intended +to affect the mind by the force of some predominant +property, the affection produced is like to +be the more uniform and perfect, if all the other +properties or qualities of the object be of the same +nature, and tending to the same design as the principal.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"If black and white blend, soften, and unite</div> +<div>A thousand ways, are there no black and white?"</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">If the qualities of the sublime and beautiful are sometimes +found united, does this prove that they are the +same; does it prove that they are any way allied; +does it prove even that they are not opposite and +contradictory? Black and white may soften, may +<!-- Page 231 --><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207" title="207" class="pagenum"></a>blend; but they are not therefore the same. Nor, +when they are so softened and blended with each +other, or with different colors, is the power of black +as black, or of white as white, so strong as when each +stands uniform and distinguished.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Part IV. sect. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> L'Allegro.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a></p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"I ne'er am merry, when I hear sweet music."</div> +<p class="citation">SHAKESPEARE.</p> +</div></div> +</div> + +</div> +<div><!-- Page 232 --><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208" title="208" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_IV" id="PART_IV"></a>PART IV.</h2> + + +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +<br /> +OF THE EFFICIENT CAUSE OF THE SUBLIME AND +BEAUTIFUL.</h3> + +<p>When I say, I intend to inquire into the efficient +cause of sublimity and beauty, I would not be understood +to say, that I can come to the ultimate cause. +I do not pretend that I shall ever be able to explain +why certain affections of the body produce such a distinct +emotion of mind, and no other; or why the body +is at all affected by the mind, or the mind by the body. +A little thought will show this to be impossible. But +I conceive, if we can discover what affections of the +mind produce certain emotions of the body; and what +distinct feelings and qualities of body shall produce +certain determinate passions in the mind, and no +others, I fancy a great deal will be done; something +not unuseful towards a distinct knowledge of our passions, +so far at least as we have them at present under +our consideration. This is all, I believe, we can do. +If we could advance a step farther, difficulties would +still remain, as we should be still equally distant from +the first cause. When Newton first discovered the +property of attraction, and settled its laws, he found +it served very well to explain several of the most +remarkable phenomena in nature; but yet, with reference +to the general system of things, he could consider +attraction but as an effect, whose cause at that +time he did not attempt to trace. But when he afterwards +began to account for it by a subtle elastic +<!-- Page 233 --><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209" title="209" class="pagenum"></a>ether, this great man (if in so great a man it be not +impious to discover anything like a blemish) seemed +to have quitted his usual cautious manner of +philosophizing; since, perhaps, allowing all that has been +advanced on this subject to be sufficiently proved, I +think it leaves us with as many difficulties as it found +us. That great chain of causes, which, linking one +to another, even to the throne of God himself, can +never be unravelled by any industry of ours. When +we go but one step beyond the immediate sensible +qualities of things, we go out of our depth. All we +do after is but a faint struggle, that shows we are in +an element which does not belong to us. So that +when I speak of cause, and efficient cause, I only +mean certain affections of the mind, that cause certain +changes in the body; or certain powers and +properties in bodies, that work a change in the mind. +As, if I were to explain the motion of a body falling +to the ground, I would say it was caused by gravity; +and I would endeavor to show after what manner +this power operated, without attempting to show why +it operated in this manner: or, if I were to explain +the effects of bodies striking one another by the common +laws of percussion, I should not endeavor to explain +how motion itself is communicated.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +<br /> +ASSOCIATION.</h3> + +<p>It is no small bar in the way of our inquiry into the +cause of our passions, that the occasions of many of +them are given, and that their governing motions are +communicated at a time when we have not capacity +<!-- Page 234 --><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210" title="210" class="pagenum"></a>to reflect on them; at a time of which all sort of +memory is worn out of our minds. For besides such +things as affect us in various manners, according to +their natural powers, there are associations made at +that early season, which we find it very hard afterwards +to distinguish from natural effects. Not to +mention the unaccountable antipathies which we find +in many persons, we all find it impossible to remember +when a steep became more terrible than a plain; +or fire or water more terrible than a clod of earth; +though all these are very probably either conclusions +from experience, or arising from the premonitions of +others; and some of them impressed, in all likelihood, +pretty late. But as it must be allowed that +many things affect us after a certain manner, not by +any natural powers they have for that purpose, but +by association; so it would be absurd, on the other +hand, to say that all things affect us by association +only; since some things must have been originally +and naturally agreeable or disagreeable, from which +the others derive their associated powers; and it +would be, I fancy, to little purpose to look for the +cause of our passions in association, until we fail of +it in the natural properties of things.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +<br /> +CAUSE OF PAIN AND FEAR.</h3> + +<p>I have before observed,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor" +title="Part I. sect. 7.">[29]</a> that whatever is qualified +to cause terror is a foundation capable of the sublime; +to which I add, that not only these, but many +things from which we cannot probably apprehend +<!-- Page 235 --><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211" title="211" class="pagenum"></a>any danger, have a similar effect, because they operate +in a similar manner. I observed, too,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor" +title="Part I. sect. 10.">[30]</a> that whatever +produces pleasure, positive and original pleasure, +is fit to have beauty engrafted on it. Therefore, +to clear up the nature of these qualities, it may be +necessary to explain the nature of pain and pleasure +on which they depend. A man who suffers under +violent bodily pain, (I suppose the most violent, because +the effect may be the more obvious,) I say a +man in great pain has his teeth set, his eyebrows are +violently contracted, his forehead is wrinkled, his +eyes are dragged inwards, and rolled with great +vehemence, his hair stands on end, the voice is +forced out in short shrieks and groans, and the +whole fabric totters. Fear or terror, which is an +apprehension of pain or death, exhibits exactly the +same effects, approaching in violence to those just +mentioned, in proportion to the nearness of the +cause, and the weakness of the subject. This is +not only so in the human species: but I have more +than once observed in dogs, under an apprehension +of punishment, that they have writhed their bodies, +and yelped, and howled, as if they had actually felt the +blows. From hence I conclude, that pain and fear +act upon the same parts of the body, and in the same +manner, though somewhat differing in degree: that +pain and fear consist in an unnatural tension of the +nerves; that this is sometimes accompanied with +an unnatural strength, which sometimes suddenly +changes into an extraordinary weakness; that these +effects often come on alternately, and are sometimes +mixed with each other. This is the nature of all +convulsive agitations, especially in weaker subjects, +<!-- Page 236 --><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212" title="212" class="pagenum"></a>which are the most liable to the severest impressions +of pain and fear. The only difference between pain +and terror is, that things which cause pain operate +on the mind by the intervention of the body; whereas +things that cause terror generally affect the bodily +organs by the operation of the mind suggesting +the danger; but both agreeing, either primarily or +secondarily, in producing a tension, contraction, or +violent emotion of the nerves,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor" +title="I do not here enter into the question debated among physiologists, +whether pain be the effect of a contraction, or a tension of the +nerves. Either will serve my purpose; for by tension, I mean no +more than a violent pulling of the fibres which compose any muscle +or membrane, in whatever way this is done.">[31]</a> they agree likewise +in everything else. For it appears very clearly to +me from this, as well as from many other examples, +that when the body is disposed, by any means whatsoever, +to such emotions as it would acquire by the +means of a certain passion; it will of itself excite +something very like that passion in the mind.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +<br /> +CONTINUED.</h3> + +<p>To this purpose Mr. Spon, in his "Récherches d'Antiquité," +gives us a curious story of the celebrated physiognomist +Campanella. This man, it seems, had not +only made very accurate observations on human faces, +but was very expert in mimicking such as were any +way remarkable. When he had a mind to penetrate +into the inclinations of those he had to deal with, he +composed his face, his gesture, and his whole body, as +nearly as he could into the exact similitude of the per<!-- Page 237 --><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213" title="213" class="pagenum"></a>son +he intended to examine; and then carefully observed +what turn of mind he seemed to acquire by this +change. So that, says my author, he was able to enter +into the dispositions and thoughts of people as effectually +as if he had been changed into the very men. +I have often observed, that on mimicking the looks and +gestures of angry, or placid, or frighted, or daring men, +I have involuntarily found my mind turned to that passion, +whose appearance I endeavored to imitate; nay, I +am convinced it is hard to avoid it, though one strove +to separate the passion from its correspondent gestures. +Our minds and bodies are so closely and intimately +connected, that one is incapable of pain or pleasure +without the other. Campanella, of whom we have +been speaking, could so abstract his attention from +any sufferings of his body, that he was able to endure +the rack itself without much pain; and in lesser pains +everybody must have observed that, when we can employ +our attention on anything else, the pain has been +for a time suspended: on the other hand, if by any +means the body is indisposed to perform such gestures, +or to be stimulated into such emotions as any passion +usually produces in it, that passion itself never can +arise, though its cause should be never so strongly in +action; though it should be merely mental, and immediately +affecting none of the senses. As an opiate, +or spirituous liquors, shall suspend the operation of +grief, or fear, or anger, in spite of all our efforts to +the contrary; and this by inducing in the body a disposition +contrary to that which it receives from these +passions.<!-- Page 238 --><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214" title="214" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION V.<br /> +<br /> +HOW THE SUBLIME IS PRODUCED.</h3> + +<p>Having considered terror as producing an unnatural +tension and certain violent emotions of the nerves; +it easily follows, from what we have just said, that +whatever is fitted to produce such a tension must be +productive of a passion similar to terror,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor" +title="Part II. sect. 2.">[32]</a> and +consequently must be a source of the sublime, though it +should have no idea of danger connected with it. So +that little remains towards showing the cause of the +sublime, but to show that the instances we have given +of it in the second part relate to such things, as are +fitted by nature to produce this sort of tension, either +by the primary operation of the mind or the body. +With regard to such things as affect by the associated +idea of danger, there can be no doubt but that they +produce terror, and act by some modification of that +passion; and that terror, when sufficiently violent, +raises the emotions of the body just mentioned, can +as little be doubted. But if the sublime is built on +terror or some passion like it, which has pain for its +object, it is previously proper to inquire how any species +of delight can be derived from a cause so apparently +contrary to it. I say <i>delight</i>, because, as I have +often remarked, it is very evidently different in its +cause, and in its own nature, from actual and positive +pleasure.<!-- Page 239 --><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215" title="215" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION VI.<br /> +<br /> +HOW PAIN CAN BE A CAUSE OF DELIGHT.</h3> + +<p>Providence has so ordered it, that a state of rest +and inaction, however it may flatter our indolence, +should be productive of many inconveniences; that it +should generate such disorders, as may force us to +have recourse to some labor, as a thing absolutely +requisite to make us pass our lives with tolerable +satisfaction; for the nature of rest is to suffer all the +parts of our bodies to fall into a relaxation, that not +only disables the members from performing their functions, +but takes away the vigorous tone of fibre which +is requisite for carrying on the natural and necessary +secretions. At the same time, that in this languid in +active state, the nerves are more liable to the most +horrid convulsions, than when they are sufficiently +braced and strengthened. Melancholy, dejection, despair, +and often self-murder, is the consequence of the +gloomy view we take of things in this relaxed state +of body. The best remedy for all these evils is exercise +or <i>labor</i>; and labor is a surmounting of <i>difficulties</i>, +an exertion of the contracting power of the muscles; +and as such resembles pain, which consists in tension +or contraction, in everything but degree. Labor is +not only requisite to preserve the coarser organs, in a +state fit for their functions; but it is equally necessary +to these finer and more delicate organs, on which, +and by which, the imagination and perhaps the other +mental powers act. Since it is probable, that not +only the inferior parts of the soul, as the passions are +called, but the understanding itself makes use of +some fine corporeal instruments in its operation; +<!-- Page 240 --><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216" title="216" class="pagenum"></a>though what they are, and where they are, may be +somewhat hard to settle: but that it does make use +of such, appears from hence; that a long exercise of +the mental powers induces a remarkable lassitude of +the whole body; and on the other hand, that great +bodily labor, or pain, weakens and sometimes actually +destroys the mental faculties. Now, as a due exercise +is essential to the coarse muscular parts of the +constitution, and that without this rousing they would +become languid and diseased, the very same rule holds +with regard to those finer parts we have mentioned; +to have them in proper order, they must be shaken +and worked to a proper degree.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VII.<br /> +<br /> +EXERCISE NECESSARY FOR THE FINER ORGANS.</h3> + +<p>As common labor, which is a mode of pain, is the +exercise of the grosser, a mode of terror is the exercise +of the finer parts of the system; and if a certain +mode of pain be of such a nature as to act upon the +eye or the ear, as they are the most delicate organs, +the affection approaches more nearly to that which has +a mental cause. In all these cases, if the pain and +terror are so modified as not to be actually noxious; +if the pain is not carried to violence, and the terror is +not conversant about the present destruction of the +person, as these emotions clear the parts, whether +fine or gross, of a dangerous and troublesome incumbrance, +they are capable of producing delight; not +pleasure, but a sort of delightful horror, a sort of +tranquillity tinged with terror; which, as it belongs +to self-preservation, is one of the strongest of all the +<!-- Page 241 --><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217" title="217" class="pagenum"></a>passions. Its object is the sublime.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor" +title="Part II. sect. 1.">[33]</a> Its highest degree +I call <i>astonishment</i>; the subordinate degrees are +awe, reverence, and respect, which, by the very etymology +of the words, show from what source they are +derived, and how they stand distinguished from positive +pleasure.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VIII.<br /> +<br /> +WHY THINGS NOT DANGEROUS SOMETIMES PRODUCE A +PASSION LIKE TERROR.</h3> + +<p>A mode of terror or pain is always the cause of the +sublime.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor" +title="Part I. sect. 7. Part II. sect. 2.">[34]</a> For terror or associated danger, the foregoing +explication is, I believe, sufficient. It will require +something more trouble to show, that such examples +as I have given of the sublime in the second +part are capable of producing a mode of pain, and of +being thus allied to terror, and to be accounted for +on the same principles. And first of such objects as +are great in their dimensions. I speak of visual objects.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IX.<br /> +<br /> +WHY VISUAL OBJECTS OF GREAT DIMENSIONS ARE SUBLIME.</h3> + +<p>Vision is performed by having a picture, formed by +the rays of light which are reflected from the object, +painted in one piece, instantaneously, on the retina, +or last nervous part of the eye. Or, according to +others, there is but one point of any object painted on +the eye in such a manner as to be perceived at once, +but by moving the eye, we gather up, with great ce<!-- Page 242 --><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218" title="218" class="pagenum"></a>lerity, +the several parts of the object, so as to form +one uniform piece. If the former opinion be allowed, +it will be considered,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor" +title="Part II. sect. 7.">[35]</a> that though all the light +reflected from a large body should strike the eye in one +instant; yet we must suppose that the body itself is +formed of a vast number of distinct points, every one +of which, or the ray from every one, makes an impression +on the retina. So that, though the image +of one point should cause but a small tension of this +membrane, another, and another, and another stroke, +must in their progress cause a very great one, until +it arrives at last to the highest degree; and the whole +capacity of the eye, vibrating in all its parts, must +approach near to the nature of what causes pain, and +consequently must produce an idea of the sublime. +Again, if we take it, that one point only of an object +is distinguishable at once; the matter will amount +nearly to the same thing, or rather it will make the +origin of the sublime from greatness of dimension yet +clearer. For if but one point is observed at once, the +eye must traverse the vast space of such bodies with +great quickness, and consequently the fine nerves and +muscles destined to the motion of that part must be +very much strained; and their great sensibility must +make them highly affected by this straining. Besides, +it signifies just nothing to the effect produced, +whether a body has its parts connected and makes its +impression at once; or, making but one impression +of a point at a time, it causes a succession of the +same or others so quickly as to make them seem +united; as is evident from the common effect of +whirling about a lighted torch or piece of wood: +which, if done with celerity, seems a circle of fire.<!-- Page 243 --><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219" title="219" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION X.<br /> +<br /> +UNITY WHY REQUISITE TO VASTNESS.</h3> + +<p>It may be objected to this theory, that the eye generally +receives an equal number of rays at all times, +and that therefore a great object cannot affect it by +the number of rays, more than that variety of objects +which the eye must always discern whilst it remains +open. But to this I answer, that admitting an equal +number of rays, or an equal quantity of luminous +particles to strike the eye at all times, yet if these +rays frequently vary their nature, now to blue, now +to red, and so on, or their manner of termination, +as to a number of petty squares, triangles, or the +like, at every change, whether of color or shape, the +organ has a sort of relaxation or rest; but this relaxation +and labor so often interrupted, is by no +means productive of ease; neither has it the effect +of vigorous and uniform labor. Whoever has remarked +the different effects of some strong exercise, +and some little piddling action, will understand why +a teasing, fretful employment, which at once wearies +and weakens the body, should have nothing great; +these sorts of impulses, which are rather teasing than +painful, by continually and suddenly altering their +tenor and direction, prevent that full tension, that +species of uniform labor, which is allied to strong +pain, and causes the sublime. The sum total of +things of various kinds, though it should equal the +number of the uniform parts composing some <i>one</i> +entire object, is not equal in its effect upon the organs +of our bodies. Besides the one already assigned, +there is another very strong reason for the difference. +<!-- Page 244 --><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220" title="220" class="pagenum"></a>The mind in reality hardly ever can attend diligently +to more than one thing at a time; if this thing be +little, the effect is little, and a number of other little +objects cannot engage the attention; the mind is +bounded by the bounds of the object; and what is +not attended to, and what does not exist, are much +the same in the effect; but the eye or the mind, (for +in this case there is no difference,) in great, uniform +objects, does not readily arrive at their bounds; it has +no rest, whilst it contemplates them; the image is +much the same everywhere. So that everything great +by its quantity must necessarily be one, simple and +entire.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XI.<br /> +<br /> +THE ARTIFICIAL INFINITE.</h3> + +<p>We have observed that a species of greatness arises +from the artificial infinite; and that this infinite consists +in an uniform succession of great parts: we observed +too, that the same uniform succession had a +like power in sounds. But because the effects of +many things are clearer in one of the senses than in +another, and that all the senses bear analogy to +and illustrate one another, I shall begin with this +power in sounds, as the cause of the sublimity from +succession is rather more obvious in the sense of +hearing. And I shall here, once for all, observe, that +an investigation of the natural and mechanical causes +of our passions, besides the curiosity of the subject, +gives, if they are discovered, a double strength and +lustre to any rules we deliver on such matters. +When the ear receives any simple sound, it is struck +by a single pulse of the air which makes the ear-<!-- Page 245 --><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221" title="221" class="pagenum"></a>drum +and the other membranous parts vibrate according +to the nature and species of the stroke. If +the stroke be strong, the organ of hearing suffers a +considerable degree of tension. If the stroke be repeated +pretty soon after, the repetition causes an +expectation of another stroke. And it must be observed, +that expectation itself causes a tension. This +is apparent in many animals, who, when they prepare +for hearing any sound, rouse themselves, and prick +up their ears; so that here the effect of the sounds is +considerably augmented by a new auxiliary, the expectation. +But though after a number of strokes, +we expect still more, not being able to ascertain the +exact time of their arrival, when they arrive, they +produce a sort of surprise, which increases this tension +yet further. For I have observed, that when +at any time I have waited very earnestly for some +sound, that returned at intervals, (as the successive +firing of cannon,) though I fully expected the return +of the sound, when it came it always made me start +a little; the ear-drum suffered a convulsion, and the +whole body consented with it. The tension of the +part thus increasing at every blow, by the united +forces of the stroke itself, the expectation and the +surprise, it is worked up to such a pitch as to be +capable of the sublime; it is brought just to the verge +of pain. Even when the cause has ceased, the organs +of hearing being often successively struck in a +similar manner, continue to vibrate in that manner +for some time longer; this is an additional help to +the greatness of the effect.<!-- Page 246 --><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222" title="222" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XII.<br /> +<br /> +THE VIBRATIONS MUST BE SIMILAR.</h3> + +<p>But if the vibration be not similar at every impression, +it can never be carried beyond the number of +actual impressions; for, move any body as a pendulum, +in one way, and it will continue to oscillate in +an arch of the same circle, until the known causes +make it rest; but if, after first putting it in motion in +one direction, you push it into another, it can never +reassume the first direction; because it can never +move itself, and consequently it can have but the +effect of that last motion; whereas, if in the same +direction you act upon it several times, it will describe +a greater arch, and move a longer time.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIII.<br /> +<br /> +THE EFFECTS OF SUCCESSION IN VISUAL OBJECTS +EXPLAINED.</h3> + +<p>If we can comprehend clearly how things operate +upon one of our senses, there can be very little difficulty +in conceiving in what manner they affect the +rest. To say a great deal therefore upon the corresponding +affections of every sense, would tend rather +to fatigue us by an useless repetition, than to throw +any new light upon the subject by that ample and +diffuse manner of treating it; but as in this discourse +we chiefly attach ourselves to the sublime, as it affects +the eye, we shall consider particularly why a +successive disposition of uniform parts in the same +right line should be sublime,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor" +title="Part II. sect. 10.">[36]</a> and upon what prin<!-- Page 247 --><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223" title="223" class="pagenum"></a>ciple +this disposition is enabled to make a comparatively +small quantity of matter produce a grander +effect, than a much larger quantity disposed in another +manner. To avoid the perplexity of general +notions; let us set before our eyes, a colonnade of +uniform pillars planted in a right line; let us take +our stand in such a manner, that the eye may shoot +along this colonnade, for it has its best effect in this +view. In our present situation it is plain, that the +rays from the first round pillar will cause in the eye +a vibration of that species; an image of the pillar +itself. The pillar immediately succeeding increases +it; that which follows renews and enforces the impression; +each in its order as it succeeds, repeats +impulse after impulse, and stroke after stroke, until +the eye, long exercised in one particular way, cannot +lose that object immediately, and, being violently +roused by this continued agitation, it presents the +mind with a grand or sublime conception. But instead +of viewing a rank of uniform pillars, let us +suppose that they succeed each other, a round and a +square one alternately. In this case the vibration +caused by the first round pillar perishes as soon as +it is formed; and one of quite another sort (the +square) directly occupies its place; which however +it resigns as quickly to the round one; and thus the +eye proceeds, alternately, taking up one image, and +laying down another, as long as the building continues. +From whence it is obvious that, at the last pillar, +the impression is as far from continuing as it +was at the very first; because, in fact, the sensory +can receive no distinct impression but from the last; +and it can never of itself resume a dissimilar impression: +besides every variation of the object is a rest +<!-- Page 248 --><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224" title="224" class="pagenum"></a>and relaxation to the organs of sight; and these reliefs +prevent that powerful emotion so necessary to +produce the sublime. To produce therefore a perfect +grandeur in such things as we have been mentioning, +there should be a perfect simplicity, an +absolute uniformity in disposition, shape, and coloring. +Upon this principle of succession and uniformity +it may be asked, why a long bare wall should +not be a more sublime object than a colonnade; since +the succession is no way interrupted; since the eye +meets no check; since nothing more uniform can be +conceived? A long bare wall is certainly not so +grand an object as a colonnade of the same length +and height. It is not altogether difficult to account +for this difference. When we look at a naked wall, +from the evenness of the object, the eye runs along +its whole space, and arrives quickly at its termination; +the eye meets nothing which may interrupt its +progress; but then it meets nothing which may detain +it a proper time to produce a very great and +lasting effect. The view of a bare wall, if it be of a +great height and length, is undoubtedly grand; but +this is only <i>one</i> idea, and not a <i>repetition</i> of <i>similar</i> +ideas: it is therefore great, not so much upon the +principle of <i>infinity</i>, as upon that of <i>vastness</i>. But we +are not so powerfully affected with any one impulse, +unless it be one of a prodigious force indeed, as we +are with a succession of similar impulses; because +the nerves of the sensory do not (if I may use the +expression) acquire a habit of repeating the same +feeling in such a manner as to continue it longer than +its cause is in action; besides, all the effects which I +have attributed to expectation and surprise in Sect. +11, can have no place in a bare wall.<!-- Page 249 --><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225" title="225" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIV.<br /> +<br /> +LOCKE'S OPINION CONCERNING DARKNESS CONSIDERED.</h3> + +<p>It is Mr. Locke's opinion, that darkness is not naturally +an idea of terror; and that, though an excessive +light is painful to the sense, the greatest excess +of darkness is no ways troublesome. He observes indeed +in another place, that a nurse or an old woman +having once associated the ideas of ghosts and goblins +with that of darkness, night, ever after, becomes +painful and horrible to the imagination. The authority +of this great man is doubtless as great as that +of any man can be, and it seems to stand in the way +of our general principle.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor" +title="Part II. sect. 3.">[37]</a> We have considered darkness +as a cause of the sublime; and we have all along +considered the sublime as depending on some modification +of pain or terror: so that if darkness be no +way painful or terrible to any, who have not had +their minds early tainted with superstitions, it can be +no source of the sublime to them. But, with all deference +to such an authority, it seems to me, that an +association of a more general nature, an association +which takes in all mankind, may make darkness terrible; +for in utter darkness it is impossible to know +in what degree of safety we stand; we are ignorant +of the objects that surround us; we may every moment +strike against some dangerous obstruction; we +may fall down a precipice the first step we take; and +if an enemy approach, we know not in what quarter +to defend ourselves; in such a case strength is no +sure protection; wisdom can only act by guess; the +boldest are staggered, and he who would pray for +<!-- Page 250 --><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226" title="226" class="pagenum"></a>nothing else towards his defence is forced to pray for +light.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Zeu pater, alla su rusai up êeros uias Achaiôn;"> +Ζεὖ πἀτερ, ἀλλὰ σὺ ῥῡσαι ὑπ' ἠέρος υἶας Ἀχαιὢν; +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Poiêson d' aithrên, dos d' ophthalmoisin idesthai;"> +Ποίησον δ' αἴθρην, δὸς δ' ὀφθαλμοἲσιν ἰδέσθαι; +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="En de phaei kai olesson...."> +Ἐν δὲ φάει καὶ ὄλεσσον.... +</span></div> +</div></div> + +<!-- Transliteration +Zeu pater, alla su rusai up êeros uias Achaiôn; +Poiêson d' aithrên, dos d' ophthalmoisin idesthai; +En de phaei kai olesson.... +--> +<!-- Unicode +Ζεὖ πἀτερ, ἀλλὰ σὺ ῥῡσαι ὑπ' ἠέρος υἶας Ἀχαιὢν; +Ποίησον δ' αἴθρην, δὸς δ' ὀφθαλμοἲσιν ἰδέσθαι; +Ἐν δὲ φάει καὶ ὄλεσσον.... +--> +<!-- Betacode +Zey~) pa)ter, a)lla\ sy\ r(y_sai y(p' ê)e/ros ui~)as A)ch-aiô)\n;</div> +Poi/êson d' ai)/thrên, do\s d' o)phthalmoi)\sin i)de/sthai; +E)n de\ pha/ei kai\ o)/lesson.... +--> +<!-- HTML Entities +Ζεὖ πἀτερ, ἀλλὰ σὺ ῥῡσαι ὑπ' ἠέρος υἶας Ἀχ-αιὢν; +Ποίησον δ' αἴθρην, δὸς δ' ὀφθαλμοἲσιν ἰδέσθαι; +Ἐν δὲ φάει καὶ ὄλεσσον.... +--> + +<p>As to the association of ghosts and goblins; surely +it is more natural to think that darkness, being originally +an idea of terror, was chosen as a fit scene +for such terrible representations, than that such +representations have made darkness terrible. The mind +of man very easily slides into an error of the former +sort; but it is very hard to imagine, that the effect +of an idea so universally terrible in all times, and in +all countries, as darkness, could possibly have been +owing to a set of idle stories, or to any cause of a nature +so trivial, and of an operation so precarious.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XV.<br /> +<br /> +DARKNESS TERRIBLE IN ITS OWN NATURE.</h3> + +<p>Perhaps it may appear on inquiry, that blackness +and darkness are in some degree painful by their natural +operation, independent of any associations whatsoever. +I must observe, that the ideas of darkness +and blackness are much the same; and they differ +only in this, that blackness is a more confined idea. +Mr. Cheselden has given us a very curious story of a +boy who had been born blind, and continued so until +he was thirteen or fourteen years old; he was then +couched for a cataract, by which operation he received +his sight. Among many remarkable particulars that +attended his first perceptions and judgments on visual +objects, Cheselden tells us, that the first time the boy +<!-- Page 251 --><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227" title="227" class="pagenum"></a>saw a black object, it gave him great uneasiness; and +that some time after, upon accidentally seeing a negro +woman, he was struck with great horror at the sight. +The horror, in this case, can scarcely be supposed to +arise from any association. The boy appears by the +account to have been particularly observing and sensible +for one of his age; and therefore it is probable, +if the great uneasiness he felt at the first sight of +black had arisen from its connection with any other +disagreeable ideas, he would have observed and mentioned +it. For an idea, disagreeable only by association, +has the cause of its ill effect on the passions +evident enough at the first impression; in ordinary +cases, it is indeed frequently lost; but this is because +the original association was made very early, and the +consequent impression repeated often. In our instance, +there was no time for such a habit; and there +is no reason to think that the ill effects of black on +his imagination were more owing to its connection +with any disagreeable ideas, than that the good effects +of more cheerful colors were derived from their +connection with pleasing ones. They had both probably +their effects from their natural operation.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVI.<br /> +<br /> +WHY DARKNESS IS TERRIBLE.</h3> + +<p>It may be worth while to examine how darkness +can operate in such a manner as to cause pain. It is +observable, that still as we recede from the light, nature +has so contrived it, that the pupil is enlarged by +the retiring of the iris, in proportion to our recess. +Now, instead of declining from it but a little, suppose +<!-- Page 252 --><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228" title="228" class="pagenum"></a>that we withdraw entirely from the light; it is reasonable +to think that the contraction of the radial +fibres of the iris is proportionally greater; and that +this part may by great darkness come to be so contracted, +as to strain the nerves that compose it beyond +their natural tone; and by this means to produce a +painful sensation. Such a tension it seems there +certainly is, whilst we are involved in darkness; for +in such a state, whilst the eye remains open, there is +a continual nisus to receive light; this is manifest +from the flashes and luminous appearances which +often seem in these circumstances to play before it; +and which can be nothing but the effect of spasms, +produced by its own efforts in pursuit of its object: +several other strong impulses will produce the idea +of light in the eye, besides the substance of light +itself, as we experience on many occasions. Some, +who allow darkness to be a cause of the sublime, +would infer, from the dilatation of the pupil, that a +relaxation may be productive of the sublime as well +as a convulsion: but they do not, I believe, consider, +that although the circular ring of the iris be in some +sense a sphincter, which may possibly be dilated by a +simple relaxation, yet in one respect it differs from +most of the other sphincters of the body, that it is +furnished with antagonist muscles, which are the +radial fibres of the iris: no sooner does the circular +muscle begin to relax, than these fibres, wanting +their counterpoise, are forcibly drawn back, and open +the pupil to a considerable wideness. But though +we were not apprised of this, I believe any one will +find, if he opens his eyes and makes an effort to see +in a dark place, that a very perceivable pain ensues. +And I have heard some ladies remark, that after hav<!-- Page 253 --><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229" title="229" class="pagenum"></a>ing +worked a long time upon a ground of black, their +eyes were so pained and weakened, they could hardly +see. It may perhaps be objected to this theory of the +mechanical effect of darkness, that the ill effects of +darkness or blackness seem rather mental than corporeal: +and I own it is true that they do so; and so do +all those that depend on the affections of the finer +parts of our system. The ill effects of bad weather +appear often no otherwise than in a melancholy and +dejection of spirits; though without doubt, in this +case, the bodily organs suffer first, and the mind +through these organs.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVII.<br /> +<br /> +THE EFFECTS OF BLACKNESS.</h3> + +<p>Blackness is but a <i>partial darkness</i>; and therefore +it derives some of its powers from being mixed and +surrounded with colored bodies. In its own nature, +it cannot be considered as a color. Black bodies, +reflecting none, or but a few rays, with regard to sight, +are but as so many vacant spaces, dispersed among +the objects we view. When the eye lights on one of +these vacuities, after having been kept in some degree +of tension by the play of the adjacent colors upon it, it +suddenly falls into a relaxation; out of which it as +suddenly recovers by a convulsive spring. To illustrate +this: let us consider that when we intend to sit +on a chair, and find it much lower than was expected, +the shock is very violent; much more violent than +could be thought from so slight a fall as the difference +between one chair and another can possibly make. If, +after descending a flight of stairs, we attempt inad<!-- Page 254 --><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230" title="230" class="pagenum"></a>vertently +to take another step in the manner of the +former ones, the shock is extremely rude and disagreeable: +and by no art can we cause such a shock by +the same means when we expect and prepare for it. +When I say that this is owing to having the change +made contrary to expectation; I do not mean solely, +when the <i>mind</i> expects. I mean likewise, that when +any organ of sense is for some time affected in some +one manner, if it be suddenly affected otherwise, there +ensues a convulsive motion; such a convulsion as is +caused when anything happens against the expectance +of the mind. And though it may appear strange that +such a change as produces a relaxation should immediately +produce a sudden convulsion; it is yet most +certainly so, and so in all the senses. Every one knows +that sleep is a relaxation; and that silence, where nothing +keeps the organs of hearing in action, is in general +fittest to bring on this relaxation; yet when a +sort of murmuring sounds dispose a man to sleep, let +these sounds cease suddenly, and the person immediately +awakes; that is, the parts are braced up suddenly, +and he awakes. This I have often experienced +myself, and I have heard the same from observing +persons. In like manner, if a person in broad daylight +were falling asleep, to introduce a sudden darkness +would prevent his sleep for that time, though +silence and darkness in themselves, and not suddenly +introduced, are very favorable to it. This I knew +only by conjecture on the analogy of the senses when +I first digested these observations; but I have since +experienced it. And I have often experienced, and +so have a thousand others, that on the first inclining +towards sleep, we have been suddenly awakened with +a most violent start; and that this start was gener<!-- Page 255 --><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231" title="231" class="pagenum"></a>ally +preceded by a sort of dream of our falling down +a precipice: whence does this strange motion arise, +but from the too sudden relaxation of the body, which +by some mechanism in nature restores itself by as +quick and vigorous an exertion of the contracting +power of the muscles? The dream itself is caused +by this relaxation; and it is of too uniform a nature +to be attributed to any other cause. The parts +relax too suddenly, which is in the nature of falling; +and this accident of the body induces this image +in the mind. When we are in a confirmed +state of health and vigor, as all changes are then less +sudden, and less on the extreme, we can seldom complain +of this disagreeable sensation.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XVIII.<br /> +<br /> +THE EFFECTS OF BLACKNESS MODERATED.</h3> + +<p>Though the effects of black be painful originally, +we must not think they always continue so. Custom +reconciles us to everything. After we have been +used to the sight of black objects, the terror abates, +and the smoothness and glossiness, or some agreeable +accident of bodies so colored, softens in some measure +the horror and sternness of their original nature; +yet the nature of the original impression still continues. +Black will always have something melancholy +in it, because the sensory will always find the change +to it from other colors too violent; or if it occupy the +whole compass of the sight, it will then be darkness; +and what was said of darkness will be applicable +here. I do not purpose to go into all that might be +said to illustrate this theory of the effects of light and +<!-- Page 256 --><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232" title="232" class="pagenum"></a>darkness; neither will I examine all the different +effects produced by the various modifications and +mixtures of these two causes. If the foregoing observations +have any foundation in nature, I conceive +them very sufficient to account for all the phenomena +that can arise from all the combinations of black +with other colors. To enter into every particular, or +to answer every objection, would be an endless labor. +We have only followed the most leading roads; and +we shall observe the same conduct in our inquiry +into the cause of beauty.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XIX.<br /> +<br /> +THE PHYSICAL CAUSE OF LOVE.</h3> + +<p>When we have before us such objects as excite love +and complacency, the body is affected, so far as I +could observe, much in the following manner: the +head reclines something on one side; the eyelids are +more closed than usual, and the eyes roll gently with +an inclination to the object; the mouth is a little +opened, and the breath drawn slowly, with now and +then a low sigh; the whole body is composed, and +the hands fall idly to the sides. All this is accompanied +with an inward sense of melting and languor. +These appearances are always proportioned to the +degree of beauty in the object, and of sensibility in +the observer. And this gradation from the highest +pitch of beauty and sensibility, even to the lowest of +mediocrity and indifference, and their correspondent +effects, ought to be kept in view, else this description +will seem exaggerated, which it certainly is not. +But from this description it is almost impossible not +<!-- Page 257 --><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233" title="233" class="pagenum"></a>to conclude that beauty acts by relaxing the solids of +the whole system. There are all the appearances of +such a relaxation; and a relaxation somewhat below +the natural tone seems to me to be the cause of all +positive pleasure. Who is a stranger to that manner +of expression so common in all times and in all countries, +of being softened, relaxed, enervated, dissolved, +melted away by pleasure? The universal voice of +mankind, faithful to their feelings, concurs in affirming +this uniform and general effect: and although +some odd and particular instance may perhaps be +found, wherein there appears a considerable degree +of positive pleasure, without all the characters of +relaxation, we must not therefore reject the conclusion +we had drawn from a concurrence of many experiments; +but we must still retain it, subjoining the +exceptions which may occur according to the judicious +rule laid down by Sir Isaac Newton in the third +book of his Optics. Our position will, I conceive, +appear confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt, if we +can show that such things as we have already observed +to be the genuine constituents of beauty have +each of them, separately taken, a natural tendency +to relax the fibres. And if it must be allowed us, +that the appearance of the human body, when all +these constituents are united together before the sensory, +further favors this opinion, we may venture, I +believe, to conclude that the passion called love is +produced by this relaxation. By the same method +of reasoning which we have used in the inquiry into +the causes of the sublime, we may likewise conclude, +that as a beautiful object presented to the sense, by +causing a relaxation of the body, produces the passion +of love in the mind; so if by any means the pas<!-- Page 258 --><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234" title="234" class="pagenum"></a>sion +should first have its origin in the mind, a relaxation +of the outward organs will as certainly ensue in +a degree proportioned to the cause.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XX.<br /> +<br /> +WHY SMOOTHNESS IS BEAUTIFUL.</h3> + +<p>It is to explain the true cause of visual beauty that +I call in the assistance of the other senses. If it appears +that <i>smoothness</i> is a principal cause of pleasure +to the touch, taste, smell, and hearing, it will be +easily admitted a constituent of visual beauty; especially +as we have before shown, that this quality is +found almost without exception in all bodies that are +by general consent held beautiful. There can be no +doubt that bodies which are rough and angular, +rouse and vellicate the organs of feeling, causing a +sense of pain, which consists in the violent tension or +contraction of the muscular fibres. On the contrary, +the application of smooth bodies relaxes; gentle +stroking with a smooth hand allays violent pains and +cramps, and relaxes the suffering parts from their +unnatural tension; and it has therefore very often +no mean effect in removing swellings and obstructions. +The sense of feeling is highly gratified with +smooth bodies. A bed smoothly laid, and soft, that +is, where the resistance is every way inconsiderable, +is a great luxury, disposing to an universal relaxation, +and inducing beyond anything else that species +of it called sleep.<!-- Page 259 --><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235" title="235" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXI.<br /> +<br /> +SWEETNESS, ITS NATURE.</h3> + +<p>Nor is it only in the touch that smooth bodies cause +positive pleasure by relaxation. In the smell and +taste, we find all things agreeable to them, and which +are commonly called sweet, to be of a smooth nature, +and that they all evidently tend to relax their respective +sensories. Let us first consider the taste. Since +it is most easy to inquire into the property of liquids, +and since all things seem to want a fluid vehicle to +make them tasted at all, I intend rather to consider +the liquid than the solid parts of our food. The vehicles +of all tastes are <i>water</i> and <i>oil</i>. And what determines +the taste is some salt, which affects variously +according to its nature, or its manner of being combined +with other things. Water and oil, simply considered, +are capable of giving some pleasure to the +taste. Water, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, colorless, +and smooth; it is found, when <i>not cold</i>, to be a +great resolver of spasms, and lubricator of the fibres; +this power it probably owes to its smoothness. For +as fluidity depends, according to the most general +opinion, on the roundness, smoothness, and weak cohesion +of the component parts of any body, and as +water acts merely as a simple fluid, it follows that +the cause of its fluidity is likewise the cause of its +relaxing quality, namely, the smoothness and slippery +texture of its parts. The other fluid vehicle of tastes +is <i>oil</i>. This too, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, +colorless, and smooth to the touch and taste. It is +smoother than water, and in many cases yet more +relaxing. Oil is in some degree pleasant to the eye, +<!-- Page 260 --><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236" title="236" class="pagenum"></a>the touch, and the taste, insipid as it is. Water is +not so grateful; which I do not know on what principle +to account for, other than that water is not so +soft and smooth. Suppose that to this oil or water +were added a certain quantity of a specific salt, which +had a power of putting the nervous papillæ of the +tongue into a gentle vibratory motion; as suppose +sugar dissolved in it. The smoothness of the oil and +the vibratory power of the salt cause the sense we +call sweetness. In all sweet bodies, sugar, or a substance +very little different from sugar, is constantly +found. Every species of salt, examined by the microscope, +has its own distinct, regular, invariable +form. That of nitre is a pointed oblong; that of sea-salt +an exact cube; that of sugar a perfect globe. +If you have tried how smooth globular bodies, as the +marbles with which boys amuse themselves, have affected +the touch when they are rolled backward and +forward and over one another, you will easily conceive +how sweetness, which consists in a salt of such +nature, affects the taste; for a single globe (though +somewhat pleasant to the feeling), yet by the regularity +of its form, and the somewhat too sudden deviation +of its parts from a right line, is nothing near so +pleasant to the touch as several globes, where the +hand gently rises to one and falls to another; and +this pleasure is greatly increased if the globes are in +motion, and sliding over one another; for this soft +variety prevents that weariness, which the uniform +disposition of the several globes would otherwise produce. +Thus in sweet liquors, the parts of the fluid +vehicle, though most probably round, are yet so minute, +as to conceal the figure of their component +parts from the nicest inquisition of the microscope; +<!-- Page 261 --><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237" title="237" class="pagenum"></a>and consequently, being so excessively minute, they +have a sort of flat simplicity to the taste, resembling +the effects of plain smooth bodies to the touch; for +if a body be composed of round parts excessively +small, and packed pretty closely together, the surface +will be both to the sight and touch as if it were +nearly plain and smooth. It is clear from their unveiling +their figure to the microscope, that the particles +of sugar are considerably larger than those of +water or oil, and consequently that their effects from +their roundness will be more distinct and palpable to +the nervous papillæ of that nice organ the tongue; +they will induce that sense called sweetness, which in +a weak manner we discover in oil, and in a yet weaker +in water; for, insipid as they are, water and oil are +in some degree sweet; and it may be observed, that +insipid things of all kinds approach more nearly to +the nature of sweetness than to that of any other +taste.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXII.<br /> +<br /> +SWEETNESS RELAXING.</h3> + +<p>In the other senses we have remarked, that smooth +things are relaxing. Now it ought to appear that +sweet things, which are the smooth of taste, are relaxing +too. It is remarkable, that in some languages +soft and sweet have but one name. <i>Doux</i> in French +signifies soft as well as sweet. The Latin <i>dulcis</i>, and +the Italian <i>dolce</i>, have in many cases the same double +signification. That sweet things are generally relaxing, +is evident; because all such, especially those +which are most oily, taken frequently, or in a large +quantity, very much enfeeble the tone of the stom<!-- Page 262 --><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238" title="238" class="pagenum"></a>ach. +Sweet smells, which bear a great affinity to +sweet tastes, relax very remarkably. The smell of +flowers disposes people to drowsiness; and this relaxing +effect is further apparent from the prejudice +which people of weak nerves receive from their use. +It were worth while to examine, whether tastes of this +kind, sweet ones, tastes that are caused by smooth +oils and a relaxing salt, are not the originally pleasant +tastes. For many, which use has rendered such, +were not at all agreeable at first. The way to examine +this is, to try what nature has originally provided +for us, which she has undoubtedly made originally +pleasant; and to analyze this provision. <i>Milk</i> is +the first support of our childhood. The component +parts of this are water, oil, and a sort of a very sweet +salt, called the sugar of milk. All these when blended +have a great <i>smoothness</i> to the taste, and a relaxing +quality to the skin. The next thing children +covet is <i>fruit</i>, and of fruits those principally which +are sweet; and every one knows that the sweetness +of fruit is caused by a subtle oil, and such a salt as +that mentioned in the last section. Afterwards custom, +habit, the desire of novelty, and a thousand +other causes, confound, adulterate, and change our +palates, so that we can no longer reason with any +satisfaction about them. Before we quit this article, +we must observe, that as smooth things are, as such, +agreeable to the taste, and are found of a relaxing +quality; so on the other hand, things which are +found by experience to be of a strengthening quality, +and fit to brace the fibres, are almost universally +rough and pungent to the taste, and in many +cases rough even to the touch. We often apply the +quality of sweetness, metaphorically, to visual objects. +<!-- Page 263 --><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239" title="239" class="pagenum"></a>For the better carrying on this remarkable analogy +of the senses, we may here call sweetness the beautiful +of the taste.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXIII.<br /> +<br /> +VARIATION, WHY BEAUTIFUL.</h3> + +<p>Another principal property of beautiful objects is, +that the line of their parts is continually varying its +direction; but it varies it by a very insensible +deviation; it never varies it so quickly as to surprise, or +by the sharpness of its angle to cause any twitching or +convulsion of the optic nerve. Nothing long continued +in the same manner, nothing very suddenly +varied, can be beautiful; because both are opposite +to that agreeable relaxation which is the characteristic +effect of beauty. It is thus in all the senses. A +motion in a right line is that manner of moving, next +to a very gentle descent, in which we meet the least +resistance; yet it is not that manner of moving, +which next to a descent, wearies us the least. Rest +certainly tends to relax: yet there is a species of +motion which relaxes more than rest; a gentle oscillatory +motion, a rising and falling. Rocking sets +children to sleep better than absolute rest; there is +indeed scarcely anything at that age, which gives +more pleasure than to be gently lifted up and down; +the manner of playing which their nurses use with +children, and the weighing and swinging used afterwards +by themselves as a favorite amusement, evince +this very sufficiently. Most people must have observed +the sort of sense they have had on being +swiftly drawn in an easy coach on a smooth turf, with +<!-- Page 264 --><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240" title="240" class="pagenum"></a>gradual ascents and declivities. This will give a better +idea of the beautiful, and point out its probable +cause better, than almost anything else. On the contrary, +when one is hurried over a rough, rocky, +broken road, the pain felt by these sudden inequalities +shows why similar sights, feelings, and sounds, +are so contrary to beauty: and with regard to the +feeling, it is exactly the same in its effect, or very +nearly the same, whether, for instance, I move my +hand along the surface of a body of a certain shape, +or whether such a body is moved along my hand. +But to bring this analogy of the senses home to the +eye; if a body presented to that sense has such a +waving surface, that the rays of light reflected from +it are in a continual insensible deviation from the +strongest to the weakest (which is always the case in +a surface gradually unequal), it must be exactly similar +in its effects on the eye and touch; upon the one +of which it operates directly, on the other indirectly. +And this body will be beautiful if the lines which +compose its surface are not continued, even so varied, +in a manner that may weary or dissipate the attention. +The variation itself must be continually varied.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXIV.<br /> +<br /> +CONCERNING SMALLNESS.</h3> + +<p>To avoid a sameness which may arise from the too +frequent repetition of the same reasonings, and of +illustrations of the same nature, I will not enter very +minutely into every particular that regards beauty, +as it is founded on the disposition of its quantity, or +its quantity itself. In speaking of the magnitude of +<!-- Page 265 --><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241" title="241" class="pagenum"></a>bodies there is great uncertainty, because the ideas +of great and small are terms almost entirely relative +to the species of the objects, which are infinite. It is +true, that having once fixed the species of any object, +and the dimensions common in the individuals of that +species, we may observe some that exceed, and some +that fall short of, the ordinary standard: those which +greatly exceed are, by that excess, provided the species +itself be not very small, rather great and terrible +than beautiful; but as in the animal world, and in a +good measure in the vegetable world likewise, the +qualities that constitute beauty may possibly be united +to things of greater dimensions; when they are so +united, they constitute a species something different +both from the sublime and beautiful, which I have +before called <i>fine</i>; but this kind, I imagine, has not +such a power on the passions, either as vast bodies +have which are endued with the correspondent qualities +of the sublime; or as the qualities of beauty have +when united in a small object. The affection produced +by large bodies adorned with the spoils of +beauty, is a tension continually relieved; which approaches +to the nature of mediocrity. But if I were +to say how I find myself affected upon such occasions, +I should say that the sublime suffers less by being +united to some of the qualities of beauty, than beauty +does by being joined to greatness of quantity, or +any other properties of the sublime. There is something +so overruling in whatever inspires us with awe, +in all things which belong ever so remotely to terror, +that nothing else can stand in their presence. There +lie the qualities of beauty either dead or unoperative; +or at most exerted to mollify the rigor and sternness +of the terror, which is the natural concomitant of +<!-- Page 266 --><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242" title="242" class="pagenum"></a>greatness. Besides the extraordinary great in every +species, the opposite to this, the dwarfish and diminutive, +ought to be considered. Littleness, merely as +such, has nothing contrary to the idea of beauty. +The humming-bird, both in shape and coloring, yields +to none of the winged species, of which it is the least; +and perhaps his beauty is enhanced by his smallness. +But there are animals, which, when they are extremely +small, are rarely (if ever) beautiful. There is a +dwarfish size of men and women, which is almost +constantly so gross and massive in comparison of +their height, that they present us with a very disagreeable +image. But should a man be found not +above two or three feet high, supposing such a person +to have all the parts of his body of a delicacy suitable +to such a size, and otherwise endued with the common +qualities of other beautiful bodies, I am pretty +well convinced that a person of such a stature might +be considered as beautiful; might be the object of +love; might give us very pleasing ideas on viewing +him. The only thing which could possibly interpose +to check our pleasure is, that such creatures, however +formed, are unusual, and are often therefore considered +as something monstrous. The large and gigantic, +though very compatible with the sublime, is +contrary to the beautiful. It is impossible to suppose +a giant the object of love. When we let our +imagination loose in romance, the ideas we naturally +annex to that size are those of tyranny, cruelty, injustice, +and everything horrid and abominable. We +paint the giant ravaging the country, plundering the +innocent traveller, and afterwards gorged with his +half-living flesh: such are Polyphemus, Cacus, and +others, who make so great a figure in romances and +<!-- Page 267 --><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243" title="243" class="pagenum"></a>heroic poems. The event we attend to with the +greatest satisfaction is their defeat and death. I do +not remember, in all that multitude of deaths with +which the Iliad is filled, that the fall of any man, +remarkable for his great stature and strength, touches +us with pity; nor does it appear that the author, so +well read in human nature, ever intended it should. +It is Simoisius, in the soft bloom of youth, torn from +his parents, who tremble for a courage so ill suited to +his strength; it is another hurried by war from the +new embraces of his bride, young and fair, and a +novice to the field, who melts us by his untimely fate. +Achilles, in spite of the many qualities of beauty +which Homer has bestowed on his outward form, and +the many great virtues with which he has adorned his +mind, can never make us love him. It may be observed, +that Homer has given the Trojans, whose fate +he has designed to excite our compassion, infinitely +more of the amiable, social virtues than he has distributed +among his Greeks. With regard to the Trojans, +the passion he chooses to raise is pity; pity is a +passion founded on love; and these <i>lesser</i>, and if I +may say domestic virtues, are certainly the most amiable. +But he has made the Greeks far their superiors +in the politic and military virtues. The councils +of Priam are weak; the arms of Hector comparatively +feeble; his courage far below that of Achilles. Yet +we love Priam more than Agamemnon, and Hector +more than his conqueror Achilles. Admiration is +the passion which Homer would excite in favor of +the Greeks, and he has done it by bestowing on them +the virtues which have but little to do with love. +This short digression is perhaps not wholly beside our +purpose, where our business is to show that objects of +<!-- Page 268 --><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244" title="244" class="pagenum"></a>great dimensions are incompatible with beauty, the +more incompatible as they are greater; whereas the +small, if ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not to +be attributed to their size.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION XXV.<br /> +<br /> +OF COLOR.</h3> + +<p>With regard to color, the disquisition is almost infinite; +but I conceive the principles laid down in the +beginning of this part are sufficient to account for the +effects of them all, as well as for the agreeable effects +of transparent bodies, whether fluid or solid. Suppose +I look at a bottle of muddy liquor, of a blue or +red color; the blue or red rays cannot pass clearly to +the eye, but are suddenly and unequally stopped by +the intervention of little opaque bodies, which without +preparation change the idea, and change it too +into one disagreeable in its own nature, conformably +to the principles laid down in Sect. 24. But when +the ray passes without such opposition through the +glass or liquor, when the glass or liquor is quite transparent, +the light is sometimes softened in the passage, +which makes it more agreeable even as light; and +the liquor reflecting all the rays of its proper color +<i>evenly</i>, it has such an effect on the eye, as smooth +opaque bodies have on the eye and touch. So that +the pleasure here is compounded of the softness of +the transmitted, and the evenness of the reflected +light. This pleasure may be heightened by the common +principles in other things, if the shape of the +glass which holds the transparent liquor be so judiciously +varied, as to present the color gradually and +<!-- Page 269 --><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245" title="245" class="pagenum"></a>interchangeably, weakened and strengthened with all +the variety which judgment in affairs of this nature +shall suggest. On a review of all that has been said +of the effects, as well as the causes of both, it will appear +that the sublime and beautiful are built on principles +very different, and that their affections are as +different: the great has terror for its basis, which, +when it is modified, causes that emotion in the mind, +which I have called astonishment; the beautiful is +founded on mere positive pleasure, and excites in the +soul that feeling which is called love. Their causes +have made the subject of this fourth part.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Part I. sect. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Part I. sect. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> I do not here enter into the question debated among physiologists, +whether pain be the effect of a contraction, or a tension of the +nerves. Either will serve my purpose; for by tension, I mean no +more than a violent pulling of the fibres which compose any muscle +or membrane, in whatever way this is done.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Part II. sect. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Part II. sect. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Part I. sect. 7. Part II. sect. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Part II. sect. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Part II. sect. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Part II. sect. 3.</p></div><!-- Page 270 --><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246" title="246" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PART_V" id="PART_V"></a>PART V.</h2> + + +<h3>SECTION I.<br /> +<br /> +OF WORDS.</h3> + +<p>Natural objects affect us by the laws of that connection +which Providence has established between certain +motions and configurations of bodies, and certain +consequent feelings in our mind. Painting affects in +the same manner, but with the superadded pleasure +of imitation. Architecture affects by the laws of nature +and the law of reason; from which latter result +the rules of proportion, which make a work to be +praised or censured, in the whole or in some part, +when the end for which it was designed is or is not +properly answered. But as to words; they seem to +me to affect us in a manner very different from that +in which we are affected by natural objects, or by +painting or architecture; yet words have as considerable +a share in exciting ideas of beauty and of the +sublime as many of those, and sometimes a much +greater than any of them; therefore an inquiry into +the manner by which they excite such emotions is far +from being unnecessary in a discourse of this kind.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION II.<br /> +<br /> +THE COMMON EFFECTS OF POETRY, NOT BY RAISING +IDEAS OF THINGS.</h3> + +<p>The common notion of the power of poetry and +eloquence, as well as that of words in ordinary con<!-- Page 271 --><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247" title="247" class="pagenum"></a>versation, +is, that they affect the mind by raising in +it ideas of those things for which custom has appointed +them to stand. To examine the truth of this +notion, it may be requisite to observe that words may +be divided into three sorts. The first are such as +represent many simple ideas <i>united by nature</i> to form +some one determinate composition, as man, horse, +tree, castle, &c. These I call <i>aggregate words</i>. The +second are they that stand for one simple idea of +such compositions, and no more; as red, blue, round, +square, and the like. These I call <i>simple abstract</i> +words. The third are those which are formed by +an union, an <i>arbitrary</i> union of both the others, and +of the various relations between them in greater +or lesser degrees of complexity; as virtue, honor, +persuasion, magistrate, and the like. These I call +<i>compound abstract</i> words. Words, I am sensible, are +capable of being classed into more curious distinctions; +but these seem to be natural, and enough for +our purpose; and they are disposed in that order in +which they are commonly taught, and in which the +mind gets the ideas they are substituted for. I shall +begin with the third sort of words; compound abstracts, +such as virtue, honor, persuasion, docility. +Of these I am convinced, that whatever power they +may have on the passions, they do not derive it from +any representation raised in the mind of the things +for which they stand. As compositions, they are not +real essences, and hardly cause, I think, any real +ideas. Nobody, I believe, immediately on hearing +the sounds, virtue, liberty, or honor, conceives any +precise notions of the particular modes of action and +thinking, together with the mixed and simple ideas, +and the several relations of them for which these +<!-- Page 272 --><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248" title="248" class="pagenum"></a>words are substituted; neither has he any general +idea compounded of them; for if he had, then some +of those particular ones, though indistinct perhaps, +and confused, might come soon to be perceived. +But this, I take it, is hardly ever the case. For, put +yourself upon analyzing one of these words, and you +must reduce it from one set of general words to another, +and then into the simple abstracts and aggregates, +in a much longer series than may be at first +imagined, before any real idea emerges to light, before +you come to discover anything like the first principles +of such compositions; and when you have +made such a discovery of the original ideas, the effect +of the composition is utterly lost. A train of thinking +of this sort is much too long to be pursued in +the ordinary ways of conversation; nor is it at all +necessary that it should. Such words are in reality +but mere sounds; but they are sounds which being +used on particular occasions, wherein we receive +some good, or suffer some evil; or see others affected +with good or evil; or which we hear applied to other +interesting things or events; and being applied in +such a variety of cases, that we know readily by +habit to what things they belong, they produce in +the mind, whenever they are afterwards mentioned, +effects similar to those of their occasions. The sounds +being often used without reference to any particular +occasion, and carrying still their first impressions, they +at last utterly lose their connection with the particular +occasions that gave rise to them; yet the sound, +without any annexed notion, continues to operate as +before.<!-- Page 273 --><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249" title="249" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION III.<br /> +<br /> +GENERAL WORDS BEFORE IDEAS.</h3> + +<p>Mr. Locke has somewhere observed, with his usual +sagacity, that most general words, those belonging to +virtue and vice, good and evil especially, are taught +before the particular modes of action to which they +belong are presented to the mind; and with them, +the love of the one, and the abhorrence of the other; +for the minds of children are so ductile, that a nurse, +or any person about a child, by seeming pleased or +displeased with anything, or even any word, may give +the disposition of the child a similar turn. When, +afterwards, the several occurrences in life come to be +applied to these words, and that which is pleasant often +appears under the name of evil; and what is disagreeable +to nature is called good and virtuous; a +strange confusion of ideas and affections arises in the +minds of many; and an appearance of no small contradiction +between their notions and their actions. +There are many who love virtue and who detest vice, +and this not from hypocrisy or affectation, who notwithstanding +very frequently act ill and wickedly in +particulars without the least remorse; because these +particular occasions never came into view, when the +passions on the side of virtue were so warmly affected +by certain words heated originally by the breath of +others; and for this reason, it is hard to repeat certain +sets of words, though owned by themselves unoperative, +without being in some degree affected; especially +if a warm and affecting tone of voice accompanies +them, as suppose,</p> + +<blockquote style="text-align: center"> +<p>Wise, valiant, generous, good, and great.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent"><!-- Page 274 --><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250" title="250" class="pagenum"></a>These words, by having no application, ought to be +unoperative; but when words commonly sacred to +great occasions are used, we are affected by them +even without the occasions. When words which +have been generally so applied are put together +without any rational view, or in such a manner that +they do not rightly agree with each other, the style is +called bombast. And it requires in several cases +much good sense and experience to be guarded +against the force of such language; for when propriety +is neglected, a greater number of these affecting +words may be taken into the service, and a greater +variety may be indulged in combining them.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION IV.<br /> +<br /> +THE EFFECT OF WORDS.</h3> + +<p>If words have all their possible extent of power, +three effects arise in the mind of the hearer. The +first is, the <i>sound</i>; the second, the <i>picture</i>, or representation +of the thing signified by the sound; the +third is, the <i>affection</i> of the soul produced by one or +by both of the foregoing. <i>Compounded abstract</i> +words, of which we have been speaking, (honor, justice, +liberty, and the like,) produce the first and the +last of these effects, but not the second. <i>Simple abstracts</i> +are used to signify some one simple idea without +much adverting to others which may chance to +attend it, as blue, green, hot, cold, and the like; +these are capable of affecting all three of the purposes +of words; as the <i>aggregate</i> words, man, castle, horse, +&c. are in a yet higher degree. But I am of opinion, +that the most general effect, even of these words, +<!-- Page 275 --><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251" title="251" class="pagenum"></a>does not arise from their forming pictures of the several +things they would represent in the imagination; +because, on a very diligent examination of my own +mind, and getting others to consider theirs, I do not +find that once in twenty times any such picture is +formed, and when it is, there is most commonly a +particular effort of the imagination for that purpose. +But the aggregate words operate, as I said of the +compound-abstracts, not by presenting any image to +the mind, but by having from use the same effect on +being mentioned, that their original has when it is +seen. Suppose we were to read a passage to this +effect: "The river Danube rises in a moist and +mountainous soil in the heart of Germany, where, +winding to and fro, it waters several principalities, +until, turning into Austria, and laving the walls of +Vienna, it passes into Hungary; there with a vast +flood, augmented by the Save and the Drave, it +quits Christendom, and rolling through the barbarous +countries which border on Tartary, it enters by +many mouths in the Black Sea." In this description +many things are mentioned, as mountains, rivers, cities, +the sea, &c. But let anybody examine himself, +and see whether he has had impressed on his imagination +any pictures of a river, mountain, watery soil, +Germany, &c. Indeed it is impossible, in the rapidity +and quick succession of words in conversation, to have +ideas both of the sound of the word, and of the thing +represented; besides, some words, expressing real +essences, are so mixed with others of a general and +nominal import, that it is impracticable to jump from +sense to thought, from particulars to generals, from +things to words, in such a manner as to answer the +purposes of life; nor is it necessary that we should.<!-- Page 276 --><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252" title="252" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + +<h3>SECTION V.<br /> +<br /> +EXAMPLES THAT WORDS MAY AFFECT WITHOUT RAISING +IMAGES.</h3> + +<p>I find it very hard to persuade several that their +passions are affected by words from whence they have +no ideas; and yet harder to convince them that in +the ordinary course of conversation we are sufficiently +understood without raising any images of the things +concerning which we speak. It seems to be an odd +subject of dispute with any man, whether he has ideas +in his mind or not. Of this, at first view, every man, +in his own forum, ought to judge without appeal. +But, strange as it may appear, we are often at a loss +to know what ideas we have of things, or whether we +have any ideas at all upon some subjects. It even +requires a good deal of attention to be thoroughly +satisfied on this head. Since I wrote these papers, I +found two very striking instances of the possibility +there is, that a man may hear words without having +any idea of the things which they represent, and yet +afterwards be capable of returning them to others, +combined in a new way, and with great propriety, energy, +and instruction. The first instance is that of +Mr. Blacklock, a poet blind from his birth. Few men +blessed with the most perfect sight can describe visual +objects with more spirit and justness than this blind +man; which cannot possibly be attributed to his having +a clearer conception of the things he describes +than is common to other persons. Mr. Spence, in an +elegant preface which he has written to the works of +this poet, reasons very ingeniously, and, I imagine, +for the most part, very rightly, upon the cause of this +<!-- Page 277 --><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253" title="253" class="pagenum"></a>extraordinary phenomenon; but I cannot altogether +agree with him, that some improprieties in language +and thought, which occur in these poems, have arisen +from the blind poet's imperfect conception of visual +objects, since such improprieties, and much greater, +may be found in writers even of a higher class than +Mr. Blacklock, and who, notwithstanding, possessed +the faculty of seeing in its full perfection. Here is a +poet doubtless as much affected by his own descriptions +as any that reads them can be; and yet he is affected +with this strong enthusiasm by things of which +he neither has, nor can possibly have, any idea further +than that of a bare sound: and why may not +those who read his works be affected in the same +manner that he was; with as little of any real ideas +of the things described? The second instance is of +Mr. Saunderson, professor of mathematics in the +University of Cambridge. This learned man had +acquired great knowledge in natural philosophy, in +astronomy, and whatever sciences depend upon mathematical +skill. What was the most extraordinary +and the most to my purpose, he gave excellent lectures +upon light and colors; and this man taught +others the theory of those ideas which they had, and +which he himself undoubtedly had not. But it is +probable that the words red, blue, green, answered to +him as well as the ideas of the colors themselves; for +the ideas of greater or lesser degrees of refrangibility +being applied to these words, and the blind man being +instructed in what other respects they were found +to agree or to disagree, it was as easy for him to reason +upon the words as if he had been fully master of +the ideas. Indeed it must be owned he could make +no new discoveries in the way of experiment. He +<!-- Page 278 --><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254" title="254" class="pagenum"></a>did nothing but what we do every day in common discourse. +When I wrote this last sentence, and used +the words <i>every day</i> and <i>common discourse</i>, I had no +images in my mind of any succession of time; nor of +men in conference with each other; nor do I imagine +that the reader will have any such ideas on reading +it. Neither when I spoke of red, or blue, and green, +as well as refrangibility, had I these several colors, +or the rays of light passing into a different medium, +and there diverted from their course, painted before +me in the way of images. I know very well that the +mind possesses a faculty of raising such images at +pleasure; but then an act of the will is necessary to +this; and in ordinary conversation or reading it is +very rarely that any image at all is excited in the +mind. If I say, "I shall go to Italy next summer," +I am well understood. Yet I believe nobody has by +this painted in his imagination the exact figure of the +speaker passing by land or by water, or both; sometimes +on horseback, sometimes in a carriage: with +all the particulars of the journey. Still less has he +any idea of Italy, the country to which I proposed to +go; or of the greenness of the fields, the ripening of +the fruits, and the warmth of the air, with the change +to this from a different season, which are the ideas +for which the word <i>summer</i> is substituted; but least +of all has he any image from the word <i>next</i>; for this +word stands for the idea of many summers, with the +exclusion of all but one: and surely the man who +says <i>next summer</i> has no images of such a succession, +and such an exclusion. In short, it is not only of +those ideas which are commonly called abstract, and +of which no image at all can be formed, but even of +particular, real beings, that we converse without hav<!-- Page 279 --><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255" title="255" class="pagenum"></a>ing +any idea of them excited in the imagination; as +will certainly appear on a diligent examination of our +own minds. Indeed, so little does poetry depend for +its effect on the power of raising sensible images, that +I am convinced it would lose a very considerable part +of its energy, if this were the necessary result of all +description. Because that union of affecting words, +which is the most powerful of all poetical instruments, +would frequently lose its force along with its +propriety and consistency, if the sensible images were +always excited. There is not, perhaps, in the whole +Æneid a more grand and labored passage than the +description of Vulcan's cavern in Etna, and the +works that are there carried on. Virgil dwells particularly +on the formation of the thunder which he +describes unfinished under the hammers of the Cyclops. +But what are the principles of this extraordinary +composition?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Tres imbris torti radios, tres nubis aquosæ</div> +<div>Addiderant; rutili tres ignis, et alitis austri:</div> +<div>Fulgores nunc terrificos, sonitumque, metumque</div> +<div>Miscebant operi, flammisque sequacibus iras.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">This seems to me admirably sublime: yet if we attend +coolly to the kind of sensible images which a +combination of ideas of this sort must form, the chimeras +of madmen cannot appear more wild and absurd +than such a picture. "<i>Three rays of twisted +showers, three of watery clouds, three of fire, and three +of the winged south wind; then mixed they in the work +terrific lightnings, and sound, and fear, and anger, with +pursuing flames.</i>" This strange composition is formed +into a gross body; it is hammered by the Cyclops, it +is in part polished, and partly continues rough. The +truth is, if poetry gives us a noble assemblage of +<!-- Page 280 --><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256" title="256" class="pagenum"></a>words corresponding to many noble ideas, which are +connected by circumstances of time or place, or related +to each other as cause and effect, or associated +in any natural way, they may be moulded together +in any form, and perfectly answer their end. The +picturesque connection is not demanded; because no +real picture is formed; nor is the effect of the description +at all the less upon this account. What is +said of Helen by Priam and the old men of his council, +is generally thought to give us the highest possible +idea of that fatal beauty.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i1"><span lang="el" +title="Ou nemesis, Trôas kai euknêmidas 'Achaious"> +Οὐ νέμεσις, Τρὢας καὶ ἐὔκνήμιδας 'Αχ-αιοὺς +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Toiêd' amphi gunaiki polun chronon algea paschein"> +Τοιἣδ' ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἄλγεα πάσχ-ειν. +</span></div> +<div><span lang="el" +title="Ainôs athanatêsi theês eis ôpa eoiken.."> +Αἰνὢς ἀθανάτησι θεἣς εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν. +</span></div> +</div></div> + +<!-- Transliteration +Ou nemesis, Trôas kai euknêmidas 'Achaious +Toiêd' amphi gunaiki polun chronon algea paschein +Ainôs athanatêsi theês eis ôpa eoiken. +--> +<!-- Unicode +Οὐ νέμεσις, Τρὢας καὶ ἐὔκνήμιδας 'Αχ-αιοὺς +Τοιἣδ' ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἄλγεα πάσχ-ειν. +Αἰνὢς ἀθανάτησι θεἣς εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν. +--> +<!-- Betacode +Oy) ne/mesis, Trô)\as kai\ e)y)/knê/midas 'Ach-aioy\s +Toiê(\d' a)mphi\ gynaiki\ poly\n chro/non a)/lgea pa/sch-ein. +Ai)nô)\s a)thana/têsi theê(\s ei)s ô~)pa e)/oiken. +--> +<!-- HTML Entities +Οὐ νέμεσις, Τρὢας καὶ ἐὔκνήμιδας 'Αχ-αιοὺς +Τοιἣδ' ἀμφὶ γυναικὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἄλγεα πάσχ-ειν. +Αἰνὢς ἀθανάτησι θεἣς εἰς ὦπα ἔοικεν. +--> + +<div class="poem" style="margin-left: 4em; font-size: 95%"><div class="stanza"> +<div><span style="margin-left: -.5em;">"They cried, No wonder such celestial charms</span></div> +<div>For nine long years have set the world in arms;</div> +<div>What winning graces! what majestic mien!</div> +<div>She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen."</div> +<p class="citation">POPE.</p> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Here is not one word said of the particulars of her +beauty; nothing which can in the least help us to +any precise idea of her person; but yet we are much +more touched by this manner of mentioning her, +than by those long and labored descriptions of Helen, +whether handed down by tradition, or formed by +fancy, which are to be met with in some authors. +I am sure it affects me much more than the minute +description which Spenser has given of Belphebe; +though I own that there are parts, in that description, +as there are in all the descriptions of that excellent +writer, extremely fine and poetical. The terrible +picture which Lucretius has drawn of religion in +order to display the magnanimity of his philosophical +hero in opposing her, is thought to be designed with +great boldness and spirit:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div><!-- Page 281 --><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257" title="257" class="pagenum"></a> +Humana ante oculos foedè cum vita jaceret,</div> +<div>In terris, oppressa gravi sub religione,</div> +<div>Quæ caput e coeli regionibus ostendebat</div> +<div>Horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans;</div> +<div>Primus Graius homo mortales tollere contra</div> +<div>Est oculos ausus.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">What idea do you derive from so excellent a picture? +none at all, most certainly: neither has the poet said +a single word which might in the least serve to mark +a single limb or feature of the phantom, which he +intended to represent in all the horrors imagination +can conceive. In reality, poetry and rhetoric do not +succeed in exact description so well as painting does; +their business is, to affect rather by sympathy than +imitation; to display rather the effect of things on +the mind of the speaker, or of others, than to present +a clear idea of the things themselves. This is their +most extensive province, and that in which they succeed +the best.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VI.<br /> +<br /> +POETRY NOT STRICTLY AN IMITATIVE ART.</h3> + +<p>Hence we may observe that poetry, taken in its +most general sense, cannot with strict propriety be +called an art of imitation. It is indeed an imitation +so far as it describes the manners and passions of men +which their words can express; where <i>animi motus +effert interprete lingua</i>. There it is strictly imitation; +and all merely <i>dramatic</i> poetry is of this sort. But +<i>descriptive</i> poetry operates chiefly by <i>substitution</i>; by +the means of sounds, which by custom have the effect +of realities. Nothing is an imitation further than as +it resembles some other thing; and words undoubt<!-- Page 282 --><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258" title="258" class="pagenum"></a>edly +have no sort of resemblance to the ideas for +which they stand.</p> + + +<h3>SECTION VII.<br /> +<br /> +HOW WORDS INFLUENCE THE PASSIONS.</h3> + +<p>Now, as words affect, not by any original power, +but by representation, it might be supposed, that their +influence over the passions should be but light; yet +it is quite otherwise; for we find by experience, that +eloquence and poetry are as capable, nay indeed +much more capable, of making deep and lively impressions +than any other arts, and even than nature +itself in very many cases. And this arises chiefly +from these three causes. First, that we take an extraordinary +part in the passions of others, and that +we are easily affected and brought into sympathy by +any tokens which are shown of them; and there are +no tokens which can express all the circumstances of +most passions so fully as words; so that if a person +speaks upon any subject, he can not only convey the +subject to you, but likewise the manner in which he +is himself affected by it. Certain it is, that the influence +of most things on our passions is not so much +from the things themselves, as from our opinions concerning +them; and these again depend very much on +the opinions of other men, conveyable for the most +part by words only. Secondly, there are many things +of a very affecting nature, which can seldom occur in +the reality, but the words that represent them often +do; and thus they have an opportunity of making a +deep impression and taking root in the mind, whilst +the idea of the reality was transient; and to some +<!-- Page 283 --><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259" title="259" class="pagenum"></a>perhaps never really occurred in any shape, to whom +it is notwithstanding very affecting, as war, death, +famine, &c. Besides many ideas have never been at +all presented to the senses of any men but by words, +as God, angels, devils, heaven, and hell, all of which +have however a great influence over the passions. +Thirdly, by words we have it in our power to make +such <i>combinations</i> as we cannot possibly do otherwise. +By this power of combining we are able, by the addition +of well-chosen circumstances, to give a new life +and force to the simple object. In painting we may +represent any fine figure we please; but we never can +give it those enlivening touches which it may receive +from words. To represent an angel in a picture, you +can only draw a beautiful young man winged: but +what painting can furnish out anything so grand as +the addition of one word, "the angel of the <i>Lord</i>"? +It is true, I have here no clear idea; but these +words affect the mind more than the sensible image +did; which is all I contend for. A picture of Priam +dragged to the altar's foot, and there murdered, if it +were well executed, would undoubtedly be very moving; +but there are very aggravating circumstances, +which it could never represent:</p> + +<blockquote style="text-align: center"> +<p>Sanguine foedantem <i>quos ipse sacraverat</i> ignes.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">As a further instance, let us consider those lines of +Milton, where he describes the travels of the fallen +angels through their dismal habitation:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i2">"O'er many a dark and dreary vale</div> +<div>They passed, and many a region dolorous;</div> +<div>O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp;</div> +<div>Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death,</div> +<div>A universe of death."</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Here is displayed the force of union in</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"><!-- Page 284 --><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260" title="260" class="pagenum"></a> +<div>"Rocks, caves, lakes, dens, bogs, fens, and shades"</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">which yet would lose the greatest part of their effect, +if they were not the</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Rocks, caves, lakes, dens, bogs, fens, and shades—of <i>Death</i>."</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>This idea or this affection caused by a word, which +nothing but a word could annex to the others, raises +a very great degree of the sublime, and this sublime +is raised yet higher by what follows, a "<i>universe of +death</i>." Here are again two ideas not presentable +but by language, and an union of them great and +amazing beyond conception; if they may properly be +called ideas which present no distinct image to the +mind; but still it will be difficult to conceive how +words can move the passions which belong to real +objects, without representing these objects clearly. +This is difficult to us, because we do not sufficiently +distinguish, in our observations upon language, between +a clear expression and a strong expression. +These are frequently confounded with each other, +though they are in reality extremely different. The +former regards the understanding, the latter belongs to +the passions. The one describes a thing as it is, the +latter describes it as it is felt. Now, as there is a moving +tone of voice, an impassioned countenance, an agitated +gesture, which affect independently of the things +about which they are exerted, so there are words, and +certain dispositions of words, which being peculiarly +devoted to passionate subjects, and always used by +those who are under the influence of any passion, +touch and move us more than those which far more +clearly and distinctly express the subject-matter. We +yield to sympathy what we refuse to description. The +truth is, all verbal description, merely as naked de<!-- Page 285 --><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261" title="261" class="pagenum"></a>scription, +though never so exact, conveys so poor and +insufficient an idea of the thing described, that it could +scarcely have the smallest effect, if the speaker did +not call in to his aid those modes of speech that mark +a strong and lively feeling in himself. Then, by the +contagion of our passions, we catch a fire already kindled +in another, which probably might never have +been struck out by the object described. Words, by +strongly conveying the passions by those means which +we have already mentioned, fully compensate for +their weakness in other respects. It may be observed, +that very polished languages, and such as are praised +for their superior clearness and perspicuity, are generally +deficient in strength. The French language +has that perfection and that defect. Whereas the +Oriental tongues, and in general the languages of +most unpolished people, have a great force and energy +of expression, and this is but natural. Uncultivated +people are but ordinary observers of things, +and not critical in distinguishing them; but, for that +reason they admire more, and are more affected with +what they see, and therefore express themselves in a +warmer and more passionate manner. If the affection +be well conveyed, it will work its effect without +any clear idea, often without any idea at all of the +thing which has originally given rise to it.</p> + +<p>It might be expected, from the fertility of the subject, +that I should consider poetry, as it regards the +sublime and beautiful, more at large; but it must be +observed, that in this light it has been often and well +handled already. It was not my design to enter into +the criticism of the sublime and beautiful in any art, +but to attempt to lay down such principles as may +tend to ascertain, to distinguish, and to form a sort +<!-- Page 286 --><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262" title="262" class="pagenum"></a>of standard for them; which purposes I thought +might be best effected by an inquiry into the properties +of such things in nature, as raise love and astonishment +in us; and by showing in what manner they +operated to produce these passions. Words were only +so far to be considered as to show upon what principle +they were capable of being the representatives of +these natural things, and by what powers they were +able to affect us often as strongly as the things they +represent, and sometimes much more strongly.<!-- Page 287 --><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263" title="263" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="A_SHORT_ACCOUNT_OF_A_LATE_SHORT_ADMINISTRATION" id="A_SHORT_ACCOUNT_OF_A_LATE_SHORT_ADMINISTRATION"></a> +<span style="font-size: 60%">A</span><br /> +<br /> +SHORT ACCOUNT<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">OF</span><br /> +<br /> +A LATE SHORT ADMINISTRATION.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">1766.</span><br /> +</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<div><!-- Page 288 --><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264" title="264" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 289 --><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265" title="265" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + +<p>The late administration came into employment, +under the mediation of the Duke of Cumberland, +on the tenth day of July, 1765; and was removed, +upon a plan settled by the Earl of Chatham, +on the thirtieth day of July, 1766, having lasted just +one year and twenty days.</p> + +<p>In that space of time</p> + +<p>The distractions of the British empire were composed, +by <i>the repeal of the American stamp act</i>;</p> + +<p>But the constitutional superiority of Great Britain +was preserved by <i>the act for securing the dependence +of the colonies</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Private</i> houses were relieved from the jurisdiction +of the excise, by <i>the repeal of the cider tax</i>.</p> + +<p>The personal liberty of the subject was confirmed, +by <i>the resolution against general warrants</i>.</p> + +<p>The lawful secrets of business and friendship were +rendered inviolable, by <i>the resolution for condemning +the seizure of papers</i>.</p> + +<p>The trade of America was set free from injudicious +and ruinous impositions,—its revenue was improved, +and settled upon a rational foundation,—its com<!-- Page 290 --><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266" title="266" class="pagenum"></a>merce +extended with foreign countries; while all +the advantages were secured to Great Britain, by <i>the +act for repealing certain duties, and encouraging, regulating, +and securing the trade of this kingdom, and the +British dominions in America</i>.</p> + +<p>Materials were provided and insured to our manufactures,—the +sale of these manufactures was increased,—the +African trade preserved and extended,—the +principles of the act of navigation pursued, +and the plan improved,—and the trade for bullion +rendered free, secure, and permanent, by <i>the act for +opening certain ports in Dominica and Jamaica</i>.</p> + +<p>That administration was the first which proposed +and encouraged public meetings and free consultations +of merchants from all parts of the kingdom; by +which means the truest lights have been received; +great benefits have been already derived to manufactures +and commerce; and the most extensive prospects +are opened for further improvement.</p> + +<p>Under them, the interests of our northern and +southern colonies, before that time jarring and dissonant, +were understood, compared, adjusted, and +perfectly reconciled. The passions and animosities +of the colonies, by judicious and lenient measures, +were allayed and composed, and the foundation laid +for a lasting agreement amongst them.</p> + +<p>Whilst that administration provided for the liberty +and commerce of their country, as the true basis of +its power, they consulted its interests, they asserted +its honor abroad, with temper and with firmness; +by making an advantageous treaty of commerce with +Russia; by obtaining a liquidation of the Canada +bills, to the satisfaction of the proprietors; by reviving +and raising from its ashes the negotiation for +<!-- Page 291 --><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267" title="267" class="pagenum"></a>the Manilla ransom, which had been extinguished +and abandoned by their predecessors.</p> + +<p>They treated their sovereign with decency; with +reverence. They discountenanced, and, it is hoped, +forever abolished, the dangerous and unconstitutional +practice of removing military officers for their votes +in Parliament. They firmly adhered to those friends +of liberty, who had run all hazards in its cause; and +provided for them in preference to every other claim.</p> + +<p>With the Earl of Bute they had no personal connection; +no correspondence of councils. They neither +courted him nor persecuted him. They practised +no corruption; nor were they even suspected of it. +They sold no offices. They obtained no reversions +or pensions, either coming in or going out, for them +selves, their families, or their dependents.</p> + +<p>In the prosecution of their measures they were +traversed by an opposition of a new and singular +character; an opposition of placemen and pensioners. +They were supported by the confidence of the nation. +And having held their offices under many difficulties +and discouragements, they left them at the express +command, as they had accepted them at the earnest +request, of their royal master.</p> + +<p>These are plain facts; of a clear and public nature; +neither extended by elaborate reasoning, nor +heightened by the coloring of eloquence. They are +the services of a single year.</p> + +<p>The removal of that administration from power is +not to them premature; since they were in office long +enough to accomplish many plans of public utility; +and, by their perseverance and resolution, rendered +the way smooth and easy to their successors; having +left their king and their country in a much better +<!-- Page 292 --><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268" title="268" class="pagenum"></a>condition than they found them. By the temper they +manifest, they seem to have now no other wish than +that their successors may do the public as real and as +faithful service as they have done.<!-- Page 293 --><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269" title="269" class="pagenum"></a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="OBSERVATIONS_ON_A_LATE_PUBLICATION" id="OBSERVATIONS_ON_A_LATE_PUBLICATION"></a> +OBSERVATIONS<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 71%">ON A LATE PUBLICATION,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">INTITULED</span><br /> +<br /> +"THE PRESENT STATE OF THE NATION."<br /> +</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"O Tite, si quid ego adjuvero curamve levasso,</div> +<div>Quæ nunc te coquit, et versat sub pectore fixa,</div> +<div>Ecquid erit pretii?"</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="citation">ENN. ap. CIC.</p> + +<h2 style="font-size: 100%">1769.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<!-- Page 294 --><div><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270" title="270" class="pagenum"></a><!-- Page 295 --><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271" title="271" class="pagenum"></a></div> + + +<p>Party divisions, whether on the whole operating +for good or evil, are things inseparable from free +government. This is a truth which, I believe, admits +little dispute, having been established by the uniform +experience of all ages. The part a good citizen ought +to take in these divisions has been a matter of much +deeper controversy. But God forbid that any controversy +relating to our essential morals should admit of +no decision. It appears to me, that this question, +like most of the others which regard our duties in +life, is to be determined by our station in it. Private +men may be wholly neutral, and entirely innocent: +but they who are legally invested with public trust, +or stand on the high ground of rank and dignity, +which is trust implied, can hardly in any case remain +indifferent, without the certainty of sinking into insignificance; +and thereby in effect deserting that post +in which, with the fullest authority, and for the wisest +purposes, the laws and institutions of their country +have fixed them. However, if it be the office of +those who are thus circumstanced, to take a decided +part, it is no less their duty that it should be a sober +one. It ought to be circumscribed by the same laws +<!-- Page 296 --><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272" title="272" class="pagenum"></a>of decorum, and balanced by the same temper, which +bound and regulate all the virtues. In a word, we +ought to act in party with all the moderation which +does not absolutely enervate that vigor, and quench +that fervency of spirit, without which the best wishes +for the public good must evaporate in empty speculation.</p> + +<p>It is probably from some such motives that the +friends of a very respectable party in this kingdom +have been hitherto silent. For these two years past, +from one and the same quarter of politics, a continual +fire has been kept upon them; sometimes from the +unwieldy column of quartos and octavos; sometimes +from the light squadrons of occasional pamphlets and +flying sheets. Every month has brought on its periodical +calumny. The abuse has taken every shape +which the ability of the writers could give it; plain +invective, clumsy raillery, misrepresented anecdote.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor" +title="History of the Minority. History of the Repeal of the Stamp Act. +Considerations on Trade and Finance. Political Register, &c., &c.">[38]</a> +No method of vilifying the measures, the abilities, the +intentions, or the persons which compose that body, +has been omitted.</p> + +<p>On their part nothing was opposed but patience +and character. It was a matter of the most serious +and indignant affliction to persons who thought themselves +in conscience bound to oppose a ministry dangerous +from its very constitution, as well as its +measures, to find themselves, whenever they faced +their adversaries, continually attacked on the rear by +a set of men who pretended to be actuated by motives +similar to theirs. They saw that the plan long +pursued, with but too fatal a success, was to break +the strength of this kingdom, by frittering down the +<!-- Page 297 --><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273" title="273" class="pagenum"></a>bodies which compose it, by fomenting bitter and +sanguinary animosities, and by dissolving every tie +of social affection and public trust. These virtuous +men, such I am warranted by public opinion to call +them, were resolved rather to endure everything, +than co-operate in that design. A diversity of opinion +upon almost every principle of politics had indeed +drawn a strong line of separation between them +and some others. However, they were desirous not +to extend the misfortune by unnecessary bitterness; +they wished to prevent a difference of opinion on the +commonwealth from festering into rancorous and +incurable hostility. Accordingly they endeavored +that all past controversies should be forgotten; and +that enough for the day should be the evil thereof. +There is however a limit at which forbearance ceases +to be a virtue. Men may tolerate injuries whilst +they are only personal to themselves. But it is not +the first of virtues to bear with moderation the indignities +that are offered to our country. A piece +has at length appeared, from the quarter of all the +former attacks, which upon every public consideration +demands an answer. Whilst persons more equal +to this business may be engaged in affairs of greater +moment, I hope I shall be excused, if, in a few hours +of a time not very important, and from such materials +as I have by me (more than enough however for +this purpose), I undertake to set the facts and arguments +of this wonderful performance in a proper +light. I will endeavor to state what this piece is; +the purpose for which I take it to have been written; +and the effects (supposing it should have any effect +at all) it must necessarily produce.</p> + +<p>This piece is called "The Present State of the +<!-- Page 298 --><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274" title="274" class="pagenum"></a>Nation." It may be considered as a sort of digest of +the avowed maxims of a certain political school, the +effects of whose doctrines and practices this country +will fuel long and severely. It is made up of a farrago +of almost every topic which has been agitated on +national affairs in parliamentary debate, or private +conversation, for these last seven years. The oldest +controversies are hauled out of the dust with which +time and neglect had covered them. Arguments ten +times repeated, a thousand times answered before, +are here repeated again. Public accounts formerly +printed and reprinted revolve once more, and find +their old station in this sober meridian. All the +commonplace lamentations upon the decay of trade, +the increase of taxes, and the high price of labor and +provisions, are here retailed again and again in the +same tone with which they have drawled through columns +of Gazetteers and Advertisers for a century together. +Paradoxes which affront common sense, and +uninteresting barren truths which generate no conclusion, +are thrown in to augment unwieldy bulk, +without adding anything to weight. Because two +accusations are better than one, contradictions are +set staring one another in the face, without even an +attempt to reconcile them. And, to give the whole a +sort of portentous air of labor and information, the +table of the House of Commons is swept into this +grand reservoir of politics.</p> + +<p>As to the composition, it bears a striking and whimsical +resemblance to a funeral sermon, not only in the +pathetic prayer with which it concludes, but in the +style and tenor of the whole performance. It is piteously +doleful, nodding every now and then towards +dulness; well stored with pious frauds, and, like most +<!-- Page 299 --><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275" title="275" class="pagenum"></a>discourses of the sort, much better calculated for the +private advantage of the preacher than the edification +of the hearers.</p> + +<p>The author has indeed so involved his subject, that +it is frequently far from being easy to comprehend his +meaning. It is happy for the public that it is never +difficult to fathom his design. The apparent intention +of this author is to draw the most aggravated, +hideous and deformed picture of the state of this +country, which his querulous eloquence, aided by the +arbitrary dominion he assumes over fact, is capable of +exhibiting. Had he attributed our misfortunes to +their true cause, the injudicious tampering of bold, +improvident, and visionary ministers at one period, +or to their supine negligence and traitorous dissensions +at another, the complaint had been just, and +might have been useful. But far the greater and +much the worst part of the state which he exhibits +is owing, according to his representation, not to accidental +and extrinsic mischiefs attendant on the +nation, but to its radical weakness and constitutional +distempers. All this however is not without purpose. +The author is in hopes, that, when we are fallen into +a fanatical terror for the national salvation, we shall +then be ready to throw ourselves,—in a sort of precipitate +trust, some strange disposition of the mind +jumbled up of presumption and despair,—into the +hands of the most pretending and forward undertaker. +One such undertaker at least he has in readiness +for our service. But let me assure this generous +person, that however he may succeed in exciting +our fears for the public danger, he will find it hard +indeed to engage us to place any confidence in the +system he proposes for our security.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 300 --><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276" title="276" class="pagenum"></a>His undertaking is great. The purpose of this +pamphlet, at which it aims directly or obliquely in +every page, is to persuade the public of three or four +of the most difficult points in the world,—that all the +advantages of the late war were on the part of the +Bourbon alliance; that the peace of Paris perfectly +consulted the dignity and interest of this country; +and that the American Stamp Act was a masterpiece +of policy and finance; that the only good minister +this nation has enjoyed since his Majesty's accession, +is the Earl of Bute; and the only good managers of +revenue we have seen are Lord Despenser and Mr. +George Grenville; and, under the description of men +of virtue and ability, he holds them out to us as the +only persons fit to put our affairs in order. Let not +the reader mistake me: he does not actually name +these persons; but having highly applauded their +conduct in all its parts, and heavily censured every +other set of men in the kingdom, he then recommends +us to his men of virtue and ability.</p> + +<p>Such is the author's scheme. Whether it will +answer his purpose I know not. But surely that purpose +ought to be a wonderfully good one, to warrant +the methods he has taken to compass it. If the +facts and reasonings in this piece are admitted, it is +all over with us. The continuance of our tranquillity +depends upon the compassion of our rivals. Unable +to secure to ourselves the advantages of peace, we +are at the same time utterly unfit for war. It is impossible, +if this state of things be credited abroad, +that we can have any alliance; all nations will fly +from so dangerous a connection, lest, instead of being +partakers of our strength, they should only become +sharers in our ruin. If it is believed at home, all +<!-- Page 301 --><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277" title="277" class="pagenum"></a>that firmness of mind, and dignified national courage, +which used to be the great support of this isle against +the powers of the world, must melt away, and fail +within us.</p> + +<p>In such a state of things can it be amiss if I aim at +holding out some comfort to the nation; another sort +of comfort, indeed, than that which this writer provides +for it; a comfort not from its physician, but +from its constitution: if I attempt to show that all +the arguments upon which he founds the decay of +that constitution, and the necessity of that physician, +are vain and frivolous? I will follow the author +closely in his own long career, through the war, the +peace, the finances, our trade, and our foreign politics: +not for the sake of the particular measures +which he discusses; that can be of no use; they are +all decided; their good is all enjoyed, or their evil +incurred: but for the sake of the principles of war, +peace, trade, and finances. These principles are of +infinite moment. They must come again and again +under consideration; and it imports the public, of all +things, that those of its ministers be enlarged, and +just, and well confirmed, upon all these subjects. +What notions this author entertains we shall see +presently; notions in my opinion very irrational, and +extremely dangerous; and which, if they should crawl +from pamphlets into counsels, and be realized from +private speculation into national measures, cannot +fail of hastening and completing our ruin.</p> + +<p>This author, after having paid his compliment to +the showy appearances of the late war in our favor, is +in the utmost haste to tell you that these appearances +were <i>fallacious</i>, that they were no more than an <i>imposition</i>.—I +fear I must trouble the reader with a +<!-- Page 302 --><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278" title="278" class="pagenum"></a>pretty long quotation, in order to set before him the +more clearly this author's peculiar way of conceiving +and reasoning:</p> + +<p>"Happily (the K.) was then advised by ministers, +who did not suffer themselves to be dazzled by the +glare of brilliant appearances; but, knowing them to +be <i>fallacious</i>, they wisely resolved to profit of their +splendor before our enemies should also <i>discover the +imposition</i>.—The increase in the exports was found +to have been occasioned chiefly by the demands of +<i>our own fleets and armies</i>, and, instead of bringing +wealth to the nation, was to be paid for by oppressive +taxes upon the people of England. While the British +seamen were consuming on board our men of war +and privateers, foreign ships and foreign seamen were +employed in the transportation of our merchandise; +and the carrying trade, so great a source of wealth +and marine, <i>was entirely engrossed by the neutral nations</i>. +The number of British ships annually arriving +in our ports was reduced 1756 sail, containing +92,559 tons, on a medium of the six years' war, +compared with the six years of peace preceding it.—The +conquest of the Havannah had, indeed, stopped +the remittance of specie from Mexico to Spain; but +it had not enabled England to seize it: on the contrary, +our merchants suffered by the detention of the +galleons, as their <i>correspondents in Spain were disabled +from paying them for their goods sent to America. +The loss of the trade to Old Spain was a further bar to +an influx of specie</i>; and the attempt upon Portugal +had not only deprived us of an import of bullion +from thence, but the payment of our troops employed +in its defence was a fresh drain opened for the diminution +of our circulating specie.—The high pre<!-- Page 303 --><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279" title="279" class="pagenum"></a>miums +given for new loans had sunk the price of the +old stock near a third of its original value; so that +the purchasers had an obligation from the state to +repay them with an addition of 33 per cent to their +capital. Every new loan required new taxes to be +imposed; new taxes must add to the price of our +manufactures, <i>and lessen their consumption among foreigners</i>. +The decay of our trade must necessarily +<i>occasion a decrease of the public revenue</i>; and a deficiency +of our funds must either be made up by fresh +taxes, which would only add to the calamity, or our +national credit must be destroyed, by showing the +public creditors the inability of the nation to repay +them their principal money.—Bounties had already +been given for recruits which exceeded the year's +wages of the ploughman and reaper; and as these +were exhausted, and <i>husbandry stood still for want of +hands</i>, the manufacturers were next to be tempted to +quit the anvil and the loom by higher offers.—<i>France, +bankrupt France, had no such calamities impending +over her; her distresses were great, but they were immediate +and temporary; her want of credit preserved +her from a great increase of debt, and the loss of her +ultramarine dominions lessened her expenses. Her colonies +had, indeed, put themselves into the hands of the +English; but the property of her subjects had been preserved +by capitulations, and a way opened for making +her those remittances which the war had before suspended, +with as much security as in time of peace</i>.—Her +armies in Germany had been hitherto prevented +from seizing upon Hanover; but they continued to +encamp on the same ground on which the first battle +was fought; and, as it must ever happen from the +policy of that government, <i>the last troops she sent into +<!-- Page 304 --><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280" title="280" class="pagenum"></a>the field were always found to be the best, and her frequent +losses only served to fill her regiments with better +soldiers. The conquest of Hanover became therefore +every campaign more probable</i>.—It is to be noted, +that the French troops received subsistence only, for +the last three years of the war; and that, although +large arrears were due to them at its conclusion, the +charge was the less during its continuance."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 6-10.">[39]</a></p> + +<p>If any one be willing to see to how much greater +lengths the author carries these ideas, he will recur to +the book. This is sufficient for a specimen of his +manner of thinking. I believe one reflection uniformly +obtrudes itself upon every reader of these paragraphs. +For what purpose, in any cause, shall we +hereafter contend with France? Can we ever flatter +ourselves that we shall wage a more successful war? +If, on our part, in a war the most prosperous we +ever carried on, by sea and by land, and in every +part of the globe, attended with the unparalleled +circumstance of an immense increase of trade and +augmentation of revenue; if a continued series of +disappointments, disgraces, and defeats, followed by +public bankruptcy, on the part of France; if all +these still leave her a gainer on the whole balance, +will it not be downright frenzy in us ever +to look her in the face again, or to contend with +her any, even the most essential points, since victory +and defeat, though by different ways, equally conduct +us to our ruin? Subjection to France without +a struggle will indeed be less for our honor, but on +every principle of our author it must be more for +our advantage. According to his representation of +things, the question is only concerning the most easy +<!-- Page 305 --><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281" title="281" class="pagenum"></a>fall. France had not discovered, our statesman tells +us, at the end of that war, the triumphs of defeat, and +the resources which are derived from bankruptcy. +For my poor part, I do not wonder at their blindness. +But the English ministers saw further. Our +author has at length let foreigners also into the secret, +and made them altogether as wise as ourselves. +It is their own fault if (<i>vulgato imperii arcano</i>) they +are imposed upon any longer. They now are apprised +of the sentiments which the great candidate +for the government of this great empire entertains; +and they will act accordingly. They are taught our +weakness and their own advantages.</p> + +<p>He tells the world,<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 9, 10.">[40]</a> that if France carries on the +war against us in Germany, every loss she sustains +contributes to the achievement of her conquest. If +her armies are three years unpaid, she is the less exhausted +by expense. If her credit is destroyed, she +is the less oppressed with debt. If her troops are cut +to pieces, they will by her policy (and a wonderful +policy it is) be improved, and will be supplied with +much better men. If the war is carried on in the +colonies, he tells them<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 9.">[41]</a> that the loss of her ultramarine +dominions lessens her expenses, and insures +her remittances:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Per damna, per cædes, ab ipso</div> +<div>Ducit opes animumque ferro.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">If so, what is it we can do to hurt her?—it will +be all an <i>imposition</i>, all <i>fallacious</i>. Why, the result +must be,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i4">Occidit, occidit</div> +<div>Spes omnis, et fortuna nostri</div> +<div>Nominis.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p><!-- Page 306 --><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282" title="282" class="pagenum"></a>The only way which the author's principles leave +for our escape, is to reverse our condition into that of +France, and to take her losing cards into our hands. +But though his principles drive him to it, his politics +will not suffer him to walk on this ground. Talking +at our ease and of other countries, we may bear to be +diverted with such speculations; but in England we +shall never be taught to look upon the annihilation +of our trade, the ruin of our credit, the defeat of our +armies, and the loss of our ultramarine dominions +(whatever the author may think of them), to be the +high road to prosperity and greatness.</p> + +<p>The reader does not, I hope, imagine that I mean +seriously to set about the refutation of these uningenious +paradoxes and reveries without imagination. I +state them only that we may discern a little in the +questions of war and peace, the most weighty of all +questions, what is the wisdom of those men who are +held out to us as the only hope of an expiring nation. +The present ministry is indeed of a strange character: +at once indolent and distracted. But if a ministerial +system should be formed, actuated by such maxims +as are avowed in this piece, the vices of the present +ministry would become their virtues; their indolence +would be the greatest of all public benefits, and a +distraction that entirely defeated every one of their +schemes would be our only security from destruction.</p> + +<p>To have stated these reasonings is enough, I presume, +to do their business. But they are accompanied +with facts and records, which may seem of a +little more weight. I trust, however, that the facts +of this author will be as far from bearing the touchstone, +as his arguments. On a little inquiry, they +will be found as great an imposition as the successes +<!-- Page 307 --><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283" title="283" class="pagenum"></a>they are meant to depreciate; for they are all either +false or fallaciously applied; or not in the least to the +purpose for which they are produced.</p> + +<p>First the author, in order to support his favorite +paradox, that our possession of the French colonies +was of no detriment to France, has thought proper to +inform us, that<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 9.">[42]</a> "they put themselves into the +hands of the English." He uses the same assertion, +in nearly the same words, in another place;<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 6.">[43]</a> "her +colonies had put themselves into our hands." Now, +in justice, not only to fact and common sense, but to +the incomparable valor and perseverance of our military +and naval forces thus unhandsomely traduced, +I must tell this author, that the French colonies did +not "put themselves into the hands of the English." +They were compelled to submit; they were subdued +by dint of English valor. Will the five years' war +carried on in Canada, in which fell one of the principal +hopes of this nation, and all the battles lost and +gained during that anxious period, convince this author +of his mistake? Let him inquire of Sir Jeffery +Amherst, under whose conduct that war was carried +on; of Sir Charles Saunders, whose steadiness and +presence of mind saved our fleet, and were so eminently +serviceable in the whole course of the siege of +Quebec; of General Monckton, who was shot through +the body there, whether France "put her colonies into +the hands of the English."</p> + +<p>Though he has made no exception, yet I would be +liberal to him; perhaps he means to confine himself +to her colonies in the West Indies. But surely it will +fare as ill with him there as in North America, whilst +we remember that in our first attempt at Martinico +<!-- Page 308 --><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284" title="284" class="pagenum"></a>we were actually defeated; that it was three months +before we reduced Guadaloupe; and that the conquest +of the Havannah was achieved by the highest +conduct, aided by circumstances of the greatest good +fortune. He knows the expense both of men and +treasure at which we bought that place. However, +if it had so pleased the peacemakers, it was no dear +purchase; for it was decisive of the fortune of the +war and the terms of the treaty: the Duke of Nivernois +thought so; France, England, Europe, considered +it in that light; all the world, except the then +friends of the then ministry, who wept for our victories, +and were in haste to get rid of the burden of +our conquests. This author knows that France did +not put those colonies into the hands of England; +but he well knows who did put the most valuable of +them into the hands of France.</p> + +<p>In the next place, our author<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 9.">[44]</a> is pleased to consider +the conquest of those colonies in no other light +than as a convenience for the remittances to France, +which he asserts that the war had before suspended, +but for which a way was opened (by our conquest) +as secure as in time of peace. I charitably hope he +knows nothing of the subject. I referred him lately +to our commanders, for the resistance of the French +colonies; I now wish he would apply to our custom-house +entries, and our merchants, for the advantages +which we derived from them.</p> + +<p>In 1761, there was no entry of goods from any of +the conquered places but Guadaloupe; in that year +it stood thus:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Imports from Islands, 1761" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>Imports from Guadaloupe, </td><td align='right'>value, £482,179</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right'>———</td></tr></table> + +<p style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; max-width: 15em;"><!-- Page 309 --><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285" title="285" class="pagenum"></a>In 1762, when we had not yet delivered up +our conquests, the account was,</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Imports from Islands,1762" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>Guadaloupe </td><td align='right'>£513,244</td></tr> +<tr><td>Martinico </td><td align='right'>288,425</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right'>———</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total imports in 1762, </td><td align='right'>value, £801,669</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right'>———</td></tr></table> + +<p style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; max-width: 15em;">In 1763, after we had delivered up the +sovereignty of these islands, but kept +open a communication with them, the +imports were,</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Imports from Islands,1763" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>Guadaloupe </td><td align='right'>£412,303</td></tr> +<tr><td>Martinico </td><td align='right'>344,161</td></tr> +<tr><td>Havannah </td><td align='right'>249,386</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total imports in 1763, </td><td align='right'>value, £1,005,850</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right'>————</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">Besides, I find, in the account of bullion imported +and brought to the Bank, that, during that period in +which the intercourse with the Havannah was open, +we received at that one shop, in treasure, from that +one place, 559,810<i>l.</i>; in the year 1763, 389,450<i>l.</i>; +so that the import from these places in that year +amounted to 1,395,300<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>On this state the reader will observe, that I take +the imports from, and not the exports to, these conquests, +as the measure of the advantages which we +derived from them. I do so for reasons which will +be somewhat worthy the attention of such readers as +are fond of this species of inquiry. I say therefore I +choose the import article, as the best, and indeed the +only standard we can have, of the value of the West +India trade. Our export entry does not comprehend +the greatest trade we carry on with any of the West +India islands, the sale of negroes: nor does it give +<!-- Page 310 --><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286" title="286" class="pagenum"></a>any idea of two other advantages we draw from them; +the remittances for money spent here, and the payment +of part of the balance of the North American +trade. It is therefore quite ridiculous, to strike a +balance merely on the face of an excess of imports +and exports, in that commerce; though, in most foreign +branches, it is, on the whole, the best method. +If we should take that standard, it would appear, +that the balance with our own islands is, annually, +several hundred thousand pounds against this country.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor" +title="Table: Total imports from the West Indies in 1764">[45]</a> +Such is its aspect on the custom-house entries; +but we know the direct contrary to be the fact. We +know that the West-Indians are always indebted to +our merchants, and that the value of every shilling +of West India produce is English property. So that +our import from them, and not our export, ought +always to be considered as their true value; and this +corrective ought to be applied to all general balances +of our trade, which are formed on the ordinary principles.</p> + +<p>If possible, this was more emphatically true of the +French West India islands, whilst they continued in +our hands. That none or only a very contemptible +part, of the value of this produce could be remitted +to France, the author will see, perhaps with unwillingness, +but with the clearest conviction, if he considers, +that in the year 1763, <i>after we had ceased to +export</i> to the isles of Guadaloupe and Martinico, +and to the Havannah, and after the colonies were +<!-- Page 311 --><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287" title="287" class="pagenum"></a>free to send all their produce to Old France and +Spain, if they had any remittance to make; he +will see, that we imported from those places, in +that year, to the amount of 1,395,300<i>l.</i> So far +was the whole annual produce of these islands from +being adequate to the payments of their annual call +upon us, that this mighty additional importation +was necessary, though not quite sufficient, to discharge +the debts contracted in the few years we held +them. The property, therefore, of their whole produce +was ours; not only during the war, but even for +more than a year after the peace. The author, I +hope, will not again venture upon so rash and discouraging +a proposition concerning the nature and +effect of those conquests, as to call them a convenience +to the remittances of France; he sees, by this +account, that what he asserts is not only without +foundation, but even impossible to be true.</p> + +<p>As to our trade at that time, he labors with all his +might to represent it as absolutely ruined, or on the +very edge of ruin. Indeed, as usual with him, he is +often as equivocal in his expression as he is clear in +his design. Sometimes he more than insinuates a +decay of our commerce in that war; sometimes he +admits an increase of exports; but it is in order to +depreciate the advantages we might appear to derive +from that increase, whenever it should come to be +proved against him. He tells you,<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 6.">[46]</a> "that it was +chiefly occasioned by the demands of our own fleets +and armies, and, instead or bringing wealth to the +nation, was to be paid for by oppressive taxes upon +the people of England." Never was anything more +destitute of foundation. It might be proved, with +<!-- Page 312 --><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288" title="288" class="pagenum"></a>the greatest ease, from the nature and quality of the +goods exported, as well as from the situation of the +places to which our merchandise was sent, and which +the war could no wise affect, that the supply of our +fleets and armies could not have been the cause of +this wonderful increase of trade: its cause was evident +to the whole world; the ruin of the trade of +France, and our possession of her colonies. What +wonderful effects this cause produced the reader will +see below;<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor" +title="Table: Total export of goods">[47]</a> and he will form on that account some +judgment of the author's candor or information.<!-- Page 313 --><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289" title="289" class="pagenum"></a></p> + +<p>Admit however that a great part of our export, +though nothing is more remote from fact, was owing +to the supply of our fleets and armies; was it not +something?—was it not peculiarly fortunate for a +nation, that she was able from her own bosom to contribute +largely to the supply of her armies militating +in so many distant countries? The author allows +that France did not enjoy the same advantages. But +it is remarkable, throughout his whole book, that +those circumstances which have ever been considered +as great benefits, and decisive proofs of national superiority, +are, when in our hands, taken either in diminution +of some other apparent advantage, or even +sometimes as positive misfortunes. The optics of +that politician must be of a strange conformation, +who beholds everything in this distorted shape.</p> + +<p>So far as to our trade. With regard to our navigation, +he is still more uneasy at our situation, and +still more fallacious in his state of it. In his text, he +affirms it "to have been <i>entirely</i> engrossed by the +neutral nations."<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 7. See also page 13.">[48]</a> This he asserts roundly and +boldly, and without the least concern; although it +cost no more than a single glance of the eye upon his +own margin to see the full refutation of this assertion. +His own account proves against him, that, in +the year 1761, the British shipping amounted to +527,557 tons,—the foreign to no more than 180,102. +The medium of his six years British, 2,449,555 tons,—foreign +only 906,690. This state (his own) demonstrates +that the neutral nations did not <i>entirely +engross our navigation</i>.</p> + +<p>I am willing from a strain of candor to admit that +this author speaks at random; that he is only sloven<!-- Page 314 --><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290" title="290" class="pagenum"></a>ly +and inaccurate, and not fallacious. In matters of +account, however, this want of care is not excusable; +and the difference between neutral nations entirely +engrossing our navigation, and being only subsidiary +to a vastly augmented trade, makes a most material +difference to his argument. From that principle of +fairness, though the author speaks otherwise, I am +willing to suppose he means no more than that our +navigation had so declined as to alarm us with the +probable loss of this valuable object. I shall however +show, that his whole proposition, whatever modifications +he may please to give it, is without foundation; +that our navigation had not decreased; that, on the +contrary, it had greatly increased in the war; that it +had increased by the war; and that it was probable +the same cause would continue to augment it to a +still greater height; to what an height it is hard to +say, had our success continued.</p> + +<p>But first I must observe, I am much less solicitous +whether his fact be true or no, than whether his principle +is well established. Cases are dead things, principles +are living and productive. I affirm then, that, +if in time of war our trade had the good fortune to +increase, and at the same time a large, nay the +largest, proportion of carriage had been engrossed +by neutral nations, it ought not in itself to have been +considered as a circumstance of distress. War is a +time of inconvenience to trade; in general it must +be straitened, and must find its way as it can. It is +often happy for nations that they are able to call in +neutral navigation. They all aim at it. France endeavored +at it, but could not compass it. Will this +author say, that, in a war with Spain, such an assistance +would not be of absolute necessity? that it +would not be the most gross of all follies to refuse it?</p> + +<p><!-- Page 315 --><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291" title="291" class="pagenum"></a>In the next place, his method of stating a medium +of six years of war, and six years of peace, to decide +this question, is altogether unfair. To say, in derogation +of the advantages of a war, that navigation is +not equal to what it was in time of peace, is what +hitherto has never been heard of. No war ever bore +that test but the war which he so bitterly laments. +One may lay it down as a maxim, that an average estimate +of an object in a steady course of rising or of +falling, must in its nature be an unfair one; more +particularly if the cause of the rise or fall be visible, +and its continuance in any degree probable. Average +estimates are never just but when the object fluctuates, +and no reason can be assigned why it should +not continue still to fluctuate. The author chooses +to allow nothing at all for this: he has taken an average +of six years of the war. He knew, for everybody +knows, that the first three years were on the +whole rather unsuccessful; and that, in consequence +of this ill success, trade sunk, and navigation declined +with it; but <i>that grand delusion</i> of the three last +years turned the scale in our favor. At the beginning +of that war (as in the commencement of every +war), traders were struck with a sort of panic. +Many went out of the freighting business. But by +degrees, as the war continued, the terror wore off; +the danger came to be better appreciated, and better +provided against; our trade was carried on in +large fleets, under regular convoys, and with great +safety. The freighting business revived. The ships +were fewer, but much larger; and though the number +decreased, the tonnage was vastly augmented: +insomuch that in 1761 the <i>British</i> shipping had risen +by the author's own account to 527,557 tons.—In the +<!-- Page 316 --><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292" title="292" class="pagenum"></a>last year he has given us of the peace, it amounted to +no more than 494,772; that is, in the last year of +the war it was 32,785 tons more than in the correspondent +year of his peace average. No year of the +peace exceeded it except one, and that but little.</p> + +<p>The fair account of the matter is this. Our trade +had, as we have just seen, increased to so astonishing +a degree in 1761, as to employ British and foreign +ships to the amount of 707,659 tons, which is 149,500 +more than we employed in the last year of the peace.—Thus +our trade increased more than a fifth; our +British navigation had increased likewise with this +astonishing increase of trade, but was not able to +keep pace with it; and we added about 120,000 tons +of foreign shipping to the 60,000, which had been +employed in the last year of the peace. Whatever +happened to our shipping in the former years of the +war, this would be no true state of the case at the +time of the treaty. If we had lost something in the +beginning, we had then recovered, and more than recovered, +all our losses. Such is the ground of the +doleful complaints of the author, that <i>the carrying +trade was wholly engrossed by the neutral nations</i>.</p> + +<p>I have done fairly, and even very moderately, in +taking this year, and not his average, as the standard +of what might be expected in future, had the war +continued. The author will be compelled to allow +it, unless he undertakes to show; first, that the possession +of Canada, Martinico, Guadaloupe, Grenada, +the Havannah, the Philippines, the whole African +trade, the whole East India trade, and the whole +Newfoundland fishery, had no certain inevitable tendency +to increase the British shipping; unless, in the +second place, he can prove that those trades were, or +<!-- Page 317 --><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293" title="293" class="pagenum"></a>might be, by law or indulgence, carried on in foreign +vessels; and unless, thirdly, he can demonstrate that +the premium of insurance on British ships was rising +as the war continued. He can prove not one of these +points. I will show him a fact more that is mortal to +his assertions. It is the state of our shipping in 1762. +The author had his reasons for stopping short at the +preceding year. It would have appeared, had he proceeded +farther, that our tonnage was in a course of +uniform augmentation, owing to the freight derived +from our foreign conquests, and to the perfect security +of our navigation from our clear and decided superiority +at sea. This, I say, would have appeared +from the state of the two years:—</p> + +<div class="ctr"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>1761. British </td><td align='left'>527,557 tons.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1762. Ditto </td><td align='left'>559,537 tons.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1761. Foreign </td><td align='left'>180,102 tons.</td></tr> +<tr><td>1762. Ditto </td><td align='left'>129,502 tons.</td></tr></table> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">The two last years of the peace were in no degree +equal to these. Much of the navigation of 1763 was +also owing to the war; this is manifest from the large +part of it employed in the carriage from the ceded +islands, with which the communication still continued +open. No such circumstances of glory and advantage +ever attended upon a war. Too happy will be +our lot, if we should again be forced into a war, to +behold anything that shall resemble them; and if we +were not then the better for them, it is net in the +ordinary course of God's providence to mend our +condition.</p> + +<p>In vain does the author declaim on the high premiums +given for the loans during the war. His +long note swelled with calculations on that subject +<!-- Page 318 --><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294" title="294" class="pagenum"></a>(even supposing the most inaccurate of all calculations +to be just) would be entirety thrown away, did +it not serve to raise a wonderful opinion of his financial +skill in those who are not less surprised than edified, +when, with a solemn face and mysterious air, +they are told that two and two make four. For what +else do we learn from this note? That the more expense +is incurred by a nation, the more money will +be required to defray it; that in proportion to the +continuance of that expense, will be the continuance +of borrowing; that the increase of borrowing and the +increase of debt will go hand in hand; and lastly, that +the more money you want, the harder it will be to +get it; and that the scarcity of the commodity will +enhance the price. Who ever doubted the truth, or +the insignificance, of these propositions? what do +they prove? that war is expensive, and peace desirable. +They contain nothing more than a commonplace +against war; the easiest of all topics. To bring +them home to his purpose, he ought to have shown +that our enemies had money upon better terms; +which he has not shown, neither can he. I shall +speak more fully to this point in another place. He +ought to have shown that the money they raised, +upon whatever terms, had procured them a more +lucrative return. He knows that our expenditure +purchased commerce and conquest: theirs acquired +nothing but defeat and bankruptcy.</p> + +<p>Thus the author has laid down his ideas on the +subject of war. Next follow those he entertains on +that of peace. The treaty of Paris upon the whole +has his approbation. Indeed, if his account of the +war be just, he might have spared himself all further +trouble. The rest is drawn on as an inevitable con<!-- Page 319 --><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295" title="295" class="pagenum"></a>clusion.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 12, 13.">[49]</a> +If the House of Bourbon had the advantage, +she must give the law; and the peace, though +it were much worse than it is, had still been a good +one. But as the world is yet <i>deluded</i> on the state of +that war, other arguments are necessary; and the +author has in my opinion very ill supplied them. +He tells of many things we have got, and of which +he has made out a kind of bill. This matter may be +brought within a very narrow compass, if we come to +consider the requisites of a good peace under some +plain distinct heads. I apprehend they may be reduced +to these: 1. Stability; 2. Indemnification; +3. Alliance.</p> + +<p>As to the first, the author more than obscurely +hints in several places, that he thinks the peace not +likely to last. However, he does furnish a security; +a security, in any light, I fear, but insufficient; on +his hypothesis, surely a very odd one. "By stipulating +for the entire possession of the Continent (says +he) the restored French islands are become in some +measure dependent on the British empire; and the +good faith of France in observing the treaty guaranteed +by the value at which she estimates their possession."<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 17.">[50]</a> +This author soon grows weary of his +principles. They seldom last him for two pages +together. When the advantages of the war were to +be depreciated, then the loss of the ultramarine colonies +lightened the expenses of France, facilitated +her remittances, and therefore <i>her colonists put them +into our hands</i>. According to this author's system, +the actual possession of those colonies ought to give +us little or no advantage in the negotiation for peace; +and yet the chance of possessing them on a future oc<!-- Page 320 --><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296" title="296" class="pagenum"></a>casion +gives a perfect security for the preservation of +that peace.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 6.">[51]</a> The conquest of the Havannah, if it did +not serve Spain, rather distressed England, says our +author.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor" +title=""Our merchants suffered by the detention of the galleons, as +their correspondents in Spain were disabled from paying them for +their goods sent to America."—State of the Nation, p. 7.">[52]</a> But the molestation which her galleons +may suffer from our station in Pensacola gives us advantages, +for which we were not allowed to credit the +nation for the Havannah itself; a place surely full as +well situated for every external purpose as Pensacola, +and of more internal benefit than ten thousand +Pensacolas.</p> + +<p>The author sets very little by conquests;<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 12, 13.">[53]</a> I suppose +it is because he makes them so very lightly. +On this subject he speaks with the greatest certainty +imaginable. We have, according to him, nothing to +do, but to go and take possession, whenever we think +proper, of the French and Spanish settlements. It +were better that he had examined a little what advantage +the peace gave us towards the invasion of these +colonies, which we did not possess before the peace. +It would not have been amiss if he had consulted the +public experience, and our commanders, concerning +the absolute certainty of those conquests on which he +is pleased to found our security. And if, after all, +he should have discovered them to be so very sure, +and so very easy, he might at least, to preserve consistency, +have looked a few pages back, and (no unpleasing +thing to him) listened to himself, where he +says, "that the most successful enterprise could not +compensate to the nation for the waste of its people, +by carrying on war in unhealthy climates."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 6.">[54]</a> A po<!-- Page 321 --><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297" title="297" class="pagenum"></a>sition +which he repeats again, p. 9. So that, according +to himself, his security is not worth the suit; +according to fact, he has only a chance, God knows +what a chance, of getting at it; and therefore, according +to reason, the giving up the most valuable +of all possessions, in hopes to conquer them back, under +any advantage of situation, is the most ridiculous +security that ever was imagined for the peace of a nation. +It is true his friends did not give up Canada; +they could not give up everything; let us make the +most of it. We have Canada, we know its value. +We have not the French any longer to fight in North +America; and from this circumstance we derive considerable +advantages. But here let me rest a little. +The author touches upon a string which sounds under +his fingers but a tremulous and melancholy note. +North America was once indeed a great strength to this +nation, in opportunity of ports, in ships, in provisions, +in men. We found her a sound, an active, a vigorous +member of the empire. I hope, by wise management, +she will again become so. But one of our capital +present misfortunes is her discontent and disobedience. +To which of the author's favorites this discontent +is owing, we all know but too sufficiently. It +would be a dismal event, if this foundation of his security, +and indeed of all our public strength, should, +in reality, become our weakness; and if all the powers +of this empire, which ought to fall with a compacted +weight upon the head of our enemies, should +be dissipated and distracted by a jealous vigilance, or +by hostile attempts upon one another. Ten Canadas +cannot restore that security for the peace, and for +everything valuable to this country, which we have +lost along with the affection and the obedience of our +<!-- Page 322 --><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298" title="298" class="pagenum"></a>colonies. He is the wise minister, he is the true +friend to Britain, who shall be able to restore it.</p> + +<p>To return to the security for the peace. The author +tells us, that the original great purposes of the +war were more than accomplished by the treaty. +Surely he has experience and reading enough to +know, that, in the course of a war, events may happen, +that render its original very far from being its +principal purpose. This original may dwindle by +circumstances, so as to become not a purpose of the +second or even the third magnitude. I trust this is +so obvious that it will not be necessary to put cases +for its illustration. In that war, as soon as Spain entered +into the quarrel, the security of North America +was no longer the sole nor the foremost object. The +<i>Family Compact</i> had been I know not how long before +in agitation. But then it was that we saw produced +into daylight and action the most odious and most +formidable of all the conspiracies against the liberties +of Europe that ever has been framed. The war with +Spain was the first fruits of that league; and a security +against that league ought to have been the fundamental +point of a pacification with the powers who +compose it. We had materials in our hands to have +constructed that security in such a manner as never +to be shaken. But how did the virtuous and able +men of our author labor for this great end? They +took no one step towards it. On the contrary they +countenanced, and, indeed, as far as it depended on +them, recognized it in all its parts; for our plenipotentiary +treated with those who acted for the two +crowns, as if they had been different ministers of the +same monarch. The Spanish minister received his +instructions, not from Madrid, but from Versailles.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 323 --><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299" title="299" class="pagenum"></a>This was not hid from our ministers at home; and +the discovery ought to have alarmed them, if the good +of their country had been the object of their anxiety. +They could not but have seen that the whole Spanish +monarchy was melted down into the cabinet of Versailles. +But they thought this circumstance an advantage; +as it enabled them to go through with their +work the more expeditiously. Expedition was everything +to them; because France might happen during +a protracted negotiation to discover the great imposition +of our victories.</p> + +<p>In the same spirit they negotiated the terms of the +peace. If it were thought advisable not to take any +positive security from Spain, the most obvious principles +of policy dictated that the burden of the cessions +ought to fall upon France; and that everything which +was of grace and favor should be given to Spain. +Spain could not, on her part, have executed a capital +article in the family compact, which obliged her to +compensate the losses of France. At least she could +not do it in America; for she was expressly precluded +by the treaty of Utrecht from ceding any territory +or giving any advantage in trade to that power. +What did our ministers? They took from Spain the +territory of Florida, an object of no value except +to show our dispositions to be quite equal at least +towards both powers; and they enabled France to +compensate Spain by the gift of Louisiana: loading +us with all the harshness, leaving the act of kindness +with France, and opening thereby a door to the fulfilling +of this the most consolidating article of the +family compact. Accordingly that dangerous league, +thus abetted and authorized by the English ministry +without an attempt to invalidate it in any way, or in +<!-- Page 324 --><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300" title="300" class="pagenum"></a>any of its parts, exists to this hour; and has grown +stronger and stronger every hour of its existence.</p> + +<p>As to the second component of a good peace, <i>compensation</i>, +I have but little trouble; the author has +said nothing upon that head. He has nothing to say. +After a war of such expense, this ought to have been +a capital consideration. But on what he has been so +prudently silent, I think it is right to speak plainly. +All our new acquisitions together, at this time, scarce +afford matter of revenue, either at home or abroad, +sufficient to defray the expense of their establishments; +not one shilling towards the reduction of our debt. +Guadaloupe or Martinico alone would have given us +material aid; much in the way of duties, much in the +way of trade and navigation. A good ministry would +have considered how a renewal of the <i>Assiento</i> might +have been obtained. We had as much right to ask it +at the treaty of Paris as at the treaty of Utrecht. We +had incomparably more in our hands to purchase it. +Floods of treasure would have poured into this kingdom +from such a source; and, under proper management, +no small part of it would have taken a public +direction, and have fructified an exhausted exchequer.</p> + +<p>If this gentleman's hero of finance, instead of flying +from a treaty, which, though he now defends, he +could not approve, and would not oppose; if he, instead +of shifting into an office, which removed him +from the manufacture of the treaty, had, by his credit +with the then great director, acquired for us these, +or any of these, objects, the possession of Guadaloupe +or Martinico, or the renewal of the <i>Assiento</i>, he might +have held his head high in his country; because he +would have performed real service; ten thousand +times more real service, than all the economy of +<!-- Page 325 --><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301" title="301" class="pagenum"></a>which this writer is perpetually talking, or all the +little tricks of finance which the expertest juggler of +the treasury can practise, could amount to in a thousand +years. But the occasion is lost; the time is +gone, perhaps forever.</p> + +<p>As to the third requisite, <i>alliance</i>, there too the +author is silent. What strength of that kind did +they acquire? They got no one new ally; they +stript the enemy of not a single old one. They disgusted +(how justly, or unjustly, matters not) every +ally we had; and from that time to this we stand +friendless in Europe. But of this naked condition +of their country I know some people are not ashamed. +They have their system of politics; our ancestors +grew great by another. In this manner these virtuous +men concluded the peace; and their practice is +only consonant to their theory.</p> + +<p>Many things more might be observed on this curious +head of our author's speculations. But, taking +leave of what the writer says in his serious part, if he +be serious in any part, I shall only just point out a +piece of his pleasantry. No man, I believe, ever denied +that the time for making peace is that in which +the best terms maybe obtained. But what that time +is, together with the use that has been made of it, +we are to judge by seeing whether terms adequate +to our advantages, and to our necessities, have been +actually obtained. Here is the pinch of the question, +to which the author ought to have set his shoulders +in earnest. Instead of doing this, he slips out of the +harness by a jest; and sneeringly tells us, that, to +determine this point, we must know the secrets of the +French and Spanish cabinets<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor" +title="Something however has transpired in the quarrels among those +concerned in that transaction. It seems the _good Genius_ of Britain, +so much vaunted by our author, did his duty nobly. Whilst we +were gaining such advantages, the court of France was astonished at +our concessions. "J'ai apporté à Versailles, il est vrai, les Ratifications +du Roi d'Angleterre, _à vostre grand étonnement, et à celui de bien +d'autres_. Je dois cela au bontés du Roi d'Angleterre, à celles de Milord +Bute, à Mons. le Comte de Viry, à Mons. le Duc de Nivernois, +et en fin à mon scavoir faire."—Lettres, &c., du Chev. D'Eon, p. 51.">[55]</a>, and that Parliament +<!-- Page 326 --><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302" title="302" class="pagenum"></a>was pleased to approve the treaty of peace without +calling for the correspondence concerning it. How +just this sarcasm on that Parliament may be, I say +not; but how becoming in the author, I leave it to +his friends to determine.</p> + +<p>Having thus gone through the questions of war +and peace, the author proceeds to state our debt, and +the interest which it carried, at the time of the treaty, +with the unfairness and inaccuracy, however, which +distinguish all his assertions, and all his calculations. +To detect every fallacy, and rectify every mistake, +would be endless. It will be enough to point out a +few of them, in order to show how unsafe it is to place +anything like an implicit trust in such a writer.</p> + +<p>The interest of debt contracted during the war is +stated by the author at 2,614,892<i>l.</i> The particulars +appear in pp. 14 and 15. Among them is stated the +unfunded debt, 9,975,017<i>l.</i>, supposed to carry interest +on a medium at 3 per cent, which amounts to +299,250<i>l.</i> We are referred to the "Considerations on +the Trade and Finances of the Kingdom," p. 22, for +the particulars of that unfunded debt. Turn to the +work, and to the place referred to by the author himself, +if you have a mind to see a clear detection of a +capital fallacy of this article in his account. You +will there see that this unfunded debt consists of +the nine following articles: the remaining subsidy to +<!-- Page 327 --><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303" title="303" class="pagenum"></a>the Duke of Brunswick; the remaining <i>dédommagement</i> +to the Landgrave of Hesse; the German demands; +the army and ordnance extraordinaries; the +deficiencies of grants and funds; Mr. Touchet's +claim; the debts due to Nova Scotia and Barbadoes; +exchequer bills; and navy debt. The extreme fallacy +of this state cannot escape any reader who will +be at the pains to compare the interest money, with +which he affirms us to have been loaded, in his +"State of the Nation," with the items of the principal +debt to which he refers in his "Considerations." +The reader must observe, that of this long list of nine +articles, only two, the exchequer bills, and part of +the navy debt, carried any interest at all. The first +amounted to 1,800,000<i>l.</i>; and this undoubtedly carried +interest. The whole navy debt indeed amounted +to 4,576,915<i>l.</i>; but of this only a <i>part</i> carried interest. +The author of the "Considerations," &c. labors +to prove this very point in p. 18; and Mr. G. has +always defended himself upon the same ground, for +the insufficient provision he made for the discharge of +that debt. The reader may see their own authority +for it.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor" +title=""The navy bills are not due till six months after they have been +issued; six months also of the seamen's wages by act of Parliament +must be, and in consequence of the rules prescribed by that act, twelve +months' wages generally, and often much more are retained; and +there has been besides at all times a large arrear of pay, which, though +kept in the account, could never be claimed, the persons to whom it +was due having left neither assignees nor representatives. The precise +amount of such sums cannot be ascertained; but they can hardly be +reckoned less than thirteen or fourteen hundred thousand pounds. +On 31st Dec, 1754, when the navy debt was reduced nearly as low as +it could be, it still amounted to 1,296,567_l._ 18_s._ 11¾_d._ consisting chiefly +of articles which could not then be discharged; such articles will be +larger now, in proportion to the increase of the establishment; and an +allowance must always be made for them in judging of the state of +the navy debt, though they are not distinguishable in the account. +In providing for that which is payable, the principal object of the +legislature is always to discharge the bills, for they are the greatest +article; they bear an interest of 4 per cent; and, when the quantity of +them is large, they are a heavy incumbrance upon all money transactions"">[56]</a></p> + +<p><!-- Page 328 --><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304" title="304" class="pagenum"></a>Mr. G. did in fact provide no more than 2,150,000<i>l.</i> +for the discharge of these bills in two years. It is much +to be wished that these gentlemen would lay their +heads together, that they would consider well this +matter, and agree upon something. For when the +scanty provision made for the unfunded debt is to be +vindicated, then we are told it is a very <i>small part</i> of +that debt which carries interest. But when the public +is to be represented in a miserable condition, and the +consequences of the late war to be laid before us in +dreadful colors, then we are to be told that the unfunded +debt is within a trifle of ten millions, and so +large a portion of it carries interest that we must not +compute less than 3 per cent upon the <i>whole</i>.</p> + +<p>In the year 1764, Parliament voted 650,000<i>l.</i> towards +the discharge of the navy debt. This sum +could not be applied solely to the discharge of bills +carrying interest; because part of the debt due on +seamen's wages must have been paid, and some bills +carried no interest at all. Notwithstanding this, we +find by an account in the journals of the House of +Commons, in the following session, that the navy +debt carrying interest was, on the 31st of December, +1764, no more than 1,687,442<i>l.</i> I am sure therefore +that I admit too much when I admit the navy debt +carrying interest, after the creation of the navy annuities +in the year 1763, to have been 2,200,000<i>l.</i> +Add the exchequer bills; and the whole unfunded +<!-- Page 329 --><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305" title="305" class="pagenum"></a>debt carrying interest will be four millions instead of +ten; and the annual interest paid for it at 4 per cent +will be 160,000<i>l.</i> instead of 299,250<i>l.</i> An error of +no small magnitude, and which could not have been +owing to inadvertency.</p> + +<p>The misrepresentation of the increase of the peace +establishment is still more extraordinary than that of +the interest of the unfunded debt. The increase is +great, undoubtedly. However, the author finds no +fault with it, and urges it only as a matter of argument +to support the strange chimerical proposals he +is to make us in the close of his work for the increase +of revenue. The greater he made that establishment, +the stronger he expected to stand in argument: but, +whatever he expected or proposed, he should have +stated the matter fairly. He tells us that this establishment +is nearly 1,500,000<i>l.</i> more than it was +in 1752, 1753, and other years of peace. This he +has done in his usual manner, by assertion, without +troubling himself either with proof or probability. For +he has not given us any state of the peace establishment +in the years 1753 and 1754, the time which +he means to compare with the present. As I am +obliged to force him to that precision, from which +he always flies as from his most dangerous enemy, I +have been at the trouble to search the journals in +the period between the two last wars: and I find +that the peace establishment, consisting of the navy, +the ordnance, and the several incidental expenses, +amounted to 2,346,594<i>l.</i> Now is this writer wild +enough to imagine, that the peace establishment of +1764 and the subsequent years, made up from the +same articles, is 3,800,000<i>l.</i> and upwards? His assertion +however goes to this. But I must take the +<!-- Page 330 --><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306" title="306" class="pagenum"></a>liberty of correcting him in this gross mistake, and +from an authority he cannot refuse, from his favorite +work, and standing authority, the "Considerations." +We find there, p. 43<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor" +title="Table: Costs of the Peace Establishment">[57]</a>, the peace establishment of +1764 and 1765 stated at 3,609,700<i>l.</i> This is near +two hundred thousand pounds less than that given +in "The State of the Nation." But even from this, +in order to render the articles which compose the +peace establishment in the two periods correspondent +(for otherwise they cannot be compared), we must +deduct first, his articles of the deficiency of land and +malt, which amount to 300,000<i>l.</i> They certainly are +no part of the establishment; nor are they included +in that sum, which I have stated above for the establishment +in the time of the former peace. If they +were proper to be stated at all, they ought to be +stated in both accounts. We must also deduct the +deficiencies of funds, 202,400<i>l.</i> These deficiencies +are the difference between the interest charged on the +public for moneys borrowed, and the produce of the +taxes laid for the discharge of that interest. Annual +provision is indeed to be made for them by Parlia<!-- Page 331 --><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307" title="307" class="pagenum"></a>ment: +but in the inquiry before us, which is only +what charge is brought on the public by interest paid +or to be paid for money borrowed, the utmost that +the author should do, is to bring into the account the +full interest for all that money. This he has done +in p. 15; and he repeats it in p. 18, the very page +I am now examining, 2,614,892<i>l.</i> To comprehend +afterwards in the peace establishment the deficiency +of the fund created for payment of that interest, +would be laying twice to the account of the war part +of the same sum. Suppose ten millions borrowed at +4 per cent, and the fund for payment of the interest +to produce no more than 200,000<i>l.</i> The whole annual +charge on the public is 400,000<i>l.</i> It can be no +more. But to charge the interest in one part of the +account, and then the deficiency in the other, would +be charging 600,000<i>l.</i> The deficiency of funds must +therefore be also deducted from the peace establishment +in the "Considerations"; and then the peace +establishment in that author will be reduced to the +same articles with those included in the sum I have +already mentioned for the peace establishment before +the last war, in the year 1753, and 1754.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 35em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Peace establishment in the "Considerations" </td><td align="right">£3,609,700</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Deduct deficiency of land and malt </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 1em">£300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Ditto of funds </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 1em">202,400</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 1em">————</td><td align='right'>502,400</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align='right'>3,107,300</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Peace establishment before the late war, in +which no deficiencies of land and malt, or +funds are included </td><td> </td><td align='right' valign="bottom">2,346,594</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap" align="right">Difference</td><td /><td align='right'>£760,706</td></tr></table> + +<p><!-- Page 332 --><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308" title="308" class="pagenum"></a>Being about half the sum which our author has +been pleased to suppose it.</p> + +<p>Let us put the whole together. The author states,—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 35em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td colspan="3" class="wrap">Difference of peace establishment before and +since the war </td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£1,500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3" class="wrap">Interest of Debt contracted by the war </td><td align='right'>2,614,892</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td><td align='right'>————-</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td><td align='right'>4,114,892</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="wrap">The <i>real</i> difference in the peace +establishment is </td><td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">£760,706</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">The actual interest of the +funded debt, including +that charged on the +sinking fund</td><td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">£2,315,642</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">The actual interest of +unfunded debt at most</td><td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em" >160,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap"></td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 1em" >————</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Total interest of debt +contracted by the war</td><td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">2,475,642</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" class="wrap"></td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 1em">————</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3" class="wrap">Increase of peace establishment, and interest of +new debt</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,236,348</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3" class="wrap"> </td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td colspan="2" class="wrap" align='center'>Error of the author </td><td align='right'>£878,544</td></tr></table> + +<p>It is true, the extraordinaries of the army have +been found considerably greater than the author of +the "Considerations" was pleased to foretell they +would be. The author of "The Present State" +avails himself of that increase, and, finding it suit his +purpose, sets the whole down in the peace establishment +of the present times. If this is allowed him, +his error perhaps may be reduced to 700,000<i>l.</i> But +I doubt the author of the "Considerations" will not +thank him for admitting 200,000<i>l.</i> and upwards, as +the peace establishment for extraordinaries, when +that author has so much labored to confine them +within 35,000<i>l.</i></p> + +<p><!-- Page 333 --><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309" title="309" class="pagenum"></a>These are some of the capital fallacies of the author. +To break the thread of my discourse as little +as possible, I have thrown into the margin many instances, +though God knows far from the whole of his +inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and want of common +care. I think myself obliged to take some notice of +them, in order to take off from any authority this +writer may have; and to put an end to the deference +which careless men are apt to pay to one who boldly +arrays his accounts, and marshals his figures, in perfect +confidence that their correctness will never be +examined.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor" +title="Upon the money borrowed in 1760, the premium of one per +cent was for twenty-one years, not for twenty; this annuity has been +paid eight years instead of seven; the sum paid is therefore 640,000_l._ +instead of 560,000_l._; the remaining term is worth, ten years and a +quarter instead of eleven years; its value is 820,000_l._ instead of +880,000_l._; and the whole value of that premium is 1,460,000_l._ instead +of 1,440,000_l._ The like errors are observable in his computation on +the additional capital of three per cent on the loan of that year. In +like manner, on the loan of 1762, the author computes on five years' +payment instead of six; and says in express terms, that take 5 from +19, and there remain 13. These are not errors of the pen or the +press; the several computations pursued in this part of the work with +great diligence and earnestness prove them errors upon much deliberation. +Thus the premiums in 1759 are cast up 90,000_l._ too little, an +error in the first rule of arithmetic. "The annuities borrowed in +1756 and 1758 are," says he, "to continue till redeemed by Parliament." +He does not take notice that the first are irredeemable till February, +1771, the other till July, 1782. In this the amount of the premiums +is computed on the time which they have run. Weakly and +ignorantly; for he might have added to this, and strengthened his argument, +such as it is, by charging also the value of the additional one +per cent from the day on which he wrote, to at least that day on which +these annuities become redeemable. To make ample amends, however, +he has added to the premiums of 15 per cent in 1759, and three per cent +in 1760, the annuity paid for them since their commencement; +the fallacy of which is manifest; for the premiums in these cases can +he neither more nor less than the additional capital for which the public +stands engaged, and is just the same whether five or five hundred +years' annuity has been paid for it. In private life, no man persuades +himself that he has borrowed 200_l._ because he happens to have paid +twenty years' interest on a loan of 100_l._">[58]</a></p> + +<p><!-- Page 334 --><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310" title="310" class="pagenum"></a>However, for argument, I am content to take his +state of it. The debt was and is enormous. The +war was expensive. The best economy had not perhaps +been used. But I must observe, that war and +economy are things not easily reconciled; and that +the attempt of leaning towards parsimony in such a +state may be the worst management, and in the end +the worst economy in the world, hazarding the total +loss of all the charge incurred, and of everything +along with it.</p> + +<p>But <i>cui bono</i> all this detail of our debt? Has the +author given a single light towards any material reduction +of it? Not a glimmering. We shall see in +its place what sort of thing he proposes. But before +he commences his operations, in order to scare the +public imagination, he raises by art magic a thick +mist before our eyes, through which glare the most +ghastly and horrible phantoms:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necesse est.</div> +<div>Non radii solis, neque lucida tela diei</div> +<div>Discutiant, sed naturæ species ratioque.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">Let us therefore calmly, if we can for the fright into +which he has put us, appreciate those dreadful and +deformed gorgons and hydras, which inhabit the joyless +regions of an imagination fruitful in nothing but +the production of monsters.</p> + +<p>His whole representation, is founded on the sup<!-- Page 335 --><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311" title="311" class="pagenum"></a>posed +operation of our debt, upon our manufactures, +and our trade. To this cause he attributes a certain +supposed dearness of the necessaries of life, which +must compel our manufacturers to emigrate to cheaper +countries, particularly to France, and with them +the manufacture. Thence consumption declining, +and with it revenue. He will not permit the real +balance of our trade to be estimated so high as +2,500,000<i>l.</i>; and the interest of the debt to foreigners +carries off 1,500,000<i>l.</i> of that balance. France is not +in the same condition. Then follow his wailings and +lamentings, which he renews over and over, according +to his custom—a declining trade, and decreasing specie—on +the point of becoming tributary to France—of +losing Ireland—of having the colonies torn +away from us.</p> + +<p>The first thing upon which I shall observe is,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 30-32.">[60]</a> what +he takes for granted as the clearest of all propositions, +the emigration of our manufacturers to France. I +undertake to say that this assertion is totally groundless, +and I challenge the author to bring any sort of +proof of it. If living is cheaper in France, that is, to +be had for less specie, wages are proportionably lower. +No manufacturer, let the living be what it will, was +ever known to fly for refuge to low wages. Money is +the first thing which attracts him. Accordingly our +wages attract artificers from all parts of the world. +From two shillings to one shilling, is a fall in all +men's imaginations, which no calculation upon a difference +in the price of the necessaries of life can compensate. +But it will be hard to prove that a French +artificer is better fed, clothed, lodged, and warmed, +than one in England; for that is the sense, and the +<!-- Page 336 --><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312" title="312" class="pagenum"></a>only sense, of living cheaper. If, in truth and fact, +our artificer fares as well in all these respects as one +in the same state in France,—how stands the matter +in point of opinion and prejudice, the springs by +which people in that class of life are chiefly actuated? +The idea of our common people concerning French +living is dreadful; altogether as dreadful as our author's +can possibly be of the state of his own country; +a way of thinking that will hardly ever prevail on +them to desert to France.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor" +title="In a course of years a few manufacturers have been tempted +abroad, not by cheap living, but by immense premiums, to set up as +masters, and to introduce the manufacture. This must happen in +every country eminent for the skill of its artificers, and has nothing +to do with taxes and the price of provisions.">[61]</a></p> + +<p>But, leaving the author's speculations, the fact is, +that they have not deserted; and of course the manufacture +cannot be departed, or departing, with them. +I am not indeed able to get at all the details of our +manufactures; though, I think, I have taken full as +much pains for that purpose as our author. Some I +have by me; and they do not hitherto, thank God, +support the author's complaint, unless a vast increase +of the quantity of goods manufactured be a proof of +losing the manufacture. On a view of the registers +in the West Riding of Yorkshire, for three years before +the war, and for the three last, it appears, that +the quantities of cloths entered were as follows:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 27em;"> +<tr style="font-size: smaller;"> +<td colspan="2"></td><td /><td align='right'>Pieces broad.</td><td align='right'>Pieces narrow.</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1752</td><td align='right'>60,724</td><td align='right'>72,442</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1753</td><td align='right'>55,358</td><td align='right'>71,618</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1754</td><td align='right'>56,070</td><td align='right'>72,394</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td /><td align='right'>———</td><td align='right'>———</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td /><td align='right'>172,152</td><td align='right'>216,454</td></tr> +<tr style="font-size: smaller;"> +<td colspan="2"><!-- Page 337 --><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313" title="313" class="pagenum"></a></td><td /><td align='right'>Pieces broad.</td><td align='right'>Pieces narrow.</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1765</td><td align='right'>54,660</td><td align='right'>77,419</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1766</td><td align='right'>72,575</td><td align='right'>78,893</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td>1767</td><td align='right'>102,428</td><td align='right'>78,819</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td /><td align='right'>———</td><td align='right'>———</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align='right'>3 years, ending </td><td>1767</td><td align='right'>229,663</td><td align='right'>235,131</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align='right'>3 years, ending </td><td>1754</td><td align='right'>172,152</td><td align='right'>216,464</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td /><td align='right'>———</td><td align='right'>———</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"></td><td align='right'>Increase</td><td align='right'>57,511</td><td align='right'>18,677</td></tr></table> + + +<p>In this manner this capital branch of manufacture +has increased, under the increase of taxes; and this +not from a declining, but from a greatly flourishing +period of commerce. I may say the same on the best +authority of the fabric of thin goods at Halifax; of +the bays at Rochdale; and of that infinite variety of +admirable manufactures that grow and extend every +year among the spirited, inventive, and enterprising +traders of Manchester.</p> + +<p>A trade sometimes seems to perish when it only assumes +a different form. Thus the coarsest woollens +were formerly exported in great quantities to Russia. +The Russians now supply themselves with these goods. +But the export thither of finer cloths has increased in +proportion as the other has declined. Possibly some +parts of the kingdom may have felt something like a +languor in business. Objects like trade and manufacture, +which the very attempt to confine would +certainly destroy, frequently change their place; +and thereby, far from being lost, are often highly +improved. Thus some manufactures have decayed +in the west and south, which have made new and +more vigorous shoots when transplanted into the +north. And here it is impossible to pass by, though +the author has said nothing upon it, the vast addition +to the mass of British trade, which has been +<!-- Page 338 --><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314" title="314" class="pagenum"></a>made by the improvement of Scotland. What does +he think of the commerce of the city of Glasgow, and +of the manufactures of Paisley and all the adjacent +country? Has this anything like the deadly aspect +and <i>facies Hippocratica</i> which the false diagnostic of +our state physician has given to our trade in general? +Has he not heard of the iron-works of such magnitude +even in their cradle which are set up on the +Carron, and which at the same time have drawn +nothing from Sheffield, Birmingham, or Wolverhampton?</p> + +<p>This might perhaps be enough to show the entire +falsity of the complaint concerning the decline of our +manufactures. But every step we advance, this matter +clears up more; and the false terrors of the author +are dissipated, and fade away as the light appears. +"The trade and manufactures of this country (says +he) going to ruin, and a diminution of our <i>revenue +from consumption</i> must attend the loss of so many +seamen and artificers." Nothing more true than the +general observation: nothing more false than its application +to our circumstances. Let the revenue on +consumption speak for itself:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 34em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Average of net excise, since the new duties, +three years ending 1767</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£4,590,734</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Ditto before the new duties, three years +ending 1759</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,261,694</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap" align='center'> +Average increase</td><td align='right'>£1,329,040</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">Here is no diminution. Here is, on the contrary, an +immense increase. This is owing, I shall be told, to +the new duties, which may increase the total bulk, +but at the same time may make some diminution of +the produce of the old. Were this the fact, it would +<!-- Page 339 --><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315" title="315" class="pagenum"></a>be far from supporting the author's complaint. It +might have proved that the burden lay rather too +heavy; but it would never prove that the <i>revenue +from, consumption</i> was impaired, which it was his business +to do. But what is the real fact? Let us take, +as the best instance for the purpose, the produce of +the old hereditary and temporary excise granted in +the reign of Charles the Second, whose object is that +of most of the new impositions, from two averages, +each of eight years.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 34em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Average, first period, eight years, ending 1754</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£525,317</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Ditto, second period, eight years, ending 1767</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">538,542</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap"></td><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap" align='center'>Increase</td><td align='right'>£613,225</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">I have taken these averages as including in each a +war and a peace period; the first before the imposition +of the new duties, the other since those impositions; +and such is the state of the oldest branch of +the revenue from consumption. Besides the acquisition +of so much new, this article, to speak of no other, +has rather increased under the pressure of all those +additional taxes to which the author is pleased to attribute +its destruction. But as the author has made +his grand effort against those moderate, judicious, and +necessary levies, which support all the dignity, the +credit, and the power of his country, the reader will +excuse a little further detail on this subject; that we +may see how little oppressive those taxes are on the +shoulders of the public, with which he labors so earnestly +to load its imagination. For this purpose we +take the state of that specific article upon which the +two capital burdens of the war leaned the most im<!-- Page 340 --><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316" title="316" class="pagenum"></a>mediately, +by the additional duties on malt, and upon +beer.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 30em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr style="font-size: smaller;"><td /><td align='right'>Barrels.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Average of strong beer, +brewed in eight years before the additional malt and beer duties</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,895,059</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Average of strong beer, +eight years since the duties</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">4,060,726</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>Increase in the last period</td><td align='right'>165,667</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">Here is the effect of two such daring taxes as 3<i>d.</i> by +the bushel additional on malt, and 3<i>s.</i> by the barrel +additional on beer. Two impositions laid without +remission one upon the neck of the other; and laid +upon an object which before had been immensely +loaded. They did not in the least impair the consumption: it +has grown under them. It appears +that, upon the whole, the people did not feel so much +inconvenience from the new duties as to oblige them +to take refuge in the private brewery. Quite the +contrary happened in both these respects in the reign +of King William; and it happened from much slighter +impositions.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor" +title="Although the public brewery has considerably increased in this +latter period, the produce of the malt-tax has been something less than +in the former; this cannot be attributed to the new malt-tax. Had +this been the cause of the lessened consumption, the public brewery, +so much more burdened, must have felt it more. The cause of this +diminution of the malt-tax I take to have been principally owing to +the greater dearness of corn in the second period than in the first, +which, in all its consequences, affected the people in the country much +more than those in the towns. But the revenue from consumption +was not, on the whole, impaired; as we have seen in the foregoing +page.">[62]</a> No people can long consume a commodity +for which they are not well able to pay. An +enlightened reader laughs at the inconsistent chimera +<!-- Page 341 --><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317" title="317" class="pagenum"></a>of our author, of a people universally luxurious, and +at the same time oppressed with taxes and declining +in trade. For my part, I cannot look on these +duties as the author does. He sees nothing but the +burden. I can perceive the burden as well as he; but +I cannot avoid contemplating also the strength that +supports it. From thence I draw the most comfortable +assurances of the future vigor, and the ample +resources, of this great, misrepresented country; and +can never prevail on myself to make complaints +which have no cause, in order to raise hopes which +have no foundation.</p> + +<p>When a representation is built on truth and nature, +one member supports the other, and mutual lights +are given and received from every part. Thus, as +our manufacturers have not deserted, nor the manufacture +left us, nor the consumption declined, nor the +revenue sunk; so neither has trade, which is at once +the result, measure, and cause of the whole, in the +least decayed, as our author has thought proper +sometimes to affirm, constantly to suppose, as if it +were the most indisputable of all propositions. The +reader will see below the comparative state of our +trade<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor" +title="Table: Imports vs. Exports">[63]</a> in three of the best years before our increase +of debt and taxes, and with it the three last years +since the author's date of our ruin.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 342 --><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318" title="318" class="pagenum"></a>In the last three years the whole of our exports +was between 44 and 45 millions. In the three years +preceding the war, it was no more than from 35 to +36 millions. The average balance of the former period +was 3,706,000<i>l.</i>; of the latter, something above +four millions. It is true, that whilst the impressions +of the author's destructive war continued, our trade +was greater than it is at present. One of the necessary +consequences of the peace was, that France must +gradually recover a part of those markets of which +she had been originally in possession. However, after +all these deductions, still the gross trade in the +worst year of the present is better than in the best +year of any former period of peace. A very great +part of our taxes, if not the greatest, has been imposed +since the beginning of the century. On the author's +principles, this continual increase of taxes must have +ruined our trade, or at least entirely checked its +growth. But I have a manuscript of Davenant, +which contains an abstract of our trade for the years +1703 and 1704; by which it appears that the whole +export from England did not then exceed 6,552,019<i>l.</i> +It is now considerably more than double that amount. +Yet England was then a rich and flourishing nation.</p> + +<p>The author endeavors to derogate from the balance +in our favor as it stands on the entries, and reduces +<!-- Page 343 --><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319" title="319" class="pagenum"></a>it from four millions, as it there appears, to no more +than 2,500,000<i>l.</i> His observation on the looseness +and inaccuracy of the export entries is just; and that +the error is always an error of excess, I readily admit. +But because, as usual, he has wholly omitted some +very material facts, his conclusion is as erroneous as +the entries he complains of.</p> + +<p>On this point of the custom-house entries I shall +make a few observations. 1st. The inaccuracy of +these entries can extend only to FREE GOODS, that is, +to such British products and manufactures, as are exported +without drawback and without bounty; which +do not in general amount to more than two thirds at +the very utmost of the whole export even of <i>our home +products</i>. The valuable articles of corn, malt, leather, +hops, beer, and many others, do not come under this +objection of inaccuracy. The article of CERTIFICATE +GOODS re-exported, a vast branch of our commerce, +admits of no error, (except some smaller frauds which +cannot be estimated,) as they have all a drawback of +duty, and the exporter must therefore correctly specify +their quantity and kind. The author therefore is +not warranted from the known error in some of the +entries, to make a general defalcation from the whole +balance in our favor. This error cannot affect more +than half, if so much, of the export article. 2dly. +In the account made up at the Inspector-General's +office, they estimate only the original cost of British +products as they are here purchased; and on foreign +goods, only the prices in the country from whence they +are sent. This was the method established by Mr. +Davenant; and as far as it goes, it certainly is a good +one. But the profits of the merchant at home, and +of our factories abroad, are not taken into the ac<!-- Page 344 --><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320" title="320" class="pagenum"></a>count; +which profit on such an immense quantity of +goods exported and re-exported cannot fail of being +very great: five per cent, upon the whole, I should +think, a very moderate allowance. 3dly. It does +not comprehend the advantage arising from the employment +of 600,000 tons of shipping, which must be +paid by the foreign consumer, and which, in many +bulky articles of commerce, is equal to the value of +the commodity. This can scarcely be rated at less +than a million annually. 4thly. The whole import +from Ireland and America, and from the West Indies, +is set against us in the ordinary way of striking a balance +of imports and exports; whereas the import and +export are both our own. This is just as ridiculous, +as to put against the general balance of the nation, +how much more goods Cheshire receives from London +than London from Cheshire. The whole revolves and +circulates through this kingdom, and is, so far as regards +our profit, in the nature of home trade, as much +as if the several countries of America and Ireland +were all pieced to Cornwall. The course of exchange +with all these places is fully sufficient to demonstrate +that this kingdom has the whole advantage of their +commerce. When the final profit upon a whole system +of trade rests and centres in a certain place, a +balance struck in that place merely on the mutual +sale of commodities is quite fallacious. 5thly. The +custom-house entries furnish a most defective, and, +indeed, ridiculous idea of the most valuable branch +of trade we have in the world,—that with Newfoundland. +Observe what you export thither; a little +spirits, provision, fishing-lines, and fishing-hooks. +Is this <i>export</i> the true idea of the Newfoundland trade +in the light of a beneficial branch of commerce? +<!-- Page 345 --><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321" title="321" class="pagenum"></a>Nothing less. Examine our imports from thence; it +seems upon this vulgar idea of exports and imports, +to turn the balance against you. But your exports +to Newfoundland are your own goods. Your import +is your own food; as much your own, as that you +raise with your ploughs out of your own soil; and +not your loss, but your gain; your riches, not your +poverty. But so fallacious is this way of judging, +that neither the export nor import, nor both together, +supply any idea approaching to adequate of that +branch of business. The vessels in that trade go +straight from Newfoundland to the foreign market; +and the sale there, not the import here, is the measure +of its value. That trade, which is one of your +greatest and best, is hardly so much as seen in the +custom-house entries; and it is not of less annual +value to this nation than 400,000<i>l.</i> 6thly. The quality +of your imports must be considered as well as +the quantity. To state the whole of the foreign import +<i>as loss</i>, is exceedingly absurd. All the iron, +hemp, flax, cotton, Spanish wool, raw silk, woollen +and linen-yarn, which we import, are by no means to +be considered as the matter of a merely luxurious +consumption; which is the idea too generally and +loosely annexed to our import article. These above +mentioned are materials of industry, not of luxury, +which are wrought up here, in many instances, to +ten times, and more, of their original value. Even +where they are not subservient to our exports, they +still add to our internal wealth, which consists in the +stock of useful commodities, as much as in gold and +silver. In looking over the specific articles of our export +and import, I have often been astonished to see +for how small a part of the supply of our consump<!-- Page 346 --><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322" title="322" class="pagenum"></a>tion, +either luxurious or convenient, we are indebted +to nations properly foreign to us.</p> + +<p>These considerations are entirely passed over by +the author; they have been but too much neglected +by most who have speculated on this subject. But +they ought never to be omitted by those who mean +to come to anything like the true state of the British +trade. They compensate, and they more than compensate, +everything which the author can cut off with +any appearance of reason for the over-entry of British +goods; and they restore to us that balance of four +millions, which the author has thought proper on such +a very poor and limited comprehension of the object +to reduce to 2,500,000<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>In general this author is so circumstanced, that to +support his theory he is obliged to assume his facts: +and then, if you allow his facts, they will not support +his conclusions. What if all he says of the state of this +balance were true? did not the same objections always +lie to custom-house entries? do they defalcate more +from the entries of 1766 than from those of 1754? +If they prove us ruined, we were always ruined. +Some ravens have always indeed croaked out this +kind of song. They have a malignant delight in +presaging mischief, when they are not employed in +doing it: they are miserable and disappointed at +every instance of the public prosperity. They overlook +us like the malevolent being of the poet:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i5">Tritonida conspicit arcem</div> +<div>Ingeniis, opibusque, et festa pace virentem;</div> +<div>Vixque tenet lacrymas quia nil lacrymabile cernit.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>It is in this spirit that some have looked upon +those accidents that cast an occasional damp upon +trade. Their imaginations entail these accidents +<!-- Page 347 --><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323" title="323" class="pagenum"></a>upon us in perpetuity. We have had some bad harvests. +This must very disadvantageously affect the +balance of trade, and the navigation of a people, so +large a part of whose commerce is in grain. But, in +knowing the cause, we are morally certain, that, +according to the course of events, it cannot long subsist. +In the three last years, we have exported scarcely +any grain; in good years, that export hath been +worth twelve hundred thousand pounds and more; +in the two last years, far from exporting, we have +been obliged to import to the amount perhaps of our +former exportation. So that in this article the balance +must be 2,000,000<i>l.</i> against us; that is, one +million in the ceasing of gain, the other in the increase +of expenditure. But none of the author's +promises or projects could have prevented this misfortune; +and, thank God, we do not want him or +them to relieve us from it; although, if his friends +should now come into power, I doubt not but they +will be ready to take credit for any increase of trade +or excise, that may arise from the happy circumstance +of a good harvest.</p> + +<p>This connects with his loud laments and melancholy +prognostications concerning the high price of +the necessaries of life and the products of labor. +With all his others, I deny this fact; and I again +call upon him to prove it. Take average and not +accident, the grand and first necessary of life is +cheap in this country; and that too as weighed, +not against labor, which is its true counterpoise, but +against money. Does he call the price of wheat at +this day, between 32 and 40 shillings per quarter in +London dear?<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor" +title="It is dearer in some places, and rather cheaper in others; but it +must soon all come to a level.">[64]</a> He must know that fuel (an object +<!-- Page 348 --><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324" title="324" class="pagenum"></a>of the highest order in the necessaries of life, and of +the first necessity in almost every kind of manufacture) +is in many of our provinces cheaper than in any +part of the globe. Meat is on the whole not excessively +dear, whatever its price may be at particular +times and from particular accidents. If it has had +anything like an uniform rise, this enhancement +may easily be proved not to be owing to the increase +of taxes, but to uniform increase of consumption and +of money. Diminish the latter, and meat in your +markets will be sufficiently cheap in account, but +much dearer in effect: because fewer will be in a +condition to buy. Thus your apparent plenty will +be real indigence. At present, even under temporary +disadvantages, the use of flesh is greater here +than anywhere else; it is continued without any interruption +of Lents or meagre days; it is sustained +and growing even with the increase of our taxes. +But some have the art of converting even the signs +of national prosperity into symptoms of decay and +ruin. And our author, who so loudly disclaims popularity, +never fails to lay hold of the most vulgar +popular prejudices and humors, in hopes to captivate +the crowd. Even those peevish dispositions +which grow out of some transitory suffering, those +passing clouds which float in our changeable atmosphere, +are by him industriously figured into frightful +shapes, in order first to terrify, and then to govern +the populace.</p> + +<p>It was not enough for the author's purpose to give +this false and discouraging picture of the state of his own +country. It did not fully answer his end, to exaggerate +her burdens, to depreciate her successes, and +to vilify her character. Nothing had been done, un<!-- Page 349 --><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325" title="325" class="pagenum"></a>less +the situation of France were exalted in proportion +as that of England had been abased. The reader +will excuse the citation I make at length from his +book; he outdoes himself upon this occasion. His +confidence is indeed unparalleled, and altogether of +the heroic cast:—</p> + +<p>"If our rival nations were in the same circumstances +with ourselves, the <i>augmentation of our taxes +would produce no ill consequences</i>: if we were obliged +to raise our prices, they must, from the same causes, +do the like, and could take no advantage by underselling +and under-working us. But the alarming +consideration to Great Britain is, <i>that France is not +in the same condition</i>. Her distresses, during the +war, were great, but they were immediate; her want +of credit, as has been said, compelled her to impoverish +her people, by raising the greatest part of her supplies +within the year; <i>but the burdens she imposed on +them were, in a great measure, temporary, and must be +greatly diminished by a few years of peace</i>. She could +procure no considerable loans, therefore she has mortgaged +no <i>such oppressive taxes as those Great Britain has +imposed in perpetuity for payment of interest</i>. Peace +must, therefore, soon re-establish her commerce and +manufactures, especially as the comparative <i>lightness +of taxes</i>, and the cheapness of living, in that country, +must make France an asylum for British manufacturers +and artificers." On this the author rests the +merit of his whole system. And on this point I will +join issue with him. If France is not at least in the +<i>same condition</i>, even in that very condition which the +author falsely represents to be ours,—if the very reverse +of his proposition be not true, then I will admit +his state of the nation to be just; and all his inferen<!-- Page 350 --><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326" title="326" class="pagenum"></a>ces +from that state to be logical and conclusive. It +is not surprising, that the author should hazard our +opinion of his veracity. That is a virtue on which +great statesmen do not perhaps pique themselves so +much; but it is somewhat extraordinary, that he +should stake on a very poor calculation of chances, +all credit for care, for accuracy, and for knowledge +of the subject of which he treats. He is rash and +inaccurate, because he thinks he writes to a public +ignorant and inattentive. But he may find himself +in that respect, as in many others, greatly mistaken. +In order to contrast the light and vigorous condition +of France with that of England, weak, and sinking +under her burdens, he states, in his tenth page, +that France had raised 50,314,378<i>l.</i> sterling <i>by taxes +within the several years</i> from the year 1756 to 1762 +both inclusive. All Englishman must stand aghast +at such a representation: To find France able to <i>raise +within the year</i> sums little inferior to all that we were +able even to <i>borrow</i> on interest with all the resources +of the greatest and most established credit in the +world! Europe was filled with astonishment when +they saw England <i>borrow</i> in one year twelve millions. +It was thought, and very justly, no small proof of national +strength and financial skill, to find a fund for +the payment of the interest upon this sum. The interest +of this, computed with the one per cent annuities, +amounted only to 600,000<i>l.</i> a year. This, I say, +was thought a surprising effort even of credit. But +this author talks, as of a thing not worth proving, +and but just worth observing, that France in one year +raised sixteen times that sum without borrowing, and +continued to raise sums not far from equal to it for +several years together. Suppose some Jacob Hen<!-- Page 351 --><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327" title="327" class="pagenum"></a>riques +had proposed, in the year 1762, to prevent a +perpetual charge on the nation by raising ten millions +within the year: he would have been considered, +not as a harsh financier, who laid a heavy hand +on the public; but as a poor visionary, who had run +mad on supplies and taxes. They who know that the +whole land-tax of England, at 4<i>s.</i> in the pound, raises +but two millions, will not easily apprehend that any +such sums as the author has conjured up can be +raised even in the most opulent nations. France +owed a large debt, and was encumbered with heavy +establishments, before that war. The author does +not formally deny that she borrowed something in +every year of its continuance; let him produce the +funds for this astonishing annual addition to all her +vast preceding taxes; an addition, equal to the whole +excise, customs, land and malt-taxes of England taken +together.</p> + +<p>But what must be the reader's astonishment, perhaps +his indignation, if he should find that this great +financier has fallen into the most unaccountable of all +errors, no less an error than that of mistaking the +<i>identical sums borrowed by France upon interest, for +supplies raised within the year</i>! Can it be conceived +that any man, only entered into the first rudiments +of finance, should make so egregious a blunder; +should write it, should print it; should carry it to a +second edition; should take it not collaterally and +incidentally, but lay it down as the corner-stone of +his whole system, in such an important point as the +comparative states of France and England? But it +will be said, that it was his misfortune to be ill-informed. +Not at all. A man of any loose general +knowledge, and of the most ordinary sagacity, never +<!-- Page 352 --><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328" title="328" class="pagenum"></a>could have been misinformed in so gross a manner; +because he would have immediately rejected so wild +and extravagant an account.</p> + +<p>The fact is this: the credit of France, bad as it +might have been, did enable her (not to raise within +the year) but to <i>borrow</i> the very sums the author +mentions; that is to say, 1,106,916,261 livres, making, +in the author's computation, 50,314,378<i>l.</i> The +credit of France was low; but it was not annihilated. +She did not derive, as our author chooses to assert, +any advantages from the debility of her credit. Its +consequence was the natural one: she borrowed; +but she borrowed upon bad terms, indeed on the +most exorbitant usury.</p> + +<p>In speaking of a foreign revenue, the very pretence +to accuracy would be the most inaccurate thing in +the world. Neither the author nor I can with certainty +authenticate the information we communicate +to the public, nor in an affair of eternal fluctuation +arrive at perfect exactness. All we can do, and this +we may be expected to do, is to avoid gross errors +and blunders of a capital nature. We cannot order +the proper officer to lay the accounts before the House. +But the reader must judge on the probability of the +accounts we lay before him. The author speaks of +France as raising her supplies for war by taxes within +the year; and of her debt, as a thing scarcely +worthy of notice. I affirm that she borrowed large +sums in every year; and has thereby accumulated an +immense debt. This debt continued after the war +infinitely to embarrass her affairs; and to find some +means for its reduction was then and has ever since +been the first object of her policy. But she has +so little succeeded in all her efforts, that the <i>per<!-- Page 353 --><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329" title="329" class="pagenum"></a>petual</i> +debt of France is at this hour little short of +100,000,000<i>l.</i> sterling; and she stands charged with +at least 40,000,000 of English pounds on life-rents and +tontines. The annuities paid at this day at the Hôtel +de Ville of Paris, which are by no means her sole +payments of that nature, amount to 139,000,000 of +livres, that is to 6,318,000<i>l.</i>; besides <i>billets au porteur</i>, +and various detached and unfunded debts, to a great +amount, and which bear an interest.</p> + +<p>At the end of the war, the interest payable on her +debt amounted to upwards of seven millions sterling. +M. de la Verdy, the last hope of the French finances, +was called in, to aid in the reduction of an interest, +so light to our author, so intolerably heavy upon +those who are to pay it. After many unsuccessful +efforts towards reconciling arbitrary reduction with +public credit, he was obliged to go the plain high +road of power, and to impose a tax of 10 per cent +upon a very great part of the capital debt of that +kingdom; and this measure of present ease, to the +destruction of future credit, produced about 500,000<i>l.</i> +a year, which was carried to their <i>Caisse d'amortissement</i> +or sinking fund. But so unfaithfully and unsteadily +has this and all the other articles which +compose that fund been applied to their purposes, +that they have given the state but very little even of +present relief, since it is known to the whole world +that she is behindhand +<!-- [**Transcriber's note: was "behind-hand" in the original, inconsistent with p442] --> +on every one of her establishments. +Since the year 1763, there has been no operation +of any consequence on the French finances; +and in this enviable condition is France at present +with regard to her debt.</p> + +<p>Everybody knows that the principal of the debt is +but a name; the interest is the only thing which can +distress a nation. Take this idea, which will not be +<!-- Page 354 --><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330" title="330" class="pagenum"></a>disputed, and compare the interest paid by England +with that paid by France:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 28em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Interest paid by France, funded and +unfunded, for perpetuity or on lives, +after the tax of 10 per cent</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£6,500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Interest paid by England, as stated by +the author, p. 27</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">4,600,000</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————--</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Interest paid by France exceeds that +paid by England</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£1,900,000</td></tr></table> + +<p>The author cannot complain, that I state the interest +paid by England as too low. He takes it himself +as the extremest term. Nobody who knows anything +of the French finances will affirm that I state the interest +paid by that kingdom too high. It might be +easily proved to amount to a great deal more: even +this is near two millions above what is paid by +England.</p> + +<p>There are three standards to judge of the good condition +of a nation with regard to its finances. 1st, +The relief of the people. 2nd, The equality of supplies +to establishments. 3rd, The state of public +credit. Try France on all these standards.</p> + +<p>Although our author very liberally administers +relief to the people of France, its government has not +been altogether so gracious. Since the peace, she has +taken off but a single <i>vingtième</i>, or shilling in the +pound, and some small matter in the capitation. +But, if the government has relieved them in one +point, it has only burdened them the more heavily in +another. The <i>Taille</i>,<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor" +title="A tax rated by the intendant in each generality, on the presumed +fortune of every person below the degree of a gentleman.">[65]</a> that grievous and destructive +imposition, which all their financiers lament, without +being able to remove or to replace, has been aug<!-- Page 355 --><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331" title="331" class="pagenum"></a>mented +no less than six millions of livres, or 270,000 +pounds English. A further augmentation of this or +other duties is now talked of; and it is certainly necessary +to their affairs: so exceedingly remote from +either truth or verisimilitude is the author's amazing +assertion, <i>that the burdens of France in the war were +in a great measure temporary, and must be greatly +diminished by a few years of peace</i>.</p> + +<p>In the next place, if the people of France are not +lightened of taxes, so neither is the state disburdened +of charges. I speak from very good information, +that the annual income of that state is at this day +thirty millions of livres, or 1,350,000<i>l.</i> sterling, short +of a provision for their ordinary peace establishment; +so far are they from the attempt or even hope to discharge +any part of the capital of their enormous debt. +Indeed, under such extreme straitness and distraction +labors the whole body of their finances, so far +does their charge outrun their supply in every particular, +that no man, I believe, who has considered +their affairs with any degree of attention or information, +but must hourly look for some extraordinary +convulsion in that whole system: the effect of which +on France, and even on all Europe, it is difficult to +conjecture.</p> + +<p>In the third point of view, their credit. Let the +reader cast his eye on a table of the price of French +funds, as they stood a few weeks ago, compared with +the state of some of our English stocks, even in their +present low condition:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 22em;"> +<tr><td align='center' colspan="2">French.</td><td align='center' colspan="2">British.</td></tr> +<tr><td>5 per cents </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 2em">63</td><td>Bank stock, 5½</td><td align='right'>159</td></tr> +<tr><td>4 per cent (not taxed) </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 2em">57</td><td>4 per cent cons.</td><td align='right'>100</td></tr> +<tr><td>3 per cent " " + </td><td align='right' style="padding-right: 2em">49</td><td>3 per cent cons.</td><td align='right'>88</td></tr></table> + + +<p><!-- Page 356 --><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332" title="332" class="pagenum"></a>This state of the funds of France and England is +sufficient to convince even prejudice and obstinacy, +that if France and England are not in the same condition +(as the author affirms they are not) the difference +is infinitely to the disadvantage of France. +This depreciation of their funds has not much the air +of a nation lightening burdens and discharging debts.</p> + +<p>Such is the true comparative state of the two kingdoms +in those capital points of view. Now as to the +nature of the taxes which provide for this debt, as +well as for their ordinary establishments, the author +has thought proper to affirm that "they are comparatively +light"; that "she has mortgaged no such oppressive +taxes as ours"; his effrontery on this head +is intolerable. Does the author recollect a single tax +in England to which something parallel in nature, +and as heavy in burden, does not exist in France; +does he not know that the lands of the noblesse are still +under the load of the greater part of the old feudal +charges, from which the gentry of England have been +relieved for upwards of a hundred years, and which +were in kind, as well as burden, much worse than +our modern land-tax? Besides that all the gentry of +France serve in the army on very slender pay, and to +the utter ruin of their fortunes, all those who are not +noble have their lands heavily taxed. Does he not +know that wine, brandy, soap, candles, leather, saltpetre, +gunpowder, are taxed in France? Has he not +heard that government in France has made a monopoly +of that great article of <i>salt?</i> that they compel +the people to take a certain quantity of it, and at a +certain rate, both rate and quantity fixed at the arbitrary +pleasure of the imposer?<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor" +title="Before the war it was sold to, or rather forced on, the consumer +at 11 sous, or about 5_d._ the pound. What it is at present, I am not +informed. Even this will appear no trivial imposition. In London, +salt may be had at a penny farthing per pound from the last retailer.">[66]</a> that they pay in +<!-- Page 357 --><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333" title="333" class="pagenum"></a>France the <i>Taille</i>, an arbitrary imposition on presumed +property? that a tax is laid in fact and name, +on the same arbitrary standard, upon the acquisitions +of their <i>industry</i>? and that in France a heavy <i>capitation-tax</i> +is also paid, from the highest to the very +poorest sort of people? Have we taxes of such +weight, or anything at all of the compulsion, in the +article of <i>salt</i>? do we pay any <i>taillage</i>, any <i>faculty-tax</i>, +any <i>industry-tax?</i> do we pay any <i>capitation-tax</i> +whatsoever? I believe the people of London would +fall into an agony to hear of such taxes proposed +upon them as are paid at Paris. There is not a single +article of provision for man or beast which enters +that great city, and is not excised; corn, hay, meal, +butcher's-meat, fish, fowls, everything. I do not here +mean to censure the policy of taxes laid on the consumption +of great luxurious cities. I only state the +fact. We should be with difficulty brought to hear +of a tax of 50<i>s.</i> upon every ox sold in Smithfield. +Yet this tax is paid in Paris. Wine, the lower sort +of wine, little better than English small beer, pays +2<i>d.</i> a bottle.</p> + +<p>We, indeed, tax our beer; but the imposition on +small beer is very far from heavy. In no part of +England are eatables of any kind the object of taxation. +In almost every other country in Europe they +are excised, more or less. I have by me the state of +the revenues of many of the principal nations on the +Continent; and, on comparing them with ours, I +think I am fairly warranted to assert, that England +is the most lightly taxed of any of the great states +<!-- Page 358 --><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334" title="334" class="pagenum"></a>of Europe. They, whose unnatural and sullen joy +arises from a contemplation of the distresses of their +country, will revolt at this position. But if I am +called upon, I will prove it beyond all possibility of +dispute; even though this proof should deprive these +gentlemen of the singular satisfaction of considering +their country as undone; and though the best civil +government, the best constituted, and the best managed +revenue that ever the world beheld, should be +thoroughly vindicated from their perpetual clamors +and complaints. As to our neighbor and rival France, +in addition to what I have here suggested, I say, and +when the author chooses formally to deny, I shall +formally prove it, that her subjects pay more than +England, on a computation of the wealth of both +countries; that her taxes are more injudiciously and +more oppressively imposed; more vexatiously collected; +come in a smaller proportion to the royal coffers, +and are less applied by far to the public service. +I am not one of those who choose to take the author's +word for this happy and flourishing condition of the +French finances, rather than attend to the changes, +the violent pushes and the despair of all her own financiers. +Does he choose to be referred for the easy +and happy condition of the subject in France to the +remonstrances of their own parliaments, written with +such an eloquence, feeling, and energy, as I have not +seen exceeded in any other writings? The author +may say, their complaints are exaggerated, and the +effects of faction. I answer, that they are the representations +of numerous, grave, and most respectable +bodies of men, upon the affairs of their own country. +But, allowing that discontent and faction may pervert +the judgment of such venerable bodies in France, +<!-- Page 359 --><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335" title="335" class="pagenum"></a>we have as good a right to suppose that the same +causes may full as probably have produced from a +private, however respectable person, that frightful, +and, I trust I have shown, groundless representation +of our own affairs in England.</p> + +<p>The author is so conscious of the dangerous effects +of that representation, that he thinks it necessary, +and very necessary it is, to guard against them. He +assures us, "that he has not made that display of the +difficulties of his country, to expose her counsels to +the ridicule of other states, or to provoke a vanquished +enemy to insult her; nor to excite the people's rage +against their governors, or sink them into a despondency +of the public welfare." I readily admit this +apology for his intentions. God forbid I should think +any man capable of entertaining so execrable and +senseless a design. The true cause of his drawing so +shocking a picture is no more than this; and it ought +rather to claim our pity than excite our indignation; +he finds himself out of power; and this condition is +intolerable to him. The same sun which gilds all +nature, and exhilarates the whole creation, does not +shine upon disappointed ambition. It is something +that rays out of darkness, and inspires nothing but +gloom and melancholy. Men in this deplorable state +of mind find a comfort in spreading the contagion of +their spleen. They find an advantage too; for it is a +general, popular error, to imagine the loudest complainers +for the public to be the most anxious for +its welfare. If such persons can answer the ends of +relief and profit to themselves, they are apt to be +careless enough about either the means or the consequences.</p> + +<p>Whatever this complainant's motives may be, the +<!-- Page 360 --><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336" title="336" class="pagenum"></a>effects can by no possibility be other than those which +he so strongly, and I hope truly, disclaims all intention +of producing. To verify this, the reader has +only to consider how dreadful a picture he has drawn +in his 32nd page, of the state of this kingdom; such +a picture as, I believe, has hardly been applicable, +without some exaggeration, to the most degenerate +and undone commonwealth that ever existed. Let +this view of things be compared with the prospect of +a remedy which he proposes in the page directly opposite, +and the subsequent. I believe no man living +could have imagined it possible, except for the sake +of burlesquing a subject, to propose remedies so ridiculously +disproportionate to the evil, so full of uncertainty +in their operation, and depending for their +success in every step upon the happy event of so +many new, dangerous, and visionary projects. It is +not amiss, that he has thought proper to give the +public some little notice of what they may expect +from his friends, when our affairs shall be committed +to their management. Let us see how the accounts +of disease and remedy are balanced in his "State of +the Nation." In the first place, on the side of evils, +he states, "an impoverished and heavily-burdened +public. A declining trade and decreasing specie. +The power of the crown never so much extended +over the great; but the great without influence over +the lower sort. Parliament losing its reverence with +the people. The voice of the multitude set up against +the sense of the legislature; a people luxurious and +licentious, impatient of rule, and despising all authority. +Government relaxed in every sinew, and a corrupt +selfish spirit pervading the whole. An opinion +of many, that the form of government is not worth +<!-- Page 361 --><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337" title="337" class="pagenum"></a>contending for. No attachment in the bulk of the +people towards the constitution. No reverence for +the customs of our ancestors. No attachment but to +private interest, nor any zeal but for selfish +gratifications. Trade and manufactures going to ruin. +Great Britain in danger of becoming tributary to +France, and the descent of the crown dependent on +her pleasure. Ireland, in case of a war, to become +a prey to France; and Great Britain, unable to recover +Ireland, cede it by treaty," (the author never +can think of a treaty without making cessions,) "in +order to purchase peace for herself. The colonies +left exposed to the ravages of a domestic, or the conquest +of a foreign enemy."—Gloomy enough, God +knows. The author well observes,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 31.">[67]</a> <i>that a mind not +totally devoid of feeling cannot look upon such a prospect +without horror; and an heart capable of humanity +must be unable to hear its description</i>. He ought to +have added, that no man of common discretion ought +to have exhibited it to the public, if it were true; or +of common honesty, if it were false.</p> + +<p>But now for the comfort; the day-star which is to +arise in our hearts; the author's grand scheme for +totally reversing this dismal state of things, and making +us<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 33.">[68]</a> "happy at home and respected abroad, formidable +in war and flourishing in peace."</p> + +<p>In this great work he proceeds with a facility +equally astonishing and pleasing. Never was financier +less embarrassed by the burden of establishments, +or with the difficulty of finding ways and means. If +an establishment is troublesome to him, he lops off at +a stroke just as much of it as he chooses. He mows +down, without giving quarter, or assigning reason, +<!-- Page 362 --><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338" title="338" class="pagenum"></a>army, navy, ordnance, ordinary, extraordinaries; nothing +can stand before him. Then, when he comes to +provide, Amalthea's horn is in his hands; and he +pours out with an inexhaustible bounty, taxes, duties, +loans, and revenues, without uneasiness to himself, +or burden to the public. Insomuch that, when we +consider the abundance of his resources, we cannot +avoid being surprised at his extraordinary attention +to savings. But it is all the exuberance of his goodness.</p> + +<p>This book has so much of a certain tone of power, +that one would be almost tempted to think it written +by some person who had been high in office. A man +is generally rendered somewhat a worse reasoner for +having been a minister. In private, the assent of listening +and obsequious friends; in public, the venal +cry and prepared vote of a passive senate, confirm +him in habits of begging the question with impunity, +and asserting without thinking himself obliged +to prove. Had it not been for some such habits, the +author could never have expected that we should take +his estimate for a peace establishment solely on his +word.</p> + +<p>This estimate which he gives,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 33.">[69]</a> is the great groundwork +of his plan for the national redemption; and it +ought to be well and firmly laid, or what must become +of the superstructure? One would have thought +the natural method in a plan of reformation would +be, to take the present existing estimates as they +stand; and then to show what may be practicably +and safely defalcated from them. This would, I say, +be the natural course; and what would be expected +from a man of business. But this author takes a +<!-- Page 363 --><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339" title="339" class="pagenum"></a>very different method. For the ground of his speculation +of a present peace establishment, he resorts to +a former speculation of the same kind, which was in +the mind of the minister of the year 1764. Indeed it +never existed anywhere else. "The plan,"<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 33.">[70]</a> says he, +with his usual ease, "has been already formed, and +the outline drawn, by the administration of 1764. I +shall attempt to fill up the void and obliterated parts, +and trace its operation. The standing expense of the +present (his projected) peace establishment, <i>improved +by the experience of the two last years, may be thus estimated</i>"; +and he estimates it at 3,468,161<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>Here too it would be natural to expect some reasons +for condemning the subsequent actual establishments, +which have so much transgressed the limits +of his plan of 1764, as well as some arguments in favor +of his new project; which has in some articles +exceeded, in others fallen short, but on the whole is +much below his old one. Hardly a word on any of +these points, the only points however that are in the +least essential; for unless you assign reasons for the +increase or diminution of the several articles of public +charge, the playing at establishments and estimates +is an amusement of no higher order, and of +much less ingenuity, than <i>Questions and commands</i>, +or <i>What is my thought like</i>? To bring more distinctly +under the reader's view this author's strange method of +proceeding, I will lay before him the three schemes; +viz. the idea of the ministers in 1764, the actual estimates +of the two last years as given by the author himself, +and lastly the new project of his political millennium:—</p> + +<div><!-- Page 364 --><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340" title="340" class="pagenum"></a></div> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 39em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Plan of establishment for 1764, as by +"Considerations," p. 43</td><td align='right' valign="bottom"><a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor" +title="The figures in the "Considerations" are wrongly cast up; it +should be 3,608,700_l._">[71]</a> £3,609,700</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Medium of 1767 and 1768, as by "State +of the Nation," p. 29 and 30</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,919,375</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Present peace establishment, as by the +project in "State of the Nation," p. 33</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,468,161</td></tr></table> + + +<p>It is not from anything our author has anywhere +said, that you are enabled to find the ground, much +less the justification, of the immense difference between +these several systems; you must compare them +yourself, article by article; no very pleasing employment, +by the way, to compare the agreement or disagreement +of two chimeras. I now only speak of the +comparison of his own two projects. As to the latter +of them, it differs from the former, by having some +of the articles diminished, and others increased.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor" +title=""Considerations," p. 43. "State of the Nation," p. 33.">[72]</a> I +find the chief article of reduction arises from the +smaller deficiency of land and malt, and of the annuity +funds, which he brings down to 295,561<i>l.</i> in his +new estimate, from 502,400<i>l.</i> which he had allowed +for those articles in the "Considerations." With +this <i>reduction</i>, owing, as it must be, merely to a smaller +deficiency of funds, he has nothing at all to do. +It can be no work and no merit of his. But with regard +to the <i>increase</i>, the matter is very different. It +is all his own; the public is loaded (for anything we +can see to the contrary) entirely <i>gratis</i>. The chief +articles of the increase are on the navy,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor" +title="Ibid.">[73]</a> and on the +army and ordnance extraordinaries; the navy being +<!-- Page 365 --><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341" title="341" class="pagenum"></a>estimated in his "State of the Nation" 50,000<i>l.</i> a +year more, and the army and ordnance extraordinaries +40,000<i>l.</i> more, than he had thought proper to allow +for them in that estimate in his "Considerations," +which he makes the foundation of his present project. +He has given no sort of reason, stated no sort of necessity, +for this additional allowance, either in the +one article or the other. What is still stronger, he +admits that his allowance for the army and ordnance +extras is too great, and expressly refers you to the +"Considerations";<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 34.">[74]</a> where, far from giving 75,000<i>l.</i> +a year to that service, as the "State of the Nation" +has done, the author apprehends his own scanty provision +of 35,000<i>l.</i> to be by far too considerable, and +thinks it may well admit of further reductions.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor" +title="The author of the "State of the Nation," p. 34, informs us, that +the sum of 75,000_l._ allowed by him for the extras of the army and +ordnance, is far less than was allowed for the same service in the years +1767 and 1768. It is so undoubtedly, and by at least 200,000_l._ He +sees that he cannot abide by the plan of the "Considerations" in this +point, nor is he willing wholly to give it up. Such an enormous +difference as that between 35,000_l._ and 300,000_l._ puts him to a stand. +Should he adopt the latter plan of increased expense, he must then +confess that he had, on a former occasion, egregiously trifled with the +public; at the same time all his future promises of reduction must +fall to the ground. If he stuck to the 35,000_l._ he was sure that every +one must expect from him some account how this monstrous charge +came to continue ever since the war, when it was clearly unnecessary; +how all those successions of ministers (his own included) came to pay +it, and why his great friend in Parliament, and his partisans without +doors, came not to pursue to ruin, at least to utter shame, the authors +of so groundless and scandalous a profusion. In this strait he took +a middle way; and, to come nearer the real state of the service, he +outbid the "Considerations," at one stroke, 40,000_l._; at the same +time he hints to you, that you may _expect_ some benefit also from the +original plan. But the author of the "Considerations" will not suffer +him to escape it. He has pinned him down to his 35,000_l._; for +that is the sum he has chosen, not as what he thinks will probably +be required, but as making the most ample allowance for every possible +contingency. See that author, p. 42 and 43.">[75]</a> +<!-- Page 366 --><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342" title="342" class="pagenum"></a>Thus, according to his own principles, this great +economist falls into a vicious prodigality; and is as +far in his estimate from a consistency with his own +principles as with the real nature of the services.</p> + +<p>Still, however, his present establishment differs +from its archetype of 1764, by being, though raised +in particular parts, upon the whole, about 141,000<i>l.</i> +smaller. It is improved, he tells us, by the experience +of the two last years. One would have concluded +that the peace establishment of these two +years had been less than that of 1764, in order to +suggest to the author his improvements, which enabled +him to reduce it. But how does that turn out?</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 28em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Peace establishment<a name="FNanchor_71_71a" id="FNanchor_71_71a"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor" +title="He has done great injustice to the establishment of 1768; but I +have not here time for this discussion; nor is it necessary to this argument.">[76]</a> 1767 and 1768, +medium</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£3,919,375</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Ditto, estimate in the "Considerations," +for 1764</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">3,609,700</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>Difference</td><td align='right'>£309,675</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">A vast increase instead of diminution. The experience +then of the two last years ought naturally to +have given the idea of a heavier establishment; but +this writer is able to diminish by increasing, and to +draw the effects of subtraction from the operations of +addition. By means of these new powers, he may +certainly do whatever he pleases. He is indeed moderate +enough in the use of them, and condescends to +settle his establishments at 3,468,161<i>l.</i> a year.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 367 --><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343" title="343" class="pagenum"></a>However, he has not yet done with it; he has further +ideas of saving, and new resources of revenue. +These additional savings are principally two: 1st, <i>It +is to be hoped</i>,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 34.">[77]</a> says he, that the sum of 250,000<i>l.</i> +(which in the estimate he allows for the deficiency +of land and malt) will be less by 37,924<i>l.</i><a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor" +title="In making up this account, he falls into a surprising error of +arithmetic. "The deficiency of the land-tax in the year 1754 and +1755, when it was at 2_s._, amounted to no more, on a medium, than +49,372_l._; to which, if we add _half the sum_, it will give us 79,058_l._ as +the peace deficiency at 3_s._" ... Table... +Which he makes 79,058_l._ This is indeed in disfavor of his argument; +but we shall see that he has ways, by other errors, of reimbursing +himself.">[78]</a></p> + +<p>2nd, That the sum of 20,000<i>l.</i> allowed for the +Foundling Hospital, and 1800<i>l.</i> for American Surveys, +will soon cease to be necessary, as the services +will be completed.</p> + +<p class="noindent">What follows, with regard to the resources,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 34.">[79]</a> is +very well worthy the reader's attention. "Of this +estimate," says he, "upwards of 300,000<i>l.</i> will be for +the plantation service; and that sum, <i>I hope</i>, the people +of Ireland and the colonies <i>might be induced</i> to +take off Great Britain, and defray between them, in +the proportion of 200,000<i>l.</i> by the colonies, and +100,000<i>l.</i> by Ireland."</p> + +<p>Such is the whole of this mighty scheme. Take +his reduced estimate, and his further reductions, and +his resources all together, and the result will be,—he +<!-- Page 368 --><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344" title="344" class="pagenum"></a>will <i>certainly</i> lower the provision made for the navy. +He will cut off largely (God knows what or how) +from the army and ordnance extraordinaries. He +may be <i>expected</i> to cut off more. He <i>hopes</i> that the +deficiencies on land and malt will be less than usual; +and he <i>hopes</i> that America and Ireland might be <i>induced</i> +to take off 300,000<i>l.</i> of our annual charges.</p> + +<p>If any of these Hopes, Mights, Insinuations, Expectations, +and Inducements, should fail him, there will +be a formidable gaping breach in his whole project. +If all of them should fail, he has left the nation without +a glimmering of hope in this thick night of terrors +which he has thought fit to spread about us. If +every one of them, which, attended with success, +would signify anything to our revenue, can have no +effect but to add to our distractions and dangers, we +shall be if possible in a still worse condition from his +projects of cure, than he represents us from our original +disorders.</p> + +<p>Before we examine into the consequences of these +schemes, and the probability of these savings, let us +suppose them all real and all safe, and then see what +it is they amount to, and how he reasons on them:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>Deficiency on land and malt, less by</td><td align='right'>£37,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Foundling Hospital</td><td align='right'>20,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>American Surveys</td><td align='right'>1,800</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>———</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>£58,800</td></tr></table> + +<p>This is the amount of the only articles of saving he +specifies: and yet he chooses to assert,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 34.">[81]</a> "that we +may venture on the credit of them to reduce the +standing expenses of the estimate (from 3,468,161<i>l.</i>) +to 3,300,000<i>l.</i>"; that is, for a saving of 58,000<i>l.</i> he +<!-- Page 369 --><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345" title="345" class="pagenum"></a>is not ashamed to take credit for a defalcation from +his own ideal establishment in a sum of no less than +168,161<i>l.</i>! Suppose even that we were to take up +the estimate of the "Considerations" (which is however +abandoned in the "State of the Nation"), and +reduce his 75,000<i>l.</i> extraordinaries to the original +35,000<i>l.</i>, still all these savings joined together give +us but 98,800<i>l.</i>; that is, near 70,000<i>l.</i> short of the +credit he calls for, and for which he has neither given +any reason, nor furnished any data whatsoever for +others to reason upon.</p> + +<p>Such are his savings, as operating on his own project +of a peace establishment. Let us now consider +them as they affect the existing establishment and +our actual services. He tells us, the sum allowed in +his estimate for the navy is "69,321<i>l.</i> less than the +grant for that service in 1767; but in that grant +30,000<i>l.</i> was included for the purchase of hemp, and +a saving of about 25,000<i>l.</i> was made in that year." +The author has got some secret in arithmetic. These +two sums put together amount, in the ordinary way +of computing, to 55,000<i>l.</i>, and not to 69,321<i>l.</i> On +what principle has he chosen to take credit for +14,321<i>l.</i> more? To what this strange inaccuracy +is owing, I cannot possibly comprehend; nor is it +very material, where the logic is so bad, and the +policy so erroneous, whether the arithmetic be just or +otherwise. But in a scheme for making this nation +"happy at home and respected abroad, formidable in +war and flourishing in peace," it is surely a little unfortunate +for us, that he has picked out the <i>Navy</i>, as +the very first object of his economical experiments. +Of all the public services, that of the navy is the one +in which tampering may be of the greatest danger, +<!-- Page 370 --><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346" title="346" class="pagenum"></a>which can worst be supplied upon an emergency, and +of which any failure draws after it the longest and +heaviest train of consequences. I am far from saying, +that this or any service ought not to be conducted +with economy. But I will never suffer the +sacred name of economy to be bestowed upon arbitrary +defalcation of charge. The author tells us himself, +"that to suffer the navy to rot in harbor for +want of repairs and marines, would be to invite destruction." +It would be so. When the author talks +therefore of savings on the navy estimate, it is incumbent +on him to let us know, not what sums he will +cut off, but what branch of that service he deems superfluous. +Instead of putting us off with unmeaning +generalities, he ought to have stated what naval force, +what naval works, and what naval stores, with the +lowest estimated expense, are necessary to keep our +marine in a condition commensurate to its great +ends. And this too not for the contracted and deceitful +space of a single year, but for some reasonable +term. Everybody knows that many charges cannot +be in their nature regular or annual. In the year +1767 a stock of hemp, &c., was to be laid in; that +charge intermits, but it does not end. Other charges +of other kinds take their place. Great works are now +carrying on at Portsmouth, but not of greater magnitude +than utility; and they must be provided for. +A year's estimate is therefore no just idea at all of a +permanent peace establishment. Had the author +opened this matter upon these plain principles, a +judgment might have been formed, how far he had +contrived to reconcile national defence with public +economy. Till he has done it, those who had rather +depend on any man's reason than the greatest man's +<!-- Page 371 --><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347" title="347" class="pagenum"></a>authority, will not give him credit on this head, for +the saving of a single shilling. As to those savings +which are already made, or in course of being made, +whether right or wrong, he has nothing at all to do +with them; they can be no part of his project, considered +as a plan of reformation. I greatly fear that the +error has not lately been on the side of profusion.</p> + +<p>Another head is the saving on the army and ordnance +extraordinaries, particularly in the American +branch. What or how much reduction may be made, +none of us, I believe, can with any fairness pretend +to say; very little, I am convinced. The state of +America is extremely unsettled; more troops have +been sent thither; new dispositions have been made; +and this augmentation of number, and change of disposition, +has rarely, I believe, the effect of lessening +the bill for extraordinaries, which, if not this year, +yet in the next we must certainly feel. Care has not +been wanting to introduce economy into that part of +the service. The author's great friend has made, I +admit, some regulations: his immediate successors +have made more and better. This part will be handled +more ably and more minutely at another time: +but no one can cut down this bill of extraordinaries +at his pleasure. The author has given us nothing, +but his word, for any certain or considerable reduction; +and this we ought to be the more cautious in +taking, as he has promised great savings in his "Considerations," +which he has not chosen to abide by in +his "State of the Nation."</p> + +<p>On this head also of the American extraordinaries, +he can take credit for nothing. As to his next, the +lessening of the deficiency of the land and malt-tax, +particularly of the malt-tax, any person the least +<!-- Page 372 --><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348" title="348" class="pagenum"></a>conversant in that subject cannot avoid a smile. +This deficiency arises from charge of collection, from +anticipation, and from defective produce. What has +the author said on the reduction of any head of this +deficiency upon the land-tax? On these points he is +absolutely silent. As to the deficiency on the malt-tax, +which is chiefly owing to a defective produce, he +has and can have nothing to propose. If this deficiency +should he lessened by the increase of malting +in any years more than in others, (as it is a greatly +fluctuating object,) how much of this obligation shall +we owe to this author's ministry? will it not be the +case under any administration? must it not go to +the general service of the year, in some way or other, +let the finances be in whose hands they will? But +why take credit for so extremely reduced a deficiency +at all? I can tell him he has no rational ground for +it in the produce of the year 1767; and I suspect will +have full as little reason from the produce of the year +1768. That produce may indeed become greater, +and the deficiency of course will be less. It may too +be far otherwise. A fair and judicious financier will +not, as this writer has done, for the sake of making +out a specious account, select a favorable year or two, +at remote periods, and ground his calculations on +those. In 1768 he will not take the deficiencies of +1753 and 1754 for his standard. Sober men have +hitherto (and must continue this course, to preserve +this character,) taken indifferently the mediums of +the years immediately preceding. But a person who +has a scheme from which he promises much to the +public ought to be still more cautious; he should +ground his speculation rather on the lowest mediums +because all new schemes are known to be sub<!-- Page 373 --><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349" title="349" class="pagenum"></a>ject +to some defect or failure not foreseen; and which +therefore every prudent proposer will be ready to allow +for, in order to lay his foundation as low and as +solid as possible. Quite contrary is the practice of +some politicians. They first propose savings, which +they well know cannot be made, in order to get a +reputation for economy. In due time they assume +another, but a different method, by providing for the +service they had before cut off or straitened, and +which they can then very easily prove to be necessary. +In the same spirit they raise magnificent ideas +of revenue on funds which they know to be insufficient. +Afterwards, who can blame them, if they do +not satisfy the public desires? They are great artificers +but they cannot work without materials.</p> + +<p>These are some of the little arts of great statesmen. +To such we leave them, and follow where the author +leads us, to his next resource, the Foundling Hospital. +Whatever particular virtue there is in the mode +of this saving, there seems to be nothing at all new, +and indeed nothing wonderfully important in it. The +sum annually voted for the support of the Foundling +Hospital has been in a former Parliament limited +to the establishment of the children then in +the hospital. When they are apprenticed, this provision +will cease. It will therefore fall in more +or less at different times; and will at length cease +entirely. But, until it does, we cannot reckon upon it +as the saving on the establishment of any given year: +nor can any one conceive how the author comes to +mention this, any more than some other articles, as +a part of a <i>new</i> plan of economy which is to retrieve +our affairs. This charge will indeed cease in its +own time. But will no other succeed to it? Has +<!-- Page 374 --><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350" title="350" class="pagenum"></a>he ever known the public free from some contingent +charge, either for the just support of royal +dignity or for national magnificence, or for public +charity, or for public service? does he choose to flatter +his readers that no such will ever return? or +does he in good earnest declare, that let the reason, +or necessity, be what they will, he is resolved not to +provide for such services?</p> + +<p>Another resource of economy yet remains, for he +gleans the field very closely,—1800<i>l.</i> for the American +surveys. Why, what signifies a dispute about +trifles? he shall have it. But while he is carrying it +off, I shall just whisper in his ear, that neither the +saving that is allowed, nor that which is doubted of, +can at all belong to that future proposed administration, +whose touch is to cure all our evils. Both the +one and the other belong equally (as indeed all the +rest do) to the present administration, to any administration; +because they are the gift of time, and not +the bounty of the exchequer.</p> + +<p>I have now done with all the minor, preparatory +parts of the author's scheme, the several articles of +saving which he proposes. At length comes the capital +operation, his new resources. Three hundred +thousand pounds a year from America and Ireland.—Alas! +alas! if that too should fail us, what will +become of this poor undone nation? The author, in +a tone of great humility, <i>hopes</i> they may be induced +to pay it. Well, if that be all, we may hope so too: +and for any light he is pleased to give us into the +ground of this hope, and the ways and means of this +inducement, here is a speedy end both of the question +and the revenue.</p> + +<p>It is the constant custom of this author, in all his +<!-- Page 375 --><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351" title="351" class="pagenum"></a>writings, to take it for granted, that he has given you +a revenue, whenever he can point out to you where +you may have money, if you can contrive how to get +at it; and this seems to be the masterpiece of his +financial ability. I think, however, in his way of proceeding, +he has behaved rather like a harsh step-dame, +than a kind nursing-mother to his country. +Why stop at 300,000<i>l.</i> If his state of things be at +all founded, America and Ireland are much better +able to pay 600,000<i>l.</i> than we are to satisfy ourselves +with half that sum. However, let us forgive him this +one instance of tenderness towards Ireland and the +colonies.</p> + +<p>He spends a vast deal of time<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 35.">[82]</a> in an endeavor to +prove that Ireland is able to bear greater impositions. +He is of opinion, that the poverty of the lower class +of people there is, in a great measure, owing to <i>a +want</i> of judicious taxes; that a land-tax will enrich +her tenants; that taxes are paid in England which +are not paid there; that the colony trade is increased +above 100,000<i>l.</i> since the peace; that she <i>ought</i> to +have further indulgence in that trade; and ought to +have further privileges in the woollen manufacture. +From these premises, of what she has, what she has +not, and what she ought to have, he infers that Ireland +will contribute 100,000<i>l.</i> towards the extraordinaries +of the American establishment.</p> + +<p>I shall make no objections whatsoever, logical or +financial, to this reasoning: many occur; but they +would lead me from my purpose, from which I do +not intend to be diverted, because it seems to me of +no small importance. It will be just enough to hint, +what I dare say many readers have before observed, +<!-- Page 376 --><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352" title="352" class="pagenum"></a>that when any man proposes new taxes in a country +with which he is not personally conversant by residence +or office, he ought to lay open its situation +much more minutely and critically than this author +has done, or than perhaps he is able to do. He +ought not to content himself with saying that a single +article of her trade is increased 100,000<i>l.</i> a year; +he ought, if he argues from the increase of trade +to the increase of taxes, to state the whole trade, +and not one branch of trade only; he ought to +enter fully into the state of its remittances, and the +course of its exchange; he ought likewise to examine +whether all its establishments are increased or +diminished; and whether it incurs or discharges debts +annually. But I pass over all this; and am content +to ask a few plain questions.</p> + +<p>Does the author then seriously mean to propose in +Parliament a land-tax, or any tax for 100,000<i>l.</i> a year +upon Ireland? If he does, and if fatally, by his temerity +and our weakness, he should succeed; then I +say he will throw the whole empire from one end of +it to the other into mortal convulsions. What is it +that can satisfy the furious and perturbed mind of +this man? is it not enough for him that such projects +have alienated our colonies from the mother-country, +and not to propose violently to tear our sister kingdom +also from our side, and to convince every dependent +part of the empire, that, when a little money +is to be raised, we have no sort of regard to their ancient +customs, their opinions, their circumstances, or +their affections? He has however a <i>douceur</i> for Ireland +in his pocket; benefits in trade, by opening the +woollen manufacture to that nation. A very right +idea in my opinion; but not more strong in reason, +<!-- Page 377 --><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353" title="353" class="pagenum"></a>than likely to be opposed by the most powerful and +most violent of all local prejudices and popular passions. +First, a fire is already kindled by his schemes +of taxation in America; he then proposes one which +will set all Ireland in a blaze; and his way of quenching +both is by a plan which may kindle perhaps ten +times a greater flame in Britain.</p> + +<p>Will the author pledge himself, previously to his +proposal of such a tax, to carry this enlargement of +the Irish trade? If he does not, then the tax will be +certain; the benefit will be less than problematical. +In this view, his compensation to Ireland vanishes +into smoke; the tax, to their prejudices, will appear +stark naked in the light of an act of arbitrary power +and oppression. But, if he should propose the benefit +and tax together, then the people of Ireland, a very +high and spirited people, would think it the worst +bargain in the world. They would look upon the +one as wholly vitiated and poisoned by the other; +and, if they could not be separated, would infallibly +resist them both together. Here would be taxes, indeed, +amounting to a handsome sum; 100,000<i>l.</i> very +effectually voted, and passed through the best and +most authentic forms; but how to be collected?—This +is his perpetual manner. One of his projects +depends for success upon another project, and this +upon a third, all of them equally visionary. His finance +is like the Indian philosophy; his earth is +poised on the horns of a bull, his bull stands upon +an elephant, his elephant is supported by a tortoise; +and so on forever.</p> + +<p>As to his American 200,000<i>l.</i> a year, he is satisfied +to repeat gravely, as he has done an hundred times +before, that the Americans are able to pay it. Well, +<!-- Page 378 --><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354" title="354" class="pagenum"></a>and what then? does he lay open any part of his plan +how they may be compelled to pay it, without plunging +ourselves into calamities that outweigh tenfold +the proposed benefit? or does he show how they may +be induced to submit to it quietly? or does he give +any satisfaction concerning the mode of levying it; +in commercial colonies, one of the most important +and difficult of all considerations? Nothing like it. +To the Stamp Act, whatever its excellences may be, +I think he will not in reality recur, or even choose +to assert that he means to do so, in case his minister +should come again into power. If he does, I will predict +that some of the fastest friends of that minister +will desert him upon this point. As to port duties +he has damned them all in the lump, by declaring +them<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 37.">[83]</a> "contrary to the first principles of colonization, +and not less prejudicial to the interests of Great +Britain than to those of the colonies." Surely this +single observation of his ought to have taught him a +little caution; he ought to have begun to doubt, +whether there is not something in the nature of commercial +colonies, which renders them an unfit object +of taxation; when port duties, so large a fund of revenue +in all countries, are by himself found, in this +case, not only improper, but destructive. However, +he has here pretty well narrowed the field of taxation. +Stamp Act, hardly to be resumed. Port duties, mischievous. +Excises, I believe, he will scarcely think +worth the collection (if any revenue should be so) in +America. Land-tax (notwithstanding his opinion of +its immense use to agriculture) he will not directly +propose, before he has thought again and again on the +subject. Indeed he very readily recommends it for +<!-- Page 379 --><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355" title="355" class="pagenum"></a>Ireland, and seems to think it not improper for America; +because, he observes, they already raise most of +their taxes internally, including this tax. A most +curious reason, truly! because their lands are already +heavily burdened, he thinks it right to burden them +still further. But he will recollect, for surely he cannot +be ignorant of it, that the lands of America are +not, as in England, let at a rent certain in money, and +therefore cannot, as here, be taxed at a certain pound +rate. They value them in gross among themselves; +and none but themselves in their several districts can +value them. Without their hearty concurrence and +co-operation, it is evident, we cannot advance a step +in the assessing or collecting any land-tax. As to the +taxes which in some places the Americans pay by the +acre, they are merely duties of regulation; they are +small; and to increase them, notwithstanding the +secret virtues of a land-tax, would be the most effectual +means of preventing that cultivation they are +intended to promote. Besides, the whole country is +heavily in arrear already for land-taxes and quit-rents. +They have different methods of taxation in +the different provinces, agreeable to their several +local circumstances. In New England by far the +greatest part of their revenue is raised by <i>faculty-taxes</i> +and <i>capitations</i>. Such is the method in many +others. It is obvious that Parliament, unassisted by +the colonies themselves, cannot take so much as a +single step in this mode of taxation. Then what tax +is it he will impose? Why, after all the boasting +speeches and writings of his faction for these four +years, after all the vain expectations which they have +held out to a deluded public, this their great advocate, +after twisting the subject every way, after writh<!-- Page 380 --><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356" title="356" class="pagenum"></a>ing +himself in every posture, after knocking at every +door, is obliged fairly to abandon every mode of taxation +whatsoever in America.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 37, 38.">[84]</a> He thinks it the best +method for Parliament to impose the sum, and reserve +the account to itself, leaving the mode of taxation to +the colonies. But how and in what proportion? what +does the author say? O, not a single syllable on this +the most material part of the whole question! Will +he, in Parliament, undertake to settle the proportions +of such payments from Nova Scotia to Nevis, in no +fewer than six-and-twenty different countries, varying +in almost every possible circumstance one from another? +If he does, I tell him, he adjourns his revenue +to a very long day. If he leaves it to themselves +to settle these proportions, he adjourns it to doomsday.</p> + +<p>Then what does he get by this method on the side +of acquiescence? will the people of America relish +this course, of giving and granting and applying their +money, the better because their assemblies are made +commissioners of the taxes? This is far worse than +all his former projects; for here, if the assemblies +shall refuse, or delay, or be negligent, or fraudulent, +in this new-imposed duty, we are wholly without remedy; +and neither our custom-house officers, nor our +troops, nor our armed ships can be of the least use +in the collection. No idea can be more contemptible +(I will not call it an oppressive one, the harshness is +lost in the folly) than that of proposing to get any +revenue from the Americans but by their freest and +most cheerful consent. Most moneyed men know their +own interest right well; and are as able as any financier, +in the valuation of risks. Yet I think this financier +will scarcely find that adventurer hardy enough, +<!-- Page 381 --><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357" title="357" class="pagenum"></a>at any premium, to advance a shilling upon a vote of +such taxes. Let him name the man, or set of men, +that would do it. This is the only proof of the value +of revenues; what would an interested man rate them +at? His subscription would be at ninety-nine per +cent discount the very first day of its opening. Here +is our only national security from ruin; a security +upon which no man in his senses would venture a +shilling of his fortune. Yet he puts down those articles +as gravely in his supply for the peace establishment, +as if the money had been all fairly lodged in +the exchequer.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 14em;"> +<tr><td>American revenue</td><td align='right'>£200,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ireland</td><td align='right'>100,000</td></tr></table> + +<p class="noindent">Very handsome indeed! But if supply is to be got +in such a manner, farewell the lucrative mystery of +finance! If you are to be credited for savings, without +showing how, why, or with what safety, they are +to be made; and for revenues, without specifying on +what articles, or by what means, or at what expense, +they are to be collected; there is not a clerk in a public +office who may not outbid this author, or his friend, +for the department of chancellor of the exchequer; +not an apprentice in the city, that will not strike out, +with the same advantages, the same, or a much larger +plan of supply.</p> + +<p>Here is the whole of what belongs to the author's +scheme for saving us from impending destruction. +Take it even in its most favorable point of view, as a +thing within possibility; and imagine what must be +the wisdom of this gentleman, or his opinion of ours, +who could first think of representing this nation in +such a state, as no friend can look upon but with hor<!-- Page 382 --><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358" title="358" class="pagenum"></a>ror, +and scarcely an enemy without compassion, and +afterwards of diverting himself with such inadequate, +impracticable, puerile methods for our relief! If +these had been the dreams of some unknown, unnamed, +and nameless writer, they would excite no +alarm; their weakness had been an antidote to their +malignity. But as they are universally believed to be +written by the hand, or, what amounts to the same +thing, under the immediate direction, of a person +who has been in the management of the highest affairs, +and may soon be in the same situation, I think +it is not to be reckoned amongst our greatest consolations, +that the yet remaining power of this kingdom +is to be employed in an attempt to realize notions +that are at once so frivolous, and so full of danger. +That consideration will justify me in dwelling a little +longer on the difficulties of the nation, and the solutions +of our author.</p> + +<p>I am then persuaded that he cannot be in the least +alarmed about our situation, let his outcry be what +he pleases. I will give him a reason for my opinion, +which, I think, he cannot dispute. All that he bestows +upon the nation, which it does not possess without +him, and supposing it all sure money, amounts to +no more than a sum of 300,000<i>l.</i> a year. This, he +thinks, will do the business completely, and render us +flourishing at home, and respectable abroad. If the +option between glory and shame, if our salvation or +destruction, depended on this sum, it is impossible +that he should have been active, and made a merit of +that activity, in taking off a shilling in the pound of +the land-tax, which came up to his grand desideratum, +and upwards of 100,000<i>l.</i> more. By this manoeuvre, +he left our trade, navigation, and manufac<!-- Page 383 --><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359" title="359" class="pagenum"></a>tures, +on the verge of destruction, our finances in +ruin, our credit expiring, Ireland on the point of being +ceded to France, the colonies of being torn to +pieces, the succession of the crown at the mercy of +our great rival, and the kingdom itself on the very +point of becoming tributary to that haughty power. +All this for want of 300,000<i>l.</i>; for I defy the reader to +point out any other revenue, or any other precise and +defined scheme of politics, which he assigns for our +redemption.</p> + +<p>I know that two things may be said in his defence, +as bad reasons are always at hand in an indifferent +cause; that he was not sure the money would be applied +as he thinks it ought to be, by the present ministers. +I think as ill of them as he does to the full. +They have done very near as much mischief as they +can do, to a constitution so robust as this is. Nothing +can make them more dangerous, but that, as they are +already in general composed of his disciples and instruments, +they may add to the public calamity of their +own measures, the adoption of his projects. But be +the ministers what they may, the author knows that +they could not avoid applying this 450,000<i>l.</i> to the service +of the establishment, as faithfully as he, or any +other minister, could do. I say they could not avoid +it, and have no merit at all for the application. But +supposing that they should greatly mismanage this +revenue. Here is a good deal of room for mistake +and prodigality before you come to the edge of ruin. +The difference between the amount of that real and +his imaginary revenue is, 150,000<i>l.</i> a year at least; a +tolerable sum for them to play with: this might compensate +the difference between the author's economy +and their profusion; and still, notwithstanding their +<!-- Page 384 --><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360" title="360" class="pagenum"></a>vices and ignorance, the nation might he saved. The +author ought also to recollect, that a good man would +hardly deny, even to the worst of ministers, the +means of doing their duty; especially in a crisis when +our being depended on supplying them with some +means or other. In such a case their penury of mind, +in discovering resources, would make it rather the +more necessary, not to strip such poor providers of +the little stock they had in hand.</p> + +<p>Besides, here is another subject of distress, and a +very serious one, which puts us again to a stand. The +author may possibly not come into power (I only state +the possibility): he may not always continue in it: +and if the contrary to all this should fortunately for +us happen, what insurance on his life can be made +for a sum adequate to his loss? Then we are thus +unluckily situated, that the <i>chance</i> of an American +and Irish revenue of 300,000<i>l.</i> to be managed by him, +is to save us from ruin two or three years hence at +best, to make us happy at home and glorious abroad; +and the actual possession of 400,000<i>l.</i> English taxes +cannot so much as protract our ruin without him. +So we are staked on four chances; his power, its permanence, +the success of his projects, and the duration +of his life. Any one of these failing, we are gone. +<i>Propria hæc si dona fuissent!</i> This is no unfair representation; +ultimately all hangs on his life, because, +in his account of every set of men that have held or +supported administration, he finds neither virtue nor +ability in any but himself. Indeed he pays (through +their measures) some compliments to Lord Bute and +Lord Despenser. But to the latter, this is, I suppose, +but a civility to old acquaintance: to the former, a +little stroke of politics. We may therefore fairly say, +<!-- Page 385 --><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361" title="361" class="pagenum"></a>that our only hope is his life; and he has, to make it +the more so, taken care to cut off any resource which +we possessed independently of him.</p> + +<p>In the next place it may be said, to excuse any appearance +of inconsistency between the author's actions +and his declarations, that he thought it right to +relieve the landed interest, and lay the burden where +it ought to lie, on the colonies. What! to take off +a revenue so necessary to our being, before anything +whatsoever was acquired in the place of it? In prudence, +he ought to have waited at least for the first +quarter's receipt of the new anonymous American +revenue, and Irish land-tax. Is there something so +specific for our disorders in American, and something +so poisonous in English money, that one is to heal, +the other to destroy us? To say that the landed interest +<i>could</i> not continue to pay it for a year or two +longer, is more than the author will attempt to prove. +To say that they <i>would</i> pay it no longer, is to treat +the landed interest, in my opinion, very scurvily. +To suppose that the gentry, clergy, and freeholders +of England do not rate the commerce, the credit, the +religion, the liberty, the independency of their country, +and the succession of their crown, at a shilling +in the pound land-tax! They never gave him reason +to think so meanly of them. And, if I am rightly informed, +when that measure was debated in Parliament, +a very different reason was assigned by the +author's great friend, as well as by others, for that +reduction: one very different from the critical and +almost desperate state of our finances. Some people +then endeavored to prove, that the reduction might +be made without detriment to the national credit, or +the due support of a proper peace establishment; oth<!-- Page 386 --><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362" title="362" class="pagenum"></a>erwise +it is obvious that the reduction could not be +defended in argument. So that this author cannot +despair so much of the commonwealth, without this +American and Irish revenue, as he pretends to do. +If he does, the reader sees how handsomely he has +provided for us, by voting away one revenue, and by +giving us a pamphlet on the other.</p> + +<p>I do not mean to blame the relief which was then +given by Parliament to the land. It was grounded +on very weighty reasons. The administration contended +only for its continuance for a year, in order +to have the merit of taking off the shilling in the +pound immediately before the elections; and thus +to bribe the freeholders of England with their own +money.</p> + +<p>It is true, the author, in his estimate of ways and +means, takes credit for 400,000<i>l.</i> a year, <i>Indian Revenue</i>. +But he will not very positively insist, that we +should put this revenue to the account of his plans or +his power; and for a very plain reason: we are already +near two years in possession of it. By what +means we came to that possession, is a pretty long +story; however, I shall give nothing more than a +short abstract of the proceeding, in order to see +whether the author will take to himself any part in +that measure.</p> + +<p>The fact is this; the East India Company had for +a good while solicited the ministry for a negotiation, +by which they proposed to pay largely for some advantages +in their trade, and for the renewal of their +charter. This had been the former method of transacting +with that body. Government having only +leased the monopoly for short terms, the Company +has been obliged to resort to it frequently for renew<!-- Page 387 --><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363" title="363" class="pagenum"></a>als. +These two parties had always negotiated (on the +true principle of credit) not as government and subject, +but as equal dealers, on the footing of mutual +advantage. The public had derived great benefit +from such dealing. But at that time new ideas prevailed. +The ministry, instead of listening to the proposals +of that Company, chose to set up a claim of the +crown to their possessions. The original plan seems +to have been, to get the House of Commons to compliment +the crown with a sort of juridical declaration +of a title to the Company's acquisitions in India; +which the crown on its part, with the best air in the +world, was to bestow upon the public. Then it +would come to the turn of the House of Commons +again to be liberal and grateful to the crown. The +civil list debts were to be paid off; with perhaps a +pretty augmentation of income. All this was to be +done on the most public-spirited principles, and with +a politeness and mutual interchange of good offices, +that could not but have charmed. But what was +best of all, these civilities were to be without a farthing +of charge to either of the kind and obliging +parties. The East India Company was to be covered +with infamy and disgrace, and at the same time was +to pay the whole bill.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this scheme, the terrors of a +parliamentary inquiry were hung over them. A judicature +was asserted in Parliament to try this question. +But lest this judicial character should chance +to inspire certain stubborn ideas of law and right, it +was argued, that the judicature was arbitrary, and +ought not to determine by the rules of law, but by +their opinion of policy and expediency. Nothing exceeded +the violence of some of the managers, except +<!-- Page 388 --><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364" title="364" class="pagenum"></a>their impotence. They were bewildered by their passions, +and by their want of knowledge or want of consideration +of the subject. The more they advanced, +the further they found themselves from their object.—All +things ran into confusion. The ministers +quarrelled among themselves. They disclaimed one +another. They suspended violence, and shrunk from +treaty. The inquiry was almost at its last gasp; +when some active persons of the Company were given +to understand that this hostile proceeding was only +set up <i>in terrorem</i>; that government was far from an +intention of seizing upon the possessions of the Company. +Administration, they said, was sensible, that +the idea was in every light full of absurdity; and +that such a seizure was not more out of their power, +than remote from their wishes; and therefore, if the +Company would come in a liberal manner to the +House, they certainly could not fail of putting a +speedy end to this disagreeable business, and of opening +a way to an advantageous treaty.</p> + +<p>On this hint the Company acted: they came at +once to a resolution of getting rid of the difficulties +which arose from the complication of their trade with +their revenue; a step which despoiled them of their +best defensive armor, and put them at once into the +power of administration. They threw their whole +stock of every kind, the revenue, the trade, and even +their debt from government, into one fund, which +they computed on the surest grounds would amount +to 800,000<i>l.</i>, with a large probable surplus for the +payment of debt. Then they agreed to divide this +sum in equal portions between themselves and the +public, 400,000<i>l.</i> to each. This gave to the proprietors +of that fund an annual augmentation of no more +<!-- Page 389 --><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365" title="365" class="pagenum"></a>than 80,000<i>l.</i> dividend. They ought to receive from +government 120,000<i>l.</i> for the loan of their capital. +So that, in fact, the whole, which on this plan they reserved +to themselves, from their vast revenues, from +their extensive trade, and in consideration of the great +risks and mighty expenses which purchased these advantages, +amounted to no more than 280,000<i>l.</i>, whilst +government was to receive, as I said, 400,000<i>l.</i></p> + +<p>This proposal was thought by themselves liberal +indeed; and they expected the highest applauses +for it. However, their reception was very different +from their expectations. When they brought up +their plan to the House of Commons, the offer, as it +was natural, of 400,000<i>l.</i> was very well relished. But +nothing could be more disgustful than the 80,000<i>l.</i> +which the Company had divided amongst themselves. +A violent tempest of public indignation and fury +rose against them. The heads of people turned. +The Company was held well able to pay 400,000<i>l.</i> +a year to government; but bankrupts, if they attempted +to divide the fifth part of it among themselves. +An <i>ex post facto</i> law was brought in with +great precipitation, for annulling this dividend. In +the bill was inserted a clause, which suspended for +about a year the right, which, under the public faith, +the Company enjoyed, of making their own dividends. +Such was the disposition and temper of the House, +that although the plain face of facts, reason, arithmetic, +all the authority, parts, and eloquence in the +kingdom, were against this bill; though all the Chancellors +of the Exchequer, who had held that office +from the beginning of this reign, opposed it; yet a +few placemen of the subordinate departments sprung +out of their ranks, took the lead, and, by an opinion +<!-- Page 390 --><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366" title="366" class="pagenum"></a><i>of some sort of secret support</i>, carried the bill with a +high hand, leaving the then Secretary of State and +the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a very moderate +minority. In this distracted situation, the managers +of the bill, notwithstanding their triumph, did not +venture to propose the payment of the civil list debt. +The Chancellor of the Exchequer was not in good +humor enough, after his late defeat by his own troops, +to co-operate in such a design; so they made an act, +to lock up the money in the exchequer until they +should have time to look about them, and settle +among themselves what they were to do with it.</p> + +<p>Thus ended this unparalleled transaction. The +author, I believe, will not claim any part of the glory +of it: he will leave it whole and entire to the authors +of the measure. The money was the voluntary, free +gift of the Company; the rescinding bill was the act +of legislature, to which they and we owe submission: +the author has nothing to do with the one or with the +other. However, he cannot avoid rubbing himself +against this subject merely for the pleasure of stirring +controversies, and gratifying a certain pruriency of +taxation that seems to infect his blood. It is merely +to indulge himself in speculations of taxing, that he +chooses to harangue on this subject. For he takes +credit for no greater sum than the public is already +in possession of. He does not hint that the Company +means, or has ever shown any disposition, if managed +with common prudence, to pay less in future; and he +cannot doubt that the present ministry are as well inclined +to drive them by their mock inquiries, and real +rescinding bills, as he can possibly be with his taxes. +Besides, it is obvious, that as great a sum might have +been drawn from that Company, without affecting +<!-- Page 391 --><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367" title="367" class="pagenum"></a>property, or shaking the constitution, or endangering +the principle of public credit, or running into his golden +dreams of cockets on the Ganges, or visions of stamp-duties +on <i>Perwannas</i>, <i>Dusticks</i>, <i>Kistbundees</i>, and <i>Husbulhookums</i>. +For once, I will disappoint him in this +part of the dispute; and only in a very few words +recommend to his consideration, how he is to get off +the dangerous idea of taxing a public fund, if he levies +those duties in England; and if he is to levy them +in India, what provision he has made for a revenue +establishment there; supposing that he undertakes +this new scheme of finance independently of the Company, +and against its inclinations.</p> + +<p>So much for these revenues; which are nothing +but his visions, or already the national possessions +without any act of his. It is easy to parade with a +high talk of Parliamentary rights, of the universality +of legislative powers, and of uniform taxation. Men +of sense, when new projects come before them, always +think a discourse proving the mere right or mere +power of acting in the manner proposed, to be no +more than a very unpleasant way of misspending time. +They must see the object to be of proper magnitude +to engage them; they must see the means of compassing +it to be next to certain; the mischiefs not to +counterbalance the profit; they will examine how a +proposed imposition or regulation agrees with the +opinion of those who are likely to be affected by it; +they will not despise the consideration even of their +habitudes and prejudices. They wish to know how +it accords or disagrees with the true spirit of prior +establishments, whether of government or of finance; +because they well know, that in the complicated +economy of great kingdoms, and immense revenues, +<!-- Page 392 --><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368" title="368" class="pagenum"></a>which in a length of time, and by a variety of accidents +have coalesced into a sort of body, an attempt +towards a compulsory equality in all circumstances, +and an exact practical definition of the supreme +rights in every case, is the most dangerous and chimerical +of all enterprises. The old building stands +well enough, though part Gothic, part Grecian, and +part Chinese, until an attempt is made to square it +into uniformity. Then it may come down upon our +heads altogether, in much uniformity of ruin; and +great will be the fall thereof. Some people, instead +of inclining to debate the matter, only feel a sort of +nausea, when they are told, that "protection calls for +supply," and that "all the parts ought to contribute +to the support of the whole." Strange argument for +great and grave deliberation! As if the same end +may not, and must not, be compassed, according to its +circumstances, by a great diversity of ways. Thus, +in Great Britain, some of our establishments are apt +for the support of credit. They stand therefore upon +a principle of their own, distinct from, and in some +respects contrary to, the relation between prince and +subject. It is a new species of contract superinduced +upon the old contract of the state. The idea of power +must as much as possible be banished from it; for +power and credit are things adverse, incompatible; +<i>Non bene conveniunt, nec in una sede morantur</i>. Such +establishments are our great <i>moneyed</i> companies. To +tax them would be critical and dangerous, and contradictory +to the very purpose of their institution; +which is credit, and cannot therefore be taxation. +But the nation, when it gave up that power, did not +give up the advantage; but supposed, and with reason, +that government was overpaid in credit, for what +<!-- Page 393 --><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369" title="369" class="pagenum"></a>it seemed to lose in authority. In such a case to talk +of the rights of sovereignty is quite idle. Other establishments +supply other modes of public contribution. +Our <i>trading</i> companies, as well as individual +importers, are a fit subject of revenue by customs. +Some establishments pay us by a <i>monopoly</i> of their +consumption and their produce. This, nominally no +tax, in reality comprehends all taxes. Such establishments +are our colonies. To tax them would be +as erroneous in policy, as rigorous in equity. Ireland +supplies us by furnishing troops in war; and by bearing +part of our foreign establishment in peace. She +aids us at all times by the money that her absentees +spend amongst us; which is no small part of the +rental of that kingdom. Thus Ireland contributes +her part. Some objects bear port-duties. Some are +fitter for an inland excise. The mode varies, the +object is the same. To strain these from their old +and inveterate leanings, might impair the old benefit, +and not answer the end of the new project. Among +all the great men of antiquity, <i>Procrustes</i> shall never +be my hero of legislation; with his iron bed, the allegory +of his government, and the type of some modern +policy, by which the long limb was to be cut short, +and the short tortured into length. Such was the +state-bed of uniformity! He would, I conceive, be a +very indifferent farmer, who complained that his sheep +did not plough, or his horses yield him wool, though +it would be an idea full of equality. They may think +this right in rustic economy, who think it available in +the politic:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carimna, Mævi!</div> +<div>Atque idem jungat vulpes, et mulgeat hircos.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>As the author has stated this Indian taxation for +<!-- Page 394 --><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370" title="370" class="pagenum"></a>no visible purpose relative to his plan of supply, so +he has stated many other projects with as little, if any +distinct end; unless perhaps to show you how full +he is of projects for the public good; and what vast +expectations may be formed of him or his friends, if +they should be translated into administration. It is +also from some opinion that these speculations may +one day become our public measures, that I think it +worth while to trouble the reader at all about them.</p> + +<p>Two of them stand out in high relievo beyond the +rest. The first is a change in the internal representation +of this country, by enlarging our number of +constituents. The second is an addition to our representatives, +by new American members of Parliament. +I pass over here all considerations how far such a +system will be an improvement of our constitution +according to any sound theory. Not that I mean to +condemn such speculative inquiries concerning this +great object of the national attention. They may +tend to clear doubtful points, and possibly may lead, +as they have often done, to real improvements. What +I object to, is their introduction into a discourse relating +to the immediate state of our affairs, and recommending +plans of practical government. In this +view, I see nothing in them but what is usual with +the author; an attempt to raise discontent in the +people of England, to balance those discontents +which the measures of his friends had already +raised in America. What other reason can he +have for suggesting, that we are not happy enough +to enjoy a sufficient number of voters in England? +I believe that most sober thinkers on this subject +are rather of opinion, that our fault is on the other +side; and that it would be more in the spirit of our +<!-- Page 395 --><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371" title="371" class="pagenum"></a>constitution, and more agreeable to the pattern of +our best laws, by lessening the number, to add to the +weight and independency of our voters. And truly, +considering the immense and dangerous charge of +elections; the prostitute and daring venality, the corruption +of manners, the idleness and profligacy of +the lower sort of voters, no prudent man would propose +to increase such an evil, if it be, as I fear it is, +out of our power to administer to it any remedy. +The author proposes nothing further. If he has any +improvements that may balance or may lessen this +inconvenience, he has thought proper to keep them +as usual in his own breast. Since he has been so reserved, +I should have wished he had been as cautious +with regard to the project itself. First, because he +observes justly, that his scheme, however it might +improve the platform, can add nothing to the authority +of the legislature; much I fear, it will have a contrary +operation; for, authority depending on opinion +at least as much as on duty, an idea circulated among +the people that our constitution is not so perfect as it +ought to be, before you are sure of mending it, is a +certain method of lessening it in the public opinion. +Of this irreverent opinion of Parliament, the author +himself complains in one part of his book; and he +endeavors to increase it in the other.</p> + +<p>Has he well considered what an immense operation +any change in our constitution is? how many discussions, +parties, and passions, it will necessarily excite; +and when you open it to inquiry in one part, +where the inquiry will stop? Experience shows us, +that no time can be fit for such changes but a time +of general confusion; when good men, finding everything +already broken up, think it right to take advan<!-- Page 396 --><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372" title="372" class="pagenum"></a>tage +of the opportunity of such derangement in favor +of an useful alteration. Perhaps a time of the greatest +security and tranquillity both at home and abroad +may likewise be fit; but will the author affirm this to +be just such a time? Transferring an idea of military +to civil prudence, he ought to know how dangerous +it is to make an alteration of your disposition in +the face of an enemy.</p> + +<p>Now comes his American representation. Here +too, as usual, he takes no notice of any difficulty, nor +says anything to obviate those objections that must +naturally arise in the minds of his readers. He throws +you his politics as he does his revenue; do you make +something of them if you can. Is not the reader a +little astonished at the proposal of an American representation +from that quarter? It is proposed merely +as a project<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor" +title="Pages 39, 40.">[85]</a> of speculative improvement; not from +the necessity in the case, not to add anything to the +authority of Parliament, but that we may afford a +greater attention to the concerns of the Americans, +and give them a better opportunity of stating their +grievances, and of obtaining redress. I am glad to +find the author has at length discovered that we have +not given a sufficient attention to their concerns, or +a proper redress to their grievances. His great friend +would once have been exceedingly displeased with +any person, who should tell him, that he did not attend +sufficiently to those concerns. He thought he +did so, when he regulated the colonies over and over +again: he thought he did so when he formed two +general systems of revenue; one of port-duties, and +the other of internal taxation. These systems supposed, +or ought to suppose, the greatest attention to +<!-- Page 397 --><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373" title="373" class="pagenum"></a>and the most detailed information of, all their affairs. +However, by contending for the American representation, +he seems at last driven virtually to admit, that +great caution ought to be used in the exercise of <i>all</i> +our legislative rights over an object so remote from +our eye, and so little connected with our immediate +feelings; that in prudence we ought not to be quite +so ready with our taxes, until we can secure the desired +representation in Parliament. Perhaps it may +be some time before this hopeful scheme can be +brought to perfect maturity, although the author +seems to be in no wise aware of any obstructions +that lie in the way of it. He talks of his union, just +as he does of his taxes and his savings, with as much +<i>sang froid</i> and ease as if his wish and the enjoyment +were exactly the same thing. He appears not to +have troubled his head with the infinite difficulty of +settling that representation on a fair balance of wealth +and numbers throughout the several provinces of +America and the West Indies, under such an infinite +variety of circumstances. It costs him nothing to +fight with nature, and to conquer the order of Providence, +which manifestly opposes itself to the possibility +of such a Parliamentary union.</p> + +<p>But let us, to indulge his passion for projects and +power, suppose the happy time arrived, when the author +comes into the ministry, and is to realize his +speculations. The writs are issued for electing members +for America and the West Indies. Some provinces +receive them in six weeks, some in ten, some in +twenty. A vessel may be lost, and then some provinces +may not receive them at all. But let it be, that +they all receive them at once, and in the shortest +time. A proper space must be given for proclama<!-- Page 398 --><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374" title="374" class="pagenum"></a>tion +and for the election; some weeks at least. But +the members are chosen; and if ships are ready to +sail, in about six more they arrive in London. In +the mean time the Parliament has sat and business +far advanced without American representatives. Nay, +by this time, it may happen that the Parliament is +dissolved; and then the members ship themselves +again, to be again elected. The writs may arrive in +America, before the poor members of a Parliament in +which they never sat, can arrive at their several provinces. +A new interest is formed, and they find other +members are chosen whilst they are on the high seas. +But, if the writs and members arrive together, here +is at best a new trial of skill amongst the candidates, +after one set of them have well aired themselves with +their two voyages of 6000 miles.</p> + +<p>However, in order to facilitate everything to the +author, we will suppose them all once more elected, +and steering again to Old England, with a good heart, +and a fair westerly wind in their stern. On their +arrival, they find all in a hurry and bustle; in and +out; condolence and congratulation; the crown is demised. +Another Parliament is to be called. Away +back to America again on a fourth voyage, and to a +third election. Does the author mean to make our +kings as immortal in their personal as in their politic +character? or whilst he bountifully adds to their life, +will he take from them their prerogative of dissolving +Parliaments, in favor of the American union? or +are the American representatives to be perpetual, and +to feel neither demises of the crown, nor dissolutions +of Parliament?</p> + +<p>But these things may be granted to him, without +bringing him much nearer to his point. What does +<!-- Page 399 --><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375" title="375" class="pagenum"></a>he think of re-election? is the American member the +only one who is not to take a place, or the only one +to be exempted from the ceremony of re-election? +How will this great politician preserve the rights of +electors, the fairness of returns, and the privilege of +the House of Commons, as the sole judge of such contests? +It would undoubtedly be a glorious sight to +have eight or ten petitions, or double returns, from +Boston and Barbadoes, from Philadelphia and Jamaica, +the members returned, and the petitioners, +with all their train of attorneys, solicitors, mayors, +selectmen, provost-marshals, and above five hundred +or a thousand witnesses, come to the bar of the House +of Commons. Possibly we might be interrupted in +the enjoyment of this pleasing spectacle, if a war +should break out, and our constitutional fleet, loaded +with members of Parliament, returning-officers, petitions, +and witnesses, the electors and elected, should +become a prize to the French or Spaniards, and be +conveyed to Carthagena, or to La Vera Cruz, and +from thence perhaps to Mexico or Lima, there to remain +until a cartel for members of Parliament can be +settled, or until the war is ended.</p> + +<p>In truth the author has little studied this business; +or he might have known, that some of the most considerable +provinces of America, such, for instance, as +Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay, have not in each +of them two men who can afford, at a distance from +their estates, to spend a thousand pounds a year. +How can these provinces be represented at Westminster? +If their province pays them, they are American +agents, with salaries, and not independent members +of Parliament. It is true, that formerly in England +members had salaries from their constituents; but +<!-- Page 400 --><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376" title="376" class="pagenum"></a>they all had salaries, and were all, in this way, upon +a par. If these American representatives have no +salaries, then they must add to the list of our pensioners +and dependents at court, or they must starve. +There is no alternative.</p> + +<p>Enough of this visionary union; in which much +extravagance appears without any fancy, and the +judgment is shocked without anything to refresh the +imagination. It looks as if the author had dropped +down from the moon, without any knowledge of the +general nature of this globe, of the general nature of +its inhabitants, without the least acquaintance with +the affairs of this country. Governor Pownall has +handled the same subject. To do him justice, he +treats it upon far more rational principles of speculation; +and much more like a man of business. He +thinks (erroneously, I conceive; but he does think) +that our legislative rights are incomplete without such +a representation. It is no wonder, therefore, that he +endeavors by every means to obtain it. Not like our +author, who is always on velvet, he is aware of some +difficulties; and he proposes some solutions. But +nature is too hard for both these authors; and America +is, and ever will be, without actual representation +in the House of Commons; nor will any minister be +wild enough even to propose such a representation in +Parliament; however he may choose to throw out +that project, together with others equally far from his +real opinions, and remote from his designs, merely to +fall in with the different views, and captivate the affections, +of different sorts of men.</p> + +<p>Whether these projects arise from the author's real +political principles, or are only brought out in subservience +to his political views, they compose the whole +<!-- Page 401 --><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377" title="377" class="pagenum"></a>of anything that is like precise and definite, which the +author has given us to expect from that administration +which is so much the subject of his praises and +prayers. As to his general propositions, that "there +is a deal of difference between impossibilities and +great difficulties"; that "a great scheme cannot be +carried unless made the business of successive administrations"; +that "virtuous and able men are the fittest +to serve their country"; all this I look on as no +more than so much rubble to fill up the spaces between +the regular masonry. Pretty much in the +same light I cannot forbear considering his detached +observations on commerce; such as, that "the system +for colony regulations would be very simple, and +mutually beneficial to Great Britain and her colonies, +if the old navigation laws were adhered to."<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 39.">[86]</a> That +"the transportation should be in all cases in ships belonging +to British subjects." That "even British +ships should not be <i>generally</i> received into the colonies +from any part of Europe, except the dominions +of Great Britain." That "it is unreasonable that +corn and such like products should be restrained to +come first to a British port." What do all these fine +observations signify? Some of them condemn, as ill +practices, things that were never practised at all. +Some recommend to be done, things that always have +been done. Others indeed convey, though obliquely +and loosely, some insinuations highly dangerous to +our commerce. If I could prevail on myself to think +the author meant to ground any practice upon these +general propositions, I should think it very necessary +to ask a few questions about some of them. For instance, +what does he mean by talking of an adherence +<!-- Page 402 --><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378" title="378" class="pagenum"></a>to the old navigation laws? Does he mean, that the +particular law, 12 Car. II. c. 19, commonly called +"The Act of Navigation," is to be adhered to, and +that the several subsequent additions, amendments, +and exceptions, ought to be all repealed? If so, he +will make a strange havoc in the whole system of our +trade laws, which have been universally acknowledged +to be full as well founded in the alterations and exceptions, +as the act of Charles the Second in the original +provisions; and to pursue full as wisely the great +end of that very politic law, the increase of the British +navigation. I fancy the writer could hardly propose +anything more alarming to those immediately +interested in that navigation than such a repeal. If +he does not mean this, he has got no farther than a +nugatory proposition, which nobody can contradict, +and for which no man is the wiser.</p> + +<p>That "the regulations for the colony trade would +be few and simple if the old navigation laws were adhered +to," I utterly deny as a fact. That they ought +to be so, sounds well enough; but this proposition is +of the same nugatory nature with some of the former. +The regulations for the colony trade ought not to be +more nor fewer, nor more nor less complex, than the +occasion requires. And, as that trade is in a great +measure a system of art and restriction, they can neither +be few nor simple. It is true, that the very +principle may be destroyed, by multiplying to excess +the means of securing it. Never did a minister depart +more from the author's ideas of simplicity, or +more embarrass the trade of America with the multiplicity +and intricacy of regulations and ordinances, +than his boasted minister of 1764. That minister +seemed to be possessed with something, hardly short +<!-- Page 403 --><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379" title="379" class="pagenum"></a>of a rage, for regulation and restriction. He had so +multiplied bonds, certificates, affidavits, warrants, sufferances, +and cockets; had supported them with such +severe penalties, and extended them without the least +consideration of circumstances to so many objects, that, +had they all continued in their original force, commerce +must speedily have expired under them. Some +of them, the ministry which gave them birth was +obliged to destroy: with their own hand they signed +the condemnation of their own regulations; confessing +in so many words, in the preamble of their act of +the 5th Geo. III., that some of these regulations had +laid <i>an unnecessary restraint on the trade and correspondence +of his Majesty's American subjects</i>. This, in +that ministry, was a candid confession of a mistake; +but every alteration made in those regulations by +their successors is to be the effect of envy, and American +misrepresentation. So much for the author's +simplicity in regulation.</p> + +<p>I have now gone through all which I think immediately +essential in the author's idea of war, of peace, +of the comparative states of England and France, of +our actual situation; in his projects of economy, of +finance, of commerce, and of constitutional improvement. +There remains nothing now to be considered, +except his heavy censures upon the administration +which was formed in 1765; which is commonly known +by the name of the Marquis of Rockingham's administration, +as the administration which preceded it is by +that of Mr. Grenville. These censures relate chiefly +to three heads:—1. To the repeal of the American +Stamp Act. 2. To the commercial regulations then +made. 3. To the course of foreign negotiations during +that short period.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 404 --><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380" title="380" class="pagenum"></a>A person who knew nothing of public affairs but +from the writings of this author, would be led to conclude, +that, at the time of the change in June, 1765, +some well-digested system of administration, founded +in national strength, and in the affections of the people, +proceeding in all points with the most reverential +and tender regard to the laws, and pursuing with +equal wisdom and success everything which could +tend to the internal prosperity, and to the external +honor and dignity of this country, had been all at +once subverted, by an irruption of a sort of wild, licentious, +unprincipled invaders, who wantonly, and +with a barbarous rage, had defaced a thousand fair +monuments of the constitutional and political skill of +their predecessors. It is natural indeed that this author +should have some dislike to the administration +which was formed in 1765. Its views, in most things, +were different from those of his friends; in some, altogether +opposite to them. It is impossible that both +of these administrations should be the objects of public +esteem. Their different principles compose some +of the strongest political lines which discriminate the +parties even now subsisting amongst us. The ministers +of 1764 are not indeed followed by very many in +their opposition; yet a large part of the people now +in office entertain, or pretend to entertain, sentiments +entirely conformable to theirs; whilst some of the former +colleagues of the ministry which was formed in +1765, however they may have abandoned the connection, +and contradicted by their conduct the principles +of their former friends, pretend, on their parts, still +to adhere to the same maxims. All the lesser divisions, +which are indeed rather names of personal attachment +than of party distinction, fall in with the +one or the other of these leading parties.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 405 --><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381" title="381" class="pagenum"></a>I intend to state, as shortly as I am able, the general +condition of public affairs, and the disposition +of the minds of men, at the time of the remarkable +change of system in 1765. The reader will have +thereby a more distinct view of the comparative merits +of these several plans, and will receive more satisfaction +concerning the ground and reason of the +measures which were then pursued, than, I believe, +can be derived from the perusal of those partial representations +contained in the "State of the Nation," +and the other writings of those who have continued, +for now nearly three years, in the undisturbed possession +of the press. This will, I hope, be some apology +for my dwelling a little on this part of the subject.</p> + +<p>On the resignation of the Earl of Bute, in 1763, +our affairs had been delivered into the hands of three +ministers of his recommendation: Mr. Grenville, the +Earl of Egremont, and the Earl of Halifax. This +arrangement, notwithstanding the retirement of Lord +Bute, announced to the public a continuance of the +same measures; nor was there more reason to expect +a change from the death of the Earl of Egremont. +The Earl of Sandwich supplied his place. The Duke +of Bedford, and the gentlemen who act in that connection, +and whose general character and politics +were sufficiently understood, added to the strength +of the ministry, without making any alteration in +their plan of conduct. Such was the constitution of +the ministry which was changed in 1765.</p> + +<p>As to their politics, the principles of the peace of +Paris governed in foreign affairs. In domestic, the +same scheme prevailed, of contradicting the opinions, +and disgracing most of the persons, who had +been countenanced and employed in the late reign. +<!-- Page 406 --><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382" title="382" class="pagenum"></a>The inclinations of the people were little attended to; +and a disposition to the use of forcible methods ran +through the whole tenor of administration. The nation +in general was uneasy and dissatisfied. Sober +men saw causes for it, in the constitution of the ministry +and the conduct of the ministers. The ministers, +who have usually a short method on such occasions, +attributed their unpopularity wholly to the +efforts of faction. However this might be, the licentiousness +and tumults of the common people, and the +contempt of government, of which our author so +often and so bitterly complains, as owing to the mismanagement +of the subsequent administrations, had +at no time risen to a greater or more dangerous +height. The measures taken to suppress that spirit +were as violent and licentious as the spirit itself; injudicious, +precipitate, and some of them illegal. Instead +of allaying, they tended infinitely to inflame the +distemper; and whoever will be at the least pains to +examine, will find those measures not only the causes +of the tumults which then prevailed, but the real +sources of almost all the disorders which have arisen +since that time. More intent on making a victim to +party than an example of justice, they blundered in +the method of pursuing their vengeance. By this +means a discovery was made of many practices, common +indeed in the office of Secretary of State, but +wholly repugnant to our laws, and to the genius of +the English constitution. One of the worst of these +was, the wanton and indiscriminate seizure of papers, +even in cases where the safety of the state was not +pretended in justification of so harsh a proceeding. +The temper of the ministry had excited a jealousy, +which made the people more than commonly vigilant +<!-- Page 407 --><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383" title="383" class="pagenum"></a>concerning every power which was exercised by government. +The abuse, however sanctioned by custom, +was evident; but the ministry, instead of resting in a +prudent inactivity, or (what would have been still +more prudent) taking the lead, in quieting the minds +of the people, and ascertaining the law upon those +delicate points, made use of the whole influence of +government to prevent a Parliamentary resolution +against these practices of office. And lest the colorable +reasons, offered in argument against this Parliamentary +procedure, should be mistaken for the real +motives of their conduct, all the advantage of privilege, +all the arts and finesses of pleading, and great +sums of public money were lavished, to prevent any +decision upon those practices in the courts of justice. +In the mean time, in order to weaken, since they +could not immediately destroy, the liberty of the +press, the privilege of Parliament was voted away in +all accusations for a seditious libel. The freedom of +debate in Parliament itself was no less menaced. +Officers of the army, of long and meritorious service, +and of small fortunes, were chosen as victims for a +single vote, by an exertion of ministerial power, +which had been very rarely used, and which is extremely +unjust, as depriving men not only of a place, +but a profession, and is indeed of the most pernicious +example both in a civil and a military light.</p> + +<p>Whilst all things were managed at home with such +a spirit of disorderly despotism, abroad there was a +proportionable abatement of all spirit. Some of our +most just and valuable claims were in a manner +abandoned. This indeed seemed not very inconsistent +conduct in the ministers who had made the treaty +of Paris. With regard to our domestic affairs, there +<!-- Page 408 --><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384" title="384" class="pagenum"></a>was no want of industry; but there was a great deficiency +of temper and judgment, and manly comprehension +of the public interest. The nation certainly +wanted relief, and government attempted to administer +it. Two ways were principally chosen for this +great purpose. The first by regulations; the second +by new funds of revenue. Agreeably to this plan, a +new naval establishment was formed at a good deal +of expense, and to little effect, to aid in the collection +of the customs. Regulation was added to regulation; +and the strictest and most unreserved orders +were given, for a prevention of all contraband trade +here, and in every part of America. A teasing custom-house, +and a multiplicity of perplexing regulations, +ever have, and ever will appear, the masterpiece +of finance to people of narrow views; as a paper +against smuggling, and the importation of French +finery, never fails of furnishing a very popular column +in a newspaper.</p> + +<p>The greatest part of these regulations were made for +America; and they fell so indiscriminately on all sorts +of contraband, or supposed contraband, that some of +the most valuable branches of trade were driven +violently from our ports; which caused an universal +consternation throughout the colonies. Every +part of the trade was infinitely distressed by them. +Men-of-war now for the first time, armed with regular +commissions of custom-house officers, invested the +coasts, and gave to the collection of revenue the air +of hostile contribution. About the same time that +these regulations seemed to threaten the destruction +of the only trade from whence the plantations derived +any specie, an act was made, putting a stop to the +future emission of paper currency, which used to sup<!-- Page 409 --><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385" title="385" class="pagenum"></a>ply +its place among them. Hand in hand with this +went another act, for obliging the colonies to provide +quarters for soldiers. Instantly followed another +law, for levying throughout all America new port +duties, upon a vast variety of commodities of their +consumption, and some of which lay heavy upon objects +necessary for their trade and fishery. Immediately +upon the heels of these, and amidst the uneasiness +and confusion produced by a crowd of new impositions +and regulations, some good, some evil, some +doubtful, all crude and ill-considered, came another +act, for imposing an universal stamp-duty on the colonies; +and this was declared to be little more than +an experiment, and a foundation of future revenue. +To render these proceedings the more irritating to +the colonies, the principal argument used in favor of +their ability to pay such duties was the liberality of +the grants of their assemblies during the late war. +Never could any argument be more insulting and +mortifying to a people habituated to the granting of +their own money.</p> + +<p>Taxes for the purpose of raising revenue had hitherto +been sparingly attempted in America. Without +ever doubting the extent of its lawful power, Parliament +always doubted the propriety of such impositions. +And the Americans on their part never +thought of contesting a right by which they were +so little affected. Their assemblies in the main answered +all the purposes necessary to the internal +economy of a free people, and provided for all the +exigencies of government which arose amongst themselves. +In the midst of that happy enjoyment, they +never thought of critically settling the exact limits +of a power, which was necessary to their union, their +<!-- Page 410 --><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386" title="386" class="pagenum"></a>safety, their equality, and even their liberty. Thus +the two very difficult points, superiority in the presiding +state, and freedom in the subordinate, were on +the whole sufficiently, that is, practically, reconciled; +without agitating those vexatious questions, which +in truth rather belong to metaphysics than politics, +and which can never be moved without shaking the +foundations of the best governments that have ever +been constituted by human wisdom. By this measure +was let loose that dangerous spirit of disquisition, +not in the coolness of philosophical inquiry, but inflamed +with all the passions of a haughty, resentful +people, who thought themselves deeply injured, and +that they were contending for everything that was +valuable in the world.</p> + +<p>In England, our ministers went on without the least +attention to these alarming dispositions; just as if +they were doing the most common things in the most +usual way, and among a people not only passive, but +pleased. They took no one step to divert the dangerous +spirit which began even then to appear in the +colonies, to compromise with it, to mollify it, or to +subdue it. No new arrangements were made in civil +government; no new powers or instructions were +given to governors; no augmentation was made, or +new disposition, of forces. Never was so critical a +measure pursued with so little provision against its +necessary consequences. As if all common prudence +had abandoned the ministers, and as if they meant to +plunge themselves and us headlong into that gulf +which stood gaping before them; by giving a year's +notice of the project of their Stamp Act, they allowed +time for all the discontents of that country to fester +and come to a head, and for all the arrangements +<!-- Page 411 --><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387" title="387" class="pagenum"></a>which factious men could make towards an opposition +to the law. At the same time they carefully concealed +from the eye of Parliament those remonstrances +which they had actually received; and +which in the strongest manner indicated the discontent +of some of the colonies, and the consequences +which might be expected; they concealed them even +in defiance of an order of council, that they should +be laid before Parliament. Thus, by concealing the +true state of the case, they rendered the wisdom of +the nation as improvident as their own temerity, +either in preventing or guarding against the mischief. +It has indeed, from the beginning to this hour, been +the uniform policy of this set of men, in order at any +hazard to obtain a present credit, to propose whatever +might be pleasing, as attended with no difficulty; +and afterwards to throw all the disappointment of +the wild expectations they had raised, upon those +who have the hard task of freeing the public from the +consequences of their pernicious projects.</p> + +<p>Whilst the commerce and tranquillity of the whole +empire were shaken in this manner, our affairs grew +still more distracted by the internal dissensions of our +ministers. Treachery and ingratitude were charged +from one side; despotism and tyranny from the other; +the vertigo of the regency bill; the awkward reception +of the silk bill in the House of Commons, and +the inconsiderate and abrupt rejection of it in the +House of Lords; the strange and violent tumults +which arose in consequence, and which were rendered +more serious by being charged by the ministers +upon one another; the report of a gross and brutal +treatment of the ——, by a minister at the same +time odious to the people; all conspired to leave the +<!-- Page 412 --><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388" title="388" class="pagenum"></a>public, at the close of the session of 1765, in as critical +and perilous a situation, as ever the nation was, +or could be, in a time when she was not immediately +threatened by her neighbors.</p> + +<p>It was at this time, and in these circumstances, +that a new administration was formed. Professing +even industriously, in this public matter, to avoid +anecdotes; I say nothing of those famous reconciliations +and quarrels, which weakened the body that +should have been the natural support of this administration. +I run no risk in affirming, that, surrounded +as they were with difficulties of every species, nothing +but the strongest and most uncorrupt sense of their +duty to the public could have prevailed upon some +of the persons who composed it to undertake the +king's business at such a time. Their preceding +character, their measures while in power, and the subsequent +conduct of many of them, I think, leave no +room to charge this assertion to flattery. Having +undertaken the commonwealth, what remained for +them to do? to piece their conduct upon the broken +chain of former measures? If they had been so inclined, +the ruinous nature of those measures, which +began instantly to appear, would not have permitted +it. Scarcely had they entered into office, when letters +arrived from all parts of America, making loud +complaints, backed by strong reasons, against several +of the principal regulations of the late ministry, as +threatening destruction to many valuable branches +of commerce. These were attended with representations +from many merchants and capital manufacturers +at home, who had all their interests involved +in the support of lawful trade, and in the suppression +of every sort of contraband. Whilst these +<!-- Page 413 --><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389" title="389" class="pagenum"></a>things were under consideration, that conflagration +blazed out at once in North America; an universal +disobedience, and open resistance to the Stamp Act; +and, in consequence, an universal stop to the course +of justice, and to trade and navigation, throughout +that great important country; an interval during +which the trading interest of England lay under the +most dreadful anxiety which it ever felt.</p> + +<p>The repeal of that act was proposed. It was much +too serious a measure, and attended with too many +difficulties upon every side, for the then ministry to +have undertaken it, as some paltry writers have asserted, +from envy and dislike to their predecessors in +office. As little could it be owing to personal cowardice, +and dread of consequences to themselves. +Ministers, timorous from their attachment to place +and power, will fear more from the consequences +of one court intrigue, than from a thousand difficulties +to the commerce and credit of their country by +disturbances at three thousand miles distance. From +which of these the ministers had most to apprehend +at that time, is known, I presume, universally. Nor +did they take that resolution from a want of the fullest +sense of the inconveniences which must necessarily +attend a measure of concession from the +sovereign to the subject. That it must increase +the insolence of the mutinous spirits in America, +was but too obvious. No great measure indeed, at +a very difficult crisis, can be pursued, which is not +attended with some mischief; none but conceited +pretenders in public business will hold any other +language: and none but weak and unexperienced +men will believe them, if they should. If we were +found in such a crisis, let those, whose bold designs, +<!-- Page 414 --><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390" title="390" class="pagenum"></a>and whose defective arrangements, brought us into +it, answer for the consequences. The business of the +then ministry evidently was, to take such steps, not +as the wishes of our author, or as their own wishes +dictated, but as the bad situation in which their predecessors +had left them, absolutely required.</p> + +<p>The disobedience to this act was universal throughout +America; nothing, it was evident, but the sending +a very strong military, backed by a very strong +naval force, would reduce the seditious to obedience. +To send it to one town, would not be sufficient; +every province of America must be traversed, and +must be subdued. I do not entertain the least +doubt but this could be done. We might, I think, +without much difficulty, have destroyed our colonies. +This destruction might be effected, probably in a +year, or in two at the utmost. If the question was +upon a foreign nation, where every successful stroke +adds to your own power, and takes from that of a rival, +a just war with such a certain superiority would +be undoubtedly an advisable measure. But <i>four million</i> +of debt due to our merchants, the total cessation +of a trade annually worth <i>four million</i> more, a large +foreign traffic, much home manufacture, a very capital +immediate revenue arising from colony imports, +indeed the produce of every one of our revenues +greatly depending on this trade, all these were very +weighty accumulated considerations, at least well to +be weighed, before that sword was drawn, which +even by its victories must produce all the evil effects +of the greatest national defeat. How public credit +must have suffered, I need not say. If the condition +of the nation, at the close of our foreign war, was +what this author represents it, such a civil war would +<!-- Page 415 --><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391" title="391" class="pagenum"></a>have been a bad couch, on which to repose our wearied +virtue. Far from being able to have entered +into new plans of economy, we must have launched +into a new sea, I fear a boundless sea, of expense. +Such an addition of debt, with such a diminution of +revenue and trade, would have left us in no want of +a "State of the Nation" to aggravate the picture of +our distresses.</p> + +<p>Our trade felt this to its vitals; and our then ministers +were not ashamed to say, that they sympathized +with the feelings of our merchants. The +universal alarm of the whole trading body of England, +will never be laughed at by them as an ill-grounded +or a pretended panic. The universal desire +of that body will always have great weight with them +in every consideration connected with commerce: +neither ought the opinion of that body to be slighted +(notwithstanding the contemptuous and indecent language +of this author and his associates) in any consideration +whatsoever of revenue. Nothing amongst +us is more quickly or deeply affected by taxes of any +kind than trade; and if an American tax was a real +relief to England, no part of the community would +be sooner or more materially relieved by it than our +merchants. But they well know that the trade of +England must be more burdened by one penny raised +in America, than by three in England; and if that +penny be raised with the uneasiness, the discontent, +and the confusion of America, more than by ten.</p> + +<p>If the opinion and wish of the landed interest is a +motive, and it is a fair and just one, for taking away +a real and large revenue, the desire of the trading interest +of England ought to be a just ground for +taking away a tax of little better than speculation, +<!-- Page 416 --><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392" title="392" class="pagenum"></a>which was to be collected by a war, which was to be +kept up with the perpetual discontent of those who +were to be affected by it, and the value of whose +produce even after the <i>ordinary</i> charges of collection, +was very uncertain;<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor" +title="It is observable, that the partisans of American taxation, when +they have a mind to represent this tax as wonderfully beneficial to +England, state it as worth 100,000_l._ a year; when they are to represent +it as very light on the Americans, it dwindles to 60,000_l._ Indeed +it is very difficult to compute what its produce might have been.">[87]</a> after the <i>extraordinary</i>, +the dearest purchased revenue that ever was made +by any nation.</p> + +<p>These were some of the motives drawn from principles +of convenience for that repeal. When the object +came to be more narrowly inspected, every motive +concurred. These colonies were evidently founded +in subservience to the commerce of Great Britain. +From this principle, the whole system of our laws +concerning them became a system of restriction. A +double monopoly was established on the part of the +parent country; 1. A monopoly of their whole import, +which is to be altogether from Great Britain; +2. A monopoly of all their export, which is to be nowhere +but to Great Britain, as far as it can serve any +purpose here. On the same idea it was contrived +that they should send all their products to us raw, +and in their first state; and that they should take +everything from us in the last stage of manufacture.</p> + +<p>Were ever a people under such circumstances, that +is, a people who were to export raw, and to receive +manufactured, and this, not a few luxurious articles, +but all articles, even to those of the grossest, most +vulgar, and necessary consumption, a people who +were in the hands of a general monopolist, were +<!-- Page 417 --><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393" title="393" class="pagenum"></a>ever such a people suspected of a possibility of becoming +a just object of revenue? All the ends of their +foundation must be supposed utterly contradicted before +they could become such an object. Every trade +law we have made must have been eluded, and become +useless, before they could be in such a condition.</p> + +<p>The partisans of the new system, who, on most +occasions, take credit for full as much knowledge as +they possess, think proper on this occasion to counterfeit +an extraordinary degree of ignorance, and in +consequence of it to assert, "that the balance (between +the colonies and Great Britain) is unknown, +and that no important conclusion can be drawn from +premises so very uncertain."<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor" +title=""Considerations," p. 74.">[88]</a> Now to what can this +ignorance be owing? were the navigation laws made, +that this balance should be unknown? is it from the +course of exchange that it is unknown, which all the +world knows to be greatly and perpetually against +the colonies? is it from the doubtful nature of the +trade we carry on with the colonies? are not these +schemists well apprised that the colonists, particularly +those of the northern provinces, import more from +Great Britain, ten times more, than they send in return +to us? that a great part of their foreign balance +is and must be remitted to London? I shall be ready +to admit that the colonies ought to be taxed to the +revenues of this country, when I know that they are +out of debt to its commerce. This author will furnish +some ground to his theories, and communicate a +discovery to the public, if he can show this by any +medium. But he tells us that "their seas are covered +with ships, and their rivers floating with com<!-- Page 418 --><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394" title="394" class="pagenum"></a>merce."<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor" +title=""Considerations," p. 79.">[89]</a> +This is true. But it is with <i>our</i> ships +that these seas are covered; and their rivers float with +British commerce. The American merchants are +our factors; all in reality, most even in name. The +Americans trade, navigate, cultivate, with English +capitals; to their own advantage, to be sure; for +without these capitals their ploughs would be stopped, +and their ships wind-bound. But he who furnishes +the capital must, on the whole, be the person principally +benefited; the person who works upon it profits +on his part too; but he profits in a subordinate way, +as our colonies do; that is, as the servant of a wise +and indulgent master, and no otherwise. We have +all, except the <i>peculium</i>; without which even slaves +will not labor.</p> + +<p>If the author's principles, which are the common +notions, be right, that the price of our manufactures +is so greatly enhanced by our taxes; then the Americans +already pay in that way a share of our impositions. +He is not ashamed to assert, that "France +and China may be said, on the same principle, to +bear a part of our charges, for they consume our commodities."<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor" +title="Ibid., p. 74.">[90]</a> +Was ever such a method of reasoning +heard of? Do not the laws absolutely confine the +colonies to buy from us, whether foreign nations sell +cheaper or not? On what other idea are all our +prohibitions, regulations, guards, penalties, and forfeitures, +framed? To secure to us, not a commercial +preference, which stands in need of no penalties +to enforce it; it finds its own way; but to secure to +us a trade, which is a creature of law and institution. +What has this to do with the principles of a +foreign trade, which is under no monopoly, and in +<!-- Page 419 --><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395" title="395" class="pagenum"></a>which we cannot raise the price of our goods, without +hazarding the demand for them? None but the +authors of such measures could ever think of making +use of such arguments.</p> + +<p>Whoever goes about to reason on any part of the +policy of this country with regard to America, upon +the mere abstract principles of government, or even +upon those of our own ancient constitution, will be +often misled. Those who resort for arguments to the +most respectable authorities, ancient or modern, or +rest upon the clearest maxims, drawn from the experience +of other states and empires, will be liable to +the greatest errors imaginable. The object is wholly +new in the world. It is singular; it is grown up to +this magnitude and importance within the memory +of man; nothing in history is parallel to it. All the +reasonings about it, that are likely to be at all solid, +must be drawn from its actual circumstances. In +this new system a principle of commerce, of artificial +commerce, must predominate. This commerce must +be secured by a multitude of restraints very alien +from the spirit of liberty; and a powerful authority +must reside in the principal state, in order to enforce +them. But the people who are to be the subjects of +these restraints are descendants of Englishmen; and +of a high and free spirit. To hold over them a government +made up of nothing but restraints and penalties, +and taxes in the granting of which they can +have no share, will neither be wise nor long practicable. +People must be governed in a manner agreeable +to their temper and disposition; and men of free +character and spirit must be ruled with, at least, +some condescension to this spirit and this character. +The British, colonist must see something which will +<!-- Page 420 --><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396" title="396" class="pagenum"></a>distinguish him from the colonists of other nations.</p> + +<p>Those seasonings, which infer from the many restraints +under which we have already laid America, +to our right to lay it under still more, and indeed under +all manner of restraints, are conclusive; conclusive +as to right; but the very reverse as to policy and +practice. We ought rather to infer from our having +laid the colonies under many restraints, that it is +reasonable to compensate them by every indulgence +that can by any means be reconciled to our interest. +We have a great empire to rule, composed of a vast +mass of heterogeneous governments, all more or less +free and popular in their forms, all to be kept in +peace, and kept out of conspiracy, with one another, +all to be held in subordination to this country; while +the spirit of an extensive and intricate and trading +interest pervades the whole, always qualifying, and +often controlling, every general idea of constitution +and government. It is a great and difficult object; +and I wish we may possess wisdom and temper enough +to manage it as we ought. Its importance is infinite. +I believe the reader will be struck, as I have been, +with one singular fact. In the year 1704, but sixty-five +years ago, the whole trade with our plantations +was but a few thousand pounds more in the export +article, and a third less in the import, than that +which we now carry on with the single island of +Jamaica:—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 25em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td /><td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">Exports.</td><td align='right'>Imports.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Total English plantations +in 1704</td> + <td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">£488,265</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">£ 814,491</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Jamaica, 1767</td> + <td align='right' valign="bottom" style="padding-right: 1em">467,681</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">1,243,742</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>From the same information I find that our dealing +<!-- Page 421 --><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397" title="397" class="pagenum"></a>with most of the European nations is but little increased: +these nations have been pretty much at a +stand since that time, and we have rivals in their +trade. This colony intercourse is a new world of +commerce in a manner created; it stands upon principles +of its own; principles hardly worth endangering +for any little consideration of extorted revenue.</p> + +<p>The reader sees, that I do not enter so fully into +this matter as obviously I might. I have already +been led into greater lengths than I intended. It is +enough to say, that before the ministers of 1765 had +determined to propose the repeal of the Stamp Act in +Parliament, they had the whole of the American constitution +and commerce very fully before them. They +considered maturely; they decided with wisdom: let +me add, with firmness. For they resolved, as a preliminary +to that repeal, to assert in the fullest and +least equivocal terms the unlimited legislative right +of this country over its colonies; and, having done +this, to propose the repeal, on principles, not of constitutional +right, but on those of expediency, of equity, +of lenity, and of the true interests present and future +of that great object for which alone the colonies were +founded, navigation and commerce. This plan I say, +required an uncommon degree of firmness, when we +consider that some of those persons who might be of +the greatest use in promoting the repeal, violently +withstood the declaratory act; and they who agreed +with administration in the principles of that law, +equally made, as well the reasons on which the declaratory +act itself stood, as those on which it was +opposed, grounds for an opposition to the repeal.</p> + +<p>If the then ministry resolved first to declare the +right, it was not from any opinion they entertained of +<!-- Page 422 --><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398" title="398" class="pagenum"></a>its future use in regular taxation. Their opinions +were full and declared against the ordinary use of +such a power. But it was plain, that the general +reasonings which were employed against that power +went directly to our whole legislative right; and one +part of it could not be yielded to such arguments, +without a virtual surrender of all the rest. Besides, +if that very specific power of levying money in the +colonies were not retained as a sacred trust in the +hands of Great Britain (to be used, not in the first +instance for supply, but in the last exigence for control), +it is obvious, that the presiding authority of +Great Britain, as the head, the arbiter, and director +of the whole empire, would vanish into an empty +name, without operation or energy. With the habitual +exercise of such a power in the ordinary course +of supply, no trace of freedom could remain to America.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor" +title="I do not here enter into the unsatisfactory disquisition concerning +representation real or presumed. I only say, that a great people +who have their property, without any reserve, in all cases, disposed +of by another people, at an immense distance from them, will not +think themselves in the enjoyment of freedom. It will be hard to +show to those who are in such a state, which of the usual parts of the +definition or description of a free people are applicable to them; and +it is neither pleasant nor wise to attempt to prove that they have no +right to be comprehended in such a description.">[91]</a> +If Great Britain were stripped of this right, +every principle of unity and subordination in the +empire was gone forever. Whether all this can be +reconciled in legal speculation, is a matter of no +consequence. It is reconciled in policy: and politics +ought to be adjusted, not to human reasonings, but +to human nature; of which the reason is but a part, +and by no means the greatest part.</p> + +<p>Founding the repeal on this basis, it was judged +<!-- Page 423 --><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399" title="399" class="pagenum"></a>proper to lay before Parliament the whole detail of +the American affairs, as fully as it had been laid before +the ministry themselves. Ignorance of those affairs +had misled Parliament. Knowledge alone could +bring it into the right road. Every paper of office +was laid upon the table of the two Houses; every +denomination of men, either of America, or connected +with it by office, by residence, by commerce, by +interest, even by injury; men of civil and military +capacity, officers of the revenue, merchants, manufacturers +of every species, and from every town in +England, attended at the bar. Such evidence never +was laid before Parliament. If an emulation arose +among the ministers and members of Parliament, as +the author rightly observes,<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 21.">[92]</a> for the repeal of this +act, as well as for the other regulations, it was not on +the confident assertions, the airy speculations, or the +vain promises of ministers, that it arose. It was the +sense of Parliament on the evidence before them. +No one so much as suspects that ministerial allurements +or terrors had any share in it.</p> + +<p>Our author is very much displeased, that so much +credit was given to the testimony of merchants. He +has a habit of railing at them: and he may, if he +pleases, indulge himself in it. It will not do great +mischief to that respectable set of men. The substance +of their testimony was, that their debts in +America were very great: that the Americans declined +to pay them, or to renew their orders, whilst +this act continued: that, under these circumstances, +they despaired of the recovery of their debts, or the +renewal of their trade in that country: that they +apprehended a general failure of mercantile credit. +<!-- Page 424 --><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400" title="400" class="pagenum"></a>The manufacturers deposed to the same general purpose, +with this addition, that many of them had discharged +several of their artificers; and, if the law +and the resistance to it should continue, must dismiss +them all.</p> + +<p>This testimony is treated with great contempt by +our author. It must be, I suppose, because it was +contradicted by the plain nature of things. Suppose +then that the merchants had, to gratify this author, +given a contrary evidence; and had deposed, that +while America remained in a state of resistance, +whilst four million of debt remained unpaid, whilst +the course of justice was suspended for want of +stamped paper, so that no debt could be recovered, +whilst there was a total stop to trade, because every +ship was subject to seizure for want of stamped clearances, +and while the colonies were to be declared in +rebellion, and subdued by armed force, that in these +circumstances they would still continue to trade cheerfully +and fearlessly as before: would not such witnesses +provoke universal indignation for their folly or +their wickedness, and be deservedly hooted from the +bar:<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor" +title="Here the author has a note altogether in his usual strain of reasoning; +he finds out that somebody, in the course of this multifarious +evidence, had said, "that a very considerable part of the orders of +1765 transmitted from America had been afterwards suspended; but +that in case the Stamp Act was repealed, those orders were to be executed +in the present year, 1766"; and that, on the repeal of the Stamp +Act, "the exports to the colonies would be at least double the value of +the exports of the past year." He then triumphs exceedingly on +their having fallen short of it on the state of the custom-house entries. +I do not well know what conclusion he draws applicable to his purpose +from these facts. He does not deny that all the orders which +came from America subsequent to the disturbances of the Stamp Act +were on the condition of that act being repealed; and he does not +assert that, notwithstanding that act should be enforced by a strong +hand, still the orders would be executed. Neither does he quite venture +to say that this decline of the trade in 1766 was owing to the +repeal. What does he therefore infer from it, favorable to the enforcement +of that law? It only comes to this, and no more; those +merchants, who thought our trade would be doubled in the subsequent +year, were mistaken in their speculations. So that the Stamp +Act was not to be repealed unless this speculation of theirs was a +probable event. But it was not repealed in order to double our trade +in that year, as everybody knows (whatever some merchants might +have said), but lest in that year we should have no trade at all. The +fact is, that during the greatest part of the year 1755, that is, until +about the month of October, when the accounts of the disturbances +came thick upon us, the American trade went on as usual. Before +this time, the Stamp Act could not affect it. Afterwards, the merchants +fell into a great consternation; a general stagnation in trade +ensued. But as soon as it was known that the ministry favored the +repeal of the Stamp Act, several of the bolder merchants ventured to +execute their orders; others more timid hung back; in this manner +the trade continued in a state of dreadful fluctuation between the fears +of those who had ventured, for the event of their boldness, and the +anxiety of those whose trade was suspended, until the royal assent +was finally given to the bill of repeal. That the trade of 1766 was +not equal to that of 1765, could not be owing to the repeal; it arose +from quite different causes, of which the author seems not to be +aware: 1st, Our conquests during the war had laid open the trade +of the French and Spanish West Indies to our colonies much more +largely than they had ever enjoyed it; this continued for some time +after the peace; but at length it was extremely contracted, and in +some places reduced to nothing. Such in particular was the state of +Jamaica. On the taking the Havannah all the stores of that island +were emptied into that place, which produced unusual orders for +goods, for supplying their own consumption, as well as for further +speculations of trade. These ceasing, the trade stood on its own +bottom. This is one cause of the diminished export to Jamaica, +and not the childish idea of the author, of an impossible contraband +from the opening of the ports.—2nd, The war had brought a great +influx of cash into America, for the pay and provision of the troops; +and this an unnatural increase of trade, which, as its cause failed, +must in some degree return to its ancient and natural bounds.—3rd, +When the merchants met from all parts, and compared their accounts, +they were alarmed at the immensity of the debt due to them from +America. They found that the Americans had over-traded their +abilities. And, as they found too that several of them were capable +of making the state of political events an excuse for their failure in +commercial punctuality, many of our merchants in some degree contracted +their trade from that moment. However, it is idle, in such +an immense mass of trade, so liable to fluctuation, to infer anything +from such a deficiency as one or even two hundred thousand pounds. +In 1767, when the disturbances subsided, this deficiency was made +up again.">[93]</a> would any human faith have given credit to +<!-- Page 425 --><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401" title="401" class="pagenum"></a>such assertions? The testimony of the merchants +was necessary for the detail, and to bring the matter +home to the feeling of the House; as to the general +reasons, they spoke abundantly for themselves.</p> + +<p>Upon these principles was the act repealed, and it +produced all the good effect which was expected from +it: quiet was restored; trade generally returned to +its ancient channels; time and means were furnished +for the better strengthening of government there, as +well as for recovering, by judicious measures, the +affections of the people, had that ministry continued, +or had a ministry succeeded with dispositions to improve +that opportunity.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 426 --><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402" title="402" class="pagenum"></a>Such an administration did not succeed. Instead +of profiting of that season of tranquillity, in the very +next year they chose to return to measures of the +very same nature with those which had been so solemnly +condemned; though upon a smaller scale. +The effects have been correspondent, America is +again in disorder; not indeed in the same degree as +formerly, nor anything like it. Such good effects +have attended the repeal of the Stamp Act, that the +colonies have actually paid the taxes; and they have +sought their redress (upon however improper princi<!-- Page 427 --><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403" title="403" class="pagenum"></a>ples) +not in their own violence, as formerly;<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor" +title="The disturbances have been in Boston only; and were not in +consequence of the late duties.">[94]</a> but +in the experienced benignity of Parliament. They +are not easy indeed, nor ever will be so, under this +author's schemes of taxation; but we see no longer +the same general fury and confusion, which attended +their resistance to the Stamp Act. The author may +rail at the repeal, and those who proposed it, as he +pleases. Those honest men suffer all his obloquy +with pleasure, in the midst of the quiet which they +have been the means of giving to their country; and +would think his praises for their perseverance in a +<ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: "prenicious" in the original text">pernicious</ins> +scheme, a very bad compensation for the +disturbance of our peace, and the ruin of our commerce. +Whether the return to the system of 1764, +for raising a revenue in America, the discontents +which have ensued in consequence of it, the general +suspension of the assemblies in consequence of these +discontents, the use of the military power, and the +new and dangerous commissions which now hang +over them, will produce equally good effects, is greatly +to be doubted. Never, I fear, will this nation and +the colonies fall back upon their true centre of gravity, +and natural point of repose, until the ideas of +1766 are resumed, and steadily pursued.</p> + +<p>As to the regulations, a great subject of the author's +accusation, they are of two sorts; one of a +mixed nature, of revenue and trade; the other simply +relative to trade. With regard to the former I +shall observe, that, in all deliberations concerning +America, the ideas of that administration were principally +these; to take trade as the primary end, and +revenue but as a very subordinate consideration. +<!-- Page 428 --><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404" title="404" class="pagenum"></a>Where trade was likely to suffer, they did not hesitate +for an instant to prefer it to taxes, whose produce +at best was contemptible, in comparison of the +object which they might endanger. The other of +their principles was, to suit the revenue to the object. +Where the difficulty of collection, from the +nature of the country, and of the revenue establishment, +is so very notorious, it was their policy to hold +out as few temptations to smuggling as possible, by +keeping the duties as nearly as they could on a balance +with the risk. On these principles they made +many alterations in the port-duties of 1764, both in +the mode and in the quantity. The author has not +attempted to prove them erroneous. He complains +enough to show that he is in an ill-humor, not that +his adversaries have done amiss.</p> + +<p>As to the regulations which were merely relative +to commerce, many were then made; and they were +all made upon this principle, that many of the colonies, +and those some of the most abounding in people, +were so situated as to have very few means of traffic +with this country. It became therefore our interest to +let them into as much foreign trade as could be given +them without interfering with our own; and to secure +by every method the returns to the mother +country. Without some such scheme of enlargement, +it was obvious that any benefit we could expect +from these colonies must be extremely limited. Accordingly +many facilities were given to their trade +with the foreign plantations, and with the southern +parts of Europe. As to the confining the returns to +this country, administration saw the mischief and +folly of a plan of indiscriminate restraint. They +applied their remedy to that part where the disease +<!-- Page 429 --><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405" title="405" class="pagenum"></a>existed, and to that only: on this idea they established +regulations, far more likely to check the +dangerous, clandestine trade with Hamburg and +Holland, than this author's friends, or any of their +predecessors had ever done.</p> + +<p>The friends of the author have a method surely a +little whimsical in all this sort of discussions. They +have made an innumerable multitude of commercial +regulations, at which the trade of England exclaimed +with one voice, and many of which have been altered +on the unanimous opinion of that trade. Still they +go on, just as before, in a sort of droning panegyric +on themselves, talking of these regulations as prodigies +of wisdom; and, instead of appealing to those +who are most affected and the best judges, they turn +round in a perpetual circle of their own reasonings +and pretences; they hand you over from one of their +own pamphlets to another: "See," say they, "this +demonstrated in the 'Regulations of the Colonies.'" +"See this satisfactorily proved in 'The Considerations.'" +By and by we shall have another: "See +for this 'The State of the Nation.'" I wish to take +another method in vindicating the opposite system. +I refer to the petitions of merchants for these regulations; +to their thanks when they were obtained; +and to the strong and grateful sense they have ever +since expressed of the benefits received under that +administration.</p> + +<p>All administrations have in their commercial regulations +been generally aided by the opinion of some +merchants; too frequently by that of a few, and those +a sort of favorites: they have been directed by the +opinion of one or two merchants, who were to merit +in flatteries, and to be paid in contracts; who fre<!-- Page 430 --><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406" title="406" class="pagenum"></a>quently +advised, not for the general good of trade, +but for their private advantage. During the administration +of which this author complains, the meetings +of merchants upon the business of trade were numerous +and public; sometimes at the house of the Marquis +of Rockingham; sometimes at Mr. Dowdeswell's; +sometimes at Sir George Savile's, a house always open +to every deliberation favorable to the liberty or the +commerce of his country. Nor were these meetings +confined to the merchants of London. Merchants +and manufacturers were invited from all the considerable +towns in England. They conferred with the +ministers and active members of Parliament. No +private views, no local interests prevailed. Never +were points in trade settled upon a larger scale of information. +They who attended these meetings well +know what ministers they were who heard the most +patiently, who comprehended the most clearly, and +who provided the most wisely. Let then this author +and his friends still continue in possession of the +practice of exalting their own abilities, in their pamphlets +and in the newspapers. They never will persuade +the public, that the merchants of England +were in a general confederacy to sacrifice their own +interests to those of North America, and to destroy +the vent of their own goods in favor of the manufactures +of France and Holland.</p> + +<p>Had the friends of this author taken these means +of information, his extreme terrors of contraband in +the West India islands would have been greatly quieted, +and his objections to the opening of the ports +would have ceased. He would have learned, from +the most satisfactory analysis of the West India trade, +that we have the advantage in every essential arti<!-- Page 431 --><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407" title="407" class="pagenum"></a>cle +of it; and that almost every restriction on our +communication with our neighbors there, is a restriction +unfavorable to ourselves.</p> + +<p>Such were the principles that guided, and the authority +that sanctioned, these regulations. No man +ever said, that, in the multiplicity of regulations made +in the administration of their predecessors, none +were useful; some certainly were so; and I defy the +author to show a commercial regulation of that period, +which he can prove, from any authority except +his own, to have a tendency beneficial to commerce, +that has been repealed. So far were that ministry +from being guided by a spirit of contradiction or of +innovation.</p> + +<p>The author's attack on that administration, for +their neglect of our claims on foreign powers, is by +much the most astonishing instance he has given, or +that, I believe, any man ever did give, of an intrepid +effrontery. It relates to the Manilla ransom; to the +Canada bills; and to the Russian treaty. Could one +imagine, that these very things, which he thus chooses +to object to others, have been the principal subject of +charge against his favorite ministry? Instead of +clearing them of these charges, he appears not so +much as to have heard of them; but throws them +directly upon the administration which succeeded to +that of his friends.</p> + +<p>It is not always very pleasant to be obliged to produce +the detail of this kind of transactions to the public +view. I will content myself therefore with giving +a short state of facts, which, when the author chooses +to contradict, he shall see proved, more, perhaps, to +his conviction, than to his liking. The first fact then +is, that the demand for the Manilla ransom had been +<!-- Page 432 --><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408" title="408" class="pagenum"></a>in the author's favorite administration so neglected +as to appear to have been little less than tacitly abandoned. +At home, no countenance was given to the +claimants; and when it was mentioned in Parliament, +the then leader did not seem, at least, <i>a very +sanguine advocate in favor of the claim</i>. These things +made it a matter of no small difficulty to resume and +press that negotiation with Spain. However, so clear +was our right, that the then ministers resolved to revive +it; and so little time was lost, that though that +administration was not completed until the 9th of +July, 1765, on the 20th of the following August, General +Conway transmitted a strong and full remonstrance +on that subject to the Earl of Rochfort. The +argument, on which the court of Madrid most relied, +was the dereliction of that claim by the preceding +ministers. However, it was still pushed with so much +vigor, that the Spaniards, from a positive denial to +pay, offered to refer the demand to arbitration. That +proposition was rejected; and the demand being still +pressed, there was all the reason in the world to expect +its being brought to a favorable issue; when it +was thought proper to change the administration. +Whether under their circumstances, and in the time +they continued in power, more could be done, the +reader will judge; who will hear with astonishment +a charge of remissness from those very men, whose +inactivity, to call it by no worse a name, laid the +chief difficulties in the way of the revived negotiation.</p> + +<p>As to the Canada bills, this author thinks proper +to assert, "that the proprietors found themselves under +a necessity of compounding their demands upon +the French court, and accepting terms which they +had often rejected, and which the Earl of Halifax +<!-- Page 433 --><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409" title="409" class="pagenum"></a>had declared he would sooner forfeit his hand than +sign."<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 24.">[95]</a> When I know that the Earl of Halifax says +so, the Earl of Halifax shall have an answer; but I +persuade myself that his Lordship has given no authority +for this ridiculous rant. In the mean time, +I shall only speak of it as a common concern of that +ministry.</p> + +<p>In the first place, then, I observe, that a convention, +for the liquidation of the Canada bills, was concluded +under the administration of 1766; when nothing +was concluded under that of the favorites of this +author.</p> + +<p>2. This transaction was, in every step of it, carried +on in concert with the persons interested, and was +terminated to their entire satisfaction. They would +have acquiesced perhaps in terms somewhat lower +than those which were obtained. The author is indeed +too kind to them. He will, however, let them +speak for themselves, and show what their own opinion +was of the measures pursued in their favor.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor" +title=""They are happy in having found, in your zeal for the dignity +of this nation, the means of liquidating their claims, and of concluding +with the court of France a convention for the final satisfaction +of their demands; and have given us commission, in their names, +and on their behalf, most earnestly to entreat your acceptance of their +grateful acknowledgments. Whether they consider themselves as +Britons, or as men more particularly profiting by your generous and +spirited interposition, they see great reasons to be thankful, for having +been supported by a minister, in whose public affections, in whose +wisdom and activity, both the national honor, and the interests of individuals, +have been at once so well supported and secured."—Thanks +of the Canada merchants to General Conway, London, April 28, 1766.">[96]</a> In +what manner the execution of the convention has +been since provided for, it is not my present business +to examine.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 434 --><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410" title="410" class="pagenum"></a>3. The proprietors had absolutely despaired of being +paid, at any time, any proportion, of their demand, +until the change of that ministry. The merchants +were checked and discountenanced; they had +often been told, by some in authority, of the cheap +rate at which these Canada bills had been procured; +yet the author can talk of the composition of them as +a necessity induced by the change in administration. +They found themselves indeed, before that change, +under a necessity of hinting somewhat of bringing +the matter into Parliament; but they were soon silenced, +and put in mind of the fate which the Newfoundland +business had there met with. Nothing +struck them more than the strong contrast between +the spirit, and method of proceeding, of the two administrations.</p> + +<p>4. The Earl of Halifax never did, nor could, refuse +to sign this convention; because this convention, +as it stands, never was before him.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor" +title="See the Convention itself, printed by Owen and Harrison, Warwick-lane, +1766; particularly the articles two and thirteen.">[97]</a></p> + +<p>The author's last charge on that ministry, with +regard to foreign affairs, is the Russian treaty of commerce, +which the author thinks fit to assert, was concluded +"on terms the Earl of Buckinghamshire had +refused to accept of, and which had been deemed by +former ministers disadvantageous to the nation, and +by the merchants unsafe and unprofitable."<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 23.">[98]</a></p> + +<p>Both the assertions in this paragraph are equally +groundless. The treaty then concluded by Sir +George Macartney was not on the terms which the +Earl of Buckinghamshire had refused. The Earl +of Buckinghamshire never did refuse terms, because +<!-- Page 435 --><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411" title="411" class="pagenum"></a>the business never came to the point of refusal, or +acceptance; all that he did was, to receive the Russian +project for a treaty of commerce, and to transmit +it to England. This was in November, 1764; +and he left Petersburg the January following, before +he could even receive an answer from his own +court. The conclusion of the treaty fell to his successor. +Whoever will be at the trouble to compare +it with the treaty of 1734, will, I believe, confess, +that, if the former ministers could have obtained +such terms, they were criminal in not accepting +them.</p> + +<p>But the merchants "deemed them unsafe and unprofitable." +What merchants? As no treaty ever +was more maturely considered, so the opinion of the +Russia merchants in London was all along taken; +and all the instructions sent over were in exact conformity +to that opinion. Our minister there made +no step without having previously consulted our merchants +resident in Petersburg, who, before the signing +of the treaty, gave the most full and unanimous +testimony in its favor. In their address to our minister +at that court, among other things they say, "It +may afford some additional satisfaction to your Excellency, +to receive a public acknowledgment of <i>the entire +and unreserved approbation of every article</i> in this +treaty, from us who are so immediately and so nearly +concerned in its consequences." This was signed by +the consul-general, and every British merchant in +Petersburg.</p> + +<p>The approbation of those immediately concerned in +the consequences is nothing to this author. He and +his friends have so much tenderness for people's interests, +and understand them so much better than +<!-- Page 436 --><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412" title="412" class="pagenum"></a>they do themselves, that, whilst these politicians are +contending for the best of possible terms, the claimants +are obliged to go without any terms at all.</p> + +<p>One of the first and justest complaints against the +administration of the author's friends, was the want +of rigor in their foreign negotiations. Their immediate +successors endeavored to correct that error, +along with others; and there was scarcely a foreign +court, in which the new spirit that had arisen was +not sensibly felt, acknowledged, and sometimes complained +of. On their coming into administration, +they found the demolition of Dunkirk entirely at +a stand: instead of demolition, they found construction; +for the French were then at work on the repair +of the jettees. On the remonstrances of General +Conway, some parts of these jettees were immediately +destroyed. The Duke of Richmond personally surveyed +the place, and obtained a fuller knowledge of +its true state and condition than any of our ministers +had done; and, in consequence, had larger offers +from the Duke of Choiseul than had ever been +received. But, as these were short of our just expectations +under the treaty, he rejected them. Our +then ministers, knowing that, in their administration, +the people's minds were set at ease upon all the essential +points of public and private liberty, and that +no project of theirs could endanger the concord of +the empire, were under no restraint from pursuing +every just demand upon foreign nations.</p> + +<p>The author, towards the end of this work, falls into +reflections upon the state of public morals in this +country: he draws use from this doctrine, by recommending +his friend to the king and the public, as another +Duke of Sully; and he concludes the whole +performance with a very devout prayer.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 437 --><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413" title="413" class="pagenum"></a>The prayers of politicians may sometimes be sincere; +and as this prayer is in substance, that the author, +or his friends, may be soon brought into power, +I have great reason to believe it is very much from +the heart. It must be owned too that after he has +drawn such a picture, such a shocking picture, of the +state of this country, he has great faith in thinking +the means he prays for sufficient to relieve us: after +the character he has given of its inhabitants of all +ranks and classes, he has great charity in caring +much about them; and indeed no less hope, in being +of opinion, that such a detestable nation can ever become +the care of Providence. He has not even found +five good men in our devoted city.</p> + +<p>He talks indeed of men of virtue and ability. But +where are his <i>men</i> of virtue and ability to be found? +Are they in the present administration? Never were +a set of people more blackened by this author. Are +they among the party of those (no small body) who +adhere to the system of 1766? These it is the great +purpose of this book to calumniate. Are they the +persons who acted with his great friend, since the +change in 1762, to his removal in 1765? Scarcely +any of these are now out of employment; and we are +in possession of his desideratum. Yet I think he +hardly means to select, even some of the highest of +them, as examples fit for the reformation of a corrupt +world.</p> + +<p>He observes, that the virtue of the most exemplary +prince that ever swayed a sceptre "can never warm +or illuminate the body of his people, if foul mirrors +are placed so near him as to refract and dissipate the +rays at their first emanation."<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 46.">[99]</a> Without observing +<!-- Page 438 --><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414" title="414" class="pagenum"></a>upon the propriety of this metaphor, or asking how +mirrors come to have lost their old quality of reflecting, +and to have acquired that of refracting, and dissipating +rays, and how far their foulness will account +for this change; the remark itself is common and +true: no less true, and equally surprising from him, +is that which immediately precedes it: "It is in vain +to endeavor to check the progress of irreligion and +licentiousness, by punishing such crimes in <i>one individual</i>, +if others equally culpable are rewarded with +the honors and emoluments of the state."<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 46.">[100]</a> I am +not in the secret of the author's manner of writing; +but it appears to me, that he must intend these reflections +as a satire upon the administration of his happy +years. Were over the honors and emoluments of the +state more lavishly squandered upon persons scandalous +in their lives than during that period? In these +scandalous lives, was there anything more scandalous +than the mode of punishing <i>one culpable individual</i>? +In that individual, is anything more culpable than +his having been seduced by the example of some of +those very persons by whom he was thus persecuted?</p> + +<p>The author is so eager to attack others, that he provides +but indifferently for his own defence. I believe, +without going beyond the page I have now before me, +he is very sensible, that I have sufficient matter of +further, and, if possible, of heavier charge against his +friends, upon his own principle. But it is because +the advantage is too great, that I decline making use +of it. I wish the author had not thought that all +methods are lawful in party. Above all he ought to +have taken care not to wound his enemies through +the sides of his country. This he has done, by mak<!-- Page 439 --><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415" title="415" class="pagenum"></a>ing +that monstrous and overcharged picture of the +distresses of our situation. No wonder that he, who +finds this country in the same condition with that of +France at the time of Henry the Fourth, could also +find a resemblance between his political friend and +the Duke of Sully. As to those personal resemblances, +people will often judge of them from their +affections: they may imagine in these clouds whatsoever +figures they please; but what is the conformation +of that eye which can discover a resemblance of +this country and these times to those with which the +author compares them? France, a country just recovered +out of twenty-five years of the most cruel and +desolating civil war that perhaps was ever known. +The kingdom, under the veil of momentary quiet, +full of the most atrocious political, operating upon +the most furious fanatical factions. Some pretenders +even to the crown; and those who did not pretend to +the whole, aimed at the partition of the monarchy. +There were almost as many competitors as provinces; +and all abetted by the greatest, the most ambitious, +and most enterprising power in Europe. No place +safe from treason; no, not the bosoms on which the +most amiable prince that ever lived reposed his head; +not his mistresses; not even his queen. As to the +finances, they had scarce an existence, but as a matter +of plunder to the managers, and of grants to insatiable +and ungrateful courtiers.</p> + +<p>How can our author have the heart to describe this +as any sort of parallel to our situation? To be sure, +an April shower has some resemblance to a waterspout; +for they are both wet: and there is some likeness +between a summer evening's breeze and a hurricane; +they are both wind: but who can compare our +<!-- Page 440 --><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416" title="416" class="pagenum"></a>disturbances, our situation, or our finances, to those +of France in the time of Henry? Great Britain is +indeed at this time wearied, but not broken, with the +efforts of a victorious foreign war; not sufficiently +relieved by an inadequate peace, but somewhat benefited +by that peace, and infinitely by the consequences +of that war. The powers of Europe awed +by our victories, and lying in ruins upon every side +of us. Burdened indeed we are with debt, but +abounding with resources. We have a trade, not +perhaps equal to our wishes, but more than ever we +possessed. In effect, no pretender to the crown; nor +nutriment for such desperate and destructive factions +as have formerly shaken this kingdom.</p> + +<p>As to our finances, the author trifles with us. +When Sully came to those of France, in what order +was any part of the financial system? or what system +was there at all? There is no man in office who +must not be sensible that ours is, without the act of +any parading minister, the most regular and orderly +system perhaps that was ever known; the best secured +against all frauds in the collection, and all misapplication +in the expenditure of public money.</p> + +<p>I admit that, in this flourishing state of things, +there are appearances enough to excite uneasiness +and apprehension. I admit there is a cankerworm +in the rose:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="i3">Medio de fonte leporum</div> +<div>Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis floribus angat.</div> +</div></div> + +<p class="noindent">This is nothing else than a spirit of disconnection, +of distrust, and of treachery among public men. It +is no accidental evil, nor has its effect been trusted to +the usual frailty of nature; the distemper has been +inoculated. The author is sensible of it, and we la<!-- Page 441 --><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417" title="417" class="pagenum"></a>ment +it together. This distemper is alone sufficient +to take away considerably from the benefits of our +constitution and situation, and perhaps to render +their continuance precarious. If these evil dispositions +should spread much farther, they must end in +our destruction; for nothing can save a people destitute +of public and private faith. However, the +author, for the present state of things, has extended +the charge by much too widely; as men are but too +apt to take the measure of all mankind from their +own particular acquaintance. Barren as this age +may be in the growth of honor and virtue, the country +does not want, at this moment, as strong, and +those not a few examples, as were ever known, of an +unshaken adherence to principle, and attachment +to connection, against every allurement of interest. +Those examples are not furnished by the great alone; +nor by those, whose activity in public affairs may +render it suspected that they make such a character +one of the rounds in their ladder of ambition; but by +men more quiet, and more in the shade, on whom an +unmixed sense of honor alone could operate. Such +examples indeed are not furnished in great abundance +amongst those who are the subjects of the author's +panegyric. He must look for them in another +camp. He who complains of the ill effects of a divided +and heterogeneous administration, is not justifiable +in laboring to render odious in the eyes of the +public those men, whose principles, whose maxims +of policy, and whose personal character, can alone +administer a remedy to this capital evil of the age: +neither is he consistent with himself, in constantly +extolling those whom he knows to be the authors of +the very mischief of which he complains, and which +the whole nation feels so deeply.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 442 --><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418" title="418" class="pagenum"></a>The persons who are the objects of his dislike and +complaint are many of them of the first families, and +weightiest properties, in the kingdom; but infinitely +more distinguished for their untainted honor, public +and private, and their zealous, but sober attachment +to the constitution of their country, than they can +be by any birth, or any station. If they are the +friends of any one great man rather than another, +it is not that they make his aggrandizement the end +of their union; or because they know him to be the +most active in caballing for his connections the largest +and speediest emoluments. It is because they know +him, by personal experience, to have wise and enlarged +ideas of the public good, and an invincible +constancy in adhering to it; because they are convinced, +by the whole tenor of his actions, that he will +never negotiate away their honor or his own: and +that, in or out of power, change of situation will +make no alteration in his conduct. This will give +to such a person in such a body, an authority and +respect that no minister ever enjoyed among his venal +dependents, in the highest plenitude of his power; +such as servility never can give, such as ambition +never can receive or relish.</p> + +<p>This body will often be reproached by their adversaries, +for want of ability in their political transactions; +they will be ridiculed for missing many favorable conjunctures, +and not profiting of several brilliant opportunities +of fortune; but they must be contented to +endure that reproach; for they cannot acquire the +reputation of <i>that kind</i> of ability without losing all +the other reputation they possess.</p> + +<p>They will be charged too with a dangerous spirit +of exclusion and proscription, for being unwilling to +<!-- Page 443 --><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419" title="419" class="pagenum"></a>mix in schemes of administration, which have no +bond of union, or principle of confidence. That +charge too they must suffer with patience. If the +reason of the thing had not spoken loudly enough, +the miserable examples of the several administrations +constructed upon the idea of systematic discord +would be enough to frighten them from such, monstrous +and ruinous conjunctions. It is however false, +that the idea of an united administration carries with +it that of a proscription of any other party. It does +indeed imply the necessity of having the great strongholds +of government in well-united hands, in order +to secure the predominance of right and uniform principles; +of having the capital offices of deliberation +and execution of those who can deliberate with mutual +confidence, and who will execute what is resolved +with firmness and fidelity. If this system +cannot be rigorously adhered to in practice, (and +what system can be so?) it ought to be the constant +aim of good men to approach as nearly to it as possible. +No system of that kind can be formed, which +will not leave room fully sufficient for healing coalitions: +but no coalition, which, under the specious +name of independency, carries in its bosom the unreconciled +principles of the original discord of parties, +ever was, or will be, an healing coalition. Nor will +the mind of our sovereign ever know repose, his kingdom +settlement, or his business order, efficiency, or +grace with his people, until things are established +upon the basis of some set of men, who are trusted +by the public, and who can trust one another.</p> + +<p>This comes rather nearer to the mark than the +author's description of a proper administration, under +the name of <i>men of ability and virtue</i>, which +<!-- Page 444 --><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420" title="420" class="pagenum"></a>conveys no definite idea at all; nor does it apply +specifically to our grand national distemper. All +parties pretend to these qualities. The present ministry, +no favorites of the author, will be ready enough +to declare themselves persons of virtue and ability; +and if they choose a vote for that purpose, perhaps +it would not be quite impossible for them to procure +it. But, if the disease be this distrust and disconnection, +it is easy to know who are sound and who +are tainted; who are fit to restore us to health, who +to continue, and to spread the contagion. The present +ministry being made up of draughts from all +parties in the kingdom, if they should profess any +adherence to the connections they have left, they +must convict themselves of the blackest treachery. +They therefore choose rather to renounce the principle +itself, and to brand it with the name of pride +and faction. This test with certainty discriminates +the opinions of men. The other is a description +vague and unsatisfactory.</p> + +<p>As to the unfortunate gentlemen who may at any +time compose that system, which, under the plausible +title of an administration, subsists but for the +establishment of weakness and confusion; they fall +into different classes, with different merits. I think +the situation of some people in that state may deserve +a certain degree of compassion; at the same time that +they furnish an example, which, it is to be hoped, by +being a severe one, will have its effect, at least, on +the growing generation; if an original seduction, on +plausible but hollow pretences, into loss of honor, +friendship, consistency, security, and repose, can furnish +it. It is possible to draw, even from the very +prosperity of ambition, examples of terror, and motives +to compassion.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 445 --><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421" title="421" class="pagenum"></a>I believe the instances are exceedingly rare of men +immediately passing over a clear, marked line of virtue +into declared vice and corruption. There are a +sort of middle tints and shades between the two extremes; +there is something uncertain on the confines +of the two empires which they first pass through, and +which renders the change easy and imperceptible. +There are even a sort of splendid impositions so well +contrived, that, at the very time the path of rectitude +is quitted forever, men seem to be advancing into +some higher and nobler road of public conduct. Not +that such impositions are strong enough in themselves; +but a powerful interest, often concealed from +those whom it affects, works at the bottom, and secures +the operation. Men are thus debauched away +from those legitimate connections, which they had +formed on a judgment, early perhaps, but sufficiently +mature, and wholly unbiassed. They do not quit +them upon any ground of complaint, for grounds of +just complaint may exist, but upon the flattering +and most dangerous of all principles, that of mending +what is well. Gradually they are habituated to +other company; and a change in their habitudes +soon makes a way for a change in their opinions. +Certain persons are no longer so very frightful, when +they come to be known and to be serviceable. As to +their old friends, the transition is easy; from friendship +to civility; from civility to enmity: few are the +steps from dereliction to persecution.</p> + +<p>People not very well grounded in the principles +of public morality find a set of maxims in office ready +made for them, which they assume as naturally and +inevitably, as any of the insignia or instruments of +the situation. A certain tone of the solid and prac<!-- Page 446 --><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422" title="422" class="pagenum"></a>tical +is immediately acquired. Every former profession +of public spirit is to be considered as a debauch +of youth, or, at best, as a visionary scheme of unattainable +perfection. The very idea of consistency is +exploded. The convenience of the business of the +day is to furnish the principle for doing it. Then +the whole ministerial cant is quickly got by heart. +The prevalence of faction is to be lamented. All +opposition is to be regarded as the effect of envy and +disappointed ambition. All administrations are declared +to be alike. The same necessity justifies all +their measures. It is no longer a matter of discussion, +who or what administration is; but that administration +is to be supported, is a general maxim. Flattering +themselves that their power is become necessary +to the support of all order and government; everything +which tends to the support of that power is +sanctified, and becomes a part of the public interest.</p> + +<p>Growing every day more formed to affairs, and better +knit in their limbs, when the occasion (now the +only rule) requires it, they become capable of sacrificing +those very persons to whom they had before +sacrificed their original friends. It is now only in +the ordinary course of business to alter an opinion, +or to betray a connection. Frequently relinquishing +one set of men and adopting another, they grow into +a total indifference to human feeling, as they had +before to moral obligation; until at length, no one +original impression remains upon their minds: every +principle is obliterated; every sentiment effaced.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, that power, which all these +changes aimed at securing, remains still as tottering +and as uncertain as ever. They are delivered up +into the hands of those who feel neither respect for +<!-- Page 447 --><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423" title="423" class="pagenum"></a>their persons, nor gratitude for their favors; who +are put about them in appearance to serve, in reality +to govern them; and, when the signal is given, to +abandon and destroy them in order to set up some +new dupe of ambition, who in his turn is to be abandoned +and destroyed. Thus living in a state of continual +uneasiness and ferment, softened only by the +miserable consolation of giving now and then preferments +to those for whom they have no value; they +are unhappy in their situation, yet find it impossible +to resign. Until, at length, soured in temper, and +disappointed by the very attainment of their ends, in +some angry, in some haughty, or some negligent moment, +they incur the displeasure of those upon whom +they have rendered their very being dependent. Then +<i>perierunt tempora longi servitii;</i> they are cast off +with scorn; they are turned out, emptied of all natural +character, of all intrinsic worth, of all essential +dignity, and deprived of every consolation of friendship. +Having rendered all retreat to old principles +ridiculous, and to old regards impracticable, not being +able to counterfeit pleasure, or to discharge discontent, +nothing being sincere, or right, or balanced +in their minds, it is more than a chance, that, in the +delirium of the last stage of their distempered power, +they make an insane political testament, by which +they throw all their remaining weight and consequence +into the scale of their declared enemies, and +the avowed authors of their destruction. Thus they +finish their course. Had it been possible that the +whole, or even a great part of these effects on their +minds, I say nothing of the effect upon their fortunes, +could have appeared to them in their first departure +from the right line, it is certain they would have re<!-- Page 448 --><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424" title="424" class="pagenum"></a>jected +every temptation with horror. The principle +of these remarks, like every good principle in morality, +is trite; but its frequent application is not the +less necessary.</p> + +<p>As to others, who are plain practical men, they +have been guiltless at all times of all public pretence. +Neither the author nor any one else has reason to be +angry with them. They belonged to his friend for +their interest; for their interest they quitted him; +and when it is their interest, he may depend upon it, +they will return to their former connection. Such +people subsist at all times, and, though the nuisance +of all, are at no time a worthy subject of discussion. +It is false virtue and plausible error that do the mischief.</p> + +<p>If men come to government with right dispositions, +they have not that unfavorable subject which this author +represents to work upon. Our circumstances +are indeed critical; but then they are the critical +circumstances of a strong and mighty nation. If +corruption and meanness are greatly spread, they are +not spread universally. Many public men are hitherto +examples of public spirit and integrity. Whole +parties, as far as large bodies can be uniform, have +preserved character. However they may be deceived +in some particulars, I know of no set of men amongst +us, which does not contain persons on whom the nation, +in a difficult exigence, may well value itself. +Private life, which is the nursery of the commonwealth, +is yet in general pure, and on the whole disposed +to virtue; and the people at large want neither +generosity nor spirit. No small part of that very +luxury, which is so much the subject of the author's +declamation, but which, in most parts of life, by be<!-- Page 449 --><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425" title="425" class="pagenum"></a>ing +well balanced and diffused, is only decency and +convenience, has perhaps as many, or more good than +evil consequences attending it. It certainly excites industry, +nourishes emulation, and inspires some sense +of personal value into all ranks of people. What we +want is to establish more fully an opinion of uniformity, +and consistency of character, in the leading men +of the state; such as will restore some confidence to +profession and appearance, such as will fix subordination +upon esteem. Without this, all schemes are +begun at the wrong end. All who join in them are +liable to their consequences. All men who, under +whatever pretext, take a part in the formation or the +support of systems constructed in such a manner as +must, in their nature, disable them from the execution +of their duty, have made themselves guilty of all +the present distraction, and of the future ruin, which +they may bring upon their country.</p> + +<p>It is a serious affair, this studied disunion in government. +In cases where union is most consulted in +the constitution of a ministry, and where persons are +best disposed to promote it, differences, from the various +ideas of men, will arise; and from their passions +will often ferment into violent heats, so as +greatly to disorder all public business. What must +be the consequence, when the very distemper is made +the basis of the constitution; and the original weakness +of human nature is still further enfeebled by art +and contrivance? It must subvert government from +the very foundation. It turns our public councils +into the most mischievous cabals; where the consideration +is, not how the nation's business shall be carried +on, but how those who ought to carry it on shall +circumvent each other. In such a state of things, no +<!-- Page 450 --><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426" title="426" class="pagenum"></a>order, uniformity, dignity, or effect, can appear in our +proceedings, either at home or abroad. Nor will it +make much difference, whether some of the constituent +parts of such an administration are men of virtue +or ability, or not; supposing it possible that such +men, with their eyes open, should choose to make a +part in such a body.</p> + +<p>The effects of all human contrivances are in the +hand of Providence. I do not like to answer, as our +author so readily does, for the event of any speculation. +But surely the nature of our disorders, if anything, +must indicate the proper remedy. Men who +act steadily on the principles I have stated may in all +events be very serviceable to their country; in one +case, by furnishing (if their sovereign should be so +advised) an administration formed upon ideas very +different from those which have for some time been +unfortunately fashionable. But, if this should not be +the case, they may be still serviceable; for the example +of a large body of men, steadily sacrificing ambition +to principle, can never be without use. It will +certainly be prolific, and draw others to an imitation. +<i>Vera gloria radices agit, atque etiam propagatur</i>.</p> + +<p>I do not think myself of consequence enough to imitate +my author, in troubling the world with the +prayers or wishes I may form for the public: full as +little am I disposed to imitate his professions; those +professions are long since worn out in the political +service. If the work will not speak for the author, +his own declarations deserve but little credit.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> History of the Minority. History of the Repeal of the Stamp Act. +Considerations on Trade and Finance. Political Register, &c., &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Pages 6-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Pages 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Page 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Page 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Page 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Page 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 26em;"> +<tr><td>Total imports from the West Indies in 1764</td><td align='right'>£2,909,411</td></tr> +<tr><td>Exports to ditto in ditto</td><td align='right'>896,511</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center">Excess of imports</td><td align='right'>£2,012,900</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">In this, which is the common way of stating the balance, it will +appear upwards of two millions against us, which is ridiculous.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Page 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 27em;"> +<tr><td align='center'>1754.</td><td align='right'>£ </td><td align='right'> <i>s.</i></td><td align='right'> <i>d.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>Total export of British goods</td><td align='right'>value, 8,317,506</td><td align='right'>15</td><td align='right'>3</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ditto of foreign goods in time</td><td align='right'>2,910,836</td><td align='right'>14</td><td align='right'>9</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ditto of ditto out of time</td><td align='right'>559,485</td><td align='right'>2</td><td align='right'>10</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total exports of all kinds</td><td align='right'>11,787,828</td><td align='right'>12</td><td align='right'>10</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total imports</td><td align='right'>8,093,479</td><td align='right'>15</td><td align='right'>0</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +<tr><td>Balance in favor of England</td><td align='right'>£3,094,355</td><td align='right'>17</td><td align='right'>10</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>1761.</td><td align='right'>£ </td><td align='right'> <i>s.</i></td><td align='right'> <i>d.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td>Total export of British goods</td><td align='right'>10,649,581</td><td align='right'>12</td><td align='right'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ditto of foreign goods in time</td><td align='right'>3,553,692</td><td align='right'>7</td><td align='right'>1</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ditto of ditto out of time</td><td align='right'>355,015</td><td align='right'>0</td><td align='right'>2</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total exports of all kinds</td><td align='right'>14,558,288</td><td align='right'>19</td><td align='right'>9</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total imports</td><td align='right'>9,294,915</td><td align='right'>1</td><td align='right'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +<tr><td>Balance in favor of England</td><td align='right'>£5,263,373</td><td align='right'>18</td><td align='right'>3</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td align='right'>——</td><td align='right'>——</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent"> +Here is the state of our trade in 1761, compared with a very good +year of profound peace: both are taken from the authentic entries at +the custom-house. How the author can contrive to make this increase +of the export of English produce agree with his account of the dreadful +want of hands in England, page 9, unless he supposes manufactures +to be made without hands, I really do not see. It is painful to be so +frequently obliged to set this author right in matters of fact. This +state will fully refute all that he has said or insinuated upon the +difficulties and decay of our trade, pages 6, 7, and 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Page 7. See also page 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Pages 12, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Page 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Page 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> "Our merchants suffered by the detention of the galleons, as +their correspondents in Spain were disabled from paying them for +their goods sent to America."—State of the Nation, p. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Pages 12, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Page 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Something however has transpired in the quarrels among those +concerned in that transaction. It seems the <i>good Genius</i> of Britain, +so much vaunted by our author, did his duty nobly. Whilst we +were gaining such advantages, the court of France was astonished at +our concessions. "J'ai apporté à Versailles, il est vrai, les Ratifications +du Roi d'Angleterre, <i>à vostre grand étonnement, et à celui de bien +d'autres</i>. Je dois cela au bontés du Roi d'Angleterre, à celles de Milord +Bute, à Mons. le Comte de Viry, à Mons. le Duc de Nivernois, +et en fin à mon scavoir faire."—Lettres, &c., du Chev. D'Eon, p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> "The navy bills are not due till six months after they have been +issued; six months also of the seamen's wages by act of Parliament +must be, and in consequence of the rules prescribed by that act, twelve +months' wages generally, and often much more are retained; and +there has been besides at all times a large arrear of pay, which, though +kept in the account, could never be claimed, the persons to whom it +was due having left neither assignees nor representatives. The precise +amount of such sums cannot be ascertained; but they can hardly be +reckoned less than thirteen or fourteen hundred thousand pounds. +On 31st Dec, 1754, when the navy debt was reduced nearly as low as +it could be, it still amounted to 1,296,567<i>l.</i> 18<i>s.</i> 11¾<i>d.</i> consisting chiefly +of articles which could not then be discharged; such articles will be +larger now, in proportion to the increase of the establishment; and an +allowance must always be made for them in judging of the state of +the navy debt, though they are not distinguishable in the account. +In providing for that which is payable, the principal object of the +legislature is always to discharge the bills, for they are the greatest +article; they bear an interest of 4 per cent; and, when the quantity of +them is large, they are a heavy incumbrance upon all money transactions"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 26em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td class="wrap">Navy</td><td align='right'>£1,450,900</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Army</td><td align='right'>1,268,500</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Ordnance</td><td align='right'>174,600</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">The four American governments</td><td align='right'>19,200</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">General surveys in America</td><td align='right'>1,600</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Foundling Hospital</td><td align='right'>38,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">To the African committee</td><td align='right'>13,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">For the civil establishment on the coast of Africa</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">5,500</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Militia</td><td align='right'>100,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Deficiency of land and malt</td><td align='right'>300,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Deficiency of funds</td><td align='right'>202,400</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Extraordinaries of the army and navy</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">35,000</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap" align='center'>Total</td><td align='right'>£3,609,700</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Upon the money borrowed in 1760, the premium of one per +cent was for twenty-one years, not for twenty; this annuity has been +paid eight years instead of seven; the sum paid is therefore 640,000<i>l.</i> +instead of 560,000<i>l.</i>; the remaining term is worth, ten years and a +quarter instead of eleven years;<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor" +title="See Smart and Demoivre.">[59]</a> its value is 820,000<i>l.</i> instead of +880,000<i>l.</i>; and the whole value of that premium is 1,460,000<i>l.</i> instead +of 1,440,000<i>l.</i> The like errors are observable in his computation on +the additional capital of three per cent on the loan of that year. In +like manner, on the loan of 1762, the author computes on five years' +payment instead of six; and says in express terms, that take 5 from +19, and there remain 13. These are not errors of the pen or the +press; the several computations pursued in this part of the work with +great diligence and earnestness prove them errors upon much deliberation. +Thus the premiums in 1759 are cast up 90,000<i>l.</i> too little, an +error in the first rule of arithmetic. "The annuities borrowed in +1756 and 1758 are," says he, "to continue till redeemed by Parliament." +He does not take notice that the first are irredeemable till February, +1771, the other till July, 1782. In this the amount of the premiums +is computed on the time which they have run. Weakly and +ignorantly; for he might have added to this, and strengthened his argument, +such as it is, by charging also the value of the additional one +per cent from the day on which he wrote, to at least that day on which +these annuities become redeemable. To make ample amends, however, +he has added to the premiums of 15 per cent in 1759, and three per cent +in 1760, the annuity paid for them since their commencement; +the fallacy of which is manifest; for the premiums in these cases can +he neither more nor less than the additional capital for which the public +stands engaged, and is just the same whether five or five hundred +years' annuity has been paid for it. In private life, no man persuades +himself that he has borrowed 200<i>l.</i> because he happens to have paid +twenty years' interest on a loan of 100<i>l.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> See Smart and Demoivre.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Pages 30-32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> In a course of years a few manufacturers have been tempted +abroad, not by cheap living, but by immense premiums, to set up as +masters, and to introduce the manufacture. This must happen in +every country eminent for the skill of its artificers, and has nothing +to do with taxes and the price of provisions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Although the public brewery has considerably increased in this +latter period, the produce of the malt-tax has been something less than +in the former; this cannot be attributed to the new malt-tax. Had +this been the cause of the lessened consumption, the public brewery, +so much more burdened, must have felt it more. The cause of this +diminution of the malt-tax I take to have been principally owing to +the greater dearness of corn in the second period than in the first, +which, in all its consequences, affected the people in the country much +more than those in the towns. But the revenue from consumption +was not, on the whole, impaired; as we have seen in the foregoing +page.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" style="width: 100%; max-width: 28em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr><td align='right' colspan="2">Total Imports, value,</td><td style='width: 4em'></td><!-- <td> + </td>--> + <td colspan="2" align='right'>Exports, ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1752</td><td align='right'>£7,889,369</td><td /><td align='right'>£11,694,912</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1753</td><td align='right'>8,625,029</td><td /><td align='right'>12,243,604</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1754</td><td align='right'>8,093,472</td><td /><td align='right'>11,787,828</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>—————</td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Total</td><td align='right'>£24,607,870</td><td /><td align='right'>35,726,344</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>—————</td><td /><td align='right'>24,607,870</td><td /></tr> +<tr><td /><td></td><td /><td align='right'>————</td><td /></tr> +<tr><td /><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Exports exceed imports</td><td align='right' valign="bottom">11,118,474</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td></td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Medium balance</td><td align='right'>£,706,158</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td></td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2" align='right'>Total Imports, value,</td><td /><td align='right'>Exports, ditto.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1764</td><td align='right'>£10,818,946</td><td /><td align='right'>£16,104,532</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1765</td><td align='right'>10,889,742</td><td /><td align='right'>14,550,507</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">1766</td><td align='right'>11,475,825</td><td /><td align='right'>14,024,964</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>—————</td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td class="wrap">Total</td><td align='right'>£32,685,513</td><td /><td align='right'>44,740,003</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td align='right'>—————</td><td /><td align='right'>32,683,613</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td></td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Exports exceed</td><td align='right'>12,054,490</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td></td><td /><td align='right'>————</td></tr> +<tr><td /><td colspan="2" class="wrap">Medium balance for three last years</td><td align='right'>£4,018,163</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> It is dearer in some places, and rather cheaper in others; but it +must soon all come to a level.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> A tax rated by the intendant in each generality, on the presumed +fortune of every person below the degree of a gentleman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Before the war it was sold to, or rather forced on, the consumer +at 11 sous, or about 5<i>d.</i> the pound. What it is at present, I am not +informed. Even this will appear no trivial imposition. In London, +salt may be had at a penny farthing per pound from the last retailer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Page 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Page 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Page 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Page 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a name="Footnote_71_71a" id="Footnote_71_71a"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The figures in the "Considerations" are wrongly cast up; it +should be 3,608,700<i>l.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> "Considerations," p. 43. "State of the Nation," p. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Ibid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Page 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> The author of the "State of the Nation," p. 34, informs us, that +the sum of 75,000<i>l.</i> allowed by him for the extras of the army and +ordnance, is far less than was allowed for the same service in the years +1767 and 1768. It is so undoubtedly, and by at least 200,000<i>l.</i> He +sees that he cannot abide by the plan of the "Considerations" in this +point, nor is he willing wholly to give it up. Such an enormous +difference as that between 35,000<i>l.</i> and 300,000<i>l.</i> puts him to a stand. +Should he adopt the latter plan of increased expense, he must then +confess that he had, on a former occasion, egregiously trifled with the +public; at the same time all his future promises of reduction must +fall to the ground. If he stuck to the 35,000<i>l.</i> he was sure that every +one must expect from him some account how this monstrous charge +came to continue ever since the war, when it was clearly unnecessary; +how all those successions of ministers (his own included) came to pay +it, and why his great friend in Parliament, and his partisans without +doors, came not to pursue to ruin, at least to utter shame, the authors +of so groundless and scandalous a profusion. In this strait he took +a middle way; and, to come nearer the real state of the service, he +outbid the "Considerations," at one stroke, 40,000<i>l.</i>; at the same +time he hints to you, that you may <i>expect</i> some benefit also from the +original plan. But the author of the "Considerations" will not suffer +him to escape it. He has pinned him down to his 35,000<i>l.</i>; for +that is the sum he has chosen, not as what he thinks will probably +be required, but as making the most ample allowance for every possible +contingency. See that author, p. 42 and 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71a"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> He has done great injustice to the establishment of 1768; but I +have not here time for this discussion; nor is it necessary to this argument.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Page 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> In making up this account, he falls into a surprising error of +arithmetic. "The deficiency of the land-tax in the year 1754 and +1755,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor" +title="Page 33.">[80]</a> when it was at 2<i>s.</i>, amounted to no more, on a medium, than +49,372<i>l.</i>; to which, if we add <i>half the sum</i>, it will give us 79,058<i>l.</i> as +the peace deficiency at 3<i>s.</i>"</p> +<div class="ctr"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Savings" style="width: 100%; max-width: 10em;"> +<tr><td> Total </td><td align="right">£49,372</td></tr> +<tr><td> Add the half </td><td align="right">24,686</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right">———</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right">£74,058</td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<p class="noindent">Which he makes 79,058<i>l.</i> This is indeed in disfavor of his argument; +but we shall see that he has ways, by other errors, of reimbursing +himself.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Page 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Page 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Page 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Page 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Page 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Pages 37, 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Pages 39, 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Page 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> It is observable, that the partisans of American taxation, when +they have a mind to represent this tax as wonderfully beneficial to +England, state it as worth 100,000<i>l.</i> a year; when they are to represent +it as very light on the Americans, it dwindles to 60,000<i>l.</i> Indeed +it is very difficult to compute what its produce might have been.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> "Considerations," p. 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> "Considerations," p. 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Ibid., p. 74.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> I do not here enter into the unsatisfactory disquisition concerning +representation real or presumed. I only say, that a great people +who have their property, without any reserve, in all cases, disposed +of by another people, at an immense distance from them, will not +think themselves in the enjoyment of freedom. It will be hard to +show to those who are in such a state, which of the usual parts of the +definition or description of a free people are applicable to them; and +it is neither pleasant nor wise to attempt to prove that they have no +right to be comprehended in such a description.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Page 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Here the author has a note altogether in his usual strain of reasoning; +he finds out that somebody, in the course of this multifarious +evidence, had said, "that a very considerable part of the orders of +1765 transmitted from America had been afterwards suspended; but +that in case the Stamp Act was repealed, those orders were to be executed +in the present year, 1766"; and that, on the repeal of the Stamp +Act, "the exports to the colonies would be at least double the value of +the exports of the past year." He then triumphs exceedingly on +their having fallen short of it on the state of the custom-house entries. +I do not well know what conclusion he draws applicable to his purpose +from these facts. He does not deny that all the orders which +came from America subsequent to the disturbances of the Stamp Act +were on the condition of that act being repealed; and he does not +assert that, notwithstanding that act should be enforced by a strong +hand, still the orders would be executed. Neither does he quite venture +to say that this decline of the trade in 1766 was owing to the +repeal. What does he therefore infer from it, favorable to the enforcement +of that law? It only comes to this, and no more; those +merchants, who thought our trade would be doubled in the subsequent +year, were mistaken in their speculations. So that the Stamp +Act was not to be repealed unless this speculation of theirs was a +probable event. But it was not repealed in order to double our trade +in that year, as everybody knows (whatever some merchants might +have said), but lest in that year we should have no trade at all. The +fact is, that during the greatest part of the year 1755, that is, until +about the month of October, when the accounts of the disturbances +came thick upon us, the American trade went on as usual. Before +this time, the Stamp Act could not affect it. Afterwards, the merchants +fell into a great consternation; a general stagnation in trade +ensued. But as soon as it was known that the ministry favored the +repeal of the Stamp Act, several of the bolder merchants ventured to +execute their orders; others more timid hung back; in this manner +the trade continued in a state of dreadful fluctuation between the fears +of those who had ventured, for the event of their boldness, and the +anxiety of those whose trade was suspended, until the royal assent +was finally given to the bill of repeal. That the trade of 1766 was +not equal to that of 1765, could not be owing to the repeal; it arose +from quite different causes, of which the author seems not to be +aware: 1st, Our conquests during the war had laid open the trade +of the French and Spanish West Indies to our colonies much more +largely than they had ever enjoyed it; this continued for some time +after the peace; but at length it was extremely contracted, and in +some places reduced to nothing. Such in particular was the state of +Jamaica. On the taking the Havannah all the stores of that island +were emptied into that place, which produced unusual orders for +goods, for supplying their own consumption, as well as for further +speculations of trade. These ceasing, the trade stood on its own +bottom. This is one cause of the diminished export to Jamaica, +and not the childish idea of the author, of an impossible contraband +from the opening of the ports.—2nd, The war had brought a great +influx of cash into America, for the pay and provision of the troops; +and this an unnatural increase of trade, which, as its cause failed, +must in some degree return to its ancient and natural bounds.—3rd, +When the merchants met from all parts, and compared their accounts, +they were alarmed at the immensity of the debt due to them from +America. They found that the Americans had over-traded their +abilities. And, as they found too that several of them were capable +of making the state of political events an excuse for their failure in +commercial punctuality, many of our merchants in some degree contracted +their trade from that moment. However, it is idle, in such +an immense mass of trade, so liable to fluctuation, to infer anything +from such a deficiency as one or even two hundred thousand pounds. +In 1767, when the disturbances subsided, this deficiency was made +up again.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> The disturbances have been in Boston only; and were not in +consequence of the late duties.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Page 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> "They are happy in having found, in your zeal for the dignity +of this nation, the means of liquidating their claims, and of concluding +with the court of France a convention for the final satisfaction +of their demands; and have given us commission, in their names, +and on their behalf, most earnestly to entreat your acceptance of their +grateful acknowledgments. Whether they consider themselves as +Britons, or as men more particularly profiting by your generous and +spirited interposition, they see great reasons to be thankful, for having +been supported by a minister, in whose public affections, in whose +wisdom and activity, both the national honor, and the interests of individuals, +have been at once so well supported and secured."—Thanks +of the Canada merchants to General Conway, London, April 28, 1766.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> See the Convention itself, printed by Owen and Harrison, Warwick-lane, +1766; particularly the articles two and thirteen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Page 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Page 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Page 46.</p></div><!-- Page 451 --><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427" title="427" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX" id="APPENDIX"></a>APPENDIX.</h2> + + +<p>So much misplaced industry has been used by the +author of "The State of the Nation," as well as +by other writers, to infuse discontent into the people, +on account of the late war, and of the effects of our +national debt; that nothing ought to be omitted which +may tend to disabuse the public upon these subjects. +When I had gone through the foregoing sheets, I recollected, +that, in pages 58, 59, 60, I only gave the +comparative states of the duties collected by the excise +at large; together with the quantities of strong +beer brewed in the two periods which are there compared. +It might be still thought, that some other articles +of popular consumption, of general convenience, +and connected with our manufactures, might possibly +have declined. I therefore now think it right to lay +before the reader the state of the produce of three capital +duties on such articles; duties which have frequently +been made the subject of popular complaint. +The duty on candles; that on soap, paper, &c.; and +that on hides.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Averages of produce on duty" style="width: 100%; max-width: 23em; padding-left: 1em;"> +<tr> + <td class="wrap">Average of net produce of duty on soap, + &c., for eight years ending 1767 </td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£264,902</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="wrap">Average of ditto for eight years ending + 1754</td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">228,114</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td /> + <td align="right">————</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="center">Average increase</td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£36,788</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="wrap"> + <!-- Page 452 --><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428" title="428" class="pagenum"></a> + Average of net produce of duty on candles, + for eight years ending 1767 </td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£155,789</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="wrap">Average of ditto for eight years ending + 1754</td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">136,716</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td /> + <td align="right">————</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="center">Average increase</td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£19,073</td> +</tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="wrap">Average of net produce of duty on hides, + eight years ending 1767 </td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£189,216</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="wrap">ditto eight years ending 1754</td> + <td align="right">168,200</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td /> + <td align="right">————</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="center">Average increase</td> + <td align="right" valign="bottom">£21,016</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">This increase has not arisen from any additional duties. +None have been imposed on these articles during +the war. Notwithstanding the burdens of the +war, and the late dearness of provisions, the consumption +of all these articles has increased, and the +revenue along with it.</p> + +<p>There is another point in "The State of the Nation," +to which, I fear, I have not been so full in my +answer as I ought to have been, and as I am well +warranted to be. The author has endeavored to +throw a suspicion, or something more, on that salutary, +and indeed necessary measure of opening the +ports in Jamaica. "Orders were given," says he, +"in <i>August</i>, 1765, for the free admission of Spanish +vessels into all the colonies."<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor" +title="His note, p. 22.">[101]</a> He then observes, +that the exports to Jamaica fell 40,904<i>l.</i> short of those +of 1764; and that the exports of the succeeding year, +1766, fell short of those of 1765, about eighty pounds; +from whence he wisely infers, that this decline of exports +being <i>since</i> the relaxation of the laws of trade, +there is a just ground of suspicion, that the colonies +have been supplied with foreign commodities instead +of British.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 453 --><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429" title="429" class="pagenum"></a>Here, as usual with him, the author builds on a +fact which is absolutely false; and which, being so, +renders his whole hypothesis absurd and impossible. +He asserts, that the order for admitting Spanish vessels +was given in <i>August</i>, 1765. That order was not +<i>signed at the treasury board until the 15th day of the +November following</i>; and therefore so far from affecting +the exports of the year 1765, that, supposing all +possible diligence in the commissioners of the customs +in expediting that order, and every advantage of +vessels ready to sail, and the most favorable wind, it +would hardly even arrive in Jamaica, within the limits +of that year.</p> + +<p>This order could therefore by no possibility be a +cause of the decrease of exports in 1765. If it had +any mischievous operation, it could not be before +1766. In that year, according to our author, the exports +fell short of the preceding, just <i>eighty</i> pounds. +He is welcome to that diminution; and to all the consequences +he can draw from it.</p> + +<p>But, as an auxiliary to account for this dreadful +loss, he brings in the Free-port Act, which he observes +(for his convenience) to have been made in spring, +1766; but (for his convenience likewise) he forgets, +that, by the express provision of the act, the regulation +was not to be in force in Jamaica until the November +following. Miraculous must be the activity +of that contraband whose operation in America could, +before the end of that year, have reacted upon England, +and checked the exportation from hence! Unless +he chooses to suppose, that the merchants at +whose solicitation this act had been obtained, were so +frightened at the accomplishment of their own most +earnest and anxious desire, that, before any good or +<!-- Page 454 --><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430" title="430" class="pagenum"></a>evil effect from it could happen, they immediately +put a stop to all further exportation.</p> + +<p>It is obvious that we must look for the true effect +of that act at the time of its first possible operation, +that is, in the year 1767. On this idea how stands +the account?</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Exports to Jamaica" style="width: 100%; max-width: 20em;"> +<tr><td>1764, Exports to Jamaica </td><td align="right">£456,528</td></tr> +<tr><td>1765 </td><td align="right">415,624</td></tr> +<tr><td>1766 </td><td align="right">415,544</td></tr> +<tr><td>1767 (first year of the Free-port Act) </td><td align="right">467,681</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="noindent">This author, for the sake of a present momentary +credit, will hazard any future and permanent disgrace. +At the time he wrote, the account of 1767 +could not be made up. This was the very first year +of the trial of the Free-port Act; and we find that +the sale of British commodities is so far from being +lessened by that act, that the export of 1767 amounts +to 52,000<i>l.</i> more than that of either of the two preceding +years, and is 11,000<i>l.</i> above that of his standard +year 1764. If I could prevail on myself to argue +in favor of a great commercial scheme from the +appearance of things in a single year, I should from +this increase of export infer the beneficial effects of +that measure. In truth, it is not wanting. Nothing +but the thickest ignorance of the Jamaica trade could +have made any one entertain a fancy, that the least +ill effect on our commerce could follow from this +opening of the ports. But, if the author argues the +effect of regulations in the American trade from the +export of the year in which they are made, or even +of the following; why did he not apply this rule to +his own? He had the same paper before him which +I have now before me. He must have seen that in +<!-- Page 455 --><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431" title="431" class="pagenum"></a>his standard year (the year 1764), the principal year +of his new regulations, the export fell no less than +128,450<i>l.</i> short of that in 1763! Did the export +trade revive by these regulations in 1765, during +which year they continued in their full force? It +fell about 40,000<i>l.</i> still lower. Here is a fall of +168,000<i>l.</i>; to account for which, would have become +the author much better than piddling for an 80<i>l.</i> fall +in the year 1766 (the only year in which <i>the order</i> he +objects to could operate), or in presuming a fall of +exports from a regulation which took place only in +November, 1766; whose effects could not appear until +the following year; and which, when they do appear, +utterly overthrow all his flimsy reasons and affected +suspicions upon the effect of opening the ports.</p> + +<p>This author, in the same paragraph, says, that "it +was asserted by <i>the American factors and agents</i>, that +the commanders of our ships of war and tenders, having +custom-house commissions, and the strict orders +given in 1764 for a due execution of the laws of trade +in the colonies, had deterred the Spaniards from trading +with us; that the sale of British manufactures in +the West Indies had been greatly lessened, and the +receipt of large sums of specie prevented."</p> + +<p>If the <i>American factors and agents</i> asserted this, +they had good ground for their assertion. They +knew that the Spanish vessels had been driven from +our ports. The author does not positively deny the +fact. If he should, it will be proved. When the factors +connected this measure, and its natural consequences, +with an actual fall in the exports to Jamaica, +to no less an amount than 128,460<i>l.</i> in one +year, and with a further fall in the next, is their +assertion very wonderful? The author himself is +<!-- Page 456 --><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432" title="432" class="pagenum"></a>full as much alarmed by a fall of only 40,000<i>l.</i>; for +giving him the facts which he chooses to coin, it is no +more. The expulsion of the Spanish vessels must +certainly have been one cause, if not of the first declension +of the exports, yet of their continuance in +their reduced state. Other causes had their operation, +without doubt. In what degree each cause produced +its effect, it is hard to determine. But the +fact of a fall of exports upon the restraining plan, +and of a rise upon the taking place of the enlarging +plan, is established beyond all contradiction.</p> + +<p>This author says, that the facts relative to the +Spanish trade were asserted by <i>American factors and +agents</i>; insinuating, that the ministry of 1766 had no +better authority for their plan of enlargement than +such assertions. The moment he chooses it, he shall +see the very same thing asserted by governors of +provinces, by commanders of men-of-war, and by officers +of the customs; persons the most bound in duty +to prevent contraband, and the most interested in the +seizures to be made in consequence of strict regulation. +I suppress them for the present; wishing that +the author may not drive me to a more full discussion +of this matter than it may be altogether prudent to +enter into. I wish he had not made any of these discussions +necessary.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> His note, p. 22.</p></div><!-- Page 457 --><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433" title="433" class="pagenum"></a> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THOUGHTS_ON_THE_CAUSE_OF_THE_PRESENT_DISCONTENTS_" id="THOUGHTS_ON_THE_CAUSE_OF_THE_PRESENT_DISCONTENTS_"></a> +THOUGHTS<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: 60%">ON</span><br /> +<br /> +THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS.<br /> +</h2> + +<blockquote> +<p>Hoc vero occultum, intestinum, domesticum malum, non modo non +existit, verum etiam opprimit, antequam perspicere atque explorare +potueris.</p> +<p class="citation">CIC.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h2 style="font-size: 100%">1770.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> +<!-- Page 458 --><div><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434" title="434" class="pagenum"></a></div> + +<div><!-- Page 459 --><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435" title="435" class="pagenum"></a></div> +<p>It is an undertaking of some degree of delicacy to +examine into the cause of public disorders. If +a man happens not to succeed in such an inquiry, he +will be thought weak and visionary; if he touches +the true grievance, there is a danger that he may +come near to persons of weight and consequence, +who will rather be exasperated at the discovery of +their errors, than thankful for the occasion of correcting +them. If he should be obliged to blame the +favorites of the people, he will be considered as the tool +of power; if he censures those in power, he will be +looked on as an instrument of faction. But in all +exertions of duty something is to be hazarded. In +cases of tumult and disorder, our law has invested +every man, in some sort, with the authority of a magistrate. +When the affairs of the nation are distracted, +private people are, by the spirit of that law, justified +in stepping a little out of their ordinary sphere. +They enjoy a privilege, of somewhat more dignity +and effect, than that of idle lamentation over the calamities +of their country. They may look into them +narrowly; they may reason upon them liberally; +and if they should be so fortunate as to discover the +true source of the mischief, and to suggest any prob<!-- Page 460 --><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436" title="436" class="pagenum"></a>able +method of removing it, though they may displease +the rulers for the day, they are certainly of +service to the cause of government. Government is +deeply interested in everything which, even through +the medium of some temporary uneasiness, may tend +finally to compose the minds of the subject, and to +conciliate their affections. I have nothing to do here +with the abstract value of the voice of the people. +But as long as reputation, the most precious possession +of every individual, and as long as opinion, the +great support of the state, depend entirely upon that +voice, it can never be considered as a thing of little +consequence either to individuals or to governments. +Nations are not primarily ruled by laws: less by violence. +Whatever original energy may be supposed +either in force or regulation, the operation of both is, +in truth, merely instrumental. Nations are governed +by the same methods, and on the same principles, by +which an individual without authority is often able to +govern those who are his equals or his superiors; by +a knowledge of their temper, and by a judicious management +of it; I mean,—when public affairs are +steadily and quietly conducted; not when government +is nothing but a continued scuffle between the +magistrate and the multitude; in which sometimes +the one and sometimes the other is uppermost; in +which they alternately yield and prevail, in a series +of contemptible victories, and scandalous submissions. +The temper of the people amongst whom he +presides ought therefore to be the first study of a +statesman. And the knowledge of this temper it is +by no means impossible for him to attain, if he has +not an interest in being ignorant of what it is his +duty to learn.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 461 --><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437" title="437" class="pagenum"></a>To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at +the present possessors of power, to lament the past, +to conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the +common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind; +indeed the necessary effects of the ignorance and levity +of the vulgar. Such complaints and humors have +existed in all times; yet as all times have <i>not</i> been +alike, true political sagacity manifests itself in distinguishing +that complaint which only characterizes the +general infirmity of human nature, from those which +are symptoms of the particular distemperature of our +own air and season.</p> + +<p>Nobody, I believe, will consider it merely as the +language of spleen or disappointment, if I say, that +there is something particularly alarming in the present +conjuncture. There is hardly a man, in or out of +power, who holds any other language. That government +is at once dreaded and contemned; that the laws +are despoiled of all their respected and salutary terrors; +that their inaction is a subject of ridicule, and +their exertion of abhorrence; that rank, and office and +title, and all the solemn plausibilities of the world, +have lost their reverence and effect; that our foreign +politics are as much deranged as our domestic economy; +that our dependencies are slackened in their +affection, and loosened from their obedience; that we +know neither how to yield nor how to enforce; that +hardly anything above or below, abroad or at home, +is sound and entire; but that disconnection and confusion, +in offices, in parties, in families, in Parliament, +in the nation, prevail beyond the disorders of +any former time: these are facts universally admitted +and lamented.</p> + +<p>This state of things is the more extraordinary, be<!-- Page 462 --><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438" title="438" class="pagenum"></a>cause +the great parties which formerly divided and +agitated the kingdom are known to be in a manner +entirely dissolved. No great external calamity has +visited the nation; no pestilence or famine. We do +not labor at present under any scheme of taxation +new or oppressive in the quantity or in the mode. +Nor are we engaged in unsuccessful war; in which, +our misfortunes might easily pervert our judgment; +and our minds, sore from the loss of national glory, +might feel every blow of fortune as a crime in government.</p> + +<p>It is impossible that the cause of this strange distemper +should not sometimes become a subject of discourse. +It is a compliment due, and which I willingly +pay, to those who administer our affairs, to take notice +in the first place of their speculation. Our ministers +are of opinion, that the increase of our trade and +manufactures, that our growth by colonization, and +by conquest, have concurred to accumulate immense +wealth in the hands of some individuals; and this +again being dispersed among the people, has rendered +them universally proud, ferocious, and ungovernable; +that the insolence of some from their enormous +wealth, and the boldness of others from a guilty poverty, +have rendered them capable of the most atrocious +attempts; so that they have trampled upon all subordination, +and violently borne down the unarmed laws +of a free government; barriers too feeble against the +fury of a populace so fierce and licentious as ours. +They contend, that no adequate provocation has been +given for so spreading a discontent; our affairs having +been conducted throughout with remarkable temper +and consummate wisdom. The wicked industry of +some libellers, joined to the intrigues of a few disap<!-- Page 463 --><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439" title="439" class="pagenum"></a>pointed +politicians, have, in their opinion, been able +to produce this unnatural ferment in the nation.</p> + +<p>Nothing indeed can be more unnatural than the +present convulsions of this country, if the above account +be a true one. I confess I shall assent to it +with great reluctance, and only on the compulsion of +the clearest and firmest proofs; because their account +resolves itself into this short, but discouraging proposition, +"That we have a very good ministry, but that we +are a very bad people"; that we set ourselves to bite +the hand that feeds us; that with a malignant insanity, +we oppose the measures, and ungratefully vilify +the persons, of those whose sole object is our own +peace and prosperity. If a few puny libellers, acting +under a knot of factious politicians, without virtue, +parts, or character, (such they are constantly represented +by these gentlemen,) are sufficient to excite +this disturbance, very perverse must be the disposition +of that people, amongst whom such a disturbance +can be excited by such means. It is besides no +small aggravation of the public misfortune, that the +disease, on this hypothesis, appears to be without remedy. +If the wealth of the nation be the cause of its +turbulence, I imagine it is not proposed to introduce +poverty, as a constable to keep the peace. If our dominions +abroad are the roots which feed all this rank +luxuriance of sedition, it is not intended to cut them +off in order to famish the fruit. If our liberty has +enfeebled the executive power, there is no design, I +hope, to call in the aid of despotism, to fill up the +deficiencies of law. Whatever may be intended, +these things are not yet professed. We seem therefore +to be driven to absolute despair; for we have no +other materials to work upon, but those out of which +<!-- Page 464 --><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440" title="440" class="pagenum"></a>God has been pleased to form the inhabitants of this +island. If these be radically and essentially vicious, +all that can be said is, that those men are very unhappy, +to whose fortune or duty it falls to administer +the affairs of this untoward people. I hear it indeed +sometimes asserted, that a steady perseverance in the +present measures, and a rigorous punishment of those +who oppose them, will in course of time infallibly put +an end to these disorders. But this, in my opinion, +is said without much observation of our present disposition, +and without any knowledge at all of the +general nature of mankind. If the matter of which +this nation is composed be so very fermentable as these +gentlemen describe it, leaven never will be wanting +to work it up, as long as discontent, revenge, and ambition, +have existence in the world. Particular punishments +are the cure for accidental distempers in +the state; they inflame rather than allay those heats +which arise from the settled mismanagement of the +government, or from a natural indisposition in the +people. It is of the utmost moment not to make +mistakes in the use of strong measures; and firmness +is then only a virtue when it accompanies the most +perfect wisdom. In truth, inconstancy is a sort of +natural corrective of folly and ignorance.</p> + +<p>I am not one of those who think that the people +are never in the wrong. They have been so, frequently +and outrageously, both in other countries and +in this. But I do say, that in all disputes between +them and their rulers, the presumption is at least +upon a par in favor of the people. Experience may +perhaps justify me in going further. When popular +discontents have been very prevalent, it may well be +affirmed and supported, that there has been generally +<!-- Page 465 --><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441" title="441" class="pagenum"></a>something found amiss in the constitution, or in the +conduct of government. The people have no interest +in disorder. When they do wrong, it is their error, +and not their crime. But with the governing part of +the state, it is for otherwise. They certainly may +act ill by design, as well as by mistake. "<i>Les révolutions +qui arrivent dans les grands états ne sont +point un effect du hazard, ni du caprice des peuples. +Rien ne révolte </i>les grands<i> d'un royaume comme </i>un +gouvernement foible et dérangé<i>. Pour la </i>populace<i>, +ce n'est jamais par envie d'attaquer qu'elle se soulève, +mais par impatience de souffrir.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor" +title="Mém. de Sully, tom. i. p. 133.">[102]</a> These are the +words of a great man; of a minister of state; and a +zealous assertor of monarchy. They are applied to +the <i>system of favoritism</i> which was adopted by Henry +the Third of France, and to the dreadful consequences +it produced. What he says of revolutions, +is equally true of all great disturbances. If this presumption +in favor of the subjects against the trustees +of power be not the more probable, I am sure it is +the more comfortable speculation; because it is more +easy to change an administration, than to reform a +people.</p> + +<p>Upon a supposition, therefore, that, in the opening +of the cause, the presumptions stand equally balanced +between the parties, there seems sufficient +ground to entitle any person to a fair hearing, who +attempts some other scheme beside that easy one +which is fashionable in some fashionable companies, +to account for the present discontents. It is not to +be argued that we endure no grievance, because our +grievances are not of the same sort with those under +which we labored formerly; not precisely those which +<!-- Page 466 --><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442" title="442" class="pagenum"></a>we bore from the Tudors, or vindicated on the Stuarts. +A great change has taken place in the affairs +of this country. For in the silent lapse of events as +material alterations have been insensibly brought +about in the policy and character of governments +and nations, as those which have been marked by the +tumult of public revolutions.</p> + +<p>It is very rare indeed for men to be wrong in their +feelings concerning public misconduct; as rare to be +right in their speculation upon the cause of it. I +have constantly observed, that the generality of people +are fifty years, at least, behindhand in their politics. +There are but very few who are capable of comparing +and digesting what passes before their eyes at +different times and occasions, so as to form the whole +into a distinct system. But in books everything is +settled for them, without the exertion of any considerable +diligence or sagacity. For which reason men +are wise with but little reflection, and good with little +self-denial, in the business of all times except their +own. We are very uncorrupt and tolerably enlightened +judges of the transactions of past ages; where +no passions deceive, and where the whole train of +circumstances, from the trifling cause to the tragical +event, is set in an orderly series before us. Few are +the partisans of departed tyranny; and to be a Whig +on the business of an hundred years ago, is very consistent +with every advantage of present servility. +This retrospective wisdom, and historical patriotism, +are things of wonderful convenience, and serve admirably +to reconcile the old quarrel between speculation +and practice. Many a stern republican, after +gorging himself with a full feast of admiration of the +Grecian commonwealths and of our true Saxon con<!-- Page 467 --><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443" title="443" class="pagenum"></a>stitution, +and discharging all the splendid bile of his +virtuous indignation on King John and King James, +sits down perfectly satisfied to the coarsest work and +homeliest job of the day he lives in. I believe there +was no professed admirer of Henry the Eighth among +the instruments of the last King James; nor in the +court of Henry the Eighth was there, I dare say, to +be found a single advocate for the favorites of Richard +the Second.</p> + +<p>No complaisance to our court, or to our age, can +make me believe nature to be so changed, but that +public liberty will be among us as among our ancestors, +obnoxious to some person or other; and that +opportunities will be furnished for attempting, at +least, some alteration to the prejudice of our constitution. +These attempts will naturally vary in their +mode according to times and circumstances. For +ambition, though it has ever the same general views, +has not at all times the same means, nor the same +particular objects. A great deal of the furniture of +ancient tyranny is worn to rags; the rest is entirely +out of fashion. Besides, there are few statesmen so +very clumsy and awkward in their business, as to fall +into the identical snare which has proved fatal to their +predecessors. When an arbitrary imposition is attempted +upon the subject, undoubtedly it will not bear +on its forehead the name of <i>Ship-money</i>. There is no +danger that an extension of the <i>Forest laws</i> should be +the chosen mode of oppression in this age. And when +we hear any instance of ministerial rapacity, to the prejudice +of the rights of private life, it will certainly not +be the exaction of two hundred pullets, from a woman +of fashion, for leave to lie with her own husband.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor" +title=""Uxor Hugonis de Nevill dat Domino Regi ducentas Gallinas, +eo quod possit jacere una nocte cum Domino suo Hugone de Nevill."—Maddox, +Hist. Exch. c. xiii. p. 326.">[103]</a></p> + +<p><!-- Page 468 --><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444" title="444" class="pagenum"></a>Every age has its own manners, and its politics dependent +upon them; and the same attempts will not +be made against a constitution fully formed and matured, +that were used to destroy it in the cradle, or +to resist its growth during its infancy.</p> + +<p>Against the being of Parliament, I am satisfied, no +designs have ever been entertained since the revolution. +Every one must perceive, that it is strongly +the interest of the court, to have some second cause +interposed between the ministers and the people. +The gentlemen of the House of Commons have an interest +equally strong in sustaining the part of that +intermediate cause. However they may hire out the +<i>usufruct</i> of their voices, they never will part with the +<i>fee and inheritance</i>. Accordingly those who have been +of the most known devotion to the will and pleasure +of a court have, at the same time, been most forward +in asserting a high authority in the House of Commons. +When they knew who were to use that authority, +and how it was to be employed, they thought +it never could be carried too far. It must be always +the wish of an unconstitutional statesman, that a +House of Commons, who are entirely dependent upon +him, should have every right of the people entirely +dependent upon their pleasure. It was soon discovered, +that the forms of a free, and the ends of an +arbitrary government, were things not altogether incompatible.</p> + +<p>The power of the crown, almost dead and rotten +as Prerogative, has grown up anew, with much more +strength, and far less odium, under the name of +Influence. An influence, which operated without +<!-- Page 469 --><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445" title="445" class="pagenum"></a>noise and without violence; an influence, which converted +the very antagonist into the instrument of +power; which contained in itself a perpetual principle +of growth and renovation; and which the distresses +and the prosperity of the country equally +tended to augment, was an admirable substitute for +a prerogative, that, being only the offspring of antiquated +prejudices, had moulded in its original stamina +irresistible principles of decay and dissolution. +The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for a +temporary system; the interest of active men in the +state is a foundation perpetual and infallible. However, +some circumstances, arising, it must be confessed, +in a great degree from accident, prevented +the effects of this influence for a long time from +breaking out in a manner capable of exciting any +serious apprehensions. Although government was +strong and flourished exceedingly, the <i>court</i> had +drawn far less advantage than one would imagine +from this great source of power.</p> + +<p>At the revolution, the crown, deprived, for the +ends of the revolution itself, of many prerogatives, +was found too weak to struggle against all the difficulties +which pressed so new and unsettled a government. +The court was obliged therefore to delegate +a part of its powers to men of such interest as could +support, and of such fidelity as would adhere to, its +establishment. Such men were able to draw in a +greater number to a concurrence in the common +defence. This connection, necessary at first, continued +long after convenient; and properly conducted +might indeed, in all situations, be an useful instrument +of government. At the same time, through +the intervention of men of popular weight and char<!-- Page 470 --><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446" title="446" class="pagenum"></a>acter, +the people possessed a security for their just +proportion of importance in the state. But as the +title to the crown grew stronger by long possession, +and by the constant increase of its influence, these +helps have of late seemed to certain persons no better +than incumbrances. The powerful managers for +government were not sufficiently submissive to the +pleasure of the possessors of immediate and personal +favor, sometimes from a confidence in their own +strength, natural and acquired; sometimes from a +fear of offending their friends, and weakening that +lead in the country which gave them a consideration +independent of the court. Men acted as if the court +could receive, as well as confer, an obligation. The +influence of government, thus divided in appearance +between the court and the leaders of parties, became +in many cases an accession rather to the popular than +to the royal scale; and some part of that influence, +which would otherwise have been possessed as in a sort +of mortmain and unalienable domain, returned again +to the great ocean from whence it arose, and circulated +among the people. This method, therefore, of governing +by men of great natural interest or great acquired +consideration was viewed in a very invidious +light by the true lovers of absolute monarchy. It is +the nature of despotism to abhor power held by any +means but its own momentary pleasure; and to annihilate +all intermediate situations between boundless +strength on its own part, and total debility on the part +of the people.</p> + +<p>To get rid of all this intermediate and independent +importance, and <i>to secure to the court the unlimited +and uncontrolled use of its own vast influence, under +the sole direction of its own private favor</i>, has for some +<!-- Page 471 --><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447" title="447" class="pagenum"></a>years past been the great object of policy. If this +were compassed, the influence of the crown must of +course produce all the effects which the most sanguine +partisans of the court could possibly desire. +Government might then be carried on without any +concurrence on the part of the people; without any +attention to the dignity of the greater, or to the affections +of the lower sorts. A new project was therefore +devised by a certain set of intriguing men, totally +different from the system of administration which had +prevailed since the accession of the House of Brunswick. +This project, I have heard, was first conceived +by some persons in the court of Frederick Prince of +Wales.</p> + +<p>The earliest attempt in the execution of this design +was to set up for minister, a person, in rank indeed +respectable, and very ample in fortune; but who, to +the moment of this vast and sudden elevation, was +little known or considered in the kingdom. To him +the whole nation was to yield an immediate and implicit +submission. But whether it was from want of +firmness to bear up against the first opposition; or +that things were not yet fully ripened, or that this +method was not found the most eligible; that idea +was soon abandoned. The instrumental part of the +project was a little altered, to accommodate it to the +time and to bring things more gradually and more +surely to the one great end proposed.</p> + +<p>The first part of the reformed plan was to draw <i>a +line which should separate the court from the ministry</i>. +Hitherto these names had been looked upon as synonymous; +but for the future, court and administration +were to be considered as things totally distinct. +By this operation, two systems of administration were +<!-- Page 472 --><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448" title="448" class="pagenum"></a>to be formed; one which should be in the real secret +and confidence; the other merely ostensible to perform +the official and executory duties of government. +The latter were alone to be responsible; whilst the +real advisers, who enjoyed all the power, were effectually +removed from all the danger.</p> + +<p>Secondly, <i>A party under these leaders was to be +formed in favor of the court against the ministry</i>: this +party was to have a large share in the emoluments of +government, and to hold it totally separate from, and +independent of, ostensible administration.</p> + +<p>The third point, and that on which the success of +the whole scheme ultimately depended, was <i>to bring +Parliament to an acquiescence in this project</i>. Parliament +was therefore to be taught by degrees a total +indifference to the persons, rank, influence, abilities, +connections, and character of the ministers of the +crown. By means of a discipline, on which I shall +say more hereafter, that body was to be habituated +to the most opposite interests, and the most discordant +politics. All connections and dependencies +among subjects were to be entirely dissolved. As, +hitherto, business had gone through the hands of +leaders of Whigs or Tories, men of talents to conciliate +the people, and to engage their confidence; now +the method was to be altered: and the lead was to +be given to men of no sort of consideration or credit +in the country. This want of natural importance was +to be their very title to delegated power. Members +of Parliament were to be hardened into an insensibility +to pride as well as to duty. Those high and +haughty sentiments, which are the great support of +independence, were to be let down gradually. Points +of honor and precedence were no more to be regarded +<!-- Page 473 --><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449" title="449" class="pagenum"></a>in Parliamentary decorum than in a Turkish army. +It was to be avowed, as a constitutional maxim, that +the king might appoint one of his footmen, or one +of your footmen for minister; and that he ought to +be, and that he would be, as well followed as the +first name for rank or wisdom in the nation. Thus +Parliament was to look on as if perfectly unconcerned, +while a cabal of the closet and back-stairs was substituted +in the place of a national administration.</p> + +<p>With such a degree of acquiescence, any measure +of any court might well be deemed thoroughly secure. +The capital objects, and by much the most flattering +characteristics of arbitrary power, would be obtained. +Everything would be drawn from its holdings in the +country to the personal favor and inclination of the +prince. This favor would be the sole introduction to +power, and the only tenure by which it was to be +held; so that no person looking towards another, and +all looking towards the court, it was impossible but +that the motive which solely influenced every man's +hopes must come in time to govern every man's conduct; +till at last the servility became universal, in +spite of the dead letter of any laws or institutions +whatsoever.</p> + +<p>How it should happen that any man could be +tempted to venture upon such a project of government, +may at first view appear surprising. But the +fact is that opportunities very inviting to such an attempt +have offered; and the scheme itself was not +destitute of some arguments, not wholly unplausible, +to recommend it. These opportunities and these arguments, +the use that has been made of both, the +plan for carrying this new scheme of government +into execution, and the effects which it has pro<!-- Page 474 --><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450" title="450" class="pagenum"></a>duced, +are, in my opinion, worthy of our serious consideration.</p> + +<p>His Majesty came to the throne of these kingdoms +with more advantages than any of his predecessors +since the revolution. Fourth in descent, and third in +succession of his royal family, even the zealots of hereditary +right, in him, saw something to flatter their +favorite prejudices; and to justify a transfer of their +attachments, without a change in their principles. +The person and cause of the Pretender were become +contemptible; his title disowned throughout Europe; +his party disbanded in England. His Majesty came, +indeed, to the inheritance of a mighty war; but, victorious +in every part of the globe, peace was always in +his power, not to negotiate, but to dictate. No foreign +habitudes or attachments withdrew him from +the cultivation of his power at home. His revenue +for the civil establishment, fixed (as it was then +thought) at a large, but definite sum, was ample +without being invidious. His influence, by additions +from conquest, by an augmentation of debt, by an +increase of military and naval establishment, much +strengthened and extended. And coming to the +throne in the prime and full vigor of youth, as from +affection there was a strong dislike, so from dread +there seemed to be a general averseness, from giving +anything like offence to a monarch, against whose +resentment opposition could not look for a refuge in +any sort of reversionary hope.</p> + +<p>These singular advantages inspired his Majesty only +with a more ardent desire to preserve unimpaired the +spirit of that national freedom, to which he owed a situation +so full of glory. But to others it suggested sentiments +of a very different nature. They thought they +<!-- Page 475 --><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451" title="451" class="pagenum"></a>now beheld an opportunity (by a certain sort of statesmen +never long undiscovered or unemployed) of drawing +to themselves by the aggrandizement of a court +faction, a degree of power which they could never hope +to derive from natural influence or from honorable +service; and which it was impossible they could hold +with the least security, whilst the system of administration +rested upon its former bottom. In order to +facilitate the execution of their design, it was necessary +to make many alterations in political arrangement, +and a signal change in the opinions, habits, +and connections of the greatest part of those who at +that time acted in public.</p> + +<p>In the first place, they proceeded gradually, but not +slowly, to destroy everything of strength which did +not derive its principal nourishment from the immediate +pleasure of the court. The greatest weight of +popular opinion and party connection were then with +the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt. Neither of these +held their importance by the <i>new tenure</i> of the court; +they were not therefore thought to be so proper as +others for the services which were required by that +tenure. It happened very favorably for the new system, +that under a forced coalition there rankled an +incurable alienation and disgust between the parties +which composed the administration. Mr. Pitt was +first attacked. Not satisfied with removing him from +power, they endeavored by various artifices to ruin +his character. The other party seemed rather pleased +to get rid of so oppressive a support; not perceiving, +that their own fall was prepared by his, and involved +in it. Many other reasons prevented them from daring +to look their true situation in the face. To the +great Whig families it was extremely disagreeable, +<!-- Page 476 --><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452" title="452" class="pagenum"></a>and seemed almost unnatural, to oppose the administration +of a prince of the House of Brunswick. Day +after day they hesitated, and doubted, and lingered, +expecting that other counsels would take place; and +were slow to be persuaded, that all which had been +done by the cabal was the effect not of humor, but +of system. It was more strongly and evidently the +interest of the new court faction, to get rid of the +great Whig connections, than to destroy Mr. Pitt. +The power of that gentleman was vast indeed and +merited; but it was in a great degree personal, and +therefore transient. Theirs was rooted in the country. +For, with a good deal less of popularity, they +possessed a far more natural and fixed influence. +Long possession of government; vast property; obligations +of favors given and received; connection of +office; ties of blood, of alliance, of friendship (things +at that time supposed of some force); the name of +Whig, dear to the majority of the people; the zeal +early begun and steadily continued to the royal family: +all these together formed a body of power in the +nation, which was criminal and devoted. The great +ruling principle of the cabal, and that which animated +and harmonized all their proceedings, how various +soever they may have been, was to signify to the +world that the court would proceed upon its own +proper forces only; and that the pretence of bringing +any other into its service was an affront to it, and not +a support. Therefore when the chiefs were removed, +in order to go to the root, the whole party was put +under a proscription, so general and severe, as to +take their hard-earned bread from the lowest officers, +in a manner which had never been known before, +even in general revolutions. But it was thought +<!-- Page 477 --><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453" title="453" class="pagenum"></a>necessary effectually to destroy all dependencies but +one; and to show an example of the firmness and +rigor with which the new system was to be supported.</p> + +<p>Thus for the time were pulled down, in the persons +of the Whig leaders and of Mr. Pitt (in spite of the +services of the one at the accession of the royal family, +and the recent services of the other in the war), +the <i>two only securities for the importance of the people; +power arising from popularity; and power arising from +connection</i>. Here and there indeed a few individuals +were left standing, who gave security for their total +estrangement from the odious principles of party connection +and personal attachment; and it must be +confessed that most of them have religiously kept +their faith. Such a change could not however be +made without a mighty shock to government.</p> + +<p>To reconcile the minds of the people to all these +movements, principles correspondent to them had +been preached up with great zeal. Every one must +remember that the cabal set out with the most astonishing +prudery, both moral and political. Those, +who in a few months after soused over head and ears +into the deepest and dirtiest pits of corruption, cried +out violently against the indirect practices in the electing +and managing of Parliaments, which had formerly +prevailed. This marvellous abhorrence which +the court had suddenly taken to all influence, was +not only circulated in conversation through the kingdom, +but pompously announced to the public, with +many other extraordinary things, in a pamphlet<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor" +title="Sentiments of an Honest Man.">[104]</a> +which had all the appearance of a manifesto preparatory +to some considerable enterprise. Throughout +it was a satire, though in terms managed and +<!-- Page 478 --><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454" title="454" class="pagenum"></a>decent enough, on the politics of the former reign. +It was indeed written with no small art and address.</p> + +<p>In this piece appeared the first dawning of the new +system: there first appeared the idea (then only in +speculation) of <i>separating the court from the administration</i>; +of carrying everything from national connection +to personal regards; and of forming a regular +party for that purpose, under the name of <i>king's men</i>.</p> + +<p>To recommend this system to the people, a perspective +view of the court, gorgeously painted, and +finely illuminated from within, was exhibited to the +gaping multitude. Party was to be totally done +away, with all its evil works. Corruption was to be +cast down from court, as <i>Atè</i> was from heaven. +Power was thenceforward to be the chosen residence +of public spirit; and no one was to be supposed under +any sinister influence, except those who had the +misfortune to be in disgrace at court, which was to +stand in lieu of all vices and all corruptions. A +scheme of perfection to be realized in a monarchy far +beyond the visionary republic of Plato. The whole +scenery was exactly disposed to captivate those good +souls, whose credulous morality is so invaluable a +treasure to crafty politicians. Indeed there was +wherewithal to charm everybody, except those few +who are not much pleased with professions of supernatural +virtue, who know of what stuff such professions +are made, for what purposes they are designed, +and in what they are sure constantly to end. Many +innocent gentlemen, who had been talking prose all +their lives without knowing anything of the matter, +began at last to open their eyes upon their own merits, +and to attribute their not having been lords of +the treasury and lords of trade many years before, +<!-- Page 479 --><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455" title="455" class="pagenum"></a>merely to the prevalence of party, and to the ministerial +power, which had frustrated the good intentions +of the court in favor of their abilities. Now +was the time to unlock the sealed fountain of royal +bounty, which had been infamously monopolized and +huckstered, and to let it flow at large upon the whole +people. The time was come, to restore royalty to its +original splendor. <i>Mettre le Roy hors de page</i>, became +a sort of watchword. And it was constantly in +the mouths of all the runners of the court, that nothing +could preserve the balance of the constitution +from being overturned by the rabble, or by a faction +of the nobility, but to free the sovereign effectually +from that ministerial tyranny under which the royal +dignity had been oppressed in the person of his Majesty's +grandfather.</p> + +<p>These were some of the many artifices used to reconcile +the people to the great change which was made +in the persons who composed the ministry, and the +still greater which was made and avowed in its constitution. +As to individuals, other methods were +employed with them; in order so thoroughly to disunite +every party, and even every family, that <i>no concert, +order, or effect, might appear in any future opposition</i>. +And in this manner an administration without +connection with the people, or with one another, was +first put in possession of government. What good +consequences followed from it, we have all seen; +whether with regard to virtue, public or private; to +the ease and happiness of the sovereign; or to the +real strength of government. But as so much stress +was then laid on the necessity of this new project, it +will not be amiss to take a view of the effects of this +royal servitude and vile durance, which was so de<!-- Page 480 --><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456" title="456" class="pagenum"></a>plored +in the reign of the late monarch, and was so +carefully to be avoided in the reign of his successor. +The effects were these.</p> + +<p>In times full of doubt and danger to his person and +family, George II. maintained the dignity of his +crown connected with the liberty of his people, not +only unimpaired, but improved, for the space of thirty-three +years. He overcame a dangerous rebellion, +abetted by foreign force, and raging in the heart of +his kingdoms; and thereby destroyed the seeds of all +future rebellion that could arise upon the same principle. +He carried the glory, the power, the commerce +of England, to a height unknown even to this +renowned nation in the times of its greatest prosperity: +and he left his succession resting on the true and +only true foundations of all national and all regal +greatness; affection at home, reputation abroad, +trust in allies, terror in rival nations. The most +ardent lover of his country cannot wish for Great +Britain a happier fate than to continue as she was +then left. A people, emulous as we are in affection +to our present sovereign, know not how to form a +prayer to heaven for a greater blessing upon his virtues, +or a higher state of felicity and glory, than that +he should live, and should reign, and when Providence +ordains it, should die, exactly like his illustrious +predecessor.</p> + +<p>A great prince may be obliged (though such a +thing cannot happen very often) to sacrifice his private +inclination to his public interest. A wise prince +will not think that such a restraint implies a condition +of servility; and truly, if such was the condition +of the last reign, and the effects were also such as we +have described, we ought, no less for the sake of the +<!-- Page 481 --><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457" title="457" class="pagenum"></a>sovereign whom we love, than for our own, to hear +arguments convincing indeed, before we depart from +the maxims of that reign, or fly in the face of this +great body of strong and recent experience.</p> + +<p>One of the principal topics which was then, and +has been since, much employed by that political<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor" +title="See the political writings of the late Dr. Brown, and many +others.">[105]</a> +school, is an affected terror of the growth of an aristocratic +power, prejudicial to the rights of the crown, +and the balance of the constitution. Any new powers +exercised in the House of Lords, or in the House +of Commons, or by the crown, ought certainly to excite +the vigilant and anxious jealousy of a free people. +Even a new and unprecedented course of action in +the whole legislature, without great and evident +reason, may be a subject of just uneasiness. I will +not affirm, that there may not have lately appeared +in the House of Lords, a disposition to some attempts +derogatory to the legal rights of the subject. If any +such have really appeared, they have arisen, not from +a power properly aristocratic, but from the same influence +which is charged with having excited attempts +of a similar nature in the House of Commons; +which House, if it should have been betrayed into an +unfortunate quarrel with its constituents, and involved +in a charge of the very same nature, could +have neither power nor inclination to repel such attempts +in others. Those attempts in the House of +Lords can no more be called aristocratic proceedings, +than the proceedings with regard to the county of +Middlesex in the House of Commons can with any +sense be called democratical.</p> + +<p>It is true, that the peers have a great influence in +<!-- Page 482 --><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458" title="458" class="pagenum"></a>the kingdom, and in every part of the public concerns. +While they are men of property, it is impossible to +prevent it, except by such means as must prevent +all property from its natural operation: an event not +easily to be compassed, while property is power; nor +by any means to be wished, while the least notion exists +of the method by which the spirit of liberty acts, +and of the means by which it is preserved. If any +particular peers, by their uniform, upright, constitutional +conduct, by their public and their private virtues, +have acquired an influence in the country; the +people, on whose favor that influence depends, and +from whom it arose, will never be duped into an opinion, +that such greatness in a peer is the despotism of +an aristocracy, when they know and feel it to be the +effect and pledge of their own importance.</p> + +<p>I am no friend to aristocracy, in the sense at least +in which that word is usually understood. If it were +not a bad habit to moot cases on the supposed ruin of +the constitution, I should be free to declare, that if +it must perish, I would rather by far see it resolved +into any other form, than lost in that austere and insolent +domination. But, whatever my dislikes may +be, my fears are not upon that quarter. The question, +on the influence of a court, and of a peerage, is +not, which of the two dangers is the more eligible, +but which is the more imminent. He is but a poor +observer, who has not seen, that the generality of +peers, far from supporting themselves in a state of independent +greatness, are but too apt to fall into an +oblivion of their proper dignity, and to run headlong +into an abject servitude. Would to God it were true, +that the fault of our peers were too much spirit. It +is worthy of some observation that these gentlemen, +<!-- Page 483 --><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459" title="459" class="pagenum"></a>so jealous of aristocracy, make no complaints of the +power of those peers (neither few nor inconsiderable) +who are always in the train of a court, and whose +whole weight must be considered as a portion of the +settled influence of the crown. This is all safe and +right; but if some peers (I am very sorry they are +not as many as they ought to be) set themselves, in +the great concern of peers and commons, against a +back-stairs influence and clandestine government, then +the alarm begins; then the constitution is in danger +of being forced into an aristocracy.</p> + +<p>I rest a little the longer on this court topic, because +it was much insisted upon at the time of the great +change, and has been since frequently revived by +many of the agents of that party; for, whilst they are +terrifying the great and opulent with the horrors of +mob-government, they are by other managers attempting +(though hitherto with little success) to alarm the +people with a phantom of tyranny in the nobles. All +this is done upon their favorite principle of disunion, +of sowing jealousies amongst the different orders of +the state, and of disjointing the natural strength of +the kingdom; that it may be rendered incapable of +resisting the sinister designs of wicked men, who have +engrossed the royal power.</p> + +<p>Thus much of the topics chosen by the courtiers to +recommend their system; it will be necessary to open +a little more at large the nature of that party which +was formed for its support. Without this, the whole +would have been no better than a visionary amusement, +like the scheme of Harrington's political club, +and not a business in which the nation had a real +concern. As a powerful party, and a party constructed +on a new principle, it is a very inviting object +of curiosity.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 484 --><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460" title="460" class="pagenum"></a>It must be remembered, that since the revolution, +until the period we are speaking of, the influence of +the crown had been always employed in supporting +the ministers of state, and in carrying on the public +business according to their opinions. But the party +now in question is formed upon a very different idea. +It is to intercept the favor, protection, and confidence +of the crown in the passage to its ministers; it is to +come between them and their importance in Parliament; +it is to separate them from all their natural +and acquired dependencies; it is intended as the control, +not the support, of administration. The machinery +of this system is perplexed in its movements, +and false in its principle. It is formed on a supposition +that the king is something external to his government; +and that he may be honored and aggrandized, +even by its debility and disgrace. The plan +proceeds expressly on the idea of enfeebling the regular +executory power. It proceeds on the idea of +weakening the state in order to strengthen the court. +The scheme depending entirely on distrust, on disconnection, +on mutability by principle, on systematic +weakness in every particular member; it is impossible +that the total result should be substantial strength +of any kind.</p> + +<p>As a foundation of their scheme, the cabal have +established a sort of <i>rota</i> in the court. All sorts of +parties, by this means, have been brought into administration; +from whence few have had the good fortune +to escape without disgrace; none at all without +considerable losses. In the beginning of each arrangement +no professions of confidence and support +are wanting, to induce the leading men to engage. +But while the ministers of the day appear in all the +<!-- Page 485 --><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461" title="461" class="pagenum"></a>pomp and pride of power, while they have all their +canvas spread out to the wind, and every sail filled +with the fair and prosperous gale of royal favor, in a +short time they find, they know not how, a current, +which sets directly against them: which prevents all +progress; and even drives them backwards. They +grow ashamed and mortified in a situation, which, +by its vicinity to power, only serves to remind them +the more strongly of their insignificance. They are +obliged either to execute the orders of their inferiors, +or to see themselves opposed by the natural instruments +of their office. With the loss of their dignity +they lose their temper. In their turn they grow +troublesome to that cabal which, whether it supports +or opposes, equally disgraces and equally betrays +them. It is soon found necessary to get rid of the +heads of administration; but it is of the heads only. +As there always are many rotten members belonging +to the best connections, it is not hard to persuade +several to continue in office without their leaders. +By this means the party goes out much thinner than +it came in; and is only reduced in strength by its +temporary possession of power. Besides, if by accident, +or in course of changes, that power should be +recovered, the junto have thrown up a retrenchment +of these carcasses, which may serve to cover themselves +in a day of danger. They conclude, not unwisely, +that such rotten members will become the +first objects of disgust and resentment to their ancient +connections.</p> + +<p>They contrive to form in the outward administration +two parties at the least; which, whilst they are +tearing one another to pieces, are both competitors +for the favor and protection of the cabal; and, by +<!-- Page 486 --><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462" title="462" class="pagenum"></a>their emulation, contribute to throw everything more +and more into the hands of the interior managers.</p> + +<p>A minister of state will sometimes keep himself +totally estranged from all his colleagues; will differ +from them in their councils, will privately traverse, +and publicly oppose, their measures. He will, however, +continue in his employment. Instead of suffering +any mark of displeasure, he will be distinguished +by an unbounded profusion of court rewards and caresses; +because he does what is expected, and all +that is expected, from men in office. He helps to +keep some form of administration in being, and keeps +it at the same time as weak and divided as possible.</p> + +<p>However, we must take care not to be mistaken, +or to imagine that such persons have any weight in +their opposition. When, by them, administration is +convinced of its insignificancy, they are soon to be +convinced of their own. They never are suffered to +succeed in their opposition. They and the world are +to be satisfied, that neither office, nor authority, nor +property, nor ability, eloquence, counsel, skill, or +union, are of the least importance; but that the mere +influence of the court, naked of all support, and destitute +of all management, is abundantly sufficient for +all its own purposes.</p> + +<p>When any adverse connection is to be destroyed, +the cabal seldom appear in the work themselves. +They find out some person of whom the party entertains +a high opinion. Such a person they endeavor +to delude with various pretences. They teach him +first to distrust, and then to quarrel with his friends; +among whom, by the same arts, they excite a similar +diffidence of him; so that in this mutual fear and distrust, +he may suffer himself to be employed as the +<!-- Page 487 --><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463" title="463" class="pagenum"></a>instrument in the change which is brought about. +Afterwards they are sure to destroy him in his turn, +by setting up in his place some person in whom he +had himself reposed the greatest confidence, and who +serves to carry off a considerable part of his adherents.</p> + +<p>When such a person has broke in this manner with +his connections, he is soon compelled to commit some +flagrant act of iniquitous, personal hostility against +some of them (such as an attempt to strip a particular +friend of his family estate), by which the cabal +hope to render the parties utterly irreconcilable. In +truth, they have so contrived matters, that people +have a greater hatred to the subordinate instruments +than to the principal movers.</p> + +<p>As in destroying their enemies they make use of +instruments not immediately belonging to their corps, +so in advancing their own friends they pursue exactly +the same method. To promote any of them to considerable +rank or emolument, they commonly take +care that the recommendation shall pass through the +hands of the ostensible ministry: such a recommendation +might however appear to the world, as some +proof of the credit of ministers, and some means of +increasing their strength. To prevent this, the persons +so advanced are directed, in all companies, industriously +to declare, that they are under no obligations +whatsoever to administration; that they have received +their office from another quarter; that they are totally +free and independent.</p> + +<p>When the faction has any job of lucre to obtain, +or of vengeance to perpetrate, their way is, to select, +for the execution, those very persons to whose habits, +friendships, principles, and declarations, such pro<!-- Page 488 --><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464" title="464" class="pagenum"></a>ceedings +are publicly known to be the most adverse; +at once to render the instruments the more odious, +and therefore the more dependent, and to prevent the +people from ever reposing a confidence in any appearance +of private friendship or public principle.</p> + +<p>If the administration seem now and then, from remissness, +or from fear of making themselves disagreeable, +to suffer any popular excesses to go unpunished, +the cabal immediately sets up some creature of theirs +to raise a clamor against the ministers, as having +shamefully betrayed the dignity of government. Then +they compel the ministry to become active in conferring +rewards and honors on the persons who have been +the instruments of their disgrace; and, after having +first vilified them with the higher orders for suffering +the laws to sleep over the licentiousness of the +populace, they drive them (in order to make amends +for their former inactivity) to some act of atrocious +violence, which renders them completely abhorred by +the people. They, who remember the riots which attended +the Middlesex election, the opening of the +present Parliament, and the transactions relative to +Saint George's Fields, will not be at a loss for an application +of these remarks.</p> + +<p>That this body may be enabled to compass all the +ends of its institution, its members are scarcely ever +to aim at the high and responsible offices of the state. +They are distributed with art and judgment through +all the secondary, but efficient, departments of office, +and through the households of all the branches of the +royal family: so as on one hand to occupy all the +avenues to the throne; and on the other to forward +or frustrate the execution of any measure, according +to their own interests. For with the credit and sup<!-- Page 489 --><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465" title="465" class="pagenum"></a>port +which they are known to have, though for the +greater part in places which are only a genteel excuse +for salary, they possess all the influence of the highest +posts; and they dictate publicly in almost everything, +even with a parade of superiority. Whenever +they dissent (as it often happens) from their nominal +leaders, the trained part of the senate, instinctively +in the secret, is sure to follow them: provided the +leaders, sensible of their situation, do not of themselves +recede in time from their most declared opinions. +This latter is generally the case. It will not +be conceivable to any one who has not seen it, what +pleasure is taken by the cabal in rendering these +heads of office thoroughly contemptible and ridiculous. +And when they are become so, they have then +the best chance for being well supported.</p> + +<p>The members of the court faction are fully indemnified +for not holding places on the slippery heights +of the kingdom, not only by the lead in all affairs, +but also by the perfect security in which they enjoy +less conspicuous, but very advantageous situations. +Their places are in express legal tenure, or, in effect, +all of them for life. Whilst the first and most respectable +persons in the kingdom are tossed about like +tennis-balls, the sport of a blind and insolent caprice, +no minister dares even to cast an oblique glance at +the lowest of their body. If an attempt be made +upon one of this corps, immediately he flies to sanctuary, +and pretends to the most inviolable of all promises. +No conveniency of public arrangement is available +to remove any one of them from the specific +situation he holds; and the slightest attempt upon +one of them, by the most powerful minister, is a certain +preliminary to his own destruction.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 490 --><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466" title="466" class="pagenum"></a>Conscious of their independence, they bear themselves +with a lofty air to the exterior ministers. Like +janissaries, they derive a kind of freedom from the +very condition of their servitude. They may act just +as they please; provided they are true to the great +ruling principle of their institution. It is, therefore, +not at all wonderful, that people should be so desirous +of adding themselves to that body, in which they +may possess and reconcile satisfactions the most alluring, +and seemingly the most contradictory; enjoying +at once all the spirited pleasure of independence, and +all the gross lucre and fat emoluments of servitude.</p> + +<p>Here is a sketch, though a slight one, of the constitution, +laws, and policy of this new court corporation. +The name by which they choose to distinguish themselves, +is that of <i>king's men</i> or the <i>king's friends</i>, by +an invidious exclusion of the rest of his Majesty's +most loyal and affectionate subjects. The whole system, +comprehending the exterior and interior administrations, +is commonly called, in the technical language +of the court, <i>double cabinet</i>; in French or +English, as you choose to pronounce it.</p> + +<p>Whether all this be a vision of a distracted brain, +or the invention of a malicious heart, or a real faction +in the country, must be judged by the appearances +which things have worn for eight years past. Thus +far I am certain, that there is not a single public +man, in or out of office, who has not, at some time or +other, borne testimony to the truth of what I have +now related. In particular, no persons have been +more strong in their assertions, and louder and more +indecent in their complaints, than those who compose +all the exterior part of the present administration; +in whose time that faction has arrived at such an +<!-- Page 491 --><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467" title="467" class="pagenum"></a>height of power, and of boldness in the use of it, as +may, in the end, perhaps bring about its total destruction.</p> + +<p>It is true, that about four years ago, during the +administration of the Marquis of Rockingham, an attempt +was made to carry on government without +their concurrence. However, this was only a transient +cloud; they were hid but for a moment; and +their constellation blazed out with greater brightness, +and a far more vigorous influence, some time after it +was blown over. An attempt was at that time made +(but without any idea of proscription) to break their +corps, to discountenance their doctrines, to revive +connections of a different kind, to restore the principles +and policy of the Whigs, to reanimate the cause +of liberty by ministerial countenance; and then for +the first time were men seen attached in office to +every principle they had maintained in opposition. +No one will doubt, that such men were abhorred and +violently opposed by the court faction, and that such +a system could have but a short duration.</p> + +<p>It may appear somewhat affected, that in so much +discourse upon this extraordinary party, I should say +so little of the Earl of Bute, who is the supposed head +of it. But this was neither owing to affectation nor +inadvertence. I have carefully avoided the introduction +of personal reflections of any kind. Much the +greater part of the topics which have been used to +blacken this nobleman are either unjust or frivolous. +At best, they have a tendency to give the resentment +of this bitter calamity a wrong direction, and to turn +a public grievance into a mean, personal, or a dangerous +national quarrel. Where there is a regular +scheme of operations carried on, it is the system, and +<!-- Page 492 --><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468" title="468" class="pagenum"></a>not any individual person who acts in it, that is truly +dangerous. This system has not arisen solely from +the ambition of Lord Bute, but from the circumstances +which favored it, and from an indifference to the +constitution which had been for some time growing +among our gentry. We should have been tried with +it, if the Earl of Bute had never existed; and it will +want neither a contriving head nor active members, +when the Earl of Bute exists no longer. It is not, +therefore, to rail at Lord Bute, but firmly to embody +against this court party and its practices, which can +afford us any prospect of relief in our present condition.</p> + +<p>Another motive induces me to put the personal +consideration of Lord Bute wholly out of the question. +He communicates very little in a direct manner +with the greater part of our men of business. +This has never been his custom. It is enough for +him that he surrounds them with his creatures. Several +imagine, therefore, that they have a very good +excuse for doing all the work of this faction, when +they have no personal connection with Lord Bute. +But whoever becomes a party to an administration, +composed of insulated individuals, without faith +plighted, tie, or common principle; an administration +constitutionally impotent, because supported by +no party in the nation; he who contributes to destroy +the connections of men and their trust in one +another, or in any sort to throw the dependence of +public counsels upon private will and favor, possibly +may have nothing to do with the Earl of Bute. It +matters little whether he be the friend or the enemy +of that particular person. But let him be who or +what he will, he abets a faction that is driving hard +<!-- Page 493 --><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469" title="469" class="pagenum"></a>to the ruin of his country. He is sapping the foundation +of its liberty, disturbing the sources of its domestic +tranquillity, weakening its government over its +dependencies, degrading it from all its importance in +the system of Europe.</p> + +<p>It is this unnatural infusion of a <i>system of favoritism</i> +into a government which in a great part of its +constitution is popular, that has raised the present +ferment in the nation. The people, without entering +deeply into its principles, could plainly perceive its +effects, in much violence, in a great spirit of innovation, +and a general disorder in all the functions of +government. I keep my eye solely on this system; +if I speak of those measures which have arisen from +it, it will be so far only as they illustrate the general +scheme. This is the fountain of all those bitter waters +of which, through an hundred different conduits, +we have drunk until we are ready to burst. The +discretionary power of the crown in the formation of +ministry, abused by bad or weak men, has given rise +to a system, which, without directly violating the letter +of any law, operates against the spirit of the +whole constitution.</p> + +<p>A plan of favoritism for our executory government is +essentially at variance with the plan of our legislature. +One great end undoubtedly of a mixed government +like ours, composed of monarchy, and of controls, +on the part of the higher people and the lower, is +that the prince shall not be able to violate the laws. +This is useful indeed and fundamental. But this, +even at first view, is no more than a negative advantage; +an armor merely defensive. It is therefore +next in order, and equal in importance, <i>that the discretionary +powers which are necessarily vested in the +<!-- Page 494 --><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470" title="470" class="pagenum"></a>monarch, whether for the execution of the laws, or for +the nomination to magistracy and office, or for conducting +the affairs of peace and war, or for ordering the +revenue, should all be exercised upon public principles +and national grounds, and, not on the likings or prejudices, +the intrigues or policies, of a court</i>. This, I said, +is equal in importance to the securing a government +according to law. The laws reach but a very little +way. Constitute government how you please, infinitely +the greater part of it must depend upon the +exercise of the powers which are left at large to +the prudence and uprightness of ministers of state. +Even all the use and potency of the laws depends +upon them. Without them, your commonwealth is +no better than a scheme upon paper; and not a living, +active, effective constitution. It is possible that +through negligence, or ignorance, or design artfully +conducted, ministers may suffer one part of government +to languish, another to be perverted from its +purposes, and every valuable interest of the country +to fall into ruin and decay, without possibility of fixing +any single act on which a criminal prosecution +can be justly grounded. The due arrangement of +men in the active part of the state, far from being +foreign to the purposes of a wise government, ought +to be among its very first and dearest objects. When, +therefore, the abettors of the new system tell us, that +between them and their opposers there is nothing but +a struggle for power, and that therefore we are no +ways concerned in it; we must tell those who have +the impudence to insult us in this manner, that, of +all things, we ought to be the most concerned who, +and what sort of men they are that hold the trust of +everything that is dear to us. Nothing can render +<!-- Page 495 --><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471" title="471" class="pagenum"></a>this a point of indifference to the nation, but what +must either render us totally desperate, or soothe us +into the security of idiots. We must soften into a +credulity below the milkiness of infancy to think all +men virtuous. We must be tainted with a malignity +truly diabolical to believe all the world to be equally +wicked and corrupt. Men are in public life as in private, +some good, some evil. The elevation of the +one, and the depression of the other, are the first objects +of all true policy. But that form of government, +which, neither in its direct institutions, nor in +their immediate tendency, has contrived to throw its +affairs into the most trustworthy hands, but has left +its whole executory system to be disposed of agreeably +to the uncontrolled pleasure of any one man, +however excellent or virtuous, is a plan of polity defective +not only in that member, but consequentially +erroneous in every part of it.</p> + +<p>In arbitrary governments, the constitution of the +ministry follows the constitution of the legislature. +Both the law and the magistrate are the creatures of +will. It must be so. Nothing, indeed, will appear +more certain, on any tolerable consideration of this +matter, than that <i>every sort of government ought to have +its administration correspondent to its legislature</i>. If it +should be otherwise, things must fall into an hideous +disorder. The people of a free commonwealth, who +have taken such care that their laws should be the result +of general consent, cannot be so senseless as to +suffer their executory system to be composed of persons +on whom they have no dependence, and whom no +proofs of the public love and confidence have recommended +to those powers, upon the use of which the +very being of the state depends.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 496 --><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472" title="472" class="pagenum"></a>The popular election of magistrates, and popular +disposition of rewards and honors, is one of the first +advantages of a free state. Without it, or something +equivalent to it, perhaps the people cannot long enjoy +the substance of freedom; certainly none of the vivifying +energy of good government. The frame of our +commonwealth did not admit of such an actual election: +but it provided as well, and (while the spirit of +the constitution is preserved) better for all the effects +of it than by the method of suffrage in any democratic +state whatsoever. It had always, until of late, been +held the first duty of Parliament <i>to refuse to support +government, until power was in the hands of persons +who were acceptable to the people, or while factions predominated +in the court in which the nation had no confidence</i>. +Thus all the good effects of popular election +were supposed to be secured to us, without the mischiefs +attending on perpetual intrigue, and a distinct +canvass for every particular office throughout the body +of the people. This was the most noble and refined +part of our constitution. The people, by their representatives +and grandees, were intrusted with a deliberative +power in making laws; the king with the +control of his negative. The king was intrusted with +the deliberative choice and the election to office; the +people had the negative in a Parliamentary refusal to +support. Formerly this power of control was what +kept ministers in awe of Parliaments, and Parliaments +in reverence with the people. If the use of this power +of control on the system and persons of administration +is gone, everything is lost, Parliament and +all. We may assure ourselves, that if Parliament +will tamely see evil men take possession of all the +strongholds of their country, and allow them time +<!-- Page 497 --><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473" title="473" class="pagenum"></a>and means to fortify themselves, under a pretence of +giving them a fair trial, and upon a hope of discovering, +whether they will not be reformed by power, and +whether their measures will not be better than their +morals; such a Parliament will give countenance to +their measures also, whatever that Parliament may +pretend, and whatever those measures may be.</p> + +<p>Every good political institution must have a preventive +operation as well as a remedial. It ought +to have a natural tendency to exclude bad men from +government, and not to trust for the safety of the +state to subsequent punishment alone; punishment, +which has ever been tardy and uncertain; and which, +when power is suffered in bad hands, may chance to +fall rather on the injured than the criminal.</p> + +<p>Before men are put forward into the great trusts +of the state, they ought by their conduct to have obtained +such a degree of estimation in their country, +as may be some sort of pledge and security to the +public, that they will not abuse those trusts. It is no +mean security for a proper use of power, that a man +has shown by the general tenor of his actions, that +the affection, the good opinion, the confidence of his +fellow-citizens have been among the principal objects +of his life; and that he has owed none of the gradations +of his power or fortune to a settled contempt, +or occasional forfeiture of their esteem.</p> + +<p>That man who before he comes into power has no +friends, or who coming into power is obliged to desert +his friends, or who losing it has no friends to +sympathize with him; he who has no sway among +any part of the landed or commercial interest, but +whose whole importance has begun with his office, +and is sure to end with it, is a person who ought +<!-- Page 498 --><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474" title="474" class="pagenum"></a>never to be suffered by a controlling Parliament to +continue in any of those situations which confer the +lead and direction of all our public affairs; because +such a man <i>has no connection with the interest of the +people</i>.</p> + +<p>Those knots or cabals of men who have got together, +avowedly without any public principle, in order +to sell their conjunct iniquity at the higher rate, +and are therefore universally odious, ought never to +be suffered to domineer in the state; because they +have <i>no connection with the sentiments and opinions of +the people</i>.</p> + +<p>These are considerations which in my opinion enforce +the necessity of having some better reason, in a +free country, and a free Parliament, for supporting +the ministers of the crown, than that short one, <i>That +the king has thought proper to appoint them</i>. There +is something very courtly in this. But it is a principle +pregnant with all sorts of mischief, in a constitution +like ours, to turn the views of active men from +the country to the court. Whatever be the road +to power, that is the road which will be trod. If the +opinion of the country be of no use as a means of +power or consideration, the qualities which usually +procure that opinion will be no longer cultivated. +And whether it will be right, in a state so popular in +its constitution as ours, to leave ambition without +popular motives, and to trust all to the operation of +pure virtue in the minds of kings, and ministers, and +public men, must be submitted to the judgment and +good sense of the people of England.</p> + +<p>Cunning men are here apt to break in, and, without +directly controverting the principle, to raise objections +from the difficulty under which the sovereign +<!-- Page 499 --><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475" title="475" class="pagenum"></a>labors, to distinguish the genuine voice and sentiments +of his people, from the clamor of a faction, by +which it is so easily counterfeited. The nation, they +say, is generally divided into parties, with views and +passions utterly irreconcilable. If the king should +put his affairs into the hands of any one of them, he +is sure to disgust the rest; if he select particular +men from among them all, it is a hazard that he disgusts +them all. Those who are left out, however divided +before, will soon run into a body of opposition; +which, being a collection of many discontents into +one focus, will without doubt be hot and violent +enough. Faction will make its cries resound through +the nation, as if the whole were in an uproar, when +by far the majority, and much the better part, will +seem for a while as it were annihilated by the quiet +in which their virtue and moderation incline them to +enjoy the blessings of government. Besides that the +opinion of the mere vulgar is a miserable rule even +with regard to themselves, on account of their violence +and instability. So that if you were to gratify +them in their humor to-day, that very gratification +would be a ground of their dissatisfaction on the +next. Now as all these rules of public opinion are +to be collected with great difficulty, and to be applied +with equal uncertainty as to the effect, what better +can a king of England do, than to employ such men +as he finds to have views and inclinations most conformable +to his own; who are least infected with +pride and self-will; and who are least moved by such +popular humors as are perpetually traversing his designs, +and disturbing his service; trusting that, when +he means no ill to his people, he will be supported in +his appointments, whether he chooses to keep or to +<!-- Page 500 --><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476" title="476" class="pagenum"></a>change, as his private judgment or his pleasure leads +him? He will find a sure resource in the real weight +and influence of the crown, when it is not suffered to +become an instrument in the hands of a faction.</p> + +<p>I will not pretend to say, that there is nothing at +all in this mode of reasoning; because I will not assert +that there is no difficulty in the art of government. +Undoubtedly the very best administration +must encounter a great deal of opposition; and the +very worst will find more support than it deserves. +Sufficient appearances will never be wanting to those +who have a mind to deceive themselves. It is a fallacy +in constant use with those who would level all +things, and confound right with wrong, to insist upon +the inconveniences which are attached to every choice, +without taking into consideration the different weight +and consequence of those inconveniences. The question +is not concerning <i>absolute</i> discontent or <i>perfect</i> +satisfaction in government; neither of which can be +pure and unmixed at any time, or upon any system. +The controversy is about that degree of good humor +in the people, which may possibly be attained, and +ought certainly to be looked for. While some politicians +may be waiting to know whether the sense +of every individual be against them, accurately distinguishing +the vulgar from the better sort, drawing lines +between the enterprises of a faction and the efforts +of a people, they may chance to see the government, +which they are so nicely weighing, and dividing, and +distinguishing, tumble to the ground in the midst of +their wise deliberation. Prudent men, when so great +an object as the security of government, or even its +peace, is at stake, will not run the risk of a decision +which may be fatal to it. They who can read the +<!-- Page 501 --><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477" title="477" class="pagenum"></a>political sky will see a hurricane in a cloud no bigger +than a hand at the very edge of the horizon, and +will run into the first harbor. No lines can be laid +down for civil or political wisdom. They are a matter +incapable of exact definition. But, though no +man can draw a stroke between the confines of day +and night, yet light and darkness are upon the whole +tolerably distinguishable. Nor will it be impossible +for a prince to find out such a mode of government, +and such persons to administer it, as will give a great +degree of content to his people; without any curious +and anxious research for that abstract, universal, perfect +harmony, which while he is seeking, he abandons +those means of ordinary tranquillity which are in his +power without any research at all.</p> + +<p>It is not more the duty than it is the interest of a +prince, to aim at giving tranquillity to his government. +But those who advise him may have an interest +in disorder and confusion. If the opinion of the people +is against them, they will naturally wish that it +should have no prevalence. Here it is that the people +must on their part show themselves sensible of +their own value. Their whole importance, in the +first instance, and afterwards their whole freedom, is +at stake. Their freedom cannot long survive their +importance. Here it is that the natural strength of +the kingdom, the great peers, the leading landed gentlemen, +the opulent merchants and manufacturers, +the substantial yeomanry, must interpose, to rescue +their prince, themselves, and their posterity.</p> + +<p>We are at present at issue upon this point. We +are in the great crisis of this contention; and the +part which men take, one way or other, will serve to +discriminate their characters and their principles. +<!-- Page 502 --><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478" title="478" class="pagenum"></a>Until the matter is decided, the country will remain +in its present confusion. For while a system +of administration is attempted, entirely repugnant to +the genius of the people, and not conformable to the +plan of their government, everything must necessarily +be disordered for a time, until this system destroys +the constitution, or the constitution gets the +better of this system.</p> + +<p>There is, in my opinion, a peculiar venom and malignity +in this political distemper beyond any that I +have heard or read of. In former times the projectors +of arbitrary government attacked only the liberties +of their country; a design surely mischievous +enough to have satisfied a mind of the most unruly +ambition. But a system unfavorable to freedom may +be so formed, as considerably to exalt the grandeur +of the state; and men may find, in the pride and +splendor of that prosperity, some sort of consolation +for the loss of their solid privileges. Indeed the increase +of the power of the state has often been urged +by artful men, as a pretext for some abridgment of +the public liberty. But the scheme of the junto under +consideration, not only strikes a palsy into every +nerve of our free constitution, but in the same degree +benumbs and stupefies the whole executive power: +rendering government in all its grand operations languid, +uncertain, ineffective; making ministers fearful +of attempting, and incapable of executing any useful +plan of domestic arrangement, or of foreign politics. +It tends to produce neither the security of a free government, +nor the energy of a monarchy that is absolute. +Accordingly the crown has dwindled away, in +proportion to the unnatural and turgid growth of this +excrescence on the court.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 503 --><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479" title="479" class="pagenum"></a>The interior ministry are sensible, that war is a situation +which sets in its full light the value of the +hearts of a people; and they well know, that the beginning +of the importance of the people must be the +end of theirs. For this reason they discover upon all +occasions the utmost fear of everything, which by possibility +may lead to such an event. I do not mean +that they manifest any of that pious fear which is +backward to commit the safety of the country to the +dubious experiment of war. Such a fear, being the +tender sensation of virtue, excited, as it is regulated, +by reason, frequently shows itself in a seasonable boldness, +which keeps danger at a distance, by seeming to +despise it. Their fear betrays to the first glance of +the eye, its true cause, and its real object. Foreign +powers, confident in the knowledge of their character, +have not scrupled to violate the most solemn +treaties; and, in defiance of them, to make conquests +in the midst of a general peace, and in the heart of +Europe. Such was the conquest of Corsica, by the +professed enemies of the freedom of mankind, in defiance +of those who were formerly its professed defenders. +We have had just claims upon the same powers: +rights which ought to have been sacred to them as +well as to us, as they had their origin in our lenity +and generosity towards France and Spain in the day +of their great humiliation. Such I call the ransom +of Manilla, and the demand on France for the East +India prisoners. But these powers put a just confidence +in their resource of the <i>double cabinet</i>. These +demands (one of them at least) are hastening fast +towards an acquittal by prescription. Oblivion begins +to spread her cobwebs over all our spirited remonstrances. +Some of the most valuable branches of our +<!-- Page 504 --><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480" title="480" class="pagenum"></a>trade are also on the point of perishing from the same +cause. I do not mean those branches which bear +without the hand of the vine-dresser; I mean those +which the policy of treaties had formerly secured to +us; I mean to mark and distinguish the trade of Portugal, +the loss of which, and the power of the cabal, +have one and the same era.</p> + +<p>If by any chance, the ministers who stand before +the curtain possess or affect any spirit, it makes little +or no impression. Foreign courts and ministers, who +were among the first to discover and to profit by this +invention of the <i>double cabinet</i>, attend very little to +their remonstrances. They know that those shadows +of ministers have nothing to do in the ultimate +disposal of things. Jealousies and animosities are +sedulously nourished in the outward administration, +and have been even considered as a <i>causa sine qua +non</i> in its constitution: thence foreign courts have a +certainty, that nothing can be done by common counsel +in this nation. If one of those ministers officially +takes up a business with spirit, it serves only the better +to signalize the meanness of the rest, and the discord +of them all. His colleagues in office are in +haste to shake him off, and to disclaim the whole of +his proceedings. Of this nature was that astonishing +transaction, in which Lord Rochford, our ambassador +at Paris, remonstrated against the attempt upon Corsica, +in consequence of a direct authority from Lord +Shelburne. This remonstrance the French minister +treated with the contempt that was natural: as he +was assured, from the ambassador of his court to +ours, that these orders of Lord Shelburne were not +supported by the rest of the (I had like to have said +British) administration. Lord Rochford, a man of +<!-- Page 505 --><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481" title="481" class="pagenum"></a>spirit, could not endure this situation. The consequences +were, however, curious. He returns from +Paris, and comes home full of anger. Lord Shelburne, +who gave the orders, is obliged to give up the +seals. Lord Rochford, who obeyed these orders, receives +them. He goes, however, into another department +of the same office, that he might not be obliged +officially to acquiesce, in one situation, under what +he had officially remonstrated against, in another. +At Paris, the Duke of Choiseul considered this office +arrangement as a compliment to him: here it was +spoken of as an attention to the delicacy of Lord +Rochford. But whether the compliment was to one +or both, to this nation it was the same. By this +transaction the condition of our court lay exposed in +all its nakedness. Our office correspondence has lost +all pretence to authenticity: British policy is brought +into derision in those nations, that a while ago trembled +at the power of our arms, whilst they looked up +with confidence to the equity, firmness, and candor, +which shone in all our negotiations. I represent this +matter exactly in the light in which it has been universally +received.</p> + +<p>Such has been the aspect of our foreign politics, +under the influence of a <i>double cabinet</i>. With such +an arrangement at court, it is impossible it should +have been otherwise. Nor is it possible that this +scheme should have a better effect upon the government +of our dependencies, the first, the dearest, and +most delicate objects, of the interior policy of this empire. +The colonies know, that administration is separated +from the court, divided within itself, and +detested by the nation. The <i>double cabinet</i> has, in +both the parts of it, shown the most malignant dis<!-- Page 506 --><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482" title="482" class="pagenum"></a>positions +towards them, without being able to do +them the smallest mischief.</p> + +<p>They are convinced, by sufficient experience, that +no plan, either of lenity, or rigor, can be pursued +with uniformity and perseverance. Therefore they +turn their eyes entirely from Great Britain, where +they have neither dependence on friendship, nor apprehension +from enmity. They look to themselves, +and their own arrangements. They grow every day +into alienation from this country; and whilst they +are becoming disconnected with our government, we +have not the consolation to find, that they are even +friendly in their new independence. Nothing can +equal the futility, the weakness, the rashness, the +timidity, the perpetual contradiction in the management +of our affairs in that part of the world. A volume +might be written on this melancholy subject; +but it were better to leave it entirely to the reflections +of the reader himself, than not to treat it in the +extent it deserves.</p> + +<p>In what manner our domestic economy is affected +by this system, it is needless to explain. It is the +perpetual subject of their own complaints.</p> + +<p>The court party resolve the whole into faction +Having said something before upon this subject, I +shall only observe here, that, when they give this account +of the prevalence of faction, they present no +very favorable aspect of the confidence of the people +in their own government. They may be assured, that +however they amuse themselves with a variety of projects +for substituting something else in the place of +that great and only foundation of government, the +confidence of the people, every attempt will but make +their condition worse. When men imagine that their +<!-- Page 507 --><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483" title="483" class="pagenum"></a>food is only a cover for poison, and when they neither +love nor trust the hand that serves it, it is not the +name of the roast beef of Old England, that will persuade +them to sit down to the table that is spread for +them. When the people conceive that laws, and tribunals, +and even popular assemblies, are perverted +from the ends of their institution, they find in those +names of degenerated establishments only new motives +to discontent. Those bodies, which, when full +of life and beauty, lay in their arms, and were their +joy and comfort, when dead and putrid, become but +the more loathsome from remembrance of former endearments. +A sullen gloom and furious disorder +prevail by fits; the nation loses its relish for peace +and prosperity; as it did in that season of fulness +which opened our troubles in the time of Charles the +First. A species of men to whom a state of order +would become a sentence of obscurity are nourished +into a dangerous magnitude by the heat of intestine +disturbances; and it is no wonder that, by a sort of +sinister piety, they cherish, in their turn, the disorders +which are the parents of all their consequence. +Superficial observers consider such persons as the +cause of the public uneasiness, when, in truth, they +are nothing more than the effect of it. Good men +look upon this distracted scene with sorrow and indignation. +Their hands are tied behind them. They +are despoiled of all the power which might enable +them to reconcile the strength of government with +the rights of the people. They stand in a most distressing +alternative. But in the election among evils +they hope better things from temporary confusion, +than from established servitude. In the mean time, +the voice of law is not to be heard. Fierce licentious<!-- Page 508 --><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484" title="484" class="pagenum"></a>ness +begets violent restraints. The military arm is +the sole reliance; and then, call your constitution +what you please, it is the sword that governs. The +civil power, like every other that calls in the aid of +an ally stronger than itself, perishes by the assistance +it receives. But the contrivers of this scheme of government +will not trust solely to the military power; +because they are cunning men. Their restless and +crooked spirit drives them to rake in the dirt of every +kind of expedient. Unable to rule the multitude, +they endeavor to raise divisions amongst them. One +mob is hired to destroy another; a procedure which +at once encourages the boldness of the populace, and +justly increases their discontent. Men become pensioners +of state on account of their abilities in the +array of riot, and the discipline of confusion. Government +is put under the disgraceful necessity of +protecting from the severity of the laws that very +licentiousness, which the laws had been before violated +to repress. Everything partakes of the original +disorder. Anarchy predominates without freedom, +and servitude without submission or subordination. +These are the consequences inevitable to our public +peace, from the scheme of rendering the executory +government at once odious and feeble; of freeing administration +from the constitutional and salutary control +of Parliament, and inventing for it a <i>new control</i>, +unknown to the constitution, an <i>interior cabinet</i>; +which brings the whole body of government into confusion +and contempt.</p> + +<p>After having stated, as shortly as I am able, the +effects of this system on our foreign affairs, on the +policy of our government with regard to our dependencies, +and on the interior economy of the common<!-- Page 509 --><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485" title="485" class="pagenum"></a>wealth; +there remains only, in this part of my design, +to say something of the grand principle which first +recommended this system at court. The pretence +was, to prevent the king from being enslaved by a +faction, and made a prisoner in his closet. This +scheme might have been expected to answer at least +its own end, and to indemnify the king, in his personal +capacity, for all the confusion into which it has +thrown his government. But has it in reality answered +this purpose? I am sure, if it had, every +affectionate subject would have one motive for enduring +with patience all the evils which attend it.</p> + +<p>In order to come at the truth in this matter, it may +not be amiss to consider it somewhat in detail. I +speak here of the king, and not of the crown; the +interests of which we have already touched. Independent +of that greatness which a king possesses +merely by being a representative of the national dignity, +the things in which he may have an individual +interest seem to be these:—wealth accumulated; +wealth spent in magnificence, pleasure, or beneficence; +personal respect and attention; and, above +all, private ease and repose of mind. These compose +the inventory of prosperous circumstances, +whether they regard a prince or a subject; their +enjoyments differing only in the scale upon which +they are formed.</p> + +<p>Suppose then we were to ask, whether the king +has been richer than his predecessors in accumulated +wealth, since the establishment of the plan of favoritism? +I believe it will be found that the picture of +royal indigence, which our court has presented until +this year, has been truly humiliating. Nor has it +been relieved from this unseemly distress, but by +<!-- Page 510 --><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486" title="486" class="pagenum"></a>means which have hazarded the affection of the people, +and shaken their confidence in Parliament. If +the public treasures had been exhausted in magnificence +and splendor, this distress would have been accounted +for, and in some measure justified. Nothing +would be more unworthy of this nation, than with a +mean and mechanical rule, to mete out the splendor +of the crown. Indeed I have found very few persons +disposed to so ungenerous a procedure. But the +generality of people, it must be confessed, do feel a +good deal mortified, when they compare the wants +of the court with its expenses. They do not behold +the cause of this distress in any part of the apparatus +of royal magnificence. In all this, they see nothing +but the operations of parsimony, attended with all +the consequences of profusion. Nothing expended, +nothing saved. Their wonder is increased by their +knowledge, that besides the revenue settled on his +Majesty's civil list to the amount of 800,000<i>l.</i> a year, +he has a farther aid from a large pension list, near +90,000<i>l.</i> a year, in Ireland; from the produce of the +duchy of Lancaster (which we are told has been +greatly improved); from the revenue of the duchy +of Cornwall; from the American quit-rents; from +the four and a half per cent duty in the Leeward +Islands; this last worth to be sure considerably more +than 40,000<i>l.</i> a year. The whole is certainly not +much short of a million annually.</p> + +<p>These are revenues within the knowledge and cognizance +of our national councils. We have no direct +right to examine into the receipts from his Majesty's +German dominions, and the bishopric of Osnaburg. +This is unquestionably true. But that which is not +within the province of Parliament, is yet within the +<!-- Page 511 --><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487" title="487" class="pagenum"></a>sphere of every man's own reflection. If a foreign +prince resided amongst us, the state of his revenues +could not fail of becoming the subject of our speculation. +Filled with an anxious concern for whatever +regards the welfare of our sovereign, it is impossible, +in considering the miserable circumstances into which +he has been brought, that this obvious topic should +be entirely passed over. There is an opinion universal, +that these revenues produce something not inconsiderable, +clear of all charges and establishments. +This produce the people do not believe to be hoarded, +nor perceive to be spent. It is accounted for in the +only manner it can, by supposing that it is drawn +away, for the support of that court faction, which, +whilst it distresses the nation, impoverishes the +prince in every one of his resources. I once more +caution the reader, that I do not urge this consideration +concerning the foreign revenue, as if I supposed +we had a direct right to examine into the expenditure +of any part of it; but solely for the purpose of +showing how little this system of favoritism has been +advantageous to the monarch himself; which, without +magnificence, has sunk him into a state of unnatural +poverty; at the same time that he possessed +every means of affluence, from ample revenues, both +in this country, and in other parts of his dominions.</p> + +<p>Has this system provided better for the treatment +becoming his high and sacred character, and secured +the king from those disgusts attached to the necessity +of employing men who are not personally agreeable? +This is a topic upon which for many reasons I +could wish to be silent; but the pretence of securing +against such causes of uneasiness, is the corner-stone +of the court-party. It has however so happened, that +<!-- Page 512 --><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488" title="488" class="pagenum"></a>if I were to fix upon any one point, in which this system +has been more particularly and shamefully blamable, +the effects which it has produced would justify +me in choosing for that point its tendency to degrade +the personal dignity of the sovereign, and to expose +him to a thousand contradictions and mortifications. +It is but too evident in what manner these projectors +of royal greatness have fulfilled all their magnificent +promises. Without recapitulating all the circumstances +of the reign, every one of which is, more or +less, a melancholy proof of the truth of what I have +advanced, let us consider the language of the court +but a few years ago, concerning most of the persons +now in the external administration: let me ask, +whether any enemy to the personal feelings of the +sovereign could possibly contrive a keener instrument +of mortification, and degradation of all dignity, than +almost every part and member of the present arrangement? +Nor, in the whole course of our history, has +any compliance with the will of the people ever been +known to extort from any prince a greater contradiction +to all his own declared affections and dislikes, +than that which is now adopted, in direct opposition +to everything the people approve and desire.</p> + +<p>An opinion prevails, that greatness has been more +than once advised to submit to certain condescensions +towards individuals, which have been denied to the +entreaties of a nation. For the meanest and most +dependent instrument of this system knows, that there +are hours when its existence may depend upon his +adherence to it; and he takes his advantage accordingly. +Indeed it is a law of nature, that whoever is +necessary to what we have made our object is sure, in +some way, or in some time or other, to become our +<!-- Page 513 --><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489" title="489" class="pagenum"></a>master. All this however is submitted to, in order +to avoid that monstrous evil of governing in concurrence +with the opinion of the people. For it seems +to be laid down as a maxim, that a king has some +sort of interest in giving uneasiness to his subjects: +that all who are pleasing to them, are to be of course +disagreeable to him: that as soon as the persons who +are odious at court are known to be odious to the +people, it is snatched at as a lucky occasion of showering +down upon them all kinds of emoluments and +honors. None are considered as well-wishers to the +crown, but those who advise to some unpopular +course of action; none capable of serving it, but +those who are obliged to call at every instant upon +all its power for the safety of their lives. None are +supposed to be fit priests in the temple of government, +but the persons who are compelled to fly into +it for sanctuary. Such is the effect of this refined +project; such is ever the result of all the contrivances, +which are used to free men from the servitude +of their reason, and from the necessity of ordering +their affairs according to their evident interests. +These contrivances oblige them to run into a real and +ruinous servitude, in order to avoid a supposed restraint, +that might be attended with advantage.</p> + +<p>If therefore this system has so ill answered its own +grand pretence of saving the king from the necessity +of employing persons disagreeable to him, has it given +more peace and tranquillity to his Majesty's private +hours? No, most certainly. The father of his people +cannot possibly enjoy repose, while his family is in +such a state of distraction. Then what has the crown +or the king profited by all this fine-wrought scheme? +Is he more rich, or more splendid, or more powerful, +<!-- Page 514 --><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490" title="490" class="pagenum"></a>or more at his ease, by so many labors and contrivances? +Have they not beggared his exchequer, tarnished +the splendor of his court, sunk his dignity, +galled his feelings, discomposed the whole order and +happiness of his private life?</p> + +<p>It will be very hard, I believe, to state in what respect +the king has profited by that faction which presumptuously +choose to call themselves <i>his friends</i>.</p> + +<p>If particular men had grown into an attachment, +by the distinguished honor of the society of their sovereign; +and, by being the partakers of his amusements, +came sometimes to prefer the gratification of +his personal inclinations to the support of his high +character, the thing would be very natural, and it +would be excusable enough. But the pleasant part +of the story is, that these <i>king's friends</i> have no more +ground for usurping such a title, than a resident freeholder +in Cumberland or in Cornwall. They are only +known to their sovereign by kissing his hand, for the +offices, pensions, and grants, into which they have +deceived his benignity. May no storm ever come, +which will put the firmness of their attachment to +the proof; and which, in the midst of confusions, and +terrors, and sufferings, may demonstrate the eternal +difference between a true and severe friend to the +monarchy, and a slippery sycophant of the court! +<i>Quantum infido scurræ distabit amicus.</i></p> + +<p>So far I have considered the effect of the court +system, chiefly as it operates upon the executive government, +on the temper of the people, and on the +happiness of the sovereign. It remains that we +should consider, with a little attention, its operation +upon Parliament.</p> + +<p>Parliament was indeed the great object of all these +<!-- Page 515 --><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491" title="491" class="pagenum"></a>politics, the end at which they aimed, as well as the +instrument by which they were to operate. But, before +Parliament could be made subservient to a system, +by which it was to be degraded from the dignity +of a national council into a mere member of the +court, it must be greatly changed from its original +character.</p> + +<p>In speaking of this body, I have my eye chiefly on +the House of Commons. I hope I shall be indulged +in a few observations on the nature and character of +that assembly; not with regard to its <i>legal form and +power</i>, but to its <i>spirit</i>, and to the purposes it is +meant to answer in the constitution.</p> + +<p>The House of Commons was supposed originally +to be <i>no part of the standing government of this country</i>. +It was considered as a <i>control</i> issuing <i>immediately</i> from +the people, and speedily to be resolved into the mass +from whence it arose. In this respect it was in the +higher part of government what juries are in the lower. +The capacity of a magistrate being transitory, and +that of a citizen permanent, the latter capacity it was +hoped would of course preponderate in all discussions, +not only between the people and the standing +authority of the crown, but between the people and +the fleeting authority of the House of Commons itself. +It was hoped that, being of a middle nature between +subject and government, they would feel with a more +tender and a nearer interest everything that concerned +the people, than the other remoter and more +permanent parts of legislature.</p> + +<p>Whatever alterations time and the necessary accommodation +of business may have introduced, this +character can never be sustained, unless the House +of Commons shall be made to bear some stamp of the +<!-- Page 516 --><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492" title="492" class="pagenum"></a>actual disposition of the people at large. It would +(among public misfortunes) be an evil more natural +and tolerable, that the House of Commons should be +infected with every epidemical frenzy of the people, +as this would indicate some consanguinity, some sympathy +of nature with their constituents, than that they +should in all cases be wholly untouched by the opinions +and feelings of the people out of doors. By this +want of sympathy they would cease to be a House of +Commons. For it is not the derivation of the power +of that House from the people, which makes it in a +distinct sense their representative. The king is the +representative of the people; so are the lords; so are +the judges. They all are trustees for the people, as +well as the commons; because no power is given for +the sole sake of the holder; and although government +certainly is an institution of divine authority, +yet its forms, and the persons who administer it, all +originate from the people.</p> + +<p>A popular origin cannot therefore be the characteristical +distinction of a popular representative. This +belongs equally to all parts of government and in all +forms. The virtue, spirit, and essence of a House of +Commons consists in its being the express image of +the feelings of the nation. It was not instituted to +be a control <i>upon</i> the people, as of late it has been +taught, by a doctrine of the most pernicious tendency. +It was designed as a control <i>for</i> the people. Other +institutions have been formed for the purpose of +checking popular excesses; and they are, I apprehend, +fully adequate to their object. If not, they +ought to be made so. The House of Commons, as +it was never intended for the support of peace and +subordination, is miserably appointed for that service; +<!-- Page 517 --><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493" title="493" class="pagenum"></a>having no stronger weapon than its mace, and no better +officer than its serjeant-at-arms, which it can command +of its own proper authority. A vigilant and +jealous eye over executory and judicial magistracy; +an anxious care of public money; an openness, approaching +towards facility, to public complaint: these +seem to be the true characteristics of a House of Commons. +But an addressing House of Commons, and a +petitioning nation; a House of Commons full of confidence, +when the nation is plunged in despair; in +the utmost harmony with ministers, whom the people +regard with the utmost abhorrence; who vote +thanks, when the public opinion calls upon them for +impeachments; who are eager to grant, when the general +voice demands account; who, in all disputes between +the people and administration, presume against +the people; who punish their disorders, but refuse +even to inquire into the provocations to them; this +is an unnatural, a monstrous state of things in this +constitution. Such an assembly may be a great, wise, +awful senate; but it is not, to any popular purpose, +a House of Commons. This change from an +immediate state of procuration and delegation to a +course of acting as from original power, is the way +in which all the popular magistracies in the world +have been perverted from their purposes. It is indeed +their greatest and sometimes their incurable corruption. +For there is a material distinction between +that corruption by which particular points are carried +against reason, (this is a thing which cannot be prevented +by human wisdom, and is of loss consequence,) +and the corruption of the principle itself +For then the evil is not accidental, but settled. The +distemper becomes the natural habit.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 518 --><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494" title="494" class="pagenum"></a>For my part, I shall be compelled to conclude the +principle of Parliament to be totally corrupted, and +therefore its ends entirely defeated, when I see two +symptoms: first, a rule of indiscriminate support to +all ministers; because this destroys the very end of +Parliament as a control, and is a general, previous +sanction to misgovernment: and secondly, the setting +up any claims adverse to the right of free election; +for this tends to subvert the legal authority by which +the House of Commons sits.</p> + +<p>I know that, since the Revolution, along with +many dangerous, many useful powers of government +have been weakened. It is absolutely necessary to +have frequent recourse to the legislature. Parliaments +must therefore sit every year, and for great +part of the year. The dreadful disorders of frequent +elections have also necessitated a septennial instead +of a triennial duration. These circumstances, I mean +the constant habit of authority, and the unfrequency +of elections, have tended very much to draw the +House of Commons towards the character of a standing +senate. It is a disorder which has arisen from +the cure of greater disorders; it has arisen from the +extreme difficulty of reconciling liberty under a monarchical +government, with external strength and +with internal tranquillity.</p> + +<p>It is very clear that we cannot free ourselves entirely +from this great inconvenience; but I would +not increase an evil, because I was not able to remove +it; and because it was not in my power to keep the +House of Commons religiously true to its first principles, +I would not argue for carrying it to a total oblivion +of them. This has been the great scheme of +power in our time. They, who will not conform their +<!-- Page 519 --><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495" title="495" class="pagenum"></a>conduct to the public good, and cannot support it by +the prerogative of the crown, have adopted a new +plan. They have totally abandoned the shattered +and old-fashioned fortress of prerogative, and made a +lodgment in the stronghold of Parliament itself. If +they have any evil design to which there is no ordinary +legal power commensurate, they bring it into Parliament. +In Parliament the whole is executed from +the beginning to the end. In Parliament the power +of obtaining their object is absolute; and the safety +in the proceeding perfect: no rules to confine, no after-reckonings +to terrify. Parliament cannot, with +any great propriety, punish others for things in which +they themselves have been accomplices. Thus the +control of Parliament upon the executory power is +lost; because Parliament is made to partake in every +considerable act of government. <i>Impeachment, that +great guardian of the purity of the constitution, is in +danger of being lost, even to the idea of it.</i></p> + +<p>By this plan several important ends are answered +to the cabal. If the authority of Parliament supports +itself, the credit of every act of government, which +they contrive, is saved; but if the act be so very odious +that the whole strength of Parliament is insufficient +to recommend it, then Parliament is itself discredited; +and this discredit increases more and more +that indifference to the constitution, which it is the +constant aim of its enemies, by their abuse of Parliamentary +powers, to render general among the people. +Whenever Parliament is persuaded to assume the offices +of executive government, it will lose all the confidence, +love, and veneration, which it has ever enjoyed +whilst it was supposed the <i>corrective and control</i> of the +acting powers of the state. This would be the event, +<!-- Page 520 --><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496" title="496" class="pagenum"></a>though its conduct in such a perversion of its functions +should be tolerably just and moderate; but if it +should be iniquitous, violent, full of passion, and full +of faction, it would be considered as the most intolerable +of all the modes of tyranny.</p> + +<p>For a considerable time this separation of the representatives +from their constituents went on with a +silent progress; and had those, who conducted the +plan for their total separation, been persons of temper +and abilities any way equal to the magnitude of their +design, the success would have been infallible: but +by their precipitancy they have laid it open in all its +nakedness; the nation is alarmed at it: and the +event may not be pleasant to the contrivers of the +scheme. In the last session, the corps called the +<i>king's friends</i> made a hardy attempt, all at once, <i>to +alter the right of election itself</i>; to put it into the power +of the House of Commons to disable any person +disagreeable to them from sitting in Parliament, +without any other rule than their own pleasure; to +make incapacities, either general for descriptions of +men, or particular for individuals; and to take into +their body, persons who avowedly had never been +chosen by the majority of legal electors, nor agreeably +to any known rule of law.</p> + +<p>The arguments upon which this claim was founded +and combated, are not my business here. Never has +a subject been more amply and more learnedly handled, +nor upon one side, in my opinion, more satisfactorily; +they who are not convinced by what is already +written would not receive conviction <i>though, one arose +from the dead</i>.</p> + +<p>I too have thought on this subject: but my purpose +here, is only to consider it as a part of the favor<!-- Page 521 --><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497" title="497" class="pagenum"></a>ite +project of government; to observe on the motives +which led to it; and to trace its political consequences.</p> + +<p>A violent rage for the punishment of Mr. Wilkes +was the pretence of the whole. This gentleman, by +setting himself strongly in opposition to the court +cabal, had become at once an object of their persecution, +and of the popular favor. The hatred of the +court party pursuing, and the countenance of the people +protecting him, it very soon became not at all a +question on the man, but a trial of strength between +the two parties. The advantage of the victory in +this particular contest was the present, but not the +only, nor by any means the principal object. Its +operation upon the character of the House of Commons +was the great point in view. The point to be +gained by the cabal was this; that a precedent should +be established, tending to show, <i>That the favor of the +people was not so sure a road as the favor of the court +even to popular honors and popular trusts</i>. A strenuous +resistance to every appearance of lawless power; a +spirit of independence carried to some degree of enthusiasm; +an inquisitive character to discover, and a bold +one to display, every corruption and every error of +government; these are the qualities which recommend +a man to a seat in the House of Commons, in +open and merely popular elections. An indolent and +submissive disposition; a disposition to think charitably +of all the actions of men in power, and to live in a +mutual intercourse of favors with them; an inclination +rather to countenance a strong use of authority, +than to bear any sort of licentiousness on the part of +the people; these are unfavorable qualities in an open +election for members of Parliament.</p> + +<p>The instinct which carries the people towards the +<!-- Page 522 --><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498" title="498" class="pagenum"></a>choice of the former, is justified by reason; because +a man of such a character, even in its exorbitances, +does not directly contradict the purposes of a trust, +the end of which is a control on power. The latter +character, even when it is not in its extreme, will execute +this trust but very imperfectly; and, if deviating +to the least excess, will certainly frustrate instead +of forwarding the purposes of a control on government. +But when the House of Commons was to be +new modelled, this principle was not only to be +changed but reversed. Whilst any errors committed +in support of power were left to the law, with every +advantage of favorable construction, of mitigation, +and finally of pardon; all excesses on the side of liberty, +or in pursuit of popular favor, or in defence of +popular rights and privileges, were not only to be +punished by the rigor of the known law, but by a +<i>discretionary</i> proceeding, which brought on <i>the loss of +the popular object itself</i>. Popularity was to be rendered, +if not directly penal, at least highly dangerous. +The favor of the people might lead even to a disqualification +of representing them. Their odium might +become, strained through the medium of two or three +constructions, the means of sitting as the trustee of +all that was dear to them. This is punishing the offence +in the offending part. Until this time, the +opinion of the people, through the power of an assembly, +still in some sort popular, led to the greatest +honors and emoluments in the gift of the crown. +Now the principle is reversed; and the favor of the +court is the only sure way of obtaining and holding +those honors which ought to be in the disposal of the +people.</p> + +<p>It signifies very little how this matter may be quib<!-- Page 523 --><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499" title="499" class="pagenum"></a>bled +away. Example, the only argument of effect in +civil life, demonstrates the truth of my proposition. +Nothing can alter my opinion concerting the pernicious +tendency of this example, until I see some man +for his indiscretion in the support of power, for his +violent and intemperate servility, rendered incapable +of sitting in Parliament. For as it now stands, the +fault of overstraining popular qualities, and, irregularly +if you please, asserting popular privileges, has +led to disqualification; the opposite fault never has +produced the slightest punishment. Resistance to +power has shut the door of the House of Commons +to one man; obsequiousness and servility, to none.</p> + +<p>Not that I would encourage popular disorder, or +any disorder. But I would leave such offences to the +law, to be punished in measure and proportion. The +laws of this country are for the most part constituted, +and wisely so, for the general ends of government, +rather than for the preservation of our particular liberties. +Whatever therefore is done in support of +liberty, by persons not in public trust, or not acting +merely in that trust, is liable to be more or less out +of the ordinary course of the law; and the law itself +is sufficient to animadvert upon it with great severity. +Nothing indeed can hinder that severe letter +from crushing us, except the temperaments it may +receive from a trial by jury. But if the habit prevails +of <i>going beyond the law</i>, and superseding this +judicature, of carrying offences, real or supposed, +into the legislative bodies, who shall establish themselves +into <i>courts of criminal equity</i> (so the <i>Star Chamber</i> +has been called by Lord Bacon), all the evils of +the <i>Star Chamber</i> are revived. A large and liberal +construction in ascertaining offences, and a discre<!-- Page 524 --><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500" title="500" class="pagenum"></a>tionary +power in punishing them, is the idea of <i>criminal +equity</i>; which is in truth a monster in jurisprudence. +It signifies nothing whether a court for this +purpose be a committee of council, or a House of +Commons, or a House of Lords; the liberty of the +subject will be equally subverted by it. The true +end and purpose of that House of Parliament, which +entertains such a jurisdiction, will be destroyed by it.</p> + +<p>I will not believe, what no other man living +believes, that Mr. Wilkes was punished for the indecency +of his publications, or the impiety of his +ransacked closet. If he had fallen in a common +slaughter of libellers and blasphemers, I could well +believe that nothing more was meant than was pretended. +But when I see, that, for years together, +full as impious, and perhaps more dangerous writings +to religion, and virtue, and order, have not been punished, +nor their authors discountenanced; that the +most audacious libels on royal majesty have passed +without notice; that the most treasonable invectives +against the laws, liberties, and constitution of the +country, have not met with the slightest animadversion; +I must consider this as a shocking and shameless +pretence. Never did an envenomed scurrility +against everything sacred and civil, public and private, +rage through the kingdom with such a furious +and unbridled license. All this while the peace of +the nation must be shaken, to ruin one libeller, and +to tear from the populace a single favorite.</p> + +<p>Nor is it that vice merely skulks in an obscure and +contemptible impunity. Does not the public behold +with indignation, persons not only generally scandalous +in their lives, but the identical persons who, by +their society, their instruction, their example, their +<!-- Page 525 --><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501" title="501" class="pagenum"></a>encouragement, have drawn this man into the very +faults which have furnished the cabal with a pretence +for his persecution, loaded with every kind of favor, +honor, and distinction, which a court can bestow? +Add but the crime of servility (the <i>foedum crimen servitutis</i>) +to every other crime, and the whole mass is +immediately transmuted into virtue, and becomes the +just subject of reward and honor. When therefore +I reflect upon this method pursued by the cabal in +distributing rewards and punishments, I must conclude +that Mr. Wilkes is the object of persecution, +not on account of what he has done in common with +others who are the objects of reward, but for that +in which he differs from many of them: that he +is pursued for the spirited dispositions which are +blended with his vices; for his unconquerable firmness, +for his resolute, indefatigable, strenuous resistance +against oppression.</p> + +<p>In this case, therefore, it was not the man that was +to be punished, nor his faults that were to be discountenanced. +Opposition to acts of power was to +be marked by a kind of civil proscription. The popularity +which should arise from such an opposition +was to be shown unable to protect it. The qualities +by which court is made to the people, were to render +every fault inexpiable, and every error irretrievable. +The qualities by which court is made to power, were +to cover and to sanctify everything. He that will have +a sure and honorable seat in the House of Commons +must take care how he adventures to cultivate popular +qualities; otherwise he may remember the old +maxim, <i>Breves et infaustos populi Romani amores</i>. +If, therefore, a pursuit of popularity expose a man to +greater dangers than a disposition to servility, the +<!-- Page 526 --><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502" title="502" class="pagenum"></a>principle which is the life and soul of popular elections +will perish out of the constitution.</p> + +<p>It behoves the people of England to consider how +the House of Commons, under the operation of these +examples, must of necessity be constituted. On the +side of the court will be, all honors, offices, emoluments; +every sort of personal gratification to avarice +or vanity; and, what is of more moment to most gentlemen, +the means of growing, by innumerable petty +services to individuals, into a spreading interest in +their country. On the other hand, let us suppose a +person unconnected with the court, and in opposition +to its system. For his own person, no office, or emolument, +or title; no promotion, ecclesiastical, or civil, +or military, or naval, for children, or brothers, or kindred. +In vain an expiring interest in a borough calls +for offices, or small livings, for the children of mayors, +and aldermen, and capital burgesses. His court +rival has them all. He can do an infinite number of +acts of generosity and kindness, and even of public +spirit. He can procure indemnity from quarters. +He can procure advantages in trade. He can get +pardons for offences. He can obtain a thousand favors, +and avert a thousand evils. He may, while he +betrays every valuable interest of the kingdom, be a +benefactor, a patron, a father, a guardian angel to his +borough. The unfortunate independent member has +nothing to offer, but harsh refusal, or pitiful excuse, +or despondent representation of a hopeless interest. +Except from his private fortune, in which he may be +equalled, perhaps exceeded, by his court competitor, +he has no way of showing any one good quality, or of +making a single friend. In the House, he votes forever +in a dispirited minority. If he speaks, the doors +<!-- Page 527 --><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503" title="503" class="pagenum"></a>are locked. A body of loquacious placemen go out +to tell the world that all he aims at is to get into office. +If he has not the talent of elocution, which is +the case of many as wise and knowing men as any in +the House, he is liable to all these inconveniences, +without the <i>éclat</i> which attends upon any tolerably +successful exertion of eloquence. Can we conceive a +more discouraging post of duty than this? Strip it +of the poor reward of popularity; suffer even the excesses +committed in defence of the popular interest to +become a ground for the majority of that House to +form a disqualification out of the line of the law, and +at their pleasure, attended not only with the loss of +the franchise, but with every kind of personal disgrace.—If +this shall happen, the people of this kingdom +may be assured that they cannot be firmly or +faithfully served by any man. It is out of the nature +of men and things that they should; and their presumption +will be equal to their folly if they expect it. +The power of the people, within the laws, must show +itself sufficient to protect every representative in the +animated performance of his duty, or that duty cannot +be performed. The House of Commons can +never be a control on other parts of government, +unless they are controlled themselves by their constituents; +and unless those constituents possess some +right in the choice of that House, which it is not in +the power of that House to take away. If they suffer +this power of arbitrary incapacitation to stand, they +have utterly perverted every other power of the House +of Commons. The late proceeding I will not say <i>is</i> +contrary to law; it <i>must</i> be so; for the power which +is claimed cannot, by any possibility, be a legal power +in any limited member of government.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 528 --><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504" title="504" class="pagenum"></a>The power which they claim, of declaring incapacities, +would not be above the just claims of a final judicature, +if they had not laid it down as a leading +principle, that they had no rule in the exercise of +this claim, but their own <i>discretion</i>. Not one of their +abettors has ever undertaken to assign the principle +of unfitness, the species or degree of delinquency, on +which the House of Commons will expel, nor the mode +of proceeding upon it, nor the evidence upon which it +is established. The direct consequence of which is, +that the first franchise of an Englishman, and that +on which all the rest vitally depend, is to be forfeited +for some offence which no man knows, and which is +to be proved by no known rule whatsoever of legal +evidence. This is so anomalous to our whole constitution, +that I will venture to say, the most trivial +right, which the subject claims, never was, nor can +be, forfeited in such a manner.</p> + +<p>The whole of their usurpation is established upon +this method of arguing. We do not <i>make</i> laws. No; +we do not contend for this power. We only <i>declare</i> +law; and as we are a tribunal both competent and +supreme, what we declare to be law becomes law, although +it should not have been so before. Thus the +circumstance of having no <i>appeal</i> from their jurisdiction +is made to imply that they have no <i>rule</i> in the +exercise of it: the judgment does not derive its validity +from its conformity to the law; but preposterously +the law is made to attend on the judgment; +and the rule of the judgment is no other than the <i>occasional +will of the House</i>. An arbitrary discretion +leads, legality follows; which is just the very nature +and description of a legislative act.</p> + +<p>This claim in their hands was no barren theory. It +<!-- Page 529 --><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505" title="505" class="pagenum"></a>was pursued into its utmost consequences; and a +dangerous principle has begot a correspondent practice. +A systematic spirit has been shown upon both +sides. The electors of Middlesex chose a person +whom the House of Commons had voted incapable; +and the House of Commons has taken in a member +whom the electors of Middlesex had not chosen. By +a construction on that legislative power which had +been assumed, they declared that the true legal sense +of the country was contained in the minority, on that +occasion; and might, on a resistance to a vote of incapacity, +be contained in any minority.</p> + +<p>When any construction of law goes against the +spirit of the privilege it was meant to support, it is a +vicious construction. It is material to us to be represented +really and <i>bonâ fide</i>, and not in forms, in +types, and shadows, and fictions of law. The right +of election was not established merely as a <i>matter of +form</i>, to satisfy some method and rule of technical +reasoning; it was not a principle which might substitute +a <i>Titius</i> or a <i>Mævius</i>, a <i>John Doe</i> or <i>Richard +Roe</i>, in the place of a man specially chosen; not a +principle which was just as well satisfied with one +man as with another. It is a right, the effect of which +is to give to the people that man, and <i>that man only</i>, +whom, by their voices actually, not constructively +given, they declare that they know, esteem, love, and +trust. This right is a matter within their own power +of judging and feeling; not an <i>ens rationis</i> and creature +of law: nor can those devices, by which anything +else is substituted in the place of such an actual +choice, answer in the least degree the end of representation.</p> + +<p>I know that the courts of law have made as strained +<!-- Page 530 --><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506" title="506" class="pagenum"></a>constructions in other cases. Such is the construction +in common recoveries. The method of construction +which in that case gives to the persons in +remainder, for their security and representative, the +door-keeper, crier, or sweeper of the court, or some +other shadowy being without substance or effect, is +a fiction of a very coarse texture. This was however +suffered by the acquiescence of the whole kingdom, +for ages; because the evasion of the old statute +of Westminster, which authorized perpetuities, had +more sense and utility than the law which was +evaded. But an attempt to turn the right of election +into such a farce and mockery as a fictitious +fine and recovery, will, I hope, have another fate; +because the laws which give it are infinitely dear to +us, and the evasion is infinitely contemptible.</p> + +<p>The people indeed have been told, that this power +of discretionary disqualification is vested in hands +that they may trust, and who will be sure not to +abuse it to their prejudice. Until I find something +in this argument differing from that on which every +mode of despotism has been defended, I shall not be +inclined to pay it any great compliment. The people +are satisfied to trust themselves with the exercise +of their own privileges, and do not desire this kind +intervention of the House of Commons to free them +from the burden. They are certainly in the right. +They ought not to trust the House of Commons with +a power over their franchises; because the constitution, +which placed two other co-ordinate powers to +control it, reposed no such confidence in that body. +It were a folly well deserving servitude for its punishment, +to be full of confidence where the laws are +full of distrust; and to give to a House of Commons, +<!-- Page 531 --><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507" title="507" class="pagenum"></a>arrogating to its sole resolution the most harsh and +odious part of legislative authority, that degree of +submission which is due only to the legislature itself.</p> + +<p>When the House of Commons, in an endeavor to +obtain new advantages at the expense of the other +orders of the state, for the benefit of the <i>commons at +large</i>, have pursued strong measures; if it were not +just, it was at least natural, that the constituents +should connive at all their proceedings; because we +were ourselves ultimately to profit. But when this +submission is urged to us, in a contest between the +representatives and ourselves, and where nothing can +be put into their scale which is not taken from ours, +they fancy us to be children when they tell us they +are our representatives, our own flesh and blood, and +that all the stripes they give us are for our good. +The very desire of that body to have such a trust +contrary to law reposed in them, shows that they are +not worthy of it. They certainly will abuse it; because +all men possessed of an uncontrolled discretionary +power leading to the aggrandizement and profit +of their own body have always abused it: and I see +no particular sanctity in our times, that is at all +likely, by a miraculous operation, to overrule the +course of nature.</p> + +<p>But we must purposely shut our eyes, if we consider +this matter merely as a contest between the +House of Commons and the electors. The true contest +is between the electors of the kingdom and the +crown; the crown acting by an instrumental House +of Commons. It is precisely the same, whether the +ministers of the crown can disqualify by a dependent +House of Commons, or by a dependent Court of <i>Star +Chamber</i>, or by a dependent Court of King's Bench +<!-- Page 532 --><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508" title="508" class="pagenum"></a>If once members of Parliament can be practically +convinced that they do not depend on the affection +or opinion of the people for their political being, they +will give themselves over, without even an appearance +of reserve, to the influence of the court.</p> + +<p>Indeed a Parliament unconnected with the people +is essential to a ministry unconnected with the +people; and therefore those who saw through what +mighty difficulties the interior ministry waded, and +the exterior were dragged, in this business, will conceive +of what prodigious importance, the new corps +of <i>king's men</i> held this principle of occasional and +personal incapacitation, to the whole body of their +design.</p> + +<p>When the House of Commons was thus made to +consider itself as the master of its constituents, there +wanted but one thing to secure that House against +all possible future deviation towards popularity: an +<i>unlimited</i> fund of money to be laid out according to +the pleasure of the court.</p> + +<p>To complete the scheme of bringing our court to a +resemblance to the neighboring monarchies, it was +necessary, in effect, to destroy those appropriations +of revenue, which seem to limit the property, as the +other laws had done the powers, of the crown. An +opportunity for this purpose was taken, upon an +application to Parliament for payment of the debts +of the civil list; which in 1769 had amounted to +513,000<i>l.</i> Such application had been made upon +former occasions; but to do it in the former manner +would by no means answer the present purpose.</p> + +<p>Whenever the crown had come to the commons to +desire a supply for the discharging of debts due on +the civil list, it was always asked and granted with +<!-- Page 533 --><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509" title="509" class="pagenum"></a>one of the three following qualifications; sometimes +with all of them. Either it was stated, that the revenue +had been diverted from its purposes by Parliament; +or that those duties had fallen short of the +sum for which they were given by Parliament, and +that the intention of the legislature had not been fulfilled; +or that the money required to discharge the +civil list debt was to be raised chargeable on the +civil list duties. In the reign of Queen Anne, the +crown was found in debt. The lessening and granting +away some part of her revenue by Parliament +was alleged as the cause of that debt, and pleaded as +an equitable ground, such it certainly was, for discharging +it. It does not appear that the duties which +were then applied to the ordinary government produced +clear above 580,000<i>l.</i> a year; because, when +they were afterwards granted to George the First, +120,000<i>l.</i> was added to complete the whole to 700,000<i>l.</i> +a year. Indeed it was then asserted, and, I have no +doubt, truly, that for many years the net produce did +not amount to above 550,000<i>l.</i> The queen's extraordinary +charges were besides very considerable; equal, +at least, to any we have known in our time. The application +to Parliament was not for an absolute grant +of money; but to empower the queen to raise it by +borrowing upon the civil list funds.</p> + +<p>The civil list debt was twice paid in the reign of +George the First. The money was granted upon the +same plan which had been followed in the reign of +Queen Anne. The civil list revenues were then +mortgaged for the sum to be raised, and stood +charged with the ransom of their own deliverance.</p> + +<p>George the Second received an addition to his civil +list. Duties were granted for the purpose of raising +<!-- Page 534 --><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510" title="510" class="pagenum"></a>800,000<i>l.</i> a year. It was not until he had reigned +nineteen years, and after the last rebellion, that he +called upon Parliament for a discharge of the civil +list debt. The extraordinary charges brought on by +the rebellion, account fully for the necessities of the +crown. However, the extraordinary charges of government +were not thought a ground fit to be relied +on.</p> + +<p>A deficiency of the civil list duties for several years +before was stated as the principal, if not the sole +ground on which an application to Parliament could +be justified. About this time the produce of these +duties had fallen pretty low; and even upon an average +of the whole reign they never produced 800,000<i>l.</i> +a year clear to the treasury.</p> + +<p>That prince reigned fourteen years afterwards: +not only no new demands were made; but with so +much good order were his revenues and expenses +regulated, that, although many parts of the establishment +of the court were upon a larger and more liberal +scale than they have been since, there was a considerable +sum in hand, on his decease, amounting to about +170,000<i>l.</i> applicable to the service of the civil list of +his present Majesty. So that, if this reign commenced +with a greater charge than usual, there was +enough and more than enough, abundantly to supply +all the extraordinary expense. That the civil list +should have been exceeded in the two former reigns, +especially in the reign of George the First, was not at +all surprising. His revenue was but 700,000<i>l.</i> annually; +if it ever produced so much clear. The prodigious +and dangerous disaffection to the very being of +the establishment, and the cause of a pretender then +powerfully abetted from abroad, produced many de<!-- Page 535 --><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511" title="511" class="pagenum"></a>mands +of an extraordinary nature both abroad and +at home. Much management and great expenses +were necessary. But the throne of no prince has +stood upon more unshaken foundations than that of +his present Majesty.</p> + +<p>To have exceeded the sum given for the civil list, +and to have incurred a debt without special authority +of Parliament, was <i>prima facie</i>, a criminal act: as +such, ministers ought naturally rather to have withdrawn +it from the inspection, than to have exposed it +to the scrutiny of Parliament. Certainly they ought, +of themselves, officially to have come armed with +every sort of argument, which, by explaining, could +excuse, a matter in itself of presumptive guilt. But +the terrors of the House of Commons are no longer +for ministers.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the peculiar character of the +House of Commons, as trustee of the public purse, +would have led them to call with a punctilious solicitude +for every public account, and to have examined +into them with the most rigorous accuracy.</p> + +<p>The capital use of an account is, that the reality of +the charge, the reason of incurring it, and the justice +and necessity of discharging it, should all appear antecedent +to the payment. No man ever pays first, and +calls for his account afterwards; because he would +thereby let out of his hands the principal, and indeed +only effectual, means of compelling a full and fair +one. But, in national business, there is an additional +reason for a previous production of every account. +It is a check, perhaps the only one, upon a corrupt +and prodigal use of public money. An account +after payment is to no rational purpose an account. +However, the House of Commons thought all these to +<!-- Page 536 --><a name="Page_512" id="Page_512" title="512" class="pagenum"></a>be antiquated principles: they were of opinion, that +the most Parliamentary way of proceeding was, to +pay first what the court thought proper to demand, +and to take its chance for an examination into accounts +at some time of greater leisure.</p> + +<p>The nation had settled 800,000<i>l.</i> a year on the +crown, as sufficient for the support of its dignity, +upon the estimate of its own ministers. When ministers +came to Parliament, and said that this allowance +had not been sufficient for the purpose, and that +they had incurred a debt of 500,000<i>l.</i>, would it not +have been natural for Parliament first to have asked +how, and by what means, their appropriated allowance +came to be insufficient? Would it not have +savored of some attention to justice, to have seen in +what periods of administration this debt had been +originally incurred; that they might discover, and +if need were, animadvert on the persons who were +found the most culpable? To put their hands upon +such articles of expenditure as they thought improper +or excessive, and to secure, in future, against +such misapplication or exceeding? Accounts for any +other purposes are but a matter of curiosity, and +no genuine Parliamentary object. All the accounts +which could answer any Parliamentary end were refused, +or postponed by previous questions. Every +idea of prevention was rejected, as conveying an improper +suspicion of the ministers of the crown.</p> + +<p>When every loading account had been refused, +many others were granted with sufficient facility.</p> + +<p>But with great candor also, the House was informed, +that hardly any of them could be ready +until the next session; some of them perhaps not +so soon. But, in order firmly to establish the prece<!-- Page 537 --><a name="Page_513" id="Page_513" title="513" class="pagenum"></a>dent +of <i>payment previous to account</i>, and to form it +into a settled rule of the House, the god in the machine +was brought down, nothing less than the wonder-working +<i>law of Parliament</i>. It was alleged, that +it is the law of Parliament, when any demand comes +from the crown, that the House must go immediately +into the committee of supply; in which committee it +was allowed, that the production and examination of +accounts would be quite proper and regular. It was +therefore carried, that they should go into the committee +without delay, and without accounts, in order +to examine with great order and regularity things +that could not possibly come before them. After this +stroke of orderly and Parliamentary wit and humor, +they went into the committee; and very generously +voted the payment.</p> + +<p>There was a circumstance in that debate too remarkable +to be overlooked. This debt of the civil list +was all along argued upon the same footing as a debt +of the state, contracted upon national authority. Its +payment was urged as equally pressing upon the public +faith and honor; and when the whole year's account +was stated, in what is called <i>the budget</i>, the ministry +valued themselves on the payment of so much +public debt, just as if they had discharged 500,000<i>l.</i> +of navy or exchequer bills. Though, in truth, their +payment, from the sinking fund, of debt which was +never contracted by Parliamentary authority, was, to +all intents and purposes, so much debt incurred. +But such is the present notion of public credit, and +payment of debt. No wonder that it produces such +effects.</p> + +<p>Nor was the House at all more attentive to a provident +security against future, than it had been to a vin<!-- Page 538 --><a name="Page_514" id="Page_514" title="514" class="pagenum"></a>dictive +retrospect to past mismanagements. I should +have thought indeed that a ministerial promise, during +their own continuance in office, might have been +given, though this would have been but a poor security +for the public. Mr. Pelham gave such an assurance, +and he kept his word. But nothing was capable +of extorting from our ministers anything which had +the least resemblance to a promise of confining the +expenses of the civil list within the limits which had +been settled by Parliament. This reserve of theirs I +look upon to be equivalent to the clearest declaration, +that they were resolved upon a contrary course.</p> + +<p>However, to put the matter beyond all doubt, in +the speech from the throne, after thanking Parliament +for the relief so liberally granted, the ministers +inform the two Houses, that they will <i>endeavor</i> to confine +the expenses of the civil government—within +what limits, think you? those which the law had prescribed? +Not in the least—"such limits as the <i>honor +of the crown</i> can possibly admit."</p> + +<p>Thus they established an <i>arbitrary</i> standard for that +dignity which Parliament had defined and limited to +a <i>legal</i> standard. They gave themselves, under the +lax and indeterminate idea of the <i>honor of the crown</i>, +a full loose for all manner of dissipation, and all manner +of corruption. This arbitrary standard they were +not afraid to hold out to both Houses; while an idle +and unoperative act of Parliament, estimating the dignity +of the crown at 800,000<i>l.</i> and confining it to that +sum, adds to the number of obsolete statutes which +load the shelves of libraries, without any sort of advantage +to the people.</p> + +<p>After this proceeding, I suppose that no man can +be so weak as to think that the crown is limited to +<!-- Page 539 --><a name="Page_515" id="Page_515" title="515" class="pagenum"></a>any settled allowance whatsoever. For if the ministry +has 800,000<i>l.</i> a year by the law of the land; and +if by the law of Parliament all the debts which exceed +it are to be paid previously to the production of any +account; I presume that this is equivalent to an income +with no other limits than the abilities of the +subject and the moderation of the court; that is to +say, it is such an income as is possessed by every absolute +monarch in Europe. It amounts, as a person +of great ability said in the debate, to an unlimited +power of drawing upon the sinking fund. Its effect +on the public credit of this kingdom must be obvious; +for in vain is the sinking fund the great buttress of all +the rest, if it be in the power of the ministry to resort +to it for the payment of any debts which they may +choose to incur, under the name of the civil list, and +through the medium of a committee, which thinks itself +obliged by law to vote supplies without any other +account than that of the mere existence of the debt.</p> + +<p>Five hundred thousand pounds is a serious sum. +But it is nothing to the prolific principle upon which +the sum was voted: a principle that may be well +called, <i>the fruitful mother of an hundred more</i>. Neither +is the damage to public credit of very great consequence, +when compared with that which results to +public morals and to the safety of the constitution, +from the exhaustless mine of corruption opened by +the precedent, and to be wrought by the principle, of +the late payment of the debts of the civil list. The +power of discretionary disqualification by one law of +Parliament, and the necessity of paying every debt of +the civil list by another law of Parliament, if suffered +to pass unnoticed, must establish such a fund of rewards +and terrors as will make Parliament the best +<!-- Page 540 --><a name="Page_516" id="Page_516" title="516" class="pagenum"></a>appendage and support of arbitrary power that ever +was invented by the wit of man. This is felt. The +quarrel is begun between the representatives and the +people. The court faction have at length committed +them.</p> + +<p>In such a strait the wisest may well be perplexed, +and the boldest staggered. The circumstances are in +a great measure new. We have hardly any landmarks +from the wisdom of our ancestors, to guide us. +At best we can only follow the spirit of their proceeding +in other cases. I know the diligence with which +my observations on our public disorders have been +made; I am very sure of the integrity of the motives +on which they are published; I cannot be equally +confident in any plan for the absolute cure of those +disorders, or for their certain future prevention. My +aim is to bring this matter into more public discussion. +Let the sagacity of others work upon it. It is +not uncommon for medical writers to describe histories +of diseases very accurately, on whose cure they +can say but very little.</p> + +<p>The first ideas which generally suggest themselves, +for the cure of Parliamentary disorders, are, to shorten +the duration of Parliaments; and to disqualify +all, or a great number of placemen, from a seat in +the House of Commons. Whatever efficacy there +may be in those remedies, I am sure in the present +state of things it is impossible to apply them. A +restoration of the right of free election is a preliminary +indispensable to every other reformation. What +alterations ought afterwards to be made in the constitution, +is a matter of deep and difficult research.</p> + +<p>If I wrote merely to please the popular palate, it +would indeed be as little troublesome to me as to an<!-- Page 541 --><a name="Page_517" id="Page_517" title="517" class="pagenum"></a>other, +to extol these remedies, so famous in speculation, +but to which their greatest admirers have never +attempted seriously to resort in practice. I confess +then, that I have no sort of reliance upon either a triennial +Parliament, or a place-bill. With regard to +the former, perhaps it might rather serve to counteract, +than to promote the ends that are proposed by it. +To say nothing of the horrible disorders among the +people attending frequent elections, I should be fearful +of committing, every three years, the independent +gentlemen of the country into a contest with the +treasury. It is easy to see which of the contending +parties would be ruined first. Whoever has taken a +careful view of public proceedings, so as to endeavor +to ground his speculations on his experience, must +have observed how prodigiously greater the power of +ministry is in the first and last session of a Parliament, +than it is in the intermediate period, when +members sit a little firm on their seats. The persons +of the greatest Parliamentary experience, with whom +I have conversed, did constantly, in canvassing the +fate of questions, allow something to the court side, +upon account of the elections depending or imminent. +The evil complained of, if it exists in the present +state of things, would hardly be removed by a +triennial Parliament: for, unless the influence of +government in elections can be entirely taken away, +the more frequently they return, the more they will +harass private independence; the more generally +men will be compelled to fly to the settled systematic +interest of government, and to the resources of a +boundless civil list. Certainly something may be +done, and ought to be done, towards lessening that +influence in elections; and this will be necessary up<!-- Page 542 --><a name="Page_518" id="Page_518" title="518" class="pagenum"></a>on +a plan either of longer or shorter duration of Parliament. +But nothing can so perfectly remove the +evil, as not to render such contentions, too frequently +repeated, utterly ruinous, first to independence of +fortune, and then to independence of spirit. As I +am only giving an opinion on this point, and not at +all debating it in an adverse line, I hope I may be +excused in another observation. With great truth I +may aver, that I never remember to have talked on +this subject with any man much conversant with +public business, who considered short Parliaments as +a real improvement of the constitution. Gentlemen, +warm in a popular cause, are ready enough to attribute +all the declarations of such persons to corrupt +motives. But the habit of affairs, if, on one hand, it +tends to corrupt the mind, furnishes it, on the other, +with the means of better information. The authority +of such persons will always have some weight. It +may stand upon a par with the speculations of those +who are less practised in business; and who, with +perhaps purer intentions, have not so effectual means +of judging. It is besides an effect of vulgar and puerile +malignity to imagine, that every statesman is of +course corrupt; and that his opinion, upon every +constitutional point, is solely formed upon some sinister +interest.</p> + +<p>The next favorite remedy is a place-bill. The same +principle guides in both; I mean, the opinion which +is entertained by many, of the infallibility of laws +and regulations, in the cure of public distempers. +Without being as unreasonably doubtful as many are +unwisely confident, I will only say, that this also is +a matter very well worthy of serious and mature reflection. +It is not easy to foresee, what the effect +<!-- Page 543 --><a name="Page_519" id="Page_519" title="519" class="pagenum"></a>would be, of disconnecting with Parliament the greatest +part of those who hold civil employments, and of +such mighty and important bodies as the military and +naval establishments. It were better, perhaps, that +they should have a corrupt interest in the forms of +the constitution, than that they should have none at +all. This is a question altogether different from the +disqualification of a particular description of revenue-officers +from seats in Parliament; or, perhaps, of all +the lower sorts of them from votes in elections. In +the former case, only the few are affected; in the latter, +only the inconsiderable. But a great official, a +great professional, a great military and naval interest, +all necessarily comprehending many people of the +first weight, ability, wealth, and spirit, has been gradually +formed in the kingdom. These new interests +must be let into a share of representation, else possibly +they may be inclined to destroy those institutions +of which they are not permitted to partake. +This is not a thing to be trifled with; nor is it every +well-meaning man that is fit to put his hands to it. +Many other serious considerations occur. I do not +open them here, because they are not directly to my +purpose; proposing only to give the reader some taste +of the difficulties that attend all capital changes in +the constitution; just to hint the uncertainty, to say +no worse, of being able to prevent the court, as long +as it has the means of influence abundantly in its +power, of applying that influence to Parliament; and +perhaps, if the public method were precluded, of +doing it in some worse and more dangerous method. +Underhand and oblique ways would be studied. +The science of evasion, already tolerably understood, +would then be brought to the greatest perfection. +<!-- Page 544 --><a name="Page_520" id="Page_520" title="520" class="pagenum"></a>It is no inconsiderable part of wisdom, to know how +much of an evil ought to be tolerated; lest, by attempting +a degree of purity impracticable in degenerate +times and manners, instead of cutting off the +subsisting ill-practices, new corruptions might be produced +for the concealment and security of the old. +It were better, undoubtedly, that no influence at all +could affect the mind of a member of Parliament. +But of all modes of influence, in my opinion, a place +under the government is the least disgraceful to the +man who holds it, and by far the most safe to the +country. I would not shut out that sort of influence +which is open and visible, which is connected with +the dignity and the service of the state, when it is +not in my power to prevent the influence of contracts, +of subscriptions, of direct bribery, and those innumerable +methods of clandestine corruption, which are +abundantly in the hands of the court, and which will +be applied as long as these means of corruption, +and the disposition to be corrupted, have existence +amongst us. Our constitution stands on a nice equipoise, +with steep precipices and deep waters upon all +sides of it. In removing it from a dangerous leaning +towards one side, there may be a risk of oversetting +it on the other. Every project of a material change +in a government so complicated as ours, combined at +the same time with external circumstances still more +complicated, is a matter full of difficulties: in which +a considerate man will not be too ready to decide; a +prudent man too ready to undertake; or an honest +man too ready to promise. They do not respect the +public nor themselves, who engage for more than +they are sure that they ought to attempt, or that they +are able to perform. These are my sentiments, weak +<!-- Page 545 --><a name="Page_521" id="Page_521" title="521" class="pagenum"></a>perhaps, but honest and unbiassed; and submitted +entirely to the opinion of grave men, well-affected to +the constitution of their country, and of experience +in what may best promote or hurt it.</p> + +<p>Indeed, in the situation in which we stand, with an +immense revenue, an enormous debt, mighty establishments, +government itself a great banker and a +great merchant, I see no other way for the preservation +of a decent attention to public interest in the +representatives, but <i>the interposition of the body of the +people itself</i>, whenever it shall appear, by some flagrant +and notorious act, by some capital innovation, that +these representatives are going to overleap the fences +of the law, and to introduce an arbitrary power. +This interposition is a most unpleasant remedy. But, +if it be a legal remedy, it is intended on some occasion +to be used; to be used then only, when it is +evident that nothing else can hold the constitution +to its true principles.</p> + +<p>The distempers of monarchy were the great subjects +of apprehension and redress, in the last century; +in this the distempers of Parliament. It is +not in Parliament alone that the remedy for Parliamentary +disorders can be completed; hardly indeed +can it begin there. Until a confidence in government +is re-established, the people ought to be excited +to a more strict and detailed attention to the conduct +of their representatives. Standards for judging more +systematically upon their conduct ought to be settled +in the meetings of counties and corporations. Frequent +and correct lists of the voters in all important +questions ought to be procured.</p> + +<p>By such means something may be done. By such +means it may appear who those are, that, by an indis<!-- Page 546 --><a name="Page_522" id="Page_522" title="522" class="pagenum"></a>criminate +support of all administrations, have totally +banished all integrity and confidence out of public +proceedings; have confounded the best men with the +worst; and weakened and dissolved, instead of +strengthening and compacting, the general frame of +government. If any person is more concerned for +government and order, than for the liberties of his +country; even he is equally concerned to put an end +to this course of indiscriminate support. It is this +blind and undistinguishing support, that feeds the +spring of those very disorders, by which he is frightened +into the arms of the faction which contains in +itself the source of all disorders, by enfeebling all the +visible and regular authority of the state. The distemper +is increased by his injudicious and preposterous +endeavors, or pretences, for the cure of it.</p> + +<p>An exterior administration, chosen for its impotency, +or after it is chosen purposely rendered impotent, +in order to be rendered subservient, will not be +obeyed. The laws themselves will not be respected, +when those who execute them are despised: and they +will be despised, when their power is not immediate +from the crown, or natural in the kingdom. Never +were ministers better supported in Parliament. Parliamentary +support comes and goes with office, totally +regardless of the man, or the merit. Is government +strengthened? It grows weaker and weaker. The +popular torrent gains upon it every hour. Let us +learn from our experience. It is not support that is +wanting to government, but reformation. When +ministry rests upon public opinion, it is not indeed +built upon a rock of adamant; it has, however, some +stability. But when it stands upon private humor, +its structure is of stubble, and its foundation is on +<!-- Page 547 --><a name="Page_523" id="Page_523" title="523" class="pagenum"></a>quicksand. I repeat it again,—He that supports every +administration subverts all government. The +reason is this: The whole business in which a court +usually takes an interest goes on at present equally +well, in whatever hands, whether high or low, wise +or foolish, scandalous or reputable; there is nothing +therefore to hold it firm to any one body of men, or +to any one consistent scheme of politics. Nothing +interposes, to prevent the full operation of all the caprices +and all the passions of a court upon the servants +of the public. The system of administration is +open to continual shocks and changes, upon the principles +of the meanest cabal, and the most contemptible +intrigue. Nothing can be solid and permanent. All +good men at length fly with horror from such a service. +Men of rank and ability, with the spirit which +ought to animate such men in a free state, while they +decline the jurisdiction of dark cabal on their actions +and their fortunes, will, for both, cheerfully put +themselves upon their country. They will trust an +inquisitive and distinguishing Parliament; because it +does inquire, and does distinguish. If they act well, +they know, that, in such a Parliament they will be +supported against any intrigue; if they act ill, they +know that no intrigue can protect them. This situation, +however awful, is honorable. But in one hour, +and in the self-same assembly, without any assigned +or assignable cause, to be precipitated from the highest +authority to the most marked neglect, possibly into +the greatest peril of life and reputation, is a situation +full of danger, and destitute of honor. It will +be shunned equally by every man of prudence, and +every man of spirit.</p> + +<p>Such are the consequences of the division of court +<!-- Page 548 --><a name="Page_524" id="Page_524" title="524" class="pagenum"></a>from the administration; and of the division of public +men among themselves. By the former of these, +lawful government is undone; by the latter, all opposition +to lawless power is rendered impotent. Government +may in a great measure be restored, if any +considerable bodies of men have honesty and resolution +enough never to accept administration, unless +this garrison of <i>king's men</i>, which is stationed, as in a +citadel, to control and enslave it, be entirely broken +and disbanded, and every work they have thrown up +be levelled with the ground. The disposition of public +men to keep this corps together, and to act under +it, or to co-operate with it, is a touchstone by which +every administration ought in future to be tried. +There has not been one which has not sufficiently experienced +the utter incompatibility of that faction +with the public peace, and with all the ends of good +government: since, if they opposed it, they soon lost +every power of serving the crown; if they submitted +to it, they lost all the esteem of their country. Until +ministers give to the public a full proof of their entire +alienation from that system, however plausible their +pretences, we may be sure they are more intent on +the emoluments than the duties of office. If they refuse +to give this proof, we know of what stuff they +are made. In this particular, it ought to be the electors' +business to look to their representatives. The +electors ought to esteem it no less culpable in their +member to give a single vote in Parliament to such +an administration, than to take an office under it; to +endure it, than to act in it. The notorious infidelity +and versatility of members of Parliament, in their +opinions of men and things, ought in a particular +manner to be considered by the electors in the in<!-- Page 549 --><a name="Page_525" id="Page_525" title="525" class="pagenum"></a>quiry +which is recommended to them. This is one +of the principal holdings of that destructive system, +which has endeavored to unhinge all the virtuous, +honorable, and useful connections in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>This cabal has, with great success, propagated a +doctrine which serves for a color to those acts of +treachery; and whilst it receives any degree of countenance +it will be utterly senseless to look for a vigorous +opposition to the court party. The doctrine is +this: That all political connections are in their nature +factious, and as such ought to be dissipated and +destroyed; and that the rule for forming administrations +is more personal ability, rated by the judgment +of this cabal upon it, and taken by draughts from +every division and denomination of public men. This +decree was solemnly promulgated by the head of +the court corps, the Earl of Bute himself, in a speech +which he made, in the year 1766, against the then +administration, the only administration which he has +ever been known directly and publicly to oppose.</p> + +<p>It is indeed in no way wonderful, that such persons +should make such declarations. That connection and +faction are equivalent terms, is an opinion which has +been carefully inculcated at all times by unconstitutional +statesmen. The reason is evident. Whilst men +are linked together, they easily and speedily communicate +the alarm of any evil design. They are enabled +to fathom it with common counsel, and to oppose it +with united strength. Whereas, when they lie dispersed, +without concert, order, or discipline, communication +is uncertain, counsel difficult, and resistance +impracticable. Where men are not acquainted with +each other's principles, nor experienced in each other's +talents, nor at all practised in their mutual habi<!-- Page 550 --><a name="Page_526" id="Page_526" title="526" class="pagenum"></a>tudes +and dispositions by joint efforts in business; no +personal confidence, no friendship, no common interest, +subsisting among them; it is evidently impossible +that they can act a public part with uniformity, perseverance, +or efficacy. In a connection, the most inconsiderable +man, by adding to the weight of the +whole, has his value, and his use; out of it, the greatest +talents are wholly unserviceable to the public. No +man, who is not inflamed by vainglory into enthusiasm, +can flatter himself that his single, unsupported, +desultory, unsystematic endeavors are of power to defeat +the subtle designs and united cabals of ambitious +citizens. When bad men combine, the good must associate; +else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied +sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.</p> + +<p>It is not enough in a situation of trust in the commonwealth, +that a man means well to his country; +it is not enough that in his single person he never +did an evil act, but always voted according to his +conscience, and even harangued against every design +which he apprehended to be prejudicial to the interests +of his country. This innoxious and ineffectual +character, that seems formed upon a plan of apology +and disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of +public duty. That duty demands and requires, that +what is right should not only be made known, but +made prevalent; that what is evil should not only be +detected, but defeated. When the public man omits +to put himself in a situation of doing his duty with +effect, it is an omission that frustrates the purposes +of his trust almost as much as if he had formally betrayed +it. It is surely no very rational account of a +man's life, that he has always acted right; but has +taken special care, to act in such a manner that his +<!-- Page 551 --><a name="Page_527" id="Page_527" title="527" class="pagenum"></a>endeavors could not possibly be productive of any +consequence.</p> + +<p>I do not wonder that the behavior of many parties +should have made persons of tender and scrupulous +virtue somewhat out of humor with all sorts of +connection in politics. I admit that people frequently +acquire in such confederacies a narrow, bigoted, and +prescriptive spirit; that they are apt to sink the idea +of the general good in this circumscribed and partial +interest. But, where duty renders a critical situation +a necessary one, it is our business to keep free +from the evils attendant upon it; and not to fly from +the situation itself. If a fortress is seated in an unwholesome +air, an officer of the garrison is obliged to +be attentive to his health, but he must not desert his +station. Every profession, not excepting the glorious +one of a soldier, or the sacred one of a priest, is +liable to its own particular vices; which, however, +form no argument against those ways of life; nor are +the vices themselves inevitable to every individual in +those professions. Of such a nature are connections +in politics; essentially necessary for the full performance +of our public duty, accidentally liable to degenerate +into faction. Commonwealths are made of +families, free commonwealths of parties also; and we +may as well affirm, that our natural regards and ties +of blood tend inevitably to make men bad citizens, as +that the bonds of our party weaken those by which +we are held to our country.</p> + +<p>Some legislators went so far as to make neutrality +in party a crime against the state. I do not know +whether this might not have been rather to overstrain +the principle. Certain it is, the best patriots in the +greatest commonwealths have always commended +<!-- Page 552 --><a name="Page_528" id="Page_528" title="528" class="pagenum"></a>and promoted such connections. <i>Idem sentire de +republica</i>, was with them a principal ground of friendship +and attachment; nor do I know any other capable +of forming firmer, dearer, more pleasing, more +honorable, and more virtuous habitudes. The Romans +carried this principle a great way. Even the +holding of offices together, the disposition of which +arose from chance, not selection, gave rise to a relation +which continued for life. It was called <i>necessitudo +sortis</i>; and it was looked upon with a sacred +reverence. Breaches of any of these kinds of civil +relation were considered as acts of the most distinguished +turpitude. The whole people was distributed +into political societies, in which they acted in support +of such interests in the state as they severally affected. +For it was then thought no crime to endeavor +by every honest means to advance to superiority and +power those of your own sentiments and opinions. +This wise people was far from imagining that those +connections had no tie, and obliged to no duty; +but that men might quit them without shame, upon +every call of interest. They believed private honor +to be the great foundation of public trust; that friendship +was no mean step towards patriotism; that he +who, in the common intercourse of life, showed he +regarded somebody besides himself, when he came to +act in a public situation, might probably consult some +other interest than his own. Never may we become +<i>plus sages que les sages</i>, as the French comedian has +happily expressed it, wiser than all the wise and good +men who have lived before us. It was their wish, to +see public and private virtues, not dissonant and jarring, +and mutually destructive, but harmoniously +combined, growing out of one another in a noble +<!-- Page 553 --><a name="Page_529" id="Page_529" title="529" class="pagenum"></a>and orderly gradation, reciprocally supporting and +supported. In one of the most fortunate periods of +our history this country was governed by a <i>connection</i>; +I mean, the great connection of Whigs in the reign +of Queen Anne. They were complimented upon the +principle of this connection by a poet who was in high +esteem with them. Addison, who knew their sentiments, +could not praise them for what they considered +as no proper subject of commendation. As a poet who +knew his business, he could not applaud them for +a thing which in general estimation was not highly +reputable. Addressing himself to Britain,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Thy favorites grow not up by fortune's sport,</div> +<div>Or from the crimes or follies of a court.</div> +<div>On the firm basis of desert they rise,</div> +<div>From long-tried faith, and friendship's holy ties."</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>The Whigs of those days believed that the only +proper method of rising into power was through hard +essays of practised friendship and experimented fidelity. +At that time it was not imagined, that patriotism +was a bloody idol, which required the sacrifice of +children and parents, or dearest connections in private +life, and of all the virtues that rise from those +relations. They were not of that ingenious paradoxical +morality, to imagine that a spirit of moderation +was properly shown in patiently bearing the sufferings +of your friends; or that disinterestedness was +clearly manifested at the expense of other people's +fortune. They believed that no men could act with +effect, who did not act in concert; that no men could +act in concert, who did not act with confidence; that +no men could act with confidence, who were not +bound together by common opinions, common affections, +and common interests.</p> + +<p><!-- Page 554 --><a name="Page_530" id="Page_530" title="530" class="pagenum"></a>These wise men, for such I must call Lord Sunderland, +Lord Godolphin, Lord Somers, and Lord Marlborough, +were too well principled in these maxims +upon which the whole fabric of public strength is +built, to be blown off their ground by the breath of +every childish talker. They were not afraid that +they should be called an ambitious junto; or that +their resolution to stand or fall together should, by +placemen, be interpreted into a scuffle for places.</p> + +<p>Party is a body of men united for promoting by +their joint endeavors the national interest upon some +particular principle in which they are all agreed. +For my part, I find it impossible to conceive, that +any one believes in his own politics, or thinks them +to be of any weight, who refuses to adopt the means +of having them reduced into practice. It is the business +of the speculative philosopher to mark the proper +ends of government. It is the business of the politician, +who is the philosopher in action, to find out +proper means towards those ends, and to employ +them with effect. Therefore every honorable connection +will avow it is their first purpose, to pursue +every just method to put the men who hold their +opinions into such a condition as may enable them to +carry their common plans into execution, with all the +power and authority of the state. As this power is +attached to certain situations, it is their duty to contend +for these situations. Without a proscription of +others, they are bound to give to their own party the +preference in all things; and by no means, for private +considerations, to accept any offers of power in +which the whole body is not included; nor to suffer +themselves to be led, or to be controlled, or to be +overbalanced, in office or in council, by those who +<!-- Page 555 --><a name="Page_531" id="Page_531" title="531" class="pagenum"></a>contradict the very fundamental principles on which +their party is formed, and even those upon which +every fair connection must stand. Such a generous +contention for power, on such manly and honorable +maxims, will easily be distinguished from the mean +and interested struggle for place and emolument. +The very style of such persons will serve to discriminate +them from those numberless impostors, who +have deluded the ignorant with professions incompatible +with human practice, and have afterwards incensed +them by practices below the level of vulgar +rectitude.</p> + +<p>It is an advantage to all narrow wisdom and narrow +morals, that their maxims have a plausible air: +and, on a cursory view, appear equal to first principles. +They are light and portable. They are as current +as copper coin; and about as valuable. They +serve equally the first capacities and the lowest; and +they are, at least, as useful to the worst men as to the +best. Of this stamp is the cant of <i>Not men, but measures</i>; +a sort of charm by which many people get loose +from every honorable engagement. When I see a +man acting this desultory and disconnected part, with +as much detriment to his own fortune as prejudice to +the cause of any party, I am not persuaded that he is +right; but I am ready to believe he is in earnest. I +respect virtue in all its situations; even when it is +found in the unsuitable company of weakness. I lament +to see qualities, rare and valuable, squandered +away without any public utility. But when a gentleman +with great visible emoluments abandons the +party in which he has long acted, and tells you, it is +because he proceeds upon his own judgment; that he +acts on the merits of the several measures as they +<!-- Page 556 --><a name="Page_532" id="Page_532" title="532" class="pagenum"></a>arise; and that he is obliged to follow his own conscience, +and not that of others; he gives reasons +which it is impossible to controvert, and discovers a +character which it is impossible to mistake. What +shall we think of him who never differed from a certain +set of men until the moment they lost their +power, and who never agreed with them in a single +instance afterwards? Would not such a coincidence +of interest and opinion be rather fortunate? Would +it not be an extraordinary cast upon the dice, that a +man's connections should degenerate into faction, +precisely at the critical moment when they lose their +power, or he accepts a place? When people desert +their connections, the desertion is a manifest <i>fact</i>, +upon which a direct simple issue lies, triable by plain +men. Whether a <i>measure</i> of government be right or +wrong, is <i>no matter of fact</i>, but a mere affair of opinion, +on which men may, as they do, dispute and wrangle +without end. But whether the individual <i>thinks</i> +the measure right or wrong, is a point at still a +greater distance from the reach of all human decision. +It is therefore very convenient to politicians, +not to put the judgment of their conduct on overt +acts, cognizable in any ordinary court, but upon such +matter as can be triable only in that secret tribunal, +where they are sure of being heard with favor, or +where at worst the sentence will be only private whipping.</p> + +<p>I believe the reader would wish to find no substance +in a doctrine which has a tendency to destroy +all test of character as deduced from conduct. He +will therefore excuse my adding something more, +towards the further clearing up a point, which the +great convenience of obscurity to dishonesty has been +<!-- Page 557 --><a name="Page_533" id="Page_533" title="533" class="pagenum"></a>able to cover with some degree of darkness and +doubt.</p> + +<p>In order to throw an odium on political connection, +those politicians suppose it a necessary incident +to it, that you are blindly to follow the opinions of +your party, when in direct opposition to your own +clear ideas; a degree of servitude that no worthy +man could bear the thought of submitting to; and +such as, I believe, no connections (except some court +factions) ever could be so senselessly tyrannical as to +impose. Men thinking freely, will, in particular instances, +think differently. But still as the greater +part of the measures which arise in the course of +public business are related to, or dependent on, +some great, <i>leading</i>, <i>general principles in government</i>, a +man must be peculiarly unfortunate in the choice of +his political company, if he does not agree with them +at least nine times in ten. If he does not concur in +these general principles upon which the party is +founded, and which necessarily draw on a concurrence +in their application, he ought from the beginning +to have chosen some other, more conformable to +his opinions. When the question is in its nature +doubtful, or not very material, the modesty which +becomes an individual, and, (in spite of our court +moralists) that partiality which becomes a well-chosen +friendship, will frequently bring on an acquiescence +in the general sentiment. Thus the disagreement +will naturally be rare; it will be only enough to indulge +freedom, without violating concord, or disturbing +arrangement. And this is all that ever was required +for a character of the greatest uniformity and +steadiness in connection. How men can proceed without +any connection at all, is to me utterly incompre<!-- Page 558 --><a name="Page_534" id="Page_534" title="534" class="pagenum"></a>hensible. +Of what sort of materials must that man +be made, how must he be tempered and put together, +who can sit whole years in Parliament, with five hundred +and fifty of his fellow-citizens, amidst the storm +of such tempestuous passions, in the sharp conflict of +so many wits, and tempers, and characters, in the +agitation of such mighty questions, in the discussion +of such vast and ponderous interests, without seeing +any one sort of men, whose character, conduct, or +disposition, would lead him to associate himself with +them, to aid and be aided, in any one system of public +utility?</p> + +<p>I remember an old scholastic aphorism, which says, +"that the man who lives wholly detached from others, +must be either an angel or a devil." When I see in +any of these detached gentlemen of our times the angelic +purity, power, and beneficence, I shall admit +them to be angels. In the mean time we are born +only to be men. We shall do enough if we form ourselves +to be good ones. It is therefore our business +carefully to cultivate in our minds, to rear to the +most perfect vigor and maturity, every sort of generous +and honest feeling, that belongs to our nature. +To bring the dispositions that are lovely in private life +into the service and conduct of the commonwealth; +so to be patriots, as not to forget we are gentlemen. +To cultivate friendships, and to incur enmities. To +have both strong, but both selected: in the one, to be +placable; in the other immovable. To model our +principles to our duties and our situation. To be +fully persuaded, that all virtue which is impracticable +is spurious; and rather to run the risk of falling into +faults in a course which leads us to act with effect +and energy, than to loiter out our days without blame, +<!-- Page 559 --><a name="Page_535" id="Page_535" title="535" class="pagenum"></a>and without use. Public life is a situation of power +and energy; he trespasses against his duty who sleeps +upon his watch, as well as he that goes over to the +enemy.</p> + +<p>There is, however, a time for all things. It is not +every conjuncture which calls with equal force upon +the activity of honest men; but critical exigencies +now and then arise; and I am mistaken, if this be +not one of them. Men will see the necessity of honest +combination; but they may see it when it is too +late. They may embody, when it will be ruinous to +themselves, and of no advantage to the country; +when, for want of such a timely union as may enable +them to oppose in favor of the laws, with the laws on +their side, they may at length find themselves under +the necessity of conspiring, instead of consulting. +The law, for which they stand, may become a weapon +in the hands of its bitterest enemies; and they will +be cast, at length, into that miserable alternative between +slavery and civil confusion, which no good +man can look upon without horror; an alternative in +which it is impossible he should take either part, +with a conscience perfectly at repose. To keep that +situation of guilt and remorse at the utmost distance +is, therefore, our first obligation. Early activity may +prevent late and fruitless violence. As yet we work +in the light. The scheme of the enemies of public +tranquillity has disarranged, it has not destroyed us.</p> + +<p>If the reader believes that there really exists such +a faction as I have described; a faction ruling by the +private inclinations of a court, against the general +sense of the people; and that this faction, whilst it +pursues a scheme for undermining all the foundations +of our freedom, weakens (for the present at +<!-- Page 560 --><a name="Page_536" id="Page_536" title="536" class="pagenum"></a>least) all the powers of executory government, rendering +us abroad contemptible, and at home distracted; +he will believe also, that nothing but a firm combination +of public men against this body, and that, +too, supported by the hearty concurrence of the people +at large, can possibly get the better of it. The +people will see the necessity of restoring public men +to an attention to the public opinion, and of restoring +the constitution to its original principles. Above all, +they will endeavor to keep the House of Commons +from assuming a character which does not belong to +it. They will endeavor to keep that House, for its +existence, for its powers, and its privileges, as independent +of every other, and as dependent upon themselves, +as possible. This servitude is to a House of +Commons (like obedience to the Divine law) "perfect +freedom." For if they once quit this natural, +rational, and liberal obedience, having deserted the +only proper foundation of their power, they must +seek a support in an abject and unnatural dependence +somewhere else. When, through the medium +of this just connection with their constituents, the +genuine dignity of the House of Commons is restored, +it will begin to think of casting from it, with +scorn, as badges of servility, all the false ornaments +of illegal power, with which it has been, for some +time, disgraced. It will begin to think of its old office +of CONTROL. It will not suffer that last of evils +to predominate in the country: men without popular +confidence, public opinion, natural connection, or +mutual trust, invested with all the powers of government.</p> + +<p>When they have learned this lesson themselves, +they will be willing and able to teach the court, that +<!-- Page 561 --><a name="Page_537" id="Page_537" title="537" class="pagenum"></a>it is the true interest of the prince to have but one +administration; and that one composed of those who +recommend themselves to their sovereign through +the opinion of their country, and not by their obsequiousness +to a favorite. Such men will serve their +sovereign with affection and fidelity; because his +choice of them, upon such principles, is a compliment +to their virtue. They will be able to serve him effectually; +because they will add the weight of the country +to the force of the executory power. They will +be able to serve their king with dignity; because +they will never abuse his name to the gratification of +their private spleen or avarice. This, with allowances +for human frailty, may probably be the general +character of a ministry, which thinks itself accountable +to the House of Commons; when the House of +Commons thinks itself accountable to its constituents. +If other ideas should prevail, things must remain in +their present confusion, until they are hurried into +all the rage of civil violence, or until they sink into +the dead repose of despotism.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Mém. de Sully, tom. i. p. 133.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> "Uxor Hugonis de Nevill dat Domino Regi ducentas Gallinas, +eo quod possit jacere una nocte cum Domino suo Hugone de Nevill."—Maddox, +Hist. Exch. c. xiii. p. 326.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Sentiments of an Honest Man.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> See the political writings of the late Dr. Brown, and many +others.</p></div> + +</div> + +<h3>END OF VOL. I.</h3> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works of the Right Honourable +Edmund Burke, Vol. I. (of 12), by Edmund Burke + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDMUND BURKE, VOL. I. (OF 12) *** + +***** This file should be named 15043-h.htm or 15043-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/0/4/15043/ + +Produced by Paul Murray, Michael Punch and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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