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diff --git a/old/twtp210.txt b/old/twtp210.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f3469b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twtp210.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10074 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Writings of Thomas Paine Vol. II +by Thomas Paine +(#3 in our series by Thomas Paine) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Produced by Norman M. Wolcott + + + + + +[Redactor's Note:] + +[Redactor's Note: Reprinted from the "The Writings of Thomas Paine +Volume I" (1894 - 1896). The author's notes are preceded by a "*". A +Table of Contents has been added for each part for the convenience of +the reader which is not included in the printed edition. Notes are at +the end of Part II. ] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + + XIII The Rights of Man + + PART THE FIRST + BEING AN ANSWER TO MR. BURKE'S ATTACK ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + + * Editor's Introduction + * Dedication to George Washington + * Preface to the English Edition + * Preface to the French Edition + * Rights of Man + * Miscellaneous Chapter + * Conclusion + + XIV The Rights of Man + + PART THE SECOND + COMBINING PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE + + * French Translator's Preface + * Dedication to M. de la Fayette + * Preface + * Introduction + * Chapter I Of Society and Civilisation + * Chapter II Of the Origin of the Present Old Governments + * Chapter III Of the Old and New Systems of Government + * Chapter IV Of Constitutions + * Chapter V Ways and Means of Improving the Condition of Europe, + Interspersed with Miscellaneous Observations + + * Appendix + * Notes + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + THE WRITINGS + + OF + + THOMAS PAINE + + COLLECTED AND EDITED BY + + MONCURE DANIEL CONWAY + + VOLUME II. + + 1779 - 1792 + +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + +XIII. + +RIGHTS OF MAN. + +EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. + +WHEN Thomas Paine sailed from America for France, in April, 1787, he +was perhaps as happy a man as any in the world. His most intimate +friend, Jefferson, was Minister at Paris, and his friend Lafayette +was the idol of France. His fame had preceded him, and he at once +became, in Paris, the centre of the same circle of savants and +philosophers that had surrounded Franklin. His main reason for +proceeding at once to Paris was that he might submit to the Academy +of Sciences his invention of an iron bridge, and with its favorable +verdict he came to England, in September. He at once went to his aged +mother at Thetford, leaving with a publisher (Ridgway), his " +Prospects on the Rubicon." He next made arrangements to patent his +bridge, and to construct at Rotherham the large model of it exhibited +on Paddington Green, London. He was welcomed in England by leading +statesmen, such as Lansdowne and Fox, and above all by Edmund Burke, +who for some time had him as a guest at Beaconsfield, and drove him +about in various parts of the country. He had not the slightest +revolutionary purpose, either as regarded England or France. Towards +Louis XVI. he felt only gratitude for the services he had rendered +America, and towards George III. he felt no animosity whatever. His +four months' sojourn in Paris had convinced him that there was +approaching a reform of that country after the American model, except +that the Crown would be preserved, a compromise he approved, provided +the throne should not be hereditary. Events in France travelled more +swiftly than he had anticipated, and Paine was summoned by Lafayette, +Condorcet, and others, as an adviser in the formation of a new +constitution. + +Such was the situation immediately preceding the political and +literary duel between Paine and Burke, which in the event turned out +a tremendous war between Royalism and Republicanism in Europe. Paine +was, both in France and in England, the inspirer of moderate +counsels. Samuel Rogers relates that in early life he dined at a +friend's house in London with Thomas Paine, when one of the toasts +given was the " memory of Joshua,"-in allusion to the Hebrew leader's +conquest of the kings of Canaan, and execution of them. Paine +observed that he would not treat kings like Joshua. " I 'm of the +Scotch parson's opinion," he said, "when he prayed against Louis +XIV.-`Lord, shake him over the mouth of hell, but don't let him drop! +' " Paine then gave as his toast, " The Republic of the World,"-which +Samuel Rogers, aged twenty-nine, noted as a sublime idea. This was +Paine's faith and hope, and with it he confronted the revolutionary +storms which presently burst over France and England. + +Until Burke's arraignment of France in his parliamentary speech +(February 9, 1790), Paine had no doubt whatever that he would +sympathize with the movement in France, and wrote to him from that +country as if conveying glad tidings. Burke's " Reflections on the +Revolution in France " appeared November 1, 1790, and Paine at once +set himself to answer it. He was then staying at the Angel Inn, +Islington. The inn has been twice rebuilt since that time, and from +its contents there is preserved only a small image, which perhaps was +meant to represent " Liberty,"-possibly brought from Paris by Paine +as an ornament for his study. From the Angel he removed to a house in +Harding Street, Fetter Lane. Rickman says Part First of " Rights of +Man " was finished at Versailles, but probably this has reference to +the preface only, as I cannot find Paine in France that year until +April 8. The book had been printed by Johnson, in time for the +opening of Parliament, in February ; but this publisher became +frightened after a few copies were out (there is one in the British +Museum), and the work was transferred to J. S. Jordan, 166 Fleet +Street, with a preface sent from Paris (not contained in Johnson's +edition, nor in the American editions). The pamphlet, though sold at +the same price as Burke's, three shillings, had a vast circulation, +and Paine gave the proceeds to the Constitutional Societies which +sprang up under his teachings in various parts of the country. + +Soon after appeared Burke's " Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs." +In this Burke quoted a good deal from " Rights of Man," but replied +to it only with exclamation points, saying that the only answer such +ideas merited was "criminal justice." Paine's Part Second followed, +published February 17, 1792. In Part First Paine had mentioned a +rumor that Burke was a masked pensioner (a charge that will be +noticed in connection with its detailed statement in a further +publication); and as Burke had been formerly arraigned in Parliament, +while Paymaster, for a very questionable proceeding, this charge no +doubt hurt a good deal. Although the government did not follow +Burke's suggestion of a prosecution at that time, there is little +doubt that it was he who induced the prosecution of Part Second. +Before the trial came on, December 18, 1792, Paine was occupying his +seat in the French Convention, and could only be outlawed. + +Burke humorously remarked to a friend of Paine and himself, " We hunt +in pairs." The severally representative character and influence of +these two men in the revolutionary era, in France and England, +deserve more adequate study than they have received. While Paine +maintained freedom of discussion, Burke first proposed criminal +prosecution for sentiments by no means libellous (such as Paine's +Part First). While Paine was endeavoring to make the movement in +France peaceful, Burke fomented the league of monarchs against France +which maddened its people, and brought on the Reign of Terror. While +Paine was endeavoring to preserve the French throne ("phantom" though +he believed it), to prevent bloodshed, Burke was secretly writing to +the Queen of France, entreating her not to compromise, and to " trust +to the support of foreign armies " (" Histoire de France depuis +1789." Henri Martin, i., 151). While Burke thus helped to bring the +King and Queen to the guillotine, Paine pleaded for their lives to +the last moment. While Paine maintained the right of mankind to +improve their condition, Burke held that " the awful Author of our +being is the author of our place in the order of existence; and that, +having disposed and marshalled us by a divine tactick, not according +to our will, but according to his, he has, in and by that +disposition, virtually subjected us to act the part which belongs to +the place assigned us." Paine was a religious believer in eternal +principles; Burke held that " political problems do not primarily +concern truth or falsehood. They relate to good or evil. What in the +result is likely to produce evil is politically false, that which is +productive of good politically is true." Assuming thus the +visionary's right to decide before the result what was " likely to +produce evil," Burke vigorously sought to kindle war against the +French Republic which might have developed itself peacefully, while +Paine was striving for an international Congress in Europe in the +interest of peace. Paine had faith in the people, and believed that, +if allowed to choose representatives, they would select their best +and wisest men; and that while reforming government the people would +remain orderly, as they had generally remained in America during the +transition from British rule to selfgovernment. Burke maintained that +if the existing political order were broken up there would be no +longer a people, but " a number of vague, loose individuals, and +nothing more." " Alas! " he exclaims, " they little know how many a +weary step is to be taken before they can form themselves into a +mass, which has a true personality." For the sake of peace Paine +wished the revolution to be peaceful as the advance of summer; he +used every endeavor to reconcile English radicals to some modus +vivendi with the existing order, as he was willing to retain Louis +XVI. as head of the executive in France: Burke resisted every +tendency of English statesmanship to reform at home, or to negotiate +with the French Republic, and was mainly responsible for the King's +death and the war that followed between England and France in +February, 1793. Burke became a royal favorite, Paine was outlawed by +a prosecution originally proposed by Burke. While Paine was demanding +religious liberty, Burke was opposing the removal of penal statutes +from Unitarians, on the ground that but for those statutes Paine +might some day set up a church in England. When Burke was retiring on +a large royal pension, Paine was in prison, through the devices of +Burke's confederate, the American Minister in Paris. So the two men, +as Burke said, " hunted in pairs." + +So far as Burke attempts to affirm any principle he is fairly quoted +in Paine's work, and nowhere misrepresented. As for Paine's own +ideas, the reader should remember that "Rights of Man" was the +earliest complete statement of republican principles. They were +pronounced to be the fundamental principles of the American Republic +by Jefferson, Madison, and Jackson,-the three Presidents who above +all others represented the republican idea which Paine first allied +with American Independence. Those who suppose that Paine did but +reproduce the principles of Rousseau and Locke will find by careful +study of his well-weighed language that such is not the case. Paine's +political principles were evolved out of his early Quakerism. He was +potential in George Fox. The belief that every human soul was the +child of God, and capable of direct inspiration from the Father of +all, without mediator or priestly intervention, or sacramental +instrumentality, was fatal to all privilege and rank. The universal +Fatherhood implied universal Brotherhood, or human equality. But the +fate of the Quakers proved the necessity of protecting the individual +spirit from oppression by the majority as well as by privileged +classes. For this purpose Paine insisted on surrounding the +individual right with the security of the Declaration of Rights, not +to be invaded by any government; and would reduce government to an +association limited in its operations to the defence of those rights +which the individual is unable, alone, to maintain. + +From the preceding chapter it will be seen that Part Second of +" Rights of Man " was begun by Paine in the spring of 1791. At the +close of that year, or early in 1792, he took up his abode with his +friend Thomas" Clio " Rickman, at No. 7 Upper Marylebone Street. +Rickman was a radical publisher; the house remains still a +book-binding establishment, and seems little changed since Paine +therein revised the proofs of Part Second on a table which Rickman +marked with a plate, and which is now in possession of Mr. Edward +Truelove. As the plate states, Paine wrote on the same table other +works which appeared in England in 1792. + +In 1795 D. I. Eaton published an edition of " Rights of Man," with a +preface purporting to have been written by Paine while in Luxembourg +prison. It is manifestly spurious. The genuine English and French +prefaces are given. + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + RIGHTS OF MAN + + BEING AN ANSWER TO MR. BURKE'S ATTACK ON THE FRENCH + + REVOLOUTION + + BY + + THOMAS PAINE + + SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO CONGRESS IN THE + + AMERICAN WAR, AND + + AUTHOR OF THE WORKS ENTITLED "COMMON SENSE' AND 'A LETTER TO ABBÉ + RAYNAL" + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + DEDICATION + +George Washington + +President Of The United States Of America + +Sir, + +I present you a small treatise in defence of those principles of +freedom which your exemplary virtue hath so eminently contributed to +establish. That the Rights of Man may become as universal as your +benevolence can wish, and that you may enjoy the happiness of seeing +the New World regenerate the Old, is the prayer of + +Sir, + +Your much obliged, and + + Obedient humble Servant, + + Thomas Paine + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + PAINE'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION + +From the part Mr. Burke took in the American Revolution, it was +natural that I should consider him a friend to mankind; and as our +acquaintance commenced on that ground, it would have been more +agreeable to me to have had cause to continue in that opinion than to +change it. + +At the time Mr. Burke made his violent speech last winter in the +English Parliament against the French Revolution and the National +Assembly, I was in Paris, and had written to him but a short time +before to inform him how prosperously matters were going on. Soon +after this I saw his advertisement of the Pamphlet he intended to +publish: As the attack was to be made in a language but little +studied, and less understood in France, and as everything suffers by +translation, I promised some of the friends of the Revolution in that +country that whenever Mr. Burke's Pamphlet came forth, I would answer +it. This appeared to me the more necessary to be done, when I saw the +flagrant misrepresentations which Mr. Burke's Pamphlet contains; and +that while it is an outrageous abuse on the French Revolution, and +the principles of Liberty, it is an imposition on the rest of the +world. + +I am the more astonished and disappointed at this conduct in Mr. +Burke, as (from the circumstances I am going to mention) I had formed +other expectations. + +I had seen enough of the miseries of war, to wish it might never more +have existence in the world, and that some other mode might be found +out to settle the differences that should occasionally arise in the +neighbourhood of nations. This certainly might be done if Courts were +disposed to set honesty about it, or if countries were enlightened +enough not to be made the dupes of Courts. The people of America had +been bred up in the same prejudices against France, which at that +time characterised the people of England; but experience and an +acquaintance with the French Nation have most effectually shown to +the Americans the falsehood of those prejudices; and I do not believe +that a more cordial and confidential intercourse exists between any +two countries than between America and France. + +When I came to France, in the spring of 1787, the Archbishop of +Thoulouse was then Minister, and at that time highly esteemed. I +became much acquainted with the private Secretary of that Minister, a +man of an enlarged benevolent heart; and found that his sentiments +and my own perfectly agreed with respect to the madness of war, and +the wretched impolicy of two nations, like England and France, +continually worrying each other, to no other end than that of a +mutual increase of burdens and taxes. That I might be assured I had +not misunderstood him, nor he me, I put the substance of our opinions +into writing and sent it to him; subjoining a request, that if I +should see among the people of England, any disposition to cultivate +a better understanding between the two nations than had hitherto +prevailed, how far I might be authorised to say that the same +disposition prevailed on the part of France? He answered me by letter +in the most unreserved manner, and that not for himself only, but for +the Minister, with whose knowledge the letter was declared to be +written. + +I put this letter into the, hands of Mr. Burke almost three years +ago, and left it with him, where it still remains; hoping, and at the +same time naturally expecting, from the opinion I had conceived of +him, that he would find some opportunity of making good use of it, +for the purpose of removing those errors and prejudices which two +neighbouring nations, from the want of knowing each other, had +entertained, to the injury of both. + +When the French Revolution broke out, it certainly afforded to Mr. +Burke an opportunity of doing some good, had he been disposed to it; +instead of which, no sooner did he see the old prejudices wearing +away, than he immediately began sowing the seeds of a new inveteracy, +as if he were afraid that England and France would cease to be +enemies. That there are men in all countries who get their living by +war, and by keeping up the quarrels of Nations, is as shocking as it +is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a +country, make it their study to sow discord and cultivate prejudices +between Nations, it becomes the more unpardonable. + +With respect to a paragraph in this work alluding to Mr. Burke's +having a pension, the report has been some time in circulation, at +least two months; and as a person is often the last to hear what +concerns him the most to know, I have mentioned it, that Mr. Burke +may have an opportunity of contradicting the rumour, if he thinks +proper. + + Thomas Paine + + PAINE'S PREFACE TO THE FRENCH EDITION + +The astonishment which the French Revolution has caused throughout +Europe should be considered from two different points of view: first +as it affects foreign peoples, secondly as it affects their +governments. + +The cause of the French people is that of all Europe, or rather of +the whole world; but the governments of all those countries are by no +means favorable to it. It is important that we should never lose +sight of this distinction. We must not confuse the peoples with their +governments; especially not the English people with its government. + +The government of England is no friend of the revolution of France. +Of this we have sufficient proofs in the thanks given by that weak +and witless person, the Elector of Hanover, sometimes called the King +of England, to Mr. Burke for the insults heaped on it in his book, +and in the malevolent comments of the English Minister, Pitt, in his +speeches in Parliament. + +In spite of the professions of sincerest friendship found in the +official correspondence of the English government with that of +France, its conduct gives the lie to all its declarations, and shows +us clearly that it is not a court to be trusted, but an insane court, +plunging in all the quarrels and intrigues of Europe, in quest of a +war to satisfy its folly and countenance its extravagance. + +The English nation, on the contrary, is very favorably disposed +towards the French Revolution, and to the progress of liberty in the +whole world; and this feeling will become more general in England as +the intrigues and artifices of its government are better known, and +the principles of the revolution better understood. The French should +know that most English newspapers are directly in the pay of +government, or, if indirectly connected with it, always under its +orders; and that those papers constantly distort and attack the +revolution in France in order to deceive the nation. But, as it is +impossible long to prevent the prevalence of truth, the daily +falsehoods of those papers no longer have the desired effect. + +To be convinced that the voice of truth has been stifled in England, +the world needs only to be told that the government regards and +prosecutes as a libel that which it should protect.*[1] This outrage +on morality is called law, and judges are found wicked enough to +inflict penalties on truth. + +The English government presents, just now, a curious phenomenon. +Seeing that the French and English nations are getting rid of the +prejudices and false notions formerly entertained against each other, +and which have cost them so much money, that government seems to be +placarding its need of a foe; for unless it finds one somewhere, no +pretext exists for the enormous revenue and taxation now deemed +necessary. + +Therefore it seeks in Russia the enemy it has lost in France, and +appears to say to the universe, or to say to itself. "If nobody will +be so kind as to become my foe, I shall need no more fleets nor +armies, and shall be forced to reduce my taxes. The American war +enabled me to double the taxes; the Dutch business to add more; the +Nootka humbug gave me a pretext for raising three millions sterling +more; but unless I can make an enemy of Russia the harvest from wars +will end. I was the first to incite Turk against Russian, and now I +hope to reap a fresh crop of taxes." + +If the miseries of war, and the flood of evils it spreads over a +country, did not check all inclination to mirth, and turn laughter +into grief, the frantic conduct of the government of England would +only excite ridicule. But it is impossible to banish from one's mind +the images of suffering which the contemplation of such vicious +policy presents. To reason with governments, as they have existed for +ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves +that reforms can be expected. There ought not now to exist any doubt +that the peoples of France, England, and America, enlightened and +enlightening each other, shall henceforth be able, not merely to give +the world an example of good government, but by their united +influence enforce its practice. + +(Translated from the French) + + RIGHTS OF MAN + +Among the incivilities by which nations or individuals provoke and +irritate each other, Mr. Burke's pamphlet on the French Revolution is +an extraordinary instance. Neither the People of France, nor the +National Assembly, were troubling themselves about the affairs of +England, or the English Parliament; and that Mr. Burke should +commence an unprovoked attack upon them, both in Parliament and in +public, is a conduct that cannot be pardoned on the score of manners, +nor justified on that of policy. + +There is scarcely an epithet of abuse to be found in the English +language, with which Mr. Burke has not loaded the French Nation and +the National Assembly. Everything which rancour, prejudice, ignorance +or knowledge could suggest, is poured forth in the copious fury of +near four hundred pages. In the strain and on the plan Mr. Burke was +writing, he might have written on to as many thousands. When the +tongue or the pen is let loose in a frenzy of passion, it is the man, +and not the subject, that becomes exhausted. + +Hitherto Mr. Burke has been mistaken and disappointed in the opinions +he had formed of the affairs of France; but such is the ingenuity of +his hope, or the malignancy of his despair, that it furnishes him +with new pretences to go on. There was a time when it was impossible +to make Mr. Burke believe there would be any Revolution in France. +His opinion then was, that the French had neither spirit to undertake +it nor fortitude to support it; and now that there is one, he seeks +an escape by condemning it. + +Not sufficiently content with abusing the National Assembly, a great +part of his work is taken up with abusing Dr. Price (one of the +best-hearted men that lives) and the two societies in England known +by the name of the Revolution Society and the Society for +Constitutional Information. + +Dr. Price had preached a sermon on the 4th of November, 1789, being +the anniversary of what is called in England the Revolution, which +took place 1688. Mr. Burke, speaking of this sermon, says: "The +political Divine proceeds dogmatically to assert, that by the +principles of the Revolution, the people of England have acquired +three fundamental rights: + +1. To choose our own governors. + +2. To cashier them for misconduct. + +3. To frame a government for ourselves." + +Dr. Price does not say that the right to do these things exists in +this or in that person, or in this or in that description of persons, +but that it exists in the whole; that it is a right resident in the +nation. Mr. Burke, on the contrary, denies that such a right exists +in the nation, either in whole or in part, or that it exists +anywhere; and, what is still more strange and marvellous, he says: +"that the people of England utterly disclaim such a right, and that +they will resist the practical assertion of it with their lives and +fortunes." That men should take up arms and spend their lives and +fortunes, not to maintain their rights, but to maintain they have not +rights, is an entirely new species of discovery, and suited to the +paradoxical genius of Mr. Burke. + +The method which Mr. Burke takes to prove that the people of England +have no such rights, and that such rights do not now exist in the +nation, either in whole or in part, or anywhere at all, is of the +same marvellous and monstrous kind with what he has already said; for +his arguments are that the persons, or the generation of persons, in +whom they did exist, are dead, and with them the right is dead also. +To prove this, he quotes a declaration made by Parliament about a +hundred years ago, to William and Mary, in these words: "The Lords +Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do, in the name of the people +aforesaid" (meaning the people of England then living) "most humbly +and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities, for +Ever." He quotes a clause of another Act of Parliament made in the +same reign, the terms of which he says, "bind us" (meaning the people +of their day), "our heirs and our posterity, to them, their heirs and +posterity, to the end of time." + +Mr. Burke conceives his point sufficiently established by producing +those clauses, which he enforces by saying that they exclude the +right of the nation for ever. And not yet content with making such +declarations, repeated over and over again, he farther says, "that if +the people of England possessed such a right before the Revolution" +(which he acknowledges to have been the case, not only in England, +but throughout Europe, at an early period), "yet that the English +Nation did, at the time of the Revolution, most solemnly renounce and +abdicate it, for themselves, and for all their posterity, for ever." + +As Mr. Burke occasionally applies the poison drawn from his horrid +principles, not only to the English nation, but to the French +Revolution and the National Assembly, and charges that august, +illuminated and illuminating body of men with the epithet of +usurpers, I shall, sans ceremonie, place another system of principles +in opposition to his. + +The English Parliament of 1688 did a certain thing, which, for +themselves and their constituents, they had a right to do, and which +it appeared right should be done. But, in addition to this right, +which they possessed by delegation, they set up another right by +assumption, that of binding and controlling posterity to the end of +time. The case, therefore, divides itself into two parts; the right +which they possessed by delegation, and the right which they set up +by assumption. The first is admitted; but with respect to the second, +I reply: There never did, there never will, and there never can, exist +a Parliament, or any description of men, or any generation of men, in +any country, possessed of the right or the power of binding and +controlling posterity to the "end of time," or of commanding for ever +how the world shall be governed, or who shall govern it; and +therefore all such clauses, acts or declarations by which the makers +of them attempt to do what they have neither the right nor the power +to do, nor the power to execute, are in themselves null and void. +Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself in all +cases as the age and generations which preceded it. The vanity and +presumption of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and +insolent of all tyrannies. Man has no property in man; neither has +any generation a property in the generations which are to follow. The +Parliament or the people of 1688, or of any other period, had no more +right to dispose of the people of the present day, or to bind or to +control them in any shape whatever, than the parliament or the people +of the present day have to dispose of, bind or control those who are +to live a hundred or a thousand years hence. Every generation is, and +must be, competent to all the purposes which its occasions require. +It is the living, and not the dead, that are to be accommodated. When +man ceases to be, his power and his wants cease with him; and having +no longer any participation in the concerns of this world, he has no +longer any authority in directing who shall be its governors, or how +its government shall be organised, or how administered. + +I am not contending for nor against any form of government, nor for +nor against any party, here or elsewhere. That which a whole nation +chooses to do it has a right to do. Mr. Burke says, No. Where, then, +does the right exist? I am contending for the rights of the living, +and against their being willed away and controlled and contracted for +by the manuscript assumed authority of the dead, and Mr. Burke is +contending for the authority of the dead over the rights and freedom +of the living. There was a time when kings disposed of their crowns +by will upon their death-beds, and consigned the people, like beasts +of the field, to whatever successor they appointed. This is now so +exploded as scarcely to be remembered, and so monstrous as hardly to +be believed. But the Parliamentary clauses upon which Mr. Burke +builds his political church are of the same nature. + +The laws of every country must be analogous to some common principle. +In England no parent or master, nor all the authority of Parliament, +omnipotent as it has called itself, can bind or control the personal +freedom even of an individual beyond the age of twenty-one years. On +what ground of right, then, could the Parliament of 1688, or any +other Parliament, bind all posterity for ever? + +Those who have quitted the world, and those who have not yet arrived +at it, are as remote from each other as the utmost stretch of mortal +imagination can conceive. What possible obligation, then, can exist +between them- what rule or principle can be laid down that of two +nonentities, the one out of existence and the other not in, and who +never can meet in this world, the one should control the other to the +end of time? + +In England it is said that money cannot be taken out of the pockets +of the people without their consent. But who authorised, or who could +authorise, the Parliament of 1688 to control and take away the +freedom of posterity (who were not in existence to give or to +withhold their consent) and limit and confine their right of acting +in certain cases for ever? + +A greater absurdity cannot present itself to the understanding of man +than what Mr. Burke offers to his readers. He tells them, and he +tells the world to come, that a certain body of men who existed a +hundred years ago made a law, and that there does not exist in the +nation, nor ever will, nor ever can, a power to alter it. Under how +many subtilties or absurdities has the divine right to govern been +imposed on the credulity of mankind? Mr. Burke has discovered a new +one, and he has shortened his journey to Rome by appealing to the +power of this infallible Parliament of former days, and he produces +what it has done as of divine authority, for that power must +certainly be more than human which no human power to the end of time +can alter. + +But Mr. Burke has done some service- not to his cause, but to his +country- by bringing those clauses into public view. They serve to +demonstrate how necessary it is at all times to watch against the +attempted encroachment of power, and to prevent its running to +excess. It is somewhat extraordinary that the offence for which James +II. was expelled, that of setting up power by assumption, should be +re-acted, under another shape and form, by the Parliament that +expelled him. It shows that the Rights of Man were but imperfectly +understood at the Revolution, for certain it is that the right which +that Parliament set up by assumption (for by the delegation it had +not, and could not have it, because none could give it) over the +persons and freedom of posterity for ever was of the same tyrannical +unfounded kind which James attempted to set up over the Parliament +and the nation, and for which he was expelled. The only difference is +(for in principle they differ not) that the one was an usurper over +living, and the other over the unborn; and as the one has no better +authority to stand upon than the other, both of them must be equally +null and void, and of no effect. + +From what, or from whence, does Mr. Burke prove the right of any +human power to bind posterity for ever? He has produced his clauses, +but he must produce also his proofs that such a right existed, and +show how it existed. If it ever existed it must now exist, for +whatever appertains to the nature of man cannot be annihilated by +man. It is the nature of man to die, and he will continue to die as +long as he continues to be born. But Mr. Burke has set up a sort of +political Adam, in whom all posterity are bound for ever. He must, +therefore, prove that his Adam possessed such a power, or such a +right. + +The weaker any cord is, the less will it bear to be stretched, and +the worse is the policy to stretch it, unless it is intended to break +it. Had anyone proposed the overthrow of Mr. Burke's positions, he +would have proceeded as Mr. Burke has done. He would have magnified +the authorities, on purpose to have called the right of them into +question; and the instant the question of right was started, the +authorities must have been given up. + +It requires but a very small glance of thought to perceive that +although laws made in one generation often continue in force through +succeeding generations, yet they continue to derive their force from +the consent of the living. A law not repealed continues in force, not +because it cannot be repealed, but because it is not repealed; and +the non-repealing passes for consent. + +But Mr. Burke's clauses have not even this qualification in their +favour. They become null, by attempting to become immortal. The +nature of them precludes consent. They destroy the right which they +might have, by grounding it on a right which they cannot have. +Immortal power is not a human right, and therefore cannot be a right +of Parliament. The Parliament of 1688 might as well have passed an +act to have authorised themselves to live for ever, as to make their +authority live for ever. All, therefore, that can be said of those +clauses is that they are a formality of words, of as much import as +if those who used them had addressed a congratulation to themselves, +and in the oriental style of antiquity had said: O Parliament, live +for ever! + +The circumstances of the world are continually changing, and the +opinions of men change also; and as government is for the living, and +not for the dead, it is the living only that has any right in it. +That which may be thought right and found convenient in one age may +be thought wrong and found inconvenient in another. In such cases, +who is to decide, the living or the dead? + +As almost one hundred pages of Mr. Burke's book are employed upon +these clauses, it will consequently follow that if the clauses +themselves, so far as they set up an assumed usurped dominion over +posterity for ever, are unauthoritative, and in their nature null and +void; that all his voluminous inferences, and declamation drawn +therefrom, or founded thereon, are null and void also; and on this +ground I rest the matter. + +We now come more particularly to the affairs of France. Mr. Burke's +book has the appearance of being written as instruction to the French +nation; but if I may permit myself the use of an extravagant +metaphor, suited to the extravagance of the case, it is darkness +attempting to illuminate light. + +While I am writing this there are accidentally before me some +proposals for a declaration of rights by the Marquis de la Fayette (I +ask his pardon for using his former address, and do it only for +distinction's sake) to the National Assembly, on the 11th of July, +1789, three days before the taking of the Bastille, and I cannot but +remark with astonishment how opposite the sources are from which that +gentleman and Mr. Burke draw their principles. Instead of referring +to musty records and mouldy parchments to prove that the rights of +the living are lost, "renounced and abdicated for ever," by those who +are now no more, as Mr. Burke has done, M. de la Fayette applies to +the living world, and emphatically says: "Call to mind the sentiments +which nature has engraved on the heart of every citizen, and which +take a new force when they are solemnly recognised by all:- For a +nation to love liberty, it is sufficient that she knows it; and to be +free, it is sufficient that she wills it." How dry, barren, and +obscure is the source from which Mr. Burke labors! and how +ineffectual, though gay with flowers, are all his declamation and his +arguments compared with these clear, concise, and soul-animating +sentiments! Few and short as they are, they lead on to a vast field +of generous and manly thinking, and do not finish, like Mr. Burke's +periods, with music in the ear, and nothing in the heart. + +As I have introduced M. de la Fayette, I will take the liberty of +adding an anecdote respecting his farewell address to the Congress of +America in 1783, and which occurred fresh to my mind, when I saw Mr. +Burke's thundering attack on the French Revolution. M. de la Fayette +went to America at the early period of the war, and continued a +volunteer in her service to the end. His conduct through the whole of +that enterprise is one of the most extraordinary that is to be found +in the history of a young man, scarcely twenty years of age. Situated +in a country that was like the lap of sensual pleasure, and with the +means of enjoying it, how few are there to be found who would +exchange such a scene for the woods and wildernesses of America, and +pass the flowery years of youth in unprofitable danger and hardship! +but such is the fact. When the war ended, and he was on the point of +taking his final departure, he presented himself to Congress, and +contemplating in his affectionate farewell the Revolution he had +seen, expressed himself in these words: "May this great monument +raised to liberty serve as a lesson to the oppressor, and an example +to the oppressed!" When this address came to the hands of Dr. +Franklin, who was then in France, he applied to Count Vergennes to +have it inserted in the French Gazette, but never could obtain his +consent. The fact was that Count Vergennes was an aristocratical +despot at home, and dreaded the example of the American Revolution in +France, as certain other persons now dread the example of the French +Revolution in England, and Mr. Burke's tribute of fear (for in this +light his book must be considered) runs parallel with Count +Vergennes' refusal. But to return more particularly to his work. + +"We have seen," says Mr. Burke, "the French rebel against a mild and +lawful monarch, with more fury, outrage, and insult, than any people +has been known to rise against the most illegal usurper, or the most +sanguinary tyrant." This is one among a thousand other instances, in +which Mr. Burke shows that he is ignorant of the springs and +principles of the French Revolution. + +It was not against Louis XVI. but against the despotic principles of +the Government, that the nation revolted. These principles had not +their origin in him, but in the original establishment, many +centuries back: and they were become too deeply rooted to be removed, +and the Augean stables of parasites and plunderers too abominably +filthy to be cleansed by anything short of a complete and universal +Revolution. When it becomes necessary to do anything, the whole heart +and soul should go into the measure, or not attempt it. That crisis +was then arrived, and there remained no choice but to act with +determined vigor, or not to act at all. The king was known to be the +friend of the nation, and this circumstance was favorable to the +enterprise. Perhaps no man bred up in the style of an absolute king, +ever possessed a heart so little disposed to the exercise of that +species of power as the present King of France. But the principles of +the Government itself still remained the same. The Monarch and the +Monarchy were distinct and separate things; and it was against the +established despotism of the latter, and not against the person or +principles of the former, that the revolt commenced, and the +Revolution has been carried. + +Mr. Burke does not attend to the distinction between men and +principles, and, therefore, he does not see that a revolt may take +place against the despotism of the latter, while there lies no charge +of despotism against the former. + +The natural moderation of Louis XVI. contributed nothing to alter the +hereditary despotism of the monarchy. All the tyrannies of former +reigns, acted under that hereditary despotism, were still liable to +be revived in the hands of a successor. It was not the respite of a +reign that would satisfy France, enlightened as she was then become. +A casual discontinuance of the practice of despotism, is not a +discontinuance of its principles: the former depends on the virtue of +the individual who is in immediate possession of the power; the +latter, on the virtue and fortitude of the nation. In the case of +Charles I. and James II. of England, the revolt was against the +personal despotism of the men; whereas in France, it was against the +hereditary despotism of the established Government. But men who can +consign over the rights of posterity for ever on the authority of a +mouldy parchment, like Mr. Burke, are not qualified to judge of this +Revolution. It takes in a field too vast for their views to explore, +and proceeds with a mightiness of reason they cannot keep pace with. + +But there are many points of view in which this Revolution may be +considered. When despotism has established itself for ages in a +country, as in France, it is not in the person of the king only that +it resides. It has the appearance of being so in show, and in nominal +authority; but it is not so in practice and in fact. It has its +standard everywhere. Every office and department has its despotism, +founded upon custom and usage. Every place has its Bastille, and +every Bastille its despot. The original hereditary despotism resident +in the person of the king, divides and sub-divides itself into a +thousand shapes and forms, till at last the whole of it is acted by +deputation. This was the case in France; and against this species of +despotism, proceeding on through an endless labyrinth of office till +the source of it is scarcely perceptible, there is no mode of +redress. It strengthens itself by assuming the appearance of duty, +and tyrannies under the pretence of obeying. + +When a man reflects on the condition which France was in from the +nature of her government, he will see other causes for revolt than +those which immediately connect themselves with the person or +character of Louis XVI. There were, if I may so express it, a +thousand despotisms to be reformed in France, which had grown up +under the hereditary despotism of the monarchy, and became so rooted +as to be in a great measure independent of it. Between the Monarchy, +the Parliament, and the Church there was a rivalship of despotism; +besides the feudal despotism operating locally, and the ministerial +despotism operating everywhere. But Mr. Burke, by considering the +king as the only possible object of a revolt, speaks as if France was +a village, in which everything that passed must be known to its +commanding officer, and no oppression could be acted but what he +could immediately control. Mr. Burke might have been in the Bastille +his whole life, as well under Louis XVI. as Louis XIV., and neither +the one nor the other have known that such a man as Burke existed. +The despotic principles of the government were the same in both +reigns, though the dispositions of the men were as remote as tyranny +and benevolence. + +What Mr. Burke considers as a reproach to the French Revolution (that +of bringing it forward under a reign more mild than the preceding +ones) is one of its highest honors. The Revolutions that have taken +place in other European countries, have been excited by personal +hatred. The rage was against the man, and he became the victim. But, +in the instance of France we see a Revolution generated in the +rational contemplation of the Rights of Man, and distinguishing from +the beginning between persons and principles. + +But Mr. Burke appears to have no idea of principles when he is +contemplating Governments. "Ten years ago," says he, "I could have +felicitated France on her having a Government, without inquiring what +the nature of that Government was, or how it was administered." Is +this the language of a rational man? Is it the language of a heart +feeling as it ought to feel for the rights and happiness of the human +race? On this ground, Mr. Burke must compliment all the Governments +in the world, while the victims who suffer under them, whether sold +into slavery, or tortured out of existence, are wholly forgotten. It +is power, and not principles, that Mr. Burke venerates; and under +this abominable depravity he is disqualified to judge between them. +Thus much for his opinion as to the occasions of the French +Revolution. I now proceed to other considerations. + +I know a place in America called Point-no-Point, because as you +proceed along the shore, gay and flowery as Mr. Burke's language, it +continually recedes and presents itself at a distance before you; but +when you have got as far as you can go, there is no point at all. +Just thus it is with Mr. Burke's three hundred and sixty-six pages. +It is therefore difficult to reply to him. But as the points he +wishes to establish may be inferred from what he abuses, it is in his +paradoxes that we must look for his arguments. + +As to the tragic paintings by which Mr. Burke has outraged his own +imagination, and seeks to work upon that of his readers, they are +very well calculated for theatrical representation, where facts are +manufactured for the sake of show, and accommodated to produce, +through the weakness of sympathy, a weeping effect. But Mr. Burke +should recollect that he is writing history, and not plays, and that +his readers will expect truth, and not the spouting rant of +high-toned exclamation. + +When we see a man dramatically lamenting in a publication intended to +be believed that "The age of chivalry is gone! that The glory of +Europe is extinguished for ever! that The unbought grace of life (if +anyone knows what it is), the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of +manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone!" and all this because +the Quixot age of chivalry nonsense is gone, what opinion can we form +of his judgment, or what regard can we pay to his facts? In the +rhapsody of his imagination he has discovered a world of wind mills, +and his sorrows are that there are no Quixots to attack them. But if +the age of aristocracy, like that of chivalry, should fall (and they +had originally some connection) Mr. Burke, the trumpeter of the +Order, may continue his parody to the end, and finish with +exclaiming: "Othello's occupation's gone!" + +Notwithstanding Mr. Burke's horrid paintings, when the French +Revolution is compared with the Revolutions of other countries, the +astonishment will be that it is marked with so few sacrifices; but +this astonishment will cease when we reflect that principles, and not +persons, were the meditated objects of destruction. The mind of the +nation was acted upon by a higher stimulus than what the +consideration of persons could inspire, and sought a higher conquest +than could be produced by the downfall of an enemy. Among the few who +fell there do not appear to be any that were intentionally singled +out. They all of them had their fate in the circumstances of the +moment, and were not pursued with that long, cold-blooded unabated +revenge which pursued the unfortunate Scotch in the affair of 1745. + +Through the whole of Mr. Burke's book I do not observe that the +Bastille is mentioned more than once, and that with a kind of +implication as if he were sorry it was pulled down, and wished it +were built up again. "We have rebuilt Newgate," says he, "and +tenanted the mansion; and we have prisons almost as strong as the +Bastille for those who dare to libel the queens of France."*[2] As to +what a madman like the person called Lord George Gordon might say, +and to whom Newgate is rather a bedlam than a prison, it is unworthy +a rational consideration. It was a madman that libelled, and that is +sufficient apology; and it afforded an opportunity for confining him, +which was the thing that was wished for. But certain it is that Mr. +Burke, who does not call himself a madman (whatever other people may +do), has libelled in the most unprovoked manner, and in the grossest +style of the most vulgar abuse, the whole representative authority of +France, and yet Mr. Burke takes his seat in the British House of +Commons! From his violence and his grief, his silence on some points +and his excess on others, it is difficult not to believe that Mr. +Burke is sorry, extremely sorry, that arbitrary power, the power of +the Pope and the Bastille, are pulled down. + +Not one glance of compassion, not one commiserating reflection that I +can find throughout his book, has he bestowed on those who lingered +out the most wretched of lives, a life without hope in the most +miserable of prisons. It is painful to behold a man employing his +talents to corrupt himself. Nature has been kinder to Mr. Burke than +he is to her. He is not affected by the reality of distress touching +his heart, but by the showy resemblance of it striking his +imagination. He pities the plumage, but forgets the dying bird. +Accustomed to kiss the aristocratical hand that hath purloined him +from himself, he degenerates into a composition of art, and the +genuine soul of nature forsakes him. His hero or his heroine must be +a tragedy-victim expiring in show, and not the real prisoner of +misery, sliding into death in the silence of a dungeon. + +As Mr. Burke has passed over the whole transaction of the Bastille +(and his silence is nothing in his favour), and has entertained his +readers with refections on supposed facts distorted into real +falsehoods, I will give, since he has not, some account of the +circumstances which preceded that transaction. They will serve to +show that less mischief could scarcely have accompanied such an event +when considered with the treacherous and hostile aggravations of the +enemies of the Revolution. + +The mind can hardly picture to itself a more tremendous scene than +what the city of Paris exhibited at the time of taking the Bastille, +and for two days before and after, nor perceive the possibility of +its quieting so soon. At a distance this transaction has appeared +only as an act of heroism standing on itself, and the close political +connection it had with the Revolution is lost in the brilliancy of +the achievement. But we are to consider it as the strength of the +parties brought man to man, and contending for the issue. The +Bastille was to be either the prize or the prison of the assailants. +The downfall of it included the idea of the downfall of despotism, +and this compounded image was become as figuratively united as +Bunyan's Doubting Castle and Giant Despair. + +The National Assembly, before and at the time of taking the Bastille, +was sitting at Versailles, twelve miles distant from Paris. About a +week before the rising of the Partisans, and their taking the +Bastille, it was discovered that a plot was forming, at the head of +which was the Count D'Artois, the king's youngest brother, for +demolishing the National Assembly, seizing its members, and thereby +crushing, by a coup de main, all hopes and prospects of forming a +free government. For the sake of humanity, as well as freedom, it is +well this plan did not succeed. Examples are not wanting to show how +dreadfully vindictive and cruel are all old governments, when they +are successful against what they call a revolt. + +This plan must have been some time in contemplation; because, in +order to carry it into execution, it was necessary to collect a large +military force round Paris, and cut off the communication between +that city and the National Assembly at Versailles. The troops +destined for this service were chiefly the foreign troops in the pay +of France, and who, for this particular purpose, were drawn from the +distant provinces where they were then stationed. When they were +collected to the amount of between twenty-five and thirty thousand, +it was judged time to put the plan into execution. The ministry who +were then in office, and who were friendly to the Revolution, were +instantly dismissed and a new ministry formed of those who had +concerted the project, among whom was Count de Broglio, and to his +share was given the command of those troops. The character of this +man as described to me in a letter which I communicated to Mr. Burke +before he began to write his book, and from an authority which Mr. +Burke well knows was good, was that of "a high-flying aristocrat, +cool, and capable of every mischief." + +While these matters were agitating, the National Assembly stood in +the most perilous and critical situation that a body of men can be +supposed to act in. They were the devoted victims, and they knew it. +They had the hearts and wishes of their country on their side, but +military authority they had none. The guards of Broglio surrounded +the hall where the Assembly sat, ready, at the word of command, to +seize their persons, as had been done the year before to the +Parliament of Paris. Had the National Assembly deserted their trust, +or had they exhibited signs of weakness or fear, their enemies had +been encouraged and their country depressed. When the situation they +stood in, the cause they were engaged in, and the crisis then ready +to burst, which should determine their personal and political fate +and that of their country, and probably of Europe, are taken into one +view, none but a heart callous with prejudice or corrupted by +dependence can avoid interesting itself in their success. + +The Archbishop of Vienne was at this time President of the National +Assembly- a person too old to undergo the scene that a few days or a +few hours might bring forth. A man of more activity and bolder +fortitude was necessary, and the National Assembly chose (under the +form of a Vice-President, for the Presidency still resided in the +Archbishop) M. de la Fayette; and this is the only instance of a +Vice-President being chosen. It was at the moment that this storm was +pending (July 11th) that a declaration of rights was brought forward +by M. de la Fayette, and is the same which is alluded to earlier. It +was hastily drawn up, and makes only a part of the more extensive +declaration of rights agreed upon and adopted afterwards by the +National Assembly. The particular reason for bringing it forward at +this moment (M. de la Fayette has since informed me) was that, if the +National Assembly should fall in the threatened destruction that then +surrounded it, some trace of its principles might have the chance of +surviving the wreck. + +Everything now was drawing to a crisis. The event was freedom or +slavery. On one side, an army of nearly thirty thousand men; on the +other, an unarmed body of citizens- for the citizens of Paris, on +whom the National Assembly must then immediately depend, were as +unarmed and as undisciplined as the citizens of London are now. The +French guards had given strong symptoms of their being attached to +the national cause; but their numbers were small, not a tenth part of +the force that Broglio commanded, and their officers were in the +interest of Broglio. + +Matters being now ripe for execution, the new ministry made their +appearance in office. The reader will carry in his mind that the +Bastille was taken the 14th July; the point of time I am now speaking +of is the 12th. Immediately on the news of the change of ministry +reaching Paris, in the afternoon, all the playhouses and places of +entertainment, shops and houses, were shut up. The change of ministry +was considered as the prelude of hostilities, and the opinion was +rightly founded. + +The foreign troops began to advance towards the city. The Prince de +Lambesc, who commanded a body of German cavalry, approached by the +Place of Louis Xv., which connects itself with some of the streets. +In his march, he insulted and struck an old man with a sword. The +French are remarkable for their respect to old age; and the insolence +with which it appeared to be done, uniting with the general +fermentation they were in, produced a powerful effect, and a cry of +"To arms! to arms!" spread itself in a moment over the city. + +Arms they had none, nor scarcely anyone who knew the use of them; but +desperate resolution, when every hope is at stake, supplies, for a +while, the want of arms. Near where the Prince de Lambesc was drawn +up, were large piles of stones collected for building the new bridge, +and with these the people attacked the cavalry. A party of French +guards upon hearing the firing, rushed from their quarters and joined +the people; and night coming on, the cavalry retreated. + +The streets of Paris, being narrow, are favourable for defence, and +the loftiness of the houses, consisting of many stories, from which +great annoyance might be given, secured them against nocturnal +enterprises; and the night was spent in providing themselves with +every sort of weapon they could make or procure: guns, swords, +blacksmiths' hammers, carpenters' axes, iron crows, pikes, halberts, +pitchforks, spits, clubs, etc., etc. The incredible numbers in which +they assembled the next morning, and the still more incredible +resolution they exhibited, embarrassed and astonished their enemies. +Little did the new ministry expect such a salute. Accustomed to +slavery themselves, they had no idea that liberty was capable of such +inspiration, or that a body of unarmed citizens would dare to face +the military force of thirty thousand men. Every moment of this day +was employed in collecting arms, concerting plans, and arranging +themselves into the best order which such an instantaneous movement +could afford. Broglio continued lying round the city, but made no +further advances this day, and the succeeding night passed with as +much tranquility as such a scene could possibly produce. + +But defence only was not the object of the citizens. They had a cause +at stake, on which depended their freedom or their slavery. They +every moment expected an attack, or to hear of one made on the +National Assembly; and in such a situation, the most prompt measures +are sometimes the best. The object that now presented itself was the +Bastille; and the eclat of carrying such a fortress in the face of +such an army, could not fail to strike terror into the new ministry, +who had scarcely yet had time to meet. By some intercepted +correspondence this morning, it was discovered that the Mayor of +Paris, M. Defflesselles, who appeared to be in the interest of the +citizens, was betraying them; and from this discovery, there remained +no doubt that Broglio would reinforce the Bastille the ensuing +evening. It was therefore necessary to attack it that day; but before +this could be done, it was first necessary to procure a better supply +of arms than they were then possessed of. + +There was, adjoining to the city a large magazine of arms deposited +at the Hospital of the Invalids, which the citizens summoned to +surrender; and as the place was neither defensible, nor attempted +much defence, they soon succeeded. Thus supplied, they marched to +attack the Bastille; a vast mixed multitude of all ages, and of all +degrees, armed with all sorts of weapons. Imagination would fail in +describing to itself the appearance of such a procession, and of the +anxiety of the events which a few hours or a few minutes might +produce. What plans the ministry were forming, were as unknown to the +people within the city, as what the citizens were doing was unknown +to the ministry; and what movements Broglio might make for the +support or relief of the place, were to the citizens equally as +unknown. All was mystery and hazard. + +That the Bastille was attacked with an enthusiasm of heroism, such +only as the highest animation of liberty could inspire, and carried +in the space of a few hours, is an event which the world is fully +possessed of. I am not undertaking the detail of the attack, but +bringing into view the conspiracy against the nation which provoked +it, and which fell with the Bastille. The prison to which the new +ministry were dooming the National Assembly, in addition to its being +the high altar and castle of despotism, became the proper object to +begin with. This enterprise broke up the new ministry, who began now +to fly from the ruin they had prepared for others. The troops of +Broglio dispersed, and himself fled also. + +Mr. Burke has spoken a great deal about plots, but he has never once +spoken of this plot against the National Assembly, and the liberties +of the nation; and that he might not, he has passed over all the +circumstances that might throw it in his way. The exiles who have +fled from France, whose case he so much interests himself in, and +from whom he has had his lesson, fled in consequence of the +miscarriage of this plot. No plot was formed against them; they were +plotting against others; and those who fell, met, not unjustly, the +punishment they were preparing to execute. But will Mr. Burke say +that if this plot, contrived with the subtilty of an ambuscade, had +succeeded, the successful party would have restrained their wrath so +soon? Let the history of all governments answer the question. + +Whom has the National Assembly brought to the scaffold? None. They +were themselves the devoted victims of this plot, and they have not +retaliated; why, then, are they charged with revenge they have not +acted? In the tremendous breaking forth of a whole people, in which +all degrees, tempers and characters are confounded, delivering +themselves, by a miracle of exertion, from the destruction meditated +against them, is it to be expected that nothing will happen? When men +are sore with the sense of oppressions, and menaced with the +prospects of new ones, is the calmness of philosophy or the palsy of +insensibility to be looked for? Mr. Burke exclaims against outrage; +yet the greatest is that which himself has committed. His book is a +volume of outrage, not apologised for by the impulse of a moment, but +cherished through a space of ten months; yet Mr. Burke had no +provocation- no life, no interest, at stake. + +More of the citizens fell in this struggle than of their opponents: +but four or five persons were seized by the populace, and instantly +put to death; the Governor of the Bastille, and the Mayor of Paris, +who was detected in the act of betraying them; and afterwards Foulon, +one of the new ministry, and Berthier, his son-in-law, who had +accepted the office of intendant of Paris. Their heads were stuck +upon spikes, and carried about the city; and it is upon this mode of +punishment that Mr. Burke builds a great part of his tragic scene. +Let us therefore examine how men came by the idea of punishing in +this manner. + +They learn it from the governments they live under; and retaliate the +punishments they have been accustomed to behold. The heads stuck upon +spikes, which remained for years upon Temple Bar, differed nothing in +the horror of the scene from those carried about upon spikes at +Paris; yet this was done by the English Government. It may perhaps be +said that it signifies nothing to a man what is done to him after he +is dead; but it signifies much to the living; it either tortures +their feelings or hardens their hearts, and in either case it +instructs them how to punish when power falls into their hands. + +Lay then the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is +their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind. In England the +punishment in certain cases is by hanging, drawing and quartering; +the heart of the sufferer is cut out and held up to the view of the +populace. In France, under the former Government, the punishments +were not less barbarous. Who does not remember the execution of +Damien, torn to pieces by horses? The effect of those cruel +spectacles exhibited to the populace is to destroy tenderness or +excite revenge; and by the base and false idea of governing men by +terror, instead of reason, they become precedents. It is over the +lowest class of mankind that government by terror is intended to +operate, and it is on them that it operates to the worst effect. They +have sense enough to feel they are the objects aimed at; and they +inflict in their turn the examples of terror they have been +instructed to practise. + +There is in all European countries a large class of people of that +description, which in England is called the "mob." Of this class were +those who committed the burnings and devastations in London in 1780, +and of this class were those who carried the heads on iron spikes in +Paris. Foulon and Berthier were taken up in the country, and sent to +Paris, to undergo their examination at the Hotel de Ville; for the +National Assembly, immediately on the new ministry coming into +office, passed a decree, which they communicated to the King and +Cabinet, that they (the National Assembly) would hold the ministry, +of which Foulon was one, responsible for the measures they were +advising and pursuing; but the mob, incensed at the appearance of +Foulon and Berthier, tore them from their conductors before they were +carried to the Hotel de Ville, and executed them on the spot. Why +then does Mr. Burke charge outrages of this kind on a whole people? +As well may he charge the riots and outrages of 1780 on all the +people of London, or those in Ireland on all his countrymen. + +But everything we see or hear offensive to our feelings and +derogatory to the human character should lead to other reflections +than those of reproach. Even the beings who commit them have some +claim to our consideration. How then is it that such vast classes of +mankind as are distinguished by the appellation of the vulgar, or the +ignorant mob, are so numerous in all old countries? The instant we +ask ourselves this question, reflection feels an answer. They rise, +as an unavoidable consequence, out of the ill construction of all old +governments in Europe, England included with the rest. It is by +distortedly exalting some men, that others are distortedly debased, +till the whole is out of nature. A vast mass of mankind are +degradedly thrown into the back-ground of the human picture, to bring +forward, with greater glare, the puppet-show of state and +aristocracy. In the commencement of a revolution, those men are +rather the followers of the camp than of the standard of liberty, and +have yet to be instructed how to reverence it. + +I give to Mr. Burke all his theatrical exaggerations for facts, and I +then ask him if they do not establish the certainty of what I here +lay down? Admitting them to be true, they show the necessity of the +French Revolution, as much as any one thing he could have asserted. +These outrages were not the effect of the principles of the +Revolution, but of the degraded mind that existed before the +Revolution, and which the Revolution is calculated to reform. Place +them then to their proper cause, and take the reproach of them to +your own side. + +It is the honour of the National Assembly and the city of Paris that, +during such a tremendous scene of arms and confusion, beyond the +control of all authority, they have been able, by the influence of +example and exhortation, to restrain so much. Never were more pains +taken to instruct and enlighten mankind, and to make them see that +their interest consisted in their virtue, and not in their revenge, +than have been displayed in the Revolution of France. I now proceed +to make some remarks on Mr. Burke's account of the expedition to +Versailles, October the 5th and 6th. + +I can consider Mr. Burke's book in scarcely any other light than a +dramatic performance; and he must, I think, have considered it in the +same light himself, by the poetical liberties he has taken of +omitting some facts, distorting others, and making the whole +machinery bend to produce a stage effect. Of this kind is his account +of the expedition to Versailles. He begins this account by omitting +the only facts which as causes are known to be true; everything +beyond these is conjecture, even in Paris; and he then works up a +tale accommodated to his own passions and prejudices. + +It is to be observed throughout Mr. Burke's book that he never speaks +of plots against the Revolution; and it is from those plots that all +the mischiefs have arisen. It suits his purpose to exhibit the +consequences without their causes. It is one of the arts of the drama +to do so. If the crimes of men were exhibited with their sufferings, +stage effect would sometimes be lost, and the audience would be +inclined to approve where it was intended they should commiserate. + +After all the investigations that have been made into this intricate +affair (the expedition to Versailles), it still remains enveloped in +all that kind of mystery which ever accompanies events produced more +from a concurrence of awkward circumstances than from fixed design. +While the characters of men are forming, as is always the case in +revolutions, there is a reciprocal suspicion, and a disposition to +misinterpret each other; and even parties directly opposite in +principle will sometimes concur in pushing forward the same movement +with very different views, and with the hopes of its producing very +different consequences. A great deal of this may be discovered in +this embarrassed affair, and yet the issue of the whole was what +nobody had in view. + +The only things certainly known are that considerable uneasiness was +at this time excited at Paris by the delay of the King in not +sanctioning and forwarding the decrees of the National Assembly, +particularly that of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the +decrees of the fourth of August, which contained the foundation +principles on which the constitution was to be erected. The kindest, +and perhaps the fairest conjecture upon this matter is, that some of +the ministers intended to make remarks and observations upon certain +parts of them before they were finally sanctioned and sent to the +provinces; but be this as it may, the enemies of the Revolution +derived hope from the delay, and the friends of the Revolution +uneasiness. + +During this state of suspense, the Garde du Corps, which was composed +as such regiments generally are, of persons much connected with the +Court, gave an entertainment at Versailles (October 1) to some +foreign regiments then arrived; and when the entertainment was at the +height, on a signal given, the Garde du Corps tore the national +cockade from their hats, trampled it under foot, and replaced it with +a counter-cockade prepared for the purpose. An indignity of this kind +amounted to defiance. It was like declaring war; and if men will give +challenges they must expect consequences. But all this Mr. Burke has +carefully kept out of sight. He begins his account by saying: +"History will record that on the morning of the 6th October, 1789, +the King and Queen of France, after a day of confusion, alarm, +dismay, and slaughter, lay down under the pledged security of public +faith to indulge nature in a few hours of respite, and troubled +melancholy repose." This is neither the sober style of history, nor +the intention of it. It leaves everything to be guessed at and +mistaken. One would at least think there had been a battle; and a +battle there probably would have been had it not been for the +moderating prudence of those whom Mr. Burke involves in his censures. +By his keeping the Garde du Corps out of sight Mr. Burke has afforded +himself the dramatic licence of putting the King and Queen in their +places, as if the object of the expedition was against them. But to +return to my account this conduct of the Garde du Corps, as might well +be expected, alarmed and enraged the Partisans. The colors of the +cause, and the cause itself, were become too united to mistake the +intention of the insult, and the Partisans were determined to call +the Garde du Corps to an account. There was certainly nothing of the +cowardice of assassination in marching in the face of the day to +demand satisfaction, if such a phrase may be used, of a body of armed +men who had voluntarily given defiance. But the circumstance which +serves to throw this affair into embarrassment is, that the enemies +of the Revolution appear to have encouraged it as well as its +friends. The one hoped to prevent a civil war by checking it in time, +and the other to make one. The hopes of those opposed to the +Revolution rested in making the King of their party, and getting him +from Versailles to Metz, where they expected to collect a force and +set up a standard. We have, therefore, two different objects +presenting themselves at the same time, and to be accomplished by the +same means: the one to chastise the Garde du Corps, which was the +object of the Partisans; the other to render the confusion of such a +scene an inducement to the King to set off for Metz. + +On the 5th of October a very numerous body of women, and men in the +disguise of women, collected around the Hotel de Ville or town-hall +at Paris, and set off for Versailles. Their professed object was the +Garde du Corps; but prudent men readily recollect that mischief is +more easily begun than ended; and this impressed itself with the more +force from the suspicions already stated, and the irregularity of +such a cavalcade. As soon, therefore, as a sufficient force could be +collected, M. de la Fayette, by orders from the civil authority of +Paris, set off after them at the head of twenty thousand of the Paris +militia. The Revolution could derive no benefit from confusion, and +its opposers might. By an amiable and spirited manner of address he +had hitherto been fortunate in calming disquietudes, and in this he +was extraordinarily successful; to frustrate, therefore, the hopes of +those who might seek to improve this scene into a sort of justifiable +necessity for the King's quitting Versailles and withdrawing to Metz, +and to prevent at the same time the consequences that might ensue +between the Garde du Corps and this phalanx of men and women, he +forwarded expresses to the King, that he was on his march to +Versailles, by the orders of the civil authority of Paris, for the +purpose of peace and protection, expressing at the same time the +necessity of restraining the Garde du Corps from firing upon the +people.*[3] + +He arrived at Versailles between ten and eleven at night. The Garde +du Corps was drawn up, and the people had arrived some time before, +but everything had remained suspended. Wisdom and policy now +consisted in changing a scene of danger into a happy event. M. de la +Fayette became the mediator between the enraged parties; and the +King, to remove the uneasiness which had arisen from the delay +already stated, sent for the President of the National Assembly, and +signed the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and such other parts of +the constitution as were in readiness. + +It was now about one in the morning. Everything appeared to be +composed, and a general congratulation took place. By the beat of a +drum a proclamation was made that the citizens of Versailles would +give the hospitality of their houses to their fellow-citizens of +Paris. Those who could not be accommodated in this manner remained in +the streets, or took up their quarters in the churches; and at two +o'clock the King and Queen retired. + +In this state matters passed till the break of day, when a fresh +disturbance arose from the censurable conduct of some of both +parties, for such characters there will be in all such scenes. One of +the Garde du Corps appeared at one of the windows of the palace, and +the people who had remained during the night in the streets accosted +him with reviling and provocative language. Instead of retiring, as +in such a case prudence would have dictated, he presented his musket, +fired, and killed one of the Paris militia. The peace being thus +broken, the people rushed into the palace in quest of the offender. +They attacked the quarters of the Garde du Corps within the palace, +and pursued them throughout the avenues of it, and to the apartments +of the King. On this tumult, not the Queen only, as Mr. Burke has +represented it, but every person in the palace, was awakened and +alarmed; and M. de la Fayette had a second time to interpose between +the parties, the event of which was that the Garde du Corps put on +the national cockade, and the matter ended as by oblivion, after the +loss of two or three lives. + +During the latter part of the time in which this confusion was +acting, the King and Queen were in public at the balcony, and neither +of them concealed for safety's sake, as Mr. Burke insinuates. Matters +being thus appeased, and tranquility restored, a general acclamation +broke forth of Le Roi a Paris- Le Roi a Paris- The King to Paris. It +was the shout of peace, and immediately accepted on the part of the +King. By this measure all future projects of trapanning the King to +Metz, and setting up the standard of opposition to the constitution, +were prevented, and the suspicions extinguished. The King and his +family reached Paris in the evening, and were congratulated on their +arrival by M. Bailly, the Mayor of Paris, in the name of the +citizens. Mr. Burke, who throughout his book confounds things, +persons, and principles, as in his remarks on M. Bailly's address, +confounded time also. He censures M. Bailly for calling it "un bon +jour," a good day. Mr. Burke should have informed himself that this +scene took up the space of two days, the day on which it began with +every appearance of danger and mischief, and the day on which it +terminated without the mischiefs that threatened; and that it is to +this peaceful termination that M. Bailly alludes, and to the arrival +of the King at Paris. Not less than three hundred thousand persons +arranged themselves in the procession from Versailles to Paris, and +not an act of molestation was committed during the whole march. + +Mr. Burke on the authority of M. Lally Tollendal, a deserter from the +National Assembly, says that on entering Paris, the people shouted +"Tous les eveques a la lanterne." All Bishops to be hanged at the +lanthorn or lamp-posts. It is surprising that nobody could hear this +but Lally Tollendal, and that nobody should believe it but Mr. Burke. +It has not the least connection with any part of the transaction, and +is totally foreign to every circumstance of it. The Bishops had never +been introduced before into any scene of Mr. Burke's drama: why then +are they, all at once, and altogether, tout a coup, et tous ensemble, +introduced now? Mr. Burke brings forward his Bishops and his +lanthorn-like figures in a magic lanthorn, and raises his scenes by +contrast instead of connection. But it serves to show, with the rest +of his book what little credit ought to be given where even +probability is set at defiance, for the purpose of defaming; and with +this reflection, instead of a soliloquy in praise of chivalry, as Mr. +Burke has done, I close the account of the expedition to +Versailles.*[4] + +I have now to follow Mr. Burke through a pathless wilderness of +rhapsodies, and a sort of descant upon governments, in which he +asserts whatever he pleases, on the presumption of its being +believed, without offering either evidence or reasons for so doing. + +Before anything can be reasoned upon to a conclusion, certain facts, +principles, or data, to reason from, must be established, admitted, +or denied. Mr. Burke with his usual outrage, abused the Declaration +of the Rights of Man, published by the National Assembly of France, +as the basis on which the constitution of France is built. This he +calls "paltry and blurred sheets of paper about the rights of man." +Does Mr. Burke mean to deny that man has any rights? If he does, then +he must mean that there are no such things as rights anywhere, and +that he has none himself; for who is there in the world but man? But +if Mr. Burke means to admit that man has rights, the question then +will be: What are those rights, and how man came by them originally? + +The error of those who reason by precedents drawn from antiquity, +respecting the rights of man, is that they do not go far enough into +antiquity. They do not go the whole way. They stop in some of the +intermediate stages of an hundred or a thousand years, and produce +what was then done, as a rule for the present day. This is no +authority at all. If we travel still farther into antiquity, we shall +find a direct contrary opinion and practice prevailing; and if +antiquity is to be authority, a thousand such authorities may be +produced, successively contradicting each other; but if we proceed +on, we shall at last come out right; we shall come to the time when +man came from the hand of his Maker. What was he then? Man. Man was +his high and only title, and a higher cannot be given him. But of +titles I shall speak hereafter. + +We are now got at the origin of man, and at the origin of his rights. +As to the manner in which the world has been governed from that day +to this, it is no farther any concern of ours than to make a proper +use of the errors or the improvements which the history of it +presents. Those who lived an hundred or a thousand years ago, were +then moderns, as we are now. They had their ancients, and those +ancients had others, and we also shall be ancients in our turn. If +the mere name of antiquity is to govern in the affairs of life, the +people who are to live an hundred or a thousand years hence, may as +well take us for a precedent, as we make a precedent of those who +lived an hundred or a thousand years ago. The fact is, that portions +of antiquity, by proving everything, establish nothing. It is +authority against authority all the way, till we come to the divine +origin of the rights of man at the creation. Here our enquiries find +a resting-place, and our reason finds a home. If a dispute about the +rights of man had arisen at the distance of an hundred years from the +creation, it is to this source of authority they must have referred, +and it is to this same source of authority that we must now refer. + +Though I mean not to touch upon any sectarian principle of religion, +yet it may be worth observing, that the genealogy of Christ is traced +to Adam. Why then not trace the rights of man to the creation of man? +I will answer the question. Because there have been upstart +governments, thrusting themselves between, and presumptuously working +to un-make man. + +If any generation of men ever possessed the right of dictating the +mode by which the world should be governed for ever, it was the first +generation that existed; and if that generation did it not, no +succeeding generation can show any authority for doing it, nor can +set any up. The illuminating and divine principle of the equal rights +of man (for it has its origin from the Maker of man) relates, not +only to the living individuals, but to generations of men succeeding +each other. Every generation is equal in rights to generations which +preceded it, by the same rule that every individual is born equal in +rights with his contemporary. + +Every history of the creation, and every traditionary account, +whether from the lettered or unlettered world, however they may vary +in their opinion or belief of certain particulars, all agree in +establishing one point, the unity of man; by which I mean that men +are all of one degree, and consequently that all men are born equal, +and with equal natural right, in the same manner as if posterity had +been continued by creation instead of generation, the latter being +the only mode by which the former is carried forward; and +consequently every child born into the world must be considered as +deriving its existence from God. The world is as new to him as it was +to the first man that existed, and his natural right in it is of the +same kind. + +The Mosaic account of the creation, whether taken as divine authority +or merely historical, is full to this point, the unity or equality of +man. The expression admits of no controversy. "And God said, Let us +make man in our own image. In the image of God created he him; male +and female created he them." The distinction of sexes is pointed out, +but no other distinction is even implied. If this be not divine +authority, it is at least historical authority, and shows that the +equality of man, so far from being a modern doctrine, is the oldest +upon record. + +It is also to be observed that all the religions known in the world +are founded, so far as they relate to man, on the unity of man, as +being all of one degree. Whether in heaven or in hell, or in whatever +state man may be supposed to exist hereafter, the good and the bad +are the only distinctions. Nay, even the laws of governments are +obliged to slide into this principle, by making degrees to consist in +crimes and not in persons. + +It is one of the greatest of all truths, and of the highest advantage +to cultivate. By considering man in this light, and by instructing +him to consider himself in this light, it places him in a close +connection with all his duties, whether to his Creator or to the +creation, of which he is a part; and it is only when he forgets his +origin, or, to use a more fashionable phrase, his birth and family, +that he becomes dissolute. It is not among the least of the evils of +the present existing governments in all parts of Europe that man, +considered as man, is thrown back to a vast distance from his Maker, +and the artificial chasm filled up with a succession of barriers, or +sort of turnpike gates, through which he has to pass. I will quote +Mr. Burke's catalogue of barriers that he has set up between man and +his Maker. Putting himself in the character of a herald, he says: "We +fear God- we look with awe to kings- with affection to Parliaments +with duty to magistrates- with reverence to priests, and with respect +to nobility." Mr. Burke has forgotten to put in "'chivalry." He has +also forgotten to put in Peter. + +The duty of man is not a wilderness of turnpike gates, through which +he is to pass by tickets from one to the other. It is plain and +simple, and consists but of two points. His duty to God, which every +man must feel; and with respect to his neighbor, to do as he would be +done by. If those to whom power is delegated do well, they will be +respected: if not, they will be despised; and with regard to those to +whom no power is delegated, but who assume it, the rational world can +know nothing of them. + +Hitherto we have spoken only (and that but in part) of the natural +rights of man. We have now to consider the civil rights of man, and +to show how the one originates from the other. Man did not enter into +society to become worse than he was before, nor to have fewer rights +than he had before, but to have those rights better secured. His +natural rights are the foundation of all his civil rights. But in +order to pursue this distinction with more precision, it will be +necessary to mark the different qualities of natural and civil +rights. + +A few words will explain this. Natural rights are those which +appertain to man in right of his existence. Of this kind are all the +intellectual rights, or rights of the mind, and also all those rights +of acting as an individual for his own comfort and happiness, which +are not injurious to the natural rights of others. Civil rights are +those which appertain to man in right of his being a member of +society. Every civil right has for its foundation some natural right +pre-existing in the individual, but to the enjoyment of which his +individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently competent. Of +this kind are all those which relate to security and protection. + +From this short review it will be easy to distinguish between that +class of natural rights which man retains after entering into society +and those which he throws into the common stock as a member of +society. + +The natural rights which he retains are all those in which the Power +to execute is as perfect in the individual as the right itself. Among +this class, as is before mentioned, are all the intellectual rights, +or rights of the mind; consequently religion is one of those rights. +The natural rights which are not retained, are all those in which, +though the right is perfect in the individual, the power to execute +them is defective. They answer not his purpose. A man, by natural +right, has a right to judge in his own cause; and so far as the right +of the mind is concerned, he never surrenders it. But what availeth +it him to judge, if he has not power to redress? He therefore +deposits this right in the common stock of society, and takes the ann +of society, of which he is a part, in preference and in addition to +his own. Society grants him nothing. Every man is a proprietor in +society, and draws on the capital as a matter of right. + +From these premisses two or three certain conclusions will follow: + +First, That every civil right grows out of a natural right; or, in +other words, is a natural right exchanged. + +Secondly, That civil power properly considered as such is made up of +the aggregate of that class of the natural rights of man, which +becomes defective in the individual in point of power, and answers +not his purpose, but when collected to a focus becomes competent to +the Purpose of every one. + +Thirdly, That the power produced from the aggregate of natural +rights, imperfect in power in the individual, cannot be applied to +invade the natural rights which are retained in the individual, and +in which the power to execute is as perfect as the right itself. + +We have now, in a few words, traced man from a natural individual to +a member of society, and shown, or endeavoured to show, the quality +of the natural rights retained, and of those which are exchanged for +civil rights. Let us now apply these principles to governments. + +In casting our eyes over the world, it is extremely easy to +distinguish the governments which have arisen out of society, or out +of the social compact, from those which have not; but to place this +in a clearer light than what a single glance may afford, it will be +proper to take a review of the several sources from which governments +have arisen and on which they have been founded. + +They may be all comprehended under three heads. + +First, Superstition. + +Secondly, Power. + +Thirdly, The common interest of society and the common rights of man. + +The first was a government of priestcraft, the second of conquerors, +and the third of reason. + +When a set of artful men pretended, through the medium of oracles, to +hold intercourse with the Deity, as familiarly as they now march up +the back-stairs in European courts, the world was completely under +the government of superstition. The oracles were consulted, and +whatever they were made to say became the law; and this sort of +government lasted as long as this sort of superstition lasted. + +After these a race of conquerors arose, whose government, like that +of William the Conqueror, was founded in power, and the sword assumed +the name of a sceptre. Governments thus established last as long as +the power to support them lasts; but that they might avail themselves +of every engine in their favor, they united fraud to force, and set +up an idol which they called Divine Right, and which, in imitation of +the Pope, who affects to be spiritual and temporal, and in +contradiction to the Founder of the Christian religion, twisted +itself afterwards into an idol of another shape, called Church and +State. The key of St. Peter and the key of the Treasury became +quartered on one another, and the wondering cheated multitude +worshipped the invention. + +When I contemplate the natural dignity of man, when I feel (for +Nature has not been kind enough to me to blunt my feelings) for the +honour and happiness of its character, I become irritated at the +attempt to govern mankind by force and fraud, as if they were all +knaves and fools, and can scarcely avoid disgust at those who are +thus imposed upon. + +We have now to review the governments which arise out of society, in +contradistinction to those which arose out of superstition and +conquest. + +It has been thought a considerable advance towards establishing the +principles of Freedom to say that Government is a compact between +those who govern and those who are governed; but this cannot be true, +because it is putting the effect before the cause; for as man must +have existed before governments existed, there necessarily was a time +when governments did not exist, and consequently there could +originally exist no governors to form such a compact with. + +The fact therefore must be that the individuals themselves, each in +his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a compact with +each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in +which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on +which they have a right to exist. + +To possess ourselves of a clear idea of what government is, or ought +to be, we must trace it to its origin. In doing this we shall easily +discover that governments must have arisen either out of the people +or over the people. Mr. Burke has made no distinction. He +investigates nothing to its source, and therefore he confounds +everything; but he has signified his intention of undertaking, at +some future opportunity, a comparison between the constitution of +England and France. As he thus renders it a subject of controversy by +throwing the gauntlet, I take him upon his own ground. It is in high +challenges that high truths have the right of appearing; and I accept +it with the more readiness because it affords me, at the same time, +an opportunity of pursuing the subject with respect to governments +arising out of society. + +But it will be first necessary to define what is meant by a +Constitution. It is not sufficient that we adopt the word; we must +fix also a standard signification to it. + +A constitution is not a thing in name only, but in fact. It has not +an ideal, but a real existence; and wherever it cannot be produced in +a visible form, there is none. A constitution is a thing antecedent +to a government, and a government is only the creature of a +constitution. The constitution of a country is not the act of its +government, but of the people constituting its government. It is the +body of elements, to which you can refer, and quote article by +article; and which contains the principles on which the government +shall be established, the manner in which it shall be organised, the +powers it shall have, the mode of elections, the duration of +Parliaments, or by what other name such bodies may be called; the +powers which the executive part of the government shall have; and in +fine, everything that relates to the complete organisation of a civil +government, and the principles on which it shall act, and by which it +shall be bound. A constitution, therefore, is to a government what +the laws made afterwards by that government are to a court of +judicature. The court of judicature does not make the laws, neither +can it alter them; it only acts in conformity to the laws made: and +the government is in like manner governed by the constitution. + +Can, then, Mr. Burke produce the English Constitution? If he cannot, +we may fairly conclude that though it has been so much talked about, +no such thing as a constitution exists, or ever did exist, and +consequently that the people have yet a constitution to form. + +Mr. Burke will not, I presume, deny the position I have already +advanced- namely, that governments arise either out of the people or +over the people. The English Government is one of those which arose +out of a conquest, and not out of society, and consequently it arose +over the people; and though it has been much modified from the +opportunity of circumstances since the time of William the Conqueror, +the country has never yet regenerated itself, and is therefore +without a constitution. + +I readily perceive the reason why Mr. Burke declined going into the +comparison between the English and French constitutions, because he +could not but perceive, when he sat down to the task, that no such a +thing as a constitution existed on his side the question. His book is +certainly bulky enough to have contained all he could say on this +subject, and it would have been the best manner in which people could +have judged of their separate merits. Why then has he declined the +only thing that was worth while to write upon? It was the strongest +ground he could take, if the advantages were on his side, but the +weakest if they were not; and his declining to take it is either a +sign that he could not possess it or could not maintain it. + +Mr. Burke said, in a speech last winter in Parliament, "that when the +National Assembly first met in three Orders (the Tiers Etat, the +Clergy, and the Noblesse), France had then a good constitution." This +shows, among numerous other instances, that Mr. Burke does not +understand what a constitution is. The persons so met were not a +constitution, but a convention, to make a constitution. + +The present National Assembly of France is, strictly speaking, the +personal social compact. The members of it are the delegates of the +nation in its original character; future assemblies will be the +delegates of the nation in its organised character. The authority of +the present Assembly is different from what the authority of future +Assemblies will be. The authority of the present one is to form a +constitution; the authority of future assemblies will be to legislate +according to the principles and forms prescribed in that +constitution; and if experience should hereafter show that +alterations, amendments, or additions are necessary, the constitution +will point out the mode by which such things shall be done, and not +leave it to the discretionary power of the future government. + +A government on the principles on which constitutional governments +arising out of society are established, cannot have the right of +altering itself. If it had, it would be arbitrary. It might make +itself what it pleased; and wherever such a right is set up, it shows +there is no constitution. The act by which the English Parliament +empowered itself to sit seven years, shows there is no constitution +in England. It might, by the same self-authority, have sat any great +number of years, or for life. The bill which the present Mr. Pitt +brought into Parliament some years ago, to reform Parliament, was on +the same erroneous principle. The right of reform is in the nation in +its original character, and the constitutional method would be by a +general convention elected for the purpose. There is, moreover, a +paradox in the idea of vitiated bodies reforming themselves. + +From these preliminaries I proceed to draw some comparisons. I have +already spoken of the declaration of rights; and as I mean to be as +concise as possible, I shall proceed to other parts of the French +Constitution. + +The constitution of France says that every man who pays a tax of +sixty sous per annum (2s. 6d. English) is an elector. What article +will Mr. Burke place against this? Can anything be more limited, and +at the same time more capricious, than the qualification of electors +is in England? Limited- because not one man in an hundred (I speak +much within compass) is admitted to vote. Capricious- because the +lowest character that can be supposed to exist, and who has not so +much as the visible means of an honest livelihood, is an elector in +some places: while in other places, the man who pays very large +taxes, and has a known fair character, and the farmer who rents to +the amount of three or four hundred pounds a year, with a property on +that farm to three or four times that amount, is not admitted to be +an elector. Everything is out of nature, as Mr. Burke says on another +occasion, in this strange chaos, and all sorts of follies are blended +with all sorts of crimes. William the Conqueror and his descendants +parcelled out the country in this manner, and bribed some parts of it +by what they call charters to hold the other parts of it the better +subjected to their will. This is the reason why so many of those +charters abound in Cornwall; the people were averse to the Government +established at the Conquest, and the towns were garrisoned and bribed +to enslave the country. All the old charters are the badges of this +conquest, and it is from this source that the capriciousness of +election arises. + +The French Constitution says that the number of representatives for +any place shall be in a ratio to the number of taxable inhabitants or +electors. What article will Mr. Burke place against this? The county +of York, which contains nearly a million of souls, sends two county +members; and so does the county of Rutland, which contains not an +hundredth part of that number. The old town of Sarum, which contains +not three houses, sends two members; and the town of Manchester, +which contains upward of sixty thousand souls, is not admitted to +send any. Is there any principle in these things? It is admitted that +all this is altered, but there is much to be done yet, before we have +a fair representation of the people. Is there anything by which you +can trace the marks of freedom, or discover those of wisdom? No +wonder then Mr. Burke has declined the comparison, and endeavored to +lead his readers from the point by a wild, unsystematical display of +paradoxical rhapsodies. + +The French Constitution says that the National Assembly shall be +elected every two years. What article will Mr. Burke place against +this? Why, that the nation has no right at all in the case; that the +government is perfectly arbitrary with respect to this point; and he +can quote for his authority the precedent of a former Parliament. + +The French Constitution says there shall be no game laws, that the +farmer on whose lands wild game shall be found (for it is by the +produce of his lands they are fed) shall have a right to what he can +take; that there shall be no monopolies of any kind- that all trades +shall be free and every man free to follow any occupation by which he +can procure an honest livelihood, and in any place, town, or city +throughout the nation. What will Mr. Burke say to this? In England, +game is made the property of those at whose expense it is not fed; +and with respect to monopolies, the country is cut up into +monopolies. Every chartered town is an aristocratical monopoly in +itself, and the qualification of electors proceeds out of those +chartered monopolies. Is this freedom? Is this what Mr. Burke means +by a constitution? + +In these chartered monopolies, a man coming from another part of the +country is hunted from them as if he were a foreign enemy. An +Englishman is not free of his own country; every one of those places +presents a barrier in his way, and tells him he is not a freeman- +that he has no rights. Within these monopolies are other monopolies. +In a city, such for instance as Bath, which contains between twenty +and thirty thousand inhabitants, the right of electing +representatives to Parliament is monopolised by about thirty-one +persons. And within these monopolies are still others. A man even of +the same town, whose parents were not in circumstances to give him an +occupation, is debarred, in many cases, from the natural right of +acquiring one, be his genius or industry what it may. + +Are these things examples to hold out to a country regenerating +itself from slavery, like France? Certainly they are not, and certain +am I, that when the people of England come to reflect upon them they +will, like France, annihilate those badges of ancient oppression, +those traces of a conquered nation. Had Mr. Burke possessed talents +similar to the author of "On the Wealth of Nations." he would have +comprehended all the parts which enter into, and, by assemblage, form +a constitution. He would have reasoned from minutiae to magnitude. It +is not from his prejudices only, but from the disorderly cast of his +genius, that he is unfitted for the subject he writes upon. Even his +genius is without a constitution. It is a genius at random, and not a +genius constituted. But he must say something. He has therefore +mounted in the air like a balloon, to draw the eyes of the multitude +from the ground they stand upon. + +Much is to be learned from the French Constitution. Conquest and +tyranny transplanted themselves with William the Conqueror from +Normandy into England, and the country is yet disfigured with the +marks. May, then, the example of all France contribute to regenerate +the freedom which a province of it destroyed! + +The French Constitution says that to preserve the national +representation from being corrupt, no member of the National Assembly +shall be an officer of the government, a placeman or a pensioner. +What will Mr. Burke place against this? I will whisper his answer: +Loaves and Fishes. Ah! this government of loaves and fishes has more +mischief in it than people have yet reflected on. The National +Assembly has made the discovery, and it holds out the example to the +world. Had governments agreed to quarrel on purpose to fleece their +countries by taxes, they could not have succeeded better than they +have done. + +Everything in the English government appears to me the reverse of +what it ought to be, and of what it is said to be. The Parliament, +imperfectly and capriciously elected as it is, is nevertheless +supposed to hold the national purse in trust for the nation; but in +the manner in which an English Parliament is constructed it is like a +man being both mortgagor and mortgagee, and in the case of +misapplication of trust it is the criminal sitting in judgment upon +himself. If those who vote the supplies are the same persons who +receive the supplies when voted, and are to account for the +expenditure of those supplies to those who voted them, it is +themselves accountable to themselves, and the Comedy of Errors +concludes with the pantomime of Hush. Neither the Ministerial party +nor the Opposition will touch upon this case. The national purse is +the common hack which each mounts upon. It is like what the country +people call "Ride and tie- you ride a little way, and then I."*[5] +They order these things better in France. + +The French Constitution says that the right of war and peace is in +the nation. Where else should it reside but in those who are to pay +the expense? + +In England this right is said to reside in a metaphor shown at the +Tower for sixpence or a shilling a piece: so are the lions; and it +would be a step nearer to reason to say it resided in them, for any +inanimate metaphor is no more than a hat or a cap. We can all see the +absurdity of worshipping Aaron's molten calf, or Nebuchadnezzar's +golden image; but why do men continue to practise themselves the +absurdities they despise in others? + +It may with reason be said that in the manner the English nation is +represented it signifies not where the right resides, whether in the +Crown or in the Parliament. War is the common harvest of all those +who participate in the division and expenditure of public money, in +all countries. It is the art of conquering at home; the object of it +is an increase of revenue; and as revenue cannot be increased without +taxes, a pretence must be made for expenditure. In reviewing the +history of the English Government, its wars and its taxes, a +bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would +declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars +were raised to carry on taxes. + +Mr. Burke, as a member of the House of Commons, is a part of the +English Government; and though he professes himself an enemy to war, +he abuses the French Constitution, which seeks to explode it. He +holds up the English Government as a model, in all its parts, to +France; but he should first know the remarks which the French make +upon it. They contend in favor of their own, that the portion of +liberty enjoyed in England is just enough to enslave a country more +productively than by despotism, and that as the real object of all +despotism is revenue, a government so formed obtains more than it +could do either by direct despotism, or in a full state of freedom, +and is, therefore on the ground of interest, opposed to both. They +account also for the readiness which always appears in such +governments for engaging in wars by remarking on the different +motives which produced them. In despotic governments wars are the +effect of pride; but in those governments in which they become the +means of taxation, they acquire thereby a more permanent promptitude. + +The French Constitution, therefore, to provide against both these +evils, has taken away the power of declaring war from kings and +ministers, and placed the right where the expense must fall. + +When the question of the right of war and peace was agitating in the +National Assembly, the people of England appeared to be much +interested in the event, and highly to applaud the decision. As a +principle it applies as much to one country as another. William the +Conqueror, as a conqueror, held this power of war and peace in +himself, and his descendants have ever since claimed it under him as +a right. + +Although Mr. Burke has asserted the right of the Parliament at the +Revolution to bind and control the nation and posterity for ever, he +denies at the same time that the Parliament or the nation had any +right to alter what he calls the succession of the crown in anything +but in part, or by a sort of modification. By his taking this ground +he throws the case back to the Norman Conquest, and by thus running a +line of succession springing from William the Conqueror to the +present day, he makes it necessary to enquire who and what William +the Conqueror was, and where he came from, and into the origin, +history and nature of what are called prerogatives. Everything must +have had a beginning, and the fog of time and antiquity should be +penetrated to discover it. Let, then, Mr. Burke bring forward his +William of Normandy, for it is to this origin that his argument goes. +It also unfortunately happens, in running this line of succession, +that another line parallel thereto presents itself, which is that if +the succession runs in the line of the conquest, the nation runs in +the line of being conquered, and it ought to rescue itself from this +reproach. + +But it will perhaps be said that though the power of declaring war +descends in the heritage of the conquest, it is held in check by the +right of Parliament to withhold the supplies. It will always happen +when a thing is originally wrong that amendments do not make it +right, and it often happens that they do as much mischief one way as +good the other, and such is the case here, for if the one rashly +declares war as a matter of right, and the other peremptorily +withholds the supplies as a matter of right, the remedy becomes as +bad, or worse, than the disease. The one forces the nation to a +combat, and the other ties its hands; but the more probable issue is +that the contest will end in a collusion between the parties, and be +made a screen to both. + +On this question of war, three things are to be considered. First, the +right of declaring it: secondly, the expense of supporting it: thirdly, +the mode of conducting it after it is declared. The French Constitution +places the right where the expense must fall, and this union can only +be in the nation. The mode of conducting it after it is declared, it +consigns to the executive department. Were this the case in all +countries, we should hear but little more of wars. + +Before I proceed to consider other parts of the French Constitution, +and by way of relieving the fatigue of argument, I will introduce an +anecdote which I had from Dr. Franklin. + +While the Doctor resided in France as Minister from America, during +the war, he had numerous proposals made to him by projectors of every +country and of every kind, who wished to go to the land that floweth +with milk and honey, America; and among the rest, there was one who +offered himself to be king. He introduced his proposal to the Doctor +by letter, which is now in the hands of M. Beaumarchais, of Paris- +stating, first, that as the Americans had dismissed or sent away*[6] +their King, that they would want another. Secondly, that himself was +a Norman. Thirdly, that he was of a more ancient family than the +Dukes of Normandy, and of a more honorable descent, his line having +never been bastardised. Fourthly, that there was already a precedent +in England of kings coming out of Normandy, and on these grounds he +rested his offer, enjoining that the Doctor would forward it to +America. But as the Doctor neither did this, nor yet sent him an +answer, the projector wrote a second letter, in which he did not, it +is true, threaten to go over and conquer America, but only with great +dignity proposed that if his offer was not accepted, an +acknowledgment of about L30,000 might be made to him for his +generosity! Now, as all arguments respecting succession must +necessarily connect that succession with some beginning, Mr. Burke's +arguments on this subject go to show that there is no English origin +of kings, and that they are descendants of the Norman line in right +of the Conquest. It may, therefore, be of service to his doctrine to +make this story known, and to inform him, that in case of that +natural extinction to which all mortality is subject, Kings may again +be had from Normandy, on more reasonable terms than William the +Conqueror; and consequently, that the good people of England, at the +revolution of 1688, might have done much better, had such a generous +Norman as this known their wants, and they had known his. The +chivalric character which Mr. Burke so much admires, is certainly +much easier to make a bargain with than a hard dealing Dutchman. But +to return to the matters of the constitution: The French Constitution +says, There shall be no titles; and, of consequence, all that class +of equivocal generation which in some countries is called +"aristocracy" and in others "nobility," is done away, and the peer is +exalted into the Man. + +Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title. The thing is +perfectly harmless in itself, but it marks a sort of foppery in the +human character, which degrades it. It reduces man into the +diminutive of man in things which are great, and the counterfeit of +women in things which are little. It talks about its fine blue ribbon +like a girl, and shows its new garter like a child. A certain writer, +of some antiquity, says: "When I was a child, I thought as a child; +but when I became a man, I put away childish things." + +It is, properly, from the elevated mind of France that the folly of +titles has fallen. It has outgrown the baby clothes of Count and +Duke, and breeched itself in manhood. France has not levelled, it has +exalted. It has put down the dwarf, to set up the man. The punyism of +a senseless word like Duke, Count or Earl has ceased to please. Even +those who possessed them have disowned the gibberish, and as they +outgrew the rickets, have despised the rattle. The genuine mind of +man, thirsting for its native home, society, contemns the gewgaws +that separate him from it. Titles are like circles drawn by the +magician's wand, to contract the sphere of man's felicity. He lives +immured within the Bastille of a word, and surveys at a distance the +envied life of man. + +Is it, then, any wonder that titles should fall in France? Is it not +a greater wonder that they should be kept up anywhere? What are they? +What is their worth, and "what is their amount?" When we think or +speak of a Judge or a General, we associate with it the ideas of +office and character; we think of gravity in one and bravery in the +other; but when we use the word merely as a title, no ideas associate +with it. Through all the vocabulary of Adam there is not such an +animal as a Duke or a Count; neither can we connect any certain ideas +with the words. Whether they mean strength or weakness, wisdom or +folly, a child or a man, or the rider or the horse, is all equivocal. +What respect then can be paid to that which describes nothing, and +which means nothing? Imagination has given figure and character to +centaurs, satyrs, and down to all the fairy tribe; but titles baffle +even the powers of fancy, and are a chimerical nondescript. + +But this is not all. If a whole country is disposed to hold them in +contempt, all their value is gone, and none will own them. It is +common opinion only that makes them anything, or nothing, or worse +than nothing. There is no occasion to take titles away, for they take +themselves away when society concurs to ridicule them. This species +of imaginary consequence has visibly declined in every part of +Europe, and it hastens to its exit as the world of reason continues +to rise. There was a time when the lowest class of what are called +nobility was more thought of than the highest is now, and when a man +in armour riding throughout Christendom in quest of adventures was +more stared at than a modern Duke. The world has seen this folly +fall, and it has fallen by being laughed at, and the farce of titles +will follow its fate. The patriots of France have discovered in good +time that rank and dignity in society must take a new ground. The old +one has fallen through. It must now take the substantial ground of +character, instead of the chimerical ground of titles; and they have +brought their titles to the altar, and made of them a burnt-offering +to Reason. + +If no mischief had annexed itself to the folly of titles they would +not have been worth a serious and formal destruction, such as the +National Assembly have decreed them; and this makes it necessary to +enquire farther into the nature and character of aristocracy. + +That, then, which is called aristocracy in some countries and +nobility in others arose out of the governments founded upon +conquest. It was originally a military order for the purpose of +supporting military government (for such were all governments founded +in conquest); and to keep up a succession of this order for the +purpose for which it was established, all the younger branches of +those families were disinherited and the law of primogenitureship set +up. + +The nature and character of aristocracy shows itself to us in this +law. It is the law against every other law of nature, and Nature +herself calls for its destruction. Establish family justice, and +aristocracy falls. By the aristocratical law of primogenitureship, in +a family of six children five are exposed. Aristocracy has never more +than one child. The rest are begotten to be devoured. They are thrown +to the cannibal for prey, and the natural parent prepares the +unnatural repast. + +As everything which is out of nature in man affects, more or less, +the interest of society, so does this. All the children which the +aristocracy disowns (which are all except the eldest) are, in +general, cast like orphans on a parish, to be provided for by the +public, but at a greater charge. Unnecessary offices and places in +governments and courts are created at the expense of the public to +maintain them. + +With what kind of parental reflections can the father or mother +contemplate their younger offspring? By nature they are children, and +by marriage they are heirs; but by aristocracy they are bastards and +orphans. They are the flesh and blood of their parents in the one +line, and nothing akin to them in the other. To restore, therefore, +parents to their children, and children to their parents relations to +each other, and man to society- and to exterminate the monster +aristocracy, root and branch- the French Constitution has destroyed +the law of Primogenitureship. Here then lies the monster; and Mr. +Burke, if he pleases, may write its epitaph. + +Hitherto we have considered aristocracy chiefly in one point of view. +We have now to consider it in another. But whether we view it before +or behind, or sideways, or any way else, domestically or publicly, it +is still a monster. + +In France aristocracy had one feature less in its countenance than +what it has in some other countries. It did not compose a body of +hereditary legislators. It was not "'a corporation of aristocracy, +for such I have heard M. de la Fayette describe an English House of +Peers. Let us then examine the grounds upon which the French +Constitution has resolved against having such a House in France. + +Because, in the first place, as is already mentioned, aristocracy is +kept up by family tyranny and injustice. + +Secondly. Because there is an unnatural unfitness in an aristocracy +to be legislators for a nation. Their ideas of distributive justice +are corrupted at the very source. They begin life by trampling on all +their younger brothers and sisters, and relations of every kind, and +are taught and educated so to do. With what ideas of justice or +honour can that man enter a house of legislation, who absorbs in his +own person the inheritance of a whole family of children or doles out +to them some pitiful portion with the insolence of a gift? + +Thirdly. Because the idea of hereditary legislators is as +inconsistent as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and +as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; +and as ridiculous as an hereditary poet laureate. + +Fourthly. Because a body of men, holding themselves accountable to +nobody, ought not to be trusted by anybody. + +Fifthly. Because it is continuing the uncivilised principle of +governments founded in conquest, and the base idea of man having +property in man, and governing him by personal right. + +Sixthly. Because aristocracy has a tendency to deteriorate the human +species. By the universal economy of nature it is known, and by the +instance of the Jews it is proved, that the human species has a +tendency to degenerate, in any small number of persons, when +separated from the general stock of society, and inter-marrying +constantly with each other. It defeats even its pretended end, and +becomes in time the opposite of what is noble in man. Mr. Burke talks +of nobility; let him show what it is. The greatest characters the +world have known have arisen on the democratic floor. Aristocracy has +not been able to keep a proportionate pace with democracy. The +artificial Noble shrinks into a dwarf before the Noble of Nature; and +in the few instances of those (for there are some in all countries) +in whom nature, as by a miracle, has survived in aristocracy, Those +Men Despise It.- But it is time to proceed to a new subject. + +The French Constitution has reformed the condition of the clergy. It +has raised the income of the lower and middle classes, and taken from +the higher. None are now less than twelve hundred livres (fifty +pounds sterling), nor any higher than two or three thousand pounds. +What will Mr. Burke place against this? Hear what he says. + +He says: "That the people of England can see without pain or +grudging, an archbishop precede a duke; they can see a Bishop of +Durham, or a Bishop of Winchester in possession of L10,000 a-year; +and cannot see why it is in worse hands than estates to a like +amount, in the hands of this earl or that squire." And Mr. Burke +offers this as an example to France. + +As to the first part, whether the archbishop precedes the duke, or +the duke the bishop, it is, I believe, to the people in general, +somewhat like Sternhold and Hopkins, or Hopkins and Sternhold; you +may put which you please first; and as I confess that I do not +understand the merits of this case, I will not contest it with Mr. +Burke. + +But with respect to the latter, I have something to say. Mr. Burke +has not put the case right. The comparison is out of order, by being +put between the bishop and the earl or the squire. It ought to be put +between the bishop and the curate, and then it will stand thus:- "The +people of England can see without pain or grudging, a Bishop of +Durham, or a Bishop of Winchester, in possession of ten thousand +pounds a-year, and a curate on thirty or forty pounds a-year, or +less." No, sir, they certainly do not see those things without great +pain or grudging. It is a case that applies itself to every man's +sense of justice, and is one among many that calls aloud for a +constitution. + +In France the cry of "the church! the church!" was repeated as often +as in Mr. Burke's book, and as loudly as when the Dissenters' Bill +was before the English Parliament; but the generality of the French +clergy were not to be deceived by this cry any longer. They knew that +whatever the pretence might be, it was they who were one of the +principal objects of it. It was the cry of the high beneficed clergy, +to prevent any regulation of income taking place between those of ten +thousand pounds a-year and the parish priest. They therefore joined +their case to those of every other oppressed class of men, and by +this union obtained redress. + +The French Constitution has abolished tythes, that source of +perpetual discontent between the tythe-holder and the parishioner. +When land is held on tythe, it is in the condition of an estate held +between two parties; the one receiving one-tenth, and the other +nine-tenths of the produce: and consequently, on principles of +equity, if the estate can be improved, and made to produce by that +improvement double or treble what it did before, or in any other +ratio, the expense of such improvement ought to be borne in like +proportion between the parties who are to share the produce. But this +is not the case in tythes: the farmer bears the whole expense, and +the tythe-holder takes a tenth of the improvement, in addition to the +original tenth, and by this means gets the value of two-tenths +instead of one. This is another case that calls for a constitution. + +The French Constitution hath abolished or renounced Toleration and +Intolerance also, and hath established Universal Right Of Conscience. + +Toleration is not the opposite of Intolerance, but is the counterfeit +of it. Both are despotisms. The one assumes to itself the right of +withholding Liberty of Conscience, and the other of granting it. The +one is the Pope armed with fire and faggot, and the other is the Pope +selling or granting indulgences. The former is church and state, and +the latter is church and traffic. + +But Toleration may be viewed in a much stronger light. Man worships +not himself, but his Maker; and the liberty of conscience which he +claims is not for the service of himself, but of his God. In this +case, therefore, we must necessarily have the associated idea of two +things; the mortal who renders the worship, and the Immortal Being +who is worshipped. Toleration, therefore, places itself, not between +man and man, nor between church and church, nor between one +denomination of religion and another, but between God and man; +between the being who worships, and the Being who is worshipped; and +by the same act of assumed authority which it tolerates man to pay +his worship, it presumptuously and blasphemously sets itself up to +tolerate the Almighty to receive it. + +Were a bill brought into any Parliament, entitled, "An Act to +tolerate or grant liberty to the Almighty to receive the worship of a +Jew or Turk," or "to prohibit the Almighty from receiving it," all +men would startle and call it blasphemy. There would be an uproar. +The presumption of toleration in religious matters would then present +itself unmasked; but the presumption is not the less because the name +of "Man" only appears to those laws, for the associated idea of the +worshipper and the worshipped cannot be separated. Who then art thou, +vain dust and ashes! by whatever name thou art called, whether a +King, a Bishop, a Church, or a State, a Parliament, or anything else, +that obtrudest thine insignificance between the soul of man and its +Maker? Mind thine own concerns. If he believes not as thou believest, +it is a proof that thou believest not as he believes, and there is no +earthly power can determine between you. + +With respect to what are called denominations of religion, if every +one is left to judge of its own religion, there is no such thing as a +religion that is wrong; but if they are to judge of each other's +religion, there is no such thing as a religion that is right; and +therefore all the world is right, or all the world is wrong. But with +respect to religion itself, without regard to names, and as directing +itself from the universal family of mankind to the Divine object of +all adoration, it is man bringing to his Maker the fruits of his +heart; and though those fruits may differ from each other like the +fruits of the earth, the grateful tribute of every one is accepted. + +A Bishop of Durham, or a Bishop of Winchester, or the archbishop who +heads the dukes, will not refuse a tythe-sheaf of wheat because it is +not a cock of hay, nor a cock of hay because it is not a sheaf of +wheat; nor a pig, because it is neither one nor the other; but these +same persons, under the figure of an established church, will not +permit their Maker to receive the varied tythes of man's devotion. + +One of the continual choruses of Mr. Burke's book is "Church and +State." He does not mean some one particular church, or some one +particular state, but any church and state; and he uses the term as a +general figure to hold forth the political doctrine of always uniting +the church with the state in every country, and he censures the +National Assembly for not having done this in France. Let us bestow a +few thoughts on this subject. + +All religions are in their nature kind and benign, and united with +principles of morality. They could not have made proselytes at first +by professing anything that was vicious, cruel, persecuting, or +immoral. Like everything else, they had their beginning; and they +proceeded by persuasion, exhortation, and example. How then is it +that they lose their native mildness, and become morose and +intolerant? + +It proceeds from the connection which Mr. Burke recommends. By +engendering the church with the state, a sort of mule-animal, capable +only of destroying, and not of breeding up, is produced, called the +Church established by Law. It is a stranger, even from its birth, to +any parent mother, on whom it is begotten, and whom in time it kicks +out and destroys. + +The inquisition in Spain does not proceed from the religion +originally professed, but from this mule-animal, engendered between +the church and the state. The burnings in Smithfield proceeded from +the same heterogeneous production; and it was the regeneration of +this strange animal in England afterwards, that renewed rancour and +irreligion among the inhabitants, and that drove the people called +Quakers and Dissenters to America. Persecution is not an original +feature in any religion; but it is alway the strongly-marked feature +of all law-religions, or religions established by law. Take away the +law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original +benignity. In America, a catholic priest is a good citizen, a good +character, and a good neighbour; an episcopalian minister is of the +same description: and this proceeds independently of the men, from +there being no law-establishment in America. + +If also we view this matter in a temporal sense, we shall see the ill +effects it has had on the prosperity of nations. The union of church +and state has impoverished Spain. The revoking the edict of Nantes +drove the silk manufacture from that country into England; and church +and state are now driving the cotton manufacture from England to +America and France. Let then Mr. Burke continue to preach his +antipolitical doctrine of Church and State. It will do some good. The +National Assembly will not follow his advice, but will benefit by his +folly. It was by observing the ill effects of it in England, that +America has been warned against it; and it is by experiencing them in +France, that the National Assembly have abolished it, and, like +America, have established Universal Right Of Conscience, And +Universal Right Of Citizenship.*[7] + +I will here cease the comparison with respect to the principles of +the French Constitution, and conclude this part of the subject with a +few observations on the organisation of the formal parts of the +French and English governments. + +The executive power in each country is in the hands of a person +styled the King; but the French Constitution distinguishes between +the King and the Sovereign: It considers the station of King as +official, and places Sovereignty in the nation. + +The representatives of the nation, who compose the National Assembly, +and who are the legislative power, originate in and from the people +by election, as an inherent right in the people.- In England it is +otherwise; and this arises from the original establishment of what is +called its monarchy; for, as by the conquest all the rights of the +people or the nation were absorbed into the hands of the Conqueror, +and who added the title of King to that of Conqueror, those same +matters which in France are now held as rights in the people, or in +the nation, are held in England as grants from what is called the +crown. The Parliament in England, in both its branches, was erected +by patents from the descendants of the Conqueror. The House of +Commons did not originate as a matter of right in the people to +delegate or elect, but as a grant or boon. + +By the French Constitution the nation is always named before the +king. The third article of the declaration of rights says: "The +nation is essentially the source (or fountain) of all sovereignty." +Mr. Burke argues that in England a king is the fountain- that he is +the fountain of all honour. But as this idea is evidently descended +from the conquest I shall make no other remark upon it, than that it +is the nature of conquest to turn everything upside down; and as Mr. +Burke will not be refused the privilege of speaking twice, and as +there are but two parts in the figure, the fountain and the spout, he +will be right the second time. + +The French Constitution puts the legislative before the executive, +the law before the king; la loi, le roi. This also is in the natural +order of things, because laws must have existence before they can +have execution. + +A king in France does not, in addressing himself to the National +Assembly, say, "My Assembly," similar to the phrase used in England +of my "Parliament"; neither can he use it consistently with the +constitution, nor could it be admitted. There may be propriety in the +use of it in England, because as is before mentioned, both Houses of +Parliament originated from what is called the crown by patent or +boon- and not from the inherent rights of the people, as the National +Assembly does in France, and whose name designates its origin. + +The President of the National Assembly does not ask the King to grant +to the Assembly liberty of speech, as is the case with the English +House of Commons. The constitutional dignity of the National Assembly +cannot debase itself. Speech is, in the first place, one of the +natural rights of man always retained; and with respect to the +National Assembly the use of it is their duty, and the nation is +their authority. They were elected by the greatest body of men +exercising the right of election the European world ever saw. They +sprung not from the filth of rotten boroughs, nor are they the vassal +representatives of aristocratical ones. Feeling the proper dignity of +their character they support it. Their Parliamentary language, +whether for or against a question, is free, bold and manly, and +extends to all the parts and circumstances of the case. If any matter +or subject respecting the executive department or the person who +presides in it (the king) comes before them it is debated on with the +spirit of men, and in the language of gentlemen; and their answer or +their address is returned in the same style. They stand not aloof +with the gaping vacuity of vulgar ignorance, nor bend with the cringe +of sycophantic insignificance. The graceful pride of truth knows no +extremes, and preserves, in every latitude of life, the right-angled +character of man. + +Let us now look to the other side of the question. In the addresses +of the English Parliaments to their kings we see neither the intrepid +spirit of the old Parliaments of France, nor the serene dignity of +the present National Assembly; neither do we see in them anything of +the style of English manners, which border somewhat on bluntness. +Since then they are neither of foreign extraction, nor naturally of +English production, their origin must be sought for elsewhere, and +that origin is the Norman Conquest. They are evidently of the +vassalage class of manners, and emphatically mark the prostrate +distance that exists in no other condition of men than between the +conqueror and the conquered. That this vassalage idea and style of +speaking was not got rid of even at the Revolution of 1688, is +evident from the declaration of Parliament to William and Mary in +these words: "We do most humbly and faithfully submit ourselves, our +heirs and posterities, for ever." Submission is wholly a vassalage +term, repugnant to the dignity of freedom, and an echo of the +language used at the Conquest. + +As the estimation of all things is given by comparison, the +Revolution of 1688, however from circumstances it may have been +exalted beyond its value, will find its level. It is already on the +wane, eclipsed by the enlarging orb of reason, and the luminous +revolutions of America and France. In less than another century it +will go, as well as Mr. Burke's labours, "to the family vault of all +the Capulets." Mankind will then scarcely believe that a country +calling itself free would send to Holland for a man, and clothe him +with power on purpose to put themselves in fear of him, and give him +almost a million sterling a year for leave to submit themselves and +their posterity, like bondmen and bondwomen, for ever. + +But there is a truth that ought to be made known; I have had the +opportunity of seeing it; which is, that notwithstanding appearances, +there is not any description of men that despise monarchy so much as +courtiers. But they well know, that if it were seen by others, as it +is seen by them, the juggle could not be kept up; they are in the +condition of men who get their living by a show, and to whom the +folly of that show is so familiar that they ridicule it; but were the +audience to be made as wise in this respect as themselves, there +would be an end to the show and the profits with it. The difference +between a republican and a courtier with respect to monarchy, is that +the one opposes monarchy, believing it to be something; and the other +laughs at it, knowing it to be nothing. + +As I used sometimes to correspond with Mr. Burke believing him then +to be a man of sounder principles than his book shows him to be, I +wrote to him last winter from Paris, and gave him an account how +prosperously matters were going on. Among other subjects in that +letter, I referred to the happy situation the National Assembly were +placed in; that they had taken ground on which their moral duty and +their political interest were united. They have not to hold out a +language which they do not themselves believe, for the fraudulent +purpose of making others believe it. Their station requires no +artifice to support it, and can only be maintained by enlightening +mankind. It is not their interest to cherish ignorance, but to dispel +it. They are not in the case of a ministerial or an opposition party +in England, who, though they are opposed, are still united to keep up +the common mystery. The National Assembly must throw open a magazine +of light. It must show man the proper character of man; and the +nearer it can bring him to that standard, the stronger the National +Assembly becomes. + +In contemplating the French Constitution, we see in it a rational +order of things. The principles harmonise with the forms, and both +with their origin. It may perhaps be said as an excuse for bad forms, +that they are nothing more than forms; but this is a mistake. Forms +grow out of principles, and operate to continue the principles they +grow from. It is impossible to practise a bad form on anything but a +bad principle. It cannot be ingrafted on a good one; and wherever the +forms in any government are bad, it is a certain indication that the +principles are bad also. + +I will here finally close this subject. I began it by remarking that +Mr. Burke had voluntarily declined going into a comparison of the +English and French Constitutions. He apologises (in page 241) for not +doing it, by saying that he had not time. Mr. Burke's book was +upwards of eight months in hand, and is extended to a volume of three +hundred and sixty-six pages. As his omission does injury to his +cause, his apology makes it worse; and men on the English side of the +water will begin to consider, whether there is not some radical +defect in what is called the English constitution, that made it +necessary for Mr. Burke to suppress the comparison, to avoid bringing +it into view. + +As Mr. Burke has not written on constitutions so neither has he +written on the French Revolution. He gives no account of its +commencement or its progress. He only expresses his wonder. "It +looks," says he, "to me, as if I were in a great crisis, not of the +affairs of France alone, but of all Europe, perhaps of more than +Europe. All circumstances taken together, the French Revolution is +the most astonishing that has hitherto happened in the world." + +As wise men are astonished at foolish things, and other people at +wise ones, I know not on which ground to account for Mr. Burke's +astonishment; but certain it is, that he does not understand the +French Revolution. It has apparently burst forth like a creation from +a chaos, but it is no more than the consequence of a mental +revolution priorily existing in France. The mind of the nation had +changed beforehand, and the new order of things has naturally +followed the new order of thoughts. I will here, as concisely as I +can, trace out the growth of the French Revolution, and mark the +circumstances that have contributed to produce it. + +The despotism of Louis XIV., united with the gaiety of his Court, and +the gaudy ostentation of his character, had so humbled, and at the +same time so fascinated the mind of France, that the people appeared +to have lost all sense of their own dignity, in contemplating that of +their Grand Monarch; and the whole reign of Louis XV., remarkable +only for weakness and effeminacy, made no other alteration than that +of spreading a sort of lethargy over the nation, from which it showed +no disposition to rise. + +The only signs which appeared to the spirit of Liberty during those +periods, are to be found in the writings of the French philosophers. +Montesquieu, President of the Parliament of Bordeaux, went as far as +a writer under a despotic government could well proceed; and being +obliged to divide himself between principle and prudence, his mind +often appears under a veil, and we ought to give him credit for more +than he has expressed. + +Voltaire, who was both the flatterer and the satirist of despotism, +took another line. His forte lay in exposing and ridiculing the +superstitions which priest-craft, united with state-craft, had +interwoven with governments. It was not from the purity of his +principles, or his love of mankind (for satire and philanthropy are +not naturally concordant), but from his strong capacity of seeing +folly in its true shape, and his irresistible propensity to expose +it, that he made those attacks. They were, however, as formidable as +if the motive had been virtuous; and he merits the thanks rather than +the esteem of mankind. + +On the contrary, we find in the writings of Rousseau, and the Abbe +Raynal, a loveliness of sentiment in favour of liberty, that excites +respect, and elevates the human faculties; but having raised this +animation, they do not direct its operation, and leave the mind in +love with an object, without describing the means of possessing it. + +The writings of Quesnay, Turgot, and the friends of those authors, +are of the serious kind; but they laboured under the same +disadvantage with Montesquieu; their writings abound with moral +maxims of government, but are rather directed to economise and reform +the administration of the government, than the government itself. + +But all those writings and many others had their weight; and by the +different manner in which they treated the subject of government, +Montesquieu by his judgment and knowledge of laws, Voltaire by his +wit, Rousseau and Raynal by their animation, and Quesnay and Turgot +by their moral maxims and systems of economy, readers of every class +met with something to their taste, and a spirit of political inquiry +began to diffuse itself through the nation at the time the dispute +between England and the then colonies of America broke out. + +In the war which France afterwards engaged in, it is very well known +that the nation appeared to be before-hand with the French ministry. +Each of them had its view; but those views were directed to different +objects; the one sought liberty, and the other retaliation on +England. The French officers and soldiers who after this went to +America, were eventually placed in the school of Freedom, and learned +the practice as well as the principles of it by heart. + +As it was impossible to separate the military events which took place +in America from the principles of the American Revolution, the +publication of those events in France necessarily connected +themselves with the principles which produced them. Many of the facts +were in themselves principles; such as the declaration of American +Independence, and the treaty of alliance between France and America, +which recognised the natural rights of man, and justified resistance +to oppression. + +The then Minister of France, Count Vergennes, was not the friend of +America; and it is both justice and gratitude to say, that it was the +Queen of France who gave the cause of America a fashion at the French +Court. Count Vergennes was the personal and social friend of Dr. +Franklin; and the Doctor had obtained, by his sensible gracefulness, +a sort of influence over him; but with respect to principles Count +Vergennes was a despot. + +The situation of Dr. Franklin, as Minister from America to France, +should be taken into the chain of circumstances. The diplomatic +character is of itself the narrowest sphere of society that man can +act in. It forbids intercourse by the reciprocity of suspicion; and a +diplomatic is a sort of unconnected atom, continually repelling and +repelled. But this was not the case with Dr. Franklin. He was not the +diplomatic of a Court, but of Man. His character as a philosopher had +been long established, and his circle of society in France was +universal. + +Count Vergennes resisted for a considerable time the publication in +France of American constitutions, translated into the French +language: but even in this he was obliged to give way to public +opinion, and a sort of propriety in admitting to appear what he had +undertaken to defend. The American constitutions were to liberty what +a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech, and +practically construct them into syntax. + +The peculiar situation of the then Marquis de la Fayette is another +link in the great chain. He served in America as an American officer +under a commission of Congress, and by the universality of his +acquaintance was in close friendship with the civil government of +America, as well as with the military line. He spoke the language of +the country, entered into the discussions on the principles of +government, and was always a welcome friend at any election. + +When the war closed, a vast reinforcement to the cause of Liberty +spread itself over France, by the return of the French officers and +soldiers. A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; +and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity. +Man cannot, properly speaking, make circumstances for his purpose, +but he always has it in his power to improve them when they occur, +and this was the case in France. + +M. Neckar was displaced in May, 1781; and by the ill-management of +the finances afterwards, and particularly during the extravagant +administration of M. Calonne, the revenue of France, which was nearly +twenty-four millions sterling per year, was become unequal to the +expenditure, not because the revenue had decreased, but because the +expenses had increased; and this was a circumstance which the nation +laid hold of to bring forward a Revolution. The English Minister, Mr. +Pitt, has frequently alluded to the state of the French finances in +his budgets, without understanding the subject. Had the French +Parliaments been as ready to register edicts for new taxes as an +English Parliament is to grant them, there had been no derangement in +the finances, nor yet any Revolution; but this will better explain +itself as I proceed. + +It will be necessary here to show how taxes were formerly raised in +France. The King, or rather the Court or Ministry acting under the +use of that name, framed the edicts for taxes at their own +discretion, and sent them to the Parliaments to be registered; for +until they were registered by the Parliaments they were not +operative. Disputes had long existed between the Court and the +Parliaments with respect to the extent of the Parliament's authority +on this head. The Court insisted that the authority of Parliaments +went no farther than to remonstrate or show reasons against the tax, +reserving to itself the right of determining whether the reasons were +well or ill-founded; and in consequence thereof, either to withdraw +the edict as a matter of choice, or to order it to be unregistered as +a matter of authority. The Parliaments on their part insisted that +they had not only a right to remonstrate, but to reject; and on this +ground they were always supported by the nation. + +But to return to the order of my narrative. M. Calonne wanted money: +and as he knew the sturdy disposition of the Parliaments with respect +to new taxes, he ingeniously sought either to approach them by a more +gentle means than that of direct authority, or to get over their +heads by a manoeuvre; and for this purpose he revived the project of +assembling a body of men from the several provinces, under the style +of an "Assembly of the Notables," or men of note, who met in 1787, +and who were either to recommend taxes to the Parliaments, or to act +as a Parliament themselves. An Assembly under this name had been +called in 1617. + +As we are to view this as the first practical step towards the +Revolution, it will be proper to enter into some particulars +respecting it. The Assembly of the Notables has in some places been +mistaken for the States-General, but was wholly a different body, the +States-General being always by election. The persons who composed the +Assembly of the Notables were all nominated by the king, and +consisted of one hundred and forty members. But as M. Calonne could +not depend upon a majority of this Assembly in his favour, he very +ingeniously arranged them in such a manner as to make forty-four a +majority of one hundred and forty; to effect this he disposed of them +into seven separate committees, of twenty members each. Every general +question was to be decided, not by a majority of persons, but by a +majority of committee, and as eleven votes would make a majority in a +committee, and four committees a majority of seven, M. Calonne had +good reason to conclude that as forty-four would determine any +general question he could not be outvoted. But all his plans deceived +him, and in the event became his overthrow. + +The then Marquis de la Fayette was placed in the second committee, of +which the Count D'Artois was president, and as money matters were the +object, it naturally brought into view every circumstance connected +with it. M. de la Fayette made a verbal charge against Calonne for +selling crown lands to the amount of two millions of livres, in a +manner that appeared to be unknown to the king. The Count D'Artois +(as if to intimidate, for the Bastille was then in being) asked the +Marquis if he would render the charge in writing? He replied that he +would. The Count D'Artois did not demand it, but brought a message +from the king to that purport. M. de la Fayette then delivered in his +charge in writing, to be given to the king, undertaking to support +it. No farther proceedings were had upon this affair, but M. Calonne +was soon after dismissed by the king and set off to England. + +As M. de la Fayette, from the experience of what he had seen in +America, was better acquainted with the science of civil government +than the generality of the members who composed the Assembly of the +Notables could then be, the brunt of the business fell considerably +to his share. The plan of those who had a constitution in view was to +contend with the Court on the ground of taxes, and some of them +openly professed their object. Disputes frequently arose between +Count D'Artois and M. de la Fayette upon various subjects. With +respect to the arrears already incurred the latter proposed to remedy +them by accommodating the expenses to the revenue instead of the +revenue to the expenses; and as objects of reform he proposed to +abolish the Bastille and all the State prisons throughout the nation +(the keeping of which was attended with great expense), and to +suppress Lettres de Cachet; but those matters were not then much +attended to, and with respect to Lettres de Cachet, a majority of the +Nobles appeared to be in favour of them. + +On the subject of supplying the Treasury by new taxes the Assembly +declined taking the matter on themselves, concurring in the opinion +that they had not authority. In a debate on this subject M. de la +Fayette said that raising money by taxes could only be done by a +National Assembly, freely elected by the people, and acting as their +representatives. Do you mean, said the Count D'Artois, the +States-General? M. de la Fayette replied that he did. Will you, said +the Count D'Artois, sign what you say to be given to the king? The +other replied that he would not only do this but that he would go +farther, and say that the effectual mode would be for the king to +agree to the establishment of a constitution. + +As one of the plans had thus failed, that of getting the Assembly to +act as a Parliament, the other came into view, that of recommending. +On this subject the Assembly agreed to recommend two new taxes to be +unregistered by the Parliament: the one a stamp-tax and the other a +territorial tax, or sort of land-tax. The two have been estimated at +about five millions sterling per annum. We have now to turn our +attention to the Parliaments, on whom the business was again +devolving. + +The Archbishop of Thoulouse (since Archbishop of Sens, and now a +Cardinal), was appointed to the administration of the finances soon +after the dismission of Calonne. He was also made Prime Minister, an +office that did not always exist in France. When this office did not +exist, the chief of each of the principal departments transacted +business immediately with the King, but when a Prime Minister was +appointed they did business only with him. The Archbishop arrived to +more state authority than any minister since the Duke de Choiseul, +and the nation was strongly disposed in his favour; but by a line of +conduct scarcely to be accounted for he perverted every opportunity, +turned out a despot, and sunk into disgrace, and a Cardinal. + +The Assembly of the Notables having broken up, the minister sent the +edicts for the two new taxes recommended by the Assembly to the +Parliaments to be unregistered. They of course came first before the +Parliament of Paris, who returned for answer: "that with such a +revenue as the nation then supported the name of taxes ought not to +be mentioned but for the purpose of reducing them"; and threw both +the edicts out.*[8] On this refusal the Parliament was ordered to +Versailles, where, in the usual form, the King held what under the +old government was called a Bed of justice; and the two edicts were +unregistered in presence of the Parliament by an order of State, in +the manner mentioned, earlier. On this the Parliament immediately +returned to Paris, renewed their session in form, and ordered the +enregistering to be struck out, declaring that everything done at +Versailles was illegal. All the members of the Parliament were then +served with Lettres de Cachet, and exiled to Troyes; but as they +continued as inflexible in exile as before, and as vengeance did not +supply the place of taxes, they were after a short time recalled to +Paris. + +The edicts were again tendered to them, and the Count D'Artois +undertook to act as representative of the King. For this purpose he +came from Versailles to Paris, in a train of procession; and the +Parliament were assembled to receive him. But show and parade had +lost their influence in France; and whatever ideas of importance he +might set off with, he had to return with those of mortification and +disappointment. On alighting from his carriage to ascend the steps of +the Parliament House, the crowd (which was numerously collected) +threw out trite expressions, saying: "This is Monsieur D'Artois, who +wants more of our money to spend." The marked disapprobation which he +saw impressed him with apprehensions, and the word Aux armes! (To +arms!) was given out by the officer of the guard who attended him. It +was so loudly vociferated, that it echoed through the avenues of the +house, and produced a temporary confusion. I was then standing in one +of the apartments through which he had to pass, and could not avoid +reflecting how wretched was the condition of a disrespected man. + +He endeavoured to impress the Parliament by great words, and opened +his authority by saying, "The King, our Lord and Master." The +Parliament received him very coolly, and with their usual +determination not to register the taxes: and in this manner the +interview ended. + +After this a new subject took place: In the various debates and +contests which arose between the Court and the Parliaments on the +subject of taxes, the Parliament of Paris at last declared that +although it had been customary for Parliaments to enregister edicts +for taxes as a matter of convenience, the right belonged only to the +States-General; and that, therefore, the Parliament could no longer +with propriety continue to debate on what it had not authority to +act. The King after this came to Paris and held a meeting with the +Parliament, in which he continued from ten in the morning till about +six in the evening, and, in a manner that appeared to proceed from +him as if unconsulted upon with the Cabinet or Ministry, gave his +word to the Parliament that the States-General should be convened. + +But after this another scene arose, on a ground different from all +the former. The Minister and the Cabinet were averse to calling the +States-General. They well knew that if the States-General were +assembled, themselves must fall; and as the King had not mentioned +any time, they hit on a project calculated to elude, without +appearing to oppose. + +For this purpose, the Court set about making a sort of constitution +itself. It was principally the work of M. Lamoignon, the Keeper of +the Seals, who afterwards shot himself. This new arrangement +consisted in establishing a body under the name of a Cour Pleniere, +or Full Court, in which were invested all the powers that the +Government might have occasion to make use of. The persons composing +this Court were to be nominated by the King; the contended right of +taxation was given up on the part of the King, and a new criminal +code of laws and law proceedings was substituted in the room of the +former. The thing, in many points, contained better principles than +those upon which the Government had hitherto been administered; but +with respect to the Cour Pleniere, it was no other than a medium +through which despotism was to pass, without appearing to act +directly from itself. + +The Cabinet had high expectations from their new contrivance. The +people who were to compose the Cour Pleniere were already nominated; +and as it was necessary to carry a fair appearance, many of the best +characters in the nation were appointed among the number. It was to +commence on May 8, 1788; but an opposition arose to it on two +grounds the one as to principle, the other as to form. + +On the ground of Principle it was contended that Government had not a +right to alter itself, and that if the practice was once admitted it +would grow into a principle and be made a precedent for any future +alterations the Government might wish to establish: that the right of +altering the Government was a national right, and not a right of +Government. And on the ground of form it was contended that the Cour +Pleniere was nothing more than a larger Cabinet. + +The then Duke de la Rochefoucault, Luxembourg, De Noailles, and many +others, refused to accept the nomination, and strenuously opposed the +whole plan. When the edict for establishing this new court was sent +to the Parliaments to be unregistered and put into execution, they +resisted also. The Parliament of Paris not only refused, but denied +the authority; and the contest renewed itself between the Parliament +and the Cabinet more strongly than ever. While the Parliament were +sitting in debate on this subject, the Ministry ordered a regiment of +soldiers to surround the House and form a blockade. The members sent +out for beds and provisions, and lived as in a besieged citadel: and +as this had no effect, the commanding officer was ordered to enter +the Parliament House and seize them, which he did, and some of the +principal members were shut up in different prisons. About the same +time a deputation of persons arrived from the province of Brittany to +remonstrate against the establishment of the Cour Pleniere, and those +the archbishop sent to the Bastille. But the spirit of the nation was +not to be overcome, and it was so fully sensible of the strong ground +it had taken- that of withholding taxes- that it contented itself +with keeping up a sort of quiet resistance, which effectually +overthrew all the plans at that time formed against it. The project +of the Cour Pleniere was at last obliged to be given up, and the +Prime Minister not long afterwards followed its fate, and M. Neckar +was recalled into office. + +The attempt to establish the Cour Pleniere had an effect upon the +nation which itself did not perceive. It was a sort of new form of +government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and +to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity. It was +Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to +make a new one, made a chasm. + +The failure of this scheme renewed the subject of convening the +State-General; and this gave rise to a new series of politics. There +was no settled form for convening the States-General: all that it +positively meant was a deputation from what was then called the +Clergy, the Noblesse, and the Commons; but their numbers or their +proportions had not been always the same. They had been convened only +on extraordinary occasions, the last of which was in 1614; their +numbers were then in equal proportions, and they voted by orders. + +It could not well escape the sagacity of M. Neckar, that the mode of +1614 would answer neither the purpose of the then government nor of +the nation. As matters were at that time circumstanced it would have +been too contentious to agree upon anything. The debates would have +been endless upon privileges and exemptions, in which neither the +wants of the Government nor the wishes of the nation for a +Constitution would have been attended to. But as he did not choose to +take the decision upon himself, he summoned again the Assembly of the +Notables and referred it to them. This body was in general interested +in the decision, being chiefly of aristocracy and high-paid clergy, +and they decided in favor of the mode of 1614. This decision was +against the sense of the Nation, and also against the wishes of the +Court; for the aristocracy opposed itself to both and contended for +privileges independent of either. The subject was then taken up by +the Parliament, who recommended that the number of the Commons should +be equal to the other two: and they should all sit in one house and +vote in one body. The number finally determined on was 1,200; 600 to +be chosen by the Commons (and this was less than their proportion +ought to have been when their worth and consequence is considered on +a national scale), 300 by the Clergy, and 300 by the Aristocracy; but +with respect to the mode of assembling themselves, whether together +or apart, or the manner in which they should vote, those matters were +referred.*[9] + +The election that followed was not a contested election, but an +animated one. The candidates were not men, but principles. Societies +were formed in Paris, and committees of correspondence and +communication established throughout the nation, for the purpose of +enlightening the people, and explaining to them the principles of +civil government; and so orderly was the election conducted, that it +did not give rise even to the rumour of tumult. + +The States-General were to meet at Versailles in April 1789, but did +not assemble till May. They situated themselves in three separate +chambers, or rather the Clergy and Aristocracy withdrew each into a +separate chamber. The majority of the Aristocracy claimed what they +called the privilege of voting as a separate body, and of giving +their consent or their negative in that manner; and many of the +bishops and the high-beneficed clergy claimed the same privilege on +the part of their Order. + +The Tiers Etat (as they were then called) disowned any knowledge of +artificial orders and artificial privileges; and they were not only +resolute on this point, but somewhat disdainful. They began to +consider the Aristocracy as a kind of fungus growing out of the +corruption of society, that could not be admitted even as a branch of +it; and from the disposition the Aristocracy had shown by upholding +Lettres de Cachet, and in sundry other instances, it was manifest +that no constitution could be formed by admitting men in any other +character than as National Men. + +After various altercations on this head, the Tiers Etat or Commons +(as they were then called) declared themselves (on a motion made for +that purpose by the Abbe Sieyes) "The Representative Of The Nation; +and that the two Orders could be considered but as deputies of +corporations, and could only have a deliberate voice when they +assembled in a national character with the national representatives." +This proceeding extinguished the style of Etats Generaux, or +States-General, and erected it into the style it now bears, that of +L'Assemblee Nationale, or National Assembly. + +This motion was not made in a precipitate manner. It was the result +of cool deliberation, and concerned between the national +representatives and the patriotic members of the two chambers, who +saw into the folly, mischief, and injustice of artificial privileged +distinctions. It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of +being called by that name, could be established on anything less than +a national ground. The Aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism +of the Court, and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed +it as its rival (as the English Barons opposed King John) and it now +opposed the nation from the same motives. + +On carrying this motion, the national representatives, as had been +concerted, sent an invitation to the two chambers, to unite with them +in a national character, and proceed to business. A majority of the +clergy, chiefly of the parish priests, withdrew from the clerical +chamber, and joined the nation; and forty-five from the other chamber +joined in like manner. There is a sort of secret history belonging to +this last circumstance, which is necessary to its explanation; it was +not judged prudent that all the patriotic members of the chamber +styling itself the Nobles, should quit it at once; and in consequence +of this arrangement, they drew off by degrees, always leaving some, +as well to reason the case, as to watch the suspected. In a little +time the numbers increased from forty-five to eighty, and soon after +to a greater number; which, with the majority of the clergy, and the +whole of the national representatives, put the malcontents in a very +diminutive condition. + +The King, who, very different from the general class called by that +name, is a man of a good heart, showed himself disposed to recommend +a union of the three chambers, on the ground the National Assembly +had taken; but the malcontents exerted themselves to prevent it, and +began now to have another project in view. Their numbers consisted of +a majority of the aristocratical chamber, and the minority of the +clerical chamber, chiefly of bishops and high-beneficed clergy; and +these men were determined to put everything to issue, as well by +strength as by stratagem. They had no objection to a constitution; +but it must be such a one as themselves should dictate, and suited to +their own views and particular situations. On the other hand, the +Nation disowned knowing anything of them but as citizens, and was +determined to shut out all such up-start pretensions. The more +aristocracy appeared, the more it was despised; there was a visible +imbecility and want of intellects in the majority, a sort of je ne +sais quoi, that while it affected to be more than citizen, was less +than man. It lost ground from contempt more than from hatred; and was +rather jeered at as an ass, than dreaded as a lion. This is the +general character of aristocracy, or what are called Nobles or +Nobility, or rather No-ability, in all countries. + +The plan of the malcontents consisted now of two things; either to +deliberate and vote by chambers (or orders), more especially on all +questions respecting a Constitution (by which the aristocratical +chamber would have had a negative on any article of the +Constitution); or, in case they could not accomplish this object, to +overthrow the National Assembly entirely. + +To effect one or other of these objects they began to cultivate a +friendship with the despotism they had hitherto attempted to rival, +and the Count D'Artois became their chief. The king (who has since +declared himself deceived into their measures) held, according to the +old form, a Bed of Justice, in which he accorded to the deliberation +and vote par tete (by head) upon several subjects; but reserved the +deliberation and vote upon all questions respecting a constitution to +the three chambers separately. This declaration of the king was made +against the advice of M. Neckar, who now began to perceive that he +was growing out of fashion at Court, and that another minister was in +contemplation. + +As the form of sitting in separate chambers was yet apparently kept +up, though essentially destroyed, the national representatives +immediately after this declaration of the King resorted to their own +chambers to consult on a protest against it; and the minority of the +chamber (calling itself the Nobles), who had joined the national +cause, retired to a private house to consult in like manner. The +malcontents had by this time concerted their measures with the court, +which the Count D'Artois undertook to conduct; and as they saw from +the discontent which the declaration excited, and the opposition +making against it, that they could not obtain a control over the +intended constitution by a separate vote, they prepared themselves +for their final object- that of conspiring against the National +Assembly, and overthrowing it. + +The next morning the door of the chamber of the National Assembly was +shut against them, and guarded by troops; and the members were +refused admittance. On this they withdrew to a tennis-ground in the +neighbourhood of Versailles, as the most convenient place they could +find, and, after renewing their session, took an oath never to +separate from each other, under any circumstance whatever, death +excepted, until they had established a constitution. As the +experiment of shutting up the house had no other effect than that of +producing a closer connection in the members, it was opened again the +next day, and the public business recommenced in the usual place. + +We are now to have in view the forming of the new ministry, which was +to accomplish the overthrow of the National Assembly. But as force +would be necessary, orders were issued to assemble thirty thousand +troops, the command of which was given to Broglio, one of the +intended new ministry, who was recalled from the country for this +purpose. But as some management was necessary to keep this plan +concealed till the moment it should be ready for execution, it is to +this policy that a declaration made by Count D'Artois must be +attributed, and which is here proper to be introduced. + +It could not but occur while the malcontents continued to resort to +their chambers separate from the National Assembly, more jealousy +would be excited than if they were mixed with it, and that the plot +might be suspected. But as they had taken their ground, and now +wanted a pretence for quitting it, it was necessary that one should +be devised. This was effectually accomplished by a declaration made +by the Count D'Artois: "That if they took not a Part in the National +Assembly, the life of the king would be endangered": on which they +quitted their chambers, and mixed with the Assembly, in one body. + +At the time this declaration was made, it was generally treated as a +piece of absurdity in Count D'Artois calculated merely to relieve the +outstanding members of the two chambers from the diminutive situation +they were put in; and if nothing more had followed, this conclusion +would have been good. But as things best explain themselves by their +events, this apparent union was only a cover to the machinations +which were secretly going on; and the declaration accommodated itself +to answer that purpose. In a little time the National Assembly found +itself surrounded by troops, and thousands more were daily arriving. +On this a very strong declaration was made by the National Assembly +to the King, remonstrating on the impropriety of the measure, and +demanding the reason. The King, who was not in the secret of this +business, as himself afterwards declared, gave substantially for +answer, that he had no other object in view than to preserve the +public tranquility, which appeared to be much disturbed. + +But in a few days from this time the plot unravelled itself M. Neckar +and the ministry were displaced, and a new one formed of the enemies +of the Revolution; and Broglio, with between twenty-five and thirty +thousand foreign troops, was arrived to support them. The mask was +now thrown off, and matters were come to a crisis. The event was that +in a space of three days the new ministry and their abettors found it +prudent to fly the nation; the Bastille was taken, and Broglio and +his foreign troops dispersed, as is already related in the former +part of this work. + +There are some curious circumstances in the history of this +short-lived ministry, and this short-lived attempt at a +counter-revolution. The Palace of Versailles, where the Court was +sitting, was not more than four hundred yards distant from the hall +where the National Assembly was sitting. The two places were at this +moment like the separate headquarters of two combatant armies; yet +the Court was as perfectly ignorant of the information which had +arrived from Paris to the National Assembly, as if it had resided at +an hundred miles distance. The then Marquis de la Fayette, who (as +has been already mentioned) was chosen to preside in the National +Assembly on this particular occasion, named by order of the Assembly +three successive deputations to the king, on the day and up to the +evening on which the Bastille was taken, to inform and confer with +him on the state of affairs; but the ministry, who knew not so much +as that it was attacked, precluded all communication, and were +solacing themselves how dextrously they had succeeded; but in a few +hours the accounts arrived so thick and fast that they had to start +from their desks and run. Some set off in one disguise, and some in +another, and none in their own character. Their anxiety now was to +outride the news, lest they should be stopt, which, though it flew +fast, flew not so fast as themselves. + +It is worth remarking that the National Assembly neither pursued +those fugitive conspirators, nor took any notice of them, nor sought +to retaliate in any shape whatever. Occupied with establishing a +constitution founded on the Rights of Man and the Authority of the +People, the only authority on which Government has a right to exist +in any country, the National Assembly felt none of those mean +passions which mark the character of impertinent governments, +founding themselves on their own authority, or on the absurdity of +hereditary succession. It is the faculty of the human mind to become +what it contemplates, and to act in unison with its object. + +The conspiracy being thus dispersed, one of the first works of the +National Assembly, instead of vindictive proclamations, as has been +the case with other governments, was to publish a declaration of the +Rights of Man, as the basis on which the new constitution was to be +built, and which is here subjoined: + + Declaration + + Of The + + Rights Of Man And Of Citizens + + By The National Assembly Of France + +The representatives of the people of France, formed into a National +Assembly, considering that ignorance, neglect, or contempt of human +rights, are the sole causes of public misfortunes and corruptions of +Government, have resolved to set forth in a solemn declaration, these +natural, imprescriptible, and inalienable rights: that this +declaration being constantly present to the minds of the members of +the body social, they may be forever kept attentive to their rights +and their duties; that the acts of the legislative and executive +powers of Government, being capable of being every moment compared +with the end of political institutions, may be more respected; and +also, that the future claims of the citizens, being directed by +simple and incontestable principles, may always tend to the +maintenance of the Constitution, and the general happiness. + +For these reasons the National Assembly doth recognize and declare, +in the presence of the Supreme Being, and with the hope of his +blessing and favour, the following sacred rights of men and of +citizens: + +One: Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of +their Rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on +Public Utility. + +Two: The end of all Political associations is the Preservation of the +Natural and Imprescriptible Rights of Man; and these rights are +Liberty, Property, Security, and Resistance of Oppression. + +Three: The Nation is essentially the source of all Sovereignty; nor +can any individual, or any body of Men, be entitled to any authority +which is not expressly derived from it. + +Four: Political Liberty consists in the power of doing whatever does +not Injure another. The exercise of the Natural Rights of every Man, +has no other limits than those which are necessary to secure to every +other Man the Free exercise of the same Rights; and these limits are +determinable only by the Law. + +Five: The Law ought to Prohibit only actions hurtful to Society. What +is not Prohibited by the Law should not be hindered; nor should +anyone be compelled to that which the Law does not Require. + +Six: the Law is an expression of the Will of the Community. All +Citizens have a right to concur, either personally or by their +Representatives, in its formation. It Should be the same to all, +whether it protects or punishes; and all being equal in its sight, +are equally eligible to all Honours, Places, and employments, +according to their different abilities, without any other distinction +than that created by their Virtues and talents. + +Seven: No Man should be accused, arrested, or held in confinement, +except in cases determined by the Law, and according to the forms +which it has prescribed. All who promote, solicit, execute, or cause +to be executed, arbitrary orders, ought to be punished, and every +Citizen called upon, or apprehended by virtue of the Law, ought +immediately to obey, and renders himself culpable by resistance. + +Eight: The Law ought to impose no other penalties but such as are +absolutely and evidently necessary; and no one ought to be punished, +but in virtue of a Law promulgated before the offence, and Legally +applied. + +Nine: Every Man being presumed innocent till he has been convicted, +whenever his detention becomes indispensable, all rigour to him, more +than is necessary to secure his person, ought to be provided against +by the Law. + +Ten: No Man ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even +on account of his Religious opinions, provided his avowal of them +does not disturb the Public Order established by the Law. + +Eleven: The unrestrained communication of thoughts and opinions being +one of the Most Precious Rights of Man, every Citizen may speak, +write, and publish freely, provided he is responsible for the abuse +of this Liberty, in cases determined by the Law. + +Twelve: A Public force being necessary to give security to the Rights +of Men and of Citizens, that force is instituted for the benefit of +the Community and not for the particular benefit of the persons to +whom it is intrusted. + +Thirteen: A common contribution being necessary for the support of +the Public force, and for defraying the other expenses of Government, +it ought to be divided equally among the Members of the Community, +according to their abilities. + +Fourteen: every Citizen has a Right, either by himself or his +Representative, to a free voice in determining the necessity of +Public Contributions, the appropriation of them, and their amount, +mode of assessment, and duration. + +Fifteen: every Community has a Right to demand of all its agents an +account of their conduct. + +Sixteen: every Community in which a Separation of Powers and a +Security of Rights is not Provided for, wants a Constitution. + +Seventeen: The Right to Property being inviolable and sacred, no one +ought to be deprived of it, except in cases of evident Public +necessity, legally ascertained, and on condition of a previous just +Indemnity. + + OBSERVATIONS + + ON THE + + DECLARATION OF RIGHTS + +The first three articles comprehend in general terms the whole of a +Declaration of Rights, all the succeeding articles either originate +from them or follow as elucidations. The 4th, 5th, and 6th define +more particularly what is only generally expressed in the 1st, 2nd, +and 3rd. + +The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th articles are declaratory of +principles upon which laws shall be constructed, conformable to +rights already declared. But it is questioned by some very good +people in France, as well as in other countries, whether the 10th +article sufficiently guarantees the right it is intended to accord +with; besides which it takes off from the divine dignity of religion, +and weakens its operative force upon the mind, to make it a subject +of human laws. It then presents itself to man like light intercepted +by a cloudy medium, in which the source of it is obscured from his +sight, and he sees nothing to reverence in the dusky ray.*[10] + +The remaining articles, beginning with the twelfth, are substantially +contained in the principles of the preceding articles; but in the +particular situation in which France then was, having to undo what +was wrong, as well as to set up what was right, it was proper to be +more particular than what in another condition of things would be +necessary. + +While the Declaration of Rights was before the National Assembly some +of its members remarked that if a declaration of rights were +published it should be accompanied by a Declaration of Duties. The +observation discovered a mind that reflected, and it only erred by +not reflecting far enough. A Declaration of Rights is, by +reciprocity, a Declaration of Duties also. Whatever is my right as a +man is also the right of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee +as well as to possess. + +The three first articles are the base of Liberty, as well individual +as national; nor can any country be called free whose government does +not take its beginning from the principles they contain, and continue +to preserve them pure; and the whole of the Declaration of Rights is +of more value to the world, and will do more good, than all the laws +and statutes that have yet been promulgated. + +In the declaratory exordium which prefaces the Declaration of Rights +we see the solemn and majestic spectacle of a nation opening its +commission, under the auspices of its Creator, to establish a +Government, a scene so new, and so transcendantly unequalled by +anything in the European world, that the name of a Revolution is +diminutive of its character, and it rises into a Regeneration of man. +What are the present Governments of Europe but a scene of iniquity +and oppression? What is that of England? Do not its own inhabitants +say it is a market where every man has his price, and where +corruption is common traffic at the expense of a deluded people? No +wonder, then, that the French Revolution is traduced. Had it confined +itself merely to the destruction of flagrant despotism perhaps Mr. +Burke and some others had been silent. Their cry now is, "It has gone +too far"- that is, it has gone too far for them. It stares corruption +in the face, and the venal tribe are all alarmed. Their fear +discovers itself in their outrage, and they are but publishing the +groans of a wounded vice. But from such opposition the French +Revolution, instead of suffering, receives an homage. The more it is +struck the more sparks it will emit; and the fear is it will not be +struck enough. It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given +it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting +as his own. + +Having now traced the progress of the French Revolution through most +of its principal stages, from its commencement to the taking of the +Bastille, and its establishment by the Declaration of Rights, I will +close the subject with the energetic apostrophe of M. de la +Fayette"May this great monument, raised to Liberty, serve as a lesson +to the oppressor, and an example to the oppressed!"*[11] + + MISCELLANEOUS CHAPTER + +To prevent interrupting the argument in the preceding part of this +work, or the narrative that follows it, I reserved some observations +to be thrown together in a Miscellaneous Chapter; by which variety +might not be censured for confusion. Mr. Burke's book is all +Miscellany. His intention was to make an attack on the French +Revolution; but instead of proceeding with an orderly arrangement, he +has stormed it with a mob of ideas tumbling over and destroying one +another. + +But this confusion and contradiction in Mr. Burke's Book is easily +accounted for.- When a man in a wrong cause attempts to steer his +course by anything else than some polar truth or principle, he is +sure to be lost. It is beyond the compass of his capacity to keep all +the parts of an argument together, and make them unite in one issue, +by any other means than having this guide always in view. Neither +memory nor invention will supply the want of it. The former fails +him, and the latter betrays him. + +Notwithstanding the nonsense, for it deserves no better name, that +Mr. Burke has asserted about hereditary rights, and hereditary +succession, and that a Nation has not a right to form a Government of +itself; it happened to fall in his way to give some account of what +Government is. "Government," says he, "is a contrivance of human +wisdom." + +Admitting that government is a contrivance of human wisdom, it must +necessarily follow, that hereditary succession, and hereditary rights +(as they are called), can make no part of it, because it is +impossible to make wisdom hereditary; and on the other hand, that +cannot be a wise contrivance, which in its operation may commit the +government of a nation to the wisdom of an idiot. The ground which +Mr. Burke now takes is fatal to every part of his cause. The argument +changes from hereditary rights to hereditary wisdom; and the question +is, Who is the wisest man? He must now show that every one in the +line of hereditary succession was a Solomon, or his title is not good +to be a king. What a stroke has Mr. Burke now made! To use a sailor's +phrase, he has swabbed the deck, and scarcely left a name legible in +the list of Kings; and he has mowed down and thinned the House of +Peers, with a scythe as formidable as Death and Time. + +But Mr. Burke appears to have been aware of this retort; and he has +taken care to guard against it, by making government to be not only a +contrivance of human wisdom, but a monopoly of wisdom. He puts the +nation as fools on one side, and places his government of wisdom, all +wise men of Gotham, on the other side; and he then proclaims, and +says that "Men have a Right that their Wants should be provided for +by this wisdom." Having thus made proclamation, he next proceeds to +explain to them what their wants are, and also what their rights are. +In this he has succeeded dextrously, for he makes their wants to be a +want of wisdom; but as this is cold comfort, he then informs them, +that they have a right (not to any of the wisdom) but to be governed +by it; and in order to impress them with a solemn reverence for this +monopoly-government of wisdom, and of its vast capacity for all +purposes, possible or impossible, right or wrong, he proceeds with +astrological mysterious importance, to tell to them its powers in +these words: "The rights of men in government are their advantages; +and these are often in balance between differences of good; and in +compromises sometimes between good and evil, and sometimes between +evil and evil. Political reason is a computing principle; adding- +subtracting- multiplying- and dividing, morally and not +metaphysically or mathematically, true moral denominations." + +As the wondering audience, whom Mr. Burke supposes himself talking +to, may not understand all this learned jargon, I will undertake to +be its interpreter. The meaning, then, good people, of all this, is: +That government is governed by no principle whatever; that it can +make evil good, or good evil, just as it pleases. In short, that +government is arbitrary power. + +But there are some things which Mr. Burke has forgotten. First, he +has not shown where the wisdom originally came from: and secondly, he +has not shown by what authority it first began to act. In the manner +he introduces the matter, it is either government stealing wisdom, or +wisdom stealing government. It is without an origin, and its powers +without authority. In short, it is usurpation. + +Whether it be from a sense of shame, or from a consciousness of some +radical defect in a government necessary to be kept out of sight, or +from both, or from any other cause, I undertake not to determine, but +so it is, that a monarchical reasoner never traces government to its +source, or from its source. It is one of the shibboleths by which he +may be known. A thousand years hence, those who shall live in America +or France, will look back with contemplative pride on the origin of +their government, and say, This was the work of our glorious +ancestors! But what can a monarchical talker say? What has he to +exult in? Alas he has nothing. A certain something forbids him to +look back to a beginning, lest some robber, or some Robin Hood, +should rise from the long obscurity of time and say, I am the origin. +Hard as Mr. Burke laboured at the Regency Bill and Hereditary +Succession two years ago, and much as he dived for precedents, he +still had not boldness enough to bring up William of Normandy, and +say, There is the head of the list! there is the fountain of honour! +the son of a prostitute, and the plunderer of the English nation. + +The opinions of men with respect to government are changing fast in +all countries. The Revolutions of America and France have thrown a +beam of light over the world, which reaches into man. The enormous +expense of governments has provoked people to think, by making them +feel; and when once the veil begins to rend, it admits not of repair. +Ignorance is of a peculiar nature: once dispelled, it is impossible +to re-establish it. It is not originally a thing of itself, but is +only the absence of knowledge; and though man may be kept ignorant, +he cannot be made ignorant. The mind, in discovering truth, acts in +the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; +when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind +back to the same condition it was in before it saw it. Those who talk +of a counter-revolution in France, show how little they understand of +man. There does not exist in the compass of language an arrangement +of words to express so much as the means of effecting a +counter-revolution. The means must be an obliteration of knowledge; +and it has never yet been discovered how to make man unknow his +knowledge, or unthink his thoughts. + +Mr. Burke is labouring in vain to stop the progress of knowledge; and +it comes with the worse grace from him, as there is a certain +transaction known in the city which renders him suspected of being a +pensioner in a fictitious name. This may account for some strange +doctrine he has advanced in his book, which though he points it at +the Revolution Society, is effectually directed against the whole +nation. + +"The King of England," says he, "holds his crown (for it does not +belong to the Nation, according to Mr. Burke) in contempt of the +choice of the Revolution Society, who have not a single vote for a +king among them either individually or collectively; and his +Majesty's heirs each in their time and order, will come to the Crown +with the same contempt of their choice, with which his Majesty has +succeeded to that which he now wears." + +As to who is King in England, or elsewhere, or whether there is any +King at all, or whether the people choose a Cherokee chief, or a +Hessian hussar for a King, it is not a matter that I trouble myself +about- be that to themselves; but with respect to the doctrine, so +far as it relates to the Rights of Men and Nations, it is as +abominable as anything ever uttered in the most enslaved country +under heaven. Whether it sounds worse to my ear, by not being +accustomed to hear such despotism, than what it does to another +person, I am not so well a judge of; but of its abominable principle +I am at no loss to judge. + +It is not the Revolution Society that Mr. Burke means; it is the +Nation, as well in its original as in its representative character; +and he has taken care to make himself understood, by saying that they +have not a vote either collectively or individually. The Revolution +Society is composed of citizens of all denominations, and of members +of both the Houses of Parliament; and consequently, if there is not a +right to a vote in any of the characters, there can be no right to +any either in the nation or in its Parliament. This ought to be a +caution to every country how to import foreign families to be kings. +It is somewhat curious to observe, that although the people of +England had been in the habit of talking about kings, it is always a +Foreign House of Kings; hating Foreigners yet governed by them.- It +is now the House of Brunswick, one of the petty tribes of Germany. + +It has hitherto been the practice of the English Parliaments to +regulate what was called the succession (taking it for granted that +the Nation then continued to accord to the form of annexing a +monarchical branch of its government; for without this the Parliament +could not have had authority to have sent either to Holland or to +Hanover, or to impose a king upon the nation against its will). And +this must be the utmost limit to which Parliament can go upon this +case; but the right of the Nation goes to the whole case, because it +has the right of changing its whole form of government. The right of +a Parliament is only a right in trust, a right by delegation, and +that but from a very small part of the Nation; and one of its Houses +has not even this. But the right of the Nation is an original right, +as universal as taxation. The nation is the paymaster of everything, +and everything must conform to its general will. + +I remember taking notice of a speech in what is called the English +House of Peers, by the then Earl of Shelburne, and I think it was at +the time he was Minister, which is applicable to this case. I do not +directly charge my memory with every particular; but the words and +the purport, as nearly as I remember, were these: "That the form of a +Government was a matter wholly at the will of the Nation at all +times, that if it chose a monarchical form, it had a right to have it +so; and if it afterwards chose to be a Republic, it had a right to be +a Republic, and to say to a King, "We have no longer any occasion for +you." + +When Mr. Burke says that "His Majesty's heirs and successors, each in +their time and order, will come to the crown with the same content of +their choice with which His Majesty had succeeded to that he wears," +it is saying too much even to the humblest individual in the country; +part of whose daily labour goes towards making up the million +sterling a-year, which the country gives the person it styles a king. +Government with insolence is despotism; but when contempt is added it +becomes worse; and to pay for contempt is the excess of slavery. This +species of government comes from Germany; and reminds me of what one +of the Brunswick soldiers told me, who was taken prisoner by, the +Americans in the late war: "Ah!" said he, "America is a fine free +country, it is worth the people's fighting for; I know the difference +by knowing my own: in my country, if the prince says eat straw, we +eat straw." God help that country, thought I, be it England or +elsewhere, whose liberties are to be protected by German principles +of government, and Princes of Brunswick! + +As Mr. Burke sometimes speaks of England, sometimes of France, and +sometimes of the world, and of government in general, it is difficult +to answer his book without apparently meeting him on the same ground. +Although principles of Government are general subjects, it is next to +impossible, in many cases, to separate them from the idea of place +and circumstance, and the more so when circumstances are put for +arguments, which is frequently the case with Mr. Burke. + +In the former part of his book, addressing himself to the people of +France, he says: "No experience has taught us (meaning the English), +that in any other course or method than that of a hereditary crown, +can our liberties be regularly perpetuated and preserved sacred as +our hereditary right." I ask Mr. Burke, who is to take them away? M. +de la Fayette, in speaking to France, says: "For a Nation to be free, +it is sufficient that she wills it." But Mr. Burke represents England +as wanting capacity to take care of itself, and that its liberties +must be taken care of by a King holding it in "contempt." If England +is sunk to this, it is preparing itself to eat straw, as in Hanover, +or in Brunswick. But besides the folly of the declaration, it happens +that the facts are all against Mr. Burke. It was by the government +being hereditary, that the liberties of the people were endangered. +Charles I. and James Ii. are instances of this truth; yet neither of +them went so far as to hold the Nation in contempt. + +As it is sometimes of advantage to the people of one country to hear +what those of other countries have to say respecting it, it is +possible that the people of France may learn something from Mr. +Burke's book, and that the people of England may also learn something +from the answers it will occasion. When Nations fall out about +freedom, a wide field of debate is opened. The argument commences +with the rights of war, without its evils, and as knowledge is the +object contended for, the party that sustains the defeat obtains the +prize. + +Mr. Burke talks about what he calls an hereditary crown, as if it +were some production of Nature; or as if, like Time, it had a power +to operate, not only independently, but in spite of man; or as if it +were a thing or a subject universally consented to. Alas! it has none +of those properties, but is the reverse of them all. It is a thing in +imagination, the propriety of which is more than doubted, and the +legality of which in a few years will be denied. + +But, to arrange this matter in a clearer view than what general +expression can heads under which (what is called) an hereditary +crown, or more properly speaking, an hereditary succession to the +Government of a Nation, can be considered; which are: + +First, The right of a particular Family to establish itself. + +Secondly, The right of a Nation to establish a particular Family. + +With respect to the first of these heads, that of a Family +establishing itself with hereditary powers on its own authority, and +independent of the consent of a Nation, all men will concur in +calling it despotism; and it would be trespassing on their +understanding to attempt to prove it. + +But the second head, that of a Nation establishing a particular +Family with hereditary powers, does not present itself as despotism +on the first reflection; but if men will permit it a second +reflection to take place, and carry that reflection forward but one +remove out of their own persons to that of their offspring, they will +then see that hereditary succession becomes in its consequences the +same despotism to others, which they reprobated for themselves. It +operates to preclude the consent of the succeeding generations; and +the preclusion of consent is despotism. When the person who at any +time shall be in possession of a Government, or those who stand in +succession to him, shall say to a Nation, I hold this power in +"contempt" of you, it signifies not on what authority he pretends to +say it. It is no relief, but an aggravation to a person in slavery, +to reflect that he was sold by his parent; and as that which +heightens the criminality of an act cannot be produced to prove the +legality of it, hereditary succession cannot be established as a +legal thing. + +In order to arrive at a more perfect decision on this head, it will +be proper to consider the generation which undertakes to establish a +Family with hereditary powers, apart and separate from the +generations which are to follow; and also to consider the character +in which the first generation acts with respect to succeeding +generations. + +The generation which first selects a person, and puts him at the head +of its Government, either with the title of King, or any other +distinction, acts on its own choice, be it wise or foolish, as a free +agent for itself The person so set up is not hereditary, but selected +and appointed; and the generation who sets him up, does not live +under a hereditary government, but under a government of its own +choice and establishment. Were the generation who sets him up, and +the person so set up, to live for ever, it never could become +hereditary succession; and of consequence hereditary succession can +only follow on the death of the first parties. + +As, therefore, hereditary succession is out of the question with +respect to the first generation, we have now to consider the +character in which that generation acts with respect to the +commencing generation, and to all succeeding ones. + +It assumes a character, to which it has neither right nor title. It +changes itself from a Legislator to a Testator, and effects to make +its Will, which is to have operation after the demise of the makers, +to bequeath the Government; and it not only attempts to bequeath, but +to establish on the succeeding generation, a new and different form +of Government under which itself lived. Itself, as already observed, +lived not under a hereditary Government but under a Government of its +own choice and establishment; and it now attempts, by virtue of a +will and testament (and which it has not authority to make), to take +from the commencing generation, and all future ones, the rights and +free agency by which itself acted. + +But, exclusive of the right which any generation has to act +collectively as a testator, the objects to which it applies itself in +this case, are not within the compass of any law, or of any will or +testament. + +The rights of men in society, are neither devisable or transferable, +nor annihilable, but are descendable only, and it is not in the power +of any generation to intercept finally, and cut off the descent. If +the present generation, or any other, are disposed to be slaves, it +does not lessen the right of the succeeding generation to be free. +Wrongs cannot have a legal descent. When Mr. Burke attempts to +maintain that the English nation did at the Revolution of 1688, most +solemnly renounce and abdicate their rights for themselves, and for +all their posterity for ever, he speaks a language that merits not +reply, and which can only excite contempt for his prostitute +principles, or pity for his ignorance. + +In whatever light hereditary succession, as growing out of the will +and testament of some former generation, presents itself, it is an +absurdity. A cannot make a will to take from B the property of B, and +give it to C; yet this is the manner in which (what is called) +hereditary succession by law operates. A certain former generation +made a will, to take away the rights of the commencing generation, +and all future ones, and convey those rights to a third person, who +afterwards comes forward, and tells them, in Mr. Burke's language, +that they have no rights, that their rights are already bequeathed to +him and that he will govern in contempt of them. From such +principles, and such ignorance, good Lord deliver the world! + +But, after all, what is this metaphor called a crown, or rather what +is monarchy? Is it a thing, or is it a name, or is it a fraud? Is it +a "contrivance of human wisdom," or of human craft to obtain money +from a nation under specious pretences? Is it a thing necessary to a +nation? If it is, in what does that necessity consist, what service +does it perform, what is its business, and what are its merits? Does +the virtue consist in the metaphor, or in the man? Doth the goldsmith +that makes the crown, make the virtue also? Doth it operate like +Fortunatus's wishing-cap, or Harlequin's wooden sword? Doth it make a +man a conjurer? In fine, what is it? It appears to be something going +much out of fashion, falling into ridicule, and rejected in some +countries, both as unnecessary and expensive. In America it is +considered as an absurdity; and in France it has so far declined, +that the goodness of the man, and the respect for his personal +character, are the only things that preserve the appearance of its +existence. + +If government be what Mr. Burke describes it, "a contrivance of human +wisdom" I might ask him, if wisdom was at such a low ebb in England, +that it was become necessary to import it from Holland and from +Hanover? But I will do the country the justice to say, that was not +the case; and even if it was it mistook the cargo. The wisdom of +every country, when properly exerted, is sufficient for all its +purposes; and there could exist no more real occasion in England to +have sent for a Dutch Stadtholder, or a German Elector, than there +was in America to have done a similar thing. If a country does not +understand its own affairs, how is a foreigner to understand them, +who knows neither its laws, its manners, nor its language? If there +existed a man so transcendently wise above all others, that his +wisdom was necessary to instruct a nation, some reason might be +offered for monarchy; but when we cast our eyes about a country, and +observe how every part understands its own affairs; and when we look +around the world, and see that of all men in it, the race of kings +are the most insignificant in capacity, our reason cannot fail to ask +us- What are those men kept for? + +If there is anything in monarchy which we people of America do not +understand, I wish Mr. Burke would be so kind as to inform us. I see +in America, a government extending over a country ten times as large +as England, and conducted with regularity, for a fortieth part of the +expense which Government costs in England. If I ask a man in America +if he wants a King, he retorts, and asks me if I take him for an +idiot? How is it that this difference happens? are we more or less +wise than others? I see in America the generality of people living in +a style of plenty unknown in monarchical countries; and I see that +the principle of its government, which is that of the equal Rights of +Man, is making a rapid progress in the world. + +If monarchy is a useless thing, why is it kept up anywhere? and if a +necessary thing, how can it be dispensed with? That civil government +is necessary, all civilized nations will agree; but civil government +is republican government. All that part of the government of England +which begins with the office of constable, and proceeds through the +department of magistrate, quarter-sessions, and general assize, +including trial by jury, is republican government. Nothing of +monarchy appears in any part of it, except in the name which William +the Conqueror imposed upon the English, that of obliging them to call +him "Their Sovereign Lord the King." + +It is easy to conceive that a band of interested men, such as +Placemen, Pensioners, Lords of the bed-chamber, Lords of the kitchen, +Lords of the necessary-house, and the Lord knows what besides, can +find as many reasons for monarchy as their salaries, paid at the +expense of the country, amount to; but if I ask the farmer, the +manufacturer, the merchant, the tradesman, and down through all the +occupations of life to the common labourer, what service monarchy is +to him? he can give me no answer. If I ask him what monarchy is, he +believes it is something like a sinecure. + +Notwithstanding the taxes of England amount to almost seventeen +millions a year, said to be for the expenses of Government, it is +still evident that the sense of the Nation is left to govern itself, +and does govern itself, by magistrates and juries, almost at its own +charge, on republican principles, exclusive of the expense of taxes. +The salaries of the judges are almost the only charge that is paid +out of the revenue. Considering that all the internal government is +executed by the people, the taxes of England ought to be the lightest +of any nation in Europe; instead of which, they are the contrary. As +this cannot be accounted for on the score of civil government, the +subject necessarily extends itself to the monarchical part. + +When the people of England sent for George the First (and it would +puzzle a wiser man than Mr. Burke to discover for what he could be +wanted, or what service he could render), they ought at least to have +conditioned for the abandonment of Hanover. Besides the endless +German intrigues that must follow from a German Elector being King of +England, there is a natural impossibility of uniting in the same +person the principles of Freedom and the principles of Despotism, or +as it is usually called in England Arbitrary Power. A German Elector +is in his electorate a despot; how then could it be expected that he +should be attached to principles of liberty in one country, while his +interest in another was to be supported by despotism? The union +cannot exist; and it might easily have been foreseen that German +Electors would make German Kings, or in Mr. Burke's words, would +assume government with "contempt." The English have been in the habit +of considering a King of England only in the character in which he +appears to them; whereas the same person, while the connection lasts, +has a home-seat in another country, the interest of which is +different to their own, and the principles of the governments in +opposition to each other. To such a person England will appear as a +town-residence, and the Electorate as the estate. The English may +wish, as I believe they do, success to the principles of liberty in +France, or in Germany; but a German Elector trembles for the fate of +despotism in his electorate; and the Duchy of Mecklenburgh, where the +present Queen's family governs, is under the same wretched state of +arbitrary power, and the people in slavish vassalage. + +There never was a time when it became the English to watch +continental intrigues more circumspectly than at the present moment, +and to distinguish the politics of the Electorate from the politics +of the Nation. The Revolution of France has entirely changed the +ground with respect to England and France, as nations; but the German +despots, with Prussia at their head, are combining against liberty; +and the fondness of Mr. Pitt for office, and the interest which all +his family connections have obtained, do not give sufficient security +against this intrigue. + +As everything which passes in the world becomes matter for history, I +will now quit this subject, and take a concise review of the state of +parties and politics in England, as Mr. Burke has done in France. + +Whether the present reign commenced with contempt, I leave to Mr. +Burke: certain, however, it is, that it had strongly that appearance. +The animosity of the English nation, it is very well remembered, ran +high; and, had the true principles of Liberty been as well understood +then as they now promise to be, it is probable the Nation would not +have patiently submitted to so much. George the First and Second were +sensible of a rival in the remains of the Stuarts; and as they could +not but consider themselves as standing on their good behaviour, they +had prudence to keep their German principles of government to +themselves; but as the Stuart family wore away, the prudence became +less necessary. + +The contest between rights, and what were called prerogatives, +continued to heat the nation till some time after the conclusion of +the American War, when all at once it fell a calm- Execration +exchanged itself for applause, and Court popularity sprung up like a +mushroom in a night. + +To account for this sudden transition, it is proper to observe that +there are two distinct species of popularity; the one excited by +merit, and the other by resentment. As the Nation had formed itself +into two parties, and each was extolling the merits of its +parliamentary champions for and against prerogative, nothing could +operate to give a more general shock than an immediate coalition of +the champions themselves. The partisans of each being thus suddenly +left in the lurch, and mutually heated with disgust at the measure, +felt no other relief than uniting in a common execration against +both. A higher stimulus or resentment being thus excited than what +the contest on prerogatives occasioned, the nation quitted all former +objects of rights and wrongs, and sought only that of gratification. +The indignation at the Coalition so effectually superseded the +indignation against the Court as to extinguish it; and without any +change of principles on the part of the Court, the same people who +had reprobated its despotism united with it to revenge themselves on +the Coalition Parliament. The case was not, which they liked best, +but which they hated most; and the least hated passed for love. The +dissolution of the Coalition Parliament, as it afforded the means of +gratifying the resentment of the Nation, could not fail to be +popular; and from hence arose the popularity of the Court. + +Transitions of this kind exhibit a Nation under the government of +temper, instead of a fixed and steady principle; and having once +committed itself, however rashly, it feels itself urged along to +justify by continuance its first proceeding. Measures which at other +times it would censure it now approves, and acts persuasion upon +itself to suffocate its judgment. + +On the return of a new Parliament, the new Minister, Mr. Pitt, found +himself in a secure majority; and the Nation gave him credit, not out +of regard to himself, but because it had resolved to do it out of +resentment to another. He introduced himself to public notice by a +proposed Reform of Parliament, which in its operation would have +amounted to a public justification of corruption. The Nation was to +be at the expense of buying up the rotten boroughs, whereas it ought +to punish the persons who deal in the traffic. + +Passing over the two bubbles of the Dutch business and the million +a-year to sink the national debt, the matter which most presents +itself, is the affair of the Regency. Never, in the course of my +observation, was delusion more successfully acted, nor a nation more +completely deceived. But, to make this appear, it will be necessary +to go over the circumstances. + +Mr. Fox had stated in the House of Commons, that the Prince of Wales, +as heir in succession, had a right in himself to assume the +Government. This was opposed by Mr. Pitt; and, so far as the +opposition was confined to the doctrine, it was just. But the +principles which Mr. Pitt maintained on the contrary side were as +bad, or worse in their extent, than those of Mr. Fox; because they +went to establish an aristocracy over the nation, and over the small +representation it has in the House of Commons. + +Whether the English form of Government be good or bad, is not in this +case the question; but, taking it as it stands, without regard to its +merits or demerits, Mr. Pitt was farther from the point than Mr. Fox. + +It is supposed to consist of three parts:- while therefore the Nation +is disposed to continue this form, the parts have a national +standing, independent of each other, and are not the creatures of +each other. Had Mr. Fox passed through Parliament, and said that the +person alluded to claimed on the, ground of the Nation, Mr. Pitt must +then have contended what he called the right of the Parliament +against the right of the Nation. + +By the appearance which the contest made, Mr. Fox took the hereditary +ground, and Mr. Pitt the Parliamentary ground; but the fact is, they +both took hereditary ground, and Mr. Pitt took the worst of the two. + +What is called the Parliament is made up of two Houses, one of which +is more hereditary, and more beyond the control of the Nation than +what the Crown (as it is called) is supposed to be. It is an +hereditary aristocracy, assuming and asserting indefeasible, +irrevocable rights and authority, wholly independent of the Nation. +Where, then, was the merited popularity of exalting this hereditary +power over another hereditary power less independent of the Nation +than what itself assumed to be, and of absorbing the rights of the +Nation into a House over which it has neither election nor control? + +The general impulse of the Nation was right; but it acted without +reflection. It approved the opposition made to the right set up by +Mr. Fox, without perceiving that Mr. Pitt was supporting another +indefeasible right more remote from the Nation, in opposition to it. + +With respect to the House of Commons, it is elected but by a small +part of the Nation; but were the election as universal as taxation, +which it ought to be, it would still be only the organ of the Nation, +and cannot possess inherent rights.- When the National Assembly of +France resolves a matter, the resolve is made in right of the Nation; +but Mr. Pitt, on all national questions, so far as they refer to the +House of Commons, absorbs the rights of the Nation into the organ, +and makes the organ into a Nation, and the Nation itself into a +cypher. + +In a few words, the question on the Regency was a question of a +million a-year, which is appropriated to the executive department: +and Mr. Pitt could not possess himself of any management of this sum, +without setting up the supremacy of Parliament; and when this was +accomplished, it was indifferent who should be Regent, as he must be +Regent at his own cost. Among the curiosities which this contentious +debate afforded, was that of making the Great Seal into a King, the +affixing of which to an act was to be royal authority. If, therefore, +Royal Authority is a Great Seal, it consequently is in itself +nothing; and a good Constitution would be of infinitely more value to +the Nation than what the three Nominal Powers, as they now stand, are +worth. + +The continual use of the word Constitution in the English Parliament +shows there is none; and that the whole is merely a form of +government without a Constitution, and constituting itself with what +powers it pleases. If there were a Constitution, it certainly could +be referred to; and the debate on any constitutional point would +terminate by producing the Constitution. One member says this is +Constitution, and another says that is Constitution- To-day it is one +thing; and to-morrow something else- while the maintaining of the +debate proves there is none. Constitution is now the cant word of +Parliament, tuning itself to the ear of the Nation. Formerly it was +the universal supremacy of Parliament- the omnipotence of Parliament: +But since the progress of Liberty in France, those phrases have a +despotic harshness in their note; and the English Parliament have +catched the fashion from the National Assembly, but without the +substance, of speaking of Constitution. + +As the present generation of the people in England did not make the +Government, they are not accountable for any of its defects; but, +that sooner or later, it must come into their hands to undergo a +constitutional reformation, is as certain as that the same thing has +happened in France. If France, with a revenue of nearly twenty-four +millions sterling, with an extent of rich and fertile country above +four times larger than England, with a population of twenty-four +millions of inhabitants to support taxation, with upwards of ninety +millions sterling of gold and silver circulating in the nation, and +with a debt less than the present debt of England- still found it +necessary, from whatever cause, to come to a settlement of its +affairs, it solves the problem of funding for both countries. + +It is out of the question to say how long what is called the English +constitution has lasted, and to argue from thence how long it is to +last; the question is, how long can the funding system last? It is a +thing but of modern invention, and has not yet continued beyond the +life of a man; yet in that short space it has so far accumulated, +that, together with the current expenses, it requires an amount of +taxes at least equal to the whole landed rental of the nation in +acres to defray the annual expenditure. That a government could not +have always gone on by the same system which has been followed for +the last seventy years, must be evident to every man; and for the +same reason it cannot always go on. + +The funding system is not money; neither is it, properly speaking, +credit. It, in effect, creates upon paper the sum which it appears to +borrow, and lays on a tax to keep the imaginary capital alive by the +payment of interest and sends the annuity to market, to be sold for +paper already in circulation. If any credit is given, it is to the +disposition of the people to pay the tax, and not to the government, +which lays it on. When this disposition expires, what is supposed to +be the credit of Government expires with it. The instance of France +under the former Government shows that it is impossible to compel the +payment of taxes by force, when a whole nation is determined to take +its stand upon that ground. + +Mr. Burke, in his review of the finances of France, states the +quantity of gold and silver in France, at about eighty-eight millions +sterling. In doing this, he has, I presume, divided by the difference +of exchange, instead of the standard of twenty-four livres to a pound +sterling; for M. Neckar's statement, from which Mr. Burke's is taken, +is two thousand two hundred millions of livres, which is upwards of +ninety-one millions and a half sterling. + +M. Neckar in France, and Mr. George Chalmers at the Office of Trade +and Plantation in England, of which Lord Hawkesbury is president, +published nearly about the same time (1786) an account of the +quantity of money in each nation, from the returns of the Mint of +each nation. Mr. Chalmers, from the returns of the English Mint at +the Tower of London, states the quantity of money in England, +including Scotland and Ireland, to be twenty millions sterling.*[12] + +M. Neckar*[13] says that the amount of money in France, recoined from +the old coin which was called in, was two thousand five hundred +millions of livres (upwards of one hundred and four millions +sterling); and, after deducting for waste, and what may be in the +West Indies and other possible circumstances, states the circulation +quantity at home to be ninety-one millions and a half sterling; but, +taking it as Mr. Burke has put it, it is sixty-eight millions more +than the national quantity in England. + +That the quantity of money in France cannot be under this sum, may at +once be seen from the state of the French Revenue, without referring +to the records of the French Mint for proofs. The revenue of France, +prior to the Revolution, was nearly twenty-four millions sterling; +and as paper had then no existence in France the whole revenue was +collected upon gold and silver; and it would have been impossible to +have collected such a quantity of revenue upon a less national +quantity than M. Neckar has stated. Before the establishment of paper +in England, the revenue was about a fourth part of the national +amount of gold and silver, as may be known by referring to the +revenue prior to King William, and the quantity of money stated to be +in the nation at that time, which was nearly as much as it is now. + +It can be of no real service to a nation, to impose upon itself, or +to permit itself to be imposed upon; but the prejudices of some, and +the imposition of others, have always represented France as a nation +possessing but little money- whereas the quantity is not only more +than four times what the quantity is in England, but is considerably +greater on a proportion of numbers. To account for this deficiency on +the part of England, some reference should be had to the English +system of funding. It operates to multiply paper, and to substitute +it in the room of money, in various shapes; and the more paper is +multiplied, the more opportunities are offered to export the specie; +and it admits of a possibility (by extending it to small notes) of +increasing paper till there is no money left. + +I know this is not a pleasant subject to English readers; but the +matters I am going to mention, are so important in themselves, as to +require the attention of men interested in money transactions of a +public nature. There is a circumstance stated by M. Neckar, in his +treatise on the administration of the finances, which has never been +attended to in England, but which forms the only basis whereon to +estimate the quantity of money (gold and silver) which ought to be in +every nation in Europe, to preserve a relative proportion with other +nations. + +Lisbon and Cadiz are the two ports into which (money) gold and silver +from South America are imported, and which afterwards divide and +spread themselves over Europe by means of commerce, and increase the +quantity of money in all parts of Europe. If, therefore, the amount +of the annual importation into Europe can be known, and the relative +proportion of the foreign commerce of the several nations by which it +can be distributed can be ascertained, they give a rule sufficiently +true, to ascertain the quantity of money which ought to be found in +any nation, at any given time. + +M. Neckar shows from the registers of Lisbon and Cadiz, that the +importation of gold and silver into Europe, is five millions sterling +annually. He has not taken it on a single year, but on an average of +fifteen succeeding years, from 1763 to 1777, both inclusive; in which +time, the amount was one thousand eight hundred million livres, which +is seventy-five millions sterling.*[14] + +From the commencement of the Hanover succession in 1714 to the time +Mr. Chalmers published, is seventy-two years; and the quantity +imported into Europe, in that time, would be three hundred and sixty +millions sterling. + +If the foreign commerce of Great Britain be stated at a sixth part of +what the whole foreign commerce of Europe amounts to (which is +probably an inferior estimation to what the gentlemen at the Exchange +would allow) the proportion which Britain should draw by commerce of +this sum, to keep herself on a proportion with the rest of Europe, +would be also a sixth part which is sixty millions sterling; and if +the same allowance for waste and accident be made for England which +M. Neckar makes for France, the quantity remaining after these +deductions would be fifty-two millions; and this sum ought to have +been in the nation (at the time Mr. Chalmers published), in addition +to the sum which was in the nation at the commencement of the Hanover +succession, and to have made in the whole at least sixty-six millions +sterling; instead of which there were but twenty millions, which is +forty-six millions below its proportionate quantity. + +As the quantity of gold and silver imported into Lisbon and Cadiz is +more exactly ascertained than that of any commodity imported into +England, and as the quantity of money coined at the Tower of London +is still more positively known, the leading facts do not admit of +controversy. Either, therefore, the commerce of England is +unproductive of profit, or the gold and silver which it brings in +leak continually away by unseen means at the average rate of about +three-quarters of a million a year, which, in the course of +seventy-two years, accounts for the deficiency; and its absence is +supplied by paper.*[15] + +The Revolution of France is attended with many novel circumstances, +not only in the political sphere, but in the circle of money +transactions. Among others, it shows that a government may be in a +state of insolvency and a nation rich. So far as the fact is confined +to the late Government of France, it was insolvent; because the +nation would no longer support its extravagance, and therefore it +could no longer support itself- but with respect to the nation all +the means existed. A government may be said to be insolvent every +time it applies to the nation to discharge its arrears. The +insolvency of the late Government of France and the present of +England differed in no other respect than as the dispositions of the +people differ. The people of France refused their aid to the old +Government; and the people of England submit to taxation without +inquiry. What is called the Crown in England has been insolvent +several times; the last of which, publicly known, was in May, 1777, +when it applied to the nation to discharge upwards of L600,000 +private debts, which otherwise it could not pay. + +It was the error of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Burke, and all those who were +unacquainted with the affairs of France to confound the French nation +with the French Government. The French nation, in effect, endeavoured +to render the late Government insolvent for the purpose of taking +government into its own hands: and it reserved its means for the +support of the new Government. In a country of such vast extent and +population as France the natural means cannot be wanting, and the +political means appear the instant the nation is disposed to permit +them. When Mr. Burke, in a speech last winter in the British +Parliament, "cast his eyes over the map of Europe, and saw a chasm +that once was France," he talked like a dreamer of dreams. The same +natural France existed as before, and all the natural means existed +with it. The only chasm was that the extinction of despotism had +left, and which was to be filled up with the Constitution more +formidable in resources than the power which had expired. + +Although the French Nation rendered the late Government insolvent, it +did not permit the insolvency to act towards the creditors; and the +creditors, considering the Nation as the real pay-master, and the +Government only as the agent, rested themselves on the nation, in +preference to the Government. This appears greatly to disturb Mr. +Burke, as the precedent is fatal to the policy by which governments +have supposed themselves secure. They have contracted debts, with a +view of attaching what is called the monied interest of a Nation to +their support; but the example in France shows that the permanent +security of the creditor is in the Nation, and not in the Government; +and that in all possible revolutions that may happen in Governments, +the means are always with the Nation, and the Nation always in +existence. Mr. Burke argues that the creditors ought to have abided +the fate of the Government which they trusted; but the National +Assembly considered them as the creditors of the Nation, and not of +the Government- of the master, and not of the steward. + +Notwithstanding the late government could not discharge the current +expenses, the present government has paid off a great part of the +capital. This has been accomplished by two means; the one by +lessening the expenses of government, and the other by the sale of +the monastic and ecclesiastical landed estates. The devotees and +penitent debauchees, extortioners and misers of former days, to +ensure themselves a better world than that they were about to leave, +had bequeathed immense property in trust to the priesthood for pious +uses; and the priesthood kept it for themselves. The National +Assembly has ordered it to be sold for the good of the whole nation, +and the priesthood to be decently provided for. + +In consequence of the revolution, the annual interest of the debt of +France will be reduced at least six millions sterling, by paying off +upwards of one hundred millions of the capital; which, with lessening +the former expenses of government at least three millions, will place +France in a situation worthy the imitation of Europe. + +Upon a whole review of the subject, how vast is the contrast! While +Mr. Burke has been talking of a general bankruptcy in France, the +National Assembly has been paying off the capital of its debt; and +while taxes have increased near a million a year in England, they +have lowered several millions a year in France. Not a word has either +Mr. Burke or Mr. Pitt said about the French affairs, or the state of +the French finances, in the present Session of Parliament. The +subject begins to be too well understood, and imposition serves no +longer. + +There is a general enigma running through the whole of Mr. Burke's +book. He writes in a rage against the National Assembly; but what is +he enraged about? If his assertions were as true as they are +groundless, and that France by her Revolution, had annihilated her +power, and become what he calls a chasm, it might excite the grief of +a Frenchman (considering himself as a national man), and provoke his +rage against the National Assembly; but why should it excite the rage +of Mr. Burke? Alas! it is not the nation of France that Mr. Burke +means, but the Court; and every Court in Europe, dreading the same +fate, is in mourning. He writes neither in the character of a +Frenchman nor an Englishman, but in the fawning character of that +creature known in all countries, and a friend to none- a courtier. +Whether it be the Court of Versailles, or the Court of St. James, or +Carlton-House, or the Court in expectation, signifies not; for the +caterpillar principle of all Courts and Courtiers are alike. They +form a common policy throughout Europe, detached and separate from +the interest of Nations: and while they appear to quarrel, they agree +to plunder. Nothing can be more terrible to a Court or Courtier than +the Revolution of France. That which is a blessing to Nations is +bitterness to them: and as their existence depends on the duplicity +of a country, they tremble at the approach of principles, and dread +the precedent that threatens their overthrow. + + CONCLUSION + +Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the +great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered +sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes +easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is +dictated to it. + +The two modes of the Government which prevail in the world, are: + +First, Government by election and representation. + +Secondly, Government by hereditary succession. + +The former is generally known by the name of republic; the latter by +that of monarchy and aristocracy. + +Those two distinct and opposite forms erect themselves on the two +distinct and opposite bases of Reason and Ignorance.- As the exercise +of Government requires talents and abilities, and as talents and +abilities cannot have hereditary descent, it is evident that +hereditary succession requires a belief from man to which his reason +cannot subscribe, and which can only be established upon his +ignorance; and the more ignorant any country is, the better it is +fitted for this species of Government. + +On the contrary, Government, in a well-constituted republic, requires +no belief from man beyond what his reason can give. He sees the +rationale of the whole system, its origin and its operation; and as +it is best supported when best understood, the human faculties act +with boldness, and acquire, under this form of government, a gigantic +manliness. + +As, therefore, each of those forms acts on a different base, the one +moving freely by the aid of reason, the other by ignorance; we have +next to consider, what it is that gives motion to that species of +Government which is called mixed Government, or, as it is sometimes +ludicrously styled, a Government of this, that and t' other. + +The moving power in this species of Government is, of necessity, +Corruption. However imperfect election and representation may be in +mixed Governments, they still give exercise to a greater portion of +reason than is convenient to the hereditary Part; and therefore it +becomes necessary to buy the reason up. A mixed Government is an +imperfect everything, cementing and soldering the discordant parts +together by corruption, to act as a whole. Mr. Burke appears highly +disgusted that France, since she had resolved on a revolution, did +not adopt what he calls "A British Constitution"; and the regretful +manner in which he expresses himself on this occasion implies a +suspicion that the British Constitution needed something to keep its +defects in countenance. + +In mixed Governments there is no responsibility: the parts cover each +other till responsibility is lost; and the corruption which moves the +machine, contrives at the same time its own escape. When it is laid +down as a maxim, that a King can do no wrong, it places him in a +state of similar security with that of idiots and persons insane, and +responsibility is out of the question with respect to himself. It +then descends upon the Minister, who shelters himself under a +majority in Parliament, which, by places, pensions, and corruption, +he can always command; and that majority justifies itself by the same +authority with which it protects the Minister. In this rotatory +motion, responsibility is thrown off from the parts, and from the +whole. + +When there is a Part in a Government which can do no wrong, it +implies that it does nothing; and is only the machine of another +power, by whose advice and direction it acts. What is supposed to be +the King in the mixed Governments, is the Cabinet; and as the Cabinet +is always a part of the Parliament, and the members justifying in one +character what they advise and act in another, a mixed Government +becomes a continual enigma; entailing upon a country by the quantity +of corruption necessary to solder the parts, the expense of +supporting all the forms of government at once, and finally resolving +itself into a Government by Committee; in which the advisers, the +actors, the approvers, the justifiers, the persons responsible, and +the persons not responsible, are the same persons. + +By this pantomimical contrivance, and change of scene and character, +the parts help each other out in matters which neither of them singly +would assume to act. When money is to be obtained, the mass of +variety apparently dissolves, and a profusion of parliamentary +praises passes between the parts. Each admires with astonishment, the +wisdom, the liberality, the disinterestedness of the other: and all +of them breathe a pitying sigh at the burthens of the Nation. + +But in a well-constituted republic, nothing of this soldering, +praising, and pitying, can take place; the representation being equal +throughout the country, and complete in itself, however it may be +arranged into legislative and executive, they have all one and the +same natural source. The parts are not foreigners to each other, like +democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy. As there are no discordant +distinctions, there is nothing to corrupt by compromise, nor confound +by contrivance. Public measures appeal of themselves to the +understanding of the Nation, and, resting on their own merits, disown +any flattering applications to vanity. The continual whine of +lamenting the burden of taxes, however successfully it may be +practised in mixed Governments, is inconsistent with the sense and +spirit of a republic. If taxes are necessary, they are of course +advantageous; but if they require an apology, the apology itself +implies an impeachment. Why, then, is man thus imposed upon, or why +does he impose upon himself? + +When men are spoken of as kings and subjects, or when Government is +mentioned under the distinct and combined heads of monarchy, +aristocracy, and democracy, what is it that reasoning man is to +understand by the terms? If there really existed in the world two or +more distinct and separate elements of human power, we should then +see the several origins to which those terms would descriptively +apply; but as there is but one species of man, there can be but one +element of human power; and that element is man himself. Monarchy, +aristocracy, and democracy, are but creatures of imagination; and a +thousand such may be contrived as well as three. + +From the Revolutions of America and France, and the symptoms that +have appeared in other countries, it is evident that the opinion of +the world is changing with respect to systems of Government, and that +revolutions are not within the compass of political calculations. The +progress of time and circumstances, which men assign to the +accomplishment of great changes, is too mechanical to measure the +force of the mind, and the rapidity of reflection, by which +revolutions are generated: All the old governments have received a +shock from those that already appear, and which were once more +improbable, and are a greater subject of wonder, than a general +revolution in Europe would be now. + +When we survey the wretched condition of man, under the monarchical +and hereditary systems of Government, dragged from his home by one +power, or driven by another, and impoverished by taxes more than by +enemies, it becomes evident that those systems are bad, and that a +general revolution in the principle and construction of Governments +is necessary. + +What is government more than the management of the affairs of a +Nation? It is not, and from its nature cannot be, the property of any +particular man or family, but of the whole community, at whose +expense it is supported; and though by force and contrivance it has +been usurped into an inheritance, the usurpation cannot alter the +right of things. Sovereignty, as a matter of right, appertains to the +Nation only, and not to any individual; and a Nation has at all times +an inherent indefeasible right to abolish any form of Government it +finds inconvenient, and to establish such as accords with its +interest, disposition and happiness. The romantic and barbarous +distinction of men into Kings and subjects, though it may suit the +condition of courtiers, cannot that of citizens; and is exploded by +the principle upon which Governments are now founded. Every citizen +is a member of the Sovereignty, and, as such, can acknowledge no +personal subjection; and his obedience can be only to the laws. + +When men think of what Government is, they must necessarily suppose +it to possess a knowledge of all the objects and matters upon which +its authority is to be exercised. In this view of Government, the +republican system, as established by America and France, operates to +embrace the whole of a Nation; and the knowledge necessary to the +interest of all the parts, is to be found in the center, which the +parts by representation form: But the old Governments are on a +construction that excludes knowledge as well as happiness; government +by Monks, who knew nothing of the world beyond the walls of a +Convent, is as consistent as government by Kings. + +What were formerly called Revolutions, were little more than a change +of persons, or an alteration of local circumstances. They rose and +fell like things of course, and had nothing in their existence or +their fate that could influence beyond the spot that produced them. +But what we now see in the world, from the Revolutions of America and +France, are a renovation of the natural order of things, a system of +principles as universal as truth and the existence of man, and +combining moral with political happiness and national prosperity. + +"I. Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of +their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on +public utility. + +"II. The end of all political associations is the preservation of the +natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are +liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression. + +"III. The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty; nor +can any Individual, or Any Body Of Men, be entitled to any authority +which is not expressly derived from it." + +In these principles, there is nothing to throw a Nation into +confusion by inflaming ambition. They are calculated to call forth +wisdom and abilities, and to exercise them for the public good, and +not for the emolument or aggrandisement of particular descriptions of +men or families. Monarchical sovereignty, the enemy of mankind, and +the source of misery, is abolished; and the sovereignty itself is +restored to its natural and original place, the Nation. Were this the +case throughout Europe, the cause of wars would be taken away. + +It is attributed to Henry the Fourth of France, a man of enlarged and +benevolent heart, that he proposed, about the year 1610, a plan for +abolishing war in Europe. The plan consisted in constituting an +European Congress, or as the French authors style it, a Pacific +Republic; by appointing delegates from the several Nations who were +to act as a Court of arbitration in any disputes that might arise +between nation and nation. + +Had such a plan been adopted at the time it was proposed, the taxes +of England and France, as two of the parties, would have been at +least ten millions sterling annually to each Nation less than they +were at the commencement of the French Revolution. + +To conceive a cause why such a plan has not been adopted (and that +instead of a Congress for the purpose of preventing war, it has been +called only to terminate a war, after a fruitless expense of several +years) it will be necessary to consider the interest of Governments +as a distinct interest to that of Nations. + +Whatever is the cause of taxes to a Nation, becomes also the means of +revenue to Government. Every war terminates with an addition of +taxes, and consequently with an addition of revenue; and in any event +of war, in the manner they are now commenced and concluded, the power +and interest of Governments are increased. War, therefore, from its +productiveness, as it easily furnishes the pretence of necessity for +taxes and appointments to places and offices, becomes a principal +part of the system of old Governments; and to establish any mode to +abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to +take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches. The +frivolous matters upon which war is made, show the disposition and +avidity of Governments to uphold the system of war, and betray the +motives upon which they act. + +Why are not Republics plunged into war, but because the nature of +their Government does not admit of an interest distinct from that of +the Nation? Even Holland, though an ill-constructed Republic, and +with a commerce extending over the world, existed nearly a century +without war: and the instant the form of Government was changed in +France, the republican principles of peace and domestic prosperity +and economy arose with the new Government; and the same consequences +would follow the cause in other Nations. + +As war is the system of Government on the old construction, the +animosity which Nations reciprocally entertain, is nothing more than +what the policy of their Governments excites to keep up the spirit of +the system. Each Government accuses the other of perfidy, intrigue, +and ambition, as a means of heating the imagination of their +respective Nations, and incensing them to hostilities. Man is not the +enemy of man, but through the medium of a false system of Government. +Instead, therefore, of exclaiming against the ambition of Kings, the +exclamation should be directed against the principle of such +Governments; and instead of seeking to reform the individual, the +wisdom of a Nation should apply itself to reform the system. + +Whether the forms and maxims of Governments which are still in +practice, were adapted to the condition of the world at the period +they were established, is not in this case the question. The older +they are, the less correspondence can they have with the present +state of things. Time, and change of circumstances and opinions, have +the same progressive effect in rendering modes of Government obsolete +as they have upon customs and manners.- Agriculture, commerce, +manufactures, and the tranquil arts, by which the prosperity of +Nations is best promoted, require a different system of Government, +and a different species of knowledge to direct its operations, than +what might have been required in the former condition of the world. + +As it is not difficult to perceive, from the enlightened state of +mankind, that hereditary Governments are verging to their decline, +and that Revolutions on the broad basis of national sovereignty and +Government by representation, are making their way in Europe, it +would be an act of wisdom to anticipate their approach, and produce +Revolutions by reason and accommodation, rather than commit them to +the issue of convulsions. + +From what we now see, nothing of reform in the political world ought +to be held improbable. It is an age of Revolutions, in which +everything may be looked for. The intrigue of Courts, by which the +system of war is kept up, may provoke a confederation of Nations to +abolish it: and an European Congress to patronise the progress of +free Government, and promote the civilisation of Nations with each +other, is an event nearer in probability, than once were the +revolutions and alliance of France and America. + + END OF PART I. + + RIGHTS OF MAN. + + PART SECOND, COMBINING PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE. + + BY THOMAS PAINE. + + FRENCH TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + + (1792) + +THE work of which we offer a translation to the public has created +the greatest sensation in England. Paine, that man of freedom, who +seems born to preach " Common Sense " to the whole world with the +same success as in America, explains in it to the people of England +the theory of the practice of the Rights of Man. + +Owing to the prejudices that still govern that nation, the author has +been obliged to condescend to answer Mr. Burke. He has done so more +especially in an extended preface which is nothing but a piece of +very tedious controversy, in which he shows himself very sensitive to +criticisms that do not really affect him. To translate it seemed an +insult to the free French people, and similar reasons have led the +editors to suppress also a dedicatory epistle addressed by Paine to +Lafayette. + +The French can no longer endure dedicatory epistles. A man should +write privately to those he esteems: when he publishes a book his +thoughts should be offered to the public alone. Paine, that +uncorrupted friend of freedom, believed too in the sincerity of +Lafayette. So easy is it to deceive men of single-minded purpose! +Bred at a distance from courts, that austere American does not seem +any more on his guard against the artful ways and speech of courtiers +than some Frenchmen who resemble him. + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + TO + + M. DE LA FAYETTE + +After an acquaintance of nearly fifteen years in difficult situations +in America, and various consultations in Europe, I feel a pleasure in +presenting to you this small treatise, in gratitude for your services +to my beloved America, and as a testimony of my esteem for the +virtues, public and private, which I know you to possess. + +The only point upon which I could ever discover that we differed was +not as to principles of government, but as to time. For my own part I +think it equally as injurious to good principles to permit them to +linger, as to push them on too fast. That which you suppose +accomplishable in fourteen or fifteen years, I may believe +practicable in a much shorter period. Mankind, as it appears to me, +are always ripe enough to understand their true interest, provided it +be presented clearly to their understanding, and that in a manner not +to create suspicion by anything like self-design, nor offend by +assuming too much. Where we would wish to reform we must not +reproach. + +When the American revolution was established I felt a disposition to +sit serenely down and enjoy the calm. It did not appear to me that +any object could afterwards arise great enough to make me quit +tranquility and feel as I had felt before. But when principle, and +not place, is the energetic cause of action, a man, I find, is +everywhere the same. + +I am now once more in the public world; and as I have not a right to +contemplate on so many years of remaining life as you have, I have +resolved to labour as fast as I can; and as I am anxious for your aid +and your company, I wish you to hasten your principles and overtake +me. + +If you make a campaign the ensuing spring, which it is most probable +there will be no occasion for, I will come and join you. Should the +campaign commence, I hope it will terminate in the extinction of +German despotism, and in establishing the freedom of all Germany. +When France shall be surrounded with revolutions she will be in peace +and safety, and her taxes, as well as those of Germany, will +consequently become less. + +Your sincere, + + Affectionate Friend, + + Thomas Paine + +London, Feb. 9, 1792 + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + PREFACE + +When I began the chapter entitled the "Conclusion" in the former part +of the RIGHTS OF MAN, published last year, it was my intention to +have extended it to a greater length; but in casting the whole matter +in my mind, which I wish to add, I found that it must either make the +work too bulky, or contract my plan too much. I therefore brought it +to a close as soon as the subject would admit, and reserved what I +had further to say to another opportunity. + +Several other reasons contributed to produce this determination. I +wished to know the manner in which a work, written in a style of +thinking and expression different to what had been customary in +England, would be received before I proceeded farther. A great field +was opening to the view of mankind by means of the French Revolution. +Mr. Burke's outrageous opposition thereto brought the controversy +into England. He attacked principles which he knew (from information) +I would contest with him, because they are principles I believe to be +good, and which I have contributed to establish, and conceive myself +bound to defend. Had he not urged the controversy, I had most +probably been a silent man. + +Another reason for deferring the remainder of the work was, that Mr. +Burke promised in his first publication to renew the subject at +another opportunity, and to make a comparison of what he called the +English and French Constitutions. I therefore held myself in reserve +for him. He has published two works since, without doing this: which +he certainly would not have omitted, had the comparison been in his +favour. + +In his last work, his "Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs," he has +quoted about ten pages from the RIGHTS OF MAN, and having given +himself the trouble of doing this, says he "shall not attempt in the +smallest degree to refute them," meaning the principles therein +contained. I am enough acquainted with Mr. Burke to know that he +would if he could. But instead of contesting them, he immediately +after consoles himself with saying that "he has done his part."- He +has not done his part. He has not performed his promise of a +comparison of constitutions. He started the controversy, he gave the +challenge, and has fled from it; and he is now a case in point with +his own opinion that "the age of chivalry is gone!" + +The title, as well as the substance of his last work, his "Appeal," +is his condemnation. Principles must stand on their own merits, and +if they are good they certainly will. To put them under the shelter +of other men's authority, as Mr. Burke has done, serves to bring them +into suspicion. Mr. Burke is not very fond of dividing his honours, +but in this case he is artfully dividing the disgrace. + +But who are those to whom Mr. Burke has made his appeal? A set of +childish thinkers, and half-way politicians born in the last century, +men who went no farther with any principle than as it suited their +purposes as a party; the nation was always left out of the question; +and this has been the character of every party from that day to this. +The nation sees nothing of such works, or such politics, worthy its +attention. A little matter will move a party, but it must be +something great that moves a nation. + +Though I see nothing in Mr. Burke's "Appeal" worth taking much notice +of, there is, however, one expression upon which I shall offer a few +remarks. After quoting largely from the RIGHTS OF MAN, and declining +to contest the principles contained in that work, he says: "This will +most probably be done (if such writings shall be thought to deserve +any other refutation than that of criminal justice) by others, who +may think with Mr. Burke and with the same zeal." + +In the first place, it has not yet been done by anybody. Not less, I +believe, than eight or ten pamphlets intended as answers to the +former part of the RIGHTS OF MAN have been published by different +persons, and not one of them to my knowledge, has extended to a +second edition, nor are even the titles of them so much as generally +remembered. As I am averse to unnecessary multiplying publications, I +have answered none of them. And as I believe that a man may write +himself out of reputation when nobody else can do it, I am careful to +avoid that rock. + +But as I would decline unnecessary publications on the one hand, so +would I avoid everything that might appear like sullen pride on the +other. If Mr. Burke, or any person on his side the question, will +produce an answer to the RIGHTS OF MAN that shall extend to a half, +or even to a fourth part of the number of copies to which the Rights +Of Man extended, I will reply to his work. But until this be done, I +shall so far take the sense of the public for my guide (and the world +knows I am not a flatterer) that what they do not think worth while +to read, is not worth mine to answer. I suppose the number of copies +to which the first part of the RIGHTS OF MAN extended, taking +England, Scotland, and Ireland, is not less than between forty and +fifty thousand. + +I now come to remark on the remaining part of the quotation I have +made from Mr. Burke. + +"If," says he, "such writings shall be thought to deserve any other +refutation than that of criminal justice." + +Pardoning the pun, it must be criminal justice indeed that should +condemn a work as a substitute for not being able to refute it. The +greatest condemnation that could be passed upon it would be a +refutation. But in proceeding by the method Mr. Burke alludes to, the +condemnation would, in the final event, pass upon the criminality of +the process and not upon the work, and in this case, I had rather be +the author, than be either the judge or the jury that should condemn +it. + +But to come at once to the point. I have differed from some +professional gentlemen on the subject of prosecutions, and I since +find they are falling into my opinion, which I will here state as +fully, but as concisely as I can. + +I will first put a case with respect to any law, and then compare it +with a government, or with what in England is, or has been, called a +constitution. + +It would be an act of despotism, or what in England is called +arbitrary power, to make a law to prohibit investigating the +principles, good or bad, on which such a law, or any other is +founded. + +If a law be bad it is one thing to oppose the practice of it, but it +is quite a different thing to expose its errors, to reason on its +defects, and to show cause why it should be repealed, or why another +ought to be substituted in its place. I have always held it an +opinion (making it also my practice) that it is better to obey a bad +law, making use at the same time of every argument to show its errors +and procure its repeal, than forcibly to violate it; because the +precedent of breaking a bad law might weaken the force, and lead to a +discretionary violation, of those which are good. + +The case is the same with respect to principles and forms of +government, or to what are called constitutions and the parts of +which they are, composed. + +It is for the good of nations and not for the emolument or +aggrandisement of particular individuals, that government ought to be +established, and that mankind are at the expense of supporting it. +The defects of every government and constitution both as to principle +and form, must, on a parity of reasoning, be as open to discussion as +the defects of a law, and it is a duty which every man owes to +society to point them out. When those defects, and the means of +remedying them, are generally seen by a nation, that nation will +reform its government or its constitution in the one case, as the +government repealed or reformed the law in the other. The operation +of government is restricted to the making and the administering of +laws; but it is to a nation that the right of forming or reforming, +generating or regenerating constitutions and governments belong; and +consequently those subjects, as subjects of investigation, are always +before a country as a matter of right, and cannot, without invading +the general rights of that country, be made subjects for prosecution. +On this ground I will meet Mr. Burke whenever he please. It is better +that the whole argument should come out than to seek to stifle it. It +was himself that opened the controversy, and he ought not to desert +it. + +I do not believe that monarchy and aristocracy will continue seven +years longer in any of the enlightened countries in Europe. If better +reasons can be shown for them than against them, they will stand; if +the contrary, they will not. Mankind are not now to be told they +shall not think, or they shall not read; and publications that go no +farther than to investigate principles of government, to invite men +to reason and to reflect, and to show the errors and excellences of +different systems, have a right to appear. If they do not excite +attention, they are not worth the trouble of a prosecution; and if +they do, the prosecution will amount to nothing, since it cannot +amount to a prohibition of reading. This would be a sentence on the +public, instead of the author, and would also be the most effectual +mode of making or hastening revolution. + +On all cases that apply universally to a nation, with respect to +systems of government, a jury of twelve men is not competent to +decide. Where there are no witnesses to be examined, no facts to be +proved, and where the whole matter is before the whole public, and +the merits or demerits of it resting on their opinion; and where +there is nothing to be known in a court, but what every body knows +out of it, every twelve men is equally as good a jury as the other, +and would most probably reverse each other's verdict; or, from the +variety of their opinions, not be able to form one. It is one case, +whether a nation approve a work, or a plan; but it is quite another +case, whether it will commit to any such jury the power of +determining whether that nation have a right to, or shall reform its +government or not. I mention those cases that Mr. Burke may see I +have not written on Government without reflecting on what is Law, as +well as on what are Rights.- The only effectual jury in such cases +would be a convention of the whole nation fairly elected; for in all +such cases the whole nation is the vicinage. If Mr. Burke will +propose such a jury, I will waive all privileges of being the citizen +of another country, and, defending its principles, abide the issue, +provided he will do the same; for my opinion is, that his work and +his principles would be condemned instead of mine. + +As to the prejudices which men have from education and habit, in +favour of any particular form or system of government, those +prejudices have yet to stand the test of reason and reflection. In +fact, such prejudices are nothing. No man is prejudiced in favour of +a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief +of its being right; and when he sees it is not so, the prejudice will +be gone. We have but a defective idea of what prejudice is. It might +be said, that until men think for themselves the whole is prejudice, +and not opinion; for that only is opinion which is the result of +reason and reflection. I offer this remark, that Mr. Burke may not +confide too much in what have been the customary prejudices of the +country. + +I do not believe that the people of England have ever been fairly and +candidly dealt by. They have been imposed upon by parties, and by men +assuming the character of leaders. It is time that the nation should +rise above those trifles. It is time to dismiss that inattention +which has so long been the encouraging cause of stretching taxation +to excess. It is time to dismiss all those songs and toasts which are +calculated to enslave, and operate to suffocate reflection. On all +such subjects men have but to think, and they will neither act wrong +nor be misled. To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to +make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with +taxes than not. If such a case could be proved, it would equally +prove that those who govern are not fit to govern them, for they are +a part of the same national mass. + +But admitting governments to be changed all over Europe; it certainly +may be done without convulsion or revenge. It is not worth making +changes or revolutions, unless it be for some great national benefit: +and when this shall appear to a nation, the danger will be, as in +America and France, to those who oppose; and with this reflection I +close my Preface. + + THOMAS PAINE + +London, Feb. 9, 1792 + + RIGHTS OF MAN + + PART II. + + INTRODUCTION. + +What Archimedes said of the mechanical powers, may be applied to +Reason and Liberty. "Had we," said he, "a place to stand upon, we +might raise the world." + +The revolution of America presented in politics what was only theory +in mechanics. So deeply rooted were all the governments of the old +world, and so effectually had the tyranny and the antiquity of habit +established itself over the mind, that no beginning could be made in +Asia, Africa, or Europe, to reform the political condition of man. +Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as +rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. + +But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks,- and +all it wants,- is the liberty of appearing. The sun needs no +inscription to distinguish him from darkness; and no sooner did the +American governments display themselves to the world, than despotism +felt a shock and man began to contemplate redress. + +The independence of America, considered merely as a separation from +England, would have been a matter but of little importance, had it +not been accompanied by a revolution in the principles and practice +of governments. She made a stand, not for herself only, but for the +world, and looked beyond the advantages herself could receive. Even +the Hessian, though hired to fight against her, may live to bless his +defeat; and England, condemning the viciousness of its government, +rejoice in its miscarriage. + +As America was the only spot in the political world where the +principle of universal reformation could begin, so also was it the +best in the natural world. An assemblage of circumstances conspired, +not only to give birth, but to add gigantic maturity to its +principles. The scene which that country presents to the eye of a +spectator, has something in it which generates and encourages great +ideas. Nature appears to him in magnitude. The mighty objects he +beholds, act upon his mind by enlarging it, and he partakes of the +greatness he contemplates.- Its first settlers were emigrants from +different European nations, and of diversified professions of +religion, retiring from the governmental persecutions of the old +world, and meeting in the new, not as enemies, but as brothers. The +wants which necessarily accompany the cultivation of a wilderness +produced among them a state of society, which countries long harassed +by the quarrels and intrigues of governments, had neglected to +cherish. In such a situation man becomes what he ought. He sees his +species, not with the inhuman idea of a natural enemy, but as +kindred; and the example shows to the artificial world, that man must +go back to Nature for information. + +From the rapid progress which America makes in every species of +improvement, it is rational to conclude that, if the governments of +Asia, Africa, and Europe had begun on a principle similar to that of +America, or had not been very early corrupted therefrom, those +countries must by this time have been in a far superior condition to +what they are. Age after age has passed away, for no other purpose +than to behold their wretchedness. Could we suppose a spectator who +knew nothing of the world, and who was put into it merely to make his +observations, he would take a great part of the old world to be new, +just struggling with the difficulties and hardships of an infant +settlement. He could not suppose that the hordes of miserable poor +with which old countries abound could be any other than those who had +not yet had time to provide for themselves. Little would he think +they were the consequence of what in such countries they call +government. + +If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those +which are in an advanced stage of improvement we still find the +greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and +crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. +Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretences for +revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey, and permits +none to escape without a tribute. + +As revolutions have begun (and as the probability is always greater +against a thing beginning, than of proceeding after it has begun), it +is natural to expect that other revolutions will follow. The amazing +and still increasing expenses with which old governments are +conducted, the numerous wars they engage in or provoke, the +embarrassments they throw in the way of universal civilisation and +commerce, and the oppression and usurpation acted at home, have +wearied out the patience, and exhausted the property of the world. In +such a situation, and with such examples already existing, +revolutions are to be looked for. They are become subjects of +universal conversation, and may be considered as the Order of the +day. + +If systems of government can be introduced less expensive and more +productive of general happiness than those which have existed, all +attempts to oppose their progress will in the end be fruitless. +Reason, like time, will make its own way, and prejudice will fall in +a combat with interest. If universal peace, civilisation, and +commerce are ever to be the happy lot of man, it cannot be +accomplished but by a revolution in the system of governments. All +the monarchical governments are military. War is their trade, plunder +and revenue their objects. While such governments continue, peace has +not the absolute security of a day. What is the history of all +monarchical governments but a disgustful picture of human +wretchedness, and the accidental respite of a few years' repose? +Wearied with war, and tired with human butchery, they sat down to +rest, and called it peace. This certainly is not the condition that +heaven intended for man; and if this be monarchy, well might monarchy +be reckoned among the sins of the Jews. + +The revolutions which formerly took place in the world had nothing in +them that interested the bulk of mankind. They extended only to a +change of persons and measures, but not of principles, and rose or +fell among the common transactions of the moment. What we now behold +may not improperly be called a "counter-revolution." Conquest and +tyranny, at some earlier period, dispossessed man of his rights, and +he is now recovering them. And as the tide of all human affairs has +its ebb and flow in directions contrary to each other, so also is it +in this. Government founded on a moral theory, on a system of +universal peace, on the indefeasible hereditary Rights of Man, is now +revolving from west to east by a stronger impulse than the government +of the sword revolved from east to west. It interests not particular +individuals, but nations in its progress, and promises a new era to +the human race. + +The danger to which the success of revolutions is most exposed is +that of attempting them before the principles on which they proceed, +and the advantages to result from them, are sufficiently seen and +understood. Almost everything appertaining to the circumstances of a +nation, has been absorbed and confounded under the general and +mysterious word government. Though it avoids taking to its account +the errors it commits, and the mischiefs it occasions, it fails not +to arrogate to itself whatever has the appearance of prosperity. It +robs industry of its honours, by pedantically making itself the cause +of its effects; and purloins from the general character of man, the +merits that appertain to him as a social being. + +It may therefore be of use in this day of revolutions to discriminate +between those things which are the effect of government, and those +which are not. This will best be done by taking a review of society +and civilisation, and the consequences resulting therefrom, as things +distinct from what are called governments. By beginning with this +investigation, we shall be able to assign effects to their proper +causes and analyse the mass of common errors. + + CHAPTER I + + OF SOCIETY AND CIVILISATION + +Great part of that order which reigns among mankind is not the effect +of government. It has its origin in the principles of society and the +natural constitution of man. It existed prior to government, and +would exist if the formality of government was abolished. The mutual +dependence and reciprocal interest which man has upon man, and all +the parts of civilised community upon each other, create that great +chain of connection which holds it together. The landholder, the +farmer, the manufacturer, the merchant, the tradesman, and every +occupation, prospers by the aid which each receives from the other, +and from the whole. Common interest regulates their concerns, and +forms their law; and the laws which common usage ordains, have a +greater influence than the laws of government. In fine, society +performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to +government. + +To understand the nature and quantity of government proper for man, +it is necessary to attend to his character. As Nature created him for +social life, she fitted him for the station she intended. In all +cases she made his natural wants greater than his individual powers. +No one man is capable, without the aid of society, of supplying his +own wants, and those wants, acting upon every individual, impel the +whole of them into society, as naturally as gravitation acts to a +centre. + +But she has gone further. She has not only forced man into society by +a diversity of wants which the reciprocal aid of each other can +supply, but she has implanted in him a system of social affections, +which, though not necessary to his existence, are essential to his +happiness. There is no period in life when this love for society +ceases to act. It begins and ends with our being. + +If we examine with attention into the composition and constitution of +man, the diversity of his wants, and the diversity of talents in +different men for reciprocally accommodating the wants of each other, +his propensity to society, and consequently to preserve the +advantages resulting from it, we shall easily discover, that a great +part of what is called government is mere imposition. + +Government is no farther necessary than to supply the few cases to +which society and civilisation are not conveniently competent; and +instances are not wanting to show, that everything which government +can usefully add thereto, has been performed by the common consent of +society, without government. + +For upwards of two years from the commencement of the American War, +and to a longer period in several of the American States, there were +no established forms of government. The old governments had been +abolished, and the country was too much occupied in defence to employ +its attention in establishing new governments; yet during this +interval order and harmony were preserved as inviolate as in any +country in Europe. There is a natural aptness in man, and more so in +society, because it embraces a greater variety of abilities and +resource, to accommodate itself to whatever situation it is in. The +instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act: a +general association takes place, and common interest produces common +security. + +So far is it from being true, as has been pretended, that the +abolition of any formal government is the dissolution of society, +that it acts by a contrary impulse, and brings the latter the closer +together. All that part of its organisation which it had committed to +its government, devolves again upon itself, and acts through its +medium. When men, as well from natural instinct as from reciprocal +benefits, have habituated themselves to social and civilised life, +there is always enough of its principles in practice to carry them +through any changes they may find necessary or convenient to make in +their government. In short, man is so naturally a creature of society +that it is almost impossible to put him out of it. + +Formal government makes but a small part of civilised life; and when +even the best that human wisdom can devise is established, it is a +thing more in name and idea than in fact. It is to the great and +fundamental principles of society and civilisation- to the common +usage universally consented to, and mutually and reciprocally +maintained- to the unceasing circulation of interest, which, passing +through its million channels, invigorates the whole mass of civilised +man- it is to these things, infinitely more than to anything which +even the best instituted government can perform, that the safety and +prosperity of the individual and of the whole depends. + +The more perfect civilisation is, the less occasion has it for +government, because the more does it regulate its own affairs, and +govern itself; but so contrary is the practice of old governments to +the reason of the case, that the expenses of them increase in the +proportion they ought to diminish. It is but few general laws that +civilised life requires, and those of such common usefulness, that +whether they are enforced by the forms of government or not, the +effect will be nearly the same. If we consider what the principles +are that first condense men into society, and what are the motives +that regulate their mutual intercourse afterwards, we shall find, by +the time we arrive at what is called government, that nearly the +whole of the business is performed by the natural operation of the +parts upon each other. + +Man, with respect to all those matters, is more a creature of +consistency than he is aware, or than governments would wish him to +believe. All the great laws of society are laws of nature. Those of +trade and commerce, whether with respect to the intercourse of +individuals or of nations, are laws of mutual and reciprocal +interest. They are followed and obeyed, because it is the interest of +the parties so to do, and not on account of any formal laws their +governments may impose or interpose. + +But how often is the natural propensity to society disturbed or +destroyed by the operations of government! When the latter, instead +of being ingrafted on the principles of the former, assumes to exist +for itself, and acts by partialities of favour and oppression, it +becomes the cause of the mischiefs it ought to prevent. + +If we look back to the riots and tumults which at various times have +happened in England, we shall find that they did not proceed from the +want of a government, but that government was itself the generating +cause; instead of consolidating society it divided it; it deprived it +of its natural cohesion, and engendered discontents and disorders +which otherwise would not have existed. In those associations which +men promiscuously form for the purpose of trade, or of any concern in +which government is totally out of the question, and in which they +act merely on the principles of society, we see how naturally the +various parties unite; and this shows, by comparison, that +governments, so far from being always the cause or means of order, +are often the destruction of it. The riots of 1780 had no other +source than the remains of those prejudices which the government +itself had encouraged. But with respect to England there are also +other causes. + +Excess and inequality of taxation, however disguised in the means, +never fail to appear in their effects. As a great mass of the +community are thrown thereby into poverty and discontent, they are +constantly on the brink of commotion; and deprived, as they +unfortunately are, of the means of information, are easily heated to +outrage. Whatever the apparent cause of any riots may be, the real +one is always want of happiness. It shows that something is wrong in +the system of government that injures the felicity by which society +is to be preserved. + +But as a fact is superior to reasoning, the instance of America +presents itself to confirm these observations. If there is a country +in the world where concord, according to common calculation, would be +least expected, it is America. Made up as it is of people from +different nations,*[16] accustomed to different forms and habits of +government, speaking different languages, and more different in their +modes of worship, it would appear that the union of such a people was +impracticable; but by the simple operation of constructing government +on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty +retires, and all the parts are brought into cordial unison. There the +poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged. Industry is not +mortified by the splendid extravagance of a court rioting at its +expense. Their taxes are few, because their government is just: and +as there is nothing to render them wretched, there is nothing to +engender riots and tumults. + +A metaphysical man, like Mr. Burke, would have tortured his invention +to discover how such a people could be governed. He would have +supposed that some must be managed by fraud, others by force, and all +by some contrivance; that genius must be hired to impose upon +ignorance, and show and parade to fascinate the vulgar. Lost in the +abundance of his researches, he would have resolved and re-resolved, +and finally overlooked the plain and easy road that lay directly +before him. + +One of the great advantages of the American Revolution has been, that +it led to a discovery of the principles, and laid open the +imposition, of governments. All the revolutions till then had been +worked within the atmosphere of a court, and never on the grand floor +of a nation. The parties were always of the class of courtiers; and +whatever was their rage for reformation, they carefully preserved the +fraud of the profession. + +In all cases they took care to represent government as a thing made +up of mysteries, which only themselves understood; and they hid from +the understanding of the nation the only thing that was beneficial to +know, namely, That government is nothing more than a national +association adding on the principles of society. + +Having thus endeavoured to show that the social and civilised state +of man is capable of performing within itself almost everything +necessary to its protection and government, it will be proper, on the +other hand, to take a review of the present old governments, and +examine whether their principles and practice are correspondent +thereto. + + CHAPTER II + + OF THE ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT OLD GOVERNMENTS + +It is impossible that such governments as have hitherto existed in +the world, could have commenced by any other means than a total +violation of every principle sacred and moral. The obscurity in which +the origin of all the present old governments is buried, implies the +iniquity and disgrace with which they began. The origin of the +present government of America and France will ever be remembered, +because it is honourable to record it; but with respect to the rest, +even Flattery has consigned them to the tomb of time, without an +inscription. + +It could have been no difficult thing in the early and solitary ages +of the world, while the chief employment of men was that of attending +flocks and herds, for a banditti of ruffians to overrun a country, +and lay it under contributions. Their power being thus established, +the chief of the band contrived to lose the name of Robber in that of +Monarch; and hence the origin of Monarchy and Kings. + +The origin of the Government of England, so far as relates to what is +called its line of monarchy, being one of the latest, is perhaps the +best recorded. The hatred which the Norman invasion and tyranny +begat, must have been deeply rooted in the nation, to have outlived +the contrivance to obliterate it. Though not a courtier will talk of +the curfew-bell, not a village in England has forgotten it. + +Those bands of robbers having parcelled out the world, and divided it +into dominions, began, as is naturally the case, to quarrel with each +other. What at first was obtained by violence was considered by +others as lawful to be taken, and a second plunderer succeeded the +first. They alternately invaded the dominions which each had assigned +to himself, and the brutality with which they treated each other +explains the original character of monarchy. It was ruffian torturing +ruffian. The conqueror considered the conquered, not as his prisoner, +but his property. He led him in triumph rattling in chains, and +doomed him, at pleasure, to slavery or death. As time obliterated the +history of their beginning, their successors assumed new appearances, +to cut off the entail of their disgrace, but their principles and +objects remained the same. What at first was plunder, assumed the +softer name of revenue; and the power originally usurped, they +affected to inherit. + +From such beginning of governments, what could be expected but a +continued system of war and extortion? It has established itself into +a trade. The vice is not peculiar to one more than to another, but is +the common principle of all. There does not exist within such +governments sufficient stamina whereon to engraft reformation; and +the shortest and most effectual remedy is to begin anew on the ground +of the nation. + +What scenes of horror, what perfection of iniquity, present +themselves in contemplating the character and reviewing the history +of such governments! If we would delineate human nature with a +baseness of heart and hypocrisy of countenance that reflection would +shudder at and humanity disown, it is kings, courts and cabinets that +must sit for the portrait. Man, naturally as he is, with all his +faults about him, is not up to the character. + +Can we possibly suppose that if governments had originated in a right +principle, and had not an interest in pursuing a wrong one, the world +could have been in the wretched and quarrelsome condition we have +seen it? What inducement has the farmer, while following the plough, +to lay aside his peaceful pursuit, and go to war with the farmer of +another country? or what inducement has the manufacturer? What is +dominion to them, or to any class of men in a nation? Does it add an +acre to any man's estate, or raise its value? Are not conquest and +defeat each of the same price, and taxes the never-failing +consequence?- Though this reasoning may be good to a nation, it is +not so to a government. War is the Pharo-table of governments, and +nations the dupes of the game. + +If there is anything to wonder at in this miserable scene of +governments more than might be expected, it is the progress which the +peaceful arts of agriculture, manufacture and commerce have made +beneath such a long accumulating load of discouragement and +oppression. It serves to show that instinct in animals does not act +with stronger impulse than the principles of society and civilisation +operate in man. Under all discouragements, he pursues his object, and +yields to nothing but impossibilities. + + CHAPTER III + + OF THE OLD AND NEW SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT + +Nothing can appear more contradictory than the principles on which +the old governments began, and the condition to which society, +civilisation and commerce are capable of carrying mankind. +Government, on the old system, is an assumption of power, for the +aggrandisement of itself; on the new, a delegation of power for the +common benefit of society. The former supports itself by keeping up a +system of war; the latter promotes a system of peace, as the true +means of enriching a nation. The one encourages national prejudices; +the other promotes universal society, as the means of universal +commerce. The one measures its prosperity, by the quantity of revenue +it extorts; the other proves its excellence, by the small quantity of +taxes it requires. + +Mr. Burke has talked of old and new whigs. If he can amuse himself +with childish names and distinctions, I shall not interrupt his +pleasure. It is not to him, but to the Abbe Sieyes, that I address +this chapter. I am already engaged to the latter gentleman to discuss +the subject of monarchical government; and as it naturally occurs in +comparing the old and new systems, I make this the opportunity of +presenting to him my observations. I shall occasionally take Mr. +Burke in my way. + +Though it might be proved that the system of government now called +the New, is the most ancient in principle of all that have existed, +being founded on the original, inherent Rights of Man: yet, as +tyranny and the sword have suspended the exercise of those rights for +many centuries past, it serves better the purpose of distinction to +call it the new, than to claim the right of calling it the old. + +The first general distinction between those two systems, is, that the +one now called the old is hereditary, either in whole or in part; and +the new is entirely representative. It rejects all hereditary +government: + +First, As being an imposition on mankind. + +Secondly, As inadequate to the purposes for which government is +necessary. + +With respect to the first of these heads- It cannot be proved by what +right hereditary government could begin; neither does there exist +within the compass of mortal power a right to establish it. Man has +no authority over posterity in matters of personal right; and, +therefore, no man, or body of men, had, or can have, a right to set +up hereditary government. Were even ourselves to come again into +existence, instead of being succeeded by posterity, we have not now +the right of taking from ourselves the rights which would then be +ours. On what ground, then, do we pretend to take them from others? + +All hereditary government is in its nature tyranny. An heritable +crown, or an heritable throne, or by what other fanciful name such +things may be called, have no other significant explanation than that +mankind are heritable property. To inherit a government, is to +inherit the people, as if they were flocks and herds. + +With respect to the second head, that of being inadequate to the +purposes for which government is necessary, we have only to consider +what government essentially is, and compare it with the circumstances +to which hereditary succession is subject. + +Government ought to be a thing always in full maturity. It ought to +be so constructed as to be superior to all the accidents to which +individual man is subject; and, therefore, hereditary succession, by +being subject to them all, is the most irregular and imperfect of all +the systems of government. + +We have heard the Rights of Man called a levelling system; but the +only system to which the word levelling is truly applicable, is the +hereditary monarchical system. It is a system of mental levelling. It +indiscriminately admits every species of character to the same +authority. Vice and virtue, ignorance and wisdom, in short, every +quality good or bad, is put on the same level. Kings succeed each +other, not as rationals, but as animals. It signifies not what their +mental or moral characters are. Can we then be surprised at the +abject state of the human mind in monarchical countries, when the +government itself is formed on such an abject levelling system?- It +has no fixed character. To-day it is one thing; to-morrow it is +something else. It changes with the temper of every succeeding +individual, and is subject to all the varieties of each. It is +government through the medium of passions and accidents. It appears +under all the various characters of childhood, decrepitude, dotage, a +thing at nurse, in leading-strings, or in crutches. It reverses the +wholesome order of nature. It occasionally puts children over men, +and the conceits of nonage over wisdom and experience. In short, we +cannot conceive a more ridiculous figure of government, than +hereditary succession, in all its cases, presents. + +Could it be made a decree in nature, or an edict registered in +heaven, and man could know it, that virtue and wisdom should +invariably appertain to hereditary succession, the objection to it +would be removed; but when we see that nature acts as if she disowned +and sported with the hereditary system; that the mental character of +successors, in all countries, is below the average of human +understanding; that one is a tyrant, another an idiot, a third +insane, and some all three together, it is impossible to attach +confidence to it, when reason in man has power to act. + +It is not to the Abbe Sieyes that I need apply this reasoning; he has +already saved me that trouble by giving his own opinion upon the +case. "If it be asked," says he, "what is my opinion with respect to +hereditary right, I answer without hesitation, That in good theory, +an hereditary transmission of any power of office, can never accord +with the laws of a true representation. Hereditaryship is, in this +sense, as much an attaint upon principle, as an outrage upon society. +But let us," continues he, "refer to the history of all elective +monarchies and principalities: is there one in which the elective +mode is not worse than the hereditary succession?" + +As to debating on which is the worst of the two, it is admitting both +to be bad; and herein we are agreed. The preference which the Abbe +has given, is a condemnation of the thing that he prefers. Such a +mode of reasoning on such a subject is inadmissible, because it +finally amounts to an accusation upon Providence, as if she had left +to man no other choice with respect to government than between two +evils, the best of which he admits to be "an attaint upon principle, +and an outrage upon society." + +Passing over, for the present, all the evils and mischiefs which +monarchy has occasioned in the world, nothing can more effectually +prove its uselessness in a state of civil government, than making it +hereditary. Would we make any office hereditary that required wisdom +and abilities to fill it? And where wisdom and abilities are not +necessary, such an office, whatever it may be, is superfluous or +insignificant. + +Hereditary succession is a burlesque upon monarchy. It puts it in the +most ridiculous light, by presenting it as an office which any child +or idiot may fill. It requires some talents to be a common mechanic; +but to be a king requires only the animal figure of man- a sort of +breathing automaton. This sort of superstition may last a few years +more, but it cannot long resist the awakened reason and interest of +man. + +As to Mr. Burke, he is a stickler for monarchy, not altogether as a +pensioner, if he is one, which I believe, but as a political man. He +has taken up a contemptible opinion of mankind, who, in their turn, +are taking up the same of him. He considers them as a herd of beings +that must be governed by fraud, effigy, and show; and an idol would +be as good a figure of monarchy with him, as a man. I will, however, +do him the justice to say that, with respect to America, he has been +very complimentary. He always contended, at least in my hearing, that +the people of America were more enlightened than those of England, or +of any country in Europe; and that therefore the imposition of show +was not necessary in their governments. + +Though the comparison between hereditary and elective monarchy, which +the Abbe has made, is unnecessary to the case, because the +representative system rejects both: yet, were I to make the +comparison, I should decide contrary to what he has done. + +The civil wars which have originated from contested hereditary +claims, are more numerous, and have been more dreadful, and of longer +continuance, than those which have been occasioned by election. All +the civil wars in France arose from the hereditary system; they were +either produced by hereditary claims, or by the imperfection of the +hereditary form, which admits of regencies or monarchy at nurse. With +respect to England, its history is full of the same misfortunes. The +contests for succession between the houses of York and Lancaster +lasted a whole century; and others of a similar nature have renewed +themselves since that period. Those of 1715 and 1745 were of the same +kind. The succession war for the crown of Spain embroiled almost half +Europe. The disturbances of Holland are generated from the +hereditaryship of the Stadtholder. A government calling itself free, +with an hereditary office, is like a thorn in the flesh, that +produces a fermentation which endeavours to discharge it. + +But I might go further, and place also foreign wars, of whatever +kind, to the same cause. It is by adding the evil of hereditary +succession to that of monarchy, that a permanent family interest is +created, whose constant objects are dominion and revenue. Poland, +though an elective monarchy, has had fewer wars than those which are +hereditary; and it is the only government that has made a voluntary +essay, though but a small one, to reform the condition of the +country. + +Having thus glanced at a few of the defects of the old, or hereditary +systems of government, let us compare it with the new, or +representative system. + +The representative system takes society and civilisation for its +basis; nature, reason, and experience, for its guide. + +Experience, in all ages, and in all countries, has demonstrated that +it is impossible to control Nature in her distribution of mental +powers. She gives them as she pleases. Whatever is the rule by which +she, apparently to us, scatters them among mankind, that rule remains +a secret to man. It would be as ridiculous to attempt to fix the +hereditaryship of human beauty, as of wisdom. Whatever wisdom +constituently is, it is like a seedless plant; it may be reared when +it appears, but it cannot be voluntarily produced. There is always a +sufficiency somewhere in the general mass of society for all +purposes; but with respect to the parts of society, it is continually +changing its place. It rises in one to-day, in another to-morrow, and +has most probably visited in rotation every family of the earth, and +again withdrawn. + +As this is in the order of nature, the order of government must +necessarily follow it, or government will, as we see it does, +degenerate into ignorance. The hereditary system, therefore, is as +repugnant to human wisdom as to human rights; and is as absurd as it +is unjust. + +As the republic of letters brings forward the best literary +productions, by giving to genius a fair and universal chance; so the +representative system of government is calculated to produce the +wisest laws, by collecting wisdom from where it can be found. I smile +to myself when I contemplate the ridiculous insignificance into which +literature and all the sciences would sink, were they made +hereditary; and I carry the same idea into governments. An hereditary +governor is as inconsistent as an hereditary author. I know not +whether Homer or Euclid had sons; but I will venture an opinion that +if they had, and had left their works unfinished, those sons could +not have completed them. + +Do we need a stronger evidence of the absurdity of hereditary +government than is seen in the descendants of those men, in any line +of life, who once were famous? Is there scarcely an instance in which +there is not a total reverse of the character? It appears as if the +tide of mental faculties flowed as far as it could in certain +channels, and then forsook its course, and arose in others. How +irrational then is the hereditary system, which establishes channels +of power, in company with which wisdom refuses to flow! By continuing +this absurdity, man is perpetually in contradiction with himself; he +accepts, for a king, or a chief magistrate, or a legislator, a person +whom he would not elect for a constable. + +It appears to general observation, that revolutions create genius and +talents; but those events do no more than bring them forward. There +is existing in man, a mass of sense lying in a dormant state, and +which, unless something excites it to action, will descend with him, +in that condition, to the grave. As it is to the advantage of society +that the whole of its faculties should be employed, the construction +of government ought to be such as to bring forward, by a quiet and +regular operation, all that extent of capacity which never fails to +appear in revolutions. + +This cannot take place in the insipid state of hereditary government, +not only because it prevents, but because it operates to benumb. When +the mind of a nation is bowed down by any political superstition in +its government, such as hereditary succession is, it loses a +considerable portion of its powers on all other subjects and objects. +Hereditary succession requires the same obedience to ignorance, as to +wisdom; and when once the mind can bring itself to pay this +indiscriminate reverence, it descends below the stature of mental +manhood. It is fit to be great only in little things. It acts a +treachery upon itself, and suffocates the sensations that urge the +detection. + +Though the ancient governments present to us a miserable picture of +the condition of man, there is one which above all others exempts +itself from the general description. I mean the democracy of the +Athenians. We see more to admire, and less to condemn, in that great, +extraordinary people, than in anything which history affords. + +Mr. Burke is so little acquainted with constituent principles of +government, that he confounds democracy and representation together. +Representation was a thing unknown in the ancient democracies. In +those the mass of the people met and enacted laws (grammatically +speaking) in the first person. Simple democracy was no other than the +common hall of the ancients. It signifies the form, as well as the +public principle of the government. As those democracies increased in +population, and the territory extended, the simple democratical form +became unwieldy and impracticable; and as the system of +representation was not known, the consequence was, they either +degenerated convulsively into monarchies, or became absorbed into +such as then existed. Had the system of representation been then +understood, as it now is, there is no reason to believe that those +forms of government, now called monarchical or aristocratical, would +ever have taken place. It was the want of some method to consolidate +the parts of society, after it became too populous, and too extensive +for the simple democratical form, and also the lax and solitary +condition of shepherds and herdsmen in other parts of the world, that +afforded opportunities to those unnatural modes of government to +begin. + +As it is necessary to clear away the rubbish of errors, into which +the subject of government has been thrown, I will proceed to remark +on some others. + +It has always been the political craft of courtiers and +court-governments, to abuse something which they called +republicanism; but what republicanism was, or is, they never attempt +to explain. let us examine a little into this case. + +The only forms of government are the democratical, the +aristocratical, the monarchical, and what is now called the +representative. + +What is called a republic is not any particular form of government. +It is wholly characteristical of the purport, matter or object for +which government ought to be instituted, and on which it is to be +employed, Res-Publica, the public affairs, or the public good; or, +literally translated, the public thing. It is a word of a good +original, referring to what ought to be the character and business of +government; and in this sense it is naturally opposed to the word +monarchy, which has a base original signification. It means arbitrary +power in an individual person; in the exercise of which, himself, and +not the res-publica, is the object. + +Every government that does not act on the principle of a Republic, or +in other words, that does not make the res-publica its whole and sole +object, is not a good government. Republican government is no other +than government established and conducted for the interest of the +public, as well individually as collectively. It is not necessarily +connected with any particular form, but it most naturally associates +with the representative form, as being best calculated to secure the +end for which a nation is at the expense of supporting it. + +Various forms of government have affected to style themselves a +republic. Poland calls itself a republic, which is an hereditary +aristocracy, with what is called an elective monarchy. Holland calls +itself a republic, which is chiefly aristocratical, with an +hereditary stadtholdership. But the government of America, which is +wholly on the system of representation, is the only real Republic, in +character and in practice, that now exists. Its government has no +other object than the public business of the nation, and therefore it +is properly a republic; and the Americans have taken care that This, +and no other, shall always be the object of their government, by +their rejecting everything hereditary, and establishing governments +on the system of representation only. Those who have said that a +republic is not a form of government calculated for countries of +great extent, mistook, in the first place, the business of a +government, for a form of government; for the res-publica equally +appertains to every extent of territory and population. And, in the +second place, if they meant anything with respect to form, it was the +simple democratical form, such as was the mode of government in the +ancient democracies, in which there was no representation. The case, +therefore, is not, that a republic cannot be extensive, but that it +cannot be extensive on the simple democratical form; and the question +naturally presents itself, What is the best form of government for +conducting the Res-Publica, or the Public Business of a nation, after +it becomes too extensive and populous for the simple democratical +form? It cannot be monarchy, because monarchy is subject to an +objection of the same amount to which the simple democratical form +was subject. + +It is possible that an individual may lay down a system of +principles, on which government shall be constitutionally established +to any extent of territory. This is no more than an operation of the +mind, acting by its own powers. But the practice upon those +principles, as applying to the various and numerous circumstances of +a nation, its agriculture, manufacture, trade, commerce, etc., etc., +a knowledge of a different kind, and which can be had only from the +various parts of society. It is an assemblage of practical knowledge, +which no individual can possess; and therefore the monarchical form +is as much limited, in useful practice, from the incompetency of +knowledge, as was the democratical form, from the multiplicity of +population. The one degenerates, by extension, into confusion; the +other, into ignorance and incapacity, of which all the great +monarchies are an evidence. The monarchical form, therefore, could +not be a substitute for the democratical, because it has equal +inconveniences. + +Much less could it when made hereditary. This is the most effectual +of all forms to preclude knowledge. Neither could the high +democratical mind have voluntarily yielded itself to be governed by +children and idiots, and all the motley insignificance of character, +which attends such a mere animal system, the disgrace and the +reproach of reason and of man. + +As to the aristocratical form, it has the same vices and defects with +the monarchical, except that the chance of abilities is better from +the proportion of numbers, but there is still no security for the +right use and application of them.*[17] + +Referring them to the original simple democracy, it affords the true +data from which government on a large scale can begin. It is +incapable of extension, not from its principle, but from the +inconvenience of its form; and monarchy and aristocracy, from their +incapacity. Retaining, then, democracy as the ground, and rejecting +the corrupt systems of monarchy and aristocracy, the representative +system naturally presents itself; remedying at once the defects of +the simple democracy as to form, and the incapacity of the other two +with respect to knowledge. + +Simple democracy was society governing itself without the aid of +secondary means. By ingrafting representation upon democracy, we +arrive at a system of government capable of embracing and +confederating all the various interests and every extent of territory +and population; and that also with advantages as much superior to +hereditary government, as the republic of letters is to hereditary +literature. + +It is on this system that the American government is founded. It is +representation ingrafted upon democracy. It has fixed the form by a +scale parallel in all cases to the extent of the principle. What +Athens was in miniature America will be in magnitude. The one was the +wonder of the ancient world; the other is becoming the admiration of +the present. It is the easiest of all the forms of government to be +understood and the most eligible in practice; and excludes at once +the ignorance and insecurity of the hereditary mode, and the +inconvenience of the simple democracy. + +It is impossible to conceive a system of government capable of acting +over such an extent of territory, and such a circle of interests, as +is immediately produced by the operation of representation. France, +great and populous as it is, is but a spot in the capaciousness of +the system. It is preferable to simple democracy even in small +territories. Athens, by representation, would have outrivalled her +own democracy. + +That which is called government, or rather that which we ought to +conceive government to be, is no more than some common center in +which all the parts of society unite. This cannot be accomplished by +any method so conducive to the various interests of the community, as +by the representative system. It concentrates the knowledge necessary +to the interest of the parts, and of the whole. It places government +in a state of constant maturity. It is, as has already been observed, +never young, never old. It is subject neither to nonage, nor dotage. +It is never in the cradle, nor on crutches. It admits not of a +separation between knowledge and power, and is superior, as +government always ought to be, to all the accidents of individual +man, and is therefore superior to what is called monarchy. + +A nation is not a body, the figure of which is to be represented by +the human body; but is like a body contained within a circle, having +a common center, in which every radius meets; and that center is +formed by representation. To connect representation with what is +called monarchy, is eccentric government. Representation is of itself +the delegated monarchy of a nation, and cannot debase itself by +dividing it with another. + +Mr. Burke has two or three times, in his parliamentary speeches, and +in his publications, made use of a jingle of words that convey no +ideas. Speaking of government, he says, "It is better to have +monarchy for its basis, and republicanism for its corrective, than +republicanism for its basis, and monarchy for its corrective."- If he +means that it is better to correct folly with wisdom, than wisdom +with folly, I will no otherwise contend with him, than that it would +be much better to reject the folly entirely. + +But what is this thing which Mr. Burke calls monarchy? Will he +explain it? All men can understand what representation is; and that +it must necessarily include a variety of knowledge and talents. But +what security is there for the same qualities on the part of +monarchy? or, when the monarchy is a child, where then is the wisdom? +What does it know about government? Who then is the monarch, or where +is the monarchy? If it is to be performed by regency, it proves to be +a farce. A regency is a mock species of republic, and the whole of +monarchy deserves no better description. It is a thing as various as +imagination can paint. It has none of the stable character that +government ought to possess. Every succession is a revolution, and +every regency a counter-revolution. The whole of it is a scene of +perpetual court cabal and intrigue, of which Mr. Burke is himself an +instance. To render monarchy consistent with government, the next in +succession should not be born a child, but a man at once, and that +man a Solomon. It is ridiculous that nations are to wait and +government be interrupted till boys grow to be men. + +Whether I have too little sense to see, or too much to be imposed +upon; whether I have too much or too little pride, or of anything +else, I leave out of the question; but certain it is, that what is +called monarchy, always appears to me a silly, contemptible thing. I +compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a +great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming +solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open- +and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter. + +In the representative system of government, nothing of this can +happen. Like the nation itself, it possesses a perpetual stamina, as +well of body as of mind, and presents itself on the open theatre of +the world in a fair and manly manner. Whatever are its excellences or +defects, they are visible to all. It exists not by fraud and mystery; +it deals not in cant and sophistry; but inspires a language that, +passing from heart to heart, is felt and understood. + +We must shut our eyes against reason, we must basely degrade our +understanding, not to see the folly of what is called monarchy. +Nature is orderly in all her works; but this is a mode of government +that counteracts nature. It turns the progress of the human faculties +upside down. It subjects age to be governed by children, and wisdom +by folly. + +On the contrary, the representative system is always parallel with +the order and immutable laws of nature, and meets the reason of man +in every part. For example: + +In the American Federal Government, more power is delegated to the +President of the United States than to any other individual member of +Congress. He cannot, therefore, be elected to this office under the +age of thirty-five years. By this time the judgment of man becomes +more matured, and he has lived long enough to be acquainted with men +and things, and the country with him.- But on the monarchial plan +(exclusive of the numerous chances there are against every man born +into the world, of drawing a prize in the lottery of human +faculties), the next in succession, whatever he may be, is put at the +head of a nation, and of a government, at the age of eighteen years. +Does this appear like an action of wisdom? Is it consistent with the +proper dignity and the manly character of a nation? Where is the +propriety of calling such a lad the father of the people?- In all +other cases, a person is a minor until the age of twenty-one years. +Before this period, he is not trusted with the management of an acre +of land, or with the heritable property of a flock of sheep, or an +herd of swine; but, wonderful to tell! he may, at the age of eighteen +years, be trusted with a nation. + +That monarchy is all a bubble, a mere court artifice to procure +money, is evident (at least to me) in every character in which it can +be viewed. It would be impossible, on the rational system of +representative government, to make out a bill of expenses to such an +enormous amount as this deception admits. Government is not of itself +a very chargeable institution. The whole expense of the federal +government of America, founded, as I have already said, on the system +of representation, and extending over a country nearly ten times as +large as England, is but six hundred thousand dollars, or one hundred +and thirty-five thousand pounds sterling. + +I presume that no man in his sober senses will compare the character +of any of the kings of Europe with that of General Washington. Yet, +in France, and also in England, the expense of the civil list only, +for the support of one man, is eight times greater than the whole +expense of the federal government in America. To assign a reason for +this, appears almost impossible. The generality of people in America, +especially the poor, are more able to pay taxes, than the generality +of people either in France or England. + +But the case is, that the representative system diffuses such a body +of knowledge throughout a nation, on the subject of government, as to +explode ignorance and preclude imposition. The craft of courts cannot +be acted on that ground. There is no place for mystery; nowhere for +it to begin. Those who are not in the representation, know as much of +the nature of business as those who are. An affectation of mysterious +importance would there be scouted. Nations can have no secrets; and +the secrets of courts, like those of individuals, are always their +defects. + +In the representative system, the reason for everything must publicly +appear. Every man is a proprietor in government, and considers it a +necessary part of his business to understand. It concerns his +interest, because it affects his property. He examines the cost, and +compares it with the advantages; and above all, he does not adopt the +slavish custom of following what in other governments are called +Leaders. + +It can only be by blinding the understanding of man, and making him +believe that government is some wonderful mysterious thing, that +excessive revenues are obtained. Monarchy is well calculated to +ensure this end. It is the popery of government; a thing kept up to +amuse the ignorant, and quiet them into taxes. + +The government of a free country, properly speaking, is not in the +persons, but in the laws. The enacting of those requires no great +expense; and when they are administered, the whole of civil +government is performed- the rest is all court contrivance. + + CHAPTER IV + + OF CONSTITUTIONS + +That men mean distinct and separate things when they speak of +constitutions and of governments, is evident; or why are those terms +distinctly and separately used? A constitution is not the act of a +government, but of a people constituting a government; and government +without a constitution, is power without a right. + +All power exercised over a nation, must have some beginning. It must +either be delegated or assumed. There are no other sources. All +delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time +does not alter the nature and quality of either. + +In viewing this subject, the case and circumstances of America +present themselves as in the beginning of a world; and our enquiry +into the origin of government is shortened, by referring to the facts +that have arisen in our own day. We have no occasion to roam for +information into the obscure field of antiquity, nor hazard ourselves +upon conjecture. We are brought at once to the point of seeing +government begin, as if we had lived in the beginning of time. The +real volume, not of history, but of facts, is directly before us, +unmutilated by contrivance, or the errors of tradition. + +I will here concisely state the commencement of the American +constitutions; by which the difference between constitutions and +governments will sufficiently appear. + +It may not appear improper to remind the reader that the United +States of America consist of thirteen separate states, each of which +established a government for itself, after the declaration of +independence, done the 4th of July, 1776. Each state acted +independently of the rest, in forming its governments; but the same +general principle pervades the whole. When the several state +governments were formed, they proceeded to form the federal +government, that acts over the whole in all matters which concern the +interest of the whole, or which relate to the intercourse of the +several states with each other, or with foreign nations. I will begin +with giving an instance from one of the state governments (that of +Pennsylvania) and then proceed to the federal government. + +The state of Pennsylvania, though nearly of the same extent of +territory as England, was then divided into only twelve counties. +Each of those counties had elected a committee at the commencement of +the dispute with the English government; and as the city of +Philadelphia, which also had its committee, was the most central for +intelligence, it became the center of communication to the several +country committees. When it became necessary to proceed to the +formation of a government, the committee of Philadelphia proposed a +conference of all the committees, to be held in that city, and which +met the latter end of July, 1776. + +Though these committees had been duly elected by the people, they +were not elected expressly for the purpose, nor invested with the +authority of forming a constitution; and as they could not, +consistently with the American idea of rights, assume such a power, +they could only confer upon the matter, and put it into a train of +operation. The conferees, therefore, did no more than state the case, +and recommend to the several counties to elect six representatives +for each county, to meet in convention at Philadelphia, with powers +to form a constitution, and propose it for public consideration. + +This convention, of which Benjamin Franklin was president, having met +and deliberated, and agreed upon a constitution, they next ordered it +to be published, not as a thing established, but for the +consideration of the whole people, their approbation or rejection, +and then adjourned to a stated time. When the time of adjournment was +expired, the convention re-assembled; and as the general opinion of +the people in approbation of it was then known, the constitution was +signed, sealed, and proclaimed on the authority of the people and the +original instrument deposited as a public record. The convention then +appointed a day for the general election of the representatives who +were to compose the government, and the time it should commence; and +having done this they dissolved, and returned to their several homes +and occupations. + +In this constitution were laid down, first, a declaration of rights; +then followed the form which the government should have, and the +powers it should possess- the authority of the courts of judicature, +and of juries- the manner in which elections should be conducted, and +the proportion of representatives to the number of electors- the time +which each succeeding assembly should continue, which was one year- +the mode of levying, and of accounting for the expenditure, of public +money- of appointing public officers, etc., etc., etc. + +No article of this constitution could be altered or infringed at the +discretion of the government that was to ensue. It was to that +government a law. But as it would have been unwise to preclude the +benefit of experience, and in order also to prevent the accumulation +of errors, if any should be found, and to preserve an unison of +government with the circumstances of the state at all times, the +constitution provided that, at the expiration of every seven years, a +convention should be elected, for the express purpose of revising the +constitution, and making alterations, additions, or abolitions +therein, if any such should be found necessary. + +Here we see a regular process- a government issuing out of a +constitution, formed by the people in their original character; and +that constitution serving, not only as an authority, but as a law of +control to the government. It was the political bible of the state. +Scarcely a family was without it. Every member of the government had +a copy; and nothing was more common, when any debate arose on the +principle of a bill, or on the extent of any species of authority, +than for the members to take the printed constitution out of their +pocket, and read the chapter with which such matter in debate was +connected. + +Having thus given an instance from one of the states, I will show the +proceedings by which the federal constitution of the United States +arose and was formed. + +Congress, at its two first meetings, in September 1774, and May 1775, +was nothing more than a deputation from the legislatures of the +several provinces, afterwards states; and had no other authority than +what arose from common consent, and the necessity of its acting as a +public body. In everything which related to the internal affairs of +America, congress went no further than to issue recommendations to +the several provincial assemblies, who at discretion adopted them or +not. Nothing on the part of congress was compulsive; yet, in this +situation, it was more faithfully and affectionately obeyed than was +any government in Europe. This instance, like that of the national +assembly in France, sufficiently shows, that the strength of +government does not consist in any thing itself, but in the +attachment of a nation, and the interest which a people feel in +supporting it. When this is lost, government is but a child in power; +and though, like the old government in France, it may harass +individuals for a while, it but facilitates its own fall. + +After the declaration of independence, it became consistent with the +principle on which representative government is founded, that the +authority of congress should be defined and established. Whether that +authority should be more or less than congress then discretionarily +exercised was not the question. It was merely the rectitude of the +measure. + +For this purpose, the act, called the act of confederation (which was +a sort of imperfect federal constitution), was proposed, and, after +long deliberation, was concluded in the year 1781. It was not the act +of congress, because it is repugnant to the principles of +representative government that a body should give power to itself. +Congress first informed the several states, of the powers which it +conceived were necessary to be invested in the union, to enable it to +perform the duties and services required from it; and the states +severally agreed with each other, and concentrated in congress those +powers. + +It may not be improper to observe that in both those instances (the +one of Pennsylvania, and the other of the United States), there is no +such thing as the idea of a compact between the people on one side, +and the government on the other. The compact was that of the people +with each other, to produce and constitute a government. To suppose +that any government can be a party in a compact with the whole +people, is to suppose it to have existence before it can have a right +to exist. The only instance in which a compact can take place between +the people and those who exercise the government, is, that the people +shall pay them, while they choose to employ them. + +Government is not a trade which any man, or any body of men, has a +right to set up and exercise for his own emolument, but is altogether +a trust, in right of those by whom that trust is delegated, and by +whom it is always resumeable. It has of itself no rights; they are +altogether duties. + +Having thus given two instances of the original formation of a +constitution, I will show the manner in which both have been changed +since their first establishment. + +The powers vested in the governments of the several states, by the +state constitutions, were found, upon experience, to be too great; +and those vested in the federal government, by the act of +confederation, too little. The defect was not in the principle, but +in the distribution of power. + +Numerous publications, in pamphlets and in the newspapers, appeared, +on the propriety and necessity of new modelling the federal +government. After some time of public discussion, carried on through +the channel of the press, and in conversations, the state of +Virginia, experiencing some inconvenience with respect to commerce, +proposed holding a continental conference; in consequence of which, a +deputation from five or six state assemblies met at Annapolis, in +Maryland, in 1786. This meeting, not conceiving itself sufficiently +authorised to go into the business of a reform, did no more than +state their general opinions of the propriety of the measure, and +recommend that a convention of all the states should be held the year +following. + +The convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, of which General +Washington was elected president. He was not at that time connected +with any of the state governments, or with congress. He delivered up +his commission when the war ended, and since then had lived a private +citizen. + +The convention went deeply into all the subjects; and having, after a +variety of debate and investigation, agreed among themselves upon the +several parts of a federal constitution, the next question was, the +manner of giving it authority and practice. + +For this purpose they did not, like a cabal of courtiers, send for a +Dutch Stadtholder, or a German Elector; but they referred the whole +matter to the sense and interest of the country. + +They first directed that the proposed constitution should be +published. Secondly, that each state should elect a convention, +expressly for the purpose of taking it into consideration, and of +ratifying or rejecting it; and that as soon as the approbation and +ratification of any nine states should be given, that those states +shall proceed to the election of their proportion of members to the +new federal government; and that the operation of it should then +begin, and the former federal government cease. + +The several states proceeded accordingly to elect their conventions. +Some of those conventions ratified the constitution by very large +majorities, and two or three unanimously. In others there were much +debate and division of opinion. In the Massachusetts convention, +which met at Boston, the majority was not above nineteen or twenty, +in about three hundred members; but such is the nature of +representative government, that it quietly decides all matters by +majority. After the debate in the Massachusetts convention was +closed, and the vote taken, the objecting members rose and declared, +"That though they had argued and voted against it, because certain +parts appeared to them in a different light to what they appeared to +other members; yet, as the vote had decided in favour of the +constitution as proposed, they should give it the same practical +support as if they had for it." + +As soon as nine states had concurred (and the rest followed in the +order their conventions were elected), the old fabric of the federal +government was taken down, and the new one erected, of which General +Washington is president.- In this place I cannot help remarking, that +the character and services of this gentleman are sufficient to put +all those men called kings to shame. While they are receiving from +the sweat and labours of mankind, a prodigality of pay, to which +neither their abilities nor their services can entitle them, he is +rendering every service in his power, and refusing every pecuniary +reward. He accepted no pay as commander-in-chief; he accepts none as +president of the United States. + +After the new federal constitution was established, the state of +Pennsylvania, conceiving that some parts of its own constitution +required to be altered, elected a convention for that purpose. The +proposed alterations were published, and the people concurring +therein, they were established. + +In forming those constitutions, or in altering them, little or no +inconvenience took place. The ordinary course of things was not +interrupted, and the advantages have been much. It is always the +interest of a far greater number of people in a nation to have things +right, than to let them remain wrong; and when public matters are +open to debate, and the public judgment free, it will not decide +wrong, unless it decides too hastily. + +In the two instances of changing the constitutions, the governments +then in being were not actors either way. Government has no right to +make itself a party in any debate respecting the principles or modes +of forming, or of changing, constitutions. It is not for the benefit +of those who exercise the powers of government that constitutions, +and the governments issuing from them, are established. In all those +matters the right of judging and acting are in those who pay, and not +in those who receive. + +A constitution is the property of a nation, and not of those who +exercise the government. All the constitutions of America are +declared to be established on the authority of the people. In France, +the word nation is used instead of the people; but in both cases, a +constitution is a thing antecedent to the government, and always +distinct there from. + +In England it is not difficult to perceive that everything has a +constitution, except the nation. Every society and association that +is established, first agreed upon a number of original articles, +digested into form, which are its constitution. It then appointed its +officers, whose powers and authorities are described in that +constitution, and the government of that society then commenced. +Those officers, by whatever name they are called, have no authority +to add to, alter, or abridge the original articles. It is only to the +constituting power that this right belongs. + +From the want of understanding the difference between a constitution +and a government, Dr. Johnson, and all writers of his description, +have always bewildered themselves. They could not but perceive, that +there must necessarily be a controlling power existing somewhere, and +they placed this power in the discretion of the persons exercising +the government, instead of placing it in a constitution formed by the +nation. When it is in a constitution, it has the nation for its +support, and the natural and the political controlling powers are +together. The laws which are enacted by governments, control men only +as individuals, but the nation, through its constitution, controls +the whole government, and has a natural ability to do so. The final +controlling power, therefore, and the original constituting power, +are one and the same power. + +Dr. Johnson could not have advanced such a position in any country +where there was a constitution; and he is himself an evidence that no +such thing as a constitution exists in England. But it may be put as +a question, not improper to be investigated, that if a constitution +does not exist, how came the idea of its existence so generally +established? + +In order to decide this question, it is necessary to consider a +constitution in both its cases:- First, as creating a government and +giving it powers. Secondly, as regulating and restraining the powers +so given. + +If we begin with William of Normandy, we find that the government of +England was originally a tyranny, founded on an invasion and conquest +of the country. This being admitted, it will then appear, that the +exertion of the nation, at different periods, to abate that tyranny, +and render it less intolerable, has been credited for a constitution. + +Magna Charta, as it was called (it is now like an almanack of the +same date), was no more than compelling the government to renounce a +part of its assumptions. It did not create and give powers to +government in a manner a constitution does; but was, as far as it +went, of the nature of a re-conquest, and not a constitution; for +could the nation have totally expelled the usurpation, as France has +done its despotism, it would then have had a constitution to form. + +The history of the Edwards and the Henries, and up to the +commencement of the Stuarts, exhibits as many instances of tyranny as +could be acted within the limits to which the nation had restricted +it. The Stuarts endeavoured to pass those limits, and their fate is +well known. In all those instances we see nothing of a constitution, +but only of restrictions on assumed power. + +After this, another William, descended from the same stock, and +claiming from the same origin, gained possession; and of the two +evils, James and William, the nation preferred what it thought the +least; since, from circumstances, it must take one. The act, called +the Bill of Rights, comes here into view. What is it, but a bargain, +which the parts of the government made with each other to divide +powers, profits, and privileges? You shall have so much, and I will +have the rest; and with respect to the nation, it said, for your +share, You shall have the right of petitioning. This being the case, +the bill of rights is more properly a bill of wrongs, and of insult. +As to what is called the convention parliament, it was a thing that +made itself, and then made the authority by which it acted. A few +persons got together, and called themselves by that name. Several of +them had never been elected, and none of them for the purpose. + +From the time of William a species of government arose, issuing out +of this coalition bill of rights; and more so, since the corruption +introduced at the Hanover succession by the agency of Walpole; that +can be described by no other name than a despotic legislation. Though +the parts may embarrass each other, the whole has no bounds; and the +only right it acknowledges out of itself, is the right of +petitioning. Where then is the constitution either that gives or +restrains power? + +It is not because a part of the government is elective, that makes it +less a despotism, if the persons so elected possess afterwards, as a +parliament, unlimited powers. Election, in this case, becomes +separated from representation, and the candidates are candidates for +despotism. + +I cannot believe that any nation, reasoning on its own rights, would +have thought of calling these things a constitution, if the cry of +constitution had not been set up by the government. It has got into +circulation like the words bore and quoz [quiz], by being chalked up +in the speeches of parliament, as those words were on window shutters +and doorposts; but whatever the constitution may be in other +respects, it has undoubtedly been the most productive machine of +taxation that was ever invented. The taxes in France, under the new +constitution, are not quite thirteen shillings per head,*[18] and the +taxes in England, under what is called its present constitution, are +forty-eight shillings and sixpence per head- men, women, and +children- amounting to nearly seventeen millions sterling, besides +the expense of collecting, which is upwards of a million more. + +In a country like England, where the whole of the civil Government is +executed by the people of every town and county, by means of parish +officers, magistrates, quarterly sessions, juries, and assize; +without any trouble to what is called the government or any other +expense to the revenue than the salary of the judges, it is +astonishing how such a mass of taxes can be employed. Not even the +internal defence of the country is paid out of the revenue. On all +occasions, whether real or contrived, recourse is continually had to +new loans and new taxes. No wonder, then, that a machine of +government so advantageous to the advocates of a court, should be so +triumphantly extolled! No wonder, that St. James's or St. Stephen's +should echo with the continual cry of constitution; no wonder, that +the French revolution should be reprobated, and the res-publica +treated with reproach! The red book of England, like the red book of +France, will explain the reason.*[19] + +I will now, by way of relaxation, turn a thought or two to Mr. Burke. +I ask his pardon for neglecting him so long. + +"America," says he (in his speech on the Canada Constitution bill), +"never dreamed of such absurd doctrine as the Rights of Man." + +Mr. Burke is such a bold presumer, and advances his assertions and +his premises with such a deficiency of judgment, that, without +troubling ourselves about principles of philosophy or politics, the +mere logical conclusions they produce, are ridiculous. For instance, + +If governments, as Mr. Burke asserts, are not founded on the Rights +of Man, and are founded on any rights at all, they consequently must +be founded on the right of something that is not man. What then is +that something? + +Generally speaking, we know of no other creatures that inhabit the +earth than man and beast; and in all cases, where only two things +offer themselves, and one must be admitted, a negation proved on any +one, amounts to an affirmative on the other; and therefore, Mr. +Burke, by proving against the Rights of Man, proves in behalf of the +beast; and consequently, proves that government is a beast; and as +difficult things sometimes explain each other, we now see the origin +of keeping wild beasts in the Tower; for they certainly can be of no +other use than to show the origin of the government. They are in the +place of a constitution. O John Bull, what honours thou hast lost by +not being a wild beast. Thou mightest, on Mr. Burke's system, have +been in the Tower for life. + +If Mr. Burke's arguments have not weight enough to keep one serious, +the fault is less mine than his; and as I am willing to make an +apology to the reader for the liberty I have taken, I hope Mr. Burke +will also make his for giving the cause. + +Having thus paid Mr. Burke the compliment of remembering him, I +return to the subject. + +From the want of a constitution in England to restrain and regulate +the wild impulse of power, many of the laws are irrational and +tyrannical, and the administration of them vague and problematical. + +The attention of the government of England (for I rather choose to +call it by this name than the English government) appears, since its +political connection with Germany, to have been so completely +engrossed and absorbed by foreign affairs, and the means of raising +taxes, that it seems to exist for no other purposes. Domestic +concerns are neglected; and with respect to regular law, there is +scarcely such a thing. + +Almost every case must now be determined by some precedent, be that +precedent good or bad, or whether it properly applies or not; and the +practice is become so general as to suggest a suspicion, that it +proceeds from a deeper policy than at first sight appears. + +Since the revolution of America, and more so since that of France, +this preaching up the doctrines of precedents, drawn from times and +circumstances antecedent to those events, has been the studied +practice of the English government. The generality of those +precedents are founded on principles and opinions, the reverse of +what they ought; and the greater distance of time they are drawn +from, the more they are to be suspected. But by associating those +precedents with a superstitious reverence for ancient things, as +monks show relics and call them holy, the generality of mankind are +deceived into the design. Governments now act as if they were afraid +to awaken a single reflection in man. They are softly leading him to +the sepulchre of precedents, to deaden his faculties and call +attention from the scene of revolutions. They feel that he is +arriving at knowledge faster than they wish, and their policy of +precedents is the barometer of their fears. This political popery, +like the ecclesiastical popery of old, has had its day, and is +hastening to its exit. The ragged relic and the antiquated precedent, +the monk and the monarch, will moulder together. + +Government by precedent, without any regard to the principle of the +precedent, is one of the vilest systems that can be set up. In +numerous instances, the precedent ought to operate as a warning, and +not as an example, and requires to be shunned instead of imitated; +but instead of this, precedents are taken in the lump, and put at +once for constitution and for law. + +Either the doctrine of precedents is policy to keep a man in a state +of ignorance, or it is a practical confession that wisdom degenerates +in governments as governments increase in age, and can only hobble +along by the stilts and crutches of precedents. How is it that the +same persons who would proudly be thought wiser than their +predecessors, appear at the same time only as the ghosts of departed +wisdom? How strangely is antiquity treated! To some purposes it is +spoken of as the times of darkness and ignorance, and to answer +others, it is put for the light of the world. + +If the doctrine of precedents is to be followed, the expenses of +government need not continue the same. Why pay men extravagantly, who +have but little to do? If everything that can happen is already in +precedent, legislation is at an end, and precedent, like a +dictionary, determines every case. Either, therefore, government has +arrived at its dotage, and requires to be renovated, or all the +occasions for exercising its wisdom have occurred. + +We now see all over Europe, and particularly in England, the curious +phenomenon of a nation looking one way, and the government the other- +the one forward and the other backward. If governments are to go on +by precedent, while nations go on by improvement, they must at last +come to a final separation; and the sooner, and the more civilly they +determine this point, the better.*[20] + +Having thus spoken of constitutions generally, as things distinct +from actual governments, let us proceed to consider the parts of +which a constitution is composed. + +Opinions differ more on this subject than with respect to the whole. +That a nation ought to have a constitution, as a rule for the conduct +of its government, is a simple question in which all men, not +directly courtiers, will agree. It is only on the component parts +that questions and opinions multiply. + +But this difficulty, like every other, will diminish when put into a +train of being rightly understood. + +The first thing is, that a nation has a right to establish a +constitution. + +Whether it exercises this right in the most judicious manner at first +is quite another case. It exercises it agreeably to the judgment it +possesses; and by continuing to do so, all errors will at last be +exploded. + +When this right is established in a nation, there is no fear that it +will be employed to its own injury. A nation can have no interest in +being wrong. + +Though all the constitutions of America are on one general principle, +yet no two of them are exactly alike in their component parts, or in +the distribution of the powers which they give to the actual +governments. Some are more, and others less complex. + +In forming a constitution, it is first necessary to consider what are +the ends for which government is necessary? Secondly, what are the +best means, and the least expensive, for accomplishing those ends? + +Government is nothing more than a national association; and the +object of this association is the good of all, as well individually +as collectively. Every man wishes to pursue his occupation, and to +enjoy the fruits of his labours and the produce of his property in +peace and safety, and with the least possible expense. When these +things are accomplished, all the objects for which government ought +to be established are answered. + +It has been customary to consider government under three distinct +general heads. The legislative, the executive, and the judicial. + +But if we permit our judgment to act unincumbered by the habit of +multiplied terms, we can perceive no more than two divisions of +power, of which civil government is composed, namely, that of +legislating or enacting laws, and that of executing or administering +them. Everything, therefore, appertaining to civil government, +classes itself under one or other of these two divisions. + +So far as regards the execution of the laws, that which is called the +judicial power, is strictly and properly the executive power of every +country. It is that power to which every individual has appeal, and +which causes the laws to be executed; neither have we any other clear +idea with respect to the official execution of the laws. In England, +and also in America and France, this power begins with the +magistrate, and proceeds up through all the courts of judicature. + +I leave to courtiers to explain what is meant by calling monarchy the +executive power. It is merely a name in which acts of government are +done; and any other, or none at all, would answer the same purpose. +Laws have neither more nor less authority on this account. It must be +from the justness of their principles, and the interest which a +nation feels therein, that they derive support; if they require any +other than this, it is a sign that something in the system of +government is imperfect. Laws difficult to be executed cannot be +generally good. + +With respect to the organization of the legislative power, different +modes have been adopted in different countries. In America it is +generally composed of two houses. In France it consists but of one, +but in both countries, it is wholly by representation. + +The case is, that mankind (from the long tyranny of assumed power) +have had so few opportunities of making the necessary trials on modes +and principles of government, in order to discover the best, that +government is but now beginning to be known, and experience is yet +wanting to determine many particulars. + +The objections against two houses are, first, that there is an +inconsistency in any part of a whole legislature, coming to a final +determination by vote on any matter, whilst that matter, with respect +to that whole, is yet only in a train of deliberation, and +consequently open to new illustrations. + +Secondly, That by taking the vote on each, as a separate body, it +always admits of the possibility, and is often the case in practice, +that the minority governs the majority, and that, in some instances, +to a degree of great inconsistency. + +Thirdly, That two houses arbitrarily checking or controlling each +other is inconsistent; because it cannot be proved on the principles +of just representation, that either should be wiser or better than +the other. They may check in the wrong as well as in the right +therefore to give the power where we cannot give the wisdom to +use it, nor be assured of its being rightly used, renders the hazard +at least equal to the precaution.*[21] + +The objection against a single house is, that it is always in a +condition of committing itself too soon.- But it should at the same +time be remembered, that when there is a constitution which defines +the power, and establishes the principles within which a legislature +shall act, there is already a more effectual check provided, and more +powerfully operating, than any other check can be. For example, + +Were a Bill to be brought into any of the American legislatures +similar to that which was passed into an act by the English +parliament, at the commencement of George the First, to extend the +duration of the assemblies to a longer period than they now sit, the +check is in the constitution, which in effect says, Thus far shalt +thou go and no further. + +But in order to remove the objection against a single house (that of +acting with too quick an impulse), and at the same time to avoid the +inconsistencies, in some cases absurdities, arising from two houses, +the following method has been proposed as an improvement upon both. + +First, To have but one representation. + +Secondly, To divide that representation, by lot, into two or three +parts. + +Thirdly, That every proposed bill shall be first debated in those +parts by succession, that they may become the hearers of each other, +but without taking any vote. After which the whole representation to +assemble for a general debate and determination by vote. + +To this proposed improvement has been added another, for the purpose +of keeping the representation in the state of constant renovation; +which is, that one-third of the representation of each county, shall +go out at the expiration of one year, and the number be replaced by +new elections. Another third at the expiration of the second year +replaced in like manner, and every third year to be a general +election.*[22] + +But in whatever manner the separate parts of a constitution may be +arranged, there is one general principle that distinguishes freedom +from slavery, which is, that all hereditary government over a people +is to them a species of slavery, and representative government is +freedom. + +Considering government in the only light in which it should be +considered, that of a National Association, it ought to be so +constructed as not to be disordered by any accident happening among +the parts; and, therefore, no extraordinary power, capable of +producing such an effect, should be lodged in the hands of any +individual. The death, sickness, absence or defection, of any one +individual in a government, ought to be a matter of no more +consequence, with respect to the nation, than if the same +circumstance had taken place in a member of the English Parliament, +or the French National Assembly. + +Scarcely anything presents a more degrading character of national +greatness, than its being thrown into confusion, by anything +happening to or acted by any individual; and the ridiculousness of +the scene is often increased by the natural insignificance of the +person by whom it is occasioned. Were a government so constructed, +that it could not go on unless a goose or a gander were present in +the senate, the difficulties would be just as great and as real, on +the flight or sickness of the goose, or the gander, as if it were +called a King. We laugh at individuals for the silly difficulties +they make to themselves, without perceiving that the greatest of all +ridiculous things are acted in governments.*[23] + +All the constitutions of America are on a plan that excludes the +childish embarrassments which occur in monarchical countries. No +suspension of government can there take place for a moment, from any +circumstances whatever. The system of representation provides for +everything, and is the only system in which nations and governments +can always appear in their proper character. + +As extraordinary power ought not to be lodged in the hands of any +individual, so ought there to be no appropriations of public money to +any person, beyond what his services in a state may be worth. It +signifies not whether a man be called a president, a king, an +emperor, a senator, or by any other name which propriety or folly may +devise or arrogance assume; it is only a certain service he can +perform in the state; and the service of any such individual in the +routine of office, whether such office be called monarchical, +presidential, senatorial, or by any other name or title, can never +exceed the value of ten thousand pounds a year. All the great +services that are done in the world are performed by volunteer +characters, who accept nothing for them; but the routine of office is +always regulated to such a general standard of abilities as to be +within the compass of numbers in every country to perform, and +therefore cannot merit very extraordinary recompense. Government, +says Swift, is a Plain thing, and fitted to the capacity of many +heads. + +It is inhuman to talk of a million sterling a year, paid out of the +public taxes of any country, for the support of any individual, +whilst thousands who are forced to contribute thereto, are pining +with want, and struggling with misery. Government does not consist in +a contrast between prisons and palaces, between poverty and pomp; it +is not instituted to rob the needy of his mite, and increase the +wretchedness of the wretched.- But on this part of the subject I +shall speak hereafter, and confine myself at present to political +observations. + +When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any +individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every +kind of corruption generates and forms. Give to any man a million a +year, and add thereto the power of creating and disposing of places, +at the expense of a country, and the liberties of that country are no +longer secure. What is called the splendour of a throne is no other +than the corruption of the state. It is made up of a band of +parasites, living in luxurious indolence, out of the public taxes. + +When once such a vicious system is established it becomes the guard +and protection of all inferior abuses. The man who is in the receipt +of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, +lest, in the event, it should reach to himself. It is always his +interest to defend inferior abuses, as so many outworks to protect +the citadel; and on this species of political fortification, all the +parts have such a common dependence that it is never to be expected +they will attack each other.*[24] + +Monarchy would not have continued so many ages in the world, had it +not been for the abuses it protects. It is the master-fraud, which +shelters all others. By admitting a participation of the spoil, it +makes itself friends; and when it ceases to do this it will cease to +be the idol of courtiers. + +As the principle on which constitutions are now formed rejects all +hereditary pretensions to government, it also rejects all that +catalogue of assumptions known by the name of prerogatives. + +If there is any government where prerogatives might with apparent +safety be entrusted to any individual, it is in the federal +government of America. The president of the United States of America +is elected only for four years. He is not only responsible in the +general sense of the word, but a particular mode is laid down in the +constitution for trying him. He cannot be elected under thirty-five +years of age; and he must be a native of the country. + +In a comparison of these cases with the Government of England, the +difference when applied to the latter amounts to an absurdity. In +England the person who exercises prerogative is often a foreigner; +always half a foreigner, and always married to a foreigner. He is +never in full natural or political connection with the country, is +not responsible for anything, and becomes of age at eighteen years; +yet such a person is permitted to form foreign alliances, without +even the knowledge of the nation, and to make war and peace without +its consent. + +But this is not all. Though such a person cannot dispose of the +government in the manner of a testator, he dictates the marriage +connections, which, in effect, accomplish a great part of the same +end. He cannot directly bequeath half the government to Prussia, but +he can form a marriage partnership that will produce almost the same +thing. Under such circumstances, it is happy for England that she is +not situated on the Continent, or she might, like Holland, fall under +the dictatorship of Prussia. Holland, by marriage, is as effectually +governed by Prussia, as if the old tyranny of bequeathing the +government had been the means. + +The presidency in America (or, as it is sometimes called, the +executive) is the only office from which a foreigner is excluded, and +in England it is the only one to which he is admitted. A foreigner +cannot be a member of Parliament, but he may be what is called a +king. If there is any reason for excluding foreigners, it ought to be +from those offices where mischief can most be acted, and where, by +uniting every bias of interest and attachment, the trust is best +secured. But as nations proceed in the great business of forming +constitutions, they will examine with more precision into the nature +and business of that department which is called the executive. What +the legislative and judicial departments are every one can see; but +with respect to what, in Europe, is called the executive, as distinct +from those two, it is either a political superfluity or a chaos of +unknown things. + +Some kind of official department, to which reports shall be made from +the different parts of a nation, or from abroad, to be laid before +the national representatives, is all that is necessary; but there is +no consistency in calling this the executive; neither can it be +considered in any other light than as inferior to the legislative. +The sovereign authority in any country is the power of making laws, +and everything else is an official department. + +Next to the arrangement of the principles and the organization of the +several parts of a constitution, is the provision to be made for the +support of the persons to whom the nation shall confide the +administration of the constitutional powers. + +A nation can have no right to the time and services of any person at +his own expense, whom it may choose to employ or entrust in any +department whatever; neither can any reason be given for making +provision for the support of any one part of a government and not for +the other. + +But admitting that the honour of being entrusted with any part of a +government is to be considered a sufficient reward, it ought to be so +to every person alike. If the members of the legislature of any +country are to serve at their own expense that which is called the +executive, whether monarchical or by any other name, ought to serve +in like manner. It is inconsistent to pay the one, and accept the +service of the other gratis. + +In America, every department in the government is decently provided +for; but no one is extravagantly paid. Every member of Congress, and +of the Assemblies, is allowed a sufficiency for his expenses. Whereas +in England, a most prodigal provision is made for the support of one +part of the Government, and none for the other, the consequence of +which is that the one is furnished with the means of corruption and +the other is put into the condition of being corrupted. Less than a +fourth part of such expense, applied as it is in America, would +remedy a great part of the corruption. + +Another reform in the American constitution is the exploding all +oaths of personality. The oath of allegiance in America is to the +nation only. The putting any individual as a figure for a nation is +improper. The happiness of a nation is the superior object, and +therefore the intention of an oath of allegiance ought not to be +obscured by being figuratively taken, to, or in the name of, any +person. The oath, called the civic oath, in France, viz., "the +nation, the law, and the king," is improper. If taken at all, it +ought to be as in America, to the nation only. The law may or may not +be good; but, in this place, it can have no other meaning, than as +being conducive to the happiness of a nation, and therefore is +included in it. The remainder of the oath is improper, on the ground, +that all personal oaths ought to be abolished. They are the remains +of tyranny on one part and slavery on the other; and the name of the +Creator ought not to be introduced to witness the degradation of his +creation; or if taken, as is already mentioned, as figurative of the +nation, it is in this place redundant. But whatever apology may be +made for oaths at the first establishment of a government, they ought +not to be permitted afterwards. If a government requires the support +of oaths, it is a sign that it is not worth supporting, and ought not +to be supported. Make government what it ought to be, and it will +support itself. + +To conclude this part of the subject:- One of the greatest +improvements that have been made for the perpetual security and +progress of constitutional liberty, is the provision which the new +constitutions make for occasionally revising, altering, and amending +them. + +The principle upon which Mr. Burke formed his political creed, that +of "binding and controlling posterity to the end of time, and of +renouncing and abdicating the rights of all posterity, for ever," is +now become too detestable to be made a subject of debate; and +therefore, I pass it over with no other notice than exposing it. + +Government is but now beginning to be known. Hitherto it has been the +mere exercise of power, which forbade all effectual enquiry into +rights, and grounded itself wholly on possession. While the enemy of +liberty was its judge, the progress of its principles must have been +small indeed. + +The constitutions of America, and also that of France, have either +affixed a period for their revision, or laid down the mode by which +improvement shall be made. It is perhaps impossible to establish +anything that combines principles with opinions and practice, which +the progress of circumstances, through a length of years, will not in +some measure derange, or render inconsistent; and, therefore, to +prevent inconveniences accumulating, till they discourage +reformations or provoke revolutions, it is best to provide the means +of regulating them as they occur. The Rights of Man are the rights of +all generations of men, and cannot be monopolised by any. That which +is worth following, will be followed for the sake of its worth, and +it is in this that its security lies, and not in any conditions with +which it may be encumbered. When a man leaves property to his heirs, +he does not connect it with an obligation that they shall accept it. +Why, then, should we do otherwise with respect to constitutions? The +best constitution that could now be devised, consistent with the +condition of the present moment, may be far short of that excellence +which a few years may afford. There is a morning of reason rising +upon man on the subject of government, that has not appeared before. +As the barbarism of the present old governments expires, the moral +conditions of nations with respect to each other will be changed. Man +will not be brought up with the savage idea of considering his +species as his enemy, because the accident of birth gave the +individuals existence in countries distinguished by different names; +and as constitutions have always some relation to external as well as +to domestic circumstances, the means of benefitting by every change, +foreign or domestic, should be a part of every constitution. We +already see an alteration in the national disposition of England and +France towards each other, which, when we look back to only a few +years, is itself a Revolution. Who could have foreseen, or who could +have believed, that a French National Assembly would ever have been a +popular toast in England, or that a friendly alliance of the two +nations should become the wish of either? It shows that man, were he +not corrupted by governments, is naturally the friend of man, and +that human nature is not of itself vicious. That spirit of jealousy +and ferocity, which the governments of the two countries inspired, +and which they rendered subservient to the purpose of taxation, is +now yielding to the dictates of reason, interest, and humanity. The +trade of courts is beginning to be understood, and the affectation of +mystery, with all the artificial sorcery by which they imposed upon +mankind, is on the decline. It has received its death-wound; and +though it may linger, it will expire. Government ought to be as much +open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of +which it has been monopolised from age to age, by the most ignorant +and vicious of the human race. Need we any other proof of their +wretched management, than the excess of debts and taxes with which +every nation groans, and the quarrels into which they have +precipitated the world? Just emerging from such a barbarous +condition, it is too soon to determine to what extent of improvement +government may yet be carried. For what we can foresee, all Europe +may form but one great Republic, and man be free of the whole. + + CHAPTER V + +WAYS AND MEANS OF IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF EUROPE INTERSPERSED WITH + MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS + +In contemplating a subject that embraces with equatorial magnitude +the whole region of humanity it is impossible to confine the pursuit +in one single direction. It takes ground on every character and +condition that appertains to man, and blends the individual, the +nation, and the world. From a small spark, kindled in America, a +flame has arisen not to be extinguished. Without consuming, like the +Ultima Ratio Regum, it winds its progress from nation to nation, and +conquers by a silent operation. Man finds himself changed, he +scarcely perceives how. He acquires a knowledge of his rights by +attending justly to his interest, and discovers in the event that the +strength and powers of despotism consist wholly in the fear of +resisting it, and that, in order "to be free, it is sufficient that +he wills it." + +Having in all the preceding parts of this work endeavoured to +establish a system of principles as a basis on which governments +ought to be erected, I shall proceed in this, to the ways and means +of rendering them into practice. But in order to introduce this part +of the subject with more propriety, and stronger effect, some +preliminary observations, deducible from, or connected with, those +principles, are necessary. + +Whatever the form or constitution of government may be, it ought to +have no other object than the general happiness. When, instead of +this, it operates to create and increase wretchedness in any of the +parts of society, it is on a wrong system, and reformation is +necessary. Customary language has classed the condition of man under +the two descriptions of civilised and uncivilised life. To the one it +has ascribed felicity and affluence; to the other hardship and want. +But, however our imagination may be impressed by painting and +comparison, it is nevertheless true, that a great portion of mankind, +in what are called civilised countries, are in a state of poverty and +wretchedness, far below the condition of an Indian. I speak not of +one country, but of all. It is so in England, it is so all over +Europe. Let us enquire into the cause. + +It lies not in any natural defect in the principles of civilisation, +but in preventing those principles having a universal operation; the +consequence of which is, a perpetual system of war and expense, that +drains the country, and defeats the general felicity of which +civilisation is capable. All the European governments (France now +excepted) are constructed not on the principle of universal +civilisation, but on the reverse of it. So far as those governments +relate to each other, they are in the same condition as we conceive +of savage uncivilised life; they put themselves beyond the law as +well of God as of man, and are, with respect to principle and +reciprocal conduct, like so many individuals in a state of nature. +The inhabitants of every country, under the civilisation of laws, +easily civilise together, but governments being yet in an uncivilised +state, and almost continually at war, they pervert the abundance +which civilised life produces to carry on the uncivilised part to a +greater extent. By thus engrafting the barbarism of government upon +the internal civilisation of a country, it draws from the latter, and +more especially from the poor, a great portion of those earnings, +which should be applied to their own subsistence and comfort. Apart +from all reflections of morality and philosophy, it is a melancholy +fact that more than one-fourth of the labour of mankind is annually +consumed by this barbarous system. What has served to continue this +evil, is the pecuniary advantage which all the governments of Europe +have found in keeping up this state of uncivilisation. It affords to +them pretences for power, and revenue, for which there would be +neither occasion nor apology, if the circle of civilisation were +rendered complete. Civil government alone, or the government of laws, +is not productive of pretences for many taxes; it operates at home, +directly under the eye of the country, and precludes the possibility +of much imposition. But when the scene is laid in the uncivilised +contention of governments, the field of pretences is enlarged, and +the country, being no longer a judge, is open to every imposition, +which governments please to act. Not a thirtieth, scarcely a +fortieth, part of the taxes which are raised in England are either +occasioned by, or applied to, the purpose of civil government. It is +not difficult to see, that the whole which the actual government does +in this respect, is to enact laws, and that the country administers +and executes them, at its own expense, by means of magistrates, +juries, sessions, and assize, over and above the taxes which it pays. +In this view of the case, we have two distinct characters of +government; the one the civil government, or the government of laws, +which operates at home, the other the court or cabinet government, +which operates abroad, on the rude plan of uncivilised life; the one +attended with little charge, the other with boundless extravagance; +and so distinct are the two, that if the latter were to sink, as it +were, by a sudden opening of the earth, and totally disappear, the +former would not be deranged. It would still proceed, because it is +the common interest of the nation that it should, and all the means +are in practice. Revolutions, then, have for their object a change in +the moral condition of governments, and with this change the burthen +of public taxes will lessen, and civilisation will be left to the +enjoyment of that abundance, of which it is now deprived. In +contemplating the whole of this subject, I extend my views into the +department of commerce. In all my publications, where the matter +would admit, I have been an advocate for commerce, because I am a +friend to its effects. It is a pacific system, operating to +cordialise mankind, by rendering nations, as well as individuals, +useful to each other. As to the mere theoretical reformation, I have +never preached it up. The most effectual process is that of improving +the condition of man by means of his interest; and it is on this +ground that I take my stand. If commerce were permitted to act to the +universal extent it is capable, it would extirpate the system of war, +and produce a revolution in the uncivilised state of governments. The +invention of commerce has arisen since those governments began, and +is the greatest approach towards universal civilisation that has yet +been made by any means not immediately flowing from moral principles. +Whatever has a tendency to promote the civil intercourse of nations +by an exchange of benefits, is a subject as worthy of philosophy as +of politics. Commerce is no other than the traffic of two +individuals, multiplied on a scale of numbers; and by the same rule +that nature intended for the intercourse of two, she intended that of +all. For this purpose she has distributed the materials of +manufactures and commerce, in various and distant parts of a nation +and of the world; and as they cannot be procured by war so cheaply or +so commodiously as by commerce, she has rendered the latter the means +of extirpating the former. As the two are nearly the opposite of each +other, consequently, the uncivilised state of the European +governments is injurious to commerce. Every kind of destruction or +embarrassment serves to lessen the quantity, and it matters but +little in what part of the commercial world the reduction begins. +Like blood, it cannot be taken from any of the parts, without being +taken from the whole mass in circulation, and all partake of the +loss. When the ability in any nation to buy is destroyed, it equally +involves the seller. Could the government of England destroy the +commerce of all other nations, she would most effectually ruin her +own. It is possible that a nation may be the carrier for the world, +but she cannot be the merchant. She cannot be the seller and buyer of +her own merchandise. The ability to buy must reside out of herself; +and, therefore, the prosperity of any commercial nation is regulated +by the prosperity of the rest. If they are poor she cannot be rich, +and her condition, be what it may, is an index of the height of the +commercial tide in other nations. That the principles of commerce, +and its universal operation may be understood, without understanding +the practice, is a position that reason will not deny; and it is on +this ground only that I argue the subject. It is one thing in the +counting-house, in the world it is another. With respect to its +operation it must necessarily be contemplated as a reciprocal thing; +that only one-half its powers resides within the nation, and that the +whole is as effectually destroyed by the destroying the half that +resides without, as if the destruction had been committed on that +which is within; for neither can act without the other. When in the +last, as well as in former wars, the commerce of England sunk, it was +because the quantity was lessened everywhere; and it now rises, +because commerce is in a rising state in every nation. If England, at +this day, imports and exports more than at any former period, the +nations with which she trades must necessarily do the same; her +imports are their exports, and vice versa. There can be no such thing +as a nation flourishing alone in commerce: she can only participate; +and the destruction of it in any part must necessarily affect all. +When, therefore, governments are at war, the attack is made upon a +common stock of commerce, and the consequence is the same as if each +had attacked his own. The present increase of commerce is not to be +attributed to ministers, or to any political contrivances, but to its +own natural operation in consequence of peace. The regular markets +had been destroyed, the channels of trade broken up, the high road of +the seas infested with robbers of every nation, and the attention of +the world called to other objects. Those interruptions have ceased, +and peace has restored the deranged condition of things to their +proper order.*[25] It is worth remarking that every nation reckons +the balance of trade in its own favour; and therefore something must +be irregular in the common ideas upon this subject. The fact, +however, is true, according to what is called a balance; and it is +from this cause that commerce is universally supported. Every nation +feels the advantage, or it would abandon the practice: but the +deception lies in the mode of making up the accounts, and in +attributing what are called profits to a wrong cause. Mr. Pitt has +sometimes amused himself, by showing what he called a balance of +trade from the custom-house books. This mode of calculating not only +affords no rule that is true, but one that is false. In the first +place, Every cargo that departs from the custom-house appears on the +books as an export; and, according to the custom-house balance, the +losses at sea, and by foreign failures, are all reckoned on the side +of profit because they appear as exports. + +Secondly, Because the importation by the smuggling trade does not +appear on the custom-house books, to arrange against the exports. + +No balance, therefore, as applying to superior advantages, can be +drawn from these documents; and if we examine the natural operation +of commerce, the idea is fallacious; and if true, would soon be +injurious. The great support of commerce consists in the balance +being a level of benefits among all nations. + +Two merchants of different nations trading together, will both become +rich, and each makes the balance in his own favour; consequently, +they do not get rich of each other; and it is the same with respect +to the nations in which they reside. The case must be, that each +nation must get rich out of its own means, and increases that riches +by something which it procures from another in exchange. + +If a merchant in England sends an article of English manufacture +abroad which costs him a shilling at home, and imports something +which sells for two, he makes a balance of one shilling in his +favour; but this is not gained out of the foreign nation or the +foreign merchant, for he also does the same by the articles he +receives, and neither has the advantage upon the other. The original +value of the two articles in their proper countries was but two +shillings; but by changing their places, they acquire a new idea of +value, equal to double what they had first, and that increased value +is equally divided. + +There is no otherwise a balance on foreign than on domestic commerce. +The merchants of London and Newcastle trade on the same principles, +as if they resided in different nations, and make their balances in +the same manner: yet London does not get rich out of Newcastle, any +more than Newcastle out of London: but coals, the merchandize of +Newcastle, have an additional value at London, and London merchandize +has the same at Newcastle. + +Though the principle of all commerce is the same, the domestic, in a +national view, is the part the most beneficial; because the whole of +the advantages, an both sides, rests within the nation; whereas, in +foreign commerce, it is only a participation of one-half. + +The most unprofitable of all commerce is that connected with foreign +dominion. To a few individuals it may be beneficial, merely because +it is commerce; but to the nation it is a loss. The expense of +maintaining dominion more than absorbs the profits of any trade. It +does not increase the general quantity in the world, but operates to +lessen it; and as a greater mass would be afloat by relinquishing +dominion, the participation without the expense would be more +valuable than a greater quantity with it. + +But it is impossible to engross commerce by dominion; and therefore +it is still more fallacious. It cannot exist in confined channels, +and necessarily breaks out by regular or irregular means, that defeat +the attempt: and to succeed would be still worse. France, since the +Revolution, has been more indifferent as to foreign possessions, and +other nations will become the same when they investigate the subject +with respect to commerce. + +To the expense of dominion is to be added that of navies, and when +the amounts of the two are subtracted from the profits of commerce, +it will appear, that what is called the balance of trade, even +admitting it to exist, is not enjoyed by the nation, but absorbed by +the Government. + +The idea of having navies for the protection of commerce is delusive. +It is putting means of destruction for the means of protection. +Commerce needs no other protection than the reciprocal interest which +every nation feels in supporting it- it is common stock- it exists by +a balance of advantages to all; and the only interruption it meets, +is from the present uncivilised state of governments, and which it is +its common interest to reform.*[26] + +Quitting this subject, I now proceed to other matters.- As it is +necessary to include England in the prospect of a general +reformation, it is proper to inquire into the defects of its +government. It is only by each nation reforming its own, that the +whole can be improved, and the full benefit of reformation enjoyed. +Only partial advantages can flow from partial reforms. + +France and England are the only two countries in Europe where a +reformation in government could have successfully begun. The one +secure by the ocean, and the other by the immensity of its internal +strength, could defy the malignancy of foreign despotism. But it is +with revolutions as with commerce, the advantages increase by their +becoming general, and double to either what each would receive alone. + +As a new system is now opening to the view of the world, the European +courts are plotting to counteract it. Alliances, contrary to all +former systems, are agitating, and a common interest of courts is +forming against the common interest of man. This combination draws a +line that runs throughout Europe, and presents a cause so entirely +new as to exclude all calculations from former circumstances. While +despotism warred with despotism, man had no interest in the contest; +but in a cause that unites the soldier with the citizen, and nation +with nation, the despotism of courts, though it feels the danger and +meditates revenge, is afraid to strike. + +No question has arisen within the records of history that pressed +with the importance of the present. It is not whether this or that +party shall be in or not, or Whig or Tory, high or low shall prevail; +but whether man shall inherit his rights, and universal civilisation +take place? Whether the fruits of his labours shall be enjoyed by +himself or consumed by the profligacy of governments? Whether robbery +shall be banished from courts, and wretchedness from countries? + +When, in countries that are called civilised, we see age going to the +workhouse and youth to the gallows, something must be wrong in the +system of government. It would seem, by the exterior appearance of +such countries, that all was happiness; but there lies hidden from +the eye of common observation, a mass of wretchedness, that has +scarcely any other chance, than to expire in poverty or infamy. Its +entrance into life is marked with the presage of its fate; and until +this is remedied, it is in vain to punish. + +Civil government does not exist in executions; but in making such +provision for the instruction of youth and the support of age, as to +exclude, as much as possible, profligacy from the one and despair +from the other. Instead of this, the resources of a country are +lavished upon kings, upon courts, upon hirelings, impostors and +prostitutes; and even the poor themselves, with all their wants upon +them, are compelled to support the fraud that oppresses them. + +Why is it that scarcely any are executed but the poor? The fact is a +proof, among other things, of a wretchedness in their condition. Bred +up without morals, and cast upon the world without a prospect, they +are the exposed sacrifice of vice and legal barbarity. The millions +that are superfluously wasted upon governments are more than +sufficient to reform those evils, and to benefit the condition of +every man in a nation, not included within the purlieus of a court. +This I hope to make appear in the progress of this work. + +It is the nature of compassion to associate with misfortune. In +taking up this subject I seek no recompense- I fear no consequence. +Fortified with that proud integrity, that disdains to triumph or to +yield, I will advocate the Rights of Man. + +It is to my advantage that I have served an apprenticeship to life. I +know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of +the contrary. + +At an early period- little more than sixteen years of age, raw and +adventurous, and heated with the false heroism of a master*[27] who +had served in a man-of-war- I began the carver of my own fortune, and +entered on board the Terrible Privateer, Captain Death. From this +adventure I was happily prevented by the affectionate and moral +remonstrance of a good father, who, from his own habits of life, +being of the Quaker profession, must begin to look upon me as lost. +But the impression, much as it effected at the time, began to wear +away, and I entered afterwards in the King of Prussia Privateer, +Captain Mendez, and went with her to sea. Yet, from such a beginning, +and with all the inconvenience of early life against me, I am proud +to say, that with a perseverance undismayed by difficulties, a +disinterestedness that compelled respect, I have not only contributed +to raise a new empire in the world, founded on a new system of +government, but I have arrived at an eminence in political +literature, the most difficult of all lines to succeed and excel in, +which aristocracy with all its aids has not been able to reach or to +rival.*[28] + +Knowing my own heart and feeling myself as I now do, superior to all +the skirmish of party, the inveteracy of interested or mistaken +opponents, I answer not to falsehood or abuse, but proceed to the +defects of the English Government. + +I begin with charters and corporations. + +It is a perversion of terms to say that a charter gives rights. It +operates by a contrary effect- that of taking rights away. Rights are +inherently in all the inhabitants; but charters, by annulling those +rights, in the majority, leave the right, by exclusion, in the hands +of a few. If charters were constructed so as to express in direct +terms, "that every inhabitant, who is not a member of a corporation, +shall not exercise the right of voting," such charters would, in the +face, be charters not of rights, but of exclusion. The effect is the +same under the form they now stand; and the only persons on whom they +operate are the persons whom they exclude. Those whose rights are +guaranteed, by not being taken away, exercise no other rights than as +members of the community they are entitled to without a charter; and, +therefore, all charters have no other than an indirect negative +operation. They do not give rights to A, but they make a difference +in favour of A by taking away the right of B, and consequently are +instruments of injustice. + +But charters and corporations have a more extensive evil effect than +what relates merely to elections. They are sources of endless +contentions in the places where they exist, and they lessen the +common rights of national society. A native of England, under the +operation of these charters and corporations, cannot be said to be an +Englishman in the full sense of the word. He is not free of the +nation, in the same manner that a Frenchman is free of France, and an +American of America. His rights are circumscribed to the town, and, +in some cases, to the parish of his birth; and all other parts, +though in his native land, are to him as a foreign country. To +acquire a residence in these, he must undergo a local naturalisation +by purchase, or he is forbidden or expelled the place. This species +of feudality is kept up to aggrandise the corporations at the ruin of +towns; and the effect is visible. + +The generality of corporation towns are in a state of solitary decay, +and prevented from further ruin only by some circumstance in their +situation, such as a navigable river, or a plentiful surrounding +country. As population is one of the chief sources of wealth (for +without it land itself has no value), everything which operates to +prevent it must lessen the value of property; and as corporations +have not only this tendency, but directly this effect, they cannot +but be injurious. If any policy were to be followed, instead of that +of general freedom, to every person to settle where he chose (as in +France or America) it would be more consistent to give encouragement +to new comers than to preclude their admission by exacting premiums +from them.*[29] + +The persons most immediately interested in the abolition of +corporations are the inhabitants of the towns where corporations are +established. The instances of Manchester, Birmingham, and Sheffield +show, by contrast, the injuries which those Gothic institutions are +to property and commerce. A few examples may be found, such as that +of London, whose natural and commercial advantage, owing to its +situation on the Thames, is capable of bearing up against the +political evils of a corporation; but in almost all other cases the +fatality is too visible to be doubted or denied. + +Though the whole nation is not so directly affected by the depression +of property in corporation towns as the inhabitants themselves, it +partakes of the consequence. By lessening the value of property, the +quantity of national commerce is curtailed. Every man is a customer +in proportion to his ability; and as all parts of a nation trade with +each other, whatever affects any of the parts must necessarily +communicate to the whole. + +As one of the Houses of the English Parliament is, in a great +measure, made up of elections from these corporations; and as it is +unnatural that a pure stream should flow from a foul fountain, its +vices are but a continuation of the vices of its origin. A man of +moral honour and good political principles cannot submit to the mean +drudgery and disgraceful arts, by which such elections are carried. +To be a successful candidate, he must be destitute of the qualities +that constitute a just legislator; and being thus disciplined to +corruption by the mode of entering into Parliament, it is not to be +expected that the representative should be better than the man. + +Mr. Burke, in speaking of the English representation, has advanced as +bold a challenge as ever was given in the days of chivalry. "Our +representation," says he, "has been found perfectly adequate to all +the purposes for which a representation of the people can be desired +or devised." "I defy," continues he, "the enemies of our constitution +to show the contrary."- This declaration from a man who has been in +constant opposition to all the measures of parliament the whole of +his political life, a year or two excepted, is most extraordinary; +and, comparing him with himself, admits of no other alternative, than +that he acted against his judgment as a member, or has declared +contrary to it as an author. + +But it is not in the representation only that the defects lie, and +therefore I proceed in the next place to the aristocracy. + +What is called the House of Peers, is constituted on a ground very +similar to that, against which there is no law in other cases. It +amounts to a combination of persons in one common interest. No better +reason can be given, why a house of legislation should be composed +entirely of men whose occupation consists in letting landed property, +than why it should be composed of those who hire, or of brewers, or +bakers, or any other separate class of men. Mr. Burke calls this +house "the great ground and pillar of security to the landed +interest." Let us examine this idea. + +What pillar of security does the landed interest require more than +any other interest in the state, or what right has it to a distinct +and separate representation from the general interest of a nation? +The only use to be made of this power (and which it always has made), +is to ward off taxes from itself, and throw the burthen upon those +articles of consumption by which itself would be least affected. + +That this has been the consequence (and will always be the +consequence) of constructing governments on combinations, is evident +with respect to England, from the history of its taxes. + +Notwithstanding taxes have increased and multiplied upon every +article of common consumption, the land-tax, which more particularly +affects this "pillar," has diminished. In 1778 the amount of the +land-tax was L1,950,000, which is half-a-million less than it +produced almost a hundred years ago,*[30] notwithstanding the rentals +are in many instances doubled since that period. + +Before the coming of the Hanoverians, the taxes were divided in +nearly equal proportions between the land and articles of +consumption, the land bearing rather the largest share: but since +that era nearly thirteen millions annually of new taxes have been +thrown upon consumption. The consequence of which has been a constant +increase in the number and wretchedness of the poor, and in the +amount of the poor-rates. Yet here again the burthen does not fall in +equal proportions on the aristocracy with the rest of the community. +Their residences, whether in town or country, are not mixed with the +habitations of the poor. They live apart from distress, and the +expense of relieving it. It is in manufacturing towns and labouring +villages that those burthens press the heaviest; in many of which it +is one class of poor supporting another. + +Several of the most heavy and productive taxes are so contrived, as +to give an exemption to this pillar, thus standing in its own +defence. The tax upon beer brewed for sale does not affect the +aristocracy, who brew their own beer free from this duty. It falls +only on those who have not conveniency or ability to brew, and who +must purchase it in small quantities. But what will mankind think of +the justice of taxation, when they know that this tax alone, from +which the aristocracy are from circumstances exempt, is nearly equal +to the whole of the land-tax, being in the year 1788, and it is not +less now, L1,666,152, and with its proportion of the taxes on malt +and hops, it exceeds it.- That a single article, thus partially +consumed, and that chiefly by the working part, should be subject to +a tax, equal to that on the whole rental of a nation, is, perhaps, a +fact not to be paralleled in the histories of revenues. + +This is one of the circumstances resulting from a house of +legislation, composed on the ground of a combination of common +interest; for whatever their separate politics as to parties may be, +in this they are united. Whether a combination acts to raise the +price of any article for sale, or rate of wages; or whether it acts +to throw taxes from itself upon another class of the community, the +principle and the effect are the same; and if the one be illegal, it +will be difficult to show that the other ought to exist. + +It is no use to say that taxes are first proposed in the House of +Commons; for as the other house has always a negative, it can always +defend itself; and it would be ridiculous to suppose that its +acquiescence in the measures to be proposed were not understood +before hand. Besides which, it has obtained so much influence by +borough-traffic, and so many of its relations and connections are +distributed on both sides the commons, as to give it, besides an +absolute negative in one house, a preponderancy in the other, in all +matters of common concern. + +It is difficult to discover what is meant by the landed interest, if +it does not mean a combination of aristocratical landholders, +opposing their own pecuniary interest to that of the farmer, and +every branch of trade, commerce, and manufacture. In all other +respects it is the only interest that needs no partial protection. It +enjoys the general protection of the world. Every individual, high or +low, is interested in the fruits of the earth; men, women, and +children, of all ages and degrees, will turn out to assist the +farmer, rather than a harvest should not be got in; and they will not +act thus by any other property. It is the only one for which the +common prayer of mankind is put up, and the only one that can never +fail from the want of means. It is the interest, not of the policy, +but of the existence of man, and when it ceases, he must cease to be. + +No other interest in a nation stands on the same united support. +Commerce, manufactures, arts, sciences, and everything else, compared +with this, are supported but in parts. Their prosperity or their +decay has not the same universal influence. When the valleys laugh +and sing, it is not the farmer only, but all creation that rejoice. +It is a prosperity that excludes all envy; and this cannot be said of +anything else. + +Why then, does Mr. Burke talk of his house of peers as the pillar of +the landed interest? Were that pillar to sink into the earth, the +same landed property would continue, and the same ploughing, sowing, +and reaping would go on. The aristocracy are not the farmers who work +the land, and raise the produce, but are the mere consumers of the +rent; and when compared with the active world are the drones, a +seraglio of males, who neither collect the honey nor form the hive, +but exist only for lazy enjoyment. + +Mr. Burke, in his first essay, called aristocracy "the Corinthian +capital of polished society." Towards completing the figure, he has +now added the pillar; but still the base is wanting; and whenever a +nation choose to act a Samson, not blind, but bold, down will go the +temple of Dagon, the Lords and the Philistines. + +If a house of legislation is to be composed of men of one class, for +the purpose of protecting a distinct interest, all the other +interests should have the same. The inequality, as well as the +burthen of taxation, arises from admitting it in one case, and not in +all. Had there been a house of farmers, there had been no game laws; +or a house of merchants and manufacturers, the taxes had neither been +so unequal nor so excessive. It is from the power of taxation being +in the hands of those who can throw so great a part of it from their +own shoulders, that it has raged without a check. + +Men of small or moderate estates are more injured by the taxes being +thrown on articles of consumption, than they are eased by warding it +from landed property, for the following reasons: + +First, They consume more of the productive taxable articles, in +proportion to their property, than those of large estates. + +Secondly, Their residence is chiefly in towns, and their property in +houses; and the increase of the poor-rates, occasioned by taxes on +consumption, is in much greater proportion than the land-tax has been +favoured. In Birmingham, the poor-rates are not less than seven +shillings in the pound. From this, as is already observed, the +aristocracy are in a great measure exempt. + +These are but a part of the mischiefs flowing from the wretched +scheme of an house of peers. + +As a combination, it can always throw a considerable portion of taxes +from itself; and as an hereditary house, accountable to nobody, it +resembles a rotten borough, whose consent is to be courted by +interest. There are but few of its members, who are not in some mode +or other participators, or disposers of the public money. One turns a +candle-holder, or a lord in waiting; another a lord of the +bed-chamber, a groom of the stole, or any insignificant nominal +office to which a salary is annexed, paid out of the public taxes, +and which avoids the direct appearance of corruption. Such situations +are derogatory to the character of man; and where they can be +submitted to, honour cannot reside. + +To all these are to be added the numerous dependants, the long list +of younger branches and distant relations, who are to be provided for +at the public expense: in short, were an estimation to be made of the +charge of aristocracy to a nation, it will be found nearly equal to +that of supporting the poor. The Duke of Richmond alone (and there +are cases similar to his) takes away as much for himself as would +maintain two thousand poor and aged persons. Is it, then, any wonder, +that under such a system of government, taxes and rates have +multiplied to their present extent? + +In stating these matters, I speak an open and disinterested language, +dictated by no passion but that of humanity. To me, who have not only +refused offers, because I thought them improper, but have declined +rewards I might with reputation have accepted, it is no wonder that +meanness and imposition appear disgustful. Independence is my +happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or +person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good. + +Mr. Burke, in speaking of the aristocratical law of primogeniture, +says, "it is the standing law of our landed inheritance; and which, +without question, has a tendency, and I think," continues he, "a +happy tendency, to preserve a character of weight and consequence." + +Mr. Burke may call this law what he pleases, but humanity and +impartial reflection will denounce it as a law of brutal injustice. +Were we not accustomed to the daily practice, and did we only hear of +it as the law of some distant part of the world, we should conclude +that the legislators of such countries had not arrived at a state of +civilisation. + +As to its preserving a character of weight and consequence, the case +appears to me directly the reverse. It is an attaint upon character; +a sort of privateering on family property. It may have weight among +dependent tenants, but it gives none on a scale of national, and much +less of universal character. Speaking for myself, my parents were not +able to give me a shilling, beyond what they gave me in education; +and to do this they distressed themselves: yet, I possess more of +what is called consequence, in the world, than any one in Mr. Burke's +catalogue of aristocrats. + +Having thus glanced at some of the defects of the two houses of +parliament, I proceed to what is called the crown, upon which I shall +be very concise. + +It signifies a nominal office of a million sterling a year, the +business of which consists in receiving the money. Whether the person +be wise or foolish, sane or insane, a native or a foreigner, matters +not. Every ministry acts upon the same idea that Mr. Burke writes, +namely, that the people must be hood-winked, and held in +superstitious ignorance by some bugbear or other; and what is called +the crown answers this purpose, and therefore it answers all the +purposes to be expected from it. This is more than can be said of the +other two branches. + +The hazard to which this office is exposed in all countries, is not +from anything that can happen to the man, but from what may happen to +the nation- the danger of its coming to its senses. + +It has been customary to call the crown the executive power, and the +custom is continued, though the reason has ceased. + +It was called the executive, because the person whom it signified +used, formerly, to act in the character of a judge, in administering +or executing the laws. The tribunals were then a part of the court. +The power, therefore, which is now called the judicial, is what was +called the executive and, consequently, one or other of the terms is +redundant, and one of the offices useless. When we speak of the crown +now, it means nothing; it signifies neither a judge nor a general: +besides which it is the laws that govern, and not the man. The old +terms are kept up, to give an appearance of consequence to empty +forms; and the only effect they have is that of increasing expenses. + +Before I proceed to the means of rendering governments more conducive +to the general happiness of mankind, than they are at present, it +will not be improper to take a review of the progress of taxation in +England. + +It is a general idea, that when taxes are once laid on, they are +never taken off. However true this may have been of late, it was not +always so. Either, therefore, the people of former times were more +watchful over government than those of the present, or government was +administered with less extravagance. + +It is now seven hundred years since the Norman conquest, and the +establishment of what is called the crown. Taking this portion of +time in seven separate periods of one hundred years each, the amount +of the annual taxes, at each period, will be as follows: + + Annual taxes levied by William the Conqueror, + beginning in the year 1066 L400,000 + Annual taxes at 100 years from the conquest (1166) 200,000 + Annual taxes at 200 years from the conquest (1266) 150,000 + Annual taxes at 300 years from the conquest (1366) 130,000 + Annual taxes at 400 years from the conquest (1466) 100,000 + +These statements and those which follow, are taken from Sir John +Sinclair's History of the Revenue; by which it appears, that taxes +continued decreasing for four hundred years, at the expiration of +which time they were reduced three-fourths, viz., from four hundred +thousand pounds to one hundred thousand. The people of England of the +present day, have a traditionary and historical idea of the bravery +of their ancestors; but whatever their virtues or their vices might +have been, they certainly were a people who would not be imposed +upon, and who kept governments in awe as to taxation, if not as to +principle. Though they were not able to expel the monarchical +usurpation, they restricted it to a republican economy of taxes. + +Let us now review the remaining three hundred years: + +Annual amount of taxes at: + + 500 years from the conquest (1566) 500,000 + 600 years from the conquest (1666) 1,800,000 + the present time (1791) 17,000,000 + +The difference between the first four hundred years and the last +three, is so astonishing, as to warrant an opinion, that the national +character of the English has changed. It would have been impossible +to have dragooned the former English, into the excess of taxation +that now exists; and when it is considered that the pay of the army, +the navy, and of all the revenue officers, is the same now as it was +about a hundred years ago, when the taxes were not above a tenth part +of what they are at present, it appears impossible to account for the +enormous increase and expenditure on any other ground, than +extravagance, corruption, and intrigue.*[31] + +With the Revolution of 1688, and more so since the Hanover +succession, came the destructive system of continental intrigues, and +the rage for foreign wars and foreign dominion; systems of such +secure mystery that the expenses admit of no accounts; a single line +stands for millions. To what excess taxation might have extended had +not the French revolution contributed to break up the system, and put +an end to pretences, is impossible to say. Viewed, as that revolution +ought to be, as the fortunate means of lessening the load of taxes of +both countries, it is of as much importance to England as to France; +and, if properly improved to all the advantages of which it is +capable, and to which it leads, deserves as much celebration in one +country as the other. + +In pursuing this subject, I shall begin with the matter that first +presents itself, that of lessening the burthen of taxes; and shall +then add such matter and propositions, respecting the three countries +of England, France, and America, as the present prospect of things +appears to justify: I mean, an alliance of the three, for the +purposes that will be mentioned in their proper place. + +What has happened may happen again. By the statement before shown of +the progress of taxation, it is seen that taxes have been lessened to +a fourth part of what they had formerly been. Though the present +circumstances do not admit of the same reduction, yet they admit of +such a beginning, as may accomplish that end in less time than in the +former case. + +The amount of taxes for the year ending at Michaelmas 1788, was as +follows: + + Land-tax L 1,950,000 + Customs 3,789,274 + Excise (including old and new malt) 6,751,727 + Stamps 1,278,214 + Miscellaneous taxes and incidents 1,803,755 + ----------- + L15,572,755 + +Since the year 1788, upwards of one million new taxes have been laid +on, besides the produce of the lotteries; and as the taxes have in +general been more productive since than before, the amount may be +taken, in round numbers, at L17,000,000. (The expense of collection +and the drawbacks, which together amount to nearly two millions, are +paid out of the gross amount; and the above is the net sum paid into +the exchequer). This sum of seventeen millions is applied to two +different purposes; the one to pay the interest of the National Debt, +the other to the current expenses of each year. About nine millions +are appropriated to the former; and the remainder, being nearly eight +millions, to the latter. As to the million, said to be applied to the +reduction of the debt, it is so much like paying with one hand and +taking out with the other, as not to merit much notice. It happened, +fortunately for France, that she possessed national domains for +paying off her debt, and thereby lessening her taxes; but as this is +not the case with England, her reduction of taxes can only take place +by reducing the current expenses, which may now be done to the amount +of four or five millions annually, as will hereafter appear. When +this is accomplished it will more than counter-balance the enormous +charge of the American war; and the saving will be from the same +source from whence the evil arose. As to the national debt, however +heavy the interest may be in taxes, yet, as it serves to keep alive a +capital useful to commerce, it balances by its effects a considerable +part of its own weight; and as the quantity of gold and silver is, by +some means or other, short of its proper proportion, being not more +than twenty millions, whereas it should be sixty (foreign intrigue, +foreign wars, foreign dominions, will in a great measure account for +the deficiency), it would, besides the injustice, be bad policy to +extinguish a capital that serves to supply that defect. But with +respect to the current expense, whatever is saved therefrom is gain. +The excess may serve to keep corruption alive, but it has no +re-action on credit and commerce, like the interest of the debt. + +It is now very probable that the English Government (I do not mean +the nation) is unfriendly to the French Revolution. Whatever serves +to expose the intrigue and lessen the influence of courts, by +lessening taxation, will be unwelcome to those who feed upon the +spoil. Whilst the clamour of French intrigue, arbitrary power, +popery, and wooden shoes could be kept up, the nation was easily +allured and alarmed into taxes. Those days are now past: deception, +it is to be hoped, has reaped its last harvest, and better times are +in prospect for both countries, and for the world. + +Taking it for granted that an alliance may be formed between England, +France, and America for the purposes hereafter to be mentioned, the +national expenses of France and England may consequently be lessened. +The same fleets and armies will no longer be necessary to either, and +the reduction can be made ship for ship on each side. But to +accomplish these objects the governments must necessarily be fitted +to a common and correspondent principle. Confidence can never take +place while an hostile disposition remains in either, or where +mystery and secrecy on one side is opposed to candour and openness on +the other. + +These matters admitted, the national expenses might be put back, for +the sake of a precedent, to what they were at some period when France +and England were not enemies. This, consequently, must be prior to +the Hanover succession, and also to the Revolution of 1688.*[32] The +first instance that presents itself, antecedent to those dates, is in +the very wasteful and profligate times of Charles the Second; at +which time England and France acted as allies. If I have chosen a +period of great extravagance, it will serve to show modern +extravagance in a still worse light; especially as the pay of the +navy, the army, and the revenue officers has not increased since that +time. + +The peace establishment was then as follows (see Sir John Sinclair's +History of the Revenue): + + Navy L 300,000 + Army 212,000 + Ordnance 40,000 + Civil List 462,115 + ------- + L1,014,115 + +The parliament, however, settled the whole annual peace establishment +at $1,200,000.*[33] If we go back to the time of Elizabeth the amount +of all the taxes was but half a million, yet the nation sees nothing +during that period that reproaches it with want of consequence. + +All circumstances, then, taken together, arising from the French +revolution, from the approaching harmony and reciprocal interest of +the two nations, the abolition of the court intrigue on both sides, +and the progress of knowledge in the science of government, the +annual expenditure might be put back to one million and a half, viz.: + + Navy L 500,000 + Army 500,000 + Expenses of Government 500,000 + ---------- + L1,500,000 + +Even this sum is six times greater than the expenses of government +are in America, yet the civil internal government in England (I mean +that administered by means of quarter sessions, juries and assize, +and which, in fact, is nearly the whole, and performed by the +nation), is less expense upon the revenue, than the same species and +portion of government is in America. + +It is time that nations should be rational, and not be governed like +animals, for the pleasure of their riders. To read the history of +kings, a man would be almost inclined to suppose that government +consisted in stag-hunting, and that every nation paid a million +a-year to a huntsman. Man ought to have pride, or shame enough to +blush at being thus imposed upon, and when he feels his proper +character he will. Upon all subjects of this nature, there is often +passing in the mind, a train of ideas he has not yet accustomed +himself to encourage and communicate. Restrained by something that +puts on the character of prudence, he acts the hypocrite upon himself +as well as to others. It is, however, curious to observe how soon +this spell can be dissolved. A single expression, boldly conceived +and uttered, will sometimes put a whole company into their proper +feelings: and whole nations are acted on in the same manner. + +As to the offices of which any civil government may be composed, it +matters but little by what names they are described. In the routine +of business, as before observed, whether a man be styled a president, +a king, an emperor, a senator, or anything else, it is impossible +that any service he can perform, can merit from a nation more than +ten thousand pounds a year; and as no man should be paid beyond his +services, so every man of a proper heart will not accept more. Public +money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous consciousness of +honour. It is not the produce of riches only, but of the hard +earnings of labour and poverty. It is drawn even from the bitterness +of want and misery. Not a beggar passes, or perishes in the streets, +whose mite is not in that mass. + +Were it possible that the Congress of America could be so lost to +their duty, and to the interest of their constituents, as to offer +General Washington, as president of America, a million a year, he +would not, and he could not, accept it. His sense of honour is of +another kind. It has cost England almost seventy millions sterling, +to maintain a family imported from abroad, of very inferior capacity +to thousands in the nation; and scarcely a year has passed that has +not produced some new mercenary application. Even the physicians' +bills have been sent to the public to be paid. No wonder that jails +are crowded, and taxes and poor-rates increased. Under such systems, +nothing is to be looked for but what has already happened; and as to +reformation, whenever it come, it must be from the nation, and not +from the government. + +To show that the sum of five hundred thousand pounds is more than +sufficient to defray all the expenses of the government, exclusive of +navies and armies, the following estimate is added, for any country, +of the same extent as England. + +In the first place, three hundred representatives fairly elected, are +sufficient for all the purposes to which legislation can apply, and +preferable to a larger number. They may be divided into two or three +houses, or meet in one, as in France, or in any manner a constitution +shall direct. + +As representation is always considered, in free countries, as the +most honourable of all stations, the allowance made to it is merely +to defray the expense which the representatives incur by that +service, and not to it as an office. + + If an allowance, at the rate of five hundred pounds per + annum, be made to every representative, deducting for + non-attendance, the expense, if the whole number + attended for six months, each year, would be L 75,00 + + The official departments cannot reasonably exceed the + following number, with the salaries annexed: + + Three offices at ten thousand pounds each L 30,000 + Ten ditto, at five thousand pounds each 50,000 + Twenty ditto, at two thousand pounds each 40,000 + Forty ditto, at one thousand pounds each 40,000 + Two hundred ditto, at five hundred pounds each 100,000 + Three hundred ditto, at two hundred pounds each 60,000 + Five hundred ditto, at one hundred pounds each 50,000 + Seven hundred ditto, at seventy-five pounds each 52,500 + -------- + L497,500 + +If a nation choose, it can deduct four per cent. from all offices, +and make one of twenty thousand per annum. + +All revenue officers are paid out of the monies they collect, and +therefore, are not in this estimation. + +The foregoing is not offered as an exact detail of offices, but to +show the number of rate of salaries which five hundred thousand +pounds will support; and it will, on experience, be found +impracticable to find business sufficient to justify even this +expense. As to the manner in which office business is now performed, +the Chiefs, in several offices, such as the post-office, and certain +offices in the exchequer, etc., do little more than sign their names +three or four times a year; and the whole duty is performed by +under-clerks. + +Taking, therefore, one million and a half as a sufficient peace +establishment for all the honest purposes of government, which is +three hundred thousand pounds more than the peace establishment in +the profligate and prodigal times of Charles the Second +(notwithstanding, as has been already observed, the pay and salaries +of the army, navy, and revenue officers, continue the same as at that +period), there will remain a surplus of upwards of six millions out +of the present current expenses. The question then will be, how to +dispose of this surplus. + +Whoever has observed the manner in which trade and taxes twist +themselves together, must be sensible of the impossibility of +separating them suddenly. + +First. Because the articles now on hand are already charged with the +duty, and the reduction cannot take place on the present stock. + +Secondly. Because, on all those articles on which the duty is charged +in the gross, such as per barrel, hogshead, hundred weight, or ton, +the abolition of the duty does not admit of being divided down so as +fully to relieve the consumer, who purchases by the pint, or the +pound. The last duty laid on strong beer and ale was three shillings +per barrel, which, if taken off, would lessen the purchase only half +a farthing per pint, and consequently, would not reach to practical +relief. + +This being the condition of a great part of the taxes, it will be +necessary to look for such others as are free from this embarrassment +and where the relief will be direct and visible, and capable of +immediate operation. + +In the first place, then, the poor-rates are a direct tax which every +house-keeper feels, and who knows also, to a farthing, the sum which +he pays. The national amount of the whole of the poor-rates is not +positively known, but can be procured. Sir John Sinclair, in his +History of the Revenue has stated it at L2,100,587. A considerable +part of which is expended in litigations, in which the poor, instead +of being relieved, are tormented. The expense, however, is the same +to the parish from whatever cause it arises. + +In Birmingham, the amount of poor-rates is fourteen thousand pounds a +year. This, though a large sum, is moderate, compared with the +population. Birmingham is said to contain seventy thousand souls, and +on a proportion of seventy thousand to fourteen thousand pounds +poor-rates, the national amount of poor-rates, taking the population +of England as seven millions, would be but one million four hundred +thousand pounds. It is, therefore, most probable, that the population +of Birmingham is over-rated. Fourteen thousand pounds is the +proportion upon fifty thousand souls, taking two millions of +poor-rates, as the national amount. + +Be it, however, what it may, it is no other than the consequence of +excessive burthen of taxes, for, at the time when the taxes were very +low, the poor were able to maintain themselves; and there were no +poor-rates.*[34] In the present state of things a labouring man, with +a wife or two or three children, does not pay less than between seven +and eight pounds a year in taxes. He is not sensible of this, because +it is disguised to him in the articles which he buys, and he thinks +only of their dearness; but as the taxes take from him, at least, a +fourth part of his yearly earnings, he is consequently disabled from +providing for a family, especially, if himself, or any of them, are +afflicted with sickness. + +The first step, therefore, of practical relief, would be to abolish +the poor-rates entirely, and in lieu thereof, to make a remission of +taxes to the poor of double the amount of the present poor-rates, +viz., four millions annually out of the surplus taxes. By this +measure, the poor would be benefited two millions, and the +house-keepers two millions. This alone would be equal to a reduction +of one hundred and twenty millions of the National Debt, and +consequently equal to the whole expense of the American War. + +It will then remain to be considered, which is the most effectual +mode of distributing this remission of four millions. + +It is easily seen, that the poor are generally composed of large +families of children, and old people past their labour. If these two +classes are provided for, the remedy will so far reach to the full +extent of the case, that what remains will be incidental, and, in a +great measure, fall within the compass of benefit clubs, which, +though of humble invention, merit to be ranked among the best of +modern institutions. + +Admitting England to contain seven millions of souls; if one-fifth +thereof are of that class of poor which need support, the number will +be one million four hundred thousand. Of this number, one hundred and +forty thousand will be aged poor, as will be hereafter shown, and for +which a distinct provision will be proposed. + +There will then remain one million two hundred and sixty thousand +which, at five souls to each family, amount to two hundred and +fifty-two thousand families, rendered poor from the expense of +children and the weight of taxes. + +The number of children under fourteen years of age, in each of those +families, will be found to be about five to every two families; some +having two, and others three; some one, and others four: some none, +and others five; but it rarely happens that more than five are under +fourteen years of age, and after this age they are capable of service +or of being apprenticed. + +Allowing five children (under fourteen years) to every two families, + +The number of children will be 630,000 + +The number of parents, were they all living, would be 504,000 + +It is certain, that if the children are provided for, the parents are +relieved of consequence, because it is from the expense of bringing +up children that their poverty arises. + +Having thus ascertained the greatest number that can be supposed to +need support on account of young families, I proceed to the mode of +relief or distribution, which is, + +To pay as a remission of taxes to every poor family, out of the +surplus taxes, and in room of poor-rates, four pounds a year for +every child under fourteen years of age; enjoining the parents of +such children to send them to school, to learn reading, writing, and +common arithmetic; the ministers of every parish, of every +denomination to certify jointly to an office, for that purpose, that +this duty is performed. The amount of this expense will be, + + For six hundred and thirty thousand children + at four pounds per annum each L2,520,000 + +By adopting this method, not only the poverty of the parents will be +relieved, but ignorance will be banished from the rising generation, +and the number of poor will hereafter become less, because their +abilities, by the aid of education, will be greater. Many a youth, +with good natural genius, who is apprenticed to a mechanical trade, +such as a carpenter, joiner, millwright, shipwright, blacksmith, +etc., is prevented getting forward the whole of his life from the +want of a little common education when a boy. + +I now proceed to the case of the aged. + +I divide age into two classes. First, the approach of age, beginning +at fifty. Secondly, old age commencing at sixty. + +At fifty, though the mental faculties of man are in full vigour, and +his judgment better than at any preceding date, the bodily powers for +laborious life are on the decline. He cannot bear the same quantity +of fatigue as at an earlier period. He begins to earn less, and is +less capable of enduring wind and weather; and in those more retired +employments where much sight is required, he fails apace, and sees +himself, like an old horse, beginning to be turned adrift. + +At sixty his labour ought to be over, at least from direct necessity. +It is painful to see old age working itself to death, in what are +called civilised countries, for daily bread. + +To form some judgment of the number of those above fifty years of +age, I have several times counted the persons I met in the streets of +London, men, women, and children, and have generally found that the +average is about one in sixteen or seventeen. If it be said that aged +persons do not come much into the streets, so neither do infants; and +a great proportion of grown children are in schools and in work-shops +as apprentices. Taking, then, sixteen for a divisor, the whole number +of persons in England of fifty years and upwards, of both sexes, rich +and poor, will be four hundred and twenty thousand. + +The persons to be provided for out of this gross number will be +husbandmen, common labourers, journeymen of every trade and their +wives, sailors, and disbanded soldiers, worn out servants of both +sexes, and poor widows. + +There will be also a considerable number of middling tradesmen, who +having lived decently in the former part of life, begin, as age +approaches, to lose their business, and at last fall to decay. + +Besides these there will be constantly thrown off from the +revolutions of that wheel which no man can stop nor regulate, a +number from every class of life connected with commerce and +adventure. + +To provide for all those accidents, and whatever else may befall, I +take the number of persons who, at one time or other of their lives, +after fifty years of age, may feel it necessary or comfortable to be +better supported, than they can support themselves, and that not as a +matter of grace and favour, but of right, at one-third of the whole +number, which is one hundred and forty thousand, as stated in a +previous page, and for whom a distinct provision was proposed to be +made. If there be more, society, notwithstanding the show and +pomposity of government, is in a deplorable condition in England. + +Of this one hundred and forty thousand, I take one half, seventy +thousand, to be of the age of fifty and under sixty, and the other +half to be sixty years and upwards. Having thus ascertained the +probable proportion of the number of aged persons, I proceed to the +mode of rendering their condition comfortable, which is: + +To pay to every such person of the age of fifty years, and until he +shall arrive at the age of sixty, the sum of six pounds per annum out +of the surplus taxes, and ten pounds per annum during life after the +age of sixty. The expense of which will be, + + Seventy thousand persons, at L6 per annum L 420,000 + Seventy thousand persons, at L10 per annum 700,000 + ------- + L1,120,000 + +This support, as already remarked, is not of the nature of a charity +but of a right. Every person in England, male and female, pays on an +average in taxes two pounds eight shillings and sixpence per annum +from the day of his (or her) birth; and, if the expense of collection +be added, he pays two pounds eleven shillings and sixpence; +consequently, at the end of fifty years he has paid one hundred and +twenty-eight pounds fifteen shillings; and at sixty one hundred and +fifty-four pounds ten shillings. Converting, therefore, his (or her) +individual tax in a tontine, the money he shall receive after fifty +years is but little more than the legal interest of the net money he +has paid; the rest is made up from those whose circumstances do not +require them to draw such support, and the capital in both cases +defrays the expenses of government. It is on this ground that I have +extended the probable claims to one-third of the number of aged +persons in the nation.- Is it, then, better that the lives of one +hundred and forty thousand aged persons be rendered comfortable, or +that a million a year of public money be expended on any one +individual, and him often of the most worthless or insignificant +character? Let reason and justice, let honour and humanity, let even +hypocrisy, sycophancy and Mr. Burke, let George, let Louis, Leopold, +Frederic, Catherine, Cornwallis, or Tippoo Saib, answer the +question.*[35] + +The sum thus remitted to the poor will be, + + To two hundred and fifty-two thousand poor families, + containing six hundred and thirty thousand children L2,520,000 + To one hundred and forty thousand aged persons 1,120,000 + ---------- + L3,640,000 + +There will then remain three hundred and sixty thousand pounds out of +the four millions, part of which may be applied as follows:- + +After all the above cases are provided for there will still be a +number of families who, though not properly of the class of poor, yet +find it difficult to give education to their children; and such +children, under such a case, would be in a worse condition than if +their parents were actually poor. A nation under a well-regulated +government should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is +monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires +ignorance for its support. + +Suppose, then, four hundred thousand children to be in this +condition, which is a greater number than ought to be supposed after +the provisions already made, the method will be: + +To allow for each of those children ten shillings a year for the +expense of schooling for six years each, which will give them six +months schooling each year, and half a crown a year for paper and +spelling books. + +The expense of this will be annually L250,000.*[36] + +There will then remain one hundred and ten thousand pounds. + +Notwithstanding the great modes of relief which the best instituted +and best principled government may devise, there will be a number of +smaller cases, which it is good policy as well as beneficence in a +nation to consider. + +Were twenty shillings to be given immediately on the birth of a +child, to every woman who should make the demand, and none will make +it whose circumstances do not require it, it might relieve a great +deal of instant distress. + +There are about two hundred thousand births yearly in England; and if +claimed by one fourth, + + The amount would be L50,000 + +And twenty shillings to every new-married couple who should claim in +like manner. This would not exceed the sum of L20,000. + +Also twenty thousand pounds to be appropriated to defray the funeral +expenses of persons, who, travelling for work, may die at a distance +from their friends. By relieving parishes from this charge, the sick +stranger will be better treated. + +I shall finish this part of the subject with a plan adapted to the +particular condition of a metropolis, such as London. + +Cases are continually occurring in a metropolis, different from those +which occur in the country, and for which a different, or rather an +additional, mode of relief is necessary. In the country, even in +large towns, people have a knowledge of each other, and distress +never rises to that extreme height it sometimes does in a metropolis. +There is no such thing in the country as persons, in the literal +sense of the word, starved to death, or dying with cold from the want +of a lodging. Yet such cases, and others equally as miserable, happen +in London. + +Many a youth comes up to London full of expectations, and with little +or no money, and unless he get immediate employment he is already +half undone; and boys bred up in London without any means of a +livelihood, and as it often happens of dissolute parents, are in a +still worse condition; and servants long out of place are not much +better off. In short, a world of little cases is continually arising, +which busy or affluent life knows not of, to open the first door to +distress. Hunger is not among the postponable wants, and a day, even +a few hours, in such a condition is often the crisis of a life of +ruin. + +These circumstances which are the general cause of the little thefts +and pilferings that lead to greater, may be prevented. There yet +remain twenty thousand pounds out of the four millions of surplus +taxes, which with another fund hereafter to be mentioned, amounting +to about twenty thousand pounds more, cannot be better applied than +to this purpose. The plan will then be: + +First, To erect two or more buildings, or take some already erected, +capable of containing at least six thousand persons, and to have in +each of these places as many kinds of employment as can be contrived, +so that every person who shall come may find something which he or +she can do. + +Secondly, To receive all who shall come, without enquiring who or +what they are. The only condition to be, that for so much, or so many +hours' work, each person shall receive so many meals of wholesome +food, and a warm lodging, at least as good as a barrack. That a +certain portion of what each person's work shall be worth shall be +reserved, and given to him or her, on their going away; and that each +person shall stay as long or as short a time, or come as often as he +choose, on these conditions. + +If each person stayed three months, it would assist by rotation +twenty-four thousand persons annually, though the real number, at all +times, would be but six thousand. By establishing an asylum of this +kind, such persons to whom temporary distresses occur, would have an +opportunity to recruit themselves, and be enabled to look out for +better employment. + +Allowing that their labour paid but one half the expense of +supporting them, after reserving a portion of their earnings for +themselves, the sum of forty thousand pounds additional would defray +all other charges for even a greater number than six thousand. + +The fund very properly convertible to this purpose, in addition to +the twenty thousand pounds, remaining of the former fund, will be the +produce of the tax upon coals, so iniquitously and wantonly applied +to the support of the Duke of Richmond. It is horrid that any man, +more especially at the price coals now are, should live on the +distresses of a community; and any government permitting such an +abuse, deserves to be dismissed. This fund is said to be about twenty +thousand pounds per annum. + +I shall now conclude this plan with enumerating the several +particulars, and then proceed to other matters. + +The enumeration is as follows:-- + +First, Abolition of two millions poor-rates. + +Secondly, Provision for two hundred and fifty thousand poor families. + +Thirdly, Education for one million and thirty thousand children. + +Fourthly, Comfortable provision for one hundred and forty thousand +aged persons. + +Fifthly, Donation of twenty shillings each for fifty thousand births. + +Sixthly, Donation of twenty shillings each for twenty thousand +marriages. + +Seventhly, Allowance of twenty thousand pounds for the funeral +expenses of persons travelling for work, and dying at a distance from +their friends. + +Eighthly, Employment, at all times, for the casual poor in the cities +of London and Westminster. + +By the operation of this plan, the poor laws, those instruments of +civil torture, will be superseded, and the wasteful expense of +litigation prevented. The hearts of the humane will not be shocked by +ragged and hungry children, and persons of seventy and eighty years +of age, begging for bread. The dying poor will not be dragged from +place to place to breathe their last, as a reprisal of parish upon +parish. Widows will have a maintenance for their children, and not be +carted away, on the death of their husbands, like culprits and +criminals; and children will no longer be considered as increasing +the distresses of their parents. The haunts of the wretched will be +known, because it will be to their advantage; and the number of petty +crimes, the offspring of distress and poverty, will be lessened. The +poor, as well as the rich, will then be interested in the support of +government, and the cause and apprehension of riots and tumults will +cease.- Ye who sit in ease, and solace yourselves in plenty, and such +there are in Turkey and Russia, as well as in England, and who say to +yourselves, "Are we not well off?" have ye thought of these things? +When ye do, ye will cease to speak and feel for yourselves alone. + +The plan is easy in practice. It does not embarrass trade by a sudden +interruption in the order of taxes, but effects the relief by +changing the application of them; and the money necessary for the +purpose can be drawn from the excise collections, which are made +eight times a year in every market town in England. + +Having now arranged and concluded this subject, I proceed to the +next. + +Taking the present current expenses at seven millions and an half, +which is the least amount they are now at, there will remain (after +the sum of one million and an half be taken for the new current +expenses and four millions for the before-mentioned service) the sum +of two millions; part of which to be applied as follows: + +Though fleets and armies, by an alliance with France, will, in a +great measure, become useless, yet the persons who have devoted +themselves to those services, and have thereby unfitted themselves +for other lines of life, are not to be sufferers by the means that +make others happy. They are a different description of men from those +who form or hang about a court. + +A part of the army will remain, at least for some years, and also of +the navy, for which a provision is already made in the former part of +this plan of one million, which is almost half a million more than +the peace establishment of the army and navy in the prodigal times of +Charles the Second. + +Suppose, then, fifteen thousand soldiers to be disbanded, and that an +allowance be made to each of three shillings a week during life, +clear of all deductions, to be paid in the same manner as the Chelsea +College pensioners are paid, and for them to return to their trades +and their friends; and also that an addition of fifteen thousand +sixpences per week be made to the pay of the soldiers who shall +remain; the annual expenses will be: + + To the pay of fifteen thousand disbanded soldiers + at three shillings per week L117,000 + Additional pay to the remaining soldiers 19,500 + Suppose that the pay to the officers of the + disbanded corps be the same amount as sum allowed + to the men 117,000 + -------- + L253,500 + + To prevent bulky estimations, admit the same sum + to the disbanded navy as to the army, + and the same increase of pay 253,500 + -------- + Total L507,000 + +Every year some part of this sum of half a million (I omit the odd +seven thousand pounds for the purpose of keeping the account +unembarrassed) will fall in, and the whole of it in time, as it is on +the ground of life annuities, except the increased pay of twenty-nine +thousand pounds. As it falls in, part of the taxes may be taken off; +and as, for instance, when thirty thousand pounds fall in, the duty +on hops may be wholly taken off; and as other parts fall in, the +duties on candles and soap may be lessened, till at last they will +totally cease. There now remains at least one million and a half of +surplus taxes. + +The tax on houses and windows is one of those direct taxes, which, +like the poor-rates, is not confounded with trade; and, when taken +off, the relief will be instantly felt. This tax falls heavy on the +middle class of people. The amount of this tax, by the returns of +1788, was: + + Houses and windows: L s. d. + By the act of 1766 385,459 11 7 + By the act be 1779 130,739 14 5 1/2 + ---------------------- + Total 516,199 6 0 1/2 + +If this tax be struck off, there will then remain about one million +of surplus taxes; and as it is always proper to keep a sum in +reserve, for incidental matters, it may be best not to extend +reductions further in the first instance, but to consider what may be +accomplished by other modes of reform. + +Among the taxes most heavily felt is the commutation tax. I shall +therefore offer a plan for its abolition, by substituting another in +its place, which will effect three objects at once: 1, that of +removing the burthen to where it can best be borne; 2, restoring +justice among families by a distribution of property; 3, extirpating +the overgrown influence arising from the unnatural law of +primogeniture, which is one of the principal sources of corruption at +elections. The amount of commutation tax by the returns of 1788, was +L771,657. + +When taxes are proposed, the country is amused by the plausible +language of taxing luxuries. One thing is called a luxury at one +time, and something else at another; but the real luxury does not +consist in the article, but in the means of procuring it, and this is +always kept out of sight. + +I know not why any plant or herb of the field should be a greater +luxury in one country than another; but an overgrown estate in either +is a luxury at all times, and, as such, is the proper object of +taxation. It is, therefore, right to take those kind tax-making +gentlemen up on their own word, and argue on the principle themselves +have laid down, that of taxing luxuries. If they or their champion, +Mr. Burke, who, I fear, is growing out of date, like the man in +armour, can prove that an estate of twenty, thirty, or forty thousand +pounds a year is not a luxury, I will give up the argument. + +Admitting that any annual sum, say, for instance, one thousand +pounds, is necessary or sufficient for the support of a family, +consequently the second thousand is of the nature of a luxury, the +third still more so, and by proceeding on, we shall at last arrive at +a sum that may not improperly be called a prohibitable luxury. It +would be impolitic to set bounds to property acquired by industry, +and therefore it is right to place the prohibition beyond the +probable acquisition to which industry can extend; but there ought to +be a limit to property or the accumulation of it by bequest. It +should pass in some other line. The richest in every nation have poor +relations, and those often very near in consanguinity. + +The following table of progressive taxation is constructed on the +above principles, and as a substitute for the commutation tax. It +will reach the point of prohibition by a regular operation, and +thereby supersede the aristocratical law of primogeniture. + + TABLE I + A tax on all estates of the clear yearly value of L50, + after deducting the land tax, and up + + To L500 0s 3d per pound + From L500 to L1,000 0 6 + On the second thousand 0 9 + On the third " 1 0 + On the fourth " 1 6 + On the fifth " 2 0 + On the sixth " 3 0 + On the seventh " 4 0 + On the eighth " 5 0 + On the ninth " 6s 0d per pound + On the tenth " 7 0 + On the eleventh " 8 0 + On the twelfth " 9 0 + On the thirteenth " 10 0 + On the fourteenth " 11 0 + On the fifteenth " 12 0 + On the sixteenth " 13 0 + On the seventeenth " 14 0 + On the eighteenth " 15 0 + On the nineteenth " 16 0 + On the twentieth " 17 0 + On the twenty-first " 18 0 + On the twenty-second " 19 0 + On the twenty-third " 20 0 + +The foregoing table shows the progression per pound on every +progressive thousand. The following table shows the amount of the tax +on every thousand separately, and in the last column the total amount +of all the separate sums collected. + + TABLE II + An estate of: + L 50 per annum at 3d per pound pays L0 12 6 + 100 " " " " 1 5 0 + 200 " " " " 2 10 0 + 300 " " " " 3 15 0 + 400 " " " " 5 0 0 + 500 " " " " 7 5 0 + +After L500, the tax of 6d. per pound takes place on the second L500; +consequently an estate of L1,000 per annum pays L2l, 15s., and so on. + + Total amount + For the 1st L500 at 0s 3d per pound L7 5s + 2nd " 0 6 14 10 L21 15s + 2nd 1000 at 0 9 37 11 59 5 + 3rd " 1 0 50 0 109 5 + (Total amount) + 4th 1000 at 1s 6d per pound L75 0s L184 5s + 5th " 2 0 100 0 284 5 + 6th " 3 0 150 0 434 5 + 7th " 4 0 200 0 634 5 + 8th " 5 0 250 0 880 5 + 9th " 6 0 300 0 1100 5 + 10th " 7 0 350 0 1530 5 + 11th " 8 0 400 0 1930 5 + 12th " 9 0 450 0 2380 5 + 13th " 10 0 500 0 2880 5 + 14th " 11 0 550 0 3430 5 + 15th " 12 0 600 0 4030 5 + 16th " 13 0 650 0 4680 5 + 17th " 14 0 700 0 5380 5 + 18th " 15 0 750 0 6130 5 + 19th " 16 0 800 0 6930 5 + 20th " 17 0 850 0 7780 5 + 21st " 18 0 900 0 8680 5 + (Total amount) + 22nd 1000 at 19s 0d per pound L950 0s L9630 5s + 23rd " 20 0 1000 0 10630 5 + +At the twenty-third thousand the tax becomes 20s. in the pound, and +consequently every thousand beyond that sum can produce no profit but +by dividing the estate. Yet formidable as this tax appears, it will +not, I believe, produce so much as the commutation tax; should it +produce more, it ought to be lowered to that amount upon estates +under two or three thousand a year. + +On small and middling estates it is lighter (as it is intended to be) +than the commutation tax. It is not till after seven or eight +thousand a year that it begins to be heavy. The object is not so much +the produce of the tax as the justice of the measure. The aristocracy +has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of +the lost equilibrium. + +As an instance of its screening itself, it is only necessary to look +back to the first establishment of the excise laws, at what is called +the Restoration, or the coming of Charles the Second. The +aristocratical interest then in power, commuted the feudal services +itself was under, by laying a tax on beer brewed for sale; that is, +they compounded with Charles for an exemption from those services for +themselves and their heirs, by a tax to be paid by other people. The +aristocracy do not purchase beer brewed for sale, but brew their own +beer free of the duty, and if any commutation at that time were +necessary, it ought to have been at the expense of those for whom the +exemptions from those services were intended;*[37] instead of which, +it was thrown on an entirely different class of men. + +But the chief object of this progressive tax (besides the justice of +rendering taxes more equal than they are) is, as already stated, to +extirpate the overgrown influence arising from the unnatural law of +primogeniture, and which is one of the principal sources of +corruption at elections. + +It would be attended with no good consequences to enquire how such +vast estates as thirty, forty, or fifty thousand a year could +commence, and that at a time when commerce and manufactures were not +in a state to admit of such acquisitions. Let it be sufficient to +remedy the evil by putting them in a condition of descending again to +the community by the quiet means of apportioning them among all the +heirs and heiresses of those families. This will be the more +necessary, because hitherto the aristocracy have quartered their +younger children and connections upon the public in useless posts, +places and offices, which when abolished will leave them destitute, +unless the law of primogeniture be also abolished or superseded. + +A progressive tax will, in a great measure, effect this object, and +that as a matter of interest to the parties most immediately +concerned, as will be seen by the following table; which shows the +net produce upon every estate, after subtracting the tax. By this it +will appear that after an estate exceeds thirteen or fourteen +thousand a year, the remainder produces but little profit to the +holder, and consequently, Will pass either to the younger children, +or to other kindred. + + TABLE III + Showing the net produce of every estate from one thousand + to twenty-three thousand pounds a year + + No of thousand Total tax + per annum subtracted Net produce + L1000 L21 L979 + 2000 59 1941 + 3000 109 2891 + 4000 184 3816 + 5000 284 4716 + 6000 434 5566 + 7000 634 6366 + 8000 880 7120 + 9000 1100 7900 + 10,000 1530 8470 + 11,000 1930 9070 + 12,000 2380 9620 + 13,000 2880 10,120 + (No of thousand (Total tax + per annum) subtracted) (Net produce) + 14,000 3430 10,570 + 15,000 4030 10,970 + 16,000 4680 11,320 + 17,000 5380 11,620 + 18,000 6130 11,870 + 19,000 6930 12,170 + 20,000 7780 12,220 + 21,000 8680 12,320 + 22,000 9630 12,370 + 23,000 10,630 12,370 + +N.B. The odd shillings are dropped in this table. + +According to this table, an estate cannot produce more than L12,370 +clear of the land tax and the progressive tax, and therefore the +dividing such estates will follow as a matter of family interest. An +estate of L23,000 a year, divided into five estates of four thousand +each and one of three, will be charged only L1,129 which is but five +per cent., but if held by one possessor, will be charged L10,630. + +Although an enquiry into the origin of those estates be unnecessary, +the continuation of them in their present state is another subject. +It is a matter of national concern. As hereditary estates, the law +has created the evil, and it ought also to provide the remedy. +Primogeniture ought to be abolished, not only because it is unnatural +and unjust, but because the country suffers by its operation. By +cutting off (as before observed) the younger children from their +proper portion of inheritance, the public is loaded with the expense +of maintaining them; and the freedom of elections violated by the +overbearing influence which this unjust monopoly of family property +produces. Nor is this all. It occasions a waste of national property. +A considerable part of the land of the country is rendered +unproductive, by the great extent of parks and chases which this law +serves to keep up, and this at a time when the annual production of +grain is not equal to the national consumption.*[38]- In short, the +evils of the aristocratical system are so great and numerous, so +inconsistent with every thing that is just, wise, natural, and +beneficent, that when they are considered, there ought not to be a +doubt that many, who are now classed under that description, will +wish to see such a system abolished. + +What pleasure can they derive from contemplating the exposed +condition, and almost certain beggary of their younger offspring? +Every aristocratical family has an appendage of family beggars +hanging round it, which in a few ages, or a few generations, are +shook off, and console themselves with telling their tale in +almshouses, workhouses, and prisons. This is the natural consequence +of aristocracy. The peer and the beggar are often of the same family. +One extreme produces the other: to make one rich many must be made +poor; neither can the system be supported by other means. + +There are two classes of people to whom the laws of England are +particularly hostile, and those the most helpless; younger children, +and the poor. Of the former I have just spoken; of the latter I shall +mention one instance out of the many that might be produced, and with +which I shall close this subject. + +Several laws are in existence for regulating and limiting work-men's +wages. Why not leave them as free to make their own bargains, as the +law-makers are to let their farms and houses? Personal labour is all +the property they have. Why is that little, and the little freedom +they enjoy, to be infringed? But the injustice will appear stronger, +if we consider the operation and effect of such laws. When wages are +fixed by what is called a law, the legal wages remain stationary, +while every thing else is in progression; and as those who make that +law still continue to lay on new taxes by other laws, they increase +the expense of living by one law, and take away the means by another. + +But if these gentlemen law-makers and tax-makers thought it right to +limit the poor pittance which personal labour can produce, and on +which a whole family is to be supported, they certainly must feel +themselves happily indulged in a limitation on their own part, of not +less than twelve thousand a-year, and that of property they never +acquired (nor probably any of their ancestors), and of which they +have made never acquire so ill a use. + +Having now finished this subject, I shall bring the several +particulars into one view, and then proceed to other matters. + +The first eight articles, mentioned earlier, are; + +1. Abolition of two millions poor-rates. + +2. Provision for two hundred and fifty-two thousand poor families, at +the rate of four pounds per head for each child under fourteen years +of age; which, with the addition of two hundred and fifty thousand +pounds, provides also education for one million and thirty thousand +children. + +3. Annuity of six pounds (per annum) each for all poor persons, +decayed tradesmen, and others (supposed seventy thousand) of the age +of fifty years, and until sixty. + +4. Annuity of ten pounds each for life for all poor persons, decayed +tradesmen, and others (supposed seventy thousand) of the age of sixty +years. + +5. Donation of twenty shillings each for fifty thousand births. + +6. Donation of twenty shillings each for twenty thousand marriages. + +7. Allowance of twenty thousand pounds for the funeral expenses of +persons travelling for work, and dying at a distance from their +friends. + +8. Employment at all times for the casual poor in the cities of +London and Westminster. + +Second Enumeration + +9. Abolition of the tax on houses and windows. + +10. Allowance of three shillings per week for life to fifteen +thousand disbanded soldiers, and a proportionate allowance to the +officers of the disbanded corps. + +11. Increase of pay to the remaining soldiers of L19,500 annually. + +12. The same allowance to the disbanded navy, and the same increase +of pay, as to the army. + +13. Abolition of the commutation tax. + +14. Plan of a progressive tax, operating to extirpate the unjust and +unnatural law of primogeniture, and the vicious influence of the +aristocratical system.*[39] + +There yet remains, as already stated, one million of surplus taxes. +Some part of this will be required for circumstances that do not +immediately present themselves, and such part as shall not be wanted, +will admit of a further reduction of taxes equal to that amount. + +Among the claims that justice requires to be made, the condition of +the inferior revenue-officers will merit attention. It is a reproach +to any government to waste such an immensity of revenue in sinecures +and nominal and unnecessary places and officers, and not allow even a +decent livelihood to those on whom the labour falls. The salary of +the inferior officers of the revenue has stood at the petty pittance +of less than fifty pounds a year for upwards of one hundred years. It +ought to be seventy. About one hundred and twenty thousand pounds +applied to this purpose, will put all those salaries in a decent +condition. + +This was proposed to be done almost twenty years ago, but the +treasury-board then in being, startled at it, as it might lead to +similar expectations from the army and navy; and the event was, that +the King, or somebody for him, applied to parliament to have his own +salary raised an hundred thousand pounds a year, which being done, +every thing else was laid aside. + +With respect to another class of men, the inferior clergy, I forbear +to enlarge on their condition; but all partialities and prejudices +for, or against, different modes and forms of religion aside, common +justice will determine, whether there ought to be an income of twenty +or thirty pounds a year to one man, and of ten thousand to another. I +speak on this subject with the more freedom, because I am known not +to be a Presbyterian; and therefore the cant cry of court sycophants, +about church and meeting, kept up to amuse and bewilder the nation, +cannot be raised against me. + +Ye simple men on both sides the question, do you not see through this +courtly craft? If ye can be kept disputing and wrangling about church +and meeting, ye just answer the purpose of every courtier, who lives +the while on the spoils of the taxes, and laughs at your credulity. +Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of +none that instructs him to be bad. + +All the before-mentioned calculations suppose only sixteen millions +and an half of taxes paid into the exchequer, after the expense of +collection and drawbacks at the custom-house and excise-office are +deducted; whereas the sum paid into the exchequer is very nearly, if +not quite, seventeen millions. The taxes raised in Scotland and +Ireland are expended in those countries, and therefore their savings +will come out of their own taxes; but if any part be paid into the +English exchequer, it might be remitted. This will not make one +hundred thousand pounds a year difference. + +There now remains only the national debt to be considered. In the +year 1789, the interest, exclusive of the tontine, was L9,150,138. +How much the capital has been reduced since that time the minister +best knows. But after paying the interest, abolishing the tax on +houses and windows, the commutation tax, and the poor-rates; and +making all the provisions for the poor, for the education of +children, the support of the aged, the disbanded part of the army and +navy, and increasing the pay of the remainder, there will be a +surplus of one million. + +The present scheme of paying off the national debt appears to me, +speaking as an indifferent person, to be an ill-concerted, if not a +fallacious job. The burthen of the national debt consists not in its +being so many millions, or so many hundred millions, but in the +quantity of taxes collected every year to pay the interest. If this +quantity continues the same, the burthen of the national debt is the +same to all intents and purposes, be the capital more or less. The +only knowledge which the public can have of the reduction of the +debt, must be through the reduction of taxes for paying the interest. +The debt, therefore, is not reduced one farthing to the public by all +the millions that have been paid; and it would require more money now +to purchase up the capital, than when the scheme began. + +Digressing for a moment at this point, to which I shall return again, +I look back to the appointment of Mr. Pitt, as minister. + +I was then in America. The war was over; and though resentment had +ceased, memory was still alive. + +When the news of the coalition arrived, though it was a matter of no +concern to I felt it as a man. It had something in it which shocked, +by publicly sporting with decency, if not with principle. It was +impudence in Lord North; it was a want of firmness in Mr. Fox. + +Mr. Pitt was, at that time, what may be called a maiden character in +politics. So far from being hackneyed, he appeared not to be +initiated into the first mysteries of court intrigue. Everything was +in his favour. Resentment against the coalition served as friendship +to him, and his ignorance of vice was credited for virtue. With the +return of peace, commerce and prosperity would rise of itself; yet +even this increase was thrown to his account. + +When he came to the helm, the storm was over, and he had nothing to +interrupt his course. It required even ingenuity to be wrong, and he +succeeded. A little time showed him the same sort of man as his +predecessors had been. Instead of profiting by those errors which had +accumulated a burthen of taxes unparalleled in the world, he sought, +I might almost say, he advertised for enemies, and provoked means to +increase taxation. Aiming at something, he knew not what, he +ransacked Europe and India for adventures, and abandoning the fair +pretensions he began with, he became the knight-errant of modern +times. + +It is unpleasant to see character throw itself away. It is more so to +see one's-self deceived. Mr. Pitt had merited nothing, but he +promised much. He gave symptoms of a mind superior to the meanness +and corruption of courts. His apparent candour encouraged +expectations; and the public confidence, stunned, wearied, and +confounded by a chaos of parties, revived and attached itself to him. +But mistaking, as he has done, the disgust of the nation against the +coalition, for merit in himself, he has rushed into measures which a +man less supported would not have presumed to act. + +All this seems to show that change of ministers amounts to nothing. +One goes out, another comes in, and still the same measures, vices, +and extravagance are pursued. It signifies not who is minister. The +defect lies in the system. The foundation and the superstructure of +the government is bad. Prop it as you please, it continually sinks +into court government, and ever will. + +I return, as I promised, to the subject of the national debt, that +offspring of the Dutch-Anglo revolution, and its handmaid the Hanover +succession. + +But it is now too late to enquire how it began. Those to whom it is +due have advanced the money; and whether it was well or ill spent, or +pocketed, is not their crime. It is, however, easy to see, that as +the nation proceeds in contemplating the nature and principles of +government, and to understand taxes, and make comparisons between +those of America, France, and England, it will be next to impossible +to keep it in the same torpid state it has hitherto been. Some reform +must, from the necessity of the case, soon begin. It is not whether +these principles press with little or much force in the present +moment. They are out. They are abroad in the world, and no force can +stop them. Like a secret told, they are beyond recall; and he must be +blind indeed that does not see that a change is already beginning. + +Nine millions of dead taxes is a serious thing; and this not only for +bad, but in a great measure for foreign government. By putting the +power of making war into the hands of the foreigners who came for +what they could get, little else was to be expected than what has +happened. + +Reasons are already advanced in this work, showing that whatever the +reforms in the taxes may be, they ought to be made in the current +expenses of government, and not in the part applied to the interest +of the national debt. By remitting the taxes of the poor, they will +be totally relieved, and all discontent will be taken away; and by +striking off such of the taxes as are already mentioned, the nation +will more than recover the whole expense of the mad American war. + +There will then remain only the national debt as a subject of +discontent; and in order to remove, or rather to prevent this, it +would be good policy in the stockholders themselves to consider it as +property, subject like all other property, to bear some portion of +the taxes. It would give to it both popularity and security, and as a +great part of its present inconvenience is balanced by the capital +which it keeps alive, a measure of this kind would so far add to that +balance as to silence objections. + +This may be done by such gradual means as to accomplish all that is +necessary with the greatest ease and convenience. + +Instead of taxing the capital, the best method would be to tax the +interest by some progressive ratio, and to lessen the public taxes in +the same proportion as the interest diminished. + +Suppose the interest was taxed one halfpenny in the pound the first +year, a penny more the second, and to proceed by a certain ratio to +be determined upon, always less than any other tax upon property. +Such a tax would be subtracted from the interest at the time of +payment, without any expense of collection. + +One halfpenny in the pound would lessen the interest and consequently +the taxes, twenty thousand pounds. The tax on wagons amounts to this +sum, and this tax might be taken off the first year. The second year +the tax on female servants, or some other of the like amount might +also be taken off, and by proceeding in this manner, always applying +the tax raised from the property of the debt toward its extinction, +and not carry it to the current services, it would liberate itself. + +The stockholders, notwithstanding this tax, would pay less taxes than +they do now. What they would save by the extinction of the +poor-rates, and the tax on houses and windows, and the commutation +tax, would be considerably greater than what this tax, slow, but +certain in its operation, amounts to. + +It appears to me to be prudence to look out for measures that may +apply under any circumstances that may approach. There is, at this +moment, a crisis in the affairs of Europe that requires it. +Preparation now is wisdom. If taxation be once let loose, it will be +difficult to re-instate it; neither would the relief be so effectual, +as if it proceeded by some certain and gradual reduction. + +The fraud, hypocrisy, and imposition of governments, are now +beginning to be too well understood to promise them any long career. +The farce of monarchy and aristocracy, in all countries, is following +that of chivalry, and Mr. Burke is dressing aristocracy, in all +countries, is following that of chivalry, and Mr. Burke is dressing +for the funeral. Let it then pass quietly to the tomb of all other +follies, and the mourners be comforted. + +The time is not very distant when England will laugh at itself for +sending to Holland, Hanover, Zell, or Brunswick for men, at the +expense of a million a year, who understood neither her laws, her +language, nor her interest, and whose capacities would scarcely have +fitted them for the office of a parish constable. If government could +be trusted to such hands, it must be some easy and simple thing +indeed, and materials fit for all the purposes may be found in every +town and village in England. + +When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; +neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails +are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in +want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, +because I am the friend of its happiness: when these things can be +said, then may that country boast its constitution and its +government. + +Within the space of a few years we have seen two revolutions, those +of America and France. In the former, the contest was long, and the +conflict severe; in the latter, the nation acted with such a +consolidated impulse, that having no foreign enemy to contend with, +the revolution was complete in power the moment it appeared. From +both those instances it is evident, that the greatest forces that can +be brought into the field of revolutions, are reason and common +interest. Where these can have the opportunity of acting, opposition +dies with fear, or crumbles away by conviction. It is a great +standing which they have now universally obtained; and we may +hereafter hope to see revolutions, or changes in governments, +produced with the same quiet operation by which any measure, +determinable by reason and discussion, is accomplished. + +When a nation changes its opinion and habits of thinking, it is no +longer to be governed as before; but it would not only be wrong, but +bad policy, to attempt by force what ought to be accomplished by +reason. Rebellion consists in forcibly opposing the general will of a +nation, whether by a party or by a government. There ought, +therefore, to be in every nation a method of occasionally +ascertaining the state of public opinion with respect to government. +On this point the old government of France was superior to the +present government of England, because, on extraordinary occasions, +recourse could be had what was then called the States General. But in +England there are no such occasional bodies; and as to those who are +now called Representatives, a great part of them are mere machines of +the court, placemen, and dependants. + +I presume, that though all the people of England pay taxes, not an +hundredth part of them are electors, and the members of one of the +houses of parliament represent nobody but themselves. There is, +therefore, no power but the voluntary will of the people that has a +right to act in any matter respecting a general reform; and by the +same right that two persons can confer on such a subject, a thousand +may. The object, in all such preliminary proceedings, is to find out +what the general sense of a nation is, and to be governed by it. If +it prefer a bad or defective government to a reform or choose to pay +ten times more taxes than there is any occasion for, it has a right +so to do; and so long as the majority do not impose conditions on the +minority, different from what they impose upon themselves, though +there may be much error, there is no injustice. Neither will the +error continue long. Reason and discussion will soon bring things +right, however wrong they may begin. By such a process no tumult is +to be apprehended. The poor, in all countries, are naturally both +peaceable and grateful in all reforms in which their interest and +happiness is included. It is only by neglecting and rejecting them +that they become tumultuous. + +The objects that now press on the public attention are, the French +revolution, and the prospect of a general revolution in governments. +Of all nations in Europe there is none so much interested in the +French revolution as England. Enemies for ages, and that at a vast +expense, and without any national object, the opportunity now +presents itself of amicably closing the scene, and joining their +efforts to reform the rest of Europe. By doing this they will not +only prevent the further effusion of blood, and increase of taxes, +but be in a condition of getting rid of a considerable part of their +present burthens, as has been already stated. Long experience however +has shown, that reforms of this kind are not those which old +governments wish to promote, and therefore it is to nations, and not +to such governments, that these matters present themselves. + +In the preceding part of this work, I have spoken of an alliance +between England, France, and America, for purposes that were to be +afterwards mentioned. Though I have no direct authority on the part +of America, I have good reason to conclude, that she is disposed to +enter into a consideration of such a measure, provided, that the +governments with which she might ally, acted as national governments, +and not as courts enveloped in intrigue and mystery. That France as a +nation, and a national government, would prefer an alliance with +England, is a matter of certainty. Nations, like individuals, who +have long been enemies, without knowing each other, or knowing why, +become the better friends when they discover the errors and +impositions under which they had acted. + +Admitting, therefore, the probability of such a connection, I will +state some matters by which such an alliance, together with that of +Holland, might render service, not only to the parties immediately +concerned, but to all Europe. + +It is, I think, certain, that if the fleets of England, France, and +Holland were confederated, they could propose, with effect, a +limitation to, and a general dismantling of, all the navies in +Europe, to a certain proportion to be agreed upon. + +First, That no new ship of war shall be built by any power in Europe, +themselves included. + +Second, That all the navies now in existence shall be put back, +suppose to one-tenth of their present force. This will save to France +and England, at least two millions sterling annually to each, and +their relative force be in the same proportion as it is now. If men +will permit themselves to think, as rational beings ought to think, +nothing can appear more ridiculous and absurd, exclusive of all moral +reflections, than to be at the expense of building navies, filling +them with men, and then hauling them into the ocean, to try which can +sink each other fastest. Peace, which costs nothing, is attended with +infinitely more advantage, than any victory with all its expense. But +this, though it best answers the purpose of nations, does not that of +court governments, whose habited policy is pretence for taxation, +places, and offices. + +It is, I think, also certain, that the above confederated powers, +together with that of the United States of America, can propose with +effect, to Spain, the independence of South America, and the opening +those countries of immense extent and wealth to the general commerce +of the world, as North America now is. + +With how much more glory, and advantage to itself, does a nation act, +when it exerts its powers to rescue the world from bondage, and to +create itself friends, than when it employs those powers to increase +ruin, desolation, and misery. The horrid scene that is now acting by +the English government in the East-Indies, is fit only to be told of +Goths and Vandals, who, destitute of principle, robbed and tortured +the world they were incapable of enjoying. + +The opening of South America would produce an immense field of +commerce, and a ready money market for manufactures, which the +eastern world does not. The East is already a country full of +manufactures, the importation of which is not only an injury to the +manufactures of England, but a drain upon its specie. The balance +against England by this trade is regularly upwards of half a million +annually sent out in the East-India ships in silver; and this is the +reason, together with German intrigue, and German subsidies, that +there is so little silver in England. + +But any war is harvest to such governments, however ruinous it may be +to a nation. It serves to keep up deceitful expectations which +prevent people from looking into the defects and abuses of +government. It is the lo here! and the lo there! that amuses and +cheats the multitude. + +Never did so great an opportunity offer itself to England, and to all +Europe, as is produced by the two Revolutions of America and France. +By the former, freedom has a national champion in the western world; +and by the latter, in Europe. When another nation shall join France, +despotism and bad government will scarcely dare to appear. To use a +trite expression, the iron is becoming hot all over Europe. The +insulted German and the enslaved Spaniard, the Russ and the Pole, are +beginning to think. The present age will hereafter merit to be called +the Age of Reason, and the present generation will appear to the +future as the Adam of a new world. + +When all the governments of Europe shall be established on the +representative system, nations will become acquainted, and the +animosities and prejudices fomented by the intrigue and artifice of +courts, will cease. The oppressed soldier will become a freeman; and +the tortured sailor, no longer dragged through the streets like a +felon, will pursue his mercantile voyage in safety. It would be +better that nations should wi continue the pay of their soldiers +during their lives, and give them their discharge and restore them to +freedom and their friends, and cease recruiting, than retain such +multitudes at the same expense, in a condition useless to society and +to themselves. As soldiers have hitherto been treated in most +countries, they might be said to be without a friend. Shunned by the +citizen on an apprehension of their being enemies to liberty, and too +often insulted by those who commanded them, their condition was a +double oppression. But where genuine principles of liberty pervade a +people, every thing is restored to order; and the soldier civilly +treated, returns the civility. + +In contemplating revolutions, it is easy to perceive that they may +arise from two distinct causes; the one, to avoid or get rid of some +great calamity; the other, to obtain some great and positive good; +and the two may be distinguished by the names of active and passive +revolutions. In those which proceed from the former cause, the temper +becomes incensed and soured; and the redress, obtained by danger, is +too often sullied by revenge. But in those which proceed from the +latter, the heart, rather animated than agitated, enters serenely +upon the subject. Reason and discussion, persuasion and conviction, +become the weapons in the contest, and it is only when those are +attempted to be suppressed that recourse is had to violence. When men +unite in agreeing that a thing is good, could it be obtained, such +for instance as relief from a burden of taxes and the extinction of +corruption, the object is more than half accomplished. What they +approve as the end, they will promote in the means. + +Will any man say, in the present excess of taxation, falling so +heavily on the poor, that a remission of five pounds annually of +taxes to one hundred and four thousand poor families is not a good +thing? Will he say that a remission of seven pounds annually to one +hundred thousand other poor families- of eight pounds annually to +another hundred thousand poor families, and of ten pounds annually to +fifty thousand poor and widowed families, are not good things? And, +to proceed a step further in this climax, will he say that to provide +against the misfortunes to which all human life is subject, by +securing six pounds annually for all poor, distressed, and reduced +persons of the age of fifty and until sixty, and of ten pounds +annually after sixty, is not a good thing? + +Will he say that an abolition of two millions of poor-rates to the +house-keepers, and of the whole of the house and window-light tax and +of the commutation tax is not a good thing? Or will he say that to +abolish corruption is a bad thing? + +If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, +rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer +waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one. I have no +idea, considering the reforms which are now passing and spreading +throughout Europe, that England will permit herself to be the last; +and where the occasion and the opportunity quietly offer, it is +better than to wait for a turbulent necessity. It may be considered +as an honour to the animal faculties of man to obtain redress by +courage and danger, but it is far greater honour to the rational +faculties to accomplish the same object by reason, accommodation, and +general consent.*[40] + +As reforms, or revolutions, call them which you please, extend +themselves among nations, those nations will form connections and +conventions, and when a few are thus confederated, the progress will +be rapid, till despotism and corrupt government be totally expelled, +at least out of two quarters of the world, Europe and America. The +Algerine piracy may then be commanded to cease, for it is only by the +malicious policy of old governments, against each other, that it +exists. + +Throughout this work, various and numerous as the subjects are, which +I have taken up and investigated, there is only a single paragraph +upon religion, viz. "that every religion is good that teaches man to +be good." + +I have carefully avoided to enlarge upon the subject, because I am +inclined to believe that what is called the present ministry, wish to +see contentions about religion kept up, to prevent the nation turning +its attention to subjects of government. It is as if they were to +say, "Look that way, or any way, but this." + +But as religion is very improperly made a political machine, and the +reality of it is thereby destroyed, I will conclude this work with +stating in what light religion appears to me. + +If we suppose a large family of children, who, on any particular day, +or particular circumstance, made it a custom to present to their +parents some token of their affection and gratitude, each of them +would make a different offering, and most probably in a different +manner. Some would pay their congratulations in themes of verse and +prose, by some little devices, as their genius dictated, or according +to what they thought would please; and, perhaps, the least of all, +not able to do any of those things, would ramble into the garden, or +the field, and gather what it thought the prettiest flower it could +find, though, perhaps, it might be but a simple weed. The parent +would be more gratified by such a variety, than if the whole of them +had acted on a concerted plan, and each had made exactly the same +offering. This would have the cold appearance of contrivance, or the +harsh one of control. But of all unwelcome things, nothing could more +afflict the parent than to know, that the whole of them had +afterwards gotten together by the ears, boys and girls, fighting, +scratching, reviling, and abusing each other about which was the best +or the worst present. + +Why may we not suppose, that the great Father of all is pleased with +variety of devotion; and that the greatest offence we can act, is +that by which we seek to torment and render each other miserable? For +my own part, I am fully satisfied that what I am now doing, with an +endeavour to conciliate mankind, to render their condition happy, to +unite nations that have hitherto been enemies, and to extirpate the +horrid practice of war, and break the chains of slavery and +oppression is acceptable in his sight, and being the best service I +can perform, I act it cheerfully. + +I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal +points, think alike who think at all. It is only those who have not +thought that appear to agree. It is in this case as with what is +called the British constitution. It has been taken for granted to be +good, and encomiums have supplied the place of proof. But when the +nation comes to examine into its principles and the abuses it admits, +it will be found to have more defects than I have pointed out in this +work and the former. + +As to what are called national religions, we may, with as much +propriety, talk of national Gods. It is either political craft or the +remains of the Pagan system, when every nation had its separate and +particular deity. Among all the writers of the English church clergy, +who have treated on the general subject of religion, the present +Bishop of Llandaff has not been excelled, and it is with much +pleasure that I take this opportunity of expressing this token of +respect. + +I have now gone through the whole of the subject, at least, as far as +it appears to me at present. It has been my intention for the five +years I have been in Europe, to offer an address to the people of +England on the subject of government, if the opportunity presented +itself before I returned to America. Mr. Burke has thrown it in my +way, and I thank him. On a certain occasion, three years ago, I +pressed him to propose a national convention, to be fairly elected, +for the purpose of taking the state of the nation into consideration; +but I found, that however strongly the parliamentary current was then +setting against the party he acted with, their policy was to keep +every thing within that field of corruption, and trust to accidents. +Long experience had shown that parliaments would follow any change of +ministers, and on this they rested their hopes and their +expectations. + +Formerly, when divisions arose respecting governments, recourse was +had to the sword, and a civil war ensued. That savage custom is +exploded by the new system, and reference is had to national +conventions. Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, +and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is +preserved uninterrupted. + +Some gentlemen have affected to call the principles upon which this +work and the former part of Rights of Man are founded, "a new-fangled +doctrine." The question is not whether those principles are new or +old, but whether they are right or wrong. Suppose the former, I will +show their effect by a figure easily understood. + +It is now towards the middle of February. Were I to take a turn into +the country, the trees would present a leafless, wintery appearance. +As people are apt to pluck twigs as they walk along, I perhaps might +do the same, and by chance might observe, that a single bud on that +twig had begun to swell. I should reason very unnaturally, or rather +not reason at all, to suppose this was the only bud in England which +had this appearance. Instead of deciding thus, I should instantly +conclude, that the same appearance was beginning, or about to begin, +every where; and though the vegetable sleep will continue longer on +some trees and plants than on others, and though some of them may not +blossom for two or three years, all will be in leaf in the summer, +except those which are rotten. What pace the political summer may +keep with the natural, no human foresight can determine. It is, +however, not difficult to perceive that the spring is begun.- Thus +wishing, as I sincerely do, freedom and happiness to all nations, I +close the Second Part. + + APPENDIX + +As the publication of this work has been delayed beyond the time +intended, I think it not improper, all circumstances considered, to +state the causes that have occasioned delay. + +The reader will probably observe, that some parts in the plan +contained in this work for reducing the taxes, and certain parts in +Mr. Pitt's speech at the opening of the present session, Tuesday, +January 31, are so much alike as to induce a belief, that either the +author had taken the hint from Mr. Pitt, or Mr. Pitt from the +author.- I will first point out the parts that are similar, and then +state such circumstances as I am acquainted with, leaving the reader +to make his own conclusion. + +Considering it as almost an unprecedented case, that taxes should be +proposed to be taken off, it is equally extraordinary that such a +measure should occur to two persons at the same time; and still more +so (considering the vast variety and multiplicity of taxes) that they +should hit on the same specific taxes. Mr. Pitt has mentioned, in his +speech, the tax on Carts and Wagons- that on Female Servantsthe +lowering the tax on Candles and the taking off the tax of three +shillings on Houses having under seven windows. + +Every one of those specific taxes are a part of the plan contained in +this work, and proposed also to be taken off. Mr. Pitt's plan, it is +true, goes no further than to a reduction of three hundred and twenty +thousand pounds; and the reduction proposed in this work, to nearly +six millions. I have made my calculations on only sixteen millions +and an half of revenue, still asserting that it was "very nearly, if +not quite, seventeen millions." Mr. Pitt states it at 16,690,000. I +know enough of the matter to say, that he has not overstated it. +Having thus given the particulars, which correspond in this work and +his speech, I will state a chain of circumstances that may lead to +some explanation. + +The first hint for lessening the taxes, and that as a consequence +flowing from the French revolution, is to be found in the Address and +Declaration of the Gentlemen who met at the Thatched-House Tavern, +August 20, 1791. Among many other particulars stated in that Address, +is the following, put as an interrogation to the government opposers +of the French Revolution. "Are they sorry that the pretence for new +oppressive taxes, and the occasion for continuing many old taxes will +be at an end?" + +It is well known that the persons who chiefly frequent the +Thatched-House Tavern, are men of court connections, and so much did +they take this Address and Declaration respecting the French +Revolution, and the reduction of taxes in disgust, that the Landlord +was under the necessity of informing the Gentlemen, who composed the +meeting of the 20th of August, and who proposed holding another +meeting, that he could not receive them.*[41] + +What was only hinted in the Address and Declaration respecting taxes +and principles of government, will be found reduced to a regular +system in this work. But as Mr. Pitt's speech contains some of the +same things respecting taxes, I now come to give the circumstances +before alluded to. + +The case is: This work was intended to be published just before the +meeting of Parliament, and for that purpose a considerable part of +the copy was put into the printer's hands in September, and all the +remaining copy, which contains the part to which Mr. Pitt's speech is +similar, was given to him full six weeks before the meeting of +Parliament, and he was informed of the time at which it was to +appear. He had composed nearly the whole about a fortnight before the +time of Parliament meeting, and had given me a proof of the next +sheet. It was then in sufficient forwardness to be out at the time +proposed, as two other sheets were ready for striking off. I had +before told him, that if he thought he should be straitened for time, +I could get part of the work done at another press, which he desired +me not to do. In this manner the work stood on the Tuesday fortnight +preceding the meeting of Parliament, when all at once, without any +previous intimation, though I had been with him the evening before, +he sent me, by one of his workmen, all the remaining copy, declining +to go on with the work on any consideration. + +To account for this extraordinary conduct I was totally at a loss, as +he stopped at the part where the arguments on systems and principles +of government closed, and where the plan for the reduction of taxes, +the education of children, and the support of the poor and the aged +begins; and still more especially, as he had, at the time of his +beginning to print, and before he had seen the whole copy, offered a +thousand pounds for the copy-right, together with the future +copy-right of the former part of the Rights of Man. I told the person +who brought me this offer that I should not accept it, and wished it +not to be renewed, giving him as my reason, that though I believed +the printer to be an honest man, I would never put it in the power of +any printer or publisher to suppress or alter a work of mine, by +making him master of the copy, or give to him the right of selling it +to any minister, or to any other person, or to treat as a mere matter +of traffic, that which I intended should operate as a principle. + +His refusal to complete the work (which he could not purchase) +obliged me to seek for another printer, and this of consequence would +throw the publication back till after the meeting of Parliament, +otherways it would have appeared that Mr. Pitt had only taken up a +part of the plan which I had more fully stated. + +Whether that gentleman, or any other, had seen the work, or any part +of it, is more than I have authority to say. But the manner in which +the work was returned, and the particular time at which this was +done, and that after the offers he had made, are suspicious +circumstances. I know what the opinion of booksellers and publishers +is upon such a case, but as to my own opinion, I choose to make no +declaration. There are many ways by which proof sheets may be +procured by other persons before a work publicly appears; to which I +shall add a certain circumstance, which is, + +A ministerial bookseller in Piccadilly who has been employed, as +common report says, by a clerk of one of the boards closely connected +with the ministry (the board of trade and plantation, of which +Hawkesbury is president) to publish what he calls my Life, (I wish +his own life and those of the cabinet were as good), used to have his +books printed at the same printing-office that I employed; but when +the former part of Rights of Man came out, he took his work away in +dudgeon; and about a week or ten days before the printer returned my +copy, he came to make him an offer of his work again, which was +accepted. This would consequently give him admission into the +printing-office where the sheets of this work were then lying; and as +booksellers and printers are free with each other, he would have the +opportunity of seeing what was going on.- Be the case, however, as it +may, Mr. Pitt's plan, little and diminutive as it is, would have made +a very awkward appearance, had this work appeared at the time the +printer had engaged to finish it. + +I have now stated the particulars which occasioned the delay, from +the proposal to purchase, to the refusal to print. If all the +Gentlemen are innocent, it is very unfortunate for them that such a +variety of suspicious circumstances should, without any design, +arrange themselves together. + +Having now finished this part, I will conclude with stating another +circumstance. + +About a fortnight or three weeks before the meeting of Parliament, a +small addition, amounting to about twelve shillings and sixpence a +year, was made to the pay of the soldiers, or rather their pay was +docked so much less. Some Gentlemen who knew, in part, that this work +would contain a plan of reforms respecting the oppressed condition of +soldiers, wished me to add a note to the work, signifying that the +part upon that subject had been in the printer's hands some weeks +before that addition of pay was proposed. I declined doing this, lest +it should be interpreted into an air of vanity, or an endeavour to +excite suspicion (for which perhaps there might be no grounds) that +some of the government gentlemen had, by some means or other, made +out what this work would contain: and had not the printing been +interrupted so as to occasion a delay beyond the time fixed for +publication, nothing contained in this appendix would have appeared. + + Thomas Paine + + THE AUTHOR'S NOTES FOR PART ONE AND PART TWO + +1. The main and uniform maxim of the judges is, the greater the truth +the greater the libel. + +2. Since writing the above, two other places occur in Mr. Burke's +pamphlet in which the name of the Bastille is mentioned, but in the +same manner. In the one he introduces it in a sort of obscure +question, and asks: "Will any ministers who now serve such a king, +with but a decent appearance of respect, cordially obey the orders of +those whom but the other day, in his name, they had committed to the +Bastille?" In the other the taking it is mentioned as implying +criminality in the French guards, who assisted in demolishing it. +"They have not," says he, "forgot the taking the king's castles at +Paris." This is Mr. Burke, who pretends to write on constitutional +freedom. + +3. I am warranted in asserting this, as I had it personally from M. +de la Fayette, with whom I lived in habits of friendship for fourteen +years. + +4. An account of the expedition to Versailles may be seen in No. 13 +of the Revolution de Paris containing the events from the 3rd to the +10th of October, 1789. + +5. It is a practice in some parts of the country, when two travellers +have but one horse, which, like the national purse, will not carry +double, that the one mounts and rides two or three miles ahead, and +then ties the horse to a gate and walks on. When the second traveller +arrives he takes the horse, rides on, and passes his companion a mile +or two, and ties again, and so on- Ride and tie. + +6. The word he used was renvoye, dismissed or sent away. + +7. When in any country we see extraordinary circumstances taking +place, they naturally lead any man who has a talent for observation +and investigation, to enquire into the causes. The manufacturers of +Manchester, Birmingham, and Sheffield, are the principal +manufacturers in England. From whence did this arise? A little +observation will explain the case. The principal, and the generality +of the inhabitants of those places, are not of what is called in +England, the church established by law: and they, or their fathers, +(for it is within but a few years) withdrew from the persecution of +the chartered towns, where test-laws more particularly operate, and +established a sort of asylum for themselves in those places. It was +the only asylum that then offered, for the rest of Europe was worse.- +But the case is now changing. France and America bid all comers +welcome, and initiate them into all the rights of citizenship. Policy +and interest, therefore, will, but perhaps too late, dictate in +England, what reason and justice could not. Those manufacturers are +withdrawing, and arising in other places. There is now erecting in +Passey, three miles from Paris, a large cotton manufactory, and +several are already erected in America. Soon after the rejecting the +Bill for repealing the test-law, one of the richest manufacturers in +England said in my hearing, "England, Sir, is not a country for a +dissenter to live in,- we must go to France." These are truths, and +it is doing justice to both parties to tell them. It is chiefly the +dissenters that have carried English manufactures to the height they +are now at, and the same men have it in their power to carry them +away; and though those manufactures would afterwards continue in +those places, the foreign market will be lost. There frequently +appear in the London Gazette, extracts from certain acts to prevent +machines and persons, as far as they can extend to persons, from +going out of the country. It appears from these that the ill effects +of the test-laws and church-establishment begin to be much suspected; +but the remedy of force can never supply the remedy of reason. In the +progress of less than a century, all the unrepresented part of +England, of all denominations, which is at least an hundred times the +most numerous, may begin to feel the necessity of a constitution, and +then all those matters will come regularly before them. + +8. When the English Minister, Mr. Pitt, mentions the French finances +again in the English Parliament, it would be well that he noticed +this as an example. + +9. Mr. Burke, (and I must take the liberty of telling him that he is +very unacquainted with French affairs), speaking upon this subject, +says, "The first thing that struck me in calling the States-General, +was a great departure from the ancient course";- and he soon after +says, "From the moment I read the list, I saw distinctly, and very +nearly as it has happened, all that was to follow."- Mr. Burke +certainly did not see an that was to follow. I endeavoured to impress +him, as well before as after the States-General met, that there would +be a revolution; but was not able to make him see it, neither would +he believe it. How then he could distinctly see all the parts, when +the whole was out of sight, is beyond my comprehension. And with +respect to the "departure from the ancient course," besides the +natural weakness of the remark, it shows that he is unacquainted with +circumstances. The departure was necessary, from the experience had +upon it, that the ancient course was a bad one. The States-General of +1614 were called at the commencement of the civil war in the minority +of Louis XIII.; but by the class of arranging them by orders, they +increased the confusion they were called to compose. The author of +L'Intrigue du Cabinet, (Intrigue of the Cabinet), who wrote before +any revolution was thought of in France, speaking of the +States-General of 1614, says, "They held the public in suspense five +months; and by the questions agitated therein, and the heat with +which they were put, it appears that the great (les grands) thought +more to satisfy their particular passions, than to procure the goods +of the nation; and the whole time passed away in altercations, +ceremonies and parade."- L'Intrigue du Cabinet, vol. i. p. 329. + +10. There is a single idea, which, if it strikes rightly upon the +mind, either in a legal or a religious sense, will prevent any man or +any body of men, or any government, from going wrong on the subject +of religion; which is, that before any human institutions of +government were known in the world, there existed, if I may so +express it, a compact between God and man, from the beginning of +time: and that as the relation and condition which man in his +individual person stands in towards his Maker cannot be changed by +any human laws or human authority, that religious devotion, which is +a part of this compact, cannot so much as be made a subject of human +laws; and that all laws must conform themselves to this prior +existing compact, and not assume to make the compact conform to the +laws, which, besides being human, are subsequent thereto. The first +act of man, when he looked around and saw himself a creature which he +did not make, and a world furnished for his reception, must have been +devotion; and devotion must ever continue sacred to every individual +man, as it appears, right to him; and governments do mischief by +interfering. + +11. See this work, Part I starting at line number 254.- N.B. Since +the taking of the Bastille, the occurrences have been published: but +the matters recorded in this narrative, are prior to that period; and +some of them, as may be easily seen, can be but very little known. + +12. See "Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain," by +G. Chalmers. + +13. See "Administration of the Finances of France," vol. iii, by M. +Neckar. + +14. "Administration of the Finances of France," vol. iii. + +15. Whether the English commerce does not bring in money, or whether +the government sends it out after it is brought in, is a matter which +the parties concerned can best explain; but that the deficiency +exists, is not in the power of either to disprove. While Dr. Price, +Mr. Eden, (now Auckland), Mr. Chalmers, and others, were debating +whether the quantity of money in England was greater or less than at +the Revolution, the circumstance was not adverted to, that since the +Revolution, there cannot have been less than four hundred millions +sterling imported into Europe; and therefore the quantity in England +ought at least to have been four times greater than it was at the +Revolution, to be on a proportion with Europe. What England is now +doing by paper, is what she would have been able to do by solid +money, if gold and silver had come into the nation in the proportion +it ought, or had not been sent out; and she is endeavouring to +restore by paper, the balance she has lost by money. It is certain, +that the gold and silver which arrive annually in the register-ships +to Spain and Portugal, do not remain in those countries. Taking the +value half in gold and half in silver, it is about four hundred tons +annually; and from the number of ships and galloons employed in the +trade of bringing those metals from South-America to Portugal and +Spain, the quantity sufficiently proves itself, without referring to +the registers. + +In the situation England now is, it is impossible she can increase in +money. High taxes not only lessen the property of the individuals, +but they lessen also the money capital of the nation, by inducing +smuggling, which can only be carried on by gold and silver. By the +politics which the British Government have carried on with the Inland +Powers of Germany and the Continent, it has made an enemy of all the +Maritime Powers, and is therefore obliged to keep up a large navy; +but though the navy is built in England, the naval stores must be +purchased from abroad, and that from countries where the greatest +part must be paid for in gold and silver. Some fallacious rumours +have been set afloat in England to induce a belief in money, and, +among others, that of the French refugees bringing great quantities. +The idea is ridiculous. The general part of the money in France is +silver; and it would take upwards of twenty of the largest broad +wheel wagons, with ten horses each, to remove one million sterling of +silver. Is it then to be supposed, that a few people fleeing on +horse-back or in post-chaises, in a secret manner, and having the +French Custom-House to pass, and the sea to cross, could bring even a +sufficiency for their own expenses? + +When millions of money are spoken of, it should be recollected, that +such sums can only accumulate in a country by slow degrees, and a +long procession of time. The most frugal system that England could +now adopt, would not recover in a century the balance she has lost in +money since the commencement of the Hanover succession. She is +seventy millions behind France, and she must be in some considerable +proportion behind every country in Europe, because the returns of the +English mint do not show an increase of money, while the registers of +Lisbon and Cadiz show an European increase of between three and four +hundred millions sterling. + +16. That part of America which is generally called New-England, +including New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, and +Connecticut, is peopled chiefly by English descendants. In the state +of New-York about half are Dutch, the rest English, Scotch, and +Irish. In New-jersey, a mixture of English and Dutch, with some +Scotch and Irish. In Pennsylvania about one third are English, +another Germans, and the remainder Scotch and Irish, with some +Swedes. The States to the southward have a greater proportion of +English than the middle States, but in all of them there is a +mixture; and besides those enumerated, there are a considerable +number of French, and some few of all the European nations, lying on +the coast. The most numerous religious denomination are the +Presbyterians; but no one sect is established above another, and all +men are equally citizens. + +17. For a character of aristocracy, the reader is referred to Rights +of Man, Part I., starting at line number 1457. + +18. The whole amount of the assessed taxes of France, for the present +year, is three hundred millions of francs, which is twelve millions +and a half sterling; and the incidental taxes are estimated at three +millions, making in the whole fifteen millions and a half; which +among twenty-four millions of people, is not quite thirteen shillings +per head. France has lessened her taxes since the revolution, nearly +nine millions sterling annually. Before the revolution, the city of +Paris paid a duty of upwards of thirty per cent. on all articles +brought into the city. This tax was collected at the city gates. It +was taken off on the first of last May, and the gates taken down. + +19. What was called the livre rouge, or the red book, in France, was +not exactly similar to the Court Calendar in England; but it +sufficiently showed how a great part of the taxes was lavished. + +20. In England the improvements in agriculture, useful arts, +manufactures, and commerce, have been made in opposition to the +genius of its government, which is that of following precedents. It +is from the enterprise and industry of the individuals, and their +numerous associations, in which, tritely speaking, government is +neither pillow nor bolster, that these improvements have proceeded. +No man thought about government, or who was in, or who was out, when +he was planning or executing those things; and all he had to hope, +with respect to government, was, that it would let him alone. Three +or four very silly ministerial newspapers are continually offending +against the spirit of national improvement, by ascribing it to a +minister. They may with as much truth ascribe this book to a +minister. + +21. With respect to the two houses, of which the English parliament +is composed, they appear to be effectually influenced into one, and, +as a legislature, to have no temper of its own. The minister, whoever +he at any time may be, touches it as with an opium wand, and it +sleeps obedience. + +But if we look at the distinct abilities of the two houses, the +difference will appear so great, as to show the inconsistency of +placing power where there can be no certainty of the judgment to use +it. Wretched as the state of representation is in England, it is +manhood compared with what is called the house of Lords; and so +little is this nick-named house regarded, that the people scarcely +enquire at any time what it is doing. It appears also to be most +under influence, and the furthest removed from the general interest +of the nation. In the debate on engaging in the Russian and Turkish +war, the majority in the house of peers in favor of it was upwards of +ninety, when in the other house, which was more than double its +numbers, the majority was sixty-three. + +The proceedings on Mr. Fox's bill, respecting the rights of juries, +merits also to be noticed. The persons called the peers were not the +objects of that bill. They are already in possession of more +privileges than that bill gave to others. They are their own jury, +and if any one of that house were prosecuted for a libel, he would +not suffer, even upon conviction, for the first offense. Such +inequality in laws ought not to exist in any country. The French +constitution says, that the law is the same to every individual, +whether to Protect or to punish. All are equal in its sight. + +22. As to the state of representation in England, it is too absurd to +be reasoned upon. Almost all the represented parts are decreasing in +population, and the unrepresented parts are increasing. A general +convention of the nation is necessary to take the whole form of +government into consideration. + +23. It is related that in the canton of Berne, in Switzerland, it has +been customary, from time immemorial, to keep a bear at the public +expense, and the people had been taught to believe that if they had +not a bear they should all be undone. It happened some years ago that +the bear, then in being, was taken sick, and died too suddenly to +have his place immediately supplied with another. During this +interregnum the people discovered that the corn grew, and the vintage +flourished, and the sun and moon continued to rise and set, and +everything went on the same as before, and taking courage from these +circumstances, they resolved not to keep any more bears; for, said +they, "a bear is a very voracious expensive animal, and we were +obliged to pull out his claws, lest he should hurt the citizens." The +story of the bear of Berne was related in some of the French +newspapers, at the time of the flight of Louis Xvi., and the +application of it to monarchy could not be mistaken in France; but it +seems that the aristocracy of Berne applied it to themselves, and +have since prohibited the reading of French newspapers. + +24. It is scarcely possible to touch on any subject, that will not +suggest an allusion to some corruption in governments. The simile of +"fortifications," unfortunately involves with it a circumstance, +which is directly in point with the matter above alluded to. + +Among the numerous instances of abuse which have been acted or +protected by governments, ancient or modern, there is not a greater +than that of quartering a man and his heirs upon the public, to be +maintained at its expense. + +Humanity dictates a provision for the poor; but by what right, moral +or political, does any government assume to say, that the person +called the Duke of Richmond, shall be maintained by the public? Yet, +if common report is true, not a beggar in London can purchase his +wretched pittance of coal, without paying towards the civil list of +the Duke of Richmond. Were the whole produce of this imposition but a +shilling a year, the iniquitous principle would be still the same; +but when it amounts, as it is said to do, to no less than twenty +thousand pounds per annum, the enormity is too serious to be +permitted to remain. This is one of the effects of monarchy and +aristocracy. + +In stating this case I am led by no personal dislike. Though I think +it mean in any man to live upon the public, the vice originates in +the government; and so general is it become, that whether the parties +are in the ministry or in the opposition, it makes no difference: +they are sure of the guarantee of each other. + +25. In America the increase of commerce is greater in proportion than +in England. It is, at this time, at least one half more than at any +period prior to the revolution. The greatest number of vessels +cleared out of the port of Philadelphia, before the commencement of +the war, was between eight and nine hundred. In the year 1788, the +number was upwards of twelve hundred. As the State of Pennsylvania is +estimated at an eighth part of the United States in population, the +whole number of vessels must now be nearly ten thousand. + +26. When I saw Mr. Pitt's mode of estimating the balance of trade, in +one of his parliamentary speeches, he appeared to me to know nothing +of the nature and interest of commerce; and no man has more wantonly +tortured it than himself. During a period of peace it has been +havocked with the calamities of war. Three times has it been thrown +into stagnation, and the vessels unmanned by impressing, within less +than four years of peace. + +27. Rev. William Knowle, master of the grammar school of Thetford, in +Norfolk. + +28. Politics and self-interest have been so uniformly connected that +the world, from being so often deceived, has a right to be suspicious +of public characters, but with regard to myself I am perfectly easy +on this head. I did not, at my first setting out in public life, +nearly seventeen years ago, turn my thoughts to subjects of +government from motives of interest, and my conduct from that moment +to this proves the fact. I saw an opportunity in which I thought I +could do some good, and I followed exactly what my heart dictated. I +neither read books, nor studied other people's opinion. I thought for +myself. The case was this:- + +During the suspension of the old governments in America, both prior +to and at the breaking out of hostilities, I was struck with the +order and decorum with which everything was conducted, and impressed +with the idea that a little more than what society naturally +performed was all the government that was necessary, and that +monarchy and aristocracy were frauds and impositions upon mankind. On +these principles I published the pamphlet Common Sense. The success +it met with was beyond anything since the invention of printing. I +gave the copyright to every state in the Union, and the demand ran to +not less than one hundred thousand copies. I continued the subject in +the same manner, under the title of The Crisis, till the complete +establishment of the Revolution. + +After the declaration of independence Congress unanimously, and +unknown to me, appointed me Secretary in the Foreign Department. This +was agreeable to me, because it gave me the opportunity of seeing +into the abilities of foreign courts, and their manner of doing +business. But a misunderstanding arising between Congress and me, +respecting one of their commissioners then in Europe, Mr. Silas +Deane, I resigned the office, and declined at the same time the +pecuniary offers made by the Ministers of France and Spain, M. Gerald +and Don Juan Mirralles. + +I had by this time so completely gained the ear and confidence of +America, and my own independence was become so visible, as to give me +a range in political writing beyond, perhaps, what any man ever +possessed in any country, and, what is more extraordinary, I held it +undiminished to the end of the war, and enjoy it in the same manner +to the present moment. As my object was not myself, I set out with +the determination, and happily with the disposition, of not being +moved by praise or censure, friendship or calumny, nor of being drawn +from my purpose by any personal altercation, and the man who cannot +do this is not fit for a public character. + +When the war ended I went from Philadelphia to Borden-Town, on the +east bank of the Delaware, where I have a small place. Congress was +at this time at Prince-Town, fifteen miles distant, and General +Washington had taken his headquarters at Rocky Hill, within the +neighbourhood of Congress, for the purpose of resigning up his +commission (the object for which he accepted it being accomplished), +and of retiring to private life. While he was on this business he +wrote me the letter which I here subjoin: + +"Rocky-Hill, Sept. 10, 1783. + +"I have learned since I have been at this place that you are at +Borden-Town. Whether for the sake of retirement or economy I know +not. Be it for either, for both, or whatever it may, if you will come +to this place, and partake with me, I shall be exceedingly happy to +see you at it. + +"Your presence may remind Congress of your past services to this +country, and if it is in my power to impress them, command my best +exertions with freedom, as they will be rendered cheerfully by one +who entertains a lively sense of the importance of your works, and +who, with much pleasure, subscribes himself, Your sincere friend, + +G. Washington." + +During the war, in the latter end of the year 1780, I formed to +myself a design of coming over to England, and communicated it to +General Greene, who was then in Philadelphia on his route to the +southward, General Washington being then at too great a distance to +communicate with immediately. I was strongly impressed with the idea +that if I could get over to England without being known, and only +remain in safety till I could get out a publication, that I could +open the eyes of the country with respect to the madness and +stupidity of its Government. I saw that the parties in Parliament had +pitted themselves as far as they could go, and could make no new +impressions on each other. General Greene entered fully into my +views, but the affair of Arnold and Andre happening just after, he +changed his mind, under strong apprehensions for my safety, wrote +very pressingly to me from Annapolis, in Maryland, to give up the +design, which, with some reluctance, I did. Soon after this I +accompanied Colonel Lawrens, son of Mr. Lawrens, who was then in the +Tower, to France on business from Congress. We landed at L'orient, +and while I remained there, he being gone forward, a circumstance +occurred that renewed my former design. An English packet from +Falmouth to New York, with the Government dispatches on board, was +brought into L'orient. That a packet should be taken is no +extraordinary thing, but that the dispatches should be taken with it +will scarcely be credited, as they are always slung at the cabin +window in a bag loaded with cannon-ball, and ready to be sunk at a +moment. The fact, however, is as I have stated it, for the dispatches +came into my hands, and I read them. The capture, as I was informed, +succeeded by the following stratagem:- The captain of the "Madame" +privateer, who spoke English, on coming up with the packet, passed +himself for the captain of an English frigate, and invited the +captain of the packet on board, which, when done, he sent some of his +own hands back, and he secured the mail. But be the circumstance of +the capture what it may, I speak with certainty as to the Government +dispatches. They were sent up to Paris to Count Vergennes, and when +Colonel Lawrens and myself returned to America we took the originals +to Congress. + +By these dispatches I saw into the stupidity of the English Cabinet +far more than I otherwise could have done, and I renewed my former +design. But Colonel Lawrens was so unwilling to return alone, more +especially as, among other matters, we had a charge of upwards of two +hundred thousand pounds sterling in money, that I gave in to his +wishes, and finally gave up my plan. But I am now certain that if I +could have executed it that it would not have been altogether +unsuccessful. + +29. It is difficult to account for the origin of charter and +corporation towns, unless we suppose them to have arisen out of, or +been connected with, some species of garrison service. The times in +which they began justify this idea. The generality of those towns +have been garrisons, and the corporations were charged with the care +of the gates of the towns, when no military garrison was present. +Their refusing or granting admission to strangers, which has produced +the custom of giving, selling, and buying freedom, has more of the +nature of garrison authority than civil government. Soldiers are free +of all corporations throughout the nation, by the same propriety that +every soldier is free of every garrison, and no other persons are. He +can follow any employment, with the permission of his officers, in +any corporation towns throughout the nation. + +30. See Sir John Sinclair's History of the Revenue. The land-tax in +1646 was L2,473,499. + +31. Several of the court newspapers have of late made frequent +mention of Wat Tyler. That his memory should be traduced by court +sycophants and an those who live on the spoil of a public is not to +be wondered at. He was, however, the means of checking the rage and +injustice of taxation in his time, and the nation owed much to his +valour. The history is concisely this:- In the time of Richard Ii. a +poll tax was levied of one shilling per head upon every person in the +nation of whatever estate or condition, on poor as well as rich, +above the age of fifteen years. If any favour was shown in the law it +was to the rich rather than to the poor, as no person could be +charged more than twenty shillings for himself, family and servants, +though ever so numerous; while all other families, under the number +of twenty were charged per head. Poll taxes had always been odious, +but this being also oppressive and unjust, it excited as it naturally +must, universal detestation among the poor and middle classes. The +person known by the name of Wat Tyler, whose proper name was Walter, +and a tiler by trade, lived at Deptford. The gatherer of the poll +tax, on coming to his house, demanded tax for one of his daughters, +whom Tyler declared was under the age of fifteen. The tax-gatherer +insisted on satisfying himself, and began an indecent examination of +the girl, which, enraging the father, he struck him with a hammer +that brought him to the ground, and was the cause of his death. This +circumstance served to bring the discontent to an issue. The +inhabitants of the neighbourhood espoused the cause of Tyler, who in +a few days was joined, according to some histories, by upwards of +fifty thousand men, and chosen their chief. With this force he +marched to London, to demand an abolition of the tax and a redress of +other grievances. The Court, finding itself in a forlorn condition, +and, unable to make resistance, agreed, with Richard at its head, to +hold a conference with Tyler in Smithfield, making many fair +professions, courtier-like, of its dispositions to redress the +oppressions. While Richard and Tyler were in conversation on these +matters, each being on horseback, Walworth, then Mayor of London, and +one of the creatures of the Court, watched an opportunity, and like a +cowardly assassin, stabbed Tyler with a dagger, and two or three +others falling upon him, he was instantly sacrificed. Tyler appears +to have been an intrepid disinterested man with respect to himself. +All his proposals made to Richard were on a more just and public +ground than those which had been made to John by the Barons, and +notwithstanding the sycophancy of historians and men like Mr. Burke, +who seek to gloss over a base action of the Court by traducing Tyler, +his fame will outlive their falsehood. If the Barons merited a +monument to be erected at Runnymede, Tyler merited one in Smithfield. + +32. I happened to be in England at the celebration of the centenary +of the Revolution of 1688. The characters of William and Mary have +always appeared to be detestable; the one seeking to destroy his +uncle, and the other her father, to get possession of power +themselves; yet, as the nation was disposed to think something of +that event, I felt hurt at seeing it ascribe the whole reputation of +it to a man who had undertaken it as a job and who, besides what he +otherwise got, charged six hundred thousand pounds for the expense of +the fleet that brought him from Holland. George the First acted the +same close-fisted part as William had done, and bought the Duchy of +Bremen with the money he got from England, two hundred and fifty +thousand pounds over and above his pay as king, and having thus +purchased it at the expense of England, added it to his Hanoverian +dominions for his own private profit. In fact, every nation that does +not govern itself is governed as a job. England has been the prey of +jobs ever since the Revolution. + +33. Charles, like his predecessors and successors, finding that war +was the harvest of governments, engaged in a war with the Dutch, the +expense of which increased the annual expenditure to L1,800,000 as +stated under the date of 1666; but the peace establishment was but +L1,200,000. + +34. Poor-rates began about the time of Henry VIII., when the taxes +began to increase, and they have increased as the taxes increased +ever since. + +35. Reckoning the taxes by families, five to a family, each family +pays on an average L12 7s. 6d. per annum. To this sum are to be added +the poor-rates. Though all pay taxes in the articles they consume, +all do not pay poor-rates. About two millions are exempted: some as +not being house-keepers, others as not being able, and the poor +themselves who receive the relief. The average, therefore, of +poor-rates on the remaining number, is forty shillings for every +family of five persons, which make the whole average amount of taxes +and rates L14 17s. 6d. For six persons L17 17s. For seven persons L2O +16s. 6d. + +The average of taxes in America, under the new or representative +system of government, including the interest of the debt contracted +in the war, and taking the population at four millions of souls, +which it now amounts to, and it is daily increasing, is five +shillings per head, men, women, and children. The difference, +therefore, between the two governments is as under: + + England America + L s. d. L s. d. + For a family of five persons 14 17 6 1 5 0 + For a family of six persons 17 17 0 1 10 0 + For a family of seven persons 20 16 6 1 15 0 + +36. Public schools do not answer the general purpose of the poor. +They are chiefly in corporation towns from which the country towns +and villages are excluded, or, if admitted, the distance occasions a +great loss of time. Education, to be useful to the poor, should be on +the spot, and the best method, I believe, to accomplish this is to +enable the parents to pay the expenses themselves. There are always +persons of both sexes to be found in every village, especially when +growing into years, capable of such an undertaking. Twenty children +at ten shillings each (and that not more than six months each year) +would be as much as some livings amount to in the remotest parts of +England, and there are often distressed clergymen's widows to whom +such an income would be acceptable. Whatever is given on this account +to children answers two purposes. To them it is education- to those +who educate them it is a livelihood. + +37. The tax on beer brewed for sale, from which the aristocracy are +exempt, is almost one million more than the present commutation tax, +being by the returns of 1788, L1,666,152- and, consequently, they +ought to take on themselves the amount of the commutation tax, as +they are already exempted from one which is almost a million greater. + +38. See the Reports on the Corn Trade. + +39. When enquiries are made into the condition of the poor, various +degrees of distress will most probably be found, to render a +different arrangement preferable to that which is already proposed. +Widows with families will be in greater want than where there are +husbands living. There is also a difference in the expense of living +in different counties: and more so in fuel. + + Suppose then fifty thousand extraordinary cases, at + the rate of ten pounds per family per annum L500,000 + 100,000 families, at L8 per family per annum 800,000 + 100,000 families, at L7 per family per annum 700,000 + 104,000 families, at L5 per family per annum 520,000 + + And instead of ten shillings per head for the education + of other children, to allow fifty shillings per family + for that purpose to fifty thousand families 250,000 + ---------- + L2,770,000 + 140,000 aged persons as before 1,120,000 + ---------- + L3,890,000 + +This arrangement amounts to the same sum as stated in this work, Part +II, line number 1068, including the L250,000 for education; but it +provides (including the aged people) for four hundred and four +thousand families, which is almost one third of an the families in +England. + +40. I know it is the opinion of many of the most enlightened +characters in France (there always will be those who see further into +events than others), not only among the general mass of citizens, but +of many of the principal members of the former National Assembly, +that the monarchical plan will not continue many years in that +country. They have found out, that as wisdom cannot be made +hereditary, power ought not; and that, for a man to merit a million +sterling a year from a nation, he ought to have a mind capable of +comprehending from an atom to a universe, which, if he had, he would +be above receiving the pay. But they wished not to appear to lead the +nation faster than its own reason and interest dictated. In all the +conversations where I have been present upon this subject, the idea +always was, that when such a time, from the general opinion of the +nation, shall arrive, that the honourable and liberal method would +be, to make a handsome present in fee simple to the person, whoever +he may be, that shall then be in the monarchical office, and for him +to retire to the enjoyment of private life, possessing his share of +general rights and privileges, and to be no more accountable to the +public for his time and his conduct than any other citizen. + +41. The gentleman who signed the address and declaration as chairman +of the meeting, Mr. Horne Tooke, being generally supposed to be the +person who drew it up, and having spoken much in commendation of it, +has been jocularly accused of praising his own work. To free him from +this embarrassment, and to save him the repeated trouble of +mentioning the author, as he has not failed to do, I make no +hesitation in saying, that as the opportunity of benefiting by the +French Revolution easily occurred to me, I drew up the publication in +question, and showed it to him and some other gentlemen, who, fully +approving it, held a meeting for the purpose of making it public, and +subscribed to the amount of fifty guineas to defray the expense of +advertising. I believe there are at this time, in England, a greater +number of men acting on disinterested principles, and determined to +look into the nature and practices of government themselves, and not +blindly trust, as has hitherto been the case, either to government +generally, or to parliaments, or to parliamentary opposition, than at +any former period. Had this been done a century ago, corruption and +taxation had not arrived to the height they are now at. + + -END OF PART II.- + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Writings of Thomas Paine Vol. II +by Thomas Paine + + |