XI. If there has ever been a feafon in which it

was proper to call upon the public inflruclors of the nation to exert themielves in the caufe of Religion and Virtue, it is furely the prefent. It appears, from the tenor of the whole narration before the
reader, -
CHAP. IV. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 3^^
reader, that Religion and Virtue are confidcred as the great obllacles to the completion of this plan for overturning the governments of Europe— and I hope that I have made it evident thatthofe con- fpirators have prefuppofed that there is deeply rooted in the heart of man a fincere veneration for unfophirticated virtue, and an affeCiionate pro- peniity toR.eligion ; that is, to confider this beau- tiful world as the produd:ion of wifdom and pow- er, refiding in a Being different from the world itfelf, and the natural obj eel of admiration and of love — I do not fpeak of the truth of this princi- ple at prefent, but only of its reality, as an im- prelTion on the heart of man, Thefe principles mull therefore be worked on, — and they are ac- knowledged to be ilrong, becaufs much art is em- ployed to eradicate them, or to overwhelm them by other powerful agents. — We alfo fee that Re- ligion and Virtue are confidered by tliofe corrupt- ers as clofely united, and as mutually fupporting each other. This they admit as a facl, and la- bour to prove it to be a millake. — And lallly, they entertain no hopes of complete fuccefs till they have exploded both.
This being the cafe, I hope that I (liali be clear of all charge of impropriety, when I addrefsour national inllrudlors, and earneltly defn^e them to confider this caufe as peculiarly theirs. The world has been corrupted under pretence of moral in-
ftrutiion. Backwardnefs, therefore, on their
part, may do inconceivable harm, becaufe it will mofc certainly be interpreted as an acknov/ledg- ment of defeat, and they will be accufed of in- difference and inftiicerity. I know that a modefl man reluftantly comes forward with any thing that has the appearance of thinking himfelf wifer or better than his neighbours. But if all are fo
bafliful
3^0 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CilAP. iv,
balliful, where will it end ? Muft we allow a parcel of worthleis profligates, whom no man would trull with the management of the mofi: trifling concern, to pafs with the ignorant and indolent for teachers of true wifdom, and thus entice the whole world into a trap ? They have lucceeded with our unfor- tunate neighbours on the continent, and, in Ger- many, (to their fhame be it fpoken) they have been alTilled even by fome faithlefs clergymen.
But I will hope better of my countrymen, and I think that our clergy have encouragement even from the native character of Britons. National compari-^ fons are indeed ungraceful, and are rarely candid — * but I think they may be indulged in this inilance. It is of his own countrymen that Voltaire fpeaks, when he fays, that '' they refemble a mixed breed *' of the monkey and the tiger," animals that mix fun with mifchief, and that fport wkh the torments of their prey. — They have indeed given the moft 1] locking proofs of the juiinefs of his portrait. It is with a conhderable degree of national pride, there- fore, that I compare the behaviour of the French with that of the Britifli in a very fimiiar fituation^ during the civil wars and the uiurpation of Crom- well. There have been more numerous, and in- iinitely more atrocious, crimes commiitted in France during any one half year fince the beginning of the Revolution, than during the whole of that tumultu- ous period. And it fliould be remembered, that in Britain, at that period, to all other grounds of dif- content v^7^^s added no fmall fl^are of religious fanati- cifm, a pafTion (may I call it) which feldom fails to roufe every angry thought of the heart. — Much may be hoped for from an earnefi and judicious addrefs to that rich fund of manly kindnefs that isconfpicu- ous in the BviliQi charaifler, — -3 fund to which I am perfuaded we owe the excellence of ourconflitution-
al
eHAP. iv, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. C>6l
O'
al governiiient — No where elfe in Europe are the claims of the different ranks in fociety fo generally and fo candidly admitted. All feel their force, and all allow them to others. Hence it happens that they
are enjoyed in fo much peace hence it happens
that the gentry live among the yeomen and farmers with fo eafy and familiar a fuperiority :
-Extrema per lllos
jftt/tltia excedens terns vejligia fecii.
Our clergy are alfo well prepared for the tafk. For our anceilors differed exceedingly from the pre- fent Illuminators in their notions, and have enacled that the clergy fhall be well indrudted in natural philofophy, judging that a knowledge of the fym.- metry of nature, and the beautiful adjuftment of all her operations, would produce a firm belief of a wifdom and power which is the fource of all this fair order, the Author and Condu^or of all, and therefore the natural objed of admiration and of love. A good heart is open to this impreiTion, and feels no reludance, but on the contrary a pleafure, in thinking man the fubjecl of his government, and the objev^ of his care. This point being once gain- ed, I fliould think that the falutarv truths of Reli- gion will be hie>hlv welcome. I fhould think that it will be eafy to convince fuch minds, that in the midft of the immenfe variety of the works of God there is one great plan to Vv'hich every thing feems to refer, namely, the crowding this world, to the utmofl degree of poiTibilitv, with life, with beings that enjoy the things around them, each in its own degree and manner. Among thefe, man makes a moli conspicuous figure, and the maxi- mum of his enjoyments feems a capital article in the u'ays of Providence. It will, I think, require little trouble tofhew that the natural didaces of Religion, or the immediate refults of the belief of God's mo- ral
302 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. CHAP. IV,
ral government of the univerfe, coincide in every circumftance of fentiment, difpofition, and condad!, with thofe that are moR: produdive of enjoy ment (on the whole) in focial life. The fame train of thought will fhew, that the real improvements in the pleafures of fociety, are, in fa(fl, improvements of man's rational nature, and fo many fteps toward that perfection which our own confciences tell us we are capable of, and which Religion encourages us to hope for in another flate of being. — -And thus will '' the ways of V/ifdom appear to be ways of plea- *' fantnefs, and all her paths to be peace."
Dwelling on fuch topics, there is no occafion for any political difculTion. This would be equally im- proper and hurtful. Such difcuffions never fail to produce ill-humour^ — But furcly the highefl: com- placence muPt refdk from the thought that we are co-operating with the Author of all v/ifdom and goodnefs, and helping forward the favourite plans of his providence. Such a thought muft elevate the mind which thus recognifes a fort of alliance with , the Author of nature. — Our brethren in fociety ap- pear brethren indeed, heirs of the fame hopes, and travelling to the fame country. This will be a fort of moral patriotifm, and fhould, I think, produce mutual forbearance, fince we difcover im per fe(fi ions in all creatures, and are confcious of them in our- lelves — notwithrianding v/hich, we hope to be all equal at la ft in worth and in happinefs.
I Ihould gladly hope that I Ihall not be accufed of prefumption in this addrefs. There is no profeihon that I more fincerely refped than that of the reli- gious and moral inllruclor of my country. I am faying nothing here that I am not accuffomed to urge at much greater length in the courfe of my pro- fchional duty. And I do not think that I am'juflly ch.^rgeablc with vanity, when 1 fuppofe that many years of delightful ftudy of the works of God have
given
Chap. Iv. the fRench Revolution, 303
given me fomewhat more acquaintance with tbem than is probably attained by thofe who never think of the matter, being continually engaged in the buftle of life. Should one of this defcriptiorj fay that all is fate or chance, and that " the fame thing *' happens to all," kc. as is but too common, I fhould think that a prudent man will give fo much preference to my airertion, as at iealt to think feri^ oufly about the thing, before he allow himfelf any indulgence in things which I affirm to bs highly
dangerous to his future peace and happinefs. For
this reaion 1 hope not to be accufed of going out of my line, nor hear any one fay '* hs Jutor ultra ere- *'• pidavi,'" The prefent is a feafcn of anxiety, and it is the duty of evicry man to contribute his mite to the general good.
It is in fome fuch hopes that I have written thefe pages ; and if they have any fuch effed, I Ihali think myfelf fortunate in having by chance hit on foraething ufeful, when I was only trying to amufe myfelf durine the tedious hours of bad health and confinement. No perfon is more fenfible of the many imperfeflions of this performance than my- felf. But, as I have no motive for the publication but the hopes of doing fome good, I trud that I fhall obtain a favourable acceptance of my endeavours from an intelligent, a candid, and a good-natured public. I mult entreat that it be remembered that thefe iheets are not the work of an author deter- mined to write a book. They were for the moft part notes, which I took from books I had borrowed, that I might occaiionally have recourfe to them when occupied with Free Mafonry, the hrft cbjevft of my curiofity. My curiofity was diverted to ma- ny other things as I went along,, and when the II- luminati came in my way, I regretted the time 1 had thrown away on Free Mafonry,-— But, obferving
their
\
3^4 THE FIIENCH REVOLUTION. CKAP. iv^
their conneclion, I thoueht that I Derceived the progrefs of one and the iair-e deiign. This made me eager to find out any renaains cf Weifhaiipt's AiTociation. I was not iurprized when I faw marks of its inteiference in the French Revolution. — In hunting for clearer proofs I found out the German Union — and^ in fine, the whole appeared to be one great and wicked projecl,- fermenting and w^orking over ail Europe.— -Some highly relpected friends encouraged me in the hope of doing fome fervice by laying my informations before the public, and faid that no time fiiculd be loll:.-—! therefore fet about colleclingmy fcattered favf^s.— I undertook this tafk at a time when my official duty prefled hard on me, and bad health made me very unfit for ifudy,— -The effects of this mull: appear in many faults, which 1 fee, without being able at prefect to am^end them. I owe this apology to the public, and I truft that my good inlentions will procure it acceptance*.
Nothing
* While the (heet commencing p. 341 was printing off, I got a fiirht of a v/ork pubhilied in Paris lalt year entitled La Conjura^ tlon d' Orleans* It conHrms all that I have faid refpedHng the life made of the Free Mafon Lodges. — It gives a particular account of the fGrmatirn of the Jacobin Club, by the Club Breton. This iafl appears to have been the x'Mfociation formed with the affiilancc of the German deputies. The Jacobin Club had feveral com- mittees, fimilar to thofe of the National Affembly. Amoi g others, it had a Committee of Enquiry and Correfpondence, whofe hufinefs it was to gain partizans, to difcover enemies, to decide on the merits of tlie Brethren, and to form fimilar Clubs in other places.
The author of the above-mentioned work writes as follows, (vol. iii. p, 19.) We may judge of what the D. of Orleans could do in other places, by what he did during his flay in Eng- land. During his flay in London, he gained over to his intereft Lord Stanhope and Dr. Price, two 01 the mofl refpe inembcrs of the Revoluiion Society* This Society had no other
objedl
CM A p. iy, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 365
Nothing would give me more iincere pleafure than to fee the whole proved to be a mifiake ; — to be convinced that there is no fuch plot, and that we run no rifk of tlje coniagion ; but that Britain will continue, by the abiding prevalence of honour, of virtue, and of true religion, to exhibit the fairell fpecimen of civil government that ever was feen on earth, and a national character and conduct not un- vv^orthy of the ineinmable bleilings that we enjoy. Our excellent Sovereign, at his acceffion to the throne, declared to his Parliament that he gloried
IN HAVING BEEN BORN A BriTON. --Wouid tO God
th^t
obje£l (it faid) but to fupport the Revolution, which had dri- ven James II. from the throne of his anceftors.
Orleans made of this affociation a true Jacobin Club. — It en- tered into correfpondence with the Committee of Enquiry of our Commune, with the fame Committee of our Jacobin Ckib, and at laft; with our National AlTembly. It even fent to the AfTem- bly an oftenfible letter, in which wc may fee the following pafFages :
" The Society congratulate the National Aflembly of France *■* on the Revolution which has taken place in that country. It. ** cannot but earneftly wilh for the happy conciufion of io irrs- ** portant a Revolution, and, at the fame time, exprefs the ex- ** trem.e fatisfaclion whiih it feels in refledting on the glorious ** example v/hich France has given to the world." (The Reader will remark, that in this example are contained all the horrors which had been exhibited in France before the month of March 1790; and that before this time, the condudx of the Duke of Orleans on the 5th and 6th of October 1789, with all the fhock- frig atrocities of thofe days, were fully known in England.)
*' The Society refolves unanimoufly to invite all the people of ** England to eftablifli Societies through the kingdom, to fupport *' the principles of the Revolution, to form correfpondence be- " tween themfelves, and by thefe means to ellablifii a great con- ** certed Union of all the trueFriends of Liberty.*'
Accordingly (fays the French author) this wis executed, and Jacobin Clubs were ellablifhed in fevcral cities of England, Scot- land, and Ireland, 2 Y
2,66 THE FRENCH KEVOLUTION. CHAP. iv.
that all and each of his fubieds had entertained the fame lefty notions of this good fortune ! Then woviid they have laboured, as he has done for near forty years, to fupport the honour of the Britilh name by fetting as bright an example of domeftic and of public virtue. — Then would Britons have been indeed the boaft of humanity — then we fhould have viewed thefe wicked plots of our neighbours with a fmile of contempt, and of lincere pity — and there would have been no need of this impeifed but well-meant performance.
f 367 J
Pojlfcrlpt,
A
LTHOUGH I faw noreafon to doubt of the validity of the proofs which I have offered in the preceding pages, of a confpiracy againll the deareft interefts of every nation of Europe, nor of the importance of the information to my own countrymen, it gives me great fatisfa6tion to learn that it has been received with favour and indulgence. This I may conclude from the im- preifion's being exhaufted in a few days, and be- caufe the pubiiilier informs me that another edi- tion is wanted immediately, I could have wi{h- ed that this were deferred for fome time, that I might have availed myfelf of the obfervationsof others, and be enabled to correct the miftakes into which I have been led by my fcanty know- ledge of the German language, and the miftakes of the writers from whom I derived all my in- formations. I fhould, in that cafe, have attempt- ed to make the work more worthy of the public eye, by corre£ling many imperfedtions, which the continual diftradlion of bad health, and my hafte to bring it before the public, have occafion- ed. I fliould have made the difpofition more na- tural and perfpicuoiis, and have lopped off fome redundances and repetitions. But the printer tells me, that this would greatly retard the publication, by changing the feries of the pages. At any rate, I am not at prefent in a condition to engage in any work that requires difpatch, I mult yield therefore to thofe reafons, and content myfelf with fuch corrections as can be made immediately. I have found, after minute enquiry, that I was miflaken as to the exprefRon of an eminent
follower
^6S ' FOSTCRIPT.
follower of Dr. PriefLley, mentioned before, The peifbn alluded to difclaims all fanguinary proceedings, and my information arofe from a vei'y erroneous account which w^as circulated of the converfation. But I ftiii think the caution equally neceifary, which I recommended to tlie hearers of the frequent and violent decltimations made by thofe alluded to, againlf all religious eilabliilunents.^
Except the anecdote of Diderot's library, I do not recoiled another alTertion in the book, for which I have not the authority of printed evidence. Thisilory was told me by fo many perfons of cre- dit, v\ho were on the fpot at the time, that I have no doubt of its truth.
I alfo find that I was miilaken in my conjec- ture that Mr. Zf F;7z;7(: communicated his fuipi- cions of the horrid defigns of the Free Mafons to Archbuliop Gobet. It nuift have been to Mr, Lc Clerc de Jiugne^ a mofi: worthy prelate, whom the hatred of the Jacobins obliged to fly into Switzerland. The Catholic clergy were butch- ered or banidied, and the Jacobins fubftituted in vheir places fuch as would iecond their views, Gobet was worthy of their confidence, and the Archbifnop of ThGuloiife ( Brkmie )\\\m.^^\x could not have ferved the caufe of the philofophiits more effeftuaily, had they fucceeded in their at- tempts to get him continued Archbifliop of Paris.
As the poetical pichire of unqualified Liberty and Equality, and the indolent pleafures of the patriarchal life, are the charm by which thelllu- minators hope to fafcinate ail hearts, and as they reprobate every conilrudlion of fociety which to- lerates any permanent fubordination, and parti- cularly fuch as found this fubordination or^ dif-
tindlions
POSTSCRIPT. 369-
tindlions of ranks, and fcoiit all privileges allow- ed to particular orders of men, I hope that it will not be thought foreign to the general purpofe of the foregoing Work, if, I with great defer- ence, lay before the Rxader fome of my reafons for afferting, without hefitation, in a former part, that the Britifriconftitution is the only one that will give permanent happinefs to a great and luxurious nation, and is peculiarly calculated to give full exercife to the bed propenfities of cultivated minds, i am the more defirous of doing this, be- caufe it feems to me that moft of the political v/riters on the Continent, and many of my coun- . trymen, have not attended to important circum- llances which diftinguifti our conititution from the States General of France and other countries. The republicans in France have, fmce the Revo- lution, employed the pains in fearching their re- cords, which ought to have been taken before the convocation of the States, and which would probably have prevented that iiep altogether. They have (liewn that the meetings of the States, if we except that in 1614 and 1483, were uni- formly occafions of mutual contefts between the different Orders, in which the interefts of the na- tion and the authority of the Crown were equally forgotten, and the kingdom was plunged into ail the horrors of a rancorous civil war. Of this they give us a remarkable inftance during the captivity of King John in 1355 and 1356, the horrors of which were l>ardly exceeded by any thing that has happened in our days. They have fhewn the fame difmal confequcnces of the affeni- bly of the different Orders in Brabant ; and Hill more remarkably in Sweden and Denmark, where they have frequently produced a revolution and change of government, all of which have termi- nated
37
nated in the abfolnte government, cither of the Crown, or of one of the contending Orders. They laugh at the fimplicity of the Britifh for expe«Sl- ing that the permanent fruits of our conftitution, which is founded on the fame jarring principles, fhall be any better ; and affert, that the peaceable exercife of its feveral powers for fomewhat more than a century, (a thing never experienced by us in former times,) has proceeded from circum- flances merely accidental. With much addrefs they have rele(Si:ed the former diiturbances, and have conne£ted them by a fort of principle, fo as to Iwpport their fyftemi, " that a States General " or Parliament, confilling of a reprefentation of the different clafTes of citizens, can never deli- berate for the general good, but muft always occupy their time in contentions about their '* mutual invafions of privilege, and will faddle '' every aid to the executive power, with fomc " unjuil and ruinous aggrandifement of the vifto- " rious Order." They have the effrontery to give the Magna Chart a as an inftance of an ufurpation of the great feudatories, and have re- prefented it in fuch a light as to make it the game of their writers and of the tribunes.— All this they have done in order to reconcile the minds of the few thinking men of the nation to the aboli- tion of the different Orders of the State, and to their National Convention in the form of a chao- tic mafs of Frenchmen, one and indivifible :
Non bene junclarum d'tfcordia femma rerum, Uh'i frigida puegnahant cal'idis^ humentia Jiccls, Moll'ia cum duris J Jlne pondere habentia pondus.
Their reafonings would be jufl, Lind their proofs from hiflory v. ould be convincing, if their pre-
oiifes
POSTSCKIPT. 371
mi ies were true ; if the Britifh Parliament were really an aflembly of three Orders, either perfon- aily, or by repreieiitation, deliberating apart, each having a veto on the deciiions of the other twij. And I apprehend that moil: of my countrymen, who have not had occahon to canvas the fiibjedt with nuich attention, fuppofe this to be really the Britifti Conilitution : for, in the ordinary table converfations on the fubjedt, they feldom go far* ther, and talk with great complacence of the bal- ance of hoftile powers, of the King as the umpire of differences, and of the peace and profperity that refults from the whole.
But I cannot help thinking that this is a mifcon- ception, almofl in every circumltance. I do not know any oppofite interefts in the State, except the general one of the governor and the governed, the king and the fubjedt. — -If there is an umpire in our conilitution, it is the houfe of Lords — but this is not as a reprefentation of the perlbns of birth, but as a court of hereditary magiftrates : the Peers do not meet to defend their own privi- leges as citizens, but either as the counfeliors of the King, or as judges in the lad refort. The privileges for which we fee them (bmetimes con- tend, are not the privileges of the high-born, of the great vaifals of the Crown, but the privileges of the Houfe of Lords, of the fupreme Court of Judicature, or of the King's Council. In all the nations on the Continent, the different Orders, as they are called, of the State, are corporations, bodies politic, which have jurifdidlion within themfelves, and rights w^hich they can maintain at their own hand, and privileges which mark them mod diftindtly, and produce fuch a complete fcparation between the different Orders, that they can no more mix than oil and v/ater. Yet the
2;reat
*!.:
372 FOSTSCRIPfi
great prefidcnt Montclquieu fays, that the Pccragi^ of England is a body of Nobility ; and he ufes the term body in the itri£t ienfc now mentioned, asfy* nonymous to corporation. He has repeatedly uled this term to denote the fecond order of French- men, perfons of noble birth, or ennobled, (that Js, veiled in the privileges and dillin£lions of the Jiobly born,) united bylaw, and having authority to rnaintani their privileges. The hiilory of France, nay of our ovv^n country, fliows us that this body may enjoy all its diftindions of nobility, and that the Great Barons may enjoy the preroga- tives of their baronies, although the authority of the Crown is almofc annihilated. — We have no cogent reafon, therefore, for thinking that they will be conilantly careful to fupport the authority of the Crown ; and much lefs to believe that they will, at the fame time, watch over the liberties of the people. In the elevSiiion of their reprefenta- tives, (for the whole body of the gentlemen muft ap- pear hy reprefentation,) we muft not expedl that they will fele(Sl; fuch of their own number as will take care of thofe two eiiential objects of our con- ilitntion. — -Equally jealous of the authority of the Crown and of the encroachments of all thofe who are not gentlemen, and even fearful of the af- llimptions of the Great Barons, the powerful in- clividuals of their own order, they will always ehooie fuch reprefentatives as will defend their own rights in the firil: place. Such perfons are by no means lit for maintaining the proper authority of the Crown, and keeping the rcprcfentativesof the lower clafTes within proper bounds.
Bat this is not the nature of our Houie of Lords )n the prefentday. It was fo formerly in a great mcafure, and had the fame eiie£ts as in other countries. But ('iv.Qfi the Revolution, the Peers
of
V
POSTSCPvIPt. J7J
of Great-Britain have no imporrant privileges which relate merely or chiefly to birth. Thefe -all refer to their fijn61:ions as Magiflrates of the Supreme Courc. The King can, at any time, place in this Houfe any eminent perfon whom, he thinks worthy of the office of hereditary mao-ifrrate. The Peers are noble — that is, remiarkable, illuftrious ; but are not neceiliirily, nor in every inftance, perfons of' hiffh birth. This Houfe therefore is nor, in any fort, the reprefentarive of what is called in France the Nobjeffe — a particular cad of the nation ;— -nor is it a jun6i:ion of th(: proprietors of the great fees of the Crown, as fuchi — for many, very many, of the greateil baronies arc in the hands of thofe we call Comimnners.— Thcv fit as the King's Counfei- lors, or as Judges. — Therefore the members of our Upper Houfe are not fwayed by the prejudices of
any clafs of the citizens. Thev are hereditary ma-
■J J J
giflrates, created by the Sovereign, for his counfei, to defend his prerogatives, to hold the balance be- tween the throne and the people. The greatefl; pare of the Nobility (in the continental fenfe of the word) are not called into this Houfe, but they may be members of the Lower Houfe, which we call ths Commons; nay the fons and the brothers of the Peers arc in the fame iituation. The Peers there- fore cannot be hofiile or indilferent to the liberrv, the rights, or the happinefs of the Commons, with- out being the enemies of their own famdlies.
Nor is our Houfe of Commons at all rimilar to the Third E/lale of ^ny of the neiehbourin.o- kino-- doms. They are not the reprefenratives of the ig- nobly born, or of any clafs of citizens. The mem- bers are the proper reprefentatives of the zubok na- tioUy and confifr of perfons of every clafs, perfons of the highefi: birth, perfons of great fortune, perfons of education, of knowledge, of raients.
2 Z Thus
374 POSTSCRIPT.
Thus the caiifes of diiTtrriiion which refer to the diftinc^live rights or prerogatives of the different clalfts of citizens are removed, becaufe in each Hoiife there are many individuals feiedted from all the clafles.
A Peer, havino^ attained the his-heft honours of the ftate, muft be an enemy to every revolution. Revolution m.ull certainly degrade him, whether ic places an abfolute monarch> or. a democratic junto, on the throne.
The Sovereign naturally looks for the fuppoi t of the Upper Houfe, and in every m.eafure agreeable to the conftitution, and to the public v/eal, exerts his influence on the Houfe of Commons. Kere the character of the monarch and his choice of mi- nifters muil appear, as in any other coj>fl"itution ; but with much lefs chance of danger to political li- berty.— The great engine of m.onarchy in Europe, has been the jarring privileges of the different Or- ders ; and the Sovereign, by fiding with one of them, obtained acceflions of prerogative and pow- er.— It v/as thus that, under the Houfe of Tudor, our confticution advanced with hafty ftrides to ab- iblute monarchy ; and would have attained it, had James the Firft been as able as he was willing to fe- cure what he firmly believed to be the divine rights of his Crown.
I do not recollect hearing the lower ranks of the State ventino; much of their difcontents acrainfl: the Peers, and they feem to perceive pretty clearly the advantages arifing from their prerogatives. They feem to look up to them as the firft who will prote61: them againil the agents of fovercignty. They know that a man may rife from the loweft llaticn to the peerage, and that in that exaltation he remains conneded with thcmlclves by the dear- eft
POSTSCRIPT. 37
r
efl ties ; and the Houfe of Commons take no of- fence at the creation of new Peers, becaufe their privileges as a Court, and their private rights, arc not atftcled by it. Accordingly, the Houfe has al- ways oppofcd every projecl of limiting the King's prerogative in this refpecl.
How unlike is ail this to the conllitution ccnfift- ing of the pure reprefentatives of the Privileged Orders of the Continental States. The felf-con- ceited confticutionalifts of France faw fomething in the Britifh Parliament which did not fall in v/ith their own hafty notions, and prided themfelves in not copying from us. This would have indicated great poverty of invention in a nation accuftcmcd to confider itfelf as the teacher of m.ankind. The moll fcnlible, of them, however, v/iilied to have a conllitution which they called 2iX\mprovcment of ours: and this was the fimple plan of a rep^ejentation of the two or three Orders of the State. Their Upper Houfe fiiould contain the reprefentatives of lOO, coo noblcfle. The Princes of the Blood and Great Barons fliould fit in it of their own right, and the reft by deputies. The Lower Houfe, or 'riers Etat, fhould confift of deputies from thcfe ignobly born ; fuch as merchants, perfons in the lov^/er offices of the law, artifans, peafants, and a fmall number of freeholders. Surely it needs no deep reflection to teach us what fort of deliberations would occupy fuch a houfe. It would be a moft ufeful occupation however, to perufc the hiftory of France, and ofother nations, and fee v^lvix. really did occupy the Tiers Etat thus conftru6led, and what were their proceedings, their decifions, and the fteps which they took to make them effedtual. I have no doubt but that this ftudy would cure moft of our advocates for general eligibility, and for general fuffrage. I have lately
read
376 POSTSCRIPT.
read Velley and Viilarec's Hiflory of France^, (by the bye, the Abbe Barruel has ihewn that the Chib d'Holbach managed the publication or this Hif- tory after tiie firll: eight or ten volumes, and flipped into it many things fuited to their impious project,) and the accounts of the troublefome reigns of John, and Charles his fucceilbr, by authors who wrote long befoie the Revoiucion; and they filled me with horror, I'he only inftance that I met with of any thing like moderation in the claims and difputes of the different Orders of their States General, and of patriotifm, or regard for the general interefrs of the State, is in their meetings during the minority of Charles \ ill.
With refpecl to the limitations of the eligibility into the Houfe of Commons, I think that there can be no doubt that thole fhouid be excluded whole habits of needy and laborious liie have precluded them from all opportunities of acquiring fome gene* ral views of political^ relations. Such perfons are totally unfit for deliberations, where general or comprehenfive views only are to be the fubjedts of difcuiTion ; they can have no conceptions of the fub- jecc, and therefore no ileady notions or opinions, but mud change them after every fpeaker^ and muit becomxe the dupes of every demagogue.
But there are other circumiitances which maice me think that^ of all the clafies of citizens, the land proprietors are the fitteft~for holding this important oiHce. I do not infer this from, their having a more real connection with the nation, and a ftronger in- rereil in its fate-^I prefer them on account of their general habits of thouQ-ht. Almoft all their ordina- ry tranfadions are fuch as make them acquainted vAth the interefts of others, caufe them to confider thole in 9;eneral points of view 3 and, in fliorc, moft
or
POSTSCRIPT. 211
of their occupations are, in feme degree, national. They are accuilomed to fettle differences between thofe of lower ftations — they are frequently in the * King's commiffion as Juftices of the Peace. All thefe circurr.fcances make them much aoter fchciars in that political knowledge, which is abfolutely ne- ceiTary for a member of the Floufe of Commons. But, befides this, I have no hefiration in faying that their turn of mind, their principles of condud:, are more generally fuch as become a Senator, than thofe oi a'ny ether clafs of men. This clafs includes aimofb all men of family. I cannot help think- ing that even what is called family pride is a fenti- ment in their favour. I am convinced that all our propenficies are ufeful in fociety, and that their bad eiteds arife wholly from want of moderation in the indul^-ence of them, or fometimes from the imrro- priery of the occafion on which they arc exerted. What p;ropenf]ty is miOre general than the deiire of acquiring permanent confideration for ourfelves and our fanYilies ? Where is the man to be found fomtan- fpirired as not to value him.felf {(^.r being born of creditable paients, and for creditable domeftic con- ne6lions ? Is this wrong becaufe it has been abufed ? So then is every pre-eminence of office j and the directors of republican France are as criminal as her former Nobles. This propeniity of the human heart fliould no m.ore be rejected than the defire of power. It fhould be regulated — but it iliould cer- tainly be made ufe of as one of the m.eans of car- rying on the national bufmefs. I thiiik that w^e know fomje of its good tffccls — It incites to a certain pro- priety of condud that, is generally agreeable^ — its honefiv is embellifhed by a manner that makes it more pleafing. There is fomething that we call the behaviour cf a Genilcman th?.t is imm.cdiatly and uni-t formly underftood. The plainell peafant or labour- er
2J% * POSTSCP.IPT.
er will fay of a man whom he efleems in a certain way, " He is a Gentleman, every bit of him," — .and he is perfedtiy iinderiiood by all who hear Him to mean, not a rank in life, but a turn of mind, a tenor of condu6b that is amiable and worthy, and the ground of confidence. — I /remark, with fome feeling of patriotic pride, that thefe are phrafes al- moft peculiar to our language — in Ruilia the words v/ould have no meaning. But there, the Sovereign is a defpot, and all but the Gentry are ilavcs ; and the Gentry are at no pains to recommend their clafs by fuch a diftindlion, nor to give currency to fuch a phrafe. — -1 would infer from this peculiarity, that Britain is the happy land, where the wifeft ufe has been made of this propenfity of the human heart.
If therefore there be a foundation for this pecu- liarity, the Gentry are proper objects of our choice for filling the Houfe of Commons.
If theoretical confiderations are of any value in queftions of political difculTion, I would fay, that we have ^ood reafons for giving this clafs of citizens a great Ihare in the public deliberations. Befides what I have already noticed of their habits of conii- dering things in general points of view, and their feeling a clofer conncdion with the nation than any other clafs, I v/ould fay that the power and influence which naturally attach to their being called to oftjces of public truft, will probably be better lodged in .rheir hands. If they are generally feleded for thefe offices, they come to confider them as parts of their civil condition, as fuuations natural to them. They will therefore exercife this power and influence with the moderation and calmnefs of habit, — they are no novelties tothem~they are notafraid of lofmgthem; — therefore, when in olEce, they do not catch at the opportunities of exercifing them.. This is the ordi- nary
POSTSCRIPT. 279
nary conciuft of men, and therefore Is a ground of probable-reafoning. — In fhort, 1 f}iouldexpe6l from our Gentry fomewhat of gcnerofiry and candour, which would temper the commercial principle, which feems to reG;ulate the national tranfaclions of modern Europe, and whofc eifedts feem Icfs friend- ly to the beft intercils of humanity, than even the Roman principle of glory.
The Reader will now believe that I would not recommend the filling the Houle of Commons with merchants, although they feem to be the natural Re- prefentatives of the monied intereft of the nation. But I do not wiih to confiderthat Houfe as the Re- prefentative of any Orders whatever, or to dilturb its deliberations with any debates on their jarring interefts. The man of purely commercial notions difclaims all generofity — recommends honefty be- caufe it is the befb policy — in Hiort, *• places the " value of a thing in as much money as 'twill bring.'* I fhould watch the conduct of fuch men more nar- rowly than that of the Nobles. Indeed, the hiftory of Parliament will fhow that the Gentry have not been the moil venal part of the Houfe. The Illu- mination which now dazzles the world aims diredly at multiplying the number of venal members, by filling the fenates of Europe with m.en who may be bought aD a low price. Ivlinifterial corruption is the fruit of Liberty, and freedom dawned in this na- tion in Queen Elizabeth's time, wdien her minifter bribed Wentworth. — A wife and free. Legiflation will endeavour to make this as expenfive and trou- blefome as poffible, and therefore will neither ad- mit univerfal fuffrao;e nor a vervextenfiveelig-lbility. Thefe two circumftances, befid&s opening a Vv'ider door to corruption, tend to defiroy the very inten- tion of all civil confcitctions. The e;rcar obiedl in
them
380 POSTSCRIPT.
y 1
them is, to make a great number of people haoD^ Some men place their chief enjoyment in meafunnrr their flrength with others, and love to be continuaiiy employed in canvaiilng, intriguing, and carrying on ibme little pieces of a fort of public bufinefs -, to fuch men univerfal fuftrage and eligibility would be paradife — but it is to be hoped that the number of fuch is not very great : for this occupation muit be accompanied by much difquitt among their neigh- bours, much diffenfion, and mutual ofrencc and ill- \yili~Yand the peaceable, the indolent, the fcudious, and cne half of the nation, the women, will be great fulFerers by all this. In a nation "^Oklf^^ing many of the comforts and pleafurcs of life, the hapoiell government is thiit which will leave the greateil number poiTible totally unoccupied with national alfairs, and at full liberty to enjoy all their domef- tic and focial pieaiures, and to do this with fecurity and permanency. Great limitations in the ri^jit of elecling feems therefore a circumfcance neceifary for this purpofe -, and limitations are equally ne- ceifary on the eligibility^ When the ofnces of power and emolument are open to all, the fcramible becomes univerfal, and the nation is never at peace. The road to a feat in Parliament iliould be accefli- ble to all; but it fnoulJ be long, lb that many rhings, which all may in time obtain, fhall be re- quifite for qualifying the candidate. The road fhouid alio be fuch that all iliould be induced to walk in it, in the profecution of their ordinary bufinefs; and their admiiTion into public ofiices (liould depend on the prcgrefs which they have made in the ad- vancement of their own fortunes. Such regula- tions would, I think, give the grrateft chance of filling the ofnces with perfons hctefb for them, by
their
POSTSCRIPT, 381
their talents^ their experience, and their habits of thinking. Thefe habits, and the views of life which a man forms in confequence of his fituation, are of the utmoft importance.
After all thefe obfervations, I miin; dill recur to a pofuion which I have repeated more than once^ namely, that our conftitution, which nearly em- fe'races all thefe circumftances, has attained its pre- fent excellence chiefiy in confequence of the innate worth of the Britifh charafler. About the time of the Conqueft, our conftitution hardly differed from that of France. But the clafliing of interefis be- tween the different Orders. of the fubjeds was not fo rancorous and obftinate—thefe Orders melted more eafily together — -the purity cf the principle of Reprefentation in the States was lefs attended to ; and while the French Peers gradually left off minding any buhnefs but their own, and left the High Court of Judicature to the lawyers, and the King to his Cabinet Council, the Peers of Greac Britain, overlooking their own lefs important diftinc- tions, attended more to the State, became a perma- nent Council to the Sovereign in the adminiftration and legiHation; and, with a patriotifm and a pati- ence that are unknown to the Oiher Grandees of Europe, continued to hear and to judge in all quef- tions of juftice and property between the inferior citizens of the State. NBritifh Liberty is the highly- prized fruit of all this worthy conduft, and moft people afcribe it to the fuperior fpirit and indepen- dence of the national charader. It ftrikes me, however, as more furely indicating fuperior virtue, and more judicious patriotifm; and our happy con- ftitution is not more iuftly entitled to the admira- tion and refpecft that is paid to it by all Europe,
3 A than
3S2 rOSTSCRlPT.
than to the affedllonatc and grateful attachment of every true-hearted Briton.
Since the publication of this volume I have {ecn a very remarkable v^^ork indeed, on the fame fub- je6l. Memoir es pour fervir a VHiftoire du Jacohinijmey par M. l^ Ahhe Barruel. This author confirms all that I have faid of the Enlighteners , whom he very aptly calls Philojophifts ; and of the abiifes of Free Mafonry in France. He fhows, unequeftionably, that a formal and fyftematic confpiracy againft Re- ligion was formed and zealoufly profecuted by Vol- taire, d'Alembert, and Diderot, alTifted by Frede- ric II. King of PrulTia; and 1 fee that their princi- ples and their manner of procedure have been the fame with thofe of the German atheifts and anar- chifts. Like them they hired an Army of Writers ; they induftrioufly puflied their writings into every houfe and every cottage. Thofe writings were equally calculated for inflaming the fenfual appetites of men, and for perverting their judgments. They endeavoured to get the command of the Schools, particularly thofe for the lower clafTes ; and they ere6led and managed a prodigious number of Cir- culating Libraries and RcadinQ- Societies. M. Bar- ruel lays, that this gang of public corruptors have held their meetings for many years in the Hotel dc Holbach at Paris, and that Voltaire was their hono- rary Prefident. The mofl eminent members were d' Alemherty Diderot, Ccndorcety La Harpe, Turgot^ hamoignon. They took the name of (^Economists, and affc6i:ed to be continually occupied with plans 'for improving Commerce, Manufactures, Agricul- ture, Finance, &c. and publifhed from time to time refpeclable performances on thofe fubje(51:s. — But their darling projedt was to deflroy Chriftianity and all Religion, and to brines about a total change
I
1»0STSCRIPT. 383
of Government. They employed writers to com- pofe corrupting and impious books — ihefe were revifed by the Society, and corrected till they fuited their purpofe. A number were printed in a hand- fome manner, to defray the expence ; and then a much greater number were printed in the cheapefl form poflible, and given for nothing, or at very low prices, to hawkers and pedlars, with injunctions to diftribute them fecretly through the cities and villages. They even hired perfons to read them to conventicles of thofe who had not learned to read.*
(See vol. i. 343—3550
I am particularly (truck by a pofition of Abbe Barruel, " That Irreligion and unqualified Liberty and *^ Equality are the genuine and original Secrets of Free ^^ Mafonry, and the ultimatum of a regular progrefs ^^ through all its degrees,'' He fupports this re- markable pofition with great ingenuity, and many very pertinent fa6ls. I confcfs that now, when I have got this impreffion, I iliall find it very difficult to efface it. But I muft alfo fay, that this thought never ftruck me, during all the time that I have
been
* The author makes an obfervation which is as juft as it is agreeable. This atrocious gang folicited, with the moil anxious affiduity, the participation and patronage of the great ones of the world, and boaft of feveral very exalted names ; Frederic