MP wwywm>'.
i^^H mtm^m^ speciAL coLLecxiloNS que^N's UNiveusiiy AT kiNQsxroN kiNQSTON ONTARIO CANAt)A THOUGHTS O N THE CAUSE OF THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS.
Hoc vero occultum, inteftinum, domefticum malum, non modo non exiftit, verum etiam opprimit, antequam perfpi- cere atque explorare potueris. Cic.
THE THIRD EDITION.
LONDON, Priflted fgr J, DODSLEY, in Paj^vMall, THO U GH T S O N THE CAUSE f OFTHEPRESENT DISCONTENTS- IT is an undertaking of fome degree of de-* licacy to examine into the caufe of public diforders. If a man happens not to fucceed in fuch an enquiry, he will be thought weak and vilionary j if he touches the true grievance, there is a danger that he may come near to perfons of weight and confequence, who will rather be ex- afperated at the difcovery of their errors, than thankful for the occafion of correding them. If he fliould be obliged to blame the favourites of the people, he will be conlidered as the tool of powers if he cenfures thofe in power, he will B be 2 THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF be looked on as an inflrument of fa£lion. But in all exertions of duty fomething is to be hazard- ed. In cafes of tumult and diforder, our law has inverted every man, in fome fort, with the authority of a magiftrate. When the affairs of the nation are diftradted, private people are, by the fpirit of that law, j unified in rtepping a little out of their ordinary fphere. They enjoy a privilege, of fomewhat more dignity and effedf, than that of idle lamentation over the calamities of their country. They may look into them narrowly; they may reafon upon them liberally; and if they Ihould be fo fortu- nate as to difcover the true fourceof the mifchief, and to fuggeft any probable method of removing it, though they may difpleafe the rulers for the dny, they are certainly of fervice to the caufe of Government. Government is deeply interefted in every thing which, even through the medium of fome temporary uneafinefs, may tend finally to compofe the minds of the fubjed;, and to conciliate their affeftions. I have nothing to do here with the abftrad: value of the voice of the people. But as long as reputation, the molt precious pofl'effion of every individual, and as long as opinion, the great fupport of the State, depend entirely upon that voice, it can never be confidered as a thing oi little confequence either to individuals or to Government. Nations are not primarily ruled by laws; lefs by violence. Whatever crisjinal energy may befuppofed either in force or regulation; vhe operation of both is, in truth, merely inltrumental. Nations are governed 1 HE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 3 governed by the fi^me methods, and en the fame principles, by which an individual without authority is often able to govern tiiolc who are his equals or his fuperiours; by a l:novvledge of their temper, and b\ a judiiious man?Jgement of it; I mean, — when public affairs are fteadily and quietly conduced j not when Go- vernment is nothing but a continued fcufRe be- tween the magiftrate and the multitude; in which fometimes the one ar^d fometimes the other is uppermoftj in which they alternately yield and prevail, in a feries of contetnptii^le victories and fcandalous fubmifllons. The temper of the people amongft whom he prefixes ought therefore to be the firft ftudy of a Sn tef- man. And the knowledge of this teniptr it is by no meaiiS impofllble for him to attain, if he has not an intereft in being ignorant of what it is his duty to learn.
To comnlain of the ^z" '^'e^ive in, to murmur at the prelent pofieilors of power, i j lament the pall, to conceive extravagant h^pes of the future, are the common difpoiitions of the greateft part of mankind; indeed the neceffary efFe(fts of the ignorance and icyity of.he xuh^ar. Such complaints and humours have exifled in all times; yet as all times have not been ali!-^e, true political fagacity manifefts itfclf, in dif- tinguilliing that compL-tint which only cha- radierizes the general infirmity of human nature, from thofe which are fy mptoms ot the par- ticular diftemperature of our own air and feafon.
B 2 Nobody, 4 THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF Nobody, I believe, will confider it merely as the language of fpleen or difappointment, if I fay, that there is fomething particularly alarm- ing in the prefent conjuncture. There is hardly a man in or out of power who holds any other language. That Government is at once dreaded and contemned; that the laws are defpoiled of all their refpedled and falutary terrors; that their inadlion is a fubjecft of ridicule, and their exertion of abhorrence; that rank, and office, and title, and all the folemn plaufibilities of the world, have loft their reverence and effecft; that our foreign politicks are as much deranged as our domeflic oeconomy; that our dependencies are flackened in their affed:ion, and loofened from their obedience 3 that we know neither how to yield nor how to inforce; that hardly any thing above or below, abroad or at home, is found and entire; but that difconnexion and confufion, in offices, in parties, in families, in Parliament, in the nation, prevail beyond the diforders of any former time: thefe are fads univerfally admitted and lamented.
This (late of things is the more extraordinary, becaufc the great parties which formerly divided and agitated the kingdom are known to be in a manner entirely dillblved. No great external calamity has vifited the nation; no peftilence or famine. We do not labour at prefent under any fcheme of taxation new or oppreffive in the quantity or in the mode. Nor are we en- gaged in unfuccefsful war; in which, our mif- fortunes might eafily pervert our judgement; and THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 5 and our minds fore from the lofs of national glory, might feel every blow of Fortune as a crime in Government.
It is impoflible that the caufe of this ftrange diftcmper -fliould not fometimes become a fub- jed: of difcourfe. It is a compliment due, and which I willingly pay, to thofe who adminifter our affairs, to take notice in the fird place of their fpeculation. Our Minifters are of opinion, that the increafe of our trade and manufactures, that our growth by colonization and by con- queft, have concurred to accumulate immenfe wealth in the hands of fome individuals; and this again being difperfed amongft the people, has rendered them univerfally proud, ferocious, and ungovernable i that the infolence of fome from their enormous wealth, and the boldnefs of others from a guilty poverty, have rendered them ca- pable of the moft atrocious attempts j fo that they have trampled upon all fubordination, and violently born down the unarmed laws of a free Government; barriers too feeble againft the fury of a populace fo fierce and licentious as ours. They contend, that no adequate provo- cation has been given for fo fpreading a difcon- tent; our affairs having been conducted through- out with remarkable temper and confummate wifdom. The wicked indullry of fome libellers, joined to the intrigues of a few difappointed politicians, have, in their opinion, been able to pro- duce this unnatural ferment in the nation.
Nothing indeed can be more unnatural than the prefent convulfions of this country, if the B ^ abovQ 6 THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF above account be a true one. I confefs I fliall aflcnt to it witb great reluctance, and only oa the compulfion of the cleareft and firmeft proofs; bccaufe th'jir account refolves itfelf into this fliort, but difcouraging propofition, " That we ** have a very good Miniftry, but that we are a *' very bid pcrople;" that we fet ourfelves to bite the hana that feeds us; that with a malig- nant infinity we oppofe the meafiires, and un-. gratefully vilify the perfons, of thofe, whofe folc objc6l is our own peace and profperity. If a feu; uny libellers, ading under a knot of fac- tious p.liticians, without virtue, parts, or cha- radter [.\\<:h they are conRantly rcprefcnted by tlnrie ^entlcmc;-;), are fufficient to excite this dill:Lirl)..nce, very perverfe n-iuft be the difpofition of ti.at people, amongft whom fuch a difturbance can be excited Dy luch means. It is befides r.o fmail aggravation of the public misfortune, thct the difeal'e, on ihis hypothecs, appears to h<^ without remedy. If the wealth of the nation be the caufe of its turbultnce, I imagine it is nc^t propofcd to liitroduce poverty, as a conftable to keep the peace. If our dominions abroad are the roots which Ted iiU this rank luxuriance of fcditioii, it is not intended to cut them ofF in (-rdcr to faniith the fruit. If our liberty has entccbled the executive power, there is no de- fjgn, I hope, to call in the aid of defpotifm, to fill up the d^ficicnci. s oi law. Whatever may be intended, thefe things are not yet profefied. We feem therefore to be driven to abfolute dclpair; for we have no other materials to work THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 7 work upon, but thofe out of which God has been pleafed to form the inhabitants of tliis ifland. If thefe be radically and ciTcntially viti- ous, all that can he faid is, that thole men re very unhappy, to whofe fortune or duty it fads to adminifter the affairs of this untoward people. I hear it ind:-f:d fometimes aiferted, that a fteady perfeverance in the prefent mealures, and a ri- gorous puni(hment of thofe who oppofe them, will in courfe of time infallibly put an end to thefe diforders. But this, in my opinion, is faid without much obfervation of our prefent difpo- fition, and without any knowledge at all of the general nature of mankind. If the matter of which this nation is compofed be fo very fer- mentable as thefe gentlemen defcribe it, leaven never will be wanting to work it up, as long as difcontent, revenge, and ambition, have ex- iftence in the world. Particular punifnments are the cure for accidental diftempers in the State; they inflame rather than allay thofe heats which arife from the fettled mifmanagement of the Government, or from a natural ill difpoGtion in the people. It is of the utmoft moment not to make miftakes in the ufe of ft^ong meafures; and firmnefs is then only a virtue when it accompanies the mofh perfect wifdom. In truth, inconftancy is a fort of natural corrective of folly and ignorance.
I am not one of thofe who think that the people are never in the wrong. They have been lb, frequently and outrageoufly, both in other countries and in this. But I do fay, that in all B 4 difputes 8 THOUGHTS ON IM^E CAUSE OF difputes between them and their rulers, the preilimption is at leaft upon a par in favour of the people. Experience may perhaps juftify me in going further. Where popular difcontents have been very prevalent; it may well be affirm- ed and fupported, that there has been generally fomething found amils in the conftitution, or in the conducl: of Government. The people have no interell: in dilorder. When they do wrong, it is their error, and not their crime. But with the governing part of the State, it is far otherwife. They certainly may aft ill by dcfign, as well as by miftake. '^ Les revolutions " gui a7'rivent dans Ics grands etats ne font point <' un effe5t du hazard^ 711 du caprice des peuples, •' Rien ne revolte les grands d'un royaiime ^* comme un Gouvernement foible et derange, ** Four la populace, ce nejl jamais par envie *' d'aitiiquer qiiellefe Jlideije, viais par impatience ^' de fouffrir'^." Thefe are the words of a great man; of a Minifler of ftate; and a zealous alTertor of Monarchy. They are applied to the jyfteui of Fa'-coiiritifm which was adopted by Henry the Third of France, and to the dreadful confequences it produced. What he fays of re- volutions, is equally true of all great difturbances.
If this prefumption in favour of the fubjeds againft the trultees of power be not the more probable, 1 am fure it is the more comfortable fpeculation j becaufe it is more eafy to change an adminiftration than to reform a people.
t Mem. de Sully, vol. I. p. 133.
jjpop THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 9 Upon a fuppofitlon, therefore, that in the opening of the caufe the prefumptions ftand equally balanced between the parties, there feems fufficient ground to entitle any perfon to a fair hearing, who attempts fome other fcheme befide that eafy one which is fafliionablc in fome fafliionable companies, to account for the pre- fent difcontents. It is not to be argued that we endure no grievance, becaufe our grievances are not of the fame fort with tbofe under which we laboured formerly j not precifely tbofe which we bore from the Tudors, or vindicated on the Stuarts. A great change has taken place in the affairs of this country. For in the filent lapfe of events as material alterations have been in- fenfibly brought about in the policy and cha- radter of governments and nations, as tbofe which have been marked by the tumult of public re- volutions.
It is very rare indeed for men to be wrong in their feelings concerning public mifcondud:; as rare to be right in their fpeculation upon the caufe of it. I have conftantly obfervcd, that the generality of people are fifty years, at leaft, behind-hand in their politicks. There are but very few, who are capable of com- paring and digelling w]:iat pafies before their eyes at different times and occafions, fo as to form the whole into a dillind fyftem. But in books every thing is fettled for theni, v/ith- out the exertion of any confiderable diligence or fagacity. For which reafon men are wife with bjjt little reflexion, and good with little felfdenial.
loTHOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF denial, in the bufinefs of all times except their own. We are very uncorrupt and tolerably enlightened judges of the tran factions of paft ages J where no paflions deceive, and where the whole train of circumftances, from the trifling caufe to the tragical event, is fet in an orderly feries before us. Few are the partizans of departed tyranny j and to be a Whig on the bufinefs of an hundred years ago, is very con- liftent with every advantage of prefent fervility. This retrofpedtive wifdom, and hiftorical patri- otifm, are things of wonderful convenience; and ferve admirably to reconcile the old quarrel between fpeculation and pra6lice. Many a ftern republican, after gorging himfelf with a full feafl of admiration of the Grecian common- wealths and of our true Saxon conftitution, and difcharging all the fplendid bile of his virtuous indignation on King John and King James, fits down perfectly fatisfied to the coarfeft work and homelieil job of ti:ie day he lives in. I believe there was no profefled admirer of Henry the Eighth among the inftruments of the laft King James; nor in the court of Henry the Eig th, was there, I dare fay, to be found afingle advo- cate for the favourites of Richard the Second.
Nocomplaifance to our Court, or to our age, can make me believe nature to be fo changed, but that public liberty will be among us, as among our anceftors, obnoxious to fome perfon or other; and that opportunities will be fur- niflicd, for attempting at leaft, fome alteration to the prejudice of our conlliitution. The*^ attepl^^* attepl^^* THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS, ir attempts will naturally vary in their mode ac- cording to times and circumflances. For ambi- tion, though it has ever the fame general viev^rs, has not at all times the fame means, nor the fame particular objedls. A great deal of the furniture of ancient tyranny is worn to rags; the reft is entirely out of fafliion. Be(ides, there are few Statefmen fo very clumfy and awkward in their bufmefs, as to fall into the identical fnare which has proved fatal to tlieir predeceflors. When an arbitrary impofition is attempted upon the fubjedt, undoubtedly it will not bear on its fore-head the name of Ship- money. There is no danger that an extenfion of the Foreji laws fhould be the chofen mode of opprefiion in this age. And when we hear any inflance of minifterial rapacity, to the pre- judice of the rights of private life, it will cer- tainly not be the exacflion of two hundred pullets, from a woman of fadiion, for leave to lye with her own hufband *.
Every age has its own manners, and its poli- ticks dependent upon them i and the fame at- tempts will not be made againft a conftitution fully formed and matured, that were ufed to deftroy it in the cradle, or to relift its growth during its infancy.
Againft the being of Parliament, I am fatisfied, no defigns have ever b^en entertained Iince the * " Uxor Hufronis de Nevill dat Domino Re2;t ducentas '* Gallinas, eo quod poflit jacere una nocle cum Domino <* fuo Hugone de Neviii." Maddox, Hift. Exch. c. xii!.
Revolution, S2 THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF Revolution. Every one muH: perceive, thit it is ftrongly theintercft of the Court, to have Ibme fecond caufe interpofed between the Miniflers and the people. The r,entlemen of the Houfe of ComiTiOns have an interert: equally flrong, in fuilaining the part of that intermediate caufe. However they may hire out the ufufruB of their voices, they never will part with the fee and inheritance. Accordingly thofe who have been of the mofl known devotion to the will and pleafure of a Court, have at the fame time been moft forward in ad'erting an high authority in the Houfe of Commons.' When they knew who were to ufe that authority, and how it was to be employed, they thought it never could be carried too far. It mufl be always the vvifh of an unconftitutlonal Statefman, that an Houfe of Commons who are entirely dependent upon him, {l:;ould have every right of the people entirely dependent upon their pleafure. It was foon difcovered, that the forms of a free, and the ends of an arbitrary Government, were things not altogether incompatible.
The power of the Crown, almofl dead and rotten as Prerogative, has grown up anew, with much more strength, and iar lefs odium, under the name of Influence. An influence, which operated without noife and without violence; an influence which converted the very antagonifl, into the inftrument, of power; which contained in itfelf a perpetual principle of growth and renovation; and which the diflreffes and the profperity of the country equally tended to aug- ment.
THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 13 ment, was an admirable fubftitute for a Prero- gative, that, being only the offspring of antiquated prejudices, had moulded in its original ftamina irrefiftible principles of decay and difiblution. The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for a temporary fyftem; the intereft of adive men in the State is a foundation perpetual and infal- lible. However, fome circumftances, arifmg, it muft be confelTed, in a great degree from accident, prevented the effedts of this influence for a long time from breaking out in a manner capable of exciting any ferious apprehenfions. Although Government was ftrong and flourifhed exceedingly, the Court had drawn far lefs ad- vantage than one would imagine from this great fource of power.
At the Revolution, the Crown, deprived, for the ends of the Revolution itfelf, of many prerogatives, was found too weak to flruggle againll all the difficulties which prelled fo new and unlettled a Government. The Court was obliged therefore to delegate a part of its powers to men of luch intereft as could fupport, and of fuch fidelity as would adhere to, its efta- blilhment. Such men were able to draw in a greater number to a concurrence in the com- mon defence. This connexion, necelTary at firft, continued long after convenient; and pro- perly conduced might indeed, in all fituations, be an ufeful inftrument of Government. At the fame time, through the intervention of men of popular weight and charafter, th;; people, poircifed a fccuricy ior their juft portion of im- portance 5 14 THOUGHTS ON THE CAUSE OF portance in the State. But as the title to the Crown grew ftronger by long polTefiion, and by the conllant increafe of its influence, thefe helps have of late feemed to certain perfons no better than incumbrances. The powerful managers tor Government were not fufficiently fubmilllve to the pleafure of the poffelTors of immediate and perfonal favour, fometimes from a confidence in their own ftrength natural and acquired; fome- times from a fear of offending their friends, and weakening that lead in the country, which gave them a confideration independent of the Court. Men aded as if the Court could re- ceive, as well as confer, an obligation. The influence of Government, thus divided in ap- pearance between the Court and the leaders of parties, became in many cafes an acceflion rather to the popular t!:an to the royal fcale; and fomc part of that influence which would otherwife have been poffeffed as in a fort of mortmain and unalienable domain, returned again to the great ocean from whence it arofe, and cir- culated among the people. This method there- fore of governing, by m.fn of great natural inteiefl or great acquired confideration, was viewed in a very invidious light by the true lovers ofabfolute monarchy. It is the nature of defpotifm to abhor power held by any means but its own momentary plealure; and to an- nihilate all intermediate fituations between boundlefs ftrength on its own part, and total debility on the part of the people.
Tq THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS. 15 To set rid of all this intermediate and inde- pendent importance, and to fecure to the Ccurt the unlimited and uncontrouled life of its own vaji infiiience, under the foie dircBion of its own pri- vate favoiify has for fome years paft been the great objed: of policy. If this were compailed, the influence of the Crown muft of courle pro- duce all the efted;s which the moft fanguinc partizans of the Court could polTibly defire. Government might then be carried on without any concurrence on the part of the people; without any attention to the dignity of the greater, or to the affections of the lower forts. A new proje<ft was therefore devifed, by a certain fet of intriguing men, totally different from the fyftem of Adminiftration which had prevailed fince the acceffion of the Houfe of Brunfwick. This projedt, I have heard, was firffc conceived by fome perfons in the court of Frederick Prince of Wales.