TO LORD ONSLOW.

I HAVE ſeen in the Public Newſpapers the following Advertiſement, to wit—

Taking it for granted, that the aforeſaid Ad⯑vertiſement, equally as obſcure as the Proclama⯑tion [4]to which it refers, has nevertheleſs ſome meaning, and is intended to effect ſome purpoſe; and as a proſecution (whether wiſely or unwiſely, juſtly or unjuſtly) is already commenced againſt a work intitled Rights of Man, of which I have the honour and the happineſs to be the author; I feel it neceſſary to addreſs this Letter to you, and to requeſt that it may be read publicly to the Gentlemen who ſhall meet at Epſom in conſe⯑quence of that Advertiſement.

The work now under proſecution is, I con⯑ceive, the ſame work which is intended to be ſup⯑preſſed by the aforeſaid Proclamation. Admit⯑ting this to be the caſe, the Gentlemen of the county of Surrey are called upon by ſomebody to condemn a work, and they are at the ſame time forbidden by the Proclamation to know what that work is; and they are further called upon to give their aid and aſſiſtance to prevent other people from knowing it alſo.—It is there⯑fore neceſſary that the author, for his own juſti⯑fication, as well as to prevent the Gentlemen who ſhall meet from being impoſed upon by miſrepre⯑ſentation, ſhould give ſome out-lines of the prin⯑ciples and plans which that work contains.

The work, Sir, in queſtion contains, firſt, an inveſtigation of general principles of Government.

It alſo diſtinguiſhes Government into two claſſes or ſyſtems, the one the hereditary ſyſtem—the [5]other the repreſentative ſyſtem; and it compares thoſe two ſyſtems with each other.

It ſhews, that what is called Hereditary Go⯑vernment cannot exiſt as a matter of right; be⯑cauſe Hereditary Government always means a Government yet to come; and the caſe always is, that thoſe who are to live afterwards have always the ſame right to eſtabliſh a Government for themſelves as the People had who lived before them.

It alſo ſhews the defect to which Hereditary Government is unavoidably ſubject; that it muſt, from the nature of it, throw Government into the hands of men totally unworthy of it from want of principle, or unfitted for it from want of capacity. JAMES the II'd. and many others are recorded in the Engliſh hiſtory, as proofs of the former of thoſe caſes, and inſtances are to be found almoſt all over Europe, to prove the truth of the latter.

It then ſhews, that the Repreſentative Syſtem is the only true ſyſtem of Government; that it is alſo the only ſyſtem under which the liberties of any People can be permanently ſecure; and fur⯑ther, that it is the only one that can continue the ſame equal probability at all times of admitting of none but men properly qualified, both by principles and abilities, into the Government, and of excluding ſuch as are otherwiſe.

[6]The work ſhews alſo, by plans and calcula⯑tions, not hitherto denied nor controverted, not even by the proſecution that is commenced, that the taxes now exiſting may be reduced at leaſt ſix millions, that taxes may be entirely taken off from the Poor, who are computed at one-third of the nation, and that the taxes on the other two-thirds may be very conſiderably reduced—that the aged Poor may be comfortably provided for, and the children of poor families properly educated—that fifteen thouſand ſoldiers, and the ſame number of ſailors, may be diſbanded, and allowed three ſhillings per week during life out of the ſurplus taxes; and alſo, that a proportionate allowance may be made to the officers, and the pay of the remaining ſoldiers and ſailors be encreaſed; and that it is better to apply the ſurplus taxes to thoſe purpoſes, than to conſume them on lazy and profligate placemen and penſioners; and that the revenue, ſaid to be twenty thouſand pounds per annum, raiſed by a tax upon coals, and given to the Duke of RICHMOND, is a groſs impoſition upon all the people of London, and ought to be inſtantly aboliſhed.

This, Sir, is a conciſe abſtract of the principles and plans contained in the work that is now pro⯑ſecuted, and for the ſuppreſſion of which the Pro⯑clamation appears to be intended: But as it is impoſſible that I can, in the compaſs of a letter, [7]bring into view all the matters contained in the work, and as it is proper that the Gentlemen who may compoſe that Meeting ſhould know what the merits or demerits of it are, before they come to any reſolutions, either directly or indi⯑rectly relating thereto, I requeſt the honour of preſenting them with one hundred copies of the ſecond part of RIGHTS OF MAN, and alſo one thouſand copies of my letter to Mr. DUNDAS, which I have directed to be ſent to Epſom for that purpoſe; and I beg the favour of the Chairman to take the trouble of preſenting them to the Gentlemen who ſhall meet on that occaſion, with my ſincere wiſhes for their happineſs, and for that of the Nation in general.

Having now cloſed thus much of the ſubject of my letter, I next come to ſpeak of what has rela⯑tion to me perſonally. I am well aware of the delicacy that attends it, but the purpoſe of calling the Meeting appears to me ſo inconſiſtent with that juſtice that is always due between man and man, that it is proper I ſhould (as well on account of the Gentlemen who may meet, as on my own account) explain myſelf fully and can⯑didly thereon.

I have already informed the Gentemen, that a proſecution is commenced againſt a work of which I have the honour and happineſs to be the author, and I have good reaſons for believing, that the Proclamation which the Gentlemen are called to [8]conſider, and to preſent an Addreſs upon, is pur⯑poſely calculated to give an impreſſion to the Jury before whom that matter is to come. In ſhort, that it is dictating a verdict by proclamation; and I conſider the inſtigators of the meeting to be held at Epſom, as aiding and abetting the ſame im⯑proper, and in my opinion illegal purpoſe, and that in a manner very artfully contrived, as I ſhall now ſhew.

Had a Meeting been called of the Freeholders of the County of Middleſex, the Gentlemen who had compoſed that Meeting, would have rendered themſelves objectionable as perſons to ſerve on a Jury before whom the judicial caſe was afterwards to come. But by calling a Meeting out of the County of Middleſex, that matter is artfully avoided, and the Gentlemen of Surrey are ſum⯑moned, as if it were intended thereby to give a tone to the ſort of verdict which the inſtigators of the Meeting no doubt wiſh ſhould be brought in, and to give countenance to the Jury in ſo doing.