Paine's Four Letters.
LETTERS ON GOVERNMENT: INCLUDING BOTH HIS LETTERS TO MR. DUNDAS; WITH TWO LETTERS TO LORD ONSLOW▪ AND TWO FROM PARIS.
By THOMAS PAINE, AUTHOR OF "RIGHTS OF MAN," "COMMON SENSE, &c.
TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED ANECDOTES OF HIS LIFE.
LONDON: SOLD BY C. STALKER, STATIONERS' COURT, LUDGATE-STREET; AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.
1792.
[PRICE SIXPENCE.]
The Patrons of Liberty are informed, that in a fe [...] days will be publiſhed, at a ſmall price, a Pam⯑phlet, entitled,
THE FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE; OR, A VIEW OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF PLAIN PERSONS.
SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS.
ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE OF THOMAS PAINE.
[]THE celebrated Author of "THE RIGHTS OF MAN" has not been without his biographer. In a pamphlet which extends to one hundred and ſixty-ſix pages, and which is publiſhed under the ſanction of the fictitious name of Oldys, we have been made acquainted with many parti⯑culars of Mr. PAINE'S private hiſtory. This pamphlet is, in [...] degree, [...] and abuſive; and the [...] of it had evidently dipped his pen in the bitter ſpirit of Party Oppo⯑ſition. However, the incidents which it contains ſeem to have been collected with care and aſſiduity, and to reſt, as to their authenticity, on the evidence of dates and records. It ſhould be remembered, likewiſe, that theſe particulars have not been contradicted, either by Mr. PAINE, or by any of his numerous admirers; moſt, if not all, of whom appear to have had no doubt of their reality. Perhaps, the impartial Public may be pleaſed with beholding the follow⯑ing Anecdotes, ſtript of that high colouring which preju⯑dice and party-malice are capable of giving to truth.
THOMAS PAINE was born at Thetford, in the county of Norfolk, on the 29th of January, 1736-7. His father, [iv]the ſon of a ſmall but reputable farmer, was a ſtay-make by trade, and a Quaker by religion: his mother was th [...] daughter of an attorney at Thetford, and of the Eſtabliſhe [...] Church. He was educated at his native town, under the Rev. WILLIAM KNOWLES, maſter of the grammar ſchoo [...] at Thetford, and was deemed a boy of conſiderable abili⯑ties, though without much regular application. His ſtudies were directed, by his expectations, to what is uſeful, rather than to what is ornamental;—to reading, writing, and arithmetic. With this kind of inſtruction he left the ſchool, at the age of thirteen, in order to learn his father's buſineſs, which, though he did not like it, he continued to work at for nearly five years.
When almoſt twenty, and in the year 1756, the ſubject of theſe memoirs entered London, the common receptacle of the ſilly and the wiſe, of the poor and the opulent, of the buſy and the idle. He worked for ſome time with Mr MORRIS, a very noted ſtay-maker, in Hanover-ſtreet Long-Acre. He did not, however, continue long in Lon⯑don; and it ſeems probable that this was the period at which he made his ſea-faring adventure.
At an early age (as he himſelf obſerves,) raw and ad⯑venturous, and heated with the falſe heroiſm of a maſter who had ſerved in a man-of-war, he began the career of his own fortune, and entered on board the Terrible privateer Captain DEATH. From this adventure he was happil [...] prevented by the affectionate and moral remonſtrance of good father, who, from his own habits of life, being of the Quaker profeſſion, muſt have begun to look upon him a [...] loſt. But the impreſſion, much as it effected at the time began to wear away, and he entered afterwards in the King of Pruſſia privateer, and went with her to ſea. What the event of his expedition was, whether ſucceſsful or other⯑wiſe, we are not informed; but it is certain, that in the way of life he did not continue long, for in the year 175 [...] we find him at Dover, where he worked at his trade ſ [...] almoſt a twelvemonth.
In April 1759 he ſettled, as a maſter ſtay-maker, Sandwich; and, on the 27th of September following, ma⯑ried [v]MARY LAMBERT, a pretty girl of modeſt behaviour, and the daughter of an exciſeman. At Sandwich, how⯑ever, he did not continue long: but on the 7th of April, 1760, went, with his wife, to Margate, and a little time af⯑ter, having loſt his wife, again mingled with the crowds of London.
The trials which our Author had made of his trade, as they had brought him no pleaſure and little gain, induced him to renounce it at this time for ever. When a youth, he had enquired into the duty, and envied the perquiſites, of an exciſeman. His wife had, doubtleſs, ſpoken of the honours and emoluments of her deceaſed father. And he was induced by theſe conſiderations, in July, 1761, to ſeek for ſhelter in his father's houſe, that he might proſecute, in quiet privacy at Thetford, the great object of his future courſe.
After fourteen months of ſtudy, our Author was eſta⯑bliſhed in the exciſe, on the 1ſt of December, 1762, at the age of twenty-five. He owed this gratification of his wiſhes to the friendly interference of Mr. COCKSEDGE, the learned Recorder of Thetford; but in this ſituation he did not continue more than two or three years; for it is certain that, whatever was the cauſe, he was diſmiſſed from his office on the 27th of Auguſt, 1765.
In conſequence of this misfortune, our celebrated Author was reduced to great want. He is ſaid to have been, for ſome time, almoſt without food and ſhelter. On the 11th of July, 1766, he was reſtored to his office; a circumſtance which ſeems to prove that he had not merited his diſmiſ⯑ſion.
Mere reſtoration, however, did not bring him immediate employment. At this interval he was employed to teach Engliſh at an academy in Leman-ſtreet, Goodman's-Fields, for which he received a ſalary of twenty-five pounds a year; and afterwards he lived, for a ſhort time, in a ſimilar ſitu⯑ation at Kenſington.
[vi]In March, 1768, he was ſent to be an exciſe officer at Lewes, in Suſſex. In this place he lodged with Mr. OL⯑LIVE, a tobacconiſt; after whoſe death, in 1769, he opened the ſhop in his own name, as a grocer, and married ELI⯑ZABETH OLLIVE, the daughter of his late landlord. This period is ſaid to have been one of the happy parts of his life.
In 1771 he made his firſt appearance as a writer. The poets of Lewes were called upon, by one of the candidates for the honour (we muſt not ſay, the intereſt) of repreſent⯑ing in Parliament the Electors of New Shoreham, to fur⯑niſh an appropriate ſong; and Mr. PAINE obtained the laurel, with three guineas for his labour.
In 1772 a deſign was formed by the exciſe-officers throughout the kingdom, to apply to Parliament for ſome addition to their ſalaries. Our Author, being one of the leading men among them, was requeſted to write their Caſe, which he produced and publiſhed, after many months' application. This is an octavo pamphlet of twenty-one pages, which, excluſive of the Introduction, is divided into two heads, viz. The State of the Salary of the Officers of the Exciſe; and Thoughts of the Corruption ariſing from the Poverty of Exciſe Officers. On theſe topics he ſays all that the ableſt writer could have ſaid. Four thouſand of the Caſe were printed at Lewes; but, notwithſtanding this effort, no application was made to Parliament.
In the month of April, 1774, misfortunes crowded faſt upon him. The effects of his ſhop were ſold to pay his debts. Having dealt likewiſe, as a grocer, in exciſeable articles, he was ſuſpected (whether with reaſon or other⯑wiſe, does not appear) of unfair practices; and, on the 8th of the ſame month, was again diſmiſſed from the exciſe after a dozen years ſervice.
On the 24th of May following, Mr. PAINE and his wife entered into articles of ſeparation; and theſe articles were in conſequence of ſome diſagreement, again drawn on the 4th of June. Some perſons have not ſcrupled to aſſer [...] [vii]that he treated his wife with cruelty, and that this was the cauſe of their ſeparation.
Towards the cloſe of the year, in conſequence of a ſtrong recommendation to Dr. FRANKLIN, he formed the reſolution of quirting his native country; and, in the month of September, he ſet ſail for America. He arrived at Philadelphia in the winter, a few months, as he himſelf relates, before the battle of Lexington, which was fought in April, 1775.
In the New World, his firſt employment was that of ſhopman to Mr. AITKIN, an induſtrious bookſeller at Philadelphia, with a ſalary of twenty pounds a-year. Soon after, he turned chemiſt; and in November, as foreign ſupplies of gunpowder were ſtopped, he employed his fer⯑tile genius in making experiments for the purpoſe of diſ⯑covering ſome cheap and expeditious method of furniſhing Congreſs with ſaltpetre.
From this aera he becomes more known, and his con⯑duct is entitled to particular attention. On the 10th of January, 1776, he publiſhed his celebrated pamphlet, in⯑titled Common Senſe. This work was univerſally read, and very generally applauded. The firſt edition was quickly ſold. A ſecond, with a Supplement of one third more, was immediately prepared. But let us here attend to Mr. PAINE himſelf. Speaking of the teſtimony which his own heart bore to his integrity, he thus remarks.
"Politics and ſelf-intereſt have been ſo uniformly con⯑nected, that the world, from being ſo often deceived, has a right to be ſuſpicious of public characters. But with re⯑gard 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 mo⯑ment to this, proves the fact. I ſaw an opportunity in which I thought I could do ſome good, and I followed ex⯑tily what my heart dictated. I neither read books, nor [viii]ſtudied other people's opinions. I thought for myſelf. Th [...] caſe was this:
"During the ſuſpenſion of the old Governments in Ame⯑rica, both prior to, and at the breaking out of hoſtilities, [...] was ſtruck with the order and decorum with which every thing 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 any thing ſince the invention of printing. I gave the copy-right up to every State in the Union, and the demand ran to not leſs than one hundred thouſand copies."—Owing to this diſin⯑tereſted conduct of Mr. PAINE, it ſeems that, notwith⯑ſtanding the extenſive ſale of the pamphlet, he was in debt to the printer, to the amount of 29l. 12s. 1d.
In the courſe of this year, 1776, Mr. PAINE joined the army, but in what capacity is not known. It is certain, however, that he accompanied WASHINGTON in his retreat from Hudſon's River to the Delaware. At this time the Congreſs fled, and all were terrified. But our Author was undiſmayed. He ſaw that the Americans were poſſeſſed of reſources ſufficient to authorize hope, and he endea⯑vourd to inſpire others with the ſame confidence. Wit [...] this view, on the 19th of December, he publiſhed th [...] Criſis, wherein he ſtates every topic of hope, and examine [...] every motive of apprehenſion. This work, which extended to thirteen Numbers, he publiſhed at different interval till the complete eſtabliſhment of the Revolution. T [...] laſt Number appeared on the 19th of April, 1783, the ſam [...] day that a ceſſation of hoſtilities was proclaimed.
In 1777, Congreſs unanimouſly, and unknown to M [...] PAINE, appointed him Secretary in the Foreign Depar [...] ⯑ment; and from this time he enjoyed the correſponden [...] of FRANKLIN. This appointment was agreeable to hi [...] becauſe it gave him the opportunity of ſeeing into the a [...] ⯑lities of Foreign Courts, and their manner of doing bu [...] ⯑neſs, [ix]But a miſunderſtanding ariſing between Congreſs and him, reſpecting one of their Commiſſioners, then in Europe, Mr. SILAS DEANE, he reſigned the office on the 8th of January, 1779, and declined, at the ſame time, the pecuniary offers made him by the Miniſters of France and Spain, M. GERARD, and DON JUAN MIRRALLES.
Soon after this he was made Maſter of Arts by the Uni⯑verſity of Philadelphia; and, in 1780, was choſen a mem⯑ber of the American Philoſophical Society, when it was re⯑vived by the legiſlature of the province of Penſylvania. His independence, as a political writer, was well known. His patriotiſm had gained him many friends; and, among others, it appears that General Waſhington entertained a high ſenſe of the importance of his ſervices.—On account of theſe ſervices, New-York conferred on him ſome for⯑feited lands at New-Rochelle, and Penſylvania preſented him with five hundred pounds.
As his exertions were no longer neceſſary in America, be ſet ſail for France in the autumn of 1786, and arrived at Paris in the beginning of the year 1787; carrying with him his fame as a writer, and the model of a bridge, which was ſhewn to the Academy of Sciences. From Paris he came over to England on the 3d of September; juſt thir⯑teen years after his departure for Philadelphia. Before the end of the month, he went to Thetford to ſee his mo⯑ther, to whom he allowed 9s. a-week; but, owing to the bankruptcy of the American merchant who was ap⯑pointed to pay it, this allowance was afterwards ſtop⯑ped.
During part of the year 1788, Mr. PAINE reſided at Ro⯑theram in Yorkſhire, where his iron bridge was caſt and created, chiefly at the expence of the ingenious Mr. Wal⯑ter. The deſign, however, had coſt our Author a conſi⯑derable ſum, and the aſſignees of the American merchant, finding ſix hundred and twenty pounds charged againſt him, cauſed him to be arreſted on the 29th of October, 1789. On this occaſion, two reſpectable merchants be⯑came his bail; and on his paying down four hundred and ſixty pounds, which he had received from America, and [x]giving his note for the remainder, he was ſet at liberty in November, after three weeks confinement.
In conſequence of the publication of Mr. Burke's Re⯑flections on the French Revolution, Mr. PAINE produced, in the month of February 1791, his well-known Work, intitled, the Rights of Man. This pamphlet was print⯑ed for Mr. Johnſon, in St. Paul's Church-Yard: but the work containing ſome juſt but ſevere reflections on various parts of the Engliſh government, Mr. Johnſon was induced, by the advice of ſome of his friends, to de⯑cline the publication of it; and, after a month's delay, it was publiſhed, on the 13th of March, by Mr. Jordan, in Fleet-Street.
About the middle of May, Mr. PAINE again went to France. When the King fled from Paris, he obſerved to his friend, Mr. Chriſtie, ‘You ſee the abſurdity of mo⯑narchical governments. Here will be a whole nation diſturbed by the folly of one man.’ On the return of the King, our Author was in conſiderable danger. An officer proclaimed the will of the National Aſſembly, that all ſhould be ſilent, and covered. In a moment, all hats were on. Mr. PAINE, however, had loſt his cock⯑ade, the emblem of liberty and equality. A cry aroſe Ariſtocrat! Ariſtocrat! A' la lanterne! a' la lanterne! He was deſired by thoſe who ſtood near him, to put on his hat. And it was not till after ſome time, that the mob was ſatisfied by explanation.
On the 13th of July, he returned to London; but i [...] was not thought prudent that he ſhould attend the cele⯑bration of the French Revolution. He afterwards dre [...] up the Addreſs and Declaration of the Gentlemen who me [...] at the Thatched-Houſe-Tavern, on the 20th of Augu [...] following.
In the month of February 1792, appeared the Secon [...] Part of Rights of Man; a publication, which has con⯑ferred additional celebrity on its Author, and greatly in⯑creaſed [xi]the number of converts to the cauſe of liberty, and juſt government.
The ſale of theſe juſtly-admired productions has been much greater than that of, perhaps, any work ever pub⯑liſhed in England. When the Second Part of Rights of Man appeared, the number of copies to which the Firſt Part had extended, including England, Scotland, and Ireland, was not leſs than between forty and fifty thouſand; and when it is recollected that, excluſive of the Second, the Firſt Part of the work has now been eight months longer on ſale, and that cheap editions of each have been publiſhed, very many thouſands of which have been ſold, the number purchaſed cannot be ſuppoſed to fall far ſhort of, if indeed it does not exceed, one hundred thouſand copies.
Thus have we preſented to our readers the principal circumſtances of Mr. PAINE's hiſtory. The changes which he has witneſſed have been various; and the man, who can drop a tear of ſorrow at the recollection of the miſeries of his fellow-creatures, will feel regret ſtill more poignant when contemplating the many difficulties under which that man has laboured, who may juſtly be ſtyled the BENEFACTOR OF NATIONS. But, perhaps, (as he has well obſerved) it is to his advantage that he has ſerved an apprenticeſhip to life. He now knows the value of moral inſtruction, for he has ſeen the danger of the contrary.
The number of converts to Mr. PAINE's ſentiments on Civil Government is rapidly encreaſing. It is a claſs which comprehends the moſt truly independent characters throughout the nation; men, who belong to no party but that of truth, and who acknowledge no objects of political [...]doration but thoſe of public liberty and public happineſs. The names of Pittite and Foxite, with thoſe other blan⯑ [...]iſhments with which intereſt has contrived to catch the yes and ſeduce the attention of the unthinking and the rulgar, are regarded by them as the rattles of childhood. They aſpire to a nobler character; and, inſtead of conſign⯑ing their underſtandings to the cuſtody of others, are de⯑ [...]mined to take the trouble of thinking for themſelves.
[xii]Yet we would not be uncandid; we would not be un⯑juſt. Candour is the fair offering of ingenuous excel⯑lence, and juſtice is the due of all. Many, no doubt, there are who oppoſe reformation from conviction, and whoſe upright hearts, if accompanied with enlightened under⯑ſtandings, would ſtrink with horror at the idea of thoſe miſeries which the villainy of Kings and Miniſters has al⯑lotted to their equals. For why muſt the People groan under the load of poverty and want, that Stateſmen and Kings may live in ſplendour?—But Heaven be praiſed for that light which is already diffuſed, and which will aſ⯑ſuredly diſpel that mental darkneſs which has ſo long over⯑ſhadowed the earth!
The Author of the Rights of Man, as a reward for his public-ſpirited exertions, is now the ſubject of a Govern⯑ment proſecution. Of theſe proceedings and their ad⯑viſers we ſhall ſimply ſay, that they produce, in the patr [...] ⯑otic breaſt, the fervour of indignation, or the coolneſs [...] contempt.
LETTERS ON GOVERNMENT.
[]LETTER I. To Mr. HENRY DUNDAS, In Anſwer to his Speech on the late EXCELLENT Proclamation.
AS you opened the debate in the Houſe of Commons, May 25th, on the Proclamation for ſuppreſſing Publi⯑cations, which that Proclamation (without naming any) calls wicked and ſeditions, and as you applied thoſe opprobrious epi⯑thets to the works entitled "RIGHTS OF MAN," I think it unneceſſary to offer any other reaſon for addreſſing this Letter to you.
I begin, then, at once, by declaring that I do not believe there are to be found in the writings of any author, ancient or modern, on the ſubject of Government, a ſpirit of greater be⯑nignity, and a ſtronger inculcation of moral principles than in thoſe which I have publiſhed. They come, Sir, from a man, who, by having lived in different countries, and under different ſyſtems of Government, and who, being intimate in the conſtruction of them, is a better judge of the ſubject than it is poſſible that you, from the want of thoſe opportu⯑nities, can be:—And, beſides this, they come from an heart that knows not how to beguile.
I will further ſay, that when that moment arrives in which the beſt conſolation that ſhall be left will be that of looking back on ſome paſt actions, more virtuous, more meritorious, than the reſt, I ſhall then with happineſs remember, among other things. I have written the RIGHTS OF MAN.—As to what Proclamations, or Proſecutions, or Place-men, or Place-expectants, [2]—thoſe who poſſeſs, or thoſe who are gaping for office, may ſay of them, it will not alter their character, either with the world or with me.
Having, Sir, made this declaration, I ſhall proceed to re⯑mark, not particularly upon your own Speech on that occaſion, but on any other Speech to which your Motion on that day gave riſe; and I ſhall begin with that of Mr. ADAM.
This gentleman accuſes me of not having done the very thing that I have done, and which, he ſays, if I had done, he ſhould not have accuſed me.
Mr. ADAM, in his Speech, (ſee the Morning Chronicle of May 26,) ſays, ‘That he had well conſidered the ſubject of Conſtitutional Publications, and was by no means ready to ſay (but the contrary) that books of ſcience upon Govern⯑ment, though recommending a doctrine or ſyſtem different from the form of our Conſtitution (meaning that of Eng⯑land) were fit objects of proſecution; that if he did, he muſt condemn (which he meant not to do) HARRINGTON for his Oceana, Sir THOMAS MOORE for his Eutopia, and HUME for his Idea of a perfect Common-wealth. But (continued Mr. ADAM) the Publication of Mr. PAINE was very diffe⯑rent; for it reviled what was moſt ſacred in the Conſtitu⯑tion, deſtroyed every principle of ſubordination, and eſta⯑bliſhed nothing in their room.’
I readily perceive that Mr. ADAM had not read the Second Part of Rights of Man, and I am put under the neceſſity, either of ſubmitting to an erroneous charge, or of juſtifying myſelf againſt it; and I certainly ſhall prefer the latter.—If, then, I ſhall prove to Mr. ADAM, that, in my reaſoning upon ſyſtems of government in the Second Part of Rights of Man, I have ſhown as clearly, I think, as words can convey ideas, a cer⯑tain Syſtem of Government, and that not exiſting in theory only, but already in full and eſtabliſhed practice, and ſyſtema⯑tically and practically free from all the vices and defects, of the Engliſh Government, and capable of producing more happineſs to the People, and that alſo with an eightieth part of the Taxes, which the preſent Syſtem of Engliſh Government con⯑ſumes. I hope he will do me the juſtice when he next goes [...] the Houſe, to get up and confeſs he had been miſtaken in ſay⯑ing, that I had eſtabliſhed nothing, and that I had deſtroyed every principle of ſubordination. Having thus opened the caſe I now come to the point.
In the Second Part of RIGHTS OF MAN, I have diſtinc⯑guiſted Government into two claſſes or ſyſtems; the one, th [...] hereditary ſyſtem; the other the repreſentative ſyſtem.
In the Firſt Part of Rights of Man, I have endeavoured ſhew, and I challenge any man to refute it, that there does n [...] [3]exiſt a right to eſtabliſh hereditary Government; or, in other words, Hereditary Governors; becauſe Hereditary Govern⯑ment always means a Government yet to come, and the caſe always is, that the People who are to live afterwards have always the ſame right to chuſe a government for themſelves, as the People had who lived before them.
In the Second Part of Rights of Man, I have not repeated thoſe arguments, becauſe they are irrefutable; but have confin⯑ed myſelf to ſhew the defects of what is called Hereditary Go⯑vernment, or Hereditary Succeſſion; 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 IId. is recorded as an in⯑ſtance of the firſt of theſe caſes; and inſtances are to be found almoſt all over Europe to prove the truth of the latter.
To ſhew the abſurdity of the Hereditary ſyſtem ſtill more ſtrongly, I will now put the following caſe—Take any fifty men promiſcuouſly, and it will be very extraordinary, if, out of that number, one man ſhould be found, whoſe principles and talents taken together (for ſome might have principles, and o⯑thers have talents) would render him a perſon truly fitted to fill any very extraordinary office of National Truſt. If, then, ſuch a fitneſs of character could not be expected to be found in more than one perſon out of fifty, it would happen but once in a thouſand years to the eldeſt ſon of any one family, admitting each, on an average, to hold the office twenty years. Mr. A⯑dam talks of ſomething in the conſtitution which he calls moſt ſacred, but I hope he does not mean Hereditary ſucceſſion, a thing which appears to me a violation of every order of na⯑ture, and of common ſenſe.
When I look into Hiſtory, and ſee the multitudes of men o⯑therwiſe virtuous, who have died, and their families been ruined in defence of knaves and fools, and which they would not have done had they reaſoned at all upon the ſyſtem; I do not know a greater good that an individual can render to mankind, than to endeavour to break the chains of political ſuperſtition. Thoſe chains are now diſſolving faſt, and proclamation and proſecu⯑tion will ſerve but to haſten that diſſolution.
Having thus ſpoken of the Hereditary ſyſtem as a had ſyſ⯑tem, and ſubject to every poſſible defect; I now come to the Repreſentative Syſtem; and this Mr. ADAM will find ſtated in the Second Part of the Rights of Man, not only as the beſt, but as the only Theory of Government under which the liberties of a people can be permanently ſecure.
But it is needleſs now to talk of mere Theory, ſince there is already a Government in full Practice, eſtabliſhed upon that Theory, or, in other Words, upon the Rights of Man, and [4]has been ſo for almoſt twenty years. Mr. Pitt, in a ſpeech of his ſome ſhort time ſince, ſaid, ‘That there never did, and never could exiſt a Government eſtabliſhed upon thoſe Rights; and that if it began at noon, it would end at night.’ Mr. Pitt is not yet arrived at the degree of a ſchool-boy in this ſpecies of knowledge. His practice has been confined to the means of extorting revenue, and his boaſt has been—how much?—Whereas the boaſt of the Syſtem of Government that I am ſpeaking of, is not how much, but how little.
The Syſtem of Government, purely repreſentative, unmixed with any thing of hereditary nonſenſe, began in America. I will now compare the effects of that ſyſtem of Government with the ſyſtem of Government in England, both during, and ſince the cloſe of the war.
So powerful is the Repreſentative ſyſtem, firſt, by combin⯑ing and conſolidating all the parts of a country together, how⯑ever great the extent; and ſecondly, by admitting of none but men properly qualified into the Government, or diſmiſſing them if they prove to be otherwiſe, that America was enabled thereby totally to defeat and overthrow all the ſchemes and projects of the Hereditary Government of England againſt her, As the eſtabliſhment of the Revolution and Independence of America is a proof of this fact, it is needleſs to enlarge upon it.
I now come to the comparative effect of the two Syſtems ſince the cloſe of the war; and I requeſt Mr. Adam to attend to it.
America had internally ſuſtained the revenge of upwards of ſeven years of war, which England had not. England ſuſtained only the expence of the war; whereas America ſuſtained not only the expence, but the deſtruction of property committed by both armies. Not a houſe was built during that period, and many thouſands were deſtroyed. The farms and plantations along the coaſt of the country, for more than a thouſand miles, were laid waſte. Her commerce was annihilated, her ſhips were either taken or had rotted within her own harbours. The credit of her funds had fallen upwards of ninety per cent. that is, an o⯑riginal hundred pounds would not ſell for ten pounds. In [...]ine ſhe was apparently put back an hundred years when the wa [...] cloſed; which was not the caſe with England.
But ſuch was the event, that the ſame repreſentative Syſ⯑tem of Government, though ſince better organized, which enabled her to conquer, enabled her alſo to recover; and ſh [...] now preſents a more flouriſhing condition, and a more happ [...] and harmonized ſociety under that ſyſtem of Government that any country in the world can boaſt under any other. He [...] towns are rebuilt, much better than before; her farms an [...] plantations are in higher improvement than ever; her com⯑merce [5]is ſpread over the world, and her funds have riſen from leſs than ten pounds the hundred to upwards of one hundred and twenty. Mr. Pitt, and his colleagues, talk of the things that have happened in his boyiſh Adminiſtration, without knowing what greater things have happened elſewhere and un⯑der other ſyſtems of Government.
I next come to ſtate the expence of the two ſyſtems, as they now ſtand in each of the countries; but it may firſt be proper to obſerve, that Government in America is what it ought to be, a matter of honour and truſt, and not made a trade of for the purpoſe of lucre.
The whole amount of the net taxes in England (excluſive of the expence of collection, of drawbacks, of ſeizures and condemnations, of ſines and penalties, of fees of office, of liti⯑gations and informers, which are ſome of the bleſſed means of enforcing them) is ſeventeen millions. Of this ſum about nine millions go for the payment of the intereſt of the Nation [...]l Debt, and the remainder, being about eight millions, is for the current annual expences. Thus much for one ſide of the caſe. I now come to the other.
The expence of all the ſeveral departments of the general Repreſentative Government of the United States of America, extending over a ſpace of country nearly ten times larger than England, is two hundred and ninety-four thouſand five hun⯑dred and fifty-eight dollars, which, at 4s. 6d. per dollar, is 66, 275l. 11s. ſterling, and is thus apportioned.
| Expence of the Executive Department. | l. | s. |
| The Office of the Preſidency, at which the Preſident receives nothing for himſelf | 5,625 | 0 |
| Vice Preſident | 1,125 | 0 |
| Chief Juſtice | 900 | 0 |
| Five Aſſociate Juſtices | 3,937 | 10 |
| Nineteen Judges of Diſtricts and Attorney General | 6,873 | 15 |
| Legiſlative Department. | ||
| Members of Congreſs, at ſix Dollars (1l. 7s.) per day, their Secretaries, Clerks, Chaplains, Meſſengers, Doot-Keepers, &c. | 25,5 [...]5 | 0 |
| Treaſury Department. | ||
| Secretary, Aſſiſtant, Comptroller, Auditor, Treaſurer, Re⯑giſter, and Loan-Office Keeper, in each State, together with all neceſſary Clerks, Office-keepers, &c. | 12,825 | 0 |
| Department of State, including Foreign Affairs. | ||
| Secretary, Clerks, &c. &c. | 1,406 | 5 |
| Department of War. | ||
| Secretary, Clerks, Paymaſter, Commiſſioner, &c. | 1,462 | 10 |
| Commiſſioners for ſettling old Accounts. | ||
| The whole Board, Clerks, &c. | 2,598 | 15 |
| Incidental and Contingent Expences. | ||
| For Fire-wood; Stationary, Printing, &c. | 4,006 | 16 |
| Total | 60,275 | 1 [...] |
[6]On account of the incurſions of the Indians on the back ſet⯑tlements, Congreſs is, at this time, obliged to keep ſix thou⯑ſand militia in pay, in addition to a regiment of foot, and a battalion of artillery, which it always keeps; and this increaſes the expence of the War Department to 390,000 dollars, which is 87, 795l. ſterling; but when peace ſhall be concluded with the Indians, the greateſt part of this expence will ceaſe, and the total amount of the expence of Government, including that of the army, will not amount to one hundred thouſand pounds ſterling, which, as has been already ſtated, is but an eightieth part of the expences of the Engliſh Government.
I requeſt Mr. Adam and Mr. Dundas, and all thoſe who are talking of Conſtitutions, and bleſſings, and Kings, and Lords, and the Lord knows what, to look at this ſtatement. Here is a form and ſyſtem of Government, that is better organiſed and better adminiſtered than any Government in the world, and that for leſs than one hundred thouſand pounds per annum, and yet every Member of Congreſs receives, as a compenſation for his time and attendance on public buſineſs, one pound ſeven ſhillings per day, which is at the rate of nearly five hundred pounds a-year.
This is a government that has nothing to fear. It needs no proclamations to deter people from writing and reading. It needs no political ſuperſtition to ſupport it. It was by encou⯑raging diſcuſſion, and rendering the preſs free upon all ſubjects of Government, that the principles of Government became up⯑derſtood in America, and the people are now enjoying the pre⯑ſent bleſſings under it. You hear of no riots, tumults, and diſ⯑orders in that country; becauſe there exiſts no cauſe to product them. Thoſe things are never the effect of Freedom, but o [...] reſtraint, oppreſſion, and exceſſive taxation.
In America there is not that claſs of poor and wretched peo⯑ple that are ſo numerouſly diſperſed all over England, and who are to be told by a Proclamation, that they are happy; and thi [...] is in a great meaſure to be accounted for, not by the differenc [...] of Proclamations, but by the difference of Governments, and tha [...] difference of Taxes between that country and this. What tha [...] labouring people of that country earn they apply to their own uſe, and to the education of their children, and do not pay [...] away in taxes as faſt as they earn it, to ſupport Court extrava⯑gance, and a long enormous liſt of Place-men and Penſioners and beſides this, they have learned the manly doctrine of reve⯑rencing themſelves, and conſequently of reſpecting each other and they laugh at thoſe imaginary beings called Kings an [...] Lords, and all the fraudulent trumpery of Courts.
When Place-men and Penſioners, or thoſe who expect to [...] ſuch, are laviſh in praiſe of a Government, it is not a ſign [...] [7]its being a good one. The penſion liſt alone, in England (ſee Sir John Sinclair's Hiſtory of the Revenue, page 6, of the Ap⯑pendix) is One Hundred and Seven Thouſand Four Hundred and Four Pounds, which is more than the expences of the whole Government of America amount to. And I am now more con⯑vinced than before, that the offer that was made to me of a Thouſand Pounds, for the copy-right of the Second Part of the Rights of Man, together with the remaining copy-right of the Firſt Part, was to have effected, by a quick ſuppreſſion, what is now attempted to be done by a proſecution. The connection which the perſon who made that offer has with the King's Printing Office, may furniſh part of the means of en⯑quiring into this affair, when the Miniſtry ſhall pleaſe to bring their proſecution to iſſue. But to return to my ſubject.—
I have ſaid, in the Second Part of Rights of Man, and I re⯑pent it here, that the ſervice of any man, whether called King, Preſident, Senator, Legiſlator, or any thing elſe, cannot be worth more to any country, in the regular routine of office, than Ten Thouſand Pounds per annum. We have a better man in America, and more of a gentleman than any King I ever knew of, who does not occaſion even half that expence: for, though the ſalary is fixed at Five Thouſand Two Hundred and Sixty-five Pounds, he does not accept it, and it is only the in⯑cidental expences that are paid out of it. The name by which a man is called is, of itſelf, but an empty thing. It is worth and character alone which can render him valuable, for without theſe, Kings, and Lords, and Preſidents are but jingling names.
But without troubling myſelf about conſtitutions of Govern⯑ment, I have ſhewn in the Second Part of Rights of Man, that an alliance may be formed between England, France, and America, and that the expence of Government in England may be put back to one million and an half, viz.
| Civil expence of Government, | £. 500,000 |
| Army, | 500,000 |
| Navy, | 500,000 |
| 1,500,000 |
And even this ſum is fifteen times greater than the expences of Government are in America; and it is alſo greater than the [...]hole peace eſtabliſhment of England amounted to about an [...]undred years ago. So much has the weight and oppreſſion of [...]axes encreaſed ſince the Revolution, and eſpecially ſince the [...]ear 1714.
To ſhew that the ſum of 500,000l. is ſufficient to defray all [...]e civil expences of Government, I have, in that work, an⯑ [...]exed the following eſtimate for any country of the ſame ex⯑ [...]nt as England:
[8]In the firſt place, three hundred Repreſentatives, fairly e⯑lected, are ſufficient for all the purpoſes to which legiſlation can apply, and preferable to a larger number.
If then an Allowance, at the rate of five hundred pound per ann. be made to every Repreſentative, deducting for non attendance, the expence, if the whole number attended ſo months each year, would be £ 75,000
The Official Departments could not poſſibly exceed the follow⯑ing number, with the ſalaries annexed, viz.
| Three Officers, | at 10,000l. each, | 30,000 |
| Ten ditto, | at 5,000l. each, | 50,000 |
| Twenty ditto, | at 2,000l. each, | 40,000 |
| Forty ditto | at 1,000l. each, | 40,000 |
| Two hundred ditto | at 500l. each, | 100,000 |
| Three hundred ditto, | at 200l. each, | 60,000 |
| Five hundred ditto, | at 100l. each, | 50,000 |
| Seven hundred ditto, | at 75l. each, | 52,500 |
| £ 497,500 | ||
If a nation choſe, it might deduct 4 per cent. from all th [...] offices, and make one of twenty thouſand pounds per ann. an [...] ſtyle the perſon who ſhould fill it, King, or Majeſty, or Madjeſ⯑ty, or give him any other title.
Taking, however, this ſum of one million and an half as a abundant ſupply for all the expences of Government under an form whatever, there will remain a ſurplus of nearly ſix mi [...] ⯑lions and a half out of the preſent Taxes, after paying the in⯑tereſt of the National Debt; and I have ſhewn, in the Secon [...] Part of Rights of Man, what appears to me the beſt mode [...] applying the ſurplus money; for I am now ſpeaking of exper [...] ⯑ces and ſavings, and not of ſyſtems of Government.
I have, in the firſt place, eſtimated the poor-rates at t [...] millions annually, and ſhewn that the firſt effectual ſtep wou [...] be to aboliſh the poor-rates entirely (which would be a ſavi [...] of two millions to the houſe-keepers) and to remit four million [...] out of the ſurplus taxes to the poor, to be paid to them in m [...] ⯑ney in proportion to the number of children in each famil [...] and the number of aged perſons.
I have eſtimated the number of perſons of both ſexes [...] England, of fifty years of age and upwards, at 420,000, a [...] have taken one-third of this number, viz. 140,000, to be po [...] people.
To ſave long calculations, I have taken 70,000 of them [...] be upwards of fifty years of age and under ſixty, and [...] other to be ſixty years and upwards; and to allow ſix pounds [...] [9] [...] to the former claſs, and ten pounds per ann. to the latter. The expence of which will be,
| Seventy thouſand perſons at 6l. per ann. | 420,000 |
| Seventy thouſand perſons at 10l. per ann. | 700,000 |
| £ 1,120,000 |
There will then remain of the four millions 2,880,000l. I have ſtated two different methods of appropriating this money. The one is to pay it in proportion to the number of children in each family, at the rate of three or four pounds per ann. for each child; the other is, to apportion it according to the ex⯑pence of living in different countries; but in either of theſe caſes it would, together with the allowance to be made to the aged, completely take off taxes from one third of all the fa⯑milies in England, beſides relieving all the other families from the burthen of poor-rates.
The whole number of families in England, lotting five ſouls to each family, is one million four hundred thouſand, of which I take one third, viz. 466,666 to be poor families, who now pay four millions of taxes, and that the pooreſt pays at leaſt four guineas a year; and that the other thirteen millions are paid by the other two-thirds. The plan, therefore, as ſtated in the work is, firſt, to remit or repay, as is already ſtated, this ſum of four millions to the poor, becauſe it is impoſſible to ſe⯑parate them from the others in the preſent mode of collecting taxes on articles of conſumption; and, ſecondly, to aboliſh the poor-rates, the houſe and window-light tax, and to change the Commutation Tax into a progreſſive Tax on large eſtates, the particulars of all which are ſet forth in the work, and to which I deſire Mr. ADAM to refer for particulars. I ſhall here con⯑tent myſelf with ſaying, that to a town of the population of Mancheſter, it will make a difference in its favour, compared with the preſent ſtate of things, of upwards of fifty thouſand pounds annually, and ſo in proportion to all other places throughout the nation. This certainly is of more conſequence, than that the Tame ſums ſhould be collected to be afterwards [...]pent by riotous and profligate courtiers, and in nightly revels [...]t the Star and Garter Tavern, Pall-Mall.
I will conclude this part of my letter with an extract from be Second Part of Rights of Man, which Mr. Dundas (a man [...]olling in luxury at the expence of the nation) has branded with the epithet of "wicked."
After this remiſſion of four millions be made, and the Poor Rates and Houſe and Window-light tax be aboliſhed, and the Commutation Tax changed, there will ſtill remain nearly on [...] million and an half of ſurplus taxes; and as by an alliance be⯑tween England, France, and America, armies and navies will, i [...] a great meaſure, be rendered unneceſſary; and as men who have either been brought up in, or long habited to, thoſe lines o [...] life, are ſtill citizens of a nation in common with the reſt, an [...] have a right to participate in all plans of National Benefit, i [...] is ſtated in that work (Rights of Man, Part II.) to apply an⯑nually 507,000l. out of the ſurplus taxes to this purpoſe in th [...] following manner:
| To fifteen thouſand diſbanded ſoldiers, 3s. per week each (clear of deductions) during life | 117,00 |
| Additional pay to the remaining ſoldiers, per ann. | 19,5 [...] |
| To the officers of the diſbanded corps, during life, the ſame ſum of | 117,0 [...] |
| To fifteen thouſand diſbanded ſailors, 3s. per week, during life | 117,0 [...] |
| Additional pay to the remaing ſailors | 19,5 [...] |
| To the officers of the diſbanded part of the navy, during life | 117,0 [...] |
| £. 507,0 [...] |
The limits to which it is proper to confine this letter, w [...] not admit of my entering into further particulars. I addr [...] it to Mr. Dundas, becauſe he took the lead in the debate, a [...] he wiſhes, I ſuppoſe, to appear conſpicuous; but the purp [...] of it is to juſtify myſelf from the charge which Mr. Adam made.
This Gentleman, as has been obſerved in the beginning this letter, conſiders the writings of Harrington, Moore, a [...] [11]Hume, as juſtifiable and legal publications, becauſe they rea⯑ſoned by compariſon, though, in ſo doing, they ſhewed plans and ſyſtems of Government, not only different from, but pre⯑ferable to, that of England; and he accuſes me of endeavour⯑ing to confuſe, inſtead of producing a ſyſtem in the room of that which I had reaſoned againſt; whereas the fact is, that I have not only reaſoned by compariſon of the Repreſentative ſyſtem againſt the Hereditary ſyſtem, but I have gone further; for I have produced an inſtance of a Government eſtabliſhed entirely on the Repreſentative ſyſtem, under which much greater happineſs is enjoyed, much fewer Taxes required, and much higher credit is eſtabliſhed, than under the ſyſtem of Government in England. The Funds in England have riſen ſince the war only from 54l. to 97l. and they have been down, ſince the Pro⯑clamation, to. 87l. whereas the Funds in America roſe in the mean time from 10l. to 120l. His charge againſt me "of de⯑ſtroying every principle of ſubordination," is equally as ground⯑leſs, which even a ſingle paragraph from the work will prove, and which I ſhall here quote:
That two different charges ſhould be brought at the ſame [...]ime, the one by a Member of the Legiſlative for not doing a certain thing, and the other by the Attorney General for doing [...], is a ſtrange jumble of contradictions. I have now juſtified myſelf, or the work rather, againſt the firſt, by ſtating the caſe [...] this letter, and the juſtification of the other will be under⯑taken in its proper place. But in any caſe the work will go on. I ſhall now conclude this Letter with ſaying, that the only [...]jection I found againſt the plan, and principles contained in [...]e Second Part of Rights of Man, when I had written the [...]ook, was, that they would beneficially intereſt at leaſt ninety⯑ [...]e perſons out of every hundred throughout the nation, and herefore would not leave ſufficient room for men to act from [...]e direct and diſintereſted principle of honour; but the pro⯑ [...]tution now commenced has fortunately removed that ob⯑jection, and the approvers and protectors of that work now feel [...]e immediate impulſe of honour, added to that of National [...]ereſt.
LETTER II. To LORD ONSLOW.
[12]I HAVE ſeen in the public News-papers the following Ad⯑vertiſement, to wit—
To the Nobility, Gentlemen, Clergy, Freeholders, an other inhabitants of the County of Surry.
At the requiſtion and deſire of ſeveral of the Freeholder of the County, I am, in the abſence of the Sheriff, to d [...] the favour of your attendance, at a Meeting to be held [...] Epſom, on Monday, the 18th inſtant, at 12 o'clock at noo [...] to conſider of an humble Addreſs to his MAJESTY, to ex⯑preſs our grateful approbation of his MAJESTY'S patern and well-timed attention to the public welfare, in his la [...] moſt gracious Proclamation againſt the Enemies of o [...] happy Conſtitution. (Signed) ONSLOW CRANLEY.
Taking it for granted, that the aforeſaid Advertiſement equally as obſcure as the Proclamation to which it refers, h [...] nevertheleſs, ſome meaning, and is intended to affect ſome pur⯑poſe and as a proſecution (whether wiſely or unwiſely, ju [...] or unjuſtly) is already commenced againſt a work, in [...] Rights of Man, of which I have the honour and the happin [...] to be the author, I feel it neceſſary to addreſs this letter to y [...] and to requeſt that it may be read publicly to the Gentlemen [...] who ſhall meet at Epſom in conſequence of that Advertiſe⯑ment.
The work now under proſecution is, I conceive, the ſ [...] work which is intended to be ſuppreſſed by the aforeſaid [...] ⯑clamation. Admitting this to be the caſe, the Gentlement the county of Surry are called upon by ſomebody to cond [...] a work, and they are at the ſame time forbidden by the [...] ⯑clamation to know what that work is; and they are fu [...] called upon to give their aid and aſſiſtance to prevent [...] people from knowing it alſo. It is therefore neceſſary [...] the author, for his own juſtification, as well as to preven [...] Gentlemen who ſhall meet from being impoſed upon by [...] repreſentation, ſhould give ſome out-lines of the princ [...] and plans which that work contains.
[13]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 other the repreſentative ſyſtem; and it compares thoſe two ſyſtems with each other.
It ſhews, that what is called Hereditary Government cannot exiſt as a matter of right, becauſe Hereditary Government al⯑ways 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 capa⯑city. JAMES the IId. and many others are recorded in the Engliſh hiſtory as proofs of the former of thoſe caſes, and in⯑ſtances 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 further, that it is the only one that can continue the ſame equal probability at all times of admitting none but men properly qualified, both by principles and abilities, into the Government, and of excluding ſuch as are otherwiſe.
The work ſhews alſo, by plans and calculations nor 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 re⯑duced— that the aged Poor may be comfortably provided for, and the children of poor families properly educated—that fif⯑teen 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 allow⯑ance may be made to the officers, and the pay of the remaining ſoldiers and ſailors be encreaſed; and that it is better to ap⯑ply 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 proſecuted, and for the ſup⯑preſſion [14]of which the Proclamation appears to be intended: But as it is impoſſible that I can, in the compaſs of a letter, 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 indirectly 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 pre⯑ſenting them to the Gentlemen who ſhall meet on that occa⯑ſion, 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 relation 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 juſ⯑tice 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 candidly thereon.
I have already informed the Gentlemen, that a proſecution is commenced againſt a work of which I have the honour and hap⯑pineſs to be the author, and I have good reaſons for believing, that the Proclamation which the Gentlemen are called to conſi⯑der, and to preſent an Addreſs upon, is purpoſely 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 Ep⯑ſom, as aiding and abetting the ſame improper, 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 t [...] ſerve on a Jury before whom the judicial caſe was afterward to come. But by calling a Meeting out of the County [...] Middleſex, that matter is artfully avoided, and the Gentlemen of Surry are ſummoned, as if it were intended thereby to gi [...] a tone to the ſort of verdict which the inſtigators of the Meet⯑ing no doubt wiſh ſhould be brought in, and to give counte⯑nance to the Jury in ſo doing.
LETTER III. TO ONSLOW CRANLEY, COMMONDY CALLED LORD ONSLOW.
[15]WHEN I wrote you the Letter which Mr. Horne Tooke did me the favour to preſent to you, as Chairman of the Meeting held at Epſom, Monday, June 18th, it was not with much expectation that you will do me the juſtice of per⯑mitting, or recommending it to be publicly read. I am well aware that the ſignature of Thomas Paine has ſomething in it dreadful to ſinecure Placemen and Penſioners; and when you, on ſeeing the Letter opened, informed the Meeting that it was ſigned Thomas Paine, and added, in a tone of exclamation, "the common enemy of us all;" you ſpoke one of the greateſt truths you ever uttered, if you confine the expreſſion to men of the ſame deſcription with yourſelf; men living in indo⯑lence and luxury, on the ſpoil and labours of the Public.
The Letter has ſince appeared in the Argus, and probably in other papers. It will juſtify itſelf; but if any thing on that account had been wanting, your own conduct at the Meeting would have ſupplied the omiſſion. You there ſufficiently prov⯑ed, that I was not miſtaken in ſuppoſing that the meeting was called to give an indirect aid to the proſecution commenced a⯑gainſt a work, the reputation of which will long out-live the memory of the Penſioner I am writing to.
When meetings, Sir, are called by the partizans of the Court to preclude the nation the right of inveſtigating Syſtems and Principles of Government, and expoſing errors and defects, under the pretence of proſecuting an individual—it furniſhes an additional motive for maintaining ſacred that violated right.
The principles and arguments contained in the work in queſ⯑tion, RIGHTS OF MAN, have ſtood, and they now ſtand, and I believe ever will ſtand, unrefuted. They are ſtated in a fair and open manner to the world, and they have already re⯑ceived the public approbation of a greater number of men, of [16]the beſt of characters, of every denomination of religion, and of every rank in life, (Placemen and Penſioners excepted) than all the Juries that ſhall meet in England, for ten years to come will amount to; and I have moreover good reaſons for believ⯑ing, that the approvers of that work, as well private as public, are already more numerous than all the preſent Electors throughout the nation.
Not leſs than forty pamphlets, intended as anſwers thereto have appeared, and as ſuddenly diſappeared: ſcarcely are the titles of any of them remembered, notwithſtanding their en⯑deavours have been aided by all the daily abuſe which the Court and Miniſterial News-papers, for almoſt a year and a half, could beſtow, both upon the work and the author: and now that every attempt to refute, and every abuſe has failed, the invention of calling the work a Libel has been hit upon, and the diſcomfited party has puſillanimouſly retreated to Pro⯑ſecution, and a Jury, and obſcure Addreſſes.
As I well know that a long Letter from me will not be agreeable to you, I will relieve your uneaſineſs by making it as ſhort as I conveniently can; and will conclude it with tak⯑ing up the ſubject at that part where Mr. Horne Tooke was interrupted from going on when at the Meeting.
That gentleman was ſtating, that the ſituation you ſtood in rendered it improper for you to appear actively in a ſcene in which your private intereſt was too viſible: That you were a Bed-chamber Lord at a thouſand a year, and a Penſioner at 3000l. a year more—and here he was ſtopt by the little, but noiſy circle you had collected round you. Permit me then, Sir, to add an explanation to his words, for the bene⯑fit of your neighbours, and with which, with a few obſerva⯑tions, I ſhall cloſe my letter.
When it was reported in the Engliſh News-papers, ſome ſhort time ſince, that the Empreſs of Ruſſia had given to one of her minions a large tract of country, and ſeveral thouſands of peaſants as property, it very juſtly provoked indignation and abhorrence in thoſe who heard it. But if we compare the mode practiſed in England, with that which appears to u [...] ſo abhorrent in Ruſſia, it will be found to amount to very nearly the ſame thing:—for example:
As the whole of the revenue in England is drawn by taxe [...] from the pockets of the people, thoſe things called gifts and grants (of which kind are all Penſions and Sinecure places) and paid out of that ſtock. The difference, therefore, between th [...] two modes is, that in England the money is collected by th [...] Government, and then given to the Penſioner, and in Ruſſia h [...] is left to collect it for himſelf. The ſmalleſt ſum which th [...] pooreſt family in a county ſo near to London as Surry, can b [...] [17]ſuppoſed to pay annually of taxes, is not leſs than ſive pounds; and as your ſinecure of one thouſand, and penſion of three thouſand per annum, are made up of taxes paid by eight hun⯑dred of ſuch poor families, it comes to the ſame thing as if the eight hundred families had been given to you, as in Ruſſia, and you had collected money on your own account. Were you to ſay that you are not quartered particularly on the peo⯑ple of Surry, but on the nation at large, objection would amount to nothing: for as there are more penſioners than counties, every one may be conſidered as quartered on that in which he lives.
What honour or happineſs you can derive from being the Principal Pauper of the neighbourhood, and occaſioning a greater expence than the poor, the aged, and the infirm, for ten miles round you, I leave you to enjoy. At the ſame time I can ſee that it is no wonder you ſhould be ſtrenuous in ſuppreſſing a book which ſtrikes at the root of thoſe abuſes. No won⯑der that you ſhould be againſt Reforms—againſt the Freedom of the Preſs, and the Right of Inveſtigation. To you and to others of your deſcription, theſe are dreadful things; but you ſhould alſo conſider, that the motives which prompt you to act, ought, by reflection, to compel you to be ſilent.
Having now returned your compliment, and ſufficiently tired your patience, I take my leave of you, with mention⯑ing, that if you had not prevented my former letter from being read at the Meeting, you would not have had the trouble of reading this; and alſo with requeſting, that the next time you call me "a common enemy," you would add, "of us Sinecure Placemen and Penſioners."
LETTER IV. TO MR. SECRETARY DUNDAS.
[18]I Conceive it neceſſary to make you acquainted with the following circumſtances. The Department of Calais ha⯑ving elected me a Member of the National Convention of France, I ſet off from London the 13th inſt. in company with Mr. Froſt, of Spring Gardens, and Mr. Audibert, on of the Municipal Officers of Calais, who brought me the certificate of my being elected. We had not arrived more, I believe, than five minutes at the York Hotel, at Dover, than the train of circumſtances began, that I am going to relate. We had ta⯑ken our baggage out of the carriage and put it into a room, into which we went. Mr. Froſt having occaſion to go out, was ſtopt in the paſſage by a gentleman, who told him, he muſt return into the room, which he did, and the gentleman came in with him and ſhut the door: I had remained in the room. Mr. Audibert had gone to inquire when the packe [...] was to ſail. The gentleman then ſaid, that he was Collector of the Cuſtoms, and had an information againſt us, and muſt examine our baggage for prohibited articles. He produced his commiſſion as Collector. Mr. Froſt demanded to ſee the information, which the Collector refuſed to ſhew, and conti⯑nued to refuſe on every demand that we made. The Collecto [...] then called in ſeveral other officers, and began, firſt, to ſearc [...] our pockets. He took from Mr. Audibert, who was then re⯑turned into the room, every thing he found in his pockets and laid them on the table. He then ſearched Mr. Froſt i [...] the ſame manner (who, among other things, had the key [...] the trunks in his pocket) and then did the ſame by me. M [...] Froſt wanting to go out, mentioned it, and was going toward [...] the door, on which the Collector placed himſelf againſt th [...] door, and ſaid nobody ſhould depart the room. After the ke [...] had been taken from Mr. Froſt (for I had given him the ke [...] of my trunks beforehand, for the purpoſe of his attendi [...] the baggage to the Cuſtoms, if it ſhould be neceſſary) [...] Collector aſked us to open the trunks, preſentings us the ke [...] for that purpoſe; this we declined to do, unleſs he wou [...] [19]produce his information, which he again refuſed. The Col⯑lector then opened the trunks himſelf, and took out every pa⯑per and letter, ſealed or unſealed. On our remonſtrance with him on the bad policy, as well as the illegality of Cuſtom⯑ [...]ouſe Officers ſeizing papers and letters, which were things that did not come under their cognizance, he replied, that the Proclamation gave him that authority.
Among the Letters which he took out of my trunk were two ſealed letters given into my charge by the American Mi⯑niſter at London, one of which was directed to the American Miniſter at Paris; the other to a private gentleman; a letter from the Preſident of the United States, and a letter from the Secretary of State in America, both directed to me, and which. I had received from the American Miniſter now in London, and were private letters of friendſhip; a letter from the Elec⯑toral Body of the Department of Calais, containing the noti⯑fication of my being elected to the National Convention; and a letter from the Preſident of the National Aſſembly, inform⯑ing me of my being alſo elected for the Department of Oiſe.
As we found that all remonſtrances with the Collector, on the bad policy and illegality of ſeizing papers and letters, and detaining our perſons by force, under the pretence of ſearch⯑ing for prohibited articles, were vain (for he juſtified himſelf on the Prolamation, and on the information which he refuſed to ſhew) we contented ourſelves with aſſuring him, that what he was then doing he would afterwards have to anſwer for, and left it to himſelf to do as he pleaſed.
It appeared to us that the Collector was acting under the di⯑rection of ſome other perſon or perſons then in the hotel, but whom he did not chuſe we ſhould ſee, or who did not chuſe to be ſeen by us; for the Collector went ſeveral times out of the room for a few minutes, and was alſo called out ſeveral times.
When the Collector had taken what papers and letters he pleaſed out of the trunks, he proceeded to read them. The firſt letter he took up for this purpoſe was that from the Preſident of the United States to me. While he was doing this, I ſaid, that it was very extraordinary that General Waſhington could [...]ot write a letter of private friendſhip to me without its being [...]ject to be read by a Cuſtom-houſe Officer. Upon this, [...] Froſt laid his hand over the face of the letter, and told the Collector he ſhould not read it, and took it from him. Mr. Froſt, then caſting his eye on the concluding paragraph of he letter, ſaid, I will read this part to you, which he did; [...]f which the following is an exact tranſcript—‘and as no one [...] can feel a greater intereſt in the [...]appineſs of mankind than [...] alſo, it is the firſt wiſh of my heart, that the enlightened po⯑licy [20]of the preſent age may diffuſe to all men thoſe bleſſ⯑ings to which they are entitled, and lay the foundation of happineſs to future generations.’
As all the other letters and papers lay then on the table, the Collector took them up, and was going out of the room with them. During the tranſactions already ſtated, I contented myſelf with obſerving what paſſed, but ſpoke but little; but on ſeeing the Collector going out of the room with the letters, I told him that the papers and letters then in his hand, were either belonging to me, or entruſted to my charge, and that as I could not permit them to be out of my ſight, I muſt inſiſt on going with him.
The Collector then made a liſt of the letters and papers, and went out of the room, giving the letters and papers into the charge of one of the officers. He returned in a ſhort time, and after ſome trifling converſation, chiefly about the Proclama⯑tion, told us that he ſaw the information was ill-founded, and aſked if we choſe to put the letters and papers in the trunk our⯑ſelves: which, as we had not taken them out, we declined doing, and he did it himſelf, and returned us the keys.
In ſtating to you theſe matters, I make no complaint againſt the perſonal conduct of the Collector, or of any of the Officers Their manner was as civil as ſuch an extraordinary piece of buſineſs could admit of.
My chief motive in writing to you on this ſubject is, that you may take meaſures for preventing the like in future, no [...] only as it concerns private individuals, but in order to preve [...] a renewal of thoſe unpleaſant conſequences that have here [...] ⯑fore ariſen between nations from circumſtances equally as i [...] ſignificant. I mention this only for myſelf; but as the inter⯑ruption extended to two other gentlemen, it is probable th [...] they, as individuals, will take ſome more effectual mode [...] redreſs.
P. S. Among the papers ſeized was a copy of the Attorn [...] General's information againſt me for publiſhing the Rights Man, and a printed proof copy of my latter to the Addre [...] which will ſoon be publiſhed.
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CALAIS.
[21]Mr. THOMAS PAINE, after a paſſage of three hours, ar⯑rived here yeſterday from Dover. The different treatment he met with at the two ſea-ports is ſuch as ought to make an En⯑gliſhman bluſh for the character of his nation*.
On the name of PAINE being announced, the ſoldiery at the gates were drawn up, and the officer on guard, having embraced him, preſented him with the National cockade. A very pretty woman, who ſtood by, deſired ſhe might have the honour of putting it in his hat, expreſſing her hopes that he would continue his exertions in favour of Liberty, Equality, and France. This ceremony being over, he walked to DE [...] ⯑ [...]EINS, (whoſe ſtreet is now called Rue de l'Egalité, formerly Rue de Roi) attended by men, women, and children, crowd⯑ing round him, and calling out "Vive THOMAS PAINE!" He was then conducted to the Town-Hall, and there preſented to the Municipality, who, with the greateſt affection, embraced their new Repreſentative. The Mayor then addreſſed him in [...] ſhort ſpeech, which was interpreted to him by Mr. AUDI⯑ [...]ERT, to which PAINE (laying his hand on his heart) replied, ſaying, his life ſhould be devoted to their ſervice.
At the inn he was waited upon by the different perſons in authority, and by the Preſident of the Conſtitutional Society, deſiring he would attend their meeting of that night. The whole town would have been there, had there been room; the [...]all of the 'Minimes' was ſo crowded, that it was with diffi⯑culty they made way for him to the ſide of the Preſident. Over [...]he chair he ſat in was placed the buſt of MIRABEAU, and the colours of France, England, and America, united. A ſpeaker [...]cquainted him, from the tribune, of his election, amidſt the [...]audits of the people. The women did not ſpare their hands; [22]and for ſome minutes nothing was heard but "Vive la Nation! Vive THOMAS PAINE!" in voices male and female. They have appointed an extra meeting in the church to-morrow, in honour of their Deputy to the Convention, the Minimes be⯑ing found quite ſuffocating, from the concourſe of people who attended yeſterday. To-night there is to be a play, at which a box is to be reſerved for the author of "THE RIGHTS OF MAN," the object of the Engliſh Proclamation.
Every thing here has the appearance of peace and quiet⯑neſs. The arſenals are well ſupplied, and are able to ſtand, two years' ſiege.
The Duke of BRUNSWICK is ſtill at Verdun; DUMOU⯑RIER and KELLERMAN have joined in his rear, and he is now ſurrounded by near a hundred thouſand men.
We preſent this Letter of Mr. AUDIBERT to our readers, a an additional confirmation of the riſing proſperity of France the defeat of the Pruſſians at Thionville, and the falſe ſtate⯑ment of continental affairs in the miniſterial papers. Th [...] public will be pleaſed to recollect, that Mr. AUDIBERT wa [...] the gentleman appointed to introduce that profound politician Mr. THOMAS PAINE, to his foreign conſtituents.
YOU deſire to know the ſtate of affairs in France. As th [...] Papers in the pay of Government afford no certain in⯑telligence, but rather endeavour to raiſe the prejudices of you [...] nation againſt mine, I am happy to anſwer your queſtion.
We are now as quiet as ever we were in the moſt profound peace. On the ſeat of war our friends are all buſy, b [...] without confuſion. Paris is calm, Calais is quiet and agreea⯑ble, and many French and Engliſh families arrive here dai [...] If you have any deſire to reſide here, or travel through t [...] country, you may do either with the greateſt ſafety. T [...] you may depend on. The news arrived this day is very [...] ⯑vourable [23]to the cauſe of liberty. The Auſtrians attacked Lille, and were repulſed with great loſs. Thionville was alſo attacked, and the Pruſſian army twice driven back. The Pruſſians loſt 550 men, among whom, the Prince of WAL⯑DECK; two other German Princes were killed, and many wounded. The combined forces attacked General DUMOU⯑RIER's army on three points at once, and were every where repulſed with loſs. Three hundred thouſand men are now marching to annihilate the deſpots and their ſatellites, and I doubt not but before the campaign is finiſhed, that deſirable object will be accompliſhed. Liberty muſt finally triumph throughout the world.
I went to London ten days ago, deputed by the Electoral Aſſembly to conduct hither Mr. THOMAS PAINE (Author of "THE RIGHTS OF MAN") who is choſen a Member of the National Convention. The miniſterial party commiſſioned perſons to purſue us to Dover, to inſult us in a ſcandalous man⯑ner, and ſearch all our papers. The cuſtom-houſe Officers, when reprimanded for their behaving ſo inſolently, told us they were commanded by people of high authority to do ſo. You will ſee this ſubject treated upon in THE ARGUS OF THE CONSTITUTION, and other patriotic papers. I have written to Mr. DUNDAS, and am determined to proſecute the Cuſtom-houſe Officer, to determine publicly, whether miniſ⯑ters, or their creatures, are authorized by the laws of your country to maltreat any perſon who conducts himſelf peaceably and properly. At preſent you only poſſeſs the ſhadow of li⯑berty: but I hope the time is not far diſtant, when we ſhall all not only be nominally but actually free.
Appendix A
Lately publiſhed, and ſold by C. STALKER, Sta⯑tioners' Court, Ludgate-ſtreet,
I. THE CHRISTIAN MISCELLANY; con⯑ſiſting of pieces in proſe and verſe, on re⯑ligious, moral, and other ſubjects. Price 4s. 6d. in boards.
N. B. Thoſe Perſons who have purchaſed th [...] early Numbers of this Work, may, at preſent procure the remainder. Price 6d.each.
II. A RECOMMENDATION OF FAMILY RELIGION: addreſſed to Chriſtians of al [...] Denominations. By B. KINGSBURY. Price 2s.
III. PRAYERS FOR THE USE OF FAMI⯑LIES. By B. KINGSBURY. Price 2s. 6d.
- Citation Suggestion for this Object
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 3705 Paine s four letters Letters on government including both his letters to Mr Dundas with two letters to Lord Onslow and two from Paris By Thomas Paine to which are prefixed anecdotes of his. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5F47-B