of time 't is possible that in the Management of their Product and Foreign Traffick they may come to interfere with and bring Prejudice to their Mother-Nation And remote Fears being allowable where the whole Safety of a State is concern'd they should not wonder to see England so much alarm'd at the Progress they make in the Woollen Manufacture As has been said before 'T is so great a Part of our Exportation that any considerable Failure and Interruption therein must set the Ballance of Trade against us with a Witness it falls therefore naturally into our present Subject to say something of this Matter Last Session of Parliament a Bill pass'd the House of Commons and was committed in the House of Lords For Prohibiting the Exportation of the Woollen Manufactures of Ireland to Foreign Parts This Point has of late been much debated and the general Subject of Men's Discourses The Writer of these Papers was then inclin'd to the milder Side being indeed in his Judgment against Prohibitions because most of such as are come within his Observation seem to have been push'd on without Doors rather for private Ends and to serve some particular Turn than calculated to produce any publick Benefit But having now more maturely consider'd this nice Controversie he begins to lean to their Opinion who think such a Bill necessary and more especially if the Promoters of it can make out the Suggestions upon which it was founded Where the Common-wealth is truly concern'd and where her Safety is in Question they have very narrow Minds who let their Compassion be too much extended to private Objects Our chief Tenderness should be towards her and rough Examples in the infancy of a Mischief are rather merciful than cruel because fewer People suffer then than would otherwise do if the Evil were permitted to take deeper Root If their Manufactures interfere with ours so as to hurt England it must be undoubtedly adviseable to intercept their Growth by some effectual Law betimes before such an Error in Government grow too big for our Correction before too many Families have turn'd their Stock that way before they have increas'd their Stock of Sheep or bred up too great a number of Artists all which Circumstances would make their Case yet harder for we should preserve our selves with as little Hurt to them as possible But it seems some People make a doubt whither or no we have Power thus to intermeddle in their Matters questioning whether Laws made here are binding upon them till they have receiv'd a Sanction in their own Parliament And Mr. Molyneux counts it a very extravagant Notion that has not the least Colour from Reason or Record to term them a Colony from England But we must beg leave to differ with him in Opinion For we take them so far to be a Colony in the Sense by the Interpretation both of Law and Reason as renders them still dependant upon their Mother-Kingdom Nor is this at all impugn'd by the Concessions made to the ancient Irish by Henry the 2d King John and Henry the 3d but to set this in a better Light the Posture of Ireland in those Times must be consider'd The first Adventurers that went over thither namely Richard the Son of Strongbow and Robert Fitz-Stephen who stipulated under certain Conditions to assist Dermot Fitz-Murchard had not a strength sufficient to reduce the Country and little was done towards it of any Consequence till the Expedition of Henry the 2d Anno 1172. with a Royal Army to whom the Clergy Nobility Gentry and People made an absolute Surrender of the Kingdom and by the description Historians give of it it seems to have been that sort of Yielding which the Romans call'd Deditio which was se dare in Manus Potestatem Arbitrium And their giving themselves up to Henry the 2d without a Battel or Blood-shed gave him yet a stronger Title because the Act was less constrain'd and more flowing from the Will 'T is true so wild and numerous a People were not to be kept in Order by a handful of new Inhabitants the King therefore gave them a Constitution by which they were to govern themselves as a free Country under him their Lord. After this the Dominion thereof was settled upon John his Youngest Son and two and twenty Years after in him re-united to the Crown of England From King John Henry the 3d and their Successors the ancient Irish and the first Adventurers of whom many as Mr. Spencer has observ'd have taken the Names Manners and Humours of the Natives derive several Franchises and Immunities and among the rest to hold a Parliament The Story of those Times is it self dark but the Reason of their Councils is yet darker From Mathew Paris and Giraldus Cambrensis it appears That these Concessions were made to the Body of the Old Irish tho' but few in Practice submitted to them for to use Mr. Spencer's own Words To whom did King Henry the 2 d impose those Laws Not to the Irish for the most of them fled from his Power into Desarts and Mountains leaving the wide Country to the Conquerour who in their stead eftsoons plac'd English Men who possess'd all their Lands and did quite shut out the Irish or the most part of them And to those new Inhabitants and Colonies he gave his Laws to wit the same Laws under which they were born and bred the which it was no difficulty to place among them being formerly well inur'd thereunto unto whom afterwards there repair'd divers of the Poor distress'd People of the Irish for Succour and Relief of whom such as they thought fit for Labour and industriously dispos'd as the most part of their baser sort are they receiv'd unto them as their Vassals but scarcely vouchsaf'd to impart unto them the benefit of those Laws under which themselves liv'd but every One made his Will and Commandment a Law unto his own Vassal Thus was not the Law of England ever properly apply'd unto the Irish Nation as by a purpos'd Plot of Government but as they could insinuate and steal themselves under the same by their humble Carriage and Submission But after this during the Wars between the House of York and Lancaster they shook off both the Rule and Laws of England repossessing their ancient Seats driving us by degrees to that which was properly call'd the English Pale In truth it does not appear That they embrac'd our Form of Government for a great while So that the Models of it given heretofore from hence seem chiefly to have been intended for the better Rule of our own People not but they were likewise meant as a Benefit to the Irish if they would be contented to become a more civiliz'd Nation If their ancient Parliament Rolls were extant it would more plainly appear what use they made of their Constitution and thereby it would be seen whither or no both their House of Lords and Commons did not chiefly consist of the
Matter what he lays down is by way of Hypothesis That supposing the Inhabitants of England to have been Anno 1300 Two Millions 860,000 Heads by the orderly Series of Increase allow'd of by all Writers they may probably be about Anno 1700 Five Millions 500,000 Heads but if they were An. 1300 either less or more the Case must proportionably alter for as to his Allowances for Plagues great Mortalities Civil Wars the Sea and the Plantations they seem very reasonable and not well to be contraverted Upon these Schemes of Mr. King we shall make several Remarks tho' the Text deserves much a better Comment The People being the first Matter of Power and Wealth by whose Labour and Industry a Nation must be Gainers in the Ballance their Increase or Decrease must be carefully observ'd by any Government that designs to thrive that is their Increase must be promoted by good Conduct and wholesome Laws and if they have been Decreas'd by War or any other Accident the Breach is to be made up as soon as possible for it is a Maim in the Body Politick affecting all its Parts Almost all Countries in the World have been more or less Populous as Liberty and Property have been there well or ill secur'd The first Constitution of Rome was no ill founded Government a Kingly Power limited by Laws and the People increas'd so fast that from a small beginning in the Reign of their Sixth King they were able to send out an Army of 80000 Men. And in the time of the Common-wealth in that Invasion which the Gauls made upon Italy not long before Hannibal came thither they were grown so numerous as that their Troops consisted of 700,000 Foot and 70,000 Horse 't is true their Allies were comprehended in this Number but the ordinary People fit to bear Arms being Muster'd in Rome and Campania amounted to 250,000 Foot and 23,000 Horse Nothing therefore can more contribute to the rendering England Populous and Strong than to have Liberty upon a right Foot and our legal Constitution firmly preserv'd A Nation may be as well call'd free under a limited Kingship as in a Common-wealth and 't is to this good Form of our Government that we partly owe that doubling of the People which has probably happen'd here in the 435 Years last past And if the Ambition of some and the Mercenary Temper of others should bring us at any time to alter our Constitution and to give up our ancient Rights we shall find our Numbers diminish visibly and fast For Liberty encourages Procreation and not only keeps our own Inhabitants among us but invites Strangers to come and live under the shelter of our Laws The Romans indeed made use of an Adventitious Help to enlarge their City which was by incorporating Foreign Cities and Nations into their Common-wealth but this way is not without its Mischiefs For the Strangers in Rome by degrees had grown so numerous and to have so great a Vote in the Councils that the whole Government began to totter and decline from its old to its new Inhabitants Which Fabius the Censor observing he apply'd a Remedy in time by reducing all the new Citizens into four Tribes that being contracted into so narrow a space they might not have so malignant an influence upon the City An Act of General Naturalization would likewise probably Increase our Numbers very fast and repair what Loss we may have suffer'd in our People by the late War 'T is a Matter that has been very warmly contended for by many good Patriots but peradventure it carries also its Danger with it which perhaps would have the less Influence by this Expedient namely If an Act of Parliament were made That no Heads of Families hereafter to be naturaliz'd for the first Generation should have Votes in any of our Elections But as the Case stands it seems against the Nature of right Government that Strangers who may be Spies and who may have an Interest opposite to that of England and who at best ever join in one Link of Obsequiousness to the Ministers should be suffer'd to intermeddle in that important Business of sending Members to Parliament From their Sons indeed there is less to fear who by Birth and Nature may come to have the same Interest and Inclinations as the Natives And tho' the Expedient of Fabius Maximus to contract the Strangers into four Tribes might be reasonable where the Affairs of a whole Empire were transacted by Magistrates chosen in one City yet the same Policy may not hold good in England Foreigners cannot influence Elections here by being dispers'd about in the several Counties of the Kingdom where they can never come to have any considerable strength But some time or other they may endanger the Government by being suffer'd to remain such vast Numbers of 'em here in London where they inhabit all together at least 30000 Persons in two Quarters of the Town without inter-marrying with the English or learning our Language by which Means for several Years to come they are in a way still to continue Foreigners and perhaps may have a Foreign Interest and Foreign Inclinations To permit this cannot be adviseable or safe It may therefore be proper to limit any new Acts of Naturalization with such Restrictions as may make the Accession of Strangers not dangerous to the Publick An Accession of Strangers well regulated may add to our Strength and Numbers but then it must be compos'd of Labouring Men Artificers Merchants and other rich Men and not of Foreign Soldiers since such fright and drive away from a Nation more People than their Troops can well consist of For if it has been ever seen that Men abound most where there is most Freedom China excepted whose Climate excells all others and where the exercise of the Tyranny is mild and easie it must follow that People will in time desert those Countries whose best Flower is their Liberties if those Liberties are thought Precarious or in Danger That Foreign Souldiers are dangerous to Liberty we may produce Examples from all Countries and all Ages but we shall instance only one because it is eminent above all the rest The Carthaginians in their Wars did very much use Mercenary and Foreign Troops and when the Peace was made between them and the Romans after a long Dispute for the Dominion of Sicily they brought their Army home to be Paid and Disbanded which Gesco their General had the Charge of Embarking who did order all his Part with great Dexterity and Wisdom But the State of Carthage wanting Mony to clear Arrears and satisfie the Troops was forc'd to keep them up longer than was design'd The Army consisted of Gauls Ligurians Baleareans leareans and Greeks At first they were insolent in their Quarters in Carthage and were prevail'd upon to remove to Sicca where they were to remain and expect their Pay There they grew presently corrupted with Ease and Pleasure and fell into Mutinies and
and Scions from the great Trunk of the Republick had all of 'em the Face of Formal Governments they had Magistracies and Councils Power of Life and Death and to raise Mony for their Common Safety and to make Laws for their better Rule but this is no Argument that they had all the Parts of Sovereign Empire 'T is true the Inhabitants of Ireland from ancient Concessions have a Priviviledge perhaps above the Roman Colonies namely to Tax themselves by their own Suffrages within their own Limits but this is no more than what is claim'd by several Provinces of France which nevertheless account themselves subordinate to the Sovereign Power of the whole State There is a part of Empire not communicable and which must reside Sovereignly somewhere for there would be such a perpetual clashing of Power and Jurisdictions as were inconsistant with the very Being of Communities unless this last Resort were somewhere lodg'd Now this Incommunicable Power we take to be the Supream Judgment of what is best and most expedient for the whole and in all Reason of Government this ought to be there trusted and lodged from whence Protection is expected That Ireland should judge of what is best for it self is just and fair but in Determinations that are to reach the whole as namely what is most expedient for England and Ireland both there without all doubt the Supream Judgment ought to rest in the King Lords and Commons of England by whose Arms and Treasure Ireland ever was and must always be defended Nor is this any claiming the same Empire over Scotland as Mr. Molyneux would suggest for there is no Parity of Reason in the Cases Scotland to England as Aragon to Spain is a distinct State governing it self by different Laws tho' under the same Prince and is truly but a Kingdom Confederated with the Realm of England tho' subject to our King The Land thereof was not acquir'd to the present Inhabitants by the Arms of England protect them we do as the Strongest Allies always are to defend the Weaker but this puts 'em not in the Degree of Subordination we are treating of They are not our Discendants and they are but Politically our Brethren whereas the English-Irish who are now chief Lords of that Soil are naturally our Offspring Their Inferior Rule and Jurisdictions are not disputed but that Super-eminent Dominion and supream and uncontrollable Regiment over themselves which they pretend to is neither safe for England to grant nor for them to ask Such a Power would be dangerous because by some Accident it may come to be so exercis'd as to be their and our Ruin We have had bad Kings and those Kings have had evil Counsellors Suppose us then in some future Age under such Circumstances as to have a Prince and his Council so angry with the People as to desire their Destruction which was our Case once with King John who would have sold us to the Moors to wreak his own Discontents And suppose this Prince willing to set up Ireland in opposition to this Kingdom may not a Prince so dispos'd give the Royal Assent to Laws in Ireland that would utterly destroy England And what Remedy would Poining's Act be in such a Juncture In a Case like this what way have the People of England to preserve themselves but to represent their Grievance to the Prince Who when he sees the Error of his Council may be induc'd to join in some Supream Exercise of the Legislature here coercive and such as may keep Ireland in the degree of Subordination that seems requisite to the well-being of both Nations Suppose a Prince bent to hurt England should give his Assent to a Law there That the Irish may transport all their Wool to Foreign Countries would not this as they say cut the Turf from under our Feet and at one blow in a manner ruin all our Woollen Manufactures There are many other Instances in which if they were indulg'd the greatest part of our Traffick would be carry'd to their Ports In Matters of Trade even the best of Kings may be surpris'd of which we have a late Example and the ill Consequences the Scotch Act will probably have ought to make us very watchful over what our Neighbours do especially where they depend upon us That the greatest part of the present Inhabitants of Ireland chiefly those who claim the Land-Property are a Colony from England has been here peradventure sufficiently made out and we take it to be their best Hold to be always so accompted because it gives them a lasting Title to be protected and defended by us And if they are a Colony it would be a strange Defect in our Constitution if we wanted any of the Powers requisite to pursue the Ends of Government of which the Principal is to take care that no one part of the People be permitted to hurt the other but if the Legislature of England cannot in Important Matters restrain that of Ireland Ireland is at least in a Capacity to ruin England which would make our Form of Government at one and the same time Ridiculous and Dangerous But to be thus out of our Jurisdiction would in the Conclusion be as fatal to them as to us for tho' they should grow Rich at our Expence and tho' a large part of our Trade were diverted thither they would not yet be able to subsist alone and by themselves And if we by Loss of our Trade become weaken'd how can we give them that Assistance which from time to time they have always wanted So that this division of Strength would be destructive to both Countries It must therefore be their Interest as well as Ours That the Supream Power and the chief Wealth should be ever preserv'd to Center here in the Seat of Empire Upon the whole Matter it seems the Right of England and as well for the Benefit of Ireland its best and noblest Colony that the Legislative Authority here should upon all Emergencies make such Regulations and Restrictions relating to Trade especially as shall be thought for the Weal-Publick of both Countries And having premis'd these Things we shall proceed to handle more closely the Subject of our Question namely Whither it is necessary to Prohibit by Law the Exportation of Woollen Manufacture from Ireland to Foreign Parts To put an early Stop to their turning their Stock and Industry this way appears requisite for many Reasons First Ireland contains near a half as much Territory as England and the Soil being of the same Nature may be brought to produce near a half as much Wool as England yields and this Material being the Basis upon which our Trade is built they who can come near us in it will come just so near us in our Trade abroad Secondly Countries thinly Peopled can sooner improve in the Breed of Cattle than any other way because 't is a Work which a few Hands may manage Thirdly Where there is Plenty of a
and Designing Men may desire to embroyl their Masters affairs only to make him more Dependant upon their Arts hereafter Men of Arbitrary Principles may designedly neglect the Concerns and Care of Foreign Traffick with a Purpose to Impoverish and so to enslave the People In the next Age likewise designing Ministers may take Advantage of the Martial Temper of a Prince and instead of reigning in his High Courage with grave Councils they may disguise from him the true State of his Affairs and push him on to a new War without making right Provisions or without such previous Leagues as may make it tollerable in the Progress or happy in the Conclusion and perhaps they may desire the Semblance of a War only to have a Pretence for a Standing Army For the Benefit therefore of future times it may be proper to show by what steps those Vices and Immoralities that affect the Public first creep into a Country and what Progress they come afterwards to make and to show what sort of Men and what kind of Councils intangle a Princes Affairs But tho this Paper be directed to Posterity and tho 't is nothing but a Caution to future times yet probably it may offend some Persons who are tender in these Matters However we shall venture to affirm that if this Nation should ever be under any great Disorder the truest Course to mend it will be to plant in the Minds of the better sort Morality and the Shame of doing ill to their Country And we shall presume to assert that observing the Rules and Dictates of Virtue does not only lead to Heaven and a blessed State hereafter but is the best way of securing to a People in general Prosperity Peace Safety Power and Happiness in this present World To trace those Men who may design to change this Constitution in all their dark and crooked Ways and to follow 'em in all their Mazes will be difficult however we shall do our best to describe the Persons and to show their Councils that they may be narrowly watch'd by all such as love their Country But to do this we must take a short view of things past and a little consider the Posture of Affairs at the Restoration of King Charles the 2d and how they stood during his Reign and the Reign of his Successor When that Prince was recall'd from Exile by the Voice of the whole People who had been tired with the many Changes in Government that happened from Cromwell's Death to the year 1660 't was almost impossible but that we should run from one to the other Extream And 't was reasonable to fear that Men should readily embrace Servitude who knew not how to make a right use of Liberty Upon which Accompt many have wonder'd why our Antient Form of Government was not at that time alter'd and how it came to pass we did not then embrace Absolute Monarchy But we are to consider that King Charles was a young Prince more inclined to taste the Pleasures of Power than willing to feel its Weight He had undergone many Troubles which he intended to recompence with great Ease and Luxury so that the rugged work of Subverting the Laws suited neither with his Age nor Temper Had he lived longer as Time and Opposition began to sowr his Blood what he might have attempted is very doubtful Besides the unactive Genius of the King there happen'd then another Circumstance very fortunate for England which was that the Services and Merit of the Chancellor Clarendon and the Treasurer Southampton did strongly induce him to put the Administration of his Affairs into their Hands They were both Persons of Age and Experience They had known the former Reign They had seen the Grounds and Rise of the Civil War They understood the Nature of our Constitution They saw what had depos'd one King and found that unlimited Power was hard to compass and difficult to keep And having their Masters Ear and at first a large share in his Affection They kept Him within Bounds The Skill in the Laws of One the Eloquence of the Other the General Abilities of both made 'em esteem'd by the People and awful to their very Prince and this gave a weight to all their Councils They had Authority enough in their Persons to be listen'd to when they spoke bold and necessary Truths having Superiour Knowledge and Desert too to be heard they did not stand in need of saying always what was pleasing which is the miserable and servile Condition of Upstart Weak and Obscure Statesmen But less were they oblig'd to Flatter every Flatterer Having a Foundation of Merit they scorn'd the mean Aid of Parties or to be the wretched Journey-men of any dark Cabal Knowing what was their Masters and the Nations Interest and intending to promote both They gave wholsome Advice without Fear of offending either Prince or People That Kingly Government was then kept within the Limits of the Law That our Constitution was not given up between the Fears of One and the Hopes of the Other Party and that our Civil Rights were still preserv'd was chiefly owing to the Wisdom Courage and Integrity of those two able Statesmen But even then and all along afterwards there were still some among us impatient to make their Master Absolute They consisted principally of such as had large Ambition and Slender Merit who are the best Instruments for any Tyranny These were ever embroiling the King with his Parliament either to protect them or to justifie some of their illegal Actions Sometimes they got him to appear a violent Church-man and at other seasons to favour the Dissenters but at no time to take Care of Religion itself They perswaded Him to extend the Regal Power in every thing They got him to seize all the Charters in order to influence Elections By their Councils He rais'd an Army under Colour of declaring War with France By their Instruments They made him absolute in Scotland at the same time doing what they could to weaken the Protestant Interest in Ireland But their chief Aim was to procure Him so large a standing Revenue as might make Parliaments useless for the future 'T is true they propos'd this Revenue for his Life only but if that first step had been made it had not been difficult afterwards to entail it on the Crown Besides what has been granted to one Prince has been always continu'd to his Successor without any Struggle That these Things were done with a Design to change the Constitution is visible enough And 't is as evident that these Councils were either promoted by Persons who wanted the Sublime Part of Wisdome necessary for the Conduct of Great Affairs and therefore were to form a Government that might subsist by Tricks and Arts or they were forg'd by a set of Men whose Avarice and Ambition no Regular Establishment could satisfie whose Crimes a Free State would look into and whose Arbitrary Proceedings a Parliament would not suffer They
were therefore to build their Fortunes Gratifie their High Desires and find Impunity by setting up the Regal Power above the Laws In the next Reign yet more open Invasions were made upon our Liberties not by the same Men but by Men acting upon the same Principles But they proceeded more cunningly before than afterwards For in the former Reign 't was thought best to begin with altering the Constitution and that when this was done Religion might be chang'd of course But the hot Zeal of the Catholicks would not permit 'em to go by Slow and Regular Measures They therefore made a strange and unpolitick Attempt never like to suceeed which was first to Convert and then to Inslave the Nation While these Matters were transacting there appeared all along Persons both in and out of the Court who did most Virtuously oppose those Designs that first secretly and then openly were forming against their Country As some were contriving to Subvert our Civil Rights others did as carefully watch their Preservation which Invading and Defending divided England into what was then call'd the Court and Country Party Never was Liberty more cunningly attacked nor more Nobly Protected than in that House of Commons which sat Eighteen Years It contained bold bad Men with Hearts and Heads fit to contrive the Subversion of a State But there were in it also Persons of another Character very Great indeed with quite Superior Judgments and with Minds so rightly adapted for Government that the Weight of a whole Empire might be safely repos'd upon their Shoulders in whom Conversation with the dead Wisdom of past Ages was join'd with Experience and a perfect Knowledge of this present World These brave Spirits from the Beginning resisted that Inundation of Flattery and servile Complyance with which great Revolutions in Corrupt times are certain to be attended They Vigorously opposed that Unanimous Band which diligently promoted Arbitrary Power Sometimes they sav'd us when we were within three or four Votes of utter Ruin They hindered that Increase of the Kings Revenue which alone would have put an end to Parliaments These were the Prime Leaders of such whom the People for some Years were pleas'd to Term the Country Party and by Good Patriots so call'd our Constitution was for a while preserv'd But after the Year 1679. on both sides the Minds of Men grew so inflam'd and such Animosities did arise between 'em that they could no longer call one another by the Civil Appellation of Court and Country Party so that the different sides began to be distinguish'd by other sort of Names 'T is indeed below the Gravity of a Sober Writer to use the Common Cant words of the Town but 't is sometimes unavoidable especially when that which was only Mirth and Cant at first became at last a serious Matter The Accidental words of Guelf and Ghibelin in Process of time grew to be the Names of Powerful Parties into which several Countreys were divided and in which Emperors Kings Popes and Princes engag'd and these Names of distinction continued for some Ages producing Wars and Actions of great Importance In the same manner the Words of Whig and Tory intended at first as reciprocal Reproaches in a short time grew to be the Names by which two great Parties were contented to be call'd and into which in a manner the whole Nation was divided They were termed Whigs and indeed they called themselves so who under another Name had heretofore opposed the Corrupt aud illegal Proceedings of the Court who foresaw the Dangers that would arise from a Catholick King who were for correcting the Exorbitances of Westminster Hall and for putting a stop to extravagant Fines aud who made a resolute stand and would give no more Money till the Habeas Corpus Act was passed and till the new rais'd Army was disbanded and who did their utmost against the Surrender and Regulating of Charters In the next Reign the same Men or Men acting upon the same Principle declar'd themselves against taking off the Test and Penal Laws They show'd an open Dislike in Parliament of Catholicks being put into Offices of Trust They abhorr'd the Cruel Executions in the West They oppos'd the Violent Prosecution of the Seven Bishops And lastly They were ready and active with their Councils and Assistance to bring over the Redeemer of England A Man is but young at Nineteen but a Party may be thought old that is of so long a standing The Persons just now described were the Old Whigs whose Principles will be reverenc'd in future Ages by all such as love their Country 'T is true some Persons did join with these and call themselves Whigs who had all along other Views than the Nations Service whom Disappointments had sowr'd who oppos'd to be taken off and who did not like a Court because a Court did not like them But they who swim against the Tide must make use of all Helps and in Corrupt Times even the best Patriots have refus'd no sort of Men that could any ways assist the Public the Good and Bad of these altogether were call'd the Whig Party To what had been formerly stil'd the Court Side the People afterwards gave the Name of Tories And we shall give an Account of what sort of Persons this Party was compos'd The Bulk of 'em consisted of such as were descended from the Cavaliers whose Families had suffer'd very much by the Civil War and who by Education were season'd with an early Love to Kingly Government They were Jealous that all Motions tending to preserve Liberty savour'd of the Common-wealth with whose Weight their Fathers had been so lately Crush'd A most unwise Generation of Men to have any Fears that a Commonwealth could be restor'd in a Country so corrupted Many of them were much of that Principle of which Tacitus describes Marcellus Eprius to have been who said in the Senate Se meminisse Temporum qui bus natus sit quam Civitatis formam Patres Avique instituerint ulteriora mirari presentia sequi bonos Imperatores voto expetere qualescunque tolerare Many of 'em were debauch'd by Pomp and Splendour and in the Heat of their Youth they lik'd the Pleasures of a Court but the Riots of it compell'd many of 'em at last to depend upon its Favours Others embrac'd the Regal Power more warmly because they saw many of the Opposite Side bitter against the Church not so desirous to Correct any of its Errors as willing to lay the Ax to its very Root Others link'd themselves with this Band out of a Cautious Temper and through a Fear that contending with the Court might produce another War Some gave into this side out of Gratitude to King Charles and Many through meer Affection to his Person for without doubt He was a most engaging Prince Others went into it from a real Conviction of their Minds that the King was not safe without more Power to which Opinion they were chiefly led by observing the
Derelict Et primi Occupantis We do not observe it has been so order'd in that Kingdom that both the Body of the People and the Public too are Poor at one and the same Instant their Ministers have not suffer'd the Commonwealth to be consum'd by Usurious Contracts with the Common Lenders and by their Care and Wisdom they have obtain'd such Credit even under a Despotick Power that they have not been forc'd all along to pay above 7 per Cent. Interest for Money lent the King whereas 40 per Cent. has been paid for mighty Sums in one Free Government so that upon the whole Matter 't is evident enough that this Devouring Monster War is to be fed where the Men of Business are Honest Foreseeing and Frugal for the State Mix'd Governments among many other Excellencies have this Advantage that a good Administration may be obtain'd by any one part of the Constitution that will set it self strongly to so good a Work Kings can at all times set things right if the Business of their Wars do not compel 'em to be often Absent Either of the Houses when they have set themselves to inquire into and correct Disorders have been terrible to the most Bold Subtile and most Powerful Statesmen that ever went about to undo a People or to mislead a Prince If in any future Reign the Treasure of this Kingdom should be mis-manag'd and profusely wasted and if Debts hardly to be waded through should be contracted the Representatives of the People may by looking strictly into all these Matters perhaps immediately lessen the publick Engagements at least they may put some Stop to the farther Progress of the Mischief In such a Juncture good Men will think it their Duty to see whether this Debt is not to be lessen'd by reviewing former Accompts they will examine whether the Sums already granted were not sufficient to pay off all the Forces we have had at Land and Sea They will inquire from whence such a high Article of Arrears proceeds They will see how so many Fonds come to be Deficient and whether such Deficiencies have not been occasion'd by some ill Conduct in those who have manag'd the respective Branches They will inform themselves which way the many Millions are gone which the People have paid They will desire to know what Necessities could compel the Men of Business to give such large Premiums and high Interest and whether the Promoters of a Council so pernicious did not lend their own Money and whether they have not been Parties deeply concern'd themselves in all usurious Contracts They will inquire upon what Consideration and for what Services immoderate Grants of Lands and Money have been made and they will do it the more strictly if when such Grants were pass'd it should happen that the Nation was indebted and paid heavy Taxes The Representatives of the People can look into all these things and no Doubt it is a Duty which they owe their Countrey that has trusted 'em with so unlimited a disposal of their Fortunes To prevent Mismanagement in the Revenue of this Kingdom it seems necessary that a Law should be made to put the Lords of the Treasury under such an Oath as the Lord High Treasurer of England takes for it appears an Absurdity in our Government that the meanest Officer concern'd in the King's Revenue should be sworn to a true and faithful Discharge of his Trust and that the Treasury who are trusted with the whole whose Authority is so boundless and who have it so much in their Power to hurt the Nation should be under no Oath at all Some Objections there are against this but he who considers 'em well will find 'em of no weight and that those Necessities which have broken into and over-rul'd the Ancient Course of the Exchequer might have been avoided by Care and Conduct If in future Times England should have any Grounds to doubt that the Treasure of the Public has been Imbezzel'd if prodigious Fortunes rais'd in ten Years by obscure Men who have had no Dealings but with the Court should Minister Occasion of Suspition if Resumptions should be thought fit we mean in Cases where Persons of no Merit have been inrich'd with the Kingdom 's Spoils if it should be thought reasonable to see whether any thing is to be sav'd in an immense Debt out of the unwarrantable Gains which the Lenders have made if it should be judg'd expedient to inquire into any Male-Administration in those through whose Hands the Revenue passes if it should be deem'd necessary Thrift to look into all Pensions if it should be thought reasonable fairly and impartially to state the Accompt of so many Millions given and expended so great and difficult a Work as a Strict Inquiry into all these Matters will prove cannot be enter'd upon and brought to a good Conclusion but by the united Wisdom of the Nation No other Power can face that Strong League which will be made between Fellow Criminals to save one another Ordinary Remedies prevail but little against stubborn and inveterate Diseases If therefore our Affairs should be ever in disorder the Legislative Authority can bring the most effectual Helps to set us right And in such a Case peradventure it may be thought advisable to promote a Bill That such sort of Abuses as have been here described and all other Male-administration of the like kind may be inquir'd into by Committees of both Houses to sit in the Interval of Parliament with all requisite Powers without Salaries and to be chosen by Ballot And supposing past Errors to be too big for Correction yet so Awfull an Authority and the fear that it will from time to time be renew'd may for the future be some Check to the growing Corruptions of the Age. All the Premises consider'd we submit it to better Judgments whether it is not the Duty of such as represent their Country To look narrowly into the Income and Expence of the Kingdom and to examin which way immense Debts have been contracted and how that Money has been dispos'd of which the Nation has already granted Sixthly That They should hold a Strong Hand over the Men of Business calling those to an Account who either through Folly or upon some wicked Design pursue destructive Measures Helvidius Priscus after the Example of his Father-in-law Petus Thrasea in the Philosophy he made use of to fit himself for the Service of his Common-wealth follow'd the Opinion of the Stoick who plac'd all Good and Evil in Honesty or Dishonesty accounting the Gifts of Fortune such as high Birth Power and Wealth to be but things indifferent towards the constituting of Happiness which they define to be internal only in the Mind But tho' Aristides Socrates Phocion Publicola Cinciunatus Attilius Regulus and many others have been great Men under a constant and willing Poverty yet without doubt Nobility and Riches help good Spirits on of their way and set 'em forward He that is high