Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-04-29 00:00:00, page 2

;ASSA NDRA to CATO. Number 111.
I FIAV E engaged in the present political controver
sy with a design to be of lervice to my country.
O' an impartial enquiry into the prefect state of the
Braith conftittition, it appears to me that it is out of
the power of the Briulh legislature to give us security
for the future enjoyment of our rights and liberties,
and on this ground I have cppofed a re-union. Ihave
examined every thing advanced by you on the fubjed,
and find them wide of the mark. The point with me
has ever been, what wiFtfecure our liberties ? The que
stion of interest is ever determined thereby. National
prosperity and national happiness, are incompatible
with national Slavery. It is of small consequence to
America, whether God has granteda King to the peo
ple of Britain or not; or whether the constitution of
their government answers excellently to the inhabi
tants of that island, if dependence on that excellent
'form of government is big with favery and ruin to
America.
If you mean not to bold your countrymen in fiafpence
until the day of faivation is pale, I call upon you to
prove that Great-Britain can offer any plan of conflitu
tional dependence which will not leave the future ecj< y
ment of our liberties to hope, hazard, and uncertainty,
as the Forester has finely exprelLdit. And that if Pae
cun there is a probability she will. If the one is im
possible; of the other altogether improbable, yourfeif
must acknowledge it is time to part.
By the constitution of Great Britain the prefect Par
liament can make no law which shall bind any future
one. For as the author of lex Parßsme<taria or law of
Parliament observes, page 77, when treating of the
power and authority of Parliaments, " Tho’ it be ap
" parent, what tranfeendent power and authority the
" Parliament hath, and though divers. Parliaments have
" attempted to bar, restrain, suspend, qualify, or
" make void the power of Jubfequent Parliaments; yet
" could they never effect it : For the latter Parliament
" hath ever power to abrogate, fog,end, quad,, explain,
" or make void the former in the whole, or in any part
" thereof, notwithstanding any words of restraint, pre
" hibirion, or penalty in the former. For it is a max
" im in the law of Parliament, quod leges poferioics
" priores contraries akrogant." Therefore should any
Parliament give up, renounce, and forever quit claim
to the right of making laws to bind us in any case what
ever; yet it can constitutionally Stipulate for no longer
than that one fitting. They have As fu 1 power and au
thority to revive and enforce the claim at their next fitting
as if such renunciation had never taken place. Is it wis
dom then, or is there fafety in entering upon terms of ac
commodation with a power which cannot stipulate for the
performance of its engagements ? If we are foolifh enough
to do this, mud not our future security depend entire
ly on the quill of a Britifo Parliament, i. e. cf a L'ri
) tfh Mixifry ? Q
This in my opinion must form an inftiperable obstacle
to reconciliation in the mind of every honest man and
sincere lover ofliberty on the continent.
A second reason against reconciliation is, that the
British confutation is so effidually undermined by the
influence of the Crown, that the people of Britain
have no security for the enjoyment of their own liberties,
and therefore America can never be fafe in being de
pendent on such a state.
The author of " an historical efiy on the English
" constitution," printed anno 1771. fays, “ I (hall not
6< hesitate to date the decline of our constitution,
" from the Revolution. William the 3d and lis
“ Parliament began the practice of restraining the elec
c' tive power of the people, by the legislative authori
“ ty. A power that might become ten thousand times
" more dangerous, to the elective rights of the people,
" than the crown could ever possibly be. For whenever
“ the a&ive parts of a government, founded upon the
" common rights of mankind, shall usurp a power to
" restrain, or destroy those rights, from whence they
" derive their authority, that fafe is not far from de
tc firuftion.
" Thus the primary law of our constitution, the
“ firft principle upon which it was founded, which had
" flood the tef of twelve hundredyears, and been th^
“ admiration of ages, was now reduced to the common
“ level of a nuisance, to be corroded by ads of Parli
“ ament. Our legislative authority is, by its own na
" ture, confined to aft within the line of the conftitu
" tion, because it is only veiled with a trust by the
“ people, to the end they may prcted, and defend
“ them in their rights and privileges. And, there
" fore it is a contradiction in terms, to fay, they
“ have a right to consent to any that may restrain or
“ destroy them. Their consent to this law was a no
" torious violation of the trust reposed in them."
For,
4 Upon this principle our constitution may be one
" thing to day, and another thing to morrow. It is
“ tbit, and that, or any thing that our legislative au
" thority, for the time being, shall think proper to make
" it." But “ the prevailing fadion of those days"
a'ter sowing divisions among the people to destroy their
power and weaken their force, " obtained a law under
" pretence of providing for the distemper of the times,
“by which they have loft nay what have they not
" loft? They have loft the distinguishing character be
" tween freemen and slaves 1 They have loft the diftin
" guifhing charader of Englishmen I They have loft,
" what the most tyrannical Kings of England, could
" never force from them ! They have loft, what their
" forefathers have been spending their blood and trea
" sure to defend, for these thousand years! They
" have loft the greateftjewel that ever any people pof
'' felled ! They have loft their constitutional and na
'' tural liberty, their birth right and inheritance, de
" rived fiom God and nature ! They have loft their
" constitutional redrels,for all their grievances ! They
" have loft their all, their everything, by that DAM
" NABLE SEPTENNIAL LAW."
Io my quotations from this invaluable essay I
beg leave to add the following, as perfectly applicable
to America; and the foregoing extracts will not only
juftify but enforce the doctrine it contains, to every
honest heart.
" To deduce our rights from the principles ofequi
" l y, justice, and the constitution is very well ; but
" equity and justice are no defence against power. You
muff take your confhtutional rights under your own
" protection, and that quick) too, or they will be loft
" for ever. Protect and defend them as the apple of
" your eye, from danger, or, as you would your wives
" and children, from deftru&ion : And never desist
“ from u§ng every remedy" in your power, “ till you
" have established them on a foundation never more
“to be ihaken, either by King or Parliament." A
constitution that affords no check against its own ser
vants, can yield no security to us.
He who has the nomination of the officers of go
vernment, has the whole power of that government in
his own hand, and may do with it as he pleases. This
is abundantly proved by the present ruinous state of
government, in every colony, where the King or a Pro
prietor bad the nomination. Liberty will never flou
riffi in such a government. “ By the constitution of
the Saxon government," fays the author firft quoted,
“ no officer, either civil or military, or, even ecclefi
" aftical, could be invested in his office, or exercise
" any jurifdiCfion or authority over Freemen, without
" the free eleßion of those Freemen over whom he was
" to exercise such authority; and itis for this reason,
" more Specially, that the people of England were de
" nominated free; for that by the ancient laws and
" constitution of the kingdom, they had this just and
" natural right, viz. the free election of their Magi
“ ftrates and Governors, without which our ancestors
thought all our liberties were but afgecies of bond
age. For of what use can liberty be to him, whole
" perlon or estate is fubjed to officers, &c. set over
" him, without his consent." Howdifferent from, and
how much superior ta our present form of government,
was the Saxon, or old constitution of England !
These three confederations form in my opinion an
insurmountable obstacle against a re-union with Great-
Britain. The man who has not thought upon these
points, is ill qualified to judge of the necessity of
independence, or the inevitable ruin attendant on re
union.
My obje^ions are radical, reaching to the root of
the evil, and ifa radical cure cannot be obtained in
one way, it ought to be obtained in another. Tofl<in
over the wound would be madness. I therefore once
more entreat you either to point out a compleat remedy
for these defects, and prove it more easily attainable
than a compleat delivery by a declaration of Independ
ence; or to give no further opposition to the measure.
He who cannot fee a fair profpec tof removing these
defers, and yet wilbes to fee America return to a state
of dependence, has fomethiag else in view than the
liberties cf his country.
'CASSANDRA.
N. B. No good man can agree to any terms which
will not give perfect security, and a division must there
fore be intended by everyman who attempts to prepare
the minds of the ignorant and unwary to accept of any
thing else. As every writer on the fide of dependence
has hitherto studiously evaded the point it appears they
design if possible to effect a division. Take care then,
ye good people of America, not to be duped by difin
guifoed Tories.
To the free and independentELECTOßS
of theC ITY ^'PHILADELPHIA.
Gentlemen,
WERE any words capable of expressing the im
portance of exerting yourselves to maintain the
chara&er I have addressed you by, 1 could wish from
the bottom of my heart to find them and set them in
due order before you. 1 tremble to reflet what a party
there is in this city, who either in plain words or tan
tamount insinuations espouse the cause of tyranny. Ycu
have read their insidious publications: You have re
marked their zeal for a reconciliation and re-union with
Great- Britain on confitutional principles. This propo
sal, Gentlemen, is a mere phantom, a lure, a pitfal to
catch you in. In the firft place, no man ever did or
can shew what this confitutional dependence on Great-
Britain is, or can be, which will secure our liberties :
And in the second place no terms have been, nor at all
probably will be offered us', besides those of uncon
ditional fubmifon to the supremacy of the Parliament in
all cases whatsoever. Certainly no better have ap
peared from the other fide the water, and when pressed
on the fubjeel, the sticklers for reconciliation acknow
ledge they know of no other, and yet urge you to
maintain our connexion with Great- Britain upon the best
terms we can obtain. If such men are rot advocates foi
absolute tyranny, I have no conception of the meaning
of the words. 1 o be commercially conneGed, with our
friends in Great-Britain would doubtless be very pleas
ing to us all ; but to be fubjeff to the defrayers of Bri
tish as well as American Liberty, is what none but an
ignorant Have, or an insidious tool, would propose and
strive to persuade you.
The Confutation of this province is the Sbiboletb of this
very loyal party. Every fenkble man muff know that
the King of Great-Britain had so material a share io
the government of this province, that the legislative
nor executive powers in it can proceed one ace without
him ; and well did a worthy Grandjuror obje& to en
quiring any thing refpe^ling the Crown and Dignity cf a.
man wlio has rendered the idea of a Crown detestable
to the whole Western World. The Constitution is
therefore (by the breach of royal faith in refuting to
govern according to solemn compact with all his peo
ple) broken to pieces, and the Committee cf Infpedtion
were greatly right in propefing to ca I a Convention t^
take the fate of the province into confderation. It is
ea 'y to j u ^ge from what quarter the proposal for a
more equal reprefentatlon at last came. It was conclu
ded this manoeuvre would have a tendency to quiet the
people by taking one of the most unanswerable objec
tions to the prelent administration out of their mouths.
You cannot, however, forget that this partial redress
was a very late one, and only conceded to prevent a
radical reformation.
The Patriots, notwithflanding? persuaded thsmfelves
that in the then critical situation of affairs, it was best
to acquiesce in a measure which they hoped would keep
us united, rather than rifque a diffention in the too
violent opposition to rooted prejudices, which was ne
cessary to clear the way for the re eftabliffiment of a
real free Constitution, on the only firm basis of our
Anglo Saxon ancestors. But remember, fellow citi
zens, that in the tranfa&ion of May firft, you are to
consider yourselves as rather a&ing upon a renewedff
tem, than with too scrupulous attention to any unrea
sonable custom that may have crept into your old one.
On this head you will fuffer me to be something particu
larß The custom has been to deny the right of voting
to all persons who have come from Germany, &c. untile
they have been naturalized, and taken such oaths as
men now-a-days much object to; and what seems pecu
liar to this city alone, all men below the estate cf fifty
pounds are precluded. Now I muR profefs myfelf of
the Forester s opinion, that every man i^tke country who
manifefts a difpoution to venture bis a^forthe defence of
its Liberty, should have a voice in its Councils. Persons
so abject as to have neither will nor fentircent of their
own, are readily diftinguifoed, and cannot give much
trouble. Burgesses, according to the excellent author
of an Historical Essay on the English Constitution,
“ were Defied by every refdent inhabitant that paid bis
foot, and bore bis lot." p. 28. This I will affirm is the
ancient, free Constitution, which every honest man will
venture his blood to restore. '' There were three
things," fays the fame author in the next page, “ essen
tially necessary to form a Saxon Government, which
they applied to every case where a combined interest
was concerned; and these were, a Court cf Council, a
Court of Law, and a Chief Magistrate. A Court
of Council, to confider what was for the benefit cf
the whole society." Now such a Court of Council can
hardly be expected from a Qualification Law like that
o ' 02 ee ° Ann, veiling the efe&ive power only in the
hands of the opulent. To such a pernicious partiality
it is owing that the poor in England are loaded with
Excises on the indifpenfible necessaries cf life. Every
man who pays bis foot and bears bis lot is naturally and
confitutionall, an EkeGor in a city : And more especially
I will affirm, that every citizen who has armed and as
sociated to defend the Commonwealth is, and should
be an Elector; and every non-afociator and flick er for
dependency on the power that is now in aflual depredation
of our Rights, Liberties, and all that is dear to us,
should be kept far from our Councils'; and un-,
lefsjhey very speedily mend their defruflive manners,
sent to the haunts of despotism, where they may mix
with their congenial J,irits, and with all the gratification
cf his Infernal Majesty's auguf Courtiers, ftlace them
selves in constant contemplation of human misery.
An E LECTOR.
A CARD to C A T O.
AV IRGINIAN presents h's compliments to
Cato, and would be obliged to him for an ex
planation of his favourite fcherne of dependency ; —
that he will be pleased to let the public know, whe
ther he means, that America should be so dependent on
Britain, as (agreeable to Burgoyne's plan) to be fub
je& to the Sovereign controuling power of the British
Parliament ; and that the British Parliament (ball have
a right to make laws, to bind usin all cases whatever,
or even in any case.—Or whether he means that Ame
rica shall only be dependent on the King of Great Bri
tain, and that the represen tatives of America, with a
British King, or lbs representative, shall form a legisla
ture, fubjed to the controul of no power cn errth.—
If he means the former, he will be pleased to let the
public know, in what manner such a dependency can
possibly be reconciled to the idea ofliberty ; if the lat
ter, whether he, or any man, can entertain hopes so
unreasonably fanguipe, as that the present Ministry
will ever come into the measure.