The Newhampshire gazetteer — Exeter, N.H., 1792-01-21 00:00:00, page 1

THE moving power in this fpe.
cies of Government, is of ne
cefiity Corruption. However imper
let election and representation may
be in mixed Governments, they dill
give exercise to a greater portion of
reafonthan is convenient to the here
ditary part ; and therefore it becomes
necessary to buoy the reason up. A
mixed Government is an imperfect
every thing, cementing and soldering
the difeordant parts together by cor
ruption, to aft as a whole. Mr Burke
appears highly disgusted, that France,
tince the has resolved on a devolution,
tit I not adopt what he calls " ABn
tifh Conffitution ;'' and the regretful
manner in which he expresses himfelf
on this occasion, implies a fulpicion,
That the British Constitution needed
something, to keep its defers in
countenance.
In mixed Government there is no
responsibility ; the parts cover each
either till fefpotyfibiliry is loft ; and
the corruption which moves the ma
chine, contrives at he fame rime its
own escape. When it is laid down
as a makim that a King can do no
(wrongs it places himin a flats of si
milar Security with that of ideots and
persons insane, and refponfibilicy'is
out of the question with refpefl to
himfelf. It then defeends" upon the
Miniftef, who shelters, himfelf under
a majority in Parliament,, which by
places, pensions, and corruption, he
can always.command ; and that ma
jority jollifies itfelf by the fame au
thority with which it protests the
Miniftef. In this rotary motion; re
fponfibility is thrown off fro? the
parts, and from the whole. ^ .
When there is a part in a po ern
ment which can do no wrong, it im
plies that it dees nothing ; and is on
ty the machine of another ~power,
by whose advice and direction it a^s.
What is supposed to be the King in
mixed Governments, is the Cabinet ;
and as the Cabinet is always a. part
of the Parliament, and the members
juftify in one character what they
advi e and afi in another, a mixed
Government becomes a continual e
migrQa ; entailing upon a country by
the quantity of corruption ncceffary
to folder the parts, the expense of
fopporting ^J the forms of Govern
ment at once,- and finally resolving
itfelf into a Government by Commit
tee ; in which 6 the advisers, the ac
tors, the approvers, the jugifiers, the
perfoos respon sible, and the persons
not refyonfible, are the fame per
sons.-., .„
By this pantpmical contrivance,
and change of scene and character,
tbe : parts help each other out in mat
ters,; which, neither of them tingly
would assume to aft.. . When money
is to be, obtained, the mass of variety
apparently diffdives, and, a ptofufion
of Parliamentary pzaifes passes t>e
tween the parts. b Each admires with
astonishment the.wifdom, the libera
lity, and difinterednefs of the other ;
and all of them breath a pitying
sigh at the burthens of the Nation.^ ,
, But in a well constituted republic,
nothing of this soldering, praising,
and pitying, can take place ; the re
presentation being equal throughout
the country, and complete, m itfelf.
EXETER, (New-Hamp(hire) Printed and Published by HENRY RANLET, at Nine Shillings per anrum.
^ ^*s ^5 ^5 ^5 ^^S™^S >^<>&< >&< '&<^^ X .>>^*^^><^ ^^ >^< >3<;
RIGHTSof MAN,&c.
Newhampfhire
CONCLUSION.
SATURDAY, January £I, 1792.]
When men are spoken cf as kings
and fubjefts, or when government is
mentioned under the dittindt or com
bined heads of monarchy,ariftocracy,
and democracy what is it that rea
soning man is to understand by the
terms ? if there, really exifled in the
world two or more diftinft and sepa
rate elements, of hpman power, we
Ihohid then fee the several origins to
which those terms ^ould descriptive
ly a pply ; but .as there is but one
species of man, there can be but One
element of human power, and that
element is man himfelf. Monarchy,
arittecraty, and democracy, are. but
creatures of the imagination ; and a
thousand such may be contrived, as
well as three- ;^> #
'FROM the revolutions of America
and France, and the symptoms that
have appeared in other countries,it is
evident that the opinion of the world
is changing with refpe& to fy flems of
government^ that revolutions are not
within the compass of political cal
culations. The progress of time and
circumffances; which men assign to
the accomplishment of great changes,
is too mechanical to measure the
force of the mind, and the rapidity
of reflection, by which revolutions
are generated : All the old govern
ments have received a shock from
those that already appear, and which
were once more improbable, and
art a greater fubjea 6f wonder than
a general revolution in Europe would
be now- & When +we Survey the,
wretched condition of man under the
monarchic! and hereditary, systems of
government, dragged from bis home
by one power, or driven by another,
and im povifiled by taxes more than
by enemies, it becomes evident that
those systems are bad, and that a ge
neral revolution in ? the principles
and conftrudion of Governments is
necessary.
What is government .more than the
management of the affairs of a Na
tion flt is not, and from its na
ture cannot be, the property of any
particular man or family, but of
, the whole community, at whole ex
pense it is fopported ; and though by
+ force or contrivance it has been usur
ped ; cannot alter the right of
things. Sovereignty, as a matter of
right, appertains to the Nation only
and not to any individual ; and a
Nation has at all times an inherent
indefeasible right to abolish any form
^Government it finds inconvenient.
however it may be arranged into le
gflarive and executive, they have
all one and the fame natural source.
The parts are not foreigners to each
other, like democracy, aristocracy, f:
monarchy. As there are no difeor
dant diftindions, here is nothing tp
corrupt by compromise, nor co : found
by contrivance. Publick measures
appeal of themselves to the under-
Banding of the Nation, ar.d, resting
on their own merits, disown any flut
tering application to vanity. The
continual whine of lamenting the
burden of (axe, however fuccekhrily
ic may be pradifed in mixed Go
vernments, is inconfiftant with the
feefe and spirit of a republick.. If
taxes are neceffafy, they are of course
advantageous ; but if they require
an apology, the apology itfelf im
plies an impeachment. Why then
is man thus impofedopon,or why does
he impose upon himfelf ?
What were formerly called Revo
lutions, were a litrie more than a
change cf persons, or an alteration
cf local circomflancer . They rose
and-fell like things of course, and
had nothing in their exigence or
their fate that could influence beyond
the spot that produced them. But
what we now fee in the world, from
the Revolutions of America and
France, are a renovation cf the natu
ral order of thirgs, a fiftern of
principles as universal as truth and
the exigence of man, and combining
moral with political happiness ano
national prosperity.
I 'Men are Join and always contig
nue free, and equal in rtftea of their
rights. Civil d?jli?acns, therefore,
can he . founded cn) cn phltc utility.
2'Tbe end of all political effeciatibns
it the prejercation cf the natural ana
tmpre/cripible rights of man ; ana
tbeje rights are liberty, property, je
purity, and refinance of oppression.
j3,The nation u effntially the source
cf Sovereignty ; nor can any individu
al or any bedyof men, he entitled to
any .authority which is not expeJsl)
derived from it.'
:Jn these principles, there is no
thing to throw a Nation into confufi
on by inflaming ambition. They
@re calculated to call forth wifdem &
abilities, aed te exercise them foi
the publick good, ar.d net for the
emolument or aggrandizement of par
ticular defcriprious cf men or fami
lies. Monarchic! fevereignty, the
enemy of paikind, ^and the fourcb
of misery, is abclifted ; and Sove
reignty itfelf is restored xc its ratural
#nd original place, the Naricr/—
Were this the case throughout Eu
rope, the cause of wars would be ta
ken away. < 1 > ».*- :
It is attributed toHenry tbtFeu^h
a man of an enlarged and benevolent
heart, that he preposed, ribout th>
year 1610, a plan for abolJhijg wr,
in Europe. The plan confftud n
constituting an European Cc,pte\
or as the French Authors ^i^e fyi
Pacifick Reptiblick; hy,a„tfefr,
delegates from the several NiOoifj
who were to ^ as a Court Ct biW
Every citizen is a member of, the
tevereignty^ and, as such. can. ac
knowledge no perioral fuhjt&icn ;
and his obedience can be only io the
la^s. ) j .
When men think of what Govern
ment is, they must rccdlarily fup,cfe
it to peflefs a knowledge of ail the
objects and matters upon which its
authority is to be exercised. In this
view of Government, the republi
can fyflem, as established by Ameri
ca and France, operates to embrace
the whole of a Nation ; and the
knowledge necessary to the interest
of all the parts, is to be found in the
center, which the parts by represen
tation form : But the old Govern
ments are on a confutOion that ex
cludes knowledge as well as happi
ness : Government by monks, who
know nothing of the world beyond
the walls ot a Convent, is as confid
ent as Government by Kings.
courtiers; cannot that of citizens pas
it;is exploded by the principle upon
which governments are row founded.
and establish foch as accords with
its iatereft, difpofition,and happiness.
The romantic and barbarous distinc
tion of men into Kings and fubjeds,
though it may fait the condition of
THE
Gazetteer.
Had such a plan been adopted at
the time it was proposed, the tax^r of
England and France, as.two cf the
parties, would have been at le&ft ten
millions sterling, annual!,, to each
Nation, less than they were ^ the
commencement of the French Revo
lution.
To conceive a cause why ftch a
plan has net been bcopted, tard .bag
itflead <f a Cengrefs for the peptic
cf prtentirg war, it has belu ca;ird
only to terminate a var alter a
iruitlefs expense of several yeats) it
will.be necessary. to confider the in
e est of Governments as diftittt in
terest to that of Narons.
Whatever is the cause of taxes to
a Nation, becomes also the mtar^ cf
revenue to a Government. Every
war terminates with an aeditien oi
taxes, and conicquently wt r h an ad
dition or revenue ; & in any event of
war, in the manner they are now
commenced and conclude c/heqew
er and interest of Governments, aio
increafed.J War, therefore from > s
prodLaiv'emefs, a* it eafiiy fuifiGci
the pretence of the neccfity for taxes
and appointments to places ard or
fres, Incomes a principal part of
the fyfler bof old Govern menus' ; ar.d
toeftablifh any mede to abolish war,
however advantageous it might be o
Nations would be to take from such
Government the meft lucrative of its
branches-' 'The frilUoUs 'roarers
upon which war is made, shew the
diffofition and avidity of Griyem ro
meets to uphold the system of war,
and betray the monies upon which
they aft. iI )
Why are not Republics phrgi/d
into war, but became the nature o
their Government does not acm" c
r.n intereft-diftira t o that cf the Na
tion ? Even Holland, though to i
confti&atd Republic, rid vi,h
commerce extending ever the wbglc
exited nearly a century wihcut'war
and the ir.flatt the fcim rs Govert.
ment was charged in Fr„U, th
republican principles cf peace ano
ccmeftic prefperity and eotiemy a
rose with the new Geverrmrt ; and
'he fame consequence- would follow
the fame causes inotber Nations.'
As war is the fiflem o; Govern
ment on the ©id conflrt&G~: ^ 3
«nimofity which Natans , i.^-
procally entertain is to.L.tg t<,
than what the policy o# ,lor
Governments excite, to keep' up <h^
Spirit of the fyPem. Each Gs"^-
rinehr accuses the ether of pt, %
intr igve, aid ambition, as era^
of hearing the im^giraricn er th:r
-relpiaive Nations, and irfofog
, them to hcllilities. Mun js iot the
, enemy of man, but through :/~ nt
6 dium of a falfe fyflem i&f C-yr^r
ment. llnftead therefore,©) ti^ -c^ ▼
; against the^mbitroh of hii£% &..-
clamarion Ihovlo be di^t -c ^h^
.the principle, of loth Govrir ng ts ;
„and inflead cf fe&L'rg o revn the
individual, the , liVcmrrif ^ N^ion
fh-bld at p'% it'd to re or., thJyfem.
Whe fir ihelo;ms end r4<.>jn^ of
CovetLircr.tk whah arc trillio P^c
ii{c.B(&r<irpaG to the ccfe.eaion
cf th' work at the petied they were
tfrill(kid, is rot it W,r ^fr the
Q' efticr.# The<ic r .r t^fy^^, the
lets cotiefop^r^e can t cy buve
wih the fhfa4 ^^ cf frigs.
[Ti^e/ #.d change of cricurdUnce#
[Numb; 29 of Volume 6.
tration in any disputes that might
arise between nation and nation.