The Sun.
London, England, 1819-09-24 00:00:00

FOR VIE SON,

ahme.

And, as the Green Ilan obterves--Turs is THE

PLAIN FACT.

TENAX.

FOR THE SIJN

THE CONS

MR. EDITOR,-Referting to an essay or two
of mine on the English Constitution, I am glad
to see your Correspondent TENAX shine in TH
SUN on the same subject ; and :hough it may be
thought that be argues in a circle, to me he keeps
close to his point, not a point in a circle, but
a mathematical one, distinct from universal space.
lie draws his supremacy from the compacted body
of a I civilized people, and if I cannot go all
lengths with bins, it is because, like a chymist,
he delights in the essence he distils from his sub.
stance mltter, which, when he has done with, he

throws away as a cupid mortuam ; mere dregs.—
This, Sir, smells a little of the lamp of Toryism,
that sham Whiggism which Mr. BURKE so ably
exposed to sheme, in a certain old jury sermon,
preached by a theological politician, who re-
joiced with his people on a return to them of their
supremacy, and taught theta to lead Kings in
triumph, cashier Ministers, and keep their supre-
macy to themselves. This exploded doctrine has
long sunk under its own weight of folly, and we
no where discover, true supremacy but in the heart
of our Constitution, as settled, and happily so,
in 1685. As I conceive it, the outline is as
follows :

The Supremacy of Parliament is a combination
of terms unknown to English polity. So is alle-
giance to the State. Both append to the Crown.
Supremacy is in the King, and allegiance is his
due ; not to Parliament, which is the Supreme
Court of the Constitution, as the House of Lords
is of justice in the last resort ; and so long as the
King, in ' his execntivv character, protects our
rights, we are boom' in fealty and obedience to
him. To the Laws we owe these, when they are
Constitutional, but when otherwise, Resistance is •
the Law of the Land.
Every one talks of the Constitution, but few
know where to find it. One calls it a Statute,
another the Law. In the Stare there are three
Powers, with others subordinate ; but particular-
ly the prerogative which is vested in the Crown ;
not to counteract the higher, but to supply their
occasional deficiencies. The first of these is the
Power 'of the People ; the second is the Power of
the Constitution ; and the third is the Power of
the Law. The third stands foremost, because
without People neither Constitution nor Law
would be wanted. The second is the Power of the
Constitution, as the immediate effect of the first ;

and the third is the Power of the Law, so that the

Constitution is derived from the People, and the
Lsw from the Constitution, which is a compact,
as Law is the municipal rule of the State. The
Constitution contains the agreements between
the Members of Civil Society in its original settle-
ment, and the form of their Government. It is
the genus whereof the Law is the spring, fixing
the relations and duties of Governors and Govern-
ed. To carry this theory into practice, Parlia-
ments became necessary as a formal part of the
Constitution, as rights were the substantial.

They were the Deputies of the People, for the
purpose of legisl4ting within its boundaries, for
the security of life and liberty, property and trade,

receiving its force from the Executive Power,

which is in the Crown, as a contract with the Pm

pie. A compact states What is agreed upon. A

contract is to execute it, otherwise it :night

sleep.

Our Magna Charta is both, as the

act of the People, sanctioned by the King, and

it is out of the power of Parliament. The
rules of the -Constitution are to the Parliament
what the Law is to the Judges, who are con-

fined to the Letter, as Parliament is to the Cun.

stitution, to the end of Legislation. Parliaments
are the People's Trustees, the Constitution the

Deed of Trust ; and they are answerable to them

for its breach or violation.

In short, the Consti-

totion may be called a Circle ; the Lawsradii
of it, draMn on its surface by Parliament ; which

never can exceed its circumference, while the

People, like compasses, are flied in the centre to
describe it.

This, Sir, is my view of the English Constitu-
tion. If false, TENAX %Tic' set me right. It true,
he will correct his on u, and admit himself wrong.

PROP)SrfI.

AIR. EDITOII,—I Wait to see uty positions con-
travene:l, atid 611411 not extrentl.myself upon de-
fording. what is not Uniiitheo,:i for-
bear all further arguments, anie loOk to faclP

I desire the Ministers and the Country to ob-
serve, that the Radical Reformers did not open
their insurrection, until the military force had been
reduced. I insinuate nothing-1 infer nothing-
-1 ask not any conclusion to be drawn—but it is
NOTORIOUS that the diminution of the Army was
obtained in Parliament before the organization of
the Rebels was exhibited out of Parliament.