The Statesman.
London, England, 1814-03-04 00:00:00

A .j

r

r • : • •

-THE STATESMitiI:

. .
IV THE REV. CHRISTOPIIERrfiTILL.-.- But when is May, 1799, it had been his'
00..._ ship's object to avert from the rotten borougl
stroke of reform, he as stoutly asserted, that
LkTTLIt XX. AND LAST. •
, , take away the elective franchise is a riolatt
Str'ke, but hear! fundamental rights, which the two' II
'DEAR SlR,—llad a barrister, trammelled in 6 the, Houses of Par,
j ment were not competent to exact, and to whi,
narrow rules and fanciful niceties. of metaphysical
King could not give his assent *." So far, iiidi
and Norman jurisprudence's", and antler the influ%
will side with his Lordship against certain eating,
euces of practice, such as he had wittiesAed in West.:
• minster, and other great halls ; had such a barrider ere's)/ rotten boroughs, as to remark, that the
work of reform is not to "take away" (ranch,
written " Commentaries on the Linos of Ermined,"
s
without having discovered that those two goodly par- but merely to break through the monopoly •
sonages, our Constitution and Our " Sr im of stands in the way of fair representation.
Laws," notwithstanding family resemblance, were, It has been • repeatedly established as truth,
the Legislature; which is a mere trustee, acti
in reality, .distinct identities, some allowance might
is so far from having authorit reasonably be made for the erring bereirter; but I I:legation'
when a teacher stands forth, who, uushackled by I change the Constitution," that, on the con'
f. all , " the Constitution is a law to the 1 ' I
forensic lore, has freelyranged the - ,egts at,
science, human and divine,—a teacher, undertaking limit which that Legislature is never to pass—a
,
to unfold " the principles of moral and political lesion of political rectitude, and on all occasio,
philosophy,"— to enlighten us on " the elcments.of
indispensable rule of Government +." Magna
and the 0111 bf Rights did NOT change, but de,
political knowledge,"—to lay opeu to our view :
44 the ous 'the Constitution; by the Triennial and Sept
in "* the duty
. of civil g overnment ,
ty Of Civil' obedience, ns stated. "--to. Wort
the i Bills it way NOT changed, but violated and ins
Christian Scriptures,"—to explain to us "
civil ii-' even at the Union, the Constitution was NOT chi
'
. y
berty,"—and to bring us acqUainted with the dr:writs but had precisel the same existence and deli
after as before T. Scotland merely agreed to tat
ten " Constitution" under which we live; if such
-
a teacher, I say, professing all this, were in the end benefit of so much of the English Constitution
to leave us still more in the dark than the baixister Law, as on
,stipulation she chose to have; w
had done,what Would be his claims on ourindulgeviee ? surrendering wore of her own than she chose
If a 13LACK6TONE, who knew and felt that." po- with., 4 '
litical or civil liberty is the very 'end anti scope of rALE; thefefore, in talking British
Citation," is brought into this dilemma, that '
the Cons/dui/out," do yet, in speaking of that Con-
either ignorant of the Constitution of his con
stitution, utter a word which convey% to him -no dis-
.or, by indirectly inculcating the doctrine of
distinct ideat," it is merely because, as alreadpla-
in the Legislature to change it at their discreti,
mooted, he had omitted to ask himself, if the two
words, Constitutioir and Law, w ere universally sync). was la) ing foundations for any such inroads t
nymoos. But what shall be said of PALEY, whose as the legislature, or rather the few, or the
immediate subject was, not " the laws," but the who may be able to influence its decisions,
" Constitution" itself ; if, after all this parade of arty. time think fit to make.
" principles" of " elements," of " kno sledge," To place, however, the authority of PALEY
and " philosophy," it should turn out, that so indis-
writer on the Constitution, at once in a d!tinct were his ideas, he neither knew its nature, nor point of view, be it remarked, that it has
even.its name. , stated, and not without ample proof, that
.
He calls it the " British Constitution ;" that is • Rnglish Constitution isv in fact, a two-fold al
NOT the same constitution as that to which our all- mirable system of ciril and military polity mot
cestors of Runnintede and the Revolution referred ; pily combined ; whereby these two characters,
the faculties of intellectual ability and bodily
NOT that Constitutjon to which our Pins, our RAMP_ the
man, are inseparably interwoven, to constil
DENS, and our SIDNEYS ; our SELDENS and our
f
COKES; OUr MARVELS, our MILTONS, and our complete State, or roe Government §."
LOCKES, made their appeals ; but a' new system of , Ike evidence of the martial moiety of thi
government, taking its commencement from Etig-
fold system, lies on the very surface of our his
land's union with Scotland.
,it pervades all our law books ; it was admirabi
lustrated in 1757, by the late Earl of LIB enni(
This appcllution, in my humble judgment, in no
itn.
small degree, prepares the experienced reader fort had again, in 1780, its legal form and line
the doctrines that arc to follow; for we have long its profound wisdom and perfections, placed
been in the habit of hearing from folly, from faction, focus of light', by that incomparable scholar ar
and from worse than faction, of a constitution as mine patriot, Sir WILLIAM JONESII ; it
established at the •' glorious Revolution "
and even , moreover, the subject of another distinct treat
-
entitled England's iEgis ; or, The Military
the nonsense of '" the Governmetit and Constitution
of this realm, as by law established," which is the gies of the Constitution ; becides which, in
quence of the infamous riots in London, in
same as to say, a descendant begat his own progeni-
and at Birmingham, in 1794, the very statutes
tor§. Our liberticides understanding their Trade,
are declaratory of it, were acted upon, as the.
for ever talk of our " present" constitution, and
contend for its being a great improvement on the been since, in our Courts of Law ; and yet;
. n his di
constitution we had before the borough system was these proofs of its existence, PALEX, i
I consolidated. Lord GRENVILLE calls it " qur pre-
lion of nur polity, says not, on " this essential 1
'lent system in Church and State ;" and he further it, is single syllable, although of war and
eharacterizes it as the "present
ry establishments" we have an entire chapter.
11AM system," as
mit radistinguished of course from some one, or more Of this martial moiety of the Constitution o 1
, land; which is '' as essential to our liberties,
onstitution, or constitutions, under whist: the ea-
Ren s c,
idn was miserable. Nay, we have heard it termed, gi
loslative sopher seepmsresentati to knoowitself Ill..1'," thi
no more, thapoliti
n of
nd even within the. walls of Parliament, our Pro- ,
passes in the moon. Here we find a shallow
Want Cbitthitutionll," to, distinguish it, t suppose, '
, and a superficial panegyrist, a PALEY and a De
In that poPills' Constitution, of which our Roman
on the same level. Is it such ", political
atheiic progenitors, who . left us Magna Carta,
ledge," such an acquaintance tt ith that' Const
eta we proud.. The convenient doctrine conveyed
hrobgh ill thts jargon, is this, that the Constitution' he undertakes to define and to explain, for
'
i of a changeable nature, to be moulded and moth- : PALEY 'S work is made. an examination book I
ed according to the notions of expediency, of those , gra", at that learned University in which yo,
merly studied ? Is it for such an excellence,
vhose leghlativeltalliseitce can introduce new laws
• almost universally put, at our other Unis,
and new custom' whereon may be built new motions
into the hands of students, by their College T
of " right ;" tor Plies informs us, that " opinion.•
of right always follows the custom**." . Fortunately for the rising generation in Si,
In this novel doctrine, the liberticides flatter them- they will he called on, in all the •r Universitiel
w
selves they can' make out a justification for so much : literary Establishments here the Ecclesiastic
•
of their work as by law or by custom they have al-
Political Sciences are taught" In their reelready effectet! ; and they promise themselves impu-
ed state, to read and to study the real Constittr
their country, and not i Substituted .forgery,
pity iii pursuing their object to its final accomplish. their
them by any wolf in sheep's clothing !
ment. BLACKSTONE, by his unfortunate notion,
'
that " Parliament can change and create afresh even Ordinary politicians; who beak about them .
the Constitution of the kingdom, and of Parliaments firmities of our nature, with weak notions and
themselves," greatly contributed to this mischief. legs, which have taught them to set a value on
He not only instances, as a change of Constitution, ty, have hitherto apprehended no small evil
the Act of Union with Scotland, but he sees in the Standing Armies, and have accordingly been I
same light triennial and septennial elections) to Militias; but our Piiitosoplier, far above al
1-,
It is perfectly astonishing that the penning of such weaknesses, as free from valuing liberty as fr,
affectation of it, has a contempt for militias, i
a paragraph should not stagger a mind which was
conscious that " political liberty is the very end admiration of standing armies, in which no m
and scope of the Constitution ;" and lead it to re-
ever surpassed him ; and in which some of
fleet on the absurdity of admitting that parliamentary content that their mercenaries overbalanced the
litias, RS old REDERICK or and
authority could be without limits, for he was by no
have fallen cons F PRUSSlA,iderably short of this Ehglisi
means blind to cousequences. " If ever it should
nister of the Gospel.
honeappof the three branches of s he, " that o
leo Legisla independe
lure should nce of any
With PALEY it goes for nothing, that " on
be lost, or that it should become subservient to the and Constitution know no such state as ter
! views of either of the other two, there would soon be perpetual standingsoldier++ ;"—with PALSY
AN END OF one CONSTITUTIONIt ;" and he adds these for nothing, that the proper militia of England,
remarkable words—" the Legislature would be
which her King once performed miracles of
changed from that which was originally set up by and of defensive war, is a system which,
st
the general consent and fundamental act of society; true principles of order, bond of all societ:
nd such a change, however effected, is, according
by beautiful, refined, yet simple mechanist
`to Mr. Locus, at once an entire dissolotion of the ganizes a community of free citizens into an
cible army ; that it is a system of which 'squat I
bands of Government ; and the people are thereby
is the inspiring soul, and general liberty the
reduced to a state of anarchy, with liberty to cow.
. result §§.
j statute to themselves a new Legislature§§."
With PALEY it goes for nothing, that sucl
I In commenting on the words of statesmen by pro-
-511 MACHIAVELLI, BAC011;. HARRINGTON, T'
' fession, we see how flexible a thing, in their hand*,
FLETCHER, BURNET, TROtiCIIAUe, SIDNEY,
the English Constitution is ; and how. it is made to LIVERPOOL, ' Joves with others of great names, .
blow hot, and to blow cold, so as to answer par-
in great numbers, have warned us against standit
poses as oppdsite as the poles. armies, and have commended militias. With "
During the reign of terror in 1799, as on a former it goes for nothing, that.ARISTOTLE saw that
occasion I have observed, Lord GRENVILLE, echoing who commands the arms of a country is maste'
' Mr. PITT, stoutly maintained, that 44 the Parliament its liberties, and can, at his pleasure; per',
and tho King have a right to change the Constita- subvert its most sacred institutionsllo." With '
goes for nothing, that •' where government ,
tionnl; opiuibu of right," says Pautiriti44•always•lt
1 follows custom." i , r,-ts .rs .i• . irmedr there despotism is established," as ow

; •iert),4.
' • a.irra

v , .
• Dim k. COM. IV. 418. • caw" lA' : • Morning ChrettieleOlst Mot, 1791 —App. 44.
Jones's Enquiry into mode of 'oppressing.Mmitatap + Appeal to the Nation, 1852, p. 2.
App. Clv. and %la. on Eft:. Can. 42. See the definition in my Paso Letter.
Morn. Caron. 31 May, 1799.—A150 App. Or. *AMR Ili 'IA p.. cit. and Mil. on'Eng. Con. V.
En:.... C0u.43. 0,,, .. , ~) UlNse. en Nat. and Corm. Force. • :••
II The Comparison, 1810,p. 'a, ••• T1L.,14.4. I Leg. a 41114 of Sapp. Rime. .... ..
-
ft 1. 51.—App. Civ. and Mil. on Eng. Cob. 45. ' *ID Appeal to the Nation iiilBlll, p. 12. ' ; I
2.. t ibid. , , VI Ibid. .' .., - te ++ Week. Com. I. 408. • ,_. , ...
to Courier, 200 March, 1799.—App. Cit. and MIL on E. 4S App. Civ. and Mil. on tag. Con. IV.
k.uu. 233. “ Pont. Vil. 9.

~ 1 .

I