would let him and that, in How far his Gentleman in the Country; who, obferving the great Uni to "When you have looked over all the Ties in Nature, you "will find nothing dearer, fays Cicero, no Obligation of greater Importance, than that by which we are every one of us tied to the Commonwealth. Our Parents, Chil"dren, Friends, are all dear to us; but our fingle Country " is more than all the reft; and every honeft Man is ready to lay down his Life for the Advantage of that sacred Intereft. How execrable then is the barbarous Impiety of thofe Men, who have torn their Country to Pieces by all "Sorts of Villany, and who not only have been, but are at "this Inftant, confpiring its Ruin and Destruction? "It is the Duty (fays one of their great Men) and fhould "be the principal Care of those that have the Adminiftra tion of public Affairs, to fee that every Individual be pro"tected in his Property, and that the Poor and Simple may "not be circumvented by the little Arts of cunning Men, or "offred by the Power of great Ones: In short, that private Men may not be difpoffeffed of their Rights and Eftates, under the Pretext of a public Good. And if to "make my own Fortune (continues he) by the impoverishing "another, is declared unlawful, not only by the Dictate of "Nature, and the Rights of Nations, but by the particular Laws and Conftitutions of all States; how deteftable must " thaje those Governors be, who abusing that Confidence the plain "and honeft Part of Mankind, who are always Minors, repofe in them, as their Trustees and Guardians, draw "them, by plausible Appearances, into their Net, and fo enrich themselves at the Expence of their Country. "Plato's Rule, fays the abovementioned Orator, ought "to be observed by all that are intrufted with the Adminiftration of the Public. It was this: That they should in Juch Sort affert and defend the public Intereft, that all "their Actions fhould refer to that, without any Regard to "their own private Advantage. Therefore, above all Things, let fuch keep themselves clear from the leaft Suf"picion of Avarice. It is not only a mean Thing, but an impious, to make a Prey of the Commonwealth. This is "a copious Subject, but I shall confine myself; only hinting "at a Law of this brave People, which I would recom"mend to the Confideration of my Countrymen, and it being made by the Wisdom of the Nation, that is by the Senate, “avill fhew, at once, the Sense of the whole Nation, with "refpect to the Conduct of Perfons in the Adminiftration. Donum ne capiunto, neve danto, neve pretenda, neve gerenda, neve gesla potestate. The Senfe of the People concerning the prefent State of Affairs, &c. SIR, I T is intirely in Obedience to your Requeft, that I fend you this long Letter; which is nothing else but a plain and natural Account of the People's Refentment of their common Injuries and Misfortunes; or, to put it in your Terms, The Sense of the People, as far as my Memory will ferve me, in their own Words. The Authors of their Grievances are at last be-· come intolerable to them; and Vengeance, however unprofitable, as they are told, is one chief End, which they propofe as their future Security. Whoever thinks fit to withdraw or excufe himself from the Share he ought to bear in this Defign, is fufpected to be engaged in a Confederacy, which he is afhamed to avow: This Sufpicion is fo far from being juft of you, that I could wish you would come and vindicate your Character to the A 3 Public Public, which was never so miferably neceffitous of all honeft Help as at present. As I am now upon the Decline of a public Life, I have had an Opportunity of obferving a great deal of the Variety and Inconftancy of public Affairs; but I never yet knew fo great a Ferment, fo prevailing a Diffatiffaction, as at prefent we see throughout the whole Kingdom. Parties have been preferred, difcarded, restored, mixed, and the feveral Friends of each have, by Turns, complained of reciprocal Violence and Injury, Mifmanagement and Corruption; but I don't know that any of them have ever perfuaded the whole Body of the People into their Quarrel. No private little Wrongs could have effected a Difcontent fo univerfal. That Adminiftration muft affect every one, which every one complains of. Indeed, when a Nation is plundered and oppreffed, they cannot but feel and refent it. They imagine now, that at the Opening of this Seffion, there was a Design carried on by fome, whom they will needs have to be very ill Men, to fecure, even in fome Degree, the very late Directors; but we (fay they) were not tame enough to admit or endure fuch an Attempt; fo that they were forced to drop the Defign, and join (at least) in the Cry againft them, though they trembled at the Apprehenfion of every Fact that should be difcovered. They could have been glad to have ftood by their old Friends; but fince that must not be, the next Trial was to compound for their own Security, by the Sacrifice of their Allies. But this Artifice is notfatisfactory; the People tell you that the best and likelieft Means to come to the Bottom of their Misfortunes, is to begin at the Top. It is of very little Value to them how the lesser Cheats are difpofed of; they were fo by Profeffion, and have acted intirely in Character. If Daniel had been devoured in the Den, it is prefumed that no body could have thought hardly of the Lions : No, no, the Authors of the Villainy are the Criminals; it is thofe that deliberately formed the Mischief, and that hired and retained their little Creatures to execute it, who chiefly deferve the Enquiry of a Parliament. How comes it to pafs, fay they, while leffer Villains are punished every Day, that thofe who have pillaged the the whole Country, fhall escape? The greatest Subjects of the British Crown did not ufe to be too great to be accountable to a British Parliament. "Tis in vain for me, or any one to answer to this, But you would not condemn any one without fufficient Evidence; they can all immediately reply, that they can point to Inftances, and thofe modern ones too, where Refolutions have been taken, Cenfures founded, and other Perfons have been condemned, and all this very juftly, upon the fame or lefs Evidence. But fuppofe (not grant) the Evidence defective; in Courts of Juftice it often happens, that where there is not legal Proof enough to convict a Cheat, yet there is fufficient to fatisfy any one prefent, that it would be Folly to truft him any more. A suspected Minifter ought to be used as Cæfar did his Wife, he did not expect Demonftration. Reasonable Grounds of Sufpicion are enough in both Cafes, there being feldom above two privy to the Fact in either. If one tells them it is Prudence to wink at fome Things, otherwise the whole may be thrown into Confufion, and then where are our Eftates? The Answer is, that when fuch a Confufion is introduced, our Estates may indeed poffibly be loft; but by the Toleration of the late Iniquity, and thereby the Encouragement of all future Villainies, by the Increase of Debts, the Decay of Trade, the Destruction of Manufactures, the Ruin of Credit, the Mifmanagement of the Revenue, the Lofs of Money to other Kingdoms, or the locking it up at home, and all this while, the Continuation of Taxes; by these, say they, Confufion is actually introduced, and our Estates are already loft. T'other Day I happened to be in a Company, where, to my great Surprize, I heard a Gentleman endeavouring to moderate the public Difpleafure. He told us, that as he fincerely lamented the Ruin of his Country, he was impatient for Redrefs, and hoped to fee it made for ever unsafe for any one to play the fame Game over again; but he ventured to add, that by going too fast, or changing Hands too foon, we ran a Risk, at least, of altering for the worfe: That as we had, at prefent, a Poffibility of extricating ourselves from our Misfortunes, by Length of Time and careful Management, we should take the fureft Courfe, and not commit ourselves to the Adminiftration A 4 Adminiftration of a Party, who, as they fecretly rejoiced at our Miseries, will not fail to improve them to their own Advantage; whofe Principles have often endangered the Liberties of these Kingdoms, and have entailed Slavery on the greatest Part of Europe. But the whole Company, not enduring the Declaration, cried out, What then is Whiggifm fupported by Rapine and Injustice? If that be the Cafe; if the two Parties have changed their Ground; if those formerly reckoned Anti-courtiers are turned fawning, obfequious Dependants, in God's Name let them fall. Whiggism carries in it the very Notion of Liberty, and Love to our Country; and then it follows, that the Punishment of public Horse-leeches, Parricides, muft be the only Way to fettle Whiggifm, and to lay a Foundation for the Happiness of future Times. In short, these are Pretences to fcreen fome favourite Offenders; but when Things are come to Extremity, you can hoodwink us no longer. And we know very well, fays one, what good Ufe was made of this Pretence, by the Event of a late Examination; fo fhallow, or fo corrupt, are Englishmen grown. But give me the Man, Tros Rutilufve, Whig or Tory, that prefers the true Interest of England to that of any other Country or People whatever; that encourages Trade, and Audies to administer the Treasure of the People thriftily and prudently. Such, Sir, is the Senfe of the People; and if I give it you in their own Words, it is because it was your Defire I fhould do fo, that you might the better judge at what they drive. I perceive it is Matter of great Admiration to fome, the extraordinary Addrefs that has been fhewn in the fecret Management of this Affair: That the whole Tranfaction of 574,500 7. fictitious Stock should only be withi the Privacy of one fingle Man, that, in cafe of Danger, all might be ftifled by his withdrawing, and all other Proof neglected and difcouraged by the Name of Hearfay Evidence; though, by the By, fome will have it that Letters and Notes under one's own Hand are more than Hearfay Evidence, and that the Practices of burning, blotting, razing, and interpolating, have been thought fo much more than Prefumption, that they have, upon lefs |