and a great living authority; places himself in company with Gen. Stanhope and Mr. Hoadley; and, in fhort, takes the most effectual method in his power, of ruining his Lordship in the opinion of every man, who is wife or good. I can only tell my Lord Harcourt, for his comfort, that these praises are encumbered with the doctrine of refiftance, and the true revolution-principles; and, provided he will not allow Mr. Steele for his commentator, he may hope to recover the honour of being libelled again, as well as his sovereign and fellow-fervants.

We now come to the Crifis; where we meet with two pages, by way of introduction to those extracts from acts of parliament that conflitute the body of his pamphlet. This introduction begins with a definition of liberty, and then proceeds in a panegyric upon that great bleffing. His panegyric is made up of half a dozen shreds, like a school-boy's theme, beaten general topicks, where any other man alive might wander fecurely; but this politician, by venturing to vary the good old phrafes, and give them a new turn, commits an hundred folecifms and abfurdities. The weighty truths, which he endeavours to press upon his reader, are fuch as thefe; That liberty is a very good thing; that without liberty, we cannot be free; that health is good, and strength is good, but liberty is better than either; that no man can be happy without the liberty of doing whatever his own mind tells him is beft; that men of quality love liberty, and common people love liberty; even women

and

and children love liberty; and you cannot please them better, than by letting them do what they pleafe. Had Mr. Steele contented himself to deliver thefe and the like maxims in fuch intelligible terms, I could have found where we agreed, and where we differed. But let us hear some of these axioms, as he hath involved them. We cannot poffefs our fouls with pleasure and fatisfaction, except we preferve in ourselves that ineftimable bleffing, which we call liberty. By liberty, I defire to be understood to mean the happiness of mens living, &c-The true life of man confifts in conducting it according to his own juft fentiments and innocent inclinations—man's being is degraded below that of a free agent, when his affections and paffions are no longer governed by the dictates of his own mind.— Without liberty, our health (among other things) may be, at the will of a tyrant, employed to our own ruin, and that of our fellow-creatures. If there be any of thefe maxims which is not grofly defective in truth, in sense, or in grammar, I will allow them to pafs for uncontrollable. By the first, omitting the pedantry of the whole expreffion, there are not above one or two nations in the world, where any one man can poffefs his foul with pleafure and fatisfaction. In the fecond, he defires to be understood to mean; that is, he defires to be meant to mean, or to be understood to underftand. In the third, the life of man confifts in conducting his life. In the fourth he affirms, that mens beings are degraded, when their paffions are no longer governed by the dictates of their own

minds; directly contrary to the leffons of all moralifts and legiflators; who agree unanimoufly, that the paffions of men must be under the government of reafon and law; neither are laws of any other use, than to correct the irregularity of our affections. By the laft, our health is ruinous to ourselves and other men, when a tyrant pleases; which I leave to him to make out.

I cannot fufficiently commend our ancestors for tranfmitting to us the blessing of liberty; yet having laid out their blood and treasure upon the purchase, I do not see how they acted parfimoniously becaufe I can conceive nothing more generous than that of employing our blood and treafure for the fervice of others. But I am fuddenly ftruck with the thought, that I have found his meaning; our ancestors acted parfimoniously, because they only spent their own treasure for the good of their pofterity; whereas we squandered away the treasures of our pofterity too but whether they will be thankful, and think it was done for the preservation of their liberty, must be left to themselves for a decifion.

I verily believe, although I could not prove it in Westminster-hall before a Lord Chief Juftice, that by enemies to our conftitution, and enemies to our prefent establishment, Mr. Steele would defire to be underflood to mean my Lord Treasurer and the rest of the ministry: by those who are grown supine, in proportion to the danger to which our liberty is every day more expofed, I fhould guess he means the tories: and, by honeft men, who ought to look up

with a fpirit that becomes honefly, he understands the whigs. I likewife believe, he would take it ill, or think me ftupid, if I did not thus expound him. I fay then, that, according to this expofition, the four great officers of state, together with the reft of the cabinet-council (except the archbishop of Canterbury *) are enemies to our eftablishment, making artful and open attacks upon our conflitution, and are now practising indirect arts, and mean fubtilties, to weaken the fecurity of thofe acts of parliament for fettling the fucceffion in the houfe of Hanover. The first and most notorious of these criminals, is Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Lord High Treasurer, who is reputed to be chief minifter: the fecond is, James Butler, Duke of Ormonde, who commands the army, and defigns to employ it in bringing over the Pretender: the third is, Henry St John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, Secretary of State, who must be supposed to hold a conftant correspondence at the court of Bar le Duc, as the late Earl of Godolphin did with that at St. Germains: and, to avoid tedioufnefs, Mr. Bromley, and the reft, are employed in their feveral diftricts to the fame end. These are the opinions which Mr Steele and his faction, under the direction of their leaders, are endeavouring, with all their might, to propagate among the people of England, concerning the present ministry; with what reservation to the honour, wisdom, or juftice of the QUEEN, I cannot determine; who, by her

*Dr. Tennifon.

own

Speaker of the houfe of Commons.

own free choice, after long experience of their abilities and integrity, and in compliance to the general wishes of her people, called them to her fervice. Such an accufation against perfons in fol high truft, fhould require, I think, at least one fingle overt act to make it good. If there be no other choice of perfons fit to ferve the crown, without danger from the Pretender, except among those who are called the whig party, the Hanover fucceffion is then indeed in a very defperate ftate: that illuftrious family will have almoft nine in ten of the kingdom againft it, and thofe principally of the landed intereft; which is moft to be depended upon in fuch a nation as ours.

I have now got as far as his extracts, which I fhall not be at the pains of comparing with the originals, but fuppofe he hath gotten them, fairly tranfcribed: I only think, that, whoever is patentee for printing acts of parliament, may have a very fair action against him, for invafion of property but this is none of my business to enquire into.

After two and twenty pages fpent in reciting acts of parliament, he defires leave to repeat the biftory and progress of the union; upon which I have fome few things to observe.

This work, he tells us, was unsuccessfully attempted by feveral of her Majefty's predeceffors; although I do not remember it was ever thought on by any, except King James I. and the late VOL. II. King

D d

* The author's memory failed him a little in this affertion, as one of his anfwerers obferved.