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employment of a future hour. But the bufinefs of the prefent moment will not fuffer me to look back to a feries of events, which ceafe to be interefting or important, because they are fucceeded by a measure fo fingulary daring, that it excites all our attention, and engroffes all our refentment.

Your patronage of Mr. Luttrell has been crowned with fuccefs. With this precedent before you, with the principles on which it was established, and with a future houfe of commons perhaps lefs virtuous than the prefent, every county in England, under the aufpices of the treafury, may be reprefented as completely as the county of Middlefex. Pofterity will be indebted to your Grace for not contenting yourself with a temporary expedient, but entailing upon them the immediate bleffings of your administration. Boroughs were already too much at the mercy of government. Counties could neither be purchafed nor intimidated. But their folemn determined election may be rejected, and the man they deteft may be appointed, by another choice, to reprefent them in parliament, Yet it is admitted, that the fheriffs obeyed the laws and performed their duty. The return they made muft have been legal and valid, or undoubtedly they would have been cenfured for making it. With every good natured allowance for your Grace's youth and inexperience, there are fome things which you

cannot

cannot but know. You cannot but know that the right of the freeholders to adhere to their choice (even fuppofing it improperly exerted) was as clear and indisputable as that of the house of commons to exclude one of their own members ? nor is it poffible for you not to fee the wide distance there is between the negative power of rejecting one man, and the pofitive power of appointing another. The right of expulfion, in the most favourable fenfe, is no more than the cuftom of parliament. The right of election is the very effence of the conftitution. To violate that right, and much more to transfer it to any other set of men, is a step leading immediately to the diffolution of all government. So far forth as it operates, it conftitutes a house of commons, which does not reprefent the people. A houfe of commons fo formed would involve a contradiction and the groffeft confufion of ideas; but there are fome minifters, my Lord, whofe views can only be answered by reconciling abfurdities, and making the fame propofition, which is false and abfurd in argument, true in fact.

4

This measure, my Lord, is however attended with one confequence, favourable to the people, which I am perfuaded you did not forefee. While the contest lay between the minifty and Mr. Wilkes, his fituation and private character gave you ad

vantages

vantages over him which common candour, if not the memory of your former friendship, should have forbidden you to make ufe of. To religious men you had an opportunity of exaggerating the irregu larities of his paft life ;-to moderate men you held forth the pernicious confequences of faction. Men, who with this character, looked no farther than to the object before them, were not difatisfied at feeing Mr. Wilkes excluded from parliament, You have now taken care to fhift the queftion; or, rather you have created a new one, in which Mr. Wilkes is no more concerned than any other English gentleman. You have united this country against you on one grand conftitutional point, on the decision of which our existence, as a free people, abfolutely depends. You have afferted, not in words but in fact, that reprefentation in parliament does not depend upon the choice of the freeholders. If fuch a cafe can poffibly happen once, it may happen frequently; it may happen always-and if three hundred votes, by any mode of reasoning whatfoever, can prevail against twelve hundred, the fame reasoning would equally have given Mr. Luttrell his feat with ten votes, or even with one. The confequences of this attack upon the conftitution are too plain and palpable not to alarm the dulleft apprehenfion. I truft you will find that the

people

people of England are neither deficient in fpirit nor understanding, though you have treated them, as if they had neither fenfe to feel nor fpirit to refent. We have reafon to thank God and our ancestors, that there never yet was a minister in this country, who could stand the iffue of fuch a conflict; and with every prejudice in favour of your intentions, I fee no fuch abilities in your Grace, as fhould entitle you to fucceed in an enterprize, in which the ableft and bafeft of your predeceffors have found their deftruction. You may continue to deceive your gracious mafter with falfe reprefentations of the temper and condition of his fubjects. You may command a venal vote, because it is the common established appendage of your office. But never hope that the freeholders will make a tame furrender of their rights, or that an English army will join with you in overturning the liberties of their country. They know that their first duty, as citizens, is paramount to all fubfequent engagements, nor will they prefer the dif cipline or even the honours of their profession to thofe facred original rights, which belonged tọ them before they were foldiers, and which they claim and poffefs as the birth-rights of Englishmen,

Return, my Lord, before it is too late, to that eafy infipid fyftem, which you first fet out with. Take back your mistress;-the name of friend

may

may be fatal to her, for it leads to treachery and perfecution. Indulge the people. Attend Newmarket. Mr. Luttrell may again vacate his feat; and Mr. Wilkes, if not perfecuted, will foon be. forgotten. To be weak and inactive is fafer than to be daring and criminal; and wide is the diftance between a riot of the populace and a convulfion of the whole kingdom. You may live to make the experiment, but no honeft man can wish you fhould furvive it.

JUNIUSA

LETTER XIV.

SIR,

May 1, 1769.

A gentleman who figned himself An half pay

fubaltern, has called upon me to ftand forth in the behalf of the much diftreffed officers now on half pay. He was pleafed to fay that I have an ef fectual method of being really ferviceable to the officers of my reduced regiment. I should have been happy in receiving, by a private letter, that gentleman's idea of relief for them; could have wished he had made ufe of a more agreeable mode of application, than à public news paper; as unluckily thefe ill feasoned provocatives are more apt to difguft than quicken the defire of doing good,

especially

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