第3章 Letter I(3)

They concurred with conformists;and if they had been conformists themselves,as they were Dissenters,they would have acted in the same manner.But if this division of parties,on the same principles,subsists no longer;if there be in truth neither a Tory,nor a Whig,as I have said above,but a Court and a Country party in being;if the political principles,which the Dissenters have formerly avowed,are manifestly pursued on one side;and those which they have opposed,or others equivalent to them in their effects,are pursued on the other;can the Dissenters hesitate about the option they are to make?I am persuaded they cannot.I know that several amongst them do not.What might be,and certainly would be said,if they made their option to stand by the M--,I will not so much as suggest.What must be the consequence of their standing by the nation,in opposition to him,for between these two powers the present contest lies,it is easy to tell,and impossible to deny.They will prove,in this case,to the whole world,that the spirit of liberty animates,and conscience alone determines their conduct.They,who could never brook a regal,will have the merit of saving their country from a ministerial tyranny;and their country will owe them all the acknowledgements,which are due from good and grateful citizens of the same commonwealth.

As to the other great and national division of Whig and Tory;he,who recollects what hath passed in Parliament,and observes what passes out of it,can differ very little in his opinion from what hath been said concerning it.The principal articles of your civil faith,published some time ago,or,to speak more properly,the civil faith of the Old Whigs,are assented and consented to by the Country party;and I say,upon good authority,that if this creed was made a test of political orthodoxy,there would appear at this time but very few heretics amongst us.How different the case is on the other side,will appear not only from the actions,but from the principles of the Court-party,as we find them avowed in their writings;principles more dangerous to liberty,though not so directly,nor so openly levelled against it,than even any of those,bad as they were,which some of these men value themselves for having formerly opposed.

In short,the Revolution is looked upon by all sides as a new era;but the settlement then made is looked upon by the whole Country party as a new Magna Carta,from whence new interests,new principles of government,new measures of submission,and new obligations arise.From thence we must date both king and people.His majesty derives his title from Acts,made in consequence of it.We likewise derive,not our privileges,for they were always ours,but a more full and explicit declaration,and a more solemn establishment of them from the same period.On this foundation all the reasonable,independent Whigs and Tories unite.They could unite on this alone;for the Whigs have always professed the principles which paved the way for the Revolution;and whatever the Tories may have professed,they acted upon the same principles,or they acted upon none,which would be too absurd to assert,when they brought about that great event,in concert with the rest of the nation,as I shall some time or other prove.

To this Magna Carta,and these principles,let us adhere inviolably,in opposition to the two extremes mentioned by me at the beginning of this letter,viz.,to those who disown them,and to those who betray them.--Let neither the polemical skill of Leslie,nor the antique erudition of Bedford,persuade us to put on again those old shackles of false law,false reason,and false gospel,which were forged before the Revolution,and broken to pieces by it.--As little let us suffer the arch slyness of G--,the dogmatical dryness of H--or the sousing prostitution of S--to slip new shackles on us,which are inconsistent with the constituent principles of our establishment.Let us maintain and improve the national union,so happily begun,and bless God for disposing the temper of the nation almost universally to it.--Such a coalition hath been long wanted in this kingdom,and never more than at this important crisis;for on this it will depend whether they,who not only oppose the progress of that growing corruption,which had well nigh overspread the land,but endeavour to extirpate it by the roots,shall prevail;or they who nourish and propagate it,who eat themselves,and tempt others to eat the baneful fruit it bears.--On this it will depend whether they shall prevail,who constantly insist against the continuance of a standing.army in time of peace,agreeably to the principles of our constitution;or they who plead for it,and endeavour to make it a necessary part of that constitution,though incompatible with public liberty.--On this it will depend whether they shall prevail,who endeavour to conceal the frauds which are practised,and to screen the fraudulent,at the risk of ruining credit,and destroying trade,as well as to monopolize in the hands of a few the whole wealth of the nation;or they who do their utmost to bring the former to light,and the latter to punishment,at a time when glaring fraud,or very strong symptoms of fraud,appear in so many parts of public management,from some of the greatest companies down to the turnpike at Hyde Park Corner.--On this it will depend whether they shall prevail,who desire that Great Britain should maintain such a dignity and prudent reserve in the broils of Europe,as become her situation,suit her interest,and alone can enable her to cast the balance;or they who are eager,on every occasion,to prostitute her dignity,to pawn her purse,and to sacrifice her commerce,by entangling her not only too much with the other great powers of Europe,from whom she may sometimes want reciprocal engagements,but even with those diminutive powers,from whom it would be ridiculous to expect any.

I am,sir,yours,etc.