No 225. SATURDAY, Octob. 24, 1730.

Notwithstanding the Exceptions, that have been taken to our former Remarks, and which have drawn fome uncommon Proceedings upon Mr. Francklin, we are determin'd to profecute our Defign, and humbly ap prebend that any Englishman bath a Privilege (as long as the Liberty of the Prefs continues) to give the Publick an Abstract of the English History, and' to make fuch Obfervations upon it, as naturally reJult from it. As for Mr. Oldcastle and my felf, we shall always take particular Care not to affert any Thing, in the Course of thefe Remarks, but what we can justify by undoubted Authority from the best Hiftorians.

Remarks on the Hiftory of England continued.
From the Minutes of Mr. OLDCASTLE.

ROM the Reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. we shall haften downwards,as faft as fome neceffary Obfervations will permit. Thofe of the Princes of York and Lancaster form a Period of more than eighty Years, which paffed in foreign and civil Wars; in frequent Revolutions of Government, and in all those Disorders, which usually accompany and follow fuch Revolutions.

The Party of Richard II. even after the Death of that unhappy Prince, broke out into open Rebellion against Hen. IV. but their Efforts were vain. He held the Crown faft, which the Parliament had given him; and the chief of his Oppofers perish'd in their At

tempts.

tempts. Happy had it been, if they alone had fuffer'd; But here we must observe a neceffary and cruel Confequence of Faction. As it oppreffeth the whole Community, if it fucceeds; fo it often draws Oppreffion, not on itself alone, but on the whole Community, when it fails. The Attempts to dethrone Henry IV. juftified him, no doubt, in fupporting himself by a military Force. They excufed him likewife, very probably, in the Minds of many, for governing with a fevere Hand; for doing feveral illegal and tyrannical Actions; for invading the Privileges of Parliament; at least, in the Point of Elections; and for obtaining, by these Means, frequent and heavy Taxes on the People; for as all This might appear the harder, because it happen'd in the Reign of a King, who had no Title to his Crown but the good Will of the People, and the free Gift of Parliament; fo it might appear, on the other Hand, the lefs grievous, because fome Part of it was render'd neceffary by the Oppofition, which a Faction made to a parliamentary Establishment; and because the rest of it was reprefented, perhaps, under that Umbrage, to be fo likewife, by the Court Logick of that Age.

A People may be perfuaded to bear patiently a great deal of Oppreffion, as long as they can be perfuaded that they bear it only to defend their own Choice and to maintain their own Acts; but if they discover This to be nothing more than a Pretence, by which fuch Powers are kept up as are unneceffary to their Security, and dangerous to their Liberty; by which the Wealth of the whole Nation is drained into the Coffers of a few; and by which, in one Word, they become exposed to Ruin by the very Means, which they took to avoid it; it cannot be expected that they will be patient very long.

It deferves particular Notice that although Henry IV. was willing to fhew his Clemency, at the Beginning of his Reign, by inflicting a very flight Punish. ment on the wicked and hated Minifters of the late

King i

King; yet it being alledged in their Excuse that Richard had compelled them to act, the Parliament took Occafion from thence to pass an Act, by which it was declared that, for the future, Compulfion fhould be no legal Excufe to justify Actions, contrary to Law. The Reasonableness and Expediency of this Att are very manifeft; for it is the indifpenfable Duty of a good Minifter to diffuade his Mafter from all illegal Meafures; or, if He cannot prevail, to quit his Service, rather than fuffer Himself to be made the Inftrument of Them; and if the Commands of the Prince were to be allow'd a fufficient Juftification, the Prerogative of doing no Wrong would be extended to Minifters, and nobody would be left accountable for male Adminiftration.

In the fhort, but triumphant, Reign of Henry V. the Spirit of Faction was awed; and the Spirit of Liberty had no Occafion of exerting itself; at least, with Struggle and in any fignal Manner, under a Prince juft, moderate and pious, according to the Religion of thofe Times.

The Reign of his Son was the Reign of Faction; and it discloses an horrid Scene of Iniquity, Folly, Madness. The fcandalous Management of publick Affairs, which brought infinite Lofs and Difhonour to the Nation, gave real Occafion, as well as Pretence, to Commotions and Infurrections. The contemptible Character of the Man, who fate on the Throne, revived the Hopes of the Faction of York. The Faction of Lancaster took the Alarm. Moft of the great and active Men were attached to one Side, or to the other, by Obligation, by Refentment, by Hopes, or by Fears. The national Intereft was funk, to the Shame of the Nation, in the particular Intereft of two Families.

In the civil Wars, which happened a Century and an half, or two Centuries before this Time, the Point in Dispute was how the People fhould be governed. In These we are speaking of, the Point in

Difpute

Difpute was who fhould govern. The first was worth contending for and deserved all the Blood, which was fhed in the Quarrel. But This cannot be faid of the laft, which ought always to be look'd upon with great Indifference; except in Cafes, where it has fo immediate and neceffary a Relation to the first, that fecuring the first depends, in a great Meafure, on fettling the laft. Such Cafes have happen'd; and particular Inftances may be eafily found; but the contrary Cafes, where Men have fought for Governors, without regard to Government, are easy to be found likewife; and That was plainly the Cafe of the two Factions of York and Lancaster.

The Parliaments, in thofe Days, feem'd to be in another Temper; very little concerned who was King, and very much to preferve the Conftitution. In the many Revolutions, which happen'd, each Side would have the Parliament for them. Whatever Titles They fet up, They were glad to hold the Crown by the Grant, or by the Confirmation of Parliament. The Parliament wifely complied, whoever prevailed. The Chance of War determined who fhould be King; at one Time Henry VI. at another Edward IV. and the Parliament accordingly placed Them on the Throne and fettled their Government.

The

There is another Obfervation, which ought to be made, before we leave this Period of Time. Reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV. had fhewn the dangerous Confequences of that Influence, which the Crown had obtained in the Elections of Members of Parliament. The watchful Spirit of Liberty was foon alarmed, and prevailed to make fuch Regulations about Elections, and about the Qualifications of the Electors and the Elected, as feemed, at that Time, fufficient to prevent this Influence for the future. Thefe Regulations appear in feveral Laws, made during the Reigns of the three Lancaftrian Princes; and our Elections proceed, in a great Measure, upon them to this very Day. Thefe Regulations have re

quired

quired and muft, in the Nature of Things, require to be altered, as the Course of Accidents, or the Change of national Circumstances fhall fuggeft Reafons for fo doing. But then fuchAlterations have been, and ought always to be contrived fo as to adapt them better, and to enforce them more ftrongly; because the Principle, on which they are founded, can never vary, and is fo effential to the Prefervation of Liberty, that if it be loft, and if a Practice in Oppofition to it fhould ever prevail, the Ballance of our Government would be that Moment loft, and the British Conftitution left at the Mercy of any ambitious Prince, or wicked Minifter.

For this Reason, Mr. Rapin obferves very juftly that there are but two Ways of depriving the English of their Liberties; either by laying afide Parliaments, or bribing Them; and, in another Place, He fays that the English Freedom will be at an end, whenever the Court invades the free Election of Parliaments.

It is neceflary to infift upon this Obfervation a little; because it hath been ridiculed, tho' dully, and great Pains have been taken to explode the Doctrine contained in it; which was laid down in thefe Words. In a Conftitution like ours, the Safety of the Whole depends on the Ballance of the Parts; and the Ballance of the Parts on their mutual Independency on each other. These Words, it seems, even with Those of Thuanus to explain them, convey no Idea to the London Fournalift; but This will be found, as I apprehend, to be bis Fault, or bis Defect; not Oldcastle's. A Man born without the Senfe of Hearing, or ftopping his Ears, and determined at any Rate not to hear, may be deaf to the Voice of Stentor himself.

I fhall not enter into any Altercations with the London Journalist, nor go out of the Road to have the Honour of fuch Company. But when I meet Him in my Way, I fhall encounter Him frankly; without the leaft Fear of being crush'd by the Weight of his Arguments; or, which is more, by the Power of his Patron.

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