And must such stupid notions still /rr- wretched
nations
.
.
Rehearsal - v1 - 1750
3.
N.
100.
Than whom (I fay) no one un
derflood better the constitution of the English government. And he fays, in his discourses concerning government, chap. 3. sect. 38. p. 423, 424. That men chosen to serve in par liament —are sent thither by prescription, not from a power
assurance (which
derivd from kings, but from those that chuse them.
C. If Algernoon fays so, then I fay, that he neither un
derstood the nature of government, nor of the English
He talks of prescription. Had that prescrip- . tion no beginning ? There he might have found the consti tution. Who was it gave charters to those corporations that choose parliament-men ? Was it the king, orthe/ct? - pie? Did all the people of England, every individual sin
gle person, (which Mr. Lock makes necessary^ in his two treatises of government, 1. 2. c. 8. Of the beginning of political societies, p. 3 1 6, &c. ) meet together, and deter mine by vote, what town or corporation should choose parliament- men? Which should choose two, which but me, and which 'none? Did the people ordain that a very
iittle poor corporation mould have as many representatives as a whole county? And was this thought a fair and equal' representation of the peopli?
This is as ridiculous as it is contrary to fafl. The king
is the- only, fountain of power in the kingdom. - Neither lords, , wx. commons, or any other have any authority, but
L 6 . what"
constitution.
MS" The REHEARSAL.
what they derive wholly and solely from the crown ; the crown holds of none but God. This is the law
England, as it is exprefly declared, 16 Riclf: 2. c. 5. and many otherstatutes. Kings were before parliaments,- sot
parliaments were called by kings ; otherwise let Algernon name that parliament which made the sirst king; and tett- us who call'd it ? And by whose authority it met ? This
-is a choaking question, and reduces matter to faii, and ii- no otherwise answerable but by facl ; and none has had the courage to answer it, but my Bays ofan Qbfir•uater, who fhoots his holt at every thing, and is as hardy as a- drunken man in the akri. And ha-an/kvers it by another as perilous a question, that •ifæo before /Ar first For which leave thee to- the corregion given thee in my bib paper of last August the 5th,- call'd only the Ob- fervator, to try thou cou'd'st know thy own face in a- less flattering glass than what thou had'st made for thy self.
O. Do'st think that all the mighty structure we have been so many years raifing, with such vast ex- pence of wit and learning, with which we have depo
pulated kingdoms (for the good of the people and tum bled down kings from their thrones, can be all blownwzy at once, like the down of thistle, one puff of thy
breath
C. Inchantments have mighty effects while they last,
yet are easily diffol•v'd sew words right plac'd, and there witch-crast in words we have seen it. Fw S's earry'd on the whole revolution of forty-one, theso were, people, parliaments, property and popery. By vertue
turned the government, and thepeople met one another
original U
of the word people, and their power, they over
tl. e> /. /•/, and manur'd their with the
and car-
tpsj'es of the people.
Whatever came to them in the name of ^parliament
. was their own act aud deed, and went down without exa mining! and the most arbitrary and illegal tyranny upon their Æ*« and estates, if done by the parliamentr was their //'for/y and property Whereas the did
but.
if
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)!
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tfhe REHEARSAL.
but look at them, or touch'd a hair of their heads, this they
cry'd out upon as persecution, massacres, tended !
And by tacking the word popery to episcopacy, liturgy,. the rrf«/, and the Lo? Ws prayer, they were all together baniflsd out of the
The inchantment of these words is not yet over with
us. And we have added three other, which have no less
power, viz. moderation, seasonable and balancing. The two first put a full yfo/' to any good, how necessary and ta- ntficial soever, that is propos'd for thesecurity of church or ,/fa/*. And the /«/? justisies any «i>iV can be done, even to burn my neighbour's house, if it be better than mine, or to cut his throat, if I fancy he may ca/ mine, tho' he does me no injury in the world.
O. May not I stand upon my guard, if I think my neighbour designs any attempt upon me ?
n9 &c— in
C. Yes, but not to fall upon him, while he lives
peaceably and quietly with you.
O. I love to give the sirst blow.
C. Then you must take the guilt with and all the
blood that follows, lies upon the aggress'or. And -this
we must suppose, there God. in heaven, or any justice, faith, or honour left upon the earth and, at this rate, no peace can be preserv'd in the uoorld. For till the levelling age comes, there will be always pretence for
balancing.
(4. ) O. But to return to our subject. Thy assurance
reaches not only all our late modern heroes, who have
wrote, upon liberty and the original power of the people bat thou set'st thy self above all the antient bothGreck and Roman philosophers, from whom w learnt that notion, and mak'st/Wi of them all, as well as of us.
C. No, make not fools of them, nor set my self
above them, they were men of great •wit and sagacity
yet know from the holy scriptures (which they had not) what all their philosophy could never reach. They knew not how the world or mankind began. How then could they know how government began therefore they were
3L
Put
?
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a
;
it,
if it
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higher
The
REHEARSAL;
230
put to their gueffes, and some of them thought of the
way of urns ah and agreement among »<»,tho' they knew not when or henu. But they faw that this could be no bafis or settlement of government, especially so as to ob
lige conscience, which is the great security ofgovernment ; for what man is he who can by his own natural au thority bind the conscience of another ? That would be far more than the power of lise, liberty or property. Therefore they faw the necessity of a divine original of
government. To supply which, they fabled their kings to be begot by some God or other, and so to be of an
race than the rest of mankind. And they had their apotheoses of their kings, at their death, or turning them into Gods, to command the t everence and obe&ena
of theirsubjects.
Then their legiflators gave it out, that they received
their laws from some of the Gods. At Numa Pontpilius faid he had his from the Goddess Ægeria. Draco and Solon pretended they had the Athenian laws from Mi nerva. Lycurgus those of the Lacedæmonians, from Apolh. Minos of Crete, from Jupiter. Trismegistus from Mer cury, for the ÆgyptianT. Zoroaster for the Perfians,
from Horomafis. Xamolxis from Vesta, for the Scythians, and so forth.
Thus they grop'd in the dark after what we have clearly
revealed va. holy scripture, the divine original ofgovern ment. And you, (good Christians ! ) lead us back to the Heathens to sind it out, and set up their schemes of com-
pact, rejecting the institution of God, recorded in Genesis, as of the sirst dominion founded in Adam, so of the divi
fion of. nations under Noab.
Frtffl
The REHEARSAL.
231 E? r-©m ^at. April 14, to ^>at. April 21, 1705. N°38-
2Wr. Lock's two treatises ofgovernment examind. And
the reason of it. With an advertisement of a new as sociation going about.
Oi/! OINCE ourlast meetinglhave consulted our great oracle Mr. Lock. I could not endure to be so
mauVd\yf thee, and now I am prepar'd thou shalt not come off victoria ! as thou hast hitherto done. Thou hasl
hevsd him down, as asserting that the consent of every individual was necessary for the erection of government.
And he is as sensible as thou art, that that is impossible, and
fays, in his two treatises ofgovernment, book 2. cap. 8. Of the beginning of political societies, p. 318. Which (lays he, that the consent of every individual confidering the infirmities health, and avocations bufiness, which in
a number, tho" much left than that of a commonwealth, nvill necessarily keep many away from the publick assembly
and the variety opinions, and contrariety interests nvhich unavoidably happen in all collections men, 'tis next
to impossible ever to had.
C. Yet the very page before, and the page before that,
he makes the consent of every individual to be necessary, and the only foundation of all politicalsocieties. He fays, p. 316. When any number men have the consent
every individual made a community . And p. 317. one
body, one community, which the consent every indivi
dual that united into page, Thus every man
agreed, Sec. And again in the fame consenting with others to make one 355. Every member the society.
body politick, &C. And
O. Ay, 'tis feafible and eas> upon the sirst erection of
government, because necessary, and government could
no otherwise be erected. But where he makes
p. 318, upon the point of the majority concluding
the -whole, after the government fays he, Nothing but the consent tanmake any thing te the act
erected, for otherwise, every individual
the while, which, con sidering^
impossible,
he
p.
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of
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it is
is, of
it
cf
of of
it is
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;
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The REHEARSAL.
sidering the infirmities ofhealth, &c. as before quoted, is next to impossihle ever to be bad.
C. If it never could be had, then it never could be had, more upon one occasion than another. And no oc cafion can be nam'd more likely to create •variety of nions, and contrariety of interests, than the contrivance of
and the choice of the governors. So that here you have brought Lock confuting himsels: and plainly owning, that the foundation ofpopular government
nonsense and an impossihility•
But now suppose government set up upon this sounda-
tion, upon which was impossible to be set up, as Lock himself has prov'd. Does he make the government set tled and fix'd in his or their hands where the commu
nity have plac'd
O. What do'll 'mean, an absolute and arhitrary sower
in the supreme and legistative authority No, no, he will not allow of that any means. And he proves ex
cellently, which had not ready at hand last time thou mad'st such goose of me, for faying, that there no ar- litre, ry power in England so that had not ran/ to
fay for my self. For tho' have taken all my principles out of Lock, do not always remember his reasons but now I'm ready for thee, and have at thee. He comes upon this point, in his two treatises, book z. chap. xi. 353. where he treats Of the extent the legiflative power, And fays thus, 355. Tho the legistative, whether one or more, be thesupreme power in every commonwealth,
yet not, nor. can possibly be absolutely arhitrary over the lives andfortunes the people for being but the joint
power every member the society given up to that per son, or assembly which legifiator, can be no more then those persons, had in a state nature, before they enter
into society, and gave up to the community for no body can transfer to another more power than he has in himsels
and no body has an absolute arhitrary power over himself, or over any other to destroy his own life, or take away tie life or property of another. A man, as has been prov'i,
tannoi subject himself to the arhitrary power another.
C. And;.
government,
of
;
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; it
it
of
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;
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it ;
of it
!
it is
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The REHEARSAL.
I have
233 to thee before, the
C. And, as
legiflative power, wherever it is plac'd> in any sort of government, is, and must be arhitrary and absolute, and it is impossible to be otherwise ; and every man sees it in all governments upon the face of the e^rth. The legifla
tive is not bound to its own laws, but may repeal them
at pleasure ; and before repeal may dispense with them, and leap over them, and act contrary to them ; may de
fully prov'd
ny the liberty of habeas corpus, and keep men in Newgate all the days of their lise, without either trial or bail ; may take a man's life by act of attainder, where the or dinary course of the laws could not reach him. In short, may do what they will, and make what they will to be law ; for their •mill is the law.
Therefore, ifas Mr. Lock fays, and fays he has prov'd No man can fubject himself to the arhitrary power
another, no man can subject himself to any governments of what sort or fize so ever. Nor can there be such thing as government kept up in the world.
And as he fays, no man has power over the life or property of another, then cannot the whole community com mit anyforce upon any single individual, who shall gain
fay their constitution No, nor compel him to leave them, or his native country and hirth-right .
And as he fays again, no- man can transfer to an other more power th'ani'e has in himself, and that no body- has power over himsels to destroy his own life then how came any government to have power of life and death Mr. Lock consesses the individuals could not give it. And who else was there to give it? doubt little divine right must come in here. What else can give to another that power over my life, which- have net my self?
O. This Rehearser aflts many silly questions there's no bearing on'th he puts one out still, and won't let'en'
go on. But I'll tell thee Mr. Lock fays, that art absolute
subje3ion to any form of government worse than anarchy or the state at nature. This he takes pains to prove p. 359. and fays, '[hat he in a much worse condition that iy expos'd to the arhitrary power of one man who has the
command
is
so
1
I is
a
;
?
a
of
if,
it, if,
:
The RE HEARSAL
command of I 00,000, than he that is expos d to the arU- trary power of 100,000 jingle men.
C. This is so very senseless, (with all respect to Mt. Lock's judgment ! ) that it is even tfhame to answer it. Ageu- ral or a king of 100,000 men may command hardiixaQ, ] as to march upon the mouth of a cannon, and bang a man for a very small matter, stepping out of his rank, or tak ing an egg, tho' he were starving, and had not a penny to pay for't, Or for his pay, tho' it be due to him ; yet, with all this arbitrariness, is not this a better
for these ioo,coo men than anarchy, and letting them all loose upon one another, to rob, plunder, and kill one another at discretion I And if the number be greater, aa
of millions in a kingdom, the confufion and destrutHo* would be proportionably greater. And if the whole world were in this supposed of nature, it would be one aeeldama, and nothing but ArtV could the wild uproar ! Yet Mr. Lock thinks this much preferable to the
234
living under the absolute government either of a king, or a commonwealth!
And must such stupid notions still /rr-wretched
nations
. O. I my self, . /W enough as I am, must forsake my master Lock here. This was putting the case too far, it frights one to think on't ! but he did Hot mean it ; for he fays, p. 422, that if a government be arbitrary, it is dix/hlv'd, and the people are restor'd to their originalstate
of nature; but he does, not suppose the people will conti nue in that state, but may choose a new legislative for themselves, in what form and manner they think sit. This is the subject of chap. XIX. of book 2. Of the disso lution ofgovernment, beginning at p. 432, where all thi* is asserted, and discours'd at large.
C. Dissolution of government is a whim, a dream. One contending party may take the government from another,
and when they have £0/
fall so low as the people state of nature and
they /for/> but never let
they despise your individuals and any individual should set up for
his originalfreedom, they would hang him up for an ori ginalfoci. Such an independent would besuspended as
disturber of any sort ofsettlement whatsoever. And
;
if ;
it,
a it 1
it,
The REHEARS AL.
235
And as there never was such an independent state of mankind, as Lock or the rest of our popular orators vainly fancy ; so cannot mankind fall into such a state, more than
the world into its original chaos.
And ifmankind were in such a state, they cou'd no
more produce government from the consent of every in
dividual; than the chaos, by its own naturalforce, cou'd
have produc'd this world, by a fortuitous concourse of atoms : which some of the heathen philosophers foolishly thought, for want of the knowledge of the creation. And it is full as reasonable for Christians to lay aside the
and follow the heathens in this, as in the
holy scriptures^
original ofgovernment ; of which they knew no more than ofthe other.
Let me but give an instance to make it familiar to eve ry body, in a very little part of the world, that is, the
yleoi Britain. Suppose, according to Lock, the govern ment dissolv'd, and all the individuals of England and
Scotland render'd wholly independent ofeach other, in his siippos'd state of nature. All and every one of them up on the level. I dare undertake, that it wou'd be dooms day in the afternoon before they could frame any fort of
government whatsoever, upon the free vote and consent
of every individual. Besides what is above faid of in
vesting the government with the power of life and death, which Lock consesses they cou'd notgive, as not having
it in themselves. And which if granted to any govern ment, he repeats it again p. 446. wou'd be much worse than the state ofnature or pure anarchy.
O. Do's my Lock fall upon that senseless stuff again ?
I believe I must e'en quit him for good and all !
How ever my honour is fase. For all my filly fayings about go
vernment, thou hast here shew'd to be in him. And it can be no dishonour to me, to fall with the great Lock.
C. I have quoted Lock thus particularly, on purpose to shew, that the most acute and celebrated of the whig writers can speak no more fense upon this subject than John Tutchin : and that the pains I have taken, was not
to confute Tutchin, but he being so very medling afellow, and
ij6 The REHEARSAL,
and his papers running through the nation, and poi/ariif
a great many filly and unthinking people, who will not'3| read books, nor can understand what is closely and sericum wrote; I have followed him in his buffooning way, to
steal some sense into mob, in a language they A'if, and can comprehend. But then, because I have heard some fay, that 'tis not worth while to baffle Tutchin ; and a discredit to any man of sobriety to engage with such a scandalous fellow, and so foul a mouth (as indeed it wou7d
be, were there no more in the case) I have therefore ']
drawn him on, and at last bottom'd his most nan-smficai stuff upon men of name and in highest reputation with our whig-wits. That they may see the dcsperatcncss of their cause, when their greatest heroes have no more to fay, on their behalf, than despicable John Tutchin.
Last Good-friday (the better day, the better deed] some ahti-tackers summon'd a parcel of the saints tofast with them at the ship tavern at Rat cliff cross: where pursuing the business of the day, they produc'd an instrument, rea dy cut and drawn, of association, towards the ensuing elections, like the solemn league and covenant, or the over tures printed before, N. z6. And as, come your band, sad your band went round, it came to one who was not of the very well affected, who refus'd, faying it was a
'
combination to ruin the government. Upon which, an other started off ; which occasioned a great heat among them ; and the paper was torn ; and the cabal broke up for that time.
And I am told, that something of the like combinati-
M has been carrying on at the man in the moon in White-
chapel. Which may produ"ce more news from the world in. the tnoon, • i . : , •.
From
The REHEARSAL. From . f>at. April 2 1 , to d>at. April 28, 1705.
1. she ObservatorsY lyes about Suffolk and Ipswich.
2. What he aUedges wassaid at Norwich. And his dooming all the tackers to have their brains beat out.
3. stackers accus'dfor writing godly books. With the virtues of the whig-chiess. 4. The story of the white neck. And that it was the church of England cut
offthehadof K. Char. I. 5. The Honiton/c-^. And who are the aggressors.
Obf. XTOW the elcctions are coming on, I'm set at my po/i, to tell stories of the tackers, , to pre
judice the people against them, and against all church-men under the name of the high-church.
C. They could not have found such another foul mouth, which laps stander like sweet milk ; and being destitute of all shame or morality, cares not for truth or
postilion in
(1. ) 0. What hast thou to fay to what I tell in mine of the 1 4th of this month, Vol. 4. N. 4. that at Ipswich, the people of the town met at their hall, where one of the bailiffs began a health to the honest tackers, which
(asl fay)ya disgusted those honest gentlemen that were in the company, that they all departed, and left the tackers to themselves. Thus fay I. And what fay 'st thou ?
C. That if all that stayd were tackers,
all such one j. C. then they were except who in the last reign came to
be a common- council man, he was a sheriff's livery-man, a groom to R. S. scrv'd his time to an hostler, was coach man, and that his best preserment, tD Sir Ch -r M —n a Roman catholick judge, and was always an impudent fl'ow like John Tutchin; he was the only worthy person that refused the health, and went out of the hall. It was on the 8th of March last, (at day of her Majesty % happy accession. Where after they
had drank prosperity to the church, to the queen, and the prince, they began a health to the tackers, as thinking
237
N° 39.
saljhood, but throws dirt and bespat ter? , like a
armour of leather. . . ,
.
238
The REHEARSAL.
them, next to the fore-named, the greatest supporters, truest to the interests of the church, the crvum, and nation. So that this . /7or)i thou hast brought to (hew little interest of the tackers, has turned intirely to
contrary.
O. But I tell in the next words, that no bonefi
hearted Englishm an is employed in the publics OfFi
of that town. And that just before the rifing of the parliament, in order to support the tacking cause, h
Bailiffs made a certain eminent tacker, and eigbtj
ether country gentlemen, freemen os the said corporation. C. It was not the bailiffs made them free (as thou im-
pudently lyest) but they were chosen freemen, by the body of the freemen present at several great courts (as the common halls are call'd) and not all at once, just befeft the ristng of the last parliament, as thou put'st it. It was done in about two years time. And those made frtt,
were the right honourable the E
worthy gentlemen, of the best quality in the county. And they were admitted, for the most part, nemine contreÆ-
eente; and always, with very little opposttion. And surely, men of estates and quality are sittest to be trusted with
the preservation of our liberties and properties. And Jp/wich has gain'd this by that they live unanimous,
and in good neighbourhood which no divided place can lay, where fanaticks can get but finger in the **. Where did they ever yet come, and had any st/are of the
power, but they made disturbance
O. Thou rt very promoking. But tell, . that these
sent present of wine to count lalleri. And then you know they must be papishes and French,
and every thing
C. This was told certain company, where one
faid, that he heard the E. of C——1 presented the faid count with sine horse. Why truly, reply a whig, see no reason why civility shou'd not be shew'd tostrang
ers.
O. But the most terrible story yet behind. That
while ago, when a toping SOMETHING with his gang,
Suffolk-tackers
.
———
ofD t, andother
is
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a
The REHEARSAL.
a39
mttnt to search a papist'/ bouse for horses and arms, he ne
ver looked into thestable, but coming into the parlour, he said, here are no horses or arms, and so sat down andI
C. If this be meant of Ipswich, of which thou tell'il the other stories, then these papishes were but one ; and the only one in that town ; who is a fingle man, and no house-keeper, has no parlour, but being surgeon, has on ly a shop or surgery room, next the street, with a little apartment taken out of just big enough to hold fed. And the topping something commission officer, such as the law requires to search for horses and arms. And
he was at thesurgeonsstable sirst, and found neither horse nor arms any where. He did not drink with him, tho' afk'd, being on fast-day in the morning, viz. the
30th of January, which he, not being whig, did ob
drank with the papisHES till they were all drunk, and think 'twas on a Sunday too.
serve. And was not upon Sunday, but
So that here are all the lyes can be crowded into story, in every particular of it. And to shew that this was ja- cohiteplot, the oaths were tendered to the surgeon, which he refusing, pay'd his 40/.
But now we're upon Suffolk and papishes, have story to tell thee. There a. papi(h there, one Mr. L—y,
who herds and cabals with the dissenters (sittest company for one another) andfireetid by them, tho' he refas'd the oaths and being prosecuted to the time, upon which comnction must follow, was brought off last affixes there, by noli -prosequi. And then brought his action of damages against Lord D and other iackers, by
whose warrants he was taken up, and this by the advice
and assistance of his friends, the true-blue protestants who have in this gain'd victory over the iackers.
(z. ) O. I'll have none of thy stories. 'Tis have the
patent for telling stories. And I've Suffolk evidence for what tell in the fame Observator, that common- council-man in Norwich faid, the tackers iawf the ho- nestest men, andswore his maker, that they got the bitter of us this time, they would tack us all to the devil.
C. That
Tuesday.
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; a
a if
a
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it,
a is t, a
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a
a
a
:
a aa
it
a
it
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The REHEARSAL.
. C. That is not now to be done. There has been an ancient and a solemn league and covenant betwixt you.
O. But where's your moderation all this while ? And fliou'd not all the nation be alarm d at what this common- council-man faid ?
C. You neither tell who that common-council-man was, nor to whom he faid it. Thou'sl no mind to be. deteclU And since I've prov'd thee so notorious a. liar in the othei
stories thou tellest in the fame Observator, who has rea son to believe one word thou fay'st, upon no better au thority than- thy own? Tho' if such a thing had been faid by a. private man, vxpassion or in drink, is it equal to what thou the vindicator in publick post, and the mouth of the party, ha& printed to all the nation, in the fame Observator, where telling how the peeper at Co ventry was thrown out of the window, and mash'd ti death on thestones, thou adds, that it wou'd be much sor
the ease and advantage of her majesty and her good peopie, ifall the tackers in Encland were servd as the peeper at Coventry ?
O. And is not this greater moderation, than to send them all to the devil? Tho' for my part, I'd rather fence with the devil about my soul, than with a halter about my neck. But these tackers and high fiiers pretend to value their fouls above their bodies. Believe it who can f 'Tis all hypocrisy. As in that tacker who writes godly booh,
for which we have paid him off more than any of the
rest, in our character of a tacker. Where will they sind
any such hypocrisy among us ? your
C. I have read some of the virtues of leading-
p.
faints in the address to the clergy of the church of England,
12. &c. And I sind no hypocrisy at all in them: but that they actcd what they really meant, the utmost con
tempt and blasphemy against the christian religion ; and . which couM not have come into the head of any com mon devil. The church will be well securdaxA trans
mitted by such hands !
O. I cannot bear this : 111 rather let thee tell a story,
than go' on at this rate.
C. Then
The REHEARS AL.
241
C. Then I'll tell thee a true one which I have from a
*'ery good hand. Within this month there were a com
pany of pure sour whigs got together, and discoursing over their godly deeds from forty one and downwards, they
came at last to their joyful day indeed, the de-collation of King Charles I. Upon which one of them shruggd up his shoulders, and with a fanatical grin, which they use fpr smile, faid, with a gusto, the queen has a fine white
0. And what can'st inser, what can'st make of that ?
C. Nothing! But that he said it. And no body re- provd him.
0. You know how the diffenters have vindicated them selves from having any hand in the murder of king Charles I. and I darefay they wou'd do as much for his grand daughter, if there were occafion.
C. I doubt it not in the least. But I pray God pre serve her from the tas of your mercies. You wou'd then prove, as you do new, and last week publisiYd a book call'd, the politicks of high church, Sec. to prove, that it
was the principles of the church of England, which cut off the head of king Charles I. And that it was a natu ral consequence of the passive obedience, and jure divina doctrine, to make the king the Lord's, and not the people's anointed, and so a fin to stretch forth a hand against him !
0. It was those principles cut off his head. And theso men did not know our temper. For I'll tell thee, as the goodwoman faid,
No sooner weIll convinced it is afln, But methinks standon thorns tillIbegin.
We are not for king-killing. Only we wou'd have it in our power ! and these tackers and high-church-men , I'm afraid, won't let us !
(5. ) They wou'dn't let us come into Honiton t'other day with a new candidate we set up against Sir W.
derflood better the constitution of the English government. And he fays, in his discourses concerning government, chap. 3. sect. 38. p. 423, 424. That men chosen to serve in par liament —are sent thither by prescription, not from a power
assurance (which
derivd from kings, but from those that chuse them.
C. If Algernoon fays so, then I fay, that he neither un
derstood the nature of government, nor of the English
He talks of prescription. Had that prescrip- . tion no beginning ? There he might have found the consti tution. Who was it gave charters to those corporations that choose parliament-men ? Was it the king, orthe/ct? - pie? Did all the people of England, every individual sin
gle person, (which Mr. Lock makes necessary^ in his two treatises of government, 1. 2. c. 8. Of the beginning of political societies, p. 3 1 6, &c. ) meet together, and deter mine by vote, what town or corporation should choose parliament- men? Which should choose two, which but me, and which 'none? Did the people ordain that a very
iittle poor corporation mould have as many representatives as a whole county? And was this thought a fair and equal' representation of the peopli?
This is as ridiculous as it is contrary to fafl. The king
is the- only, fountain of power in the kingdom. - Neither lords, , wx. commons, or any other have any authority, but
L 6 . what"
constitution.
MS" The REHEARSAL.
what they derive wholly and solely from the crown ; the crown holds of none but God. This is the law
England, as it is exprefly declared, 16 Riclf: 2. c. 5. and many otherstatutes. Kings were before parliaments,- sot
parliaments were called by kings ; otherwise let Algernon name that parliament which made the sirst king; and tett- us who call'd it ? And by whose authority it met ? This
-is a choaking question, and reduces matter to faii, and ii- no otherwise answerable but by facl ; and none has had the courage to answer it, but my Bays ofan Qbfir•uater, who fhoots his holt at every thing, and is as hardy as a- drunken man in the akri. And ha-an/kvers it by another as perilous a question, that •ifæo before /Ar first For which leave thee to- the corregion given thee in my bib paper of last August the 5th,- call'd only the Ob- fervator, to try thou cou'd'st know thy own face in a- less flattering glass than what thou had'st made for thy self.
O. Do'st think that all the mighty structure we have been so many years raifing, with such vast ex- pence of wit and learning, with which we have depo
pulated kingdoms (for the good of the people and tum bled down kings from their thrones, can be all blownwzy at once, like the down of thistle, one puff of thy
breath
C. Inchantments have mighty effects while they last,
yet are easily diffol•v'd sew words right plac'd, and there witch-crast in words we have seen it. Fw S's earry'd on the whole revolution of forty-one, theso were, people, parliaments, property and popery. By vertue
turned the government, and thepeople met one another
original U
of the word people, and their power, they over
tl. e> /. /•/, and manur'd their with the
and car-
tpsj'es of the people.
Whatever came to them in the name of ^parliament
. was their own act aud deed, and went down without exa mining! and the most arbitrary and illegal tyranny upon their Æ*« and estates, if done by the parliamentr was their //'for/y and property Whereas the did
but.
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tfhe REHEARSAL.
but look at them, or touch'd a hair of their heads, this they
cry'd out upon as persecution, massacres, tended !
And by tacking the word popery to episcopacy, liturgy,. the rrf«/, and the Lo? Ws prayer, they were all together baniflsd out of the
The inchantment of these words is not yet over with
us. And we have added three other, which have no less
power, viz. moderation, seasonable and balancing. The two first put a full yfo/' to any good, how necessary and ta- ntficial soever, that is propos'd for thesecurity of church or ,/fa/*. And the /«/? justisies any «i>iV can be done, even to burn my neighbour's house, if it be better than mine, or to cut his throat, if I fancy he may ca/ mine, tho' he does me no injury in the world.
O. May not I stand upon my guard, if I think my neighbour designs any attempt upon me ?
n9 &c— in
C. Yes, but not to fall upon him, while he lives
peaceably and quietly with you.
O. I love to give the sirst blow.
C. Then you must take the guilt with and all the
blood that follows, lies upon the aggress'or. And -this
we must suppose, there God. in heaven, or any justice, faith, or honour left upon the earth and, at this rate, no peace can be preserv'd in the uoorld. For till the levelling age comes, there will be always pretence for
balancing.
(4. ) O. But to return to our subject. Thy assurance
reaches not only all our late modern heroes, who have
wrote, upon liberty and the original power of the people bat thou set'st thy self above all the antient bothGreck and Roman philosophers, from whom w learnt that notion, and mak'st/Wi of them all, as well as of us.
C. No, make not fools of them, nor set my self
above them, they were men of great •wit and sagacity
yet know from the holy scriptures (which they had not) what all their philosophy could never reach. They knew not how the world or mankind began. How then could they know how government began therefore they were
3L
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The
REHEARSAL;
230
put to their gueffes, and some of them thought of the
way of urns ah and agreement among »<»,tho' they knew not when or henu. But they faw that this could be no bafis or settlement of government, especially so as to ob
lige conscience, which is the great security ofgovernment ; for what man is he who can by his own natural au thority bind the conscience of another ? That would be far more than the power of lise, liberty or property. Therefore they faw the necessity of a divine original of
government. To supply which, they fabled their kings to be begot by some God or other, and so to be of an
race than the rest of mankind. And they had their apotheoses of their kings, at their death, or turning them into Gods, to command the t everence and obe&ena
of theirsubjects.
Then their legiflators gave it out, that they received
their laws from some of the Gods. At Numa Pontpilius faid he had his from the Goddess Ægeria. Draco and Solon pretended they had the Athenian laws from Mi nerva. Lycurgus those of the Lacedæmonians, from Apolh. Minos of Crete, from Jupiter. Trismegistus from Mer cury, for the ÆgyptianT. Zoroaster for the Perfians,
from Horomafis. Xamolxis from Vesta, for the Scythians, and so forth.
Thus they grop'd in the dark after what we have clearly
revealed va. holy scripture, the divine original ofgovern ment. And you, (good Christians ! ) lead us back to the Heathens to sind it out, and set up their schemes of com-
pact, rejecting the institution of God, recorded in Genesis, as of the sirst dominion founded in Adam, so of the divi
fion of. nations under Noab.
Frtffl
The REHEARSAL.
231 E? r-©m ^at. April 14, to ^>at. April 21, 1705. N°38-
2Wr. Lock's two treatises ofgovernment examind. And
the reason of it. With an advertisement of a new as sociation going about.
Oi/! OINCE ourlast meetinglhave consulted our great oracle Mr. Lock. I could not endure to be so
mauVd\yf thee, and now I am prepar'd thou shalt not come off victoria ! as thou hast hitherto done. Thou hasl
hevsd him down, as asserting that the consent of every individual was necessary for the erection of government.
And he is as sensible as thou art, that that is impossible, and
fays, in his two treatises ofgovernment, book 2. cap. 8. Of the beginning of political societies, p. 318. Which (lays he, that the consent of every individual confidering the infirmities health, and avocations bufiness, which in
a number, tho" much left than that of a commonwealth, nvill necessarily keep many away from the publick assembly
and the variety opinions, and contrariety interests nvhich unavoidably happen in all collections men, 'tis next
to impossible ever to had.
C. Yet the very page before, and the page before that,
he makes the consent of every individual to be necessary, and the only foundation of all politicalsocieties. He fays, p. 316. When any number men have the consent
every individual made a community . And p. 317. one
body, one community, which the consent every indivi
dual that united into page, Thus every man
agreed, Sec. And again in the fame consenting with others to make one 355. Every member the society.
body politick, &C. And
O. Ay, 'tis feafible and eas> upon the sirst erection of
government, because necessary, and government could
no otherwise be erected. But where he makes
p. 318, upon the point of the majority concluding
the -whole, after the government fays he, Nothing but the consent tanmake any thing te the act
erected, for otherwise, every individual
the while, which, con sidering^
impossible,
he
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it
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The REHEARSAL.
sidering the infirmities ofhealth, &c. as before quoted, is next to impossihle ever to be bad.
C. If it never could be had, then it never could be had, more upon one occasion than another. And no oc cafion can be nam'd more likely to create •variety of nions, and contrariety of interests, than the contrivance of
and the choice of the governors. So that here you have brought Lock confuting himsels: and plainly owning, that the foundation ofpopular government
nonsense and an impossihility•
But now suppose government set up upon this sounda-
tion, upon which was impossible to be set up, as Lock himself has prov'd. Does he make the government set tled and fix'd in his or their hands where the commu
nity have plac'd
O. What do'll 'mean, an absolute and arhitrary sower
in the supreme and legistative authority No, no, he will not allow of that any means. And he proves ex
cellently, which had not ready at hand last time thou mad'st such goose of me, for faying, that there no ar- litre, ry power in England so that had not ran/ to
fay for my self. For tho' have taken all my principles out of Lock, do not always remember his reasons but now I'm ready for thee, and have at thee. He comes upon this point, in his two treatises, book z. chap. xi. 353. where he treats Of the extent the legiflative power, And fays thus, 355. Tho the legistative, whether one or more, be thesupreme power in every commonwealth,
yet not, nor. can possibly be absolutely arhitrary over the lives andfortunes the people for being but the joint
power every member the society given up to that per son, or assembly which legifiator, can be no more then those persons, had in a state nature, before they enter
into society, and gave up to the community for no body can transfer to another more power than he has in himsels
and no body has an absolute arhitrary power over himself, or over any other to destroy his own life, or take away tie life or property of another. A man, as has been prov'i,
tannoi subject himself to the arhitrary power another.
C. And;.
government,
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The REHEARSAL.
I have
233 to thee before, the
C. And, as
legiflative power, wherever it is plac'd> in any sort of government, is, and must be arhitrary and absolute, and it is impossible to be otherwise ; and every man sees it in all governments upon the face of the e^rth. The legifla
tive is not bound to its own laws, but may repeal them
at pleasure ; and before repeal may dispense with them, and leap over them, and act contrary to them ; may de
fully prov'd
ny the liberty of habeas corpus, and keep men in Newgate all the days of their lise, without either trial or bail ; may take a man's life by act of attainder, where the or dinary course of the laws could not reach him. In short, may do what they will, and make what they will to be law ; for their •mill is the law.
Therefore, ifas Mr. Lock fays, and fays he has prov'd No man can fubject himself to the arhitrary power
another, no man can subject himself to any governments of what sort or fize so ever. Nor can there be such thing as government kept up in the world.
And as he fays, no man has power over the life or property of another, then cannot the whole community com mit anyforce upon any single individual, who shall gain
fay their constitution No, nor compel him to leave them, or his native country and hirth-right .
And as he fays again, no- man can transfer to an other more power th'ani'e has in himself, and that no body- has power over himsels to destroy his own life then how came any government to have power of life and death Mr. Lock consesses the individuals could not give it. And who else was there to give it? doubt little divine right must come in here. What else can give to another that power over my life, which- have net my self?
O. This Rehearser aflts many silly questions there's no bearing on'th he puts one out still, and won't let'en'
go on. But I'll tell thee Mr. Lock fays, that art absolute
subje3ion to any form of government worse than anarchy or the state at nature. This he takes pains to prove p. 359. and fays, '[hat he in a much worse condition that iy expos'd to the arhitrary power of one man who has the
command
is
so
1
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;
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:
The RE HEARSAL
command of I 00,000, than he that is expos d to the arU- trary power of 100,000 jingle men.
C. This is so very senseless, (with all respect to Mt. Lock's judgment ! ) that it is even tfhame to answer it. Ageu- ral or a king of 100,000 men may command hardiixaQ, ] as to march upon the mouth of a cannon, and bang a man for a very small matter, stepping out of his rank, or tak ing an egg, tho' he were starving, and had not a penny to pay for't, Or for his pay, tho' it be due to him ; yet, with all this arbitrariness, is not this a better
for these ioo,coo men than anarchy, and letting them all loose upon one another, to rob, plunder, and kill one another at discretion I And if the number be greater, aa
of millions in a kingdom, the confufion and destrutHo* would be proportionably greater. And if the whole world were in this supposed of nature, it would be one aeeldama, and nothing but ArtV could the wild uproar ! Yet Mr. Lock thinks this much preferable to the
234
living under the absolute government either of a king, or a commonwealth!
And must such stupid notions still /rr-
. O. I my self, . /W enough as I am, must forsake my master Lock here. This was putting the case too far, it frights one to think on't ! but he did Hot mean it ; for he fays, p. 422, that if a government be arbitrary, it is dix/hlv'd, and the people are restor'd to their originalstate
of nature; but he does, not suppose the people will conti nue in that state, but may choose a new legislative for themselves, in what form and manner they think sit. This is the subject of chap. XIX. of book 2. Of the disso lution ofgovernment, beginning at p. 432, where all thi* is asserted, and discours'd at large.
C. Dissolution of government is a whim, a dream. One contending party may take the government from another,
and when they have £0/
fall so low as the people state of nature and
they /for/> but never let
they despise your individuals and any individual should set up for
his originalfreedom, they would hang him up for an ori ginalfoci. Such an independent would besuspended as
disturber of any sort ofsettlement whatsoever. And
;
if ;
it,
a it 1
it,
The REHEARS AL.
235
And as there never was such an independent state of mankind, as Lock or the rest of our popular orators vainly fancy ; so cannot mankind fall into such a state, more than
the world into its original chaos.
And ifmankind were in such a state, they cou'd no
more produce government from the consent of every in
dividual; than the chaos, by its own naturalforce, cou'd
have produc'd this world, by a fortuitous concourse of atoms : which some of the heathen philosophers foolishly thought, for want of the knowledge of the creation. And it is full as reasonable for Christians to lay aside the
and follow the heathens in this, as in the
holy scriptures^
original ofgovernment ; of which they knew no more than ofthe other.
Let me but give an instance to make it familiar to eve ry body, in a very little part of the world, that is, the
yleoi Britain. Suppose, according to Lock, the govern ment dissolv'd, and all the individuals of England and
Scotland render'd wholly independent ofeach other, in his siippos'd state of nature. All and every one of them up on the level. I dare undertake, that it wou'd be dooms day in the afternoon before they could frame any fort of
government whatsoever, upon the free vote and consent
of every individual. Besides what is above faid of in
vesting the government with the power of life and death, which Lock consesses they cou'd notgive, as not having
it in themselves. And which if granted to any govern ment, he repeats it again p. 446. wou'd be much worse than the state ofnature or pure anarchy.
O. Do's my Lock fall upon that senseless stuff again ?
I believe I must e'en quit him for good and all !
How ever my honour is fase. For all my filly fayings about go
vernment, thou hast here shew'd to be in him. And it can be no dishonour to me, to fall with the great Lock.
C. I have quoted Lock thus particularly, on purpose to shew, that the most acute and celebrated of the whig writers can speak no more fense upon this subject than John Tutchin : and that the pains I have taken, was not
to confute Tutchin, but he being so very medling afellow, and
ij6 The REHEARSAL,
and his papers running through the nation, and poi/ariif
a great many filly and unthinking people, who will not'3| read books, nor can understand what is closely and sericum wrote; I have followed him in his buffooning way, to
steal some sense into mob, in a language they A'if, and can comprehend. But then, because I have heard some fay, that 'tis not worth while to baffle Tutchin ; and a discredit to any man of sobriety to engage with such a scandalous fellow, and so foul a mouth (as indeed it wou7d
be, were there no more in the case) I have therefore ']
drawn him on, and at last bottom'd his most nan-smficai stuff upon men of name and in highest reputation with our whig-wits. That they may see the dcsperatcncss of their cause, when their greatest heroes have no more to fay, on their behalf, than despicable John Tutchin.
Last Good-friday (the better day, the better deed] some ahti-tackers summon'd a parcel of the saints tofast with them at the ship tavern at Rat cliff cross: where pursuing the business of the day, they produc'd an instrument, rea dy cut and drawn, of association, towards the ensuing elections, like the solemn league and covenant, or the over tures printed before, N. z6. And as, come your band, sad your band went round, it came to one who was not of the very well affected, who refus'd, faying it was a
'
combination to ruin the government. Upon which, an other started off ; which occasioned a great heat among them ; and the paper was torn ; and the cabal broke up for that time.
And I am told, that something of the like combinati-
M has been carrying on at the man in the moon in White-
chapel. Which may produ"ce more news from the world in. the tnoon, • i . : , •.
From
The REHEARSAL. From . f>at. April 2 1 , to d>at. April 28, 1705.
1. she ObservatorsY lyes about Suffolk and Ipswich.
2. What he aUedges wassaid at Norwich. And his dooming all the tackers to have their brains beat out.
3. stackers accus'dfor writing godly books. With the virtues of the whig-chiess. 4. The story of the white neck. And that it was the church of England cut
offthehadof K. Char. I. 5. The Honiton/c-^. And who are the aggressors.
Obf. XTOW the elcctions are coming on, I'm set at my po/i, to tell stories of the tackers, , to pre
judice the people against them, and against all church-men under the name of the high-church.
C. They could not have found such another foul mouth, which laps stander like sweet milk ; and being destitute of all shame or morality, cares not for truth or
postilion in
(1. ) 0. What hast thou to fay to what I tell in mine of the 1 4th of this month, Vol. 4. N. 4. that at Ipswich, the people of the town met at their hall, where one of the bailiffs began a health to the honest tackers, which
(asl fay)ya disgusted those honest gentlemen that were in the company, that they all departed, and left the tackers to themselves. Thus fay I. And what fay 'st thou ?
C. That if all that stayd were tackers,
all such one j. C. then they were except who in the last reign came to
be a common- council man, he was a sheriff's livery-man, a groom to R. S. scrv'd his time to an hostler, was coach man, and that his best preserment, tD Sir Ch -r M —n a Roman catholick judge, and was always an impudent fl'ow like John Tutchin; he was the only worthy person that refused the health, and went out of the hall. It was on the 8th of March last, (at day of her Majesty % happy accession. Where after they
had drank prosperity to the church, to the queen, and the prince, they began a health to the tackers, as thinking
237
N° 39.
saljhood, but throws dirt and bespat ter? , like a
armour of leather. . . ,
.
238
The REHEARSAL.
them, next to the fore-named, the greatest supporters, truest to the interests of the church, the crvum, and nation. So that this . /7or)i thou hast brought to (hew little interest of the tackers, has turned intirely to
contrary.
O. But I tell in the next words, that no bonefi
hearted Englishm an is employed in the publics OfFi
of that town. And that just before the rifing of the parliament, in order to support the tacking cause, h
Bailiffs made a certain eminent tacker, and eigbtj
ether country gentlemen, freemen os the said corporation. C. It was not the bailiffs made them free (as thou im-
pudently lyest) but they were chosen freemen, by the body of the freemen present at several great courts (as the common halls are call'd) and not all at once, just befeft the ristng of the last parliament, as thou put'st it. It was done in about two years time. And those made frtt,
were the right honourable the E
worthy gentlemen, of the best quality in the county. And they were admitted, for the most part, nemine contreÆ-
eente; and always, with very little opposttion. And surely, men of estates and quality are sittest to be trusted with
the preservation of our liberties and properties. And Jp/wich has gain'd this by that they live unanimous,
and in good neighbourhood which no divided place can lay, where fanaticks can get but finger in the **. Where did they ever yet come, and had any st/are of the
power, but they made disturbance
O. Thou rt very promoking. But tell, . that these
sent present of wine to count lalleri. And then you know they must be papishes and French,
and every thing
C. This was told certain company, where one
faid, that he heard the E. of C——1 presented the faid count with sine horse. Why truly, reply a whig, see no reason why civility shou'd not be shew'd tostrang
ers.
O. But the most terrible story yet behind. That
while ago, when a toping SOMETHING with his gang,
Suffolk-tackers
.
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The REHEARSAL.
a39
mttnt to search a papist'/ bouse for horses and arms, he ne
ver looked into thestable, but coming into the parlour, he said, here are no horses or arms, and so sat down andI
C. If this be meant of Ipswich, of which thou tell'il the other stories, then these papishes were but one ; and the only one in that town ; who is a fingle man, and no house-keeper, has no parlour, but being surgeon, has on ly a shop or surgery room, next the street, with a little apartment taken out of just big enough to hold fed. And the topping something commission officer, such as the law requires to search for horses and arms. And
he was at thesurgeonsstable sirst, and found neither horse nor arms any where. He did not drink with him, tho' afk'd, being on fast-day in the morning, viz. the
30th of January, which he, not being whig, did ob
drank with the papisHES till they were all drunk, and think 'twas on a Sunday too.
serve. And was not upon Sunday, but
So that here are all the lyes can be crowded into story, in every particular of it. And to shew that this was ja- cohiteplot, the oaths were tendered to the surgeon, which he refusing, pay'd his 40/.
But now we're upon Suffolk and papishes, have story to tell thee. There a. papi(h there, one Mr. L—y,
who herds and cabals with the dissenters (sittest company for one another) andfireetid by them, tho' he refas'd the oaths and being prosecuted to the time, upon which comnction must follow, was brought off last affixes there, by noli -prosequi. And then brought his action of damages against Lord D and other iackers, by
whose warrants he was taken up, and this by the advice
and assistance of his friends, the true-blue protestants who have in this gain'd victory over the iackers.
(z. ) O. I'll have none of thy stories. 'Tis have the
patent for telling stories. And I've Suffolk evidence for what tell in the fame Observator, that common- council-man in Norwich faid, the tackers iawf the ho- nestest men, andswore his maker, that they got the bitter of us this time, they would tack us all to the devil.
C. That
Tuesday.
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The REHEARSAL.
. C. That is not now to be done. There has been an ancient and a solemn league and covenant betwixt you.
O. But where's your moderation all this while ? And fliou'd not all the nation be alarm d at what this common- council-man faid ?
C. You neither tell who that common-council-man was, nor to whom he faid it. Thou'sl no mind to be. deteclU And since I've prov'd thee so notorious a. liar in the othei
stories thou tellest in the fame Observator, who has rea son to believe one word thou fay'st, upon no better au thority than- thy own? Tho' if such a thing had been faid by a. private man, vxpassion or in drink, is it equal to what thou the vindicator in publick post, and the mouth of the party, ha& printed to all the nation, in the fame Observator, where telling how the peeper at Co ventry was thrown out of the window, and mash'd ti death on thestones, thou adds, that it wou'd be much sor
the ease and advantage of her majesty and her good peopie, ifall the tackers in Encland were servd as the peeper at Coventry ?
O. And is not this greater moderation, than to send them all to the devil? Tho' for my part, I'd rather fence with the devil about my soul, than with a halter about my neck. But these tackers and high fiiers pretend to value their fouls above their bodies. Believe it who can f 'Tis all hypocrisy. As in that tacker who writes godly booh,
for which we have paid him off more than any of the
rest, in our character of a tacker. Where will they sind
any such hypocrisy among us ? your
C. I have read some of the virtues of leading-
p.
faints in the address to the clergy of the church of England,
12. &c. And I sind no hypocrisy at all in them: but that they actcd what they really meant, the utmost con
tempt and blasphemy against the christian religion ; and . which couM not have come into the head of any com mon devil. The church will be well securdaxA trans
mitted by such hands !
O. I cannot bear this : 111 rather let thee tell a story,
than go' on at this rate.
C. Then
The REHEARS AL.
241
C. Then I'll tell thee a true one which I have from a
*'ery good hand. Within this month there were a com
pany of pure sour whigs got together, and discoursing over their godly deeds from forty one and downwards, they
came at last to their joyful day indeed, the de-collation of King Charles I. Upon which one of them shruggd up his shoulders, and with a fanatical grin, which they use fpr smile, faid, with a gusto, the queen has a fine white
0. And what can'st inser, what can'st make of that ?
C. Nothing! But that he said it. And no body re- provd him.
0. You know how the diffenters have vindicated them selves from having any hand in the murder of king Charles I. and I darefay they wou'd do as much for his grand daughter, if there were occafion.
C. I doubt it not in the least. But I pray God pre serve her from the tas of your mercies. You wou'd then prove, as you do new, and last week publisiYd a book call'd, the politicks of high church, Sec. to prove, that it
was the principles of the church of England, which cut off the head of king Charles I. And that it was a natu ral consequence of the passive obedience, and jure divina doctrine, to make the king the Lord's, and not the people's anointed, and so a fin to stretch forth a hand against him !
0. It was those principles cut off his head. And theso men did not know our temper. For I'll tell thee, as the goodwoman faid,
No sooner weIll convinced it is afln, But methinks standon thorns tillIbegin.
We are not for king-killing. Only we wou'd have it in our power ! and these tackers and high-church-men , I'm afraid, won't let us !
(5. ) They wou'dn't let us come into Honiton t'other day with a new candidate we set up against Sir W.
