:

vants of that prince whofe interefts they had long confidered in oppofition to his prejudices. A few members of Wildman's club were left unfatisfied: but it made the nation happy to fee Lord Rockingham Firit Lord of the Treafury, the Duke of Portland Lord Chamberlain, Mr. Dowdeswell Chancellor of the Exchequer, your Grace and Mr. Conway Secretaries of State. The gratitude and regret of the well-wishers of this country will ever attend their remembrance of that fhort-lived adminiftration the Scot, his curtain, his wires, and his puppets, were laid afide; and the tragi-comedy of conftitutional violence, and political blunders was for an interval of twelve months fufpended. The dictates of wifdom and virtue were the fole motives of the Minifter; and Sir George Savile was his confidential friend. A moft tender regard was fhewn to the rights and happiness of the people; the internal profperity, and external honour of the country were the objects of every public measure. The operation of Ġeneral Warrants and the Seizure of papers were declared illegal: the detefted Cyder-Tax and unhappy Stamp-Act were repealed: tranquility was restored to the colonies, confidence and chearfulness to the kingdom. Your Grace too confulted the interefts of your country, for you found thofe interefts compatible with your own but a doubt as to that effential occurring, you became inftantly the gnawing worm in the bud; and wearied with the caufe of virtue, fuffered your natural bias towards lucre and perfidy to prevail.

Unfufpicious virtue becomes an eafy prey to hypocritical treachery. You found means fufficient to induce Lord Northington to undermine that minifter to whofe indulgence he owed his very exiftence in office. The famous reconciliations and quarrels are not forgotten, by which you contrived to weaken and deftroy the natural fupports, and confequent permanency of this popular adminiftration.

The arts of the Thane, ever anxious to give mifery to this ab horred nation, ever prevalent over the credulous irrefolution of our excellent Prince, crowned your labours with fuccefs. Lord Rockingham and many of his friends retired in July, 1766, without any emolument except a full knowledge of your Grace's real character; without any regrets except for their prince and his people.

Lord Chatham's ill ftate of health foon left your Grace Prime Minifter, and Lord Bute the late damned fpirit of your political creed, became the god of your adoration."

We are forry to fay the following remarks, though fevere, are Atrictly true.

"When I accufe your Grace perfonally, of having acted during this horrid term of forty months, as if from a premeditated defign to fpread distraction and ruin through the realm; it seems unneceffary to premife as a leading principle" that the effect of the tools must be attributed to the guiding arm of the artificer."

Lord Weymouth may dip his pen in blood at midnight, in or

der

der to iffue illegal mandates to the foldiery for the butchery of the people; Lord Barrington may defecrate the name of Majefty, by calling the maffacre when committed a chearful performance of duty*, and by holding out the royal protection to affaffins; your Grace may at the fame time be panting in the withered arms of your mistress at Newmarket; yet it is too well known, that the flaves of office must be obfequious to the nod which may determine their existence. The creature must bow to its creator, and your Grace must be refponfible for the venal cry, and prepared votes of your paffive fenate

The dawning of your dictatorship threw light on this doctrine: the benign influence of Lord Rockingham had drawn virtuous and independent characters to the chief employments of government. The forbidding eye of honour and integrity was likely to be a continual embaraffment to his fucceffor: your Grace therefore, by deceiving fome, by infulting others, and by difgufting all, obtained within four months the refignations of the Duke of Portland, the Earls of Scarborough, and Befsborough, Admiral Keppel, Sir Charles Saunders and Sir William Meredith."

Our author proceeds to blame the Duke of Grafton for the agreement he made with the East India company, if however he had not been determined to condemn every part of this minifter's conduct, he furely would have reflected on the exclufive, impolitic privileges enjoyed by that company, on its increafing riches, and its ability to fupply government with 400000l. or half a million yearly; any abufe in the application of the money fo obtained is another fubject; but certainly any other minifter would have been applauded, but the Duke of Grafton, by this writer, for obliging fuck a company to contribute towards the public expences of the nation, in compenfation for the aid granted to that company the late war.

in

To the extraordinary ftep of feating colonel Luttrell in the houfe of Commons, he obferves that the following just objections were made but in vain ; and he concludes his letter with two animated fentences which have turned out to be prophecies, for the Duke of Grafton has refigned, and it is generally imagined through timidity.

"That the principles of this conftitution never meant to leave a poffibility of legiflation by reprefentatives chofen on arbitrary pretences by themselves, or, in other words, by a very small

part

* In Oppida Militum mifera et crudelis Deductio! Nonne igitur millies perire et melius, quam in fua Civitate fine Armatorum Præfidio non poffe vivere ? SED NULLUM EST ISTUC, MIHI CREDE, PRÆSIDIUM! Caritate et Benevolentia Civium Septum opportet effe, non Armis.

† Improbis aliena Virtus femper formidolofa eft.

Y 2

Lic.

Sall.

part only of the voices of their constituents.

That it is the very effence of the reprefentative-principle, that the right of election be controulable only by the law of the land: and that even parliament itself hath not a power to make a law deftru&tive of the liberties of the people.

That the claim of the Houfe of Commons to an exclufive jurifdiction without appeal in all matters of election, is the most aggravating objection to the power here afferted.

That all judgments derive their obligatory quality from a fuppofed conformity with pre-exifting laws.

That the mere adjudiciation of a court though of competent jurifdiction, and subject to no appeal, cannot make the law of the land.

That the implied confequences of that vote would refolve all right into power, and leave the ufe of that power to the cafual impulfes of occafional policy and prejudices.

That the law of parliament can only mean the ufage of parliament; and that the power of incapacitating is not only at war with every principle of the conftitution, but that even the tombs of tyranny have in vain been ranfacked for precedents in fupport of it.

That no precedents can exift which make inroads into the conftitution, and which are destructive of fundamental rights.

That the fimple power of expulfions is liable to objections, and at all events fully fufficient for every good purpose: for that partiality and precipitance are ever more likely to prevail on the fide of the reprefentatives, than weakness and obftinacy on the part of the constituents.

That this must be confidered as an attempt to level the bafis of the conftitution.

*

And

very

That no Englishman "whofe blood is warm within "will feel the conflagration of his rightful liberties without the most fatal * indignation.

Benevolent Omnipotence hath invariably connected iufatuation with wickedness as the principle of its deftruction

Your Grace now trembles at an enraged nation, roused by this laft act from the ftilnefs of mute aftonishment.

Obfervations upon the Report made by the BOARD of Trade against the GRENADA laws. 8vo. Flexney. Is. 6d.

F

OR our laft number a valuable correfpondent furnished us with fome remarks on this very extraordinary report of the board of trade, for which we beg leave to refer our readers to page 57.

The

* LIBERTATES NOSTRE CONVELLI SINE EXITIO .CONVELLENTIUM NON POSSUNT. Magna igitur, ut fpero, tua potius, quam Reipublicæ Calamitate tentafti, quid ferre et pati poffumus.

The pamphlet now before us completes the reafoning on this important fubject, as it takes into confideration all the laws that were the object of the report, whereas our correfpondent confined. his remarks folely to the" act for regulating the election of the general affembly of Grenada and the Grenadines, and for the better afcertaining the qualifications of the Electors and the elected.' Our judicious and learned author fets cut with a reflection on the political tenets of the times, which convicts our modern statesmen and reprefentatives of great ignorance, or what is worse, a wilful deviation from plain truth and matter of fact.

"As the meaning of the acts of parliament, made for fecuring the rights and liberties of the fubject, which declare the laws of England to be the birth-right of the people thereof, "and that all kings and queen, coming to the crown can govern them by no other," has been fo† explained away as to afford no benefit to his majesty's fubjects in the colonies, the words, People of England, being defined to mean nothing more than English fubjects continuing in England; and, as the king's coronation oath, | by which his majefty fwears to govern the people according to law, indicates only the people in England, by the laws thereof, it be comes neceffary to inquire, what were the acknowledged rights of the crown, in refpect of diftant countries, under the fovereignty of the kings of England, previous to the making these declaratory acts and fhould a doctrine favourable to prerogative, and established in a Stuart's reign, be found, to which the Englifh fubjects in the new ceded iflands are satisfied to appeal, in their complaint of fome late acts of government, a modern minifter certainly cannot be displeased at the reference, nor wifh his conduct examined by a better criterion. Such is the following doctrine, viz. ‡ “The king has a right to establish what laws he pleases in conquered or ceded countries, or he may continue to govern them by fuch as prevailed there before the conquest or ceffion; nor (ay the law books) do the laws of England take place until declared fo by the king ( being the conqueror ) or his fucceffors. But after iuch declaration is once made, the crown is ever after precluded from making a further al

teration."

And

I Will. and Mary, feff. 2. c. z. 12 and 13 Will. III. c. 2. 13 Will. III. c. 6.

In certain debates on the abfolute power of the parliament of Great Britain to tax the colonies, and particularly by the argument of a noble fkilled in the laws of England, and

who therefore must be right.

viz. "To govern the people of the kingdom of England,, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the ftatutes in parliament agreed on, and the laws and cuftoms of the fame.

7th Coke, Calvin's cafe.

And fo we think it ought, for as he juftly remarks, it was on the ftrength of the declaration made by the king's proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763, that numbers of his Majesty's proteftant fubjects from divers parts of his dominions reforted to Gremada in full confidence that they fhould enjoy all the benefits of the laws of the realm of England; but the admiffion of French Roman Catholics into the general affembly, into the King's council, and into the ordinary Magiftracy of the island, which could not happen in England, fhews them the difference of their Stuation.

In every parish in Grenada and the Grenadines, by the late arbitrary and unconflitutional measures, one French Roman CathoBic is allowed be a juftice of the peace, which must confequently exclude from that important truft, one natural born proteftant fubject, who fettled there in hopes of enjoying every advantage he might have derived from his birth-right in England. But this part of our fubject has been fo fully treated formerly in the Political Regifter, and lately in various publications, that the minifiry at length are heartily ashamed of the measure, and we hope will recal their inftructions too precipitately given, in favour of the new adopted French fubjects, to the prejudice of the natural born proteftants; we fhall therefore proceed to the other acts refpecting the government of these ceded iflands, which fell under the cenfure of the board of trade, One of which is

"An act for affociating the King's council with the Commanders in chief in the exercife of the office and duties of Chancellor." This was objected to by the board for no other reason (for the motives to the act were allowed to be founded on equity and public utility) but because it was an act of the legislature, whereas fay the reporters, "the establishment of courts of juice nder all defcriptions, is another right inherent in your majefty, in virtue of your royal prerogative: -thus we find that these ticklers for the royal prerogative chofe rather to make void a falutary law, becaufe it had been regularly paffed by the legislative powers of the island, than to confirm it, becaufe in their fhallow apprehenfions, the mode of enacting it wounded the King's prerogative.

On the fame falfe ground the three following acts were rejccted.

66

An Act to regulate, reftrict, and direct the conduct of the publick treafurer of thefe iflands, and to fix his falary."

An act for appointing a treafurer for the island of Carrioucou, and for declaring rules and regulations for his conduct in that office."

"An act for raifing a fum of money to pay off the debts of thefe islands, and to answer the prefent exigencies of the public."

And our author is not fparing of fevere reproof to the com

milli