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456 The Royal AMERICAN MAGAZINE, For DECEMBER, 1774. 457

be brought to sue for mercy, for any thing, at the feet of a t------ ;? O detestable thought ! Horrible as a million of snakes folding about the neck, hissing in the car, breathing in the mouth, and striking their forked, envenomed tongues deep in to the liver, " I have a soul, and I have a sword."  I have liberty, and had I a thousand lives, I would, if required, offer them all, a willing sacrifice in defence of it ; and to save America from such a low, mean, base, abject situation. O Americans, tarnish not the glory of your former actions, by your future conduct.

Immortal honour will be the reward of those, who are instrumental in saving the nation from ruin. Seriously attend to these things: but above all by humble servent prayer to God, with a filial spirit, in the constant use of all possible means, firmly rely upon, and put your trust in him, who had once and again remarkably appeared for your deliverance, and the Lord give you wisdom and understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, with virtue, fortitude and grace, to practice agreable to such knowledge.

TERTIUS CATO. 

For the ROYAL AMERICAN MAGAZINE.

An Essay on the British Government ; showing that it tends immediately neither to a Republic nor an Absolute Monarchy, but to an Aristocracy.

It has long been a question among political reasoners, " Whether the British government inclines more to a republic or to an absolute monarchy ;" and many specious arguments have been advanced in support of both of these opinions. 

Those who embrace the first part of the alternative, alledge, that the power of the house of commons is almost unlimited; being, in reality, as great as they themselves are pleased to make it: that they are possessed of the sole right of granting money, without which the wheels of government must be immediately stopped : that, by means of this right, they have it in their power to extort the consent of the other two branches of the legislature to whatever they think proper ; were it even an act of attainder against the first peer of the realm : that, as the balance of power depends very much upon the balance of property, and the property of the commons so greatly exceeds the property of the crown, their power must of consequence be proportionably larger : that even that property, which the crown possess, depends, in a great measure, upon the annual grants of parliament, and without such grants must be immediately unnihilated : that supposing the power of the crown to be ever so great, it has yet its limits ; and beyond these limits it can never be carried, without exciting the most violent jealoussy, and the most vigorous opposition : that the spirit of commerce naturally tends to promote the spirit of liberty ; both by establishing establishing a greater equality among the people, and by drawing them into large towns, the government of which, even in the most absolute monarchies, is, in some measure, republican ; and as commerce has of late years been so much increased, the cause of liberty must be, in the same degree strengthened. The progress of learning too has naturally the same effect ; as it serves to divest us of all super stitious reverence to names and authority, and to make up laugh at the absurd and ridiculous doctrine of divine, indefeasible, hereditary right, and of passive obedience and non-resistance. The sovereign now is no longer dignified with the high founding title of God's vicegerent upon earth ; he is merely regarded as the first fervent of the public. Add to this, that, as jealousy of the crown is naturally inherent in the British constitution, all its incroachments will be narrowly watched, and steadily repelled ; at least while there is any patriotism, or public spirit, in the nation : so that, if ever we bend our necks to the yoke of slavery ; we must do it voluntarily, and with our eyes open ; the chains that bind us, must be of our own forging ; and if ever we lose our liberty, it will then be found, that we are become so corrupt and degenerate, as to be no longer capable of enjoying such a blessing.

Those who embrace the other part of the alternative, assert, that it is in vain to talk of the absolute power of the house of commons, which is certainly very great ; or of that degree of power which they have sometimes exerted on very extraordinary occasions, and which can hardly be drawn into a president. We must, if we mean to reason fairly, confine ourselves to that power, which they have exerted for some time, suppose half a century past, and which they are likely to exert for the future. No bills of attainder, if I rightly recollect, are to be heard of in opposition to the court, since that of the famous earl of Strafford ; and seldom even has it been known, that the necessary supplies have been refused to the government. A minister before he introduces any money or other public bill, can foretell, almost to a certainty, its fate in the house ; and by means of the influence which he has over the members, can command, in most cafes, a majority of votes. Nor will this influence appear in the least surprising, if we consider the great number of lucrative places which the sovereign, that is, the minister, has to dispose of. For, though the property of the subjects be much larger than that of the sovereign, yet is the property of the last by no means inconsiderable ; and it is well known, that much less property, in a single hand, will counterbalance a greater property in several hands. According to the most exact computation, there are near three millions at the disposal of the crown. The civil list amounts to near a million ; the collection of all taxes to another million ; and the employments in the army and navy, along with ecclesiastical preferments, to above a third million : an enormous sum, and what cannot fail to attach to the court and immence number of dependants ; and, as a few placement are

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Transcription Notes:
Please note the different letterforms of f and s in this typeface. The f looks like the long 's', but it lacks the crossbar. I grouped this text to follow the flow of the stories on the left page. "agreable" intentionally misspelled "unnihilated" intentionally misspelled "jealoussy" intentionally misspelled "establishing" repeated twice