To the Reader .

THis Letter comes to you by the direction of Mr. Samuel Johnson ; it was sent to him in a private and friendly manner , and he desired it might be printed , and then he would give his Thoughts of it ; which was charitably done , that the Nation might partake farther of his Ability in this most important Point of Government , the Original and Nature of it , it s true Intent and Limitations , to make it consistent with the End for which it was ordained , the Good and Safety of the People ; towards which I am glad it happens in my way to contribute , by being the occasion of prompting others to speak , who can do it much better than my self .

The LETTER . SIR ,

YOU have suffered much , contending for the Good of your Country , and asserting the true English Freedom ; and you have given us another Effort of your Zeal in the late Tract which you bestowed on the House of Commons , entituled , An Argument proving that the Abrogation of King James by the People of England from the Regal Throne , and the Promotion of the Prince of Orange , one of the Royal Family , to the Throne of the Kingdom in his stead , was according to the Constitution of the English Government , and prescribed by it .

This you prove , pag . 50. by a Declaration of the Lords and Commons 10 Ric . 2. in their Message to the King , which is mentioned by Knighton , and the import of it is , That if the King will not govern according to Law , the People may Depose him , and set up some other of the Royal Family in his stead . And the Declaration mentions that they have it by antient Statute ; but you confess , p. 52 , 53. that there is no such Statute to be found in the Records of the Tower , or any where else .

But besides this , you will be told that this was a Rebellious Parliament , such as that in 1641. and their deposing R. II . and setting up H. IV . was declared illegal ; and this was the Rise of that bloudy and long liv'd War 'twixt York and Lancaster , ( and therefore a very unlucky Precedent to be brought in our present Case ; ) and that notwithstanding three Lancastrian Kings , H. 4. H. 5. and H. 6. held the Crown successively ; yet they were all declared Usurpers , or de facto Kings , by Act of Parliament 1 Edw . 4.

And this Act of Parliament , which is in being , will outweigh your Statute in Nubibus , which was named , but not quoted in that Rebellious Message of the Lords and Commons mentioned by Knighton . You next , from p. 54. to 59. quote some much disputed Sayings out of Bracton , Fortescue , and the Mirror , as if the King were accountable to the People , and that they might take Arms against him , &c. in case of Male Administration .

Sir , Not to enter upon the Dispute of these Sayings of theirs , which you know are interpreted far otherwise than you do , it will be objected to you , that you take the sense of our English Parliaments from others , rather than themselves ; from chance Stories and Pamphlets , rather than the authentick Records , and Acts of Parliament ; as if I should , for Example , quote this Book of yours for the true Sense of Abdication , against the express Words and Import of the Act of Convention , which founded the Vacancy of the Throne upon King James's Recess , not upon the Male Administration , pretended against his Ministers onely in the Pr. of Orange's Declaration ; for the Law of England knows no such thing as the King's Forfeiting his Crown , nor did either Convention or Parliament touch upon that Point ; for they knew there was an Act of Parliament , 14 C. 2. which declared , That it was not lawfull upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King , &c. and which as well Corporations as Clergy were obliged to subscribe ; and , Mr. Johnson , you will tell us whether ever you your self have subscribed it , and how often .

There is likewise an Act 12 C. 2. c . 30. which declares , That neither the Peers , nor Commons , nor both Houses together , nor the People Collectively nor Representatively , in Parliament or out of Parliament , nor any other Persons whatsoever , have any Coercive Power over the King of England . And 13 C. 2. That the Sword is solely in the King's Power ; and that neither one nor both Houses of Parliament can , or lawfully may raise or levy any War , Offensive or Defensive , against his Majesty , &c. It was this forced the Convention upon the point of Abdication , viz. that King James did voluntarily recede from the Government , ( for a Forced Recess is not said to be an Abdication , ) and so left the Throne vacant .

What you have said so severely against this , you have presented to the House of Commons , with whom I leave it , and go on a little with you to the Argument . I desire therefore to know your Opinion , whether an Act of Parliament is not the supreme Law of England ; whether it may not alter the Common Law , or any former Act of Parliament ? Whether it be not our fundamental Constitution , &c. If so , then the forecited Acts are Law , are Fundamentals , are our Constitution ; and so are the Homilies against Rebellion , for they are confirmed by Act of Parliament ; and you called it in your Julian , The next best Book to the Bible . Therefore I earnestly desire your Animadversions upon the 2d Homily against Rebellion , which if you do sincerely , will end this whole Controversie ; and remember , as you read it , that it is every word an Act of Parliament :

But if you 'll say that Parliaments may be mistaken , which you must , or yield absolutely to your old Foe , Passive Obedience ; then I desire to know whether , upon your Scheme , you leave it to every Man to oppose the Parliament as he thinks fit , and consequently whether the Parliament be our Fundamental Constitution ; for I suppose you will not consent that every man has Authority to overturn our Foundations at his Pleasure .

I see no way you have to escape from the Authority of Parliaments , but by reducing them to their first Principles , as you suppose them , that is , to be Representatives of the People , and consequently accountable to the People , who , as you and they pretend , do impower them ; and one would think that this were essential to the very nature of a Representative , as we see it in Holland , where the Deputies of their Towns and Counties are obliged to consult their Principals in all Cases that exceed their Instructions ; and if they should give their Votes without the Consent and Approbation of their Principals , they would not onely be punished as Betrayers of their Trust , but their Acts made null and void .

An unaccountable Representative is a Boundless Thing ; it is as absolute as the Grand Seignior ; they may sell , betray , and doe what they please ; and all Nations , jealous of their Liberties , have been aware of granting any such Power to their Representatives , it having proved often more fatal than even a Conquest by Foreigners . In the Year 1672. when the French over-run Holland to that degree , that , as the Netherland Historian tells us , page 39. Amsterdam it self was ready to have met the French King with the Keys of their City , if he had advanced to them , as they expected and feared . Nay , if but 4 or 5000 Horse had onely gone forward , the Historian saith , that Amsterdam , Holland , and the whole State had fallen into the Enemies hands ; when the enraged Mobb , mad with their Misfortunes , were threatening to sacrifice their Governours ; others flying where they could , and all at their Wits end ; yet even in all these most desperate and deplorable Circumstances , when they were sending Deputies to treat with their Potent Enemy , and some proposed to give their Deputies full Power to make what Conditions they could , the History tells us in the same place , that the Province of Zealand , June 29. Rejected the Reasons alledged for this Commission , and protested against them , declaring it to be a thing unheard of in the Government of these Countries , to make any Plenipotentiaries , ( without an arrested Instruction , ) when it concerned Religion , Liberty , and the lawfull Government of the Land ; wherefore they disavowed this Commission as suspitious , and of dangerous Consequence .

But the People of England trust their Religion , Liberty , &c. into the hands of their Representatives , without any Conditions , Restrictions , or Limitations whatsoever ; so that if they set up the Alcoran , or Racovian Catechism ; if they sell our Liberties , Money and Properties , tho' they are taken off with Offices and Bribes in the face of the Sun , and change their Note in a day's time ; yet they must not be accountable but to one another , and if the major part ( or the leading men who govern the major part ) be taken off , then there is no Remedy by our present Constitution ; they may proclaim their being Closeted , Pensioned , Officer'd , Brib'd , and what you will ; for it must come to a Vote in the House of Commons , and there they are sure to carry it .

When the Senate of Rome pretended to be unaccountable Representatives , the Roman Historians tell , that they sold Rome to Jugurtha , King of Numidia , a declared Enemy of Rome , and then making War upon them . Dr. Burnet , Hist . Refor . part 2. book 2. p. 291. tells us how the Spanish Gold prepared the Parliament in the Reign of Phil . and Mary , even to abolish the Protestant Religion which was then Established by Law , and to set up Popery in its place . And who knows what power Gold has had , and may have in our Parliaments ? It is impossible to be sure upon the Foundation we stand .

But if the Representatives were accountable to their Electors , they would be a little more cautious about Bribery , or any other sinister Designs ; and if their Acts were to be ratified by their Principals , ( as it is in Holland , ) the Nation would be more secure , for , to be sure , the People will never sell themselves .

Towards this it is necessary , and it is a necessary consequence of this , That every County and Burrough should have power to change their Member of Parliament as they see cause ; how else is he their Representative ? What if he will not follow their Instructions ? What if they know him to be brib'd and taken off ? This is not to make him a Representative , but absolute Lord , and Master , and Sovereign , unaccountable , Disposer of their Lives and Fortunes , their Religion , their Liberty , their Wives , Children , and Posterity .

And pray tell me , Is not an Absolute King more eligible than this ? He cannot be brib'd to sell his Countrey ; for there is no Equivalent can be given to a King for the loss of his Kingdom : But unaccountable Representatives may be Bribed one by one , and there are Examples of it in all Ages , in none more than in our own .

Secondly , Is not a King more absolute for having such Representatives , as Tools to pass all his Arbitrariness upon the People undiscovered , who bear whatever goes in the name of their Representatives , like a Burden one is used to , without complaining ?

And no King can want Money to Bribe them , because they will give Money to Bribe themselves , and the People are to ask no Questions , nor to know what is become of their Money .

Mr. Johnson ,

The Freedom of these Thoughts I judged fittest to be communicated to you , because you set up for a Lover of your Countrey , their Original Rights and Liberties , which if they be invaded , there is no comfort or Honour to say , It is done by their Representatives ; that makes their Case more lamentable , contemptible , and incurable .

No doubt you will improve these Hints , if you like them ; if not , I would be glad to know how you will get over those Acts of Parliament which enact Passive Obedience . If we must stand and fall by Acts of Parliament , the Cause is determined against you ; if you go higher , to what you call our Original Rights , I would be glad to partake of your Thoughts upon what I have said , with the same Calmness , and void of Reflexions , of which I have given you an Example .

I assure you my Design is for the good of my Countrey , that they may be happy , and long continue so , by being settled upon true and lasting Foundations , and that they discover and avoid all fatal Errours in their Constitution , and thereby escape those Convulsive Revolutions , into which they have had such dangerous Relapses in this and the last Age , that without some effectual Remedy applied , our Dissolution seemeth to draw near . To discover the Cause is the first step towards the Cure ; that I have endeavoured , how justly I leave you to judge , and desire your Correction in what I have done amiss , and am ,

The second Day of January , 1692. SIR , Your humble Servant .

POSTSCRIPT . March 4. 1692. SIR ,

THE Triennial Bill made me less solicitous to publish this Letter as you desired , because a Remedy did thereby seem to be provided against the Corruption of Parliament Men , so far , at least , as to give the People a Liberty to change their Representatives every Three Years . But there are a set of discontented Folks , who presume even to lay Wagers upon the Exchange , that the K. will not pass the Bill ; which no Men of Sense do believe , but it does great Prejudice among the Common People , to disaffect them against the Government ; as if our Deliverer designed more Arbitrary Proceedings than those we complain of in the last Reign .

Sir , There is no Man will be more affected with what may unhinge this Government than your self , or better qualified to prevent so fatal a Blow as this would be to it : For the People think it no other than telling them , in plain English , that a Free Parliament must never be hoped for in this Reign , that they are affraid of such a Parliament , and that the Disease of the Nation is now without Remedy . But I need not put Arguments in your Mouth : I do by no means give the least Credit to that pernicious Surmise of Rejecting the Bill ; but it is good to prevent all possible Hazards . And I earnestly recommend it to your Care ; especially considering the Consequence of the late Addresses of Both Houses , which so plainly set forth the Exorbitance , Arbitrariness , and Illegality of this Government in Ireland , from the very Beginning of this Reign , as well while the King was there in Person , as since , which some make use of to over-balance all that is objected against K. James's Government , as well before as after he went into that Kingdom ; which they now begin to say , has suffered much more from K. William's Administration than K. James's , even the Protestant Religion and Interest , by the great and illegal Favour to the Papists , and Oppression to the Protestants , so freely represented in the said Addresses . This prompts the Disaffected Party Here , to bring the Comparison even to England , and lay to Heart the Abolition of Episcopacy , and the violent Proceedings in favour of the Presbyterians in Scotland : And if this Bill should be Rejected , believe me , the Objections will rise very high as to this Kingdom . To prevent all which , is that , Sir , which has mov'd me to say all this to you ; and I hope it will be to good Effect .