after the performance of these services, are totally independent; and the sovereign can be considered in no other light than as the head of a powerful confederacy, united by their common interest. This is only the rude outline of monarchical and aristocratical power. The people were then in such a miserable state of bondage, that so far from claiming any right to the share in the legislature, they were considered by their lords as mere cattle; they had not even the liberty of removing from one country to another, without express permission. After the lapse of some centuries, the king, unable to restrain his factious barons by his own power, perceived the necessity of counterbalancing their influence by an opposite interest. To this politic scheme we owe the institution of free cities, boroughs, and corporations; which, by diffusing the spirit of liberty, were the original cause of dispelling the darkness which hung over Europe for ages; this too seems the first attempt to distinguish the people as a distinct body under a monarchy. To mark the different gradations from the first imperfect sketch to the finished plan might fill a volume. To the reader who wishes to be more amply informed on this interesting subject, the author before mentioned will be a copious source of information. He may convince himself of what has been advanced, by an example existing at this moment; I mean the empire of Germany, whose constitution is still strictly feudal. The emperor is still elective, though the crown has been so long secured to the house of Austria; the different electors and princes of the empire are absolute in their own dominions; and the only places where the people have any influence, are in the imperial or free cities. But here, as on all other occasions, I should wish to avoid the error into which many ingenious men have fallen, too much refinement. Instead of sur veying the transactions of past ages calmly and impartially; instead of placing themselves, as far as they are able, in the same situation, and considering the different passions, which influenced them, and thereby judging of the causes which produced their corresponding effects; they behold them through the medium of the prejudices or principles which education, or the colour of the times they live in have produced, and attribute the refinements of modern times, to the barbarism of the first ages. It is not to be supposed, that when men first paid a voluntary obedience to him, whom they considered as the father of his family, that obedience resulted from a consideration of the necessity of legal subordination; or that when the chieftain of a barbarous nation, and his barons, raised the rude structure of feudal government, they reflected on the balance of power so necessary to the regulation of a wellformed state. The first, by a kind of instinctive veneration obeyed him, whom from his infancy he has been taught to revere as the father of his race; the latter, interested, and uninfluenced by patriotic principles, knew no other motive than the love of plunder and rapine; he fought not for others, but himself; he exacted the price of his toil with unrelenting vigour; and in pursuing, as he thought, the best means to secure his own possessions, he unknowingly laid the foundations of a better institution. From this reasoning it is not to be concluded, that in a more polished period men did not guard their liberties by laws expressly calculated for that purpose. Holland and England are strong instances to the contrary; since the laws of both, were framed at a time, when society was in a more advanced period; and consequently such political refinement might be attributed to them without incurring the charge of absurdity. From this view we may see, that as* Monarchy may degenerate into Tyranny, Aristocracy into Oligarchy, and Democracy into Anarchy, that Constitution which can unite the various excellences of each without the defects, will approach nearest to perfection. To expatiate on a subject, which has filled volumes, would be useless; and I only wish to add a few remarks, to the number of those which have been already made. England, from the peculiarity of her constitution, is placed in a very singular situation. We have seen the liberties of the nations around us gradually sinking, whilst our own have as gradually been increased and strengthened, from the very blows which seemed to threaten their destruction; they are not the sickly productions of the moment, but the vigorous offspring of time and wisdom. The kings of France and Spain, by a series of successful efforts, have imposed the yoke of absolute dominion on their subjects; and Sweden has voluntarily resigned her rights: England is at present the only monarchy, where the regal power is under any limitation. In speaking of our constitution, the fault of too much refinement has frequently been incurred, the antiquity of the parliament has been carried beyond its due bounds, even to the Saxon æra and the constitution supposed to have existed almost in its present form, from the date of the Magna Charta. That famous deed it is true, is the grand foundation on which we have built our system; but in its original intent it only secured the privileges of the barons, without any consideration of the people. The cautious policy of Henry VII. first gave any weight to the commons in this nation; but his imperious son effectually checked their growing influence, and kept them in the most * Machiavel. servile subjection: and Elizabeth, who with the pride, had imbibed the despotic principles, of her father, did not allow them a greater latitude. Under the mild and pacific administration of James, the commons acquired a greater degree of importance than they had hitherto been accustomed to; but even then it was not usual to assemble the parliament, as a regular part of the legislature, except when the king demanded any supplies. In the reign of the unfortunate Charles, they assumed a bolder tone, denied the king's power of taxation without their consent, and by the famous petition of rights, insisted on being regularly assembled once in three years. From this era we may date the existence of our constitution in its present form. The limits between the regal prerogative, and popular privileges, were exactly ascertained; the que balance between the three estates of king, lords, and commons, was fixed; and no farther room for alteration or dispute left. The last and finishing stroke was the bill of rights confirmed by William the Third, after the expulsion of James the Second. These rights and privileges it is our fortune to enjoy unimpaired; and may they be transmitted to future ages, as perfect as we have received them. I have thus endeavoured to give a short analysis of the progress of government, in a manner that appeared to me most natural. To the deep read politician this essay may seem trivial, and its contents superficial; I am conscious that the observations have not the force of novelty, or the depth of reflection; but if I have collected in a narrow compass, what before was scattered through volumes, in a manner that may prove beneficial to my fellow-citizens; if I inspire one patriotic sentiment, or kindle one spark of that laudable ambition, which is the source of all great actions; if any of the future great shall acknowledge, that he is the least indebted to the assistance and instructions of GREGORY GRIFFIN, my labours are fully compensated.-A No 24. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1787. An quodcunque facit Mæcenas te quoque verum est? Ir is a common observation with those who observe at all, that those passions, which under the guidance of a strong mind, are most consistent with the dignity of human nature; when they assume absolute dominion over a weak one, tend most effectually to villify and debase it. Of these perhaps, speaking comprehensively of its good and evil, there is none so generally beneficial to society as emulation; for there is hardly an eminent character, in whatever line of greatness, but has been originally drawn from indolence and obscurity, by the example of superior excellence; and the hopes of attaining those heights, to which some daring adventurer has previously led the way. To avoid mentioning the innumerable instances of this, which every day crowd upon our observation, I will rather examine to what pernicious effects this glorious enthusiasm may lead, when operating on a mind incapable of directing it: or intoxicated by habitual success and adulation. Alexander the Great, whose admiration for the bravery of Achilles, blinded him to the vicious excesses which every where characterize that hero, never sullied his victories more than by his imitation of an action, which the poet has even been censured for attributing to a man in whom he designed to represent the most finished idea of barbarous virtue. At |