in the grand struggle in which they are engaged, their principal dependance must be placed on the hearts, hands, and exertions of the great body of their own people; the national resources must be drawn out, and no longer hoarded up in churches, church lands, monasteries, and bishoprics. The established church in all countries is not the ally, but the servant of the state; and all history proves that in proportion to the riches and luxury of an established church, are the ignorance, superstition, and servility of the people. One of the wisest and best measures adopted by the constituent assembly of France, was that of declaring the property of the church, the property of the nation: the good effects of applying the greater part of that property to the public service, are at this day felt throughout the French dominions. What satisfaction and pleasure will it not afford the friends of the freedom of the human race, and of genuine christianity, to behold the example of the constituent assembly of France, to which we hope shortly to add, the example of the Cortez of Spain, followed in every country where the civil magistrate has usurped the place of the only legitimate head of the church, JESUS CHRIST, and which usurpation has been attended with those unhappy consequences, the details of which blacken every page of ecclesiastical history. Should the Cortez fulfil the hopes of the friends of national freedom and independence, and be enabled to animate the mass of the people to rise in defence of those invaluable blessings, the French Emperor will find he has a more difficult task to accomplish than he probably imagines. He has never yet had to contend with a nation of armed freemen. If the Spaniards feel they are contending, not "for the remains of the Spanish monarchy," but for the restoration of those rights of men, and of citizens, and for such a pure representative government as may recover them from that miserable state of civil and ecclesiastical slavery into which they had been sunk for ages, half a million of such armed citizens, and which Spain might easily easily afford, would soon convince the French Emperor, that although he has found it no very difficult matter to conquer one nation of slaves after another, who had nothing to contend for but the "remains of monarchy," and who consequently felt little ardour in the contest, that the conquest of an armed nation determined "to "live free or die" would be attended with insurmountable obstacles, and that therefore it would be his wisest course, without loss of time to desist from all attempts to execute a project equally marked with injustice and folly. Another year has been added to his MAJESTY's reign, and those whose loyalty consists in offering adulation in proportion as they are paid, have been exciting the people to the observance of another jubilee. The afflicted state of the royal family on account of the long illness, and daily expected death of the Princess AMElia, has prevented this act of folly from being repeated. We call it an act of folly, because however the private virtues of his Majesty may entitle him to respect, (and we wish those, in higher life more particularly, who are loud in their professions of loyalty, would shew their sincerity by imitating those virtues,) we were, and still are of opinion, that these private virtues alone do not warrant the observance of a jubilee. We more particularly rejoice that the festival has not been repeated, because, we have in all probability been spared a repetition of last year's task, of reviewing a number of foolish jubilee sermons, which equally disgraced the pulpits of our reverend adulators both of the established church and of protestant dissenters. Our hired writers in prose and verse, have however, exceeded if possible their last year's follies; and their flatteries have increased in proportion as the national distresses have augmented. That pensioned poetaster, 'Squire Fitzgerald, in an “ Ode” as he calls it, "for the Royal Jubilee, 1810," has again execrated as " traitors, and detested monsters," all those who are not such simpletons as himself. The Editor of the Morning Post has found out a new reason why we ought to celebrate the jubilee,—not merely on account of his Majesty's private virtues, but for the wisdom and goodness of the measures of his ministers. "Our revered monarch," says this hireling, "is anxious to extend his benevolence to other states by "sending troops not to enslave them, but for their deliverance. His wars are not the wars of ambition, or aggrandizement, but of "PHILANTHROPY, a zeal for independence of states and a re. "gard for the liberties of man!" Yes reader! the war against America, the wars in India, the dethroning of princes, the slaughter of millions, the system of torture pursued in Ireland, the wars against France, the plunder of the Danes, and the conflagration of Copenhagen, all these have been the result of pure " philanthropy!" We should not wonder were we to hear of another war of philan. thropy and were we to assist in the support of another regular government—that of Turkey, as the Morning Post has lately exulted in the revived spirit of the followers of Mahomet: should this be the case, this writer may perhaps be enabled on some future occasion to congratulate his readers, that Great Britain assisted (to use the language of a Turkish Bulletin) " to take the heads off "of a great number of the infidels, to serve as bridges, for the "true believing warriors in their passage to the regions of another "world!"—Should this be the case, we shall doubtless be as successful in supporting the false prophet MAHOMET, as we have been in supporting the beast, the POPE OF ROME! Harlow, Oct. 29, 1810. B. F. MONTHLY REGISTER: FOR OCTOBER, 1810. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT, IN A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A GENTLEMAN AND A FARMER. [By the late Sir WILLIAM JONES.] [For publishing this dialogue a prosecution was instituted in the year 1784, by an officious tool of the minister, against the Rev. W. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph. Mr. Erskine in a most excellent speech defended the principles of the pamphlet. The jury brought in a verdict-Guilty only of publishing, leaving the matter of libel to be determined by the Court of King's Bench. When Mr. Erskine afterwards moved the court in arrest of judgment, Lord Mansfield gave it as the unanimous opinion of the court," that the indictment was de"fective, and that the judgment should "be arrested;" and the proceedings thus terminated.] F. Why should humble men like me, sign or set marks to petitions of this nature? It is better for us farmers to mind our husbandry, and leave what we cannot comprehend to the King and parlia anent. G. You can comprehend more than you imagine; and, as a free member of a free state, have higher things to mind than you may conceive. F. If by free you mean out of prison, I hope to continue so, as long as I can pay my rent to the 'squire's bailiff; but what is meant by a free state? G. Tell me first what is meant by a club in the village, of which I know you to be a member. F. It is an assembly of men, who meet after work every Saturday to be merry and happy for a few hours in the week. G. Have you no other object but mirth? F. Yes; we have a box, into which VOL. VIII. we contribute equally from our monthly or weekly savings, and out of which any members of the club are to be relieved in sickness or poverty; for the parish officers are so cruel and insolent, that it were better to starve than to apply to them for relief. G. Did they, or the 'squire, or the parson, or all together, compel you to form this society? F. Oh! no; we could not be compelled; we formed it by our choice. G. You did right-But have you not some head or president of your club? F. The master for each night is chosen by all the company present the week before. G. Does he make laws to bind you in case of ill temper or misbehaviour? F. He make laws! He bind us! No; we have all agreed to a set of equal rules which are signed by every new comer, and were written in a strange hand by young Spelman, the lawyer's clerk, whose uncle is a member. G. What should you do, if any member were to insist on becoming perpetual master, and on altering your rules at his arbitrary will and pleasure? F. We should expel him. G. What, if he were to bring a serjeant's guard, when the militia are quartered in your neighbourhood, and insist upon your obeying him? F. We would resist if we could; if not, the society would be broken up. G. Suppose that, with his serjeant's guard, he were to take the money out of the box, or out of your pockets! F. Would not that be a robbery? G. I am seeking information from you. How should you act upon such an occasion ? F. We should submit, perhaps, at that time; but should afterwards try to ap prehend the robbers. G. What if you could not apprehend them? F. We might kill them, I should think; and if the King would not pardon us, God would. G. How could you either apprehend them, or, if they resisted, kill them, without a sufficient force in your own hands? F. Oh! We are all good players at single-stick, and each of us has a stout cudgel or quarter-staff in the corner of his room. G. Suppose that a few of the club were to domineer over the rest, and insist upon making laws for them? F. We must take the same course; except it would be easier to restrain one man, than a number; but we should be the majority with justice on our side. G. A word or two on another head. Some of you, I presume, are no great accountants? F. Few of us understand accounts; but we trust old Lilly, the school-master, whom we believe to be an honest man; and he keeps the key of our box. G. If your money should, in time, amount to a large sum, it might not, perhaps, be safe to keep it at his house, or in any private house. F. Where else should we keep it? G. You might chuse to put it into the funds, or to lend it the 'squire, who has lost so much lately at Newmarket, taking his bond on some of his fields, as your security for payment, with in terest. F. We must, in that case, confide in young Spelman, who will soon set up for himself, and if a lawyer can be honest, will be an honest lawyer. G. What power do yon give to Lilly, or should you give to Spelman, in the case supposed? F. No power; we should give them both a due allowance for their trouble, and should expect a faithful account of all they had done for us. G. Honest men may change their nature. What if both, or either of them, were to deceive you? F. We should remove them, put our trust in better men, and try to repair our loss. G. Did it never occur to you, that every state or nation was only a great club. F. Nothing ever occurred to me on the subject; for I never thought about it. G. Though you never thought before on the subject, yet you may be able to tell me, why you suppose men to have assembled, and to have formed nations, communities, or states, which all mean the same thing? F. In order, I should imagine, to be as happy as they can, while they live. G. By happy, do you mean merry only? F. To be as merry as they can without hurting themselves or their neighbours, but chiefly to secure themselves from danger, and to relieve their wants. G. Do you believe, that any King of Emperor compelled them so to associate? F. How could one man compel a multitude?-A King or an Emperor, I presume, is not born with a hundred hands. G. When a prince of the blood shall, in any country, be so distinguished by nature, I shall then, and then only, conceive him to be a greater man than you: but might not an army, with a King or General at their head, have compelled them to assemble? F. Yes; but the army must have been formed by their own choice, one man of a few can never govern many without their consent. 'G. Suppose, however, that a multitude of men, assembled in a town or city, were to chuse a King or Governor, might they not give him high power and authority? F. To be sure; but they would never be so mad, I hope, as to give him a power of making their laws. G. Who else should make them? F. The whole nation or people. G. What if they disagreed? F. The opinion of the greater number, as in our village-clubs, must be taken, and prevail. G. What could be done, if the society were so large that all could not ineet in the same place? F. A greater number must chuse a less.. G. Who should be the chusers? F. All who are not upon the parish in our club. If a man asks relief of the overseer, he ceases to be one of us, because he must depend upon the overseer. G. Could not a few men, one in seven for instance, choose the assembly of lawmakers as well as a larger number? F. As conveniently, perhaps; but I would not suffer any man to choose ano ther who was to make laws, by which my money or my life might be taken from me. G. Have you a freehold in any county of forty shillings a year? F. I have nothing in the world but my cattle, inplements of husbandry, and household goods, together with my farm, for which I pay a fixed rent to the 'squire. G. Have you a vote in any city or borough? F. I have no vote at all; but am able, by my honest labour, to support my wife and four children; and, whilst I act honestly, I may defy the laws. G. Can you be ignorant, that the parliament to which members are sent by this county, and by the next markettown, have power to make new laws, by which you and your family may be stripped of your goods, thrown into prison, and even deprived of life? F. A dreadful power! Having business of my own, I never made inquiries concerning the business of parliament; but imagined the laws had been fixed for many hundred years. G. The common laws to which you refer, are equal, just, and humaue; but the king and parliament may alter them when they please. F. The King ought therefore to be a good man, and the parliament to consist of men equally good. G. The King alone can do no harm ; but who must judge the goodness of parliament men? F. All those whose property, freedom, and lives, may be affected by their laws. G. Yet six men in seven who inhabit this kingdom, have, like you, no votes; and the petition which I desired you to sign, has nothing for its object, but the restoration of you all to the right of choosing those law-makers, by whom your money or your lives may be taken from you: attend while I read it distinctly. F. Give me your pen. I never wrote my name, ill as it may be written, with greater eagerness. G. I applaud you, and trust that your example will be followed by millions.-Another word before we part. Recollect your opinion about your club in the village, and tell me what ought to be the consequence, if the King alone were to insist on making laws, or on altering them at his will and pleasure. F. He too must be expelled. G. Oh! but think of his standing army, and of the militia, which now are his in substance, though ours in form. F. If he were to employ that force against the nation, they would, and ought to resist him, or the state would cease to be a state. G. What if the great accountants, and great lawyers, the Lillys and Spelmans of the nation, were to abuse their trust, and cruelly injure, instead of faithfully serving the public? F. We must request the King to remove Them, and make trial of others; but none should implicitly be trusted. G. But what if a few great lords or wealthy men were to keep the King himself in subjection, yet exert his force, lavish his treasure, and misuse his name, so as to domineer over the people, and manage the parliament? F. We must fight for the King and ourselves. G. You talk of fighting, af if you were speaking of some rustic engagement at a wake; but your quarterstaffs would avail you little against bayonets. F. We might easily provide ourselves with better arms. G. Not so easily. When the moment of resistance came, you would be deprived of all arms; and those who should furnish you with them, or exhort you to take them up, would be called traitors, and probably put to death. F. We ought always therefore to be. ready, and keep each of us a strong firelock in the corner of his bedroom. G. That would be legal as well as rational. Are you, my honest friend, provided with a musket? F. I will contribute no more to the club, and purchase a firelock with my savings. G. It is not necessary. I have two, and will make you a present of one, with complete accoutrements. F. I accept it thankfully, and will converse with you at your leisure on other subjects of this kind. G. In the mean while, spend an hour every morning in the next fortnight, in learning to prime and load expeditionsly, and to fire and charge with bayonet firmly and regularly. I say every moruing, because, if you exercise too late in the evening, you may fall into some of the legal snares, which have been spread for you by those gentlemen, who would |