tue; that when a fencing-fchool is made the court of juftice, there is no law but violence, no argument but murder. All these affertions (concludes our author) may be true; but the most solid reafoning is received as mere declamation, when opposed to the impetuofity of paffion, or the fear of shame." "When hame (fays he, in another place) is the confec equence of obedience to law, the fword of justice lofes its terrors. Hence, the duellift kills his friend whom he loves, and the judge condemns the duellift, while he fcarcely knows how in his own heart to disapprove his behaviour." Surely, my Lord, if fhame is fo very irrefiftible as to force us into dueling, it would be equally powerful to keep us from affination; if fhame is neceffary to make us feek for honourable reparation, it would certainly be fufficient to fave us from the infamy of a diftardly revenge. It would unquestionably be as efficacious on the fide of law, prudence, and humanity, as upon the fide of injuftice, abfurdity, and blood. Nothing therefore, my Lord, is wanting but a generous affociation among a few young men of rank, to root out the custom of duelling. If fuch an affociation was once eftablished, and if the members only made it publicly known, that they would never admit any man into their company, who either refufed to apologize for an offence he had given, or required the life of a fellow-creature as an atonement for an affront, the moft falutary confequences would fpeedily refult to fociety. It is better, my Lord, that there fhould be no redrefs at all for infults, than to adopt a mode of redrefs, if redrefs it may be called, which accumuTates the injuries of the party infulted. Many are the affociations to improve the opera, to encourage race-horfes, and to preferve the game:- For the love of Heaven, my Lord, let there be one at fociation to preferve the human fpecies, to fave the hoary father from falling a victim to the frenzy of his flaughtered for, to prevent the doating mother's agonizing fhrieks, to fnatch the tender wife from unutterable defpair, and to continue a parent to a helplefs brood of innocents. I cannot proceed, my Lord, on this affecting fubject: my heart is too full; and I have already trefpaffed fufficiently on your patience. I fhall therefore only obferve, that as the other affociations juft now mentioned, have either been diftinguished by royal or parliamentary protection, the one I recommend could not fail of being warmly encouraged by both, as an inftitution no lefs honourable to the kingdom, than delightful to God. May that God take your Lordship into his particular care, and lead you ferioully to weigh this admonition, from C. your Lordship's true well-wither, Westminster Magazine, for Feb. 1773, No 3. A view of the ENGLISH GOVERNMENT, From VOLTAIRE's Questions fur L'Encyclope die, just pubiithed. T is curious to obferve the progrefs by which governments are established. I fhall not here speak of Tamerlane, becaufe I know not precifely the mystery of government in the Mogul's domi nions; but we may fee it more clearly in the administration of England. Befides, I fhall find a greater pleasure in examining the latter, than I should in examining the former administration; because in England you have men, in India chiefly flaves. And first, for the Norman baftard, who tock it in his head to make himself King of England. No doubt he had as much right to it as St Lewis had afterwards to Grand Cairo; but St Lewis unluckily neglected to get a title to Grand Cairo made out in the court of Rome: where as William took care to have his claim made lawful, and even facred, by obtaining from Pope Alexander II. an arret confirming his divine right, without fo much as hearing the defence of the ad verfary, and by the fole virtue of these words, Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, the fame shall be bound in heaven. His competitor Harold, the legal monarch, be ing thus bound by an arret iffued from heaven, William Arengthened his cause by a more powerful argument, which was the battle of Haftings. Thus he reigned by virtue of the fame power which had established Pepin and Clovis in France, the Goths and the Lombards in Italy, the Vifigoths, and after them the Arabs, in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, and, in fhort, all the monarchs in the world, in their turns. It must be owned, that William had as much right as the Saxons, or the Danes, who had likewife as much right as the Romans before them. And the title of thefe heroes was equal, at leaft, to that of highwaymen ; or, if you please, to that of pole-cats in a poultry-yard. All thefe great men were fuch arrant robbers on the highway, that, from Ro mulus mulus to the Buccaneers, the Spolia opima were the principal object. Plunder and pillage, beef and mutton, were the game. So that the names of foldier and robber were frequently fynonymous. This William, then, is established, a King by divine right; and William Rufus, who ufurped the crown against the right of his eldeft brother, is a King likewife by the fame divine right; and Henry III. ufurper after him, might equally plead the fame. The Norman Barons, who, at their own expence, had concurred in the invafion of England, wanted a recompence. It was neceffary they fhould have it, and that they thould be conftituted the firft officers of the crown. The fineft demefnes were given up to them. It is clear that William would much rather have kept the lands himfelf, and have made body-guards of his Norman Lords; but it would have been risking too much. He was obliged to thare them *. As to the Anglo-Saxon Lords, they could not kill them all, nor yet reduce all of them to a flate of flavery. They left them the dignity of manerial Lords. And thus things were held in an equal balance to the first quarrel. But what became of the reft of the nation? Nothing more than what has happened to all the people in Europe, a state of vaffalage. In short, after the folly of the Crufades, the ruined princes fold their liberties to the peafants, who had acquired a little money by labour and commerce, towns were enfranchised, the commons had their privileges, and the sights of mankind fprung from anarchy itself. The Barons throughout were at variance both with their prince and with each other. Every thing wore the afpect of a civil war. Yet from this difinal chaos arofe a ray of light, which, how ever feeble, ferved as a guide to the people, and made their circumftances fomething lefs deplorable. The Kings of England having domitions in France, it is no wonder if maby cftablishments in the ftate refembled the French. The English court of Chancery was in And fome of them were not contented with their fhares, which naturally occafioned many future jealoufies and divifions. The name of a village in Somerfetthire remains a carious monument of this difcontent. It is called Nortonmal Reward. imitation of the Council of State, over which the chancellor of France prefided. The court of King's-Bench was erected on the model of the Parliament inftituted by Philip the Fair. The Common Pleas were the same with the jurifdiction of the Chatelet. The Court of Exchequer refembled that of the Generals of the Finances, which, in France, is become the Court of Aids. The maxim, that crown-lands are unalienable, was evidently in imitation of the French government. The right of the King of England to have his ranfom paid by his fubjects, in cafe of his being made a prifoner of war; his right of demanding a portion for his eldest daughter when the marries; are plainly of French origin. Soon after Philip the Fair had conftituted a general ftate of the Commons of his kingdom, Edward did the fame in England, by way of forming a balance against the power of the Barons. For it was in this prince's reign that the Houfe of Commons was abfolutely established. Till the fourteenth century, then, we fee that the government of England refembled that of France. The national churches were perfectly the fame; the fame fubjection to the court of Rome; the fame exactions that were still complained of, but ever paid to that avaricious court; the fame quarrels; the fame excommunications; the fame dona tions to monks; the fame mixture of religious rapine, fuperftition, and barbarity. The government of France and England having then been conducted on the fame principles for fo many ages, how comes it to pafs that thete two governments are now become as different as thofe of Morocco and Venice? Is it not becaufe Great Britain being an ifland, the King has no occation to keep up a large ftanding army, which ferves no lefs to awe the fubject than to guard against the enemy? Is it not becaufe the English are of a more folid turn, more given to reflection, and more fteady in their refolutions, than other nations? And was it not for this reason, that, ever complaining of the Papal yoke, they, at length, totally fhook it off, while a nation of greater levity, at the fame Mr Voltaire fays, l'Angleterre etant une ifle, one of his ufual inaccuracies. time, laughed at it, and wore it, and danced in their fetters ? Has not the maritime fituation of their country too, their extenfive navigation, given them a feverity of manners? And that severity of manners, which has made their ifland the fcene of fo many tragical events, has not that likewife contributed to infpire them with a generous freedom? The love of liberty, -is not that become their prevailing characterific? Has not this grown in proportion with the improvement of their wealth and their understanding? The people cannot be equally powerful, but they may be free. And this the English have obtained by their firmnefs. To be free is to be dependent only on the laws. Of course the English love their laws as parents do their children, because they proceeded from themselves; at least they believe they did. A government fuch as this could not be established haftily. It had respectable powers to contend with, and confequently required time. The power of the Pope, the moft formidable, becaufe founded on ignorance and prejudice; the power of the Crown, ever ready to make incroachments, and always on that account to be guarded against; the power of the Barons, which was an abfolute anarchy; the power of the Bishops, which extended as well to civil as to ecclefiaftical matters, contended for the fuperiority both with the Barons and the Kings. By degrees, the House of Commons became a barrier to thefe torrents; and that Houfe does now, in fact, constitute the nation. The King, who is the head, acts only for himfelf, and for what is called the prerogative. The Peers affemble in parliament only for themselves. The Bishops do no more. But the Houte of Commons affembles in behalf of the people. Now the people are to the King as eight millions are to a unit, to the Bifhops and the Peers as eight millions are to two hundred, and eight millions of free citizens are reprefented by the Lower Houfe. From this eftablishment, compared to which the republic of Plato is an idle reverie, and which might feem to be the invention of a Locke, a Newton, a Halley, or an Archimedes, have evils arifen fhocking to bumanity. The diforder of the vast machine went near to deftroy it, in the time of Fairfax and of Cromwell, Fanaticifm got into the grand edifice like a devouring fire, which confumes the most beauteous buildings that are only made of wood. In the time of William III. it was rebuilt of ftone. Philofophy has deftroyed fanaticism, that bane of the beft-regula ted states; and it is furely probable, that a conftitution which has regulated the rights of the King, the Nobility, and the People, (a conflitution in which every individual finds his fecurity), will last a long as any human eftablishment car laft; and it is equally probable, that al ftates which have not the happiness to b founded on fuch principles as thefe, wil haften to a revolution. Since writing the above article, I hav re-perused the nineteenth book of th Spirit of Laws; wherein the author exhibits a portrait of England, without na ming it. I was ready to commit mg: own to the flames; but I confidered, the though it wanted the wit, the retine ment, and the depth that one admire in Montefquieu, it might still be usefu It is founded on facts that are indifpt table, and fometimes one is inclined t doubt the ideas of ingenuity. Authentic Papers, relative to the expeditic against the Charibbs, and the fale of lan the island of St Vincent. Extract from the Report of the Commission ers for the fale of lands in the "ced iflands, to the Lords Commiffioners f Trade and Plantation, dated July 20 1769. Aving finished every thing neceffa for this year at Grenada, we imbar ed for St Vincent; where, in obedien to our inftructions from the Rt Ho the Lords Commiflioners of his Majesty Treasury, relating to the fettlement the windward part of that inland, befo we attempted any measures that mig occafion the leaft alarm among the Ch ribbs, we had taken every precauti directed by their Lordships, and used pofiible means of making them acquain ed with his Majesty's gracious difpofitio towards them; and for that purpose er ployed different perfons, whom thought to have the greatest influence ver them, as emiffaries, to explain t arrangements intended; and had feve interviews with many of them in th own country, where we went to me From the temper of those with whom converf converfed, and the reports we had of who, after fome altercations, were prevailed upon by arguments, to retire to a small diftance, where they remained in arms. Soon afterwards intelligence was brought to the Prefident of the island, that the Indians had furrounded the party pofted in the country, and cut off their communication of the road, fo that no provifions or fuccours could be conveyed to them; which occafioned a confiderable alarm in the ifland, and it was judged expedient to march out the remainder of the regiment to their relief. Sir William Young being the only Commiffioner on the island, thought proper, on behalf of the Board, to communicate to the Prefident our inftructions on this fubject; and was clearly of opinion, that nothing was to be undertaken, in the prefent weak ftate of the colony, that might endanger the peace and fecurity of it; and that by the inftructions, no authority was given to commence hoftilities; and as it appeared impracticable to carry into execution the plan for fettling that part of the country, in the manner directed by their Lordships, (that is with a mild and gentle hand), that he did no longer require the aid of his Majefty's troops to fupport the furveyors; as will appear by his letter to the President, a copy of which we have the honour herewith to tranfmit to your Lordships; and by the other letters, which are also fent, your Lordships may be the better enabled to judge of the behaviour of the Charibbs on this occafion. the fentiments of the reft, we did not conceive any difficulty would arife in the execution of their Lordships inftructions; we therefore directed the furveyors to begin a road at the river Coubimaron, which is the boundary of the country claimed by the Charibbs; judging that the most useful step to fet out with, as it would open a communication with the fettled part of the island, and thereby render the land more valuable, give an opportunity of difcovering the number and fituation of the Charibbs, and at the fame time greatly facilitate the furvey of the country. With this road the furveyors proceeded to a place called Mafferica, about eight miles diftant, in a fraight Ene from where they began. In the courfe of their work they were met with by fome few Indians, who appeared difcontented at the progrefs of the road, and heard rumours of an intended oppofition to the continuation of it, which induced us to request of the Governor of the island a party of foldiers to protect the furveyors in the execution of their duty. After the party was granted, the banefs was for fome time carried on without interruption, or further fhow of dfentent amongst the Charibbs, infomuch that it being judged inconvenient and unneceffary that the regiment fhould have a large detachment at fo great a diflance from the barracks, no more than a ferjeant's guard was continued. On the approach of the surveyors near Mafferica, it was thought proper to build fame new huts, and to advance the foldiers more into the country, that they might be at hand to give any affance, if required. This occafioned fresh difcontents, and it was therefore judged neceffary to increase the gard to the number of forty men; who, on march towards the huts prepared for their reception, were ftopped by fome of the Black Indians, acquainting them, that a large party was affembled, and determined to oppose their taking poffeffion of the huts; and that they would not fuffer the English to carry on the road into the country, or to have any fettlement there; and that they did not acknowledge any obedience to the King of Great Britain, or to the French King, being a free people. To thefe threats the foldiers paid no attention, but marched up to the poft; where they difcovered a party of Indians affembled, about three hundred in number, well armed; At a meeting of the Board foon afterwards, Sir William Young communicated to the Commiflioners what bad paffed, and what he had declared on their behalf to the Prefident; which was unanimoufly approved of; and orders were immediately given to the furveyors to defift from any further furveys in the country. Notwithstanding this caution, and the great pains fince taken to affure the Charibbs they would be permitted to remain in perfect tranquillity till the King's further pleafure, fhould be known, and that their fafety and happine's depended on their future good behaviour, they have even proceeded to acts of violence without the leaft provocation: They have blocked up in many places the high-road we had caufed to be traced into the country; burnt the houfes of a perfon employed by us on behalf of his Majefty, merely because he had been useful in the fervice; fervice; and have threatened other outrages, and particularly (as we have received intelligence) formed a design to burn his Majefty's barracks at Prince's Bay, built at a very great expence, and in the centre of a settled part of the country, at a great distance from what they inhabit or claim. The inftructions we have now from their Lordships are, in our humble opinions, as proper as any that could have been devised, for the purpose of fettling the windward part of the country; but experience now fhews us, that it will be impoffible, without imminent danger to the colony, to complete any fettlements or arrangements with them, let the terms propofed be ever fo tender or advantageous, without a force fufficient to reftrain and awe them into obedience; for which purpose it will be highly neceffary to have a confiderable military force upon the island, before we again attempt to carry our inftructions into execution, as we find their numbers greatly exceed what we formerly apprehended. We have the greatest reafon to think, that fuffering the Charibbs to remain in their prefent state will be very dangerous, and may at fome period prove fatal to the inhabitants of the country; as their fituation, furrounded with woods, makes any accefs to them, for the purpose of executing juftice, totally impracticable; and they will from thence be capable of committing all outrages unpunished; of harbouring the flaves of the inhabitants of the island, as well as of all the neighbouring iflands; of fheltering amongst them vagabonds and deferters from the French; and, in cafe of a rupture with France, it is probable they will join in difreling the inhabitants, and in attempting to conquer the ifland. We can now affure your Lordfhips, that the country is full as extenfive as it was even reprefented; the foil excellent, and perfectly well adapted to the cultivation of fugar; and if the plan of fettlement is carried into execution, will be equal to any of his Majefty's iflands in thofe feas. Depofition of John Quinland. St Vincent. BEFORE Gilbert Gillock, Efq; one of his Majesty's juftices of the peace for daid ifland, perfonally appeared John Quinland, mafter of the loop Ranger; who being duly fworn on the Holy Evans gelift of Almighty God, depofeth, ang fayeth, That on the 21st inft. he departed from the Bay of Kingston, in the said island, to cruife between that and St Lucia, pursuant to orders received from the Prefident of faid ifland; on which station he continued till the 24th, when he fteered for, and came to an anchor, about five in the morning, in the Bay of Souffriere, at St Lucia; that on his ar rival there, he fent his boat along the coaft to fee if there were any Indian canoes in the out-bays; but not finding any, the next day he got under fail, and ftood along the fhore of St Lucia to the fouthward; and afterwards being two leagues in the channel between that island and St Vincent, he discovered four canoes, which proved Black Charibbs, and each canoe to have nineteen or more of thofe people on board; that he fired to bring them to, in order to examine them, agreeable to his orders; on which they immediately pulled down their fails, and took to their paddles, making towards the floop as faft as they could; that the floop at that time was becalmed; and perceiving them in coming up to lay hold of fome mufkets, and having but nine men on board, he made figns for only one of the canoes to approach at a time; that notwithstanding they perfifted to come up together, on which he fired into them, which they returned, and rowed on with a feeming intention to board the veffel; that toon after this he funk one of the canoes at a distance, and a little time after another, the crews of which took to fwimming with cutlaffes in their mouths, and made directly towards the flocp, which they very near reached, when he funk the other canoes as they came along fide; that they ftill perfifted to board, which he prevented by oppofing them as they endeavoured to get up the fides, by deftroying them with bayonets; that by this means he killed moft of them; and the wind springing up, he left thofe that remained to flift for themfelves. The deponent further adds, that their canoes were loaded with kegs, from which he faw them fupply themselves with catridges to load their arms; and that early in the engagement, he had two men killed and one wounded. -- Signed, JOHN QUINLAND. Sworn before me, this 29th Aug.1769, Signed, G. HILLOCK, Pro |