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CONTENT S.

No. I. Mr. Juftice Afhhurft's Charge to the Grand Jury of
Middlesex.-A Word in Season to the Traders and Ma-
nufacturers of Great Britain.

No. II. Dr. Vincent's Short Hints upon Levelling.-A
Charge to the Grand Jury of Middlefex, by William
Mainwaring, Efq.

No. III. Bowles's Proteft against Paine's Rights of Man.
No. IV. Bowles's Answer to the Declaration of the
«Friends of the Liberty of the Prefs."-Speech of the Lord
Prefident of the Seffion, addreffed to the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh.

No. V. The Fatal Effects of Republican Principles, ex-
emplified in the Hiftory of England from the Death of
Charles I. to the Reftoration of Charles II.

No. VI. Paley's Reasons for Contentment.-Lord Lough borough's Speech on the Alien Bill.

No. VII. The Second Charge of Mr. Juftice Ashhurst
to the Grand Jury in the Court of King's Bench.-Appen.
dix to the Bishop of Landaff's Sermon.-Reflections
on the Prefent Crifis.

No. VIII. The Advantages peculiar to a Monarchy, and the
English Conftitution. By M. De Lolme.-Mr. Juftice
Buller's Charge to the Grand Jury of the County of
York, at the Lent Affizes 1793.

No. IX. The Earl of Radnor's Charge to the Grand Jury of
the County of Berks.-Thoughts on a Parliamentary
Reform. By Soame Jenyns, Efq.Additional Proof of the
Excellence of the English Conftitution. By W. Mitford,
Efq-Cautions againft Reformers. By Lord Boling-
broke.

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PUBLICATIONS

Printed at the expence of

THE SOCIETY

FOR PRESERVING

LIBERTY AND PROPERTY

AGAINST

REPUBLICANS AND LEVELLERS.

NUMBER I.

CONTAINING,

Mr. Juftice Afbburft's Charge to the Grand Jury, for the

County of Middlefex:

A Word in Seafon to the Traders

and Manufacturers of Great-Britain.

LONDON:

Printed and Sold by J. SEWELL, at the European Magazine Warehouse, Cowper's Court, Cornhill; J. DEBRETT, Piccadilly; and HOOKAM and CARPENTER, Bond-Street.

PRICE, ONE PENNY.

MR. JUSTICE ASHHURST'S CHARGE

то

The GRAND JURY for the County of Middlefex.

T

HE following CHARGE delivered by Judge ASHHURST to the GRAND JURY for the County of Middlefex, affembled in the Court of KING'S BENCH, on Monday the 19th of November, 1792, breathes fo much the SPIRIT of the ENGLISH LAW, and is fo well fuited to CURB the LICENTIOUS SPIRIT of the TIMES, that it must be read with Heart-felt Satisfaction by every true ENGLISHMAN-to whofe Perufal it is ftrongly recommended.

"Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,

"I HAVE the honour to meet you upon the ftated return of this folemnity for putting in execution the Criminal Law, and bringing fuch offenders to juftice, as by their crimes have fubjected themselves to the punishment which the Law ordains. Gentlemen There is no Nation in the world that can boaft of a more perfect Syftem of Govern

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ment than that under which we have the happiness to live, where no man is fo high as to be above the reach of the Law, and no man fo low as not to be within its protection; where the Power of the Crown (on the one hand) and the Liberty of the Subject (on the other) are both effectually fecured, and at the fame time kept within their proper limits.

"The Law of this Country only lays fuch restraints on the actions of individuals as are neceffary for the fafety and good order of the Community at large; and fuch restraints are fo far from being infringements on Civil Liberty, that Civil Liberty could not fubfift without them: for if every man was left to the free and uncontrouled exercise our own will (as in a state of Nature,) no man could be fecure in his perfon or property, and the weak would be a prey to the ftronger hand; but in a ftate of Civil Government, each individual grows ftrong in the ftrength of the Community.

"Gentlemen, It is Civil Liberty that is the parent of Industry, and confequently of Wealth; for in a state of Nature, as there was no fecurity to property, no man thought of appropriation, further than for the momentary fupply of his immediate neceffities: but when men have formed themselves into a ftate of civil fociety, the confcioufnefs which every man feels that his property is fecure, induces to habits of induftry; he does not bound his purfuits to the mere fupply of his prefent wants, but looks forward to future ages; mutual wants put men upon finding out the means of mutual fupply; this gives rife to trade and commerce, and extends men's connections beyond the narrow circles of their own immediate families and friends; and thus from mutual wants fpring mutual happiness.

"But, Gentlemen, as a preliminary ftep to procuring thefe enjoyments, it was neceffary that mankind (on entering into Society) fhould give up into the hands of the governing power of the State, that Species of Liberty which refulted from a perfect equality in all men, and where no man had a right to impofe upon another a rule of conduct, but each man (as far as his ftrength would carry him through) followed the dictates of his own will. A itate of fociety cannot fubfift without fubordination. There must be general rules laid down by the governing power of the State (wherever it refides) as the ftandard by which men's actions are to be measured and regulated, fo as to prevent them from being injurious to the rights and happiness of their fellowcitizens: And there must be a coercive power (refiding in fuch hands as the Conftitution has thought fit to place it) to enforce

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