Archibald Hutcheson

“ If the Crown, before the Time I have mentioned, had not the Power of continuing the same Parliament by Prorogations, it will not be easy to shew, how they have come legally by it since: Sure I am, that there is no Act of Parliament which vests any such Power in the Crown, and Prescription immemorial is not so much as pretended to. The Short of the Matter seems to me then no more than this: A very arbitrary Prince, the better to serve the Ends he had then in View, boldly invades the Liberties of his People, and usurps a new Prerogative, unheard of before ”

“ But if, on the Contrary, we shew an Inclination to depreciate their Value, and seem to be ashamed of those we represent, will it not, especially if we pass the Bill now before us, give the strongest Jealousy, that we intend to represent them no more, but to set up for the future, a Third Estate entirely independent of them. And this Jealousy will be still encreased, by what has been with too great Freedom discoursed of without Doors, That People must be governed by their Fears, and surely so they must, if this Bill pass; for I think it will be scarce possible afterwards to govern them by Love. ”

“ I am therefore in Hopes that this Bill will not pass; instead of such extraordinary and unnatural Projects as these, there are others that deserve our Attention. I think it would be a Design worthy of a British Parliament, to concert and execute the most proper Measures for the healing up of our Breaches, and uniting our Minds for the common Interest and Safety of the Nation. ”

“ Can we do any Thing much worse, than to subvert one of the three Estates of the Realm, and to substitute a new one in the Place thereof, and instead of a House of Commons by the Choice of the People, as it always has been, and ever ought to be, to establish a new Kind of House of Commons, and 'till now unheard of, by Act of Parliament? ”

“ For though particular Persons are really rich, the Nation, whilst loaded with a Debt of fifty Millions, is undoubtedly very poor; and is it not a melancholly Consideration, that when the Individuals are very wealthy, that yet the Nation should be very weak; this is indeed a Paradox; but greater still, that Men can be so infatuated, as to sleep secure under a Government, which can scarce be said to be in a Condition of giving them Protection, and that too when it is in their own Power to Redress the Evil. ”

“ That an Act of Parliament should pass to vest the whole legislative Authority in the single Person of the Prince, to cloath him with an absolute dictatorial Power, to extinguish for the future both Houses of Parliament, and all other Rights and Privileges of the People, and to put all Things hereafter intirely into the Power, and to be disposed of at the Will and Pleasure of the Prince. ”

“ I therefore hope, that a Law which even the worst Ministry, in the worst of Parliaments, never had the Wickedness to attempt, will not actually be established under the best Administration, and in the best Parliament with which this Nation was ever blessed. ”

“ It is evident, that the Business of the Publick was carried on for some Hundreds of Years by annual Parliaments only, and our Histories for that Time do not acquaint us with any Complaints made of the Shortness of their Duration: And is it not most notorious, that there never were such great Things done by any Parliament, as by those which have been holden since the Triennial Act? Was ever a War so long and so successfully carried on before, and in which this Nation bore so great a Proportion of Expence? ”

“ I shall mention but one, and I speak it for his Honour, the present Bishop of Bangor, who has unanswerably made it evident, 'That all People have natural Rights, and that a free People have legal ones, which they may justly maintain, and which no legislative Authority whatsoever can deprive them of.' And can a free People have a more valuable Right, than that of being fairly and frequently represented in Parliament, by Persons of their own choosing? ”

“ It is strange that any one Gentleman can fancy, that the passing the Bill before us into a Law, would cool our Heats, and settle us all in Tranquility; it seems to me to be calculated for the direct contrary Purposes, to blow up the Flame, and to fill up the Measure of the Nation's Discontents ”

“ Surely something must, and very soon too, be done in this Matter; for I am persuaded no Man can be so wicked, as to entertain a Thought of declaring the Nation Bankrupt, and paying off this Debt with a Spunge, to the utter Ruin of Thousands of Families; and as little can I suppose any Man so stupid as to sleep securely, whilst the Liberties of his Country, and thereby his own, and the Property of every single Person in the Nation, is in the most precarious Situation ”

“ Certainly no Gentleman can be afraid of what every Gentleman must wish, that before the End of another Year, our Ferment will subside, and the Nation be restored to a perfect Calm, which would entirely take away all Pretences of doing what is now endeavoured: Or, that the unanimous Voice of the Electors of Great Britain, against such a Law, would, before another Session, be found too strong to be resisted by their Representatives, and that Gentlemen, upon a more mature Consideration, might come to think very differently of this Matter from what they at present may ”

“ Then indeed the British Liberties will be founded on a Rock, which the Machinations of the first Ministries will never be able to prevail against; and the Crown will be frequently and faithfully informed of the Sentiments of the People, and be thereby enabled to preserve with them that Confidence and good Correspondence, so absolutely necessary for the Happiness of both: To this I may add, that the Inconveniencies from triennial Elections, will thereby be much more effectually redressed and cured than ever they will be, by passing the Bill before us into a Law. ”

“ It has been said, 'That three Years is too short a Time to effect any Thing of great Moment for the Service and Benefit of the Nation: That the First Sessions is generally spent and wasted away in the Determination of Elections; in the Second something is done; but that the last Sessions is usually as much lost as the first, Gentlemens Minds running so much on the ensuing Election, as to think of nothing else; and the Fear also of disobliging their Electors, on so near a View of a new Choice, becomes a very great Byass to their Conduct in Parliament, to the Prejudice of the Publick Service ”

“ The ancient Revenues of the Crown, applicable to these Purposes, have long since been mortgaged and sold away, and if our present unhappy Divisions, should for some Time require a greater Force, for the Quiet and Security of the Nation, even in Times of Peace, 'tis easy to compute how much higher the aforesaid Taxes will rise.
Let Gentlemen seriously consider, whether it will not greatly increase the Uneasiness of the People, under such heavy Burthens, if they think they are laid upon them by Representatives whom they never chose. ”

“ Pray consider, whether we can be guilty of a greater Provocation to those we represent, than to deprive them for any Time of being represented by their own Choice, and to change the ancient third Estate of the Nation, into a new invented one, unknown to former Ages ”

“ It was now evident to the meanest Capacity, That a designing Prince, who, with the Assistance of a wicked Ministry, should be able, after several Trials, at last to procure a Parliament to his Purpose, would have the Liberties of his People entirely in his Power, and might govern them at Pleasure; from which State of Slavery it was evident, that nothing less than a Revolution could rescue them ”

“ What, govern a free People by their Fears! monst'rous Expression! and certainly a formed Design corresponding thereto, is an Act of Treachery, as soul and black as a Briton can be guilty of: An high Crime and Misdemeanor it certainly is; I will not call it high Treason, because I know no Law of the Land which has yet declared it so.
The Argument which I shall next take Notice of, is that which seems to me to be mentioned as the chief Inducement in the Preamble of the Bill, and which has been chiefly insisted upon by the Gentlemen who have spoken for it ”

“ As to the Danger of an ill Parliament, from the great Disaffection of the People; this, I confess, is a most extraordinary and surprizing Argument, and such as I never thought I should have heard in this Place: For it is an open Declaration and Acknowledgement, that the People of Great Britain are not truly represented at this Time: that the present House of Commons are the Supporters of the Liberties and true Interest of the People, which the People themselves are endeavouring to destroy, and would effectually do so by a new Choice ”

“ Opinion, our Liberties would not be more, nay, not so precarious under an absolute Monarch, as with a House of Commons who had Right to sit either for many Years together, or without any Limitation of Time: For 'tis certain, that a Prince, who had stood only on the Bottom of his own absolute Authority, assisted with a few Ministers and some Troops, would still think himself pretty much upon his good Behaviour towards the united Body of his People ”

“ They are bred up from their Cradles with deep Impressions of Liberty, and have their Properties senced in and secured by Law; and by their Representatives in Parliament, they have the Honour to share, even in the legislative Authority; and 'tis this gives our People the Spirit and Resolution of the ancient Romans, by which our Nation has obtained and preserved its great Character in the World. ”

“ For the Sake of those Gentlemen who seem so very fond of the unlimited Power of Parliaments, and by which only they can support the Validity of such a Law, as the Bill before us is intended to introduce, I shall mention some Cases, to which they themselves will agree, that this unlimited Power doth not, cannot extend. ”

“ I know there are great Disparities between such Powers, and those given by the People to their Representatives in Parliament: But yet I think, that to the Purpose that I intend it, the Parallel will hold. I will readily agree, that the Powers given by the People to their Representatives are very large, but I can by no Means go the Length of some Gentlemen, to think them absolutely unlimited, or that such ill Use may not be made of this Power, as to amount to a Forfeiture thereof. ”

“ For it is impossible to imagine, that such Encouragement would be given to the Pretender or his Friends, as seems to be done by the Preamble of this Bill, and the Debate of this Day, if those who were for the Bill were not entirely satisfied, that a new Rebellion, if it should happen, would be attended only with the Consequences I have just now mentioned. How right a Design of this Kind may be in Politicks, I will not pretend to determine, but will venture to affirm, that it is entirely inconsistent with the Christian Religion, and the Principles of Humanity, common to all Mankind. ”

“ And if we are not to do Evil that Good may come of it, surely we must not do Evil, only to bring Mischief upon ourselves.
These are my Reasons against the Bill, That our Consent to it would be a Breach of Trust, and a dangerous Breach upon our Constitution; and that, if it were not liable to this Objection, That yet it would serve to Purposes directly contrary to those pretended to be aimed at, by Gentlemen who are for the Bill ”

“ And I presume no Gentleman would desire to extinguish the ancient English Hospitality, for which the Nation has been so long samed; nor can any Man imagine it more possible to cure all Heats and Animosities in Elections, than to prevent Contentions about them, which the laudable Ambition of serving the Nation hath formerly kept up, and I hope it will do so again, without the Help of any other Motives ”

“ A Bill founded on such Surmises as these, and supported with such Arguments, is highly dangerous, and if it passes into a Law, its Title ought to be, An Act For the most effectual Encouragement of the Pretender and his Allies, to invade this Kingdom ”

“ It would also be a very great Injustice to many thousands of others, who have a Right to offer their Service to their Country, and who, for the Honour of the Nation, I am willing to hope, are in all Respects equally qualified for the Service with us, who have at present the Honour to fill those Seats. ”

“ I think we represent all the Commons of Great Britain, and surely amongst them there are many thousands every Way as well qualified to fill these Seats, as we who have now the Honour to do it: And even as to those of an inferior Rank, it must be owned, that they are a brave and a gallant People ”

“ Others, who think better of the Inclinations of the People, believe, that this wicked Work could not be accomplished without the Help of foreign Money, to bribe and corrupt the Electors of Great Britain ”

“ And I must say, That whenever Gentlemen are in Earnest disposed to curs this Evil, it may be done to the Honour and Reputation of future Parliaments; and to the saving Nine Parts in Ten of that Time, which has of late Years been consumed in the Business of Elections; and therefore, surely this Inconvenience can be no Objection against Triennial Parliaments, which is not owing to that, but to very different Causes; and which cannot possibly be cured by the Repeal of the Triennial Act ”

“ I believe it will not be denied, That 'tis very possible for a Ministry, by Pensions and Imployments to some, and by the Expectations raised in others, and by the Corruption of Electors, and returning Officers, to obtain a very great Majority, entirely and blindly at their Devotion, even at the very first Meeting of a Parliament, and that by a Committee of Elections and other proper Helps, their Party may daily increase ”