Junius Unmasked Part 4

In the above the sentiment is not only the same, but the same metaphors are used. As a "rod" for the representative, and the "voice of reason."

In the following the same metaphor also is used, but with a change in the application.

_Common Sense._

"But the const.i.tution of England is so exceedingly complex, that the nation may suffer for years together without being able to discover in which part the fault lies; some will say in one, some in another, and every political _physician_ will advise a different medicine."

_Junius._

"After a rapid succession of changes, we are reduced to that state which hardly any change can mend. It is not the disorder, but the _physician_: it is not a casual concurrence of calamitous circ.u.mstances; it is the pernicious hand of government which alone can make a whole people desperate."--Let. 1.

In the above, Junius is speaking, in his first Letter, with all the prejudices of an Englishman in favor of the const.i.tution. But this soon wears off, and in his closing Letter he speaks as boldly as COMMON SENSE.

_Common Sense._

"I know it is difficult to get over local or long standing prejudices, yet if we will suffer ourselves to examine the component parts of the English const.i.tution, we will find them to be the base remains of two ancient tyrannies, compounded with some new republican materials.

"_First_: The remains of monarchical tyranny in the person of the king.

"_Secondly_: The remains of aristocratical tyranny in the persons of the peers.

"_Thirdly_: The new republican materials in the persons of the commons, on whose virtue depends the freedom of England."

_Junius._

"I confess, sir, that I felt the prejudices of my education in favor of a House of Commons still hanging about me.... The state of things is much altered in this country since it was necessary to protect our representatives against the direct power of the crown. We have nothing to apprehend from prerogative, but every thing from undue influence."--Let. 44.

"The nearer any government approaches to a republic, the less business there is for a king.

It is somewhat difficult, to find a proper name for the government of England. Sir William Meredith calls it a republic, but in its present state it is unworthy of the name, because the corrupt influence of the crown by having all the places at its disposal, hath so effectually swallowed up the power, and eaten out the virtue of the House of Commons (the republican part in the const.i.tution), that the government of England is nearly as monarchical as that of France or Spain. Men fall out with names without understanding them. For it is the republican and not the monarchical part of the const.i.tution of England, which Englishmen glory in, viz: the liberty of choosing a House of Commons from out their own body; and it is easy to see, that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues. Why is the const.i.tution of England sickly, but because monarchy hath poisoned the republic, the crown hath engrossed the commons."

See how Junius now bows to monarchy in order to strike it:

"I can more readily admire the liberal spirit and integrity, than the sound judgment of any man who prefers a republican form of government in this or any other empire of equal extent, to a monarchy so qualified and limited as ours. I am convinced that neither is it in theory the wisest system of government, nor practicable in this country. Yet, though I hope the English const.i.tution will forever preserve its original monarchical form, I would have the manners of the people purely and strictly republican. I do not mean the licentious spirit of anarchy and riot; I mean a general attachment to the common weal, distinct from any partial attachment to persons or families; an implicit submission to the laws only; and an affection to the magistrate proportioned to the integrity and wisdom with which he distributes justice to the people, and administers their affairs. The present habit of our political body appears to me the very reverse of what it ought to be. The form of the const.i.tution leans rather more than enough to the popular branch; while in effect the manners of the people (of those at least who are likely to take the lead in the country) incline too generally to a dependence upon the crown. The real friends of arbitrary power combine the facts, and are not inconsistent with their principles, when they strenuously support the unwarrantable privileges a.s.sumed by the House of Commons. In these circ.u.mstances it were much to be desired that we had many such men as Mr. Sawbridge to represent us in parliament. I speak from common report and opinion only, when I impute to him a speculative predilection in favor of a republic.

In the personal conduct and manners of the man I can not be mistaken. He has shown himself possessed of that republican firmness which the times require, and by which an English gentleman may be as usefully and as honorably distinguished as any citizen of ancient Rome, of Athens, or Lacedemon."--Let. 58.

I would remark on the above pa.s.sage from Junius, that this is one of his finest rhetorical efforts, and it is well worthy of a moment's pause, to study its plan and probable effect on the English mind. This was written near the close of his literary campaign. The reaction had set in, and he was stemming the tide of public opinion. He wishes to bring the people up to his republican notions, and to rouse them to action. He begins by _admiring the liberal spirit and integrity_ of the man, but reflects on his judgment who prefers a republic to a monarchy so _qualified and limited_ in a country of _that size_. He limits monarchy to a small country. The reader will mark how guarded he is here. He is fully aware of the prejudices of the people in favor of monarchy, and doubtless he spoke his own sentiments at the time, qualified as they were. Mr. Paine afterward spoke of "setting up the Duke of Gloucester, deposing the king, and bringing the ministers to trial." Junius has now prepared the public ear for an attentive and respectful hearing; he has bowed to monarchy, and touched the heart of his audience. He now introduces the principles of a republic, which produce a spirit devoid of anarchy and riot, but one attached to the common weal and submissive to the laws only. He now tenderly chides the people for their dependence upon the crown, _especially the leaders_. He then advances to a charge of inconsistency, and shows the advantage the friends of arbitrary power take of it. He now supports himself by _authority_ in a eulogy on Mr.

Sawbridge, of whom he says: "He has shown himself possessed of that republican firmness which the times require." He at last caps the climax with an array of republics, and a hint that an English gentleman would be "honorably distinguished" if he would come forward and play the part of Brutus. The whole paragraph is deeply planned and finely wrought out, and would fall with stunning weight upon the mind of the English nation.

But let us proceed. Mr. Paine asked, in the last sentence quoted above in the parallel column: "Why is the const.i.tution of England sickly?"

etc. He also further says: "An inquiry into the _const.i.tutional errors_ in the English form of government is at this time highly necessary, for, as we are never in a proper condition of doing justice to others while we continue under the influence of some leading partiality, so neither are we capable of doing it to ourselves while we remain fettered by an obstinate prejudice. And as a man who is attached to a prost.i.tute is unfit to choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession in favor of a rotten const.i.tution of government will disable us from discerning a good one."--Common Sense, Part I.

Englishmen considered rotten boroughs the only rotten part of the const.i.tution, but Common Sense and Junius both considered that the disease had extended from the extremities to the heart. Junius says:

"As to cutting away the rotten boroughs, I am as much offended as any man at seeing so many of them under the direct influence of the crown, or at the disposal of private persons. Yet, I own I have both doubts and apprehensions in regard to the remedy you propose.... When all your instruments of amputation are prepared, when the unhappy patient lies bound at your feet, without the possibility of resistance, by what infallible rule will you direct the operation? When you propose to cut away the rotten parts, _can you tell us what parts are perfectly sound_? Are there any certain limits, in fact or theory, to inform you at what point you must stop--at what point the mortification ends? To a man [Mr.

Wilkes] so capable of observation and reflection as you are, it is unnecessary to say all that might be said upon the subject.

Besides that, I approve highly of Lord Chatham's idea of infusing a portion of new health into the const.i.tution, to enable it to bear its infirmities--a brilliant expression, and full of intrinsic wisdom."--Last Letter of Junius.

_Common Sense._

"To say that the const.i.tution of England is a union of three powers, reciprocally checking each other, is farcical; either the words have no meaning, or they are flat contradictions. To say that the commons is a check upon the king presupposes two things:

_"First._--That the king is not to be trusted without being looked after; or, in other words, that a thirst for absolute power is the natural _disease_ of monarchy.

_"Secondly._--That the commons, by being appointed for that purpose, are either wiser, or more worthy of confidence than the crown."

_Junius._

"The three branches of the legislature seem to treat their separate rights and interests as the Roman triumvirs did their friends--they reciprocally sacrifice them to the animosities of each other, and establish a detestable union among themselves upon the ruin of the laws and the liberty of the commonwealth."--Let. 39.

"There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of monarchy--it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly; wherefore, the different parts, by unnaturally opposing and destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless."

In speaking of and to the king, he says:

"It has been the misfortune of your life, and originally the cause of every reproach and distress which has attended your government, that you should never have been acquainted with the language of truth until you heard it in the complaints of your people."--Let. 35.

"A faultless, insipid equality in his character is neither capable of virtue or vice in the extreme, but it secures his submission to those persons whom he has been accustomed to respect, and makes him a dangerous instrument of their ambition.

Secluded from the world, attached from his infancy to one set of persons and one set of ideas, he can neither open his heart to new connections, nor his mind to better information."--Let. 39.

"That the crown is this overbearing part in the English const.i.tution, needs not to be mentioned; and that it derives its whole consequence merely from being the giver of _places and pensions_, is self-evident. Wherefore, though we have been wise enough to shut and lock a door against absolute monarchy, we at the same time have been foolish enough to put the crown in possession of the key.

"The prejudice of Englishmen in favor of their own government by king, lords, and commons, arises as much or more from national pride than reason.

Individuals are undoubtedly safer in England than in some other countries, but the will of the king is as much the law of the land in Britain as in France, with this difference: that, instead of proceeding directly from his mouth, it is handed to the people under the formidable shape of an act of parliament. For the fate of Charles the First hath only made kings more subtle--not more just."

Of the king's influence on parliament, he says:

"It is arbitrary and notoriously under the influence of the crown."--Let. 44.

"I beg you will convey to your gracious master my humble congratulations upon the glorious success of _peerages and pensions_, so lavishly distributed as the rewards of Irish virtue."--Let.

66.

"That the sovereign of this country is not amenable to any form of trial known to the laws, is unquestionable; but exemption from punishment is a singular privilege annexed to the royal character, and no way excludes the possibility of deserving it. How long and to what extent a king of England may be protected by the forms, when he violates the spirit of the const.i.tution, deserves to be considered. A mistake in this matter proved fatal to Charles and his son."--Preface to Junius.

"Wherefore, laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favor of modes and forms, the plain truth is that _it is wholly owing to the const.i.tution of the people, and not the const.i.tution of the government_, that the crown is not as oppressive in England as in Turkey."

"The consequences of this attack upon the const.i.tution are too plain and palpable not to alarm the dullest apprehension. I trust you will find that the people of England are neither deficient in spirit or understanding, though you have treated them as if they had neither sense to feel, nor spirit to resent. We have reason to thank G.o.d and our ancestors that there never yet was a minister in this country who could stand the issue of such a conflict, and, with every prejudice in favor of your intentions, I see no such abilities in your grace as should enable you to succeed in an enterprise in which the ablest and basest of your predecessors have found their destruction.... Never hope that the freeholders will make a tame surrender of their rights, or that an English army will join with you in overturning the liberties of their country."--Let.

11.

I will now present their doctrine of _equal rights_:

_Common Sense._

"Mankind being originally equals in the order of creation, the equality could not be destroyed by some subsequent circ.u.mstance....

"As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest, can not be justified on the equal rights of nature...."

_Junius._

"In the rights of freedom we are all equal....