out the earth among themselves, and called it their individual property, to quarrel with each other about their claims. Hence the chief robber or king commanded his creatures to go and murder and be murdered by those they never saw, and from whom they never received the least injury ;—when their opponents view their hostile approach, they also "cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war. Hence the earth has so often been fattened with whole hecatombs of human beings, to gratify the pride, the ambition, the vanity of a few miscreants.

Although my mind is impressed with far more interesting matter than that which is merely political, I cannot, nevertheless, forego suggesting a few thoughts on that subject, which may be instructive, although I have not the most distant expectation of their being productive of general utility. Were kings and aristocrats to rob their fellow-mortals of their property, and spare their lives and liberty, the innovation would not be so great; but, alas! this is not the case. As a punishment to the people for their servility and abject adoration of their cruel kings, and a just reaction of Providence for their usurpation and tyranny, we always find kings torturing kings, armies murdering armies, and robbers robbing robbers the conqueror considering the conquered his property. Pugilists always require only an acknowledgment of being vanquished, on the part of the conquered, to restore harmony; but not so with kings. After they have murdered their thousands they enslave their tens of thousands, and doom their noble as well as ignoble prisoners to torture or to death. Oh the perfection of villany! the scenes of horror, the mountains of human carnage this wretched world groans under, which angels blush to behold!

There are many servile and sycophantic wretches, even in America, who plead the cause of kings and arbitrary power, and apologize for their brutality, and even have the impudence to bring forward the scriptures of truth to consolidate their assertions. But this is only one instance in millions where man has become vain in his imagination, and has called sweet bitter, and bitter sweet; put right for wrong, and wrong for right; truth for error, and error for truth. Such men in kingdoms I pity, although I despise their principles; because the prejudice of education is so great, that it

own.

is next to impossible to erase it from their minds, even by the worst of tyranny. But in republics, such men deserve to be cashiered; because they have not the excuse of ignorance to plead in their favour. Many religionists profess to be the friends of peace, and yet support with all their power governments, or rather monarchs, who for a feather do plunge their fellow-worms into all the horrors of war. Surely this inconsistency exhibits a baseness of heart and hypocrisy of pretension which reason would shudder at and religion disSo effectually has the tyranny and antiquity of custom domineered over the minds of even what are called religious men, that it seems almost impossible to reform their political condition. Most men are afraid to think of, much less vindicate their natural rights; hence we may fairly conclude that most men in despotic governments do not think for themselves, and are, therefore, under the influence of the prejudice of education, and not opinion; and we cannot wonder at it, when we remember that the object of tyrannical governments-in order to stretch taxation to excess, and circumvent the mouth of labour-is to plunge nations into all the horrors of war, shackle the press, exhibit a great show of grandeur and pomp, encourage such songs and toasts as are likely to enslave the mind and suffocate reflection. From the government of Nimrod to that of Bonaparte or of Lamar, war, or rather robbery, has been their trade, plunder their object, and personal aggrandizement their pursuit. Hence the peace and tranquillity of millions of servile wretches have, from time immemorial, depended on the whim, the caprice, the pride, even the nod of one arbitrary man. Let any per

son view the history of ancient times, and say if it is not a continued scene of war and bloodshed, murder and devastation, human butchery and wickedness: surely, then, he must be either a rogue or a fool who will think or say that monarchy was ordained by Heaven; and, whoever he is, the Bible gives him the lie in form. Although some people will presume to assert from Scripture that monarchy was established by God himself, yet I can prove, by a few scriptural quotations, that their requiring a king was one of the most fatal sins the Jews ever committed, and was considered an infringement on the rights of God: Samuel, chap. xii. The curse of monarchy is cogently delineated in the resolute re.

monstrance of the prophet Samuel, and for a literal fulfilment of his prophecy we have only to take the most superficial glance at the histories of the Jewish kings. The very best of them, David the just, not only robbed one of his most faithful servants of his beautiful wife, but also, which was tenfold worse, bereaved him of his existence. Solomon the wise doomed 999 beautiful women to perpetual celibacy, whom he called his wives and concubines: we will not include the African, Pharaoh's daughter, his queen, among the number, as he was entitled to one wife by the laws of nature and common sense, and only one. Manassa the penitent caused the streets of Jerusalem to run down with innocent human blood. Ahab the wicked, in conjunction with his wicked wife Jezebel, robbed one of his subjects of his paternal inheritance and his life. Herod the cruel put a great many little children to death, merely to gratify his jealous and barbarous disposition. I could mention many more instances of the villany of the Jewish kings, and of the great injury they were to the Israelites.

When the true philanthropist views with his intellectual eyes the accumulated and complicated miseries of his fellow creatures throughout this wretched world, he sickens at the sight. Through the cruelty of ambitious politicians, and the craft of interested priests, man, who was made little lower than the angels, is reduced far below the level of the brute creation. Bad example, bad education, but, above all, bad government, is the radical cause of the miseries of man. If we for one moment cast our eyes to Europe, Asia, and Af. rica, we shall view exhibitions of human wretchedness which would make a midnight robber melt into tears.

Although nature is prolific, governments counteract her beneficence, and thus infringe the rights of the God of nature. For it is a lamentable fact, that in the most fertile countries thousands of human beings suffer and die for want, owing to the prohibition and penal sanctions of cruel governments. Fear is of course the predominant passion in despotic countries; pusillanimity supersedes independence, and man relinquishes his native dignity. And yet in the United States there are miscreants who participate the blessings of liberty, and yet calumniate the only free government the ravages of despotism have left in the whole world; and applaud and

even vindicate the cause of the traitors and tyrants of mankind-pardon the tautology, I cannot refrain from repeatedly exposing such base ingratitude and servility. Hence so much ignorance of man's natural rights, ignorance of the most destructive nature, is prevalent in this world. Hence millions of human beings are more senseless and servile than the beasts that perish. Ignorance and cruelty are seated upon superb thrones, while ignorance and misery are sunk into stinking dunghills. A bad government is not only an infringement on the rights of God, but is also the scourge of man, and the curse of the whole earth. Imagination cannot conceive nor language express its fatality. And it is the duty of every honest man, not corrupted by political apostacy, to warn his fellow citizens of the danger and deformity of despotism.

The ground evacuated by the friends of liberty, through lassitude and indifference, is instantly occupied by the vota. ries of despotism; and thus, by the lassitude of the one party and the assiduity of the other, the bloody flag of despotism too often surmounts the cap of liberty; and when once an aristocratical or monarchical party gets a firm footing in a country, they cannot be conquered but by the most dreadful struggles. The most resolute courage, unshaken patriotism, and unanimity of principle, can only make victory in such a case even possible. It is a thousand times easier to guard the avenues to the temple of liberty, than to expel the assail. ants when once they have taken possession of it.

In what light must those poor, proud, capricious animals (called kings or rulers) appear in the sight of God, who hire out their subjects to murder and be murdered in the worst of causes, and for the worst of paymasters, perfectly regard. less of the innocent blood that may be spilled, or lives lost? yet the middle ranks of people are taught to believe that it is sedition or rebellion against the powers that be ordained of God, to disapprobate the governments of such kings! They wish to hinder people even from thinking, but happily they have not that power; people will think, and they may think of government as well as other things, particularly as their lives and happiness depend upon it. But the insolence of aristocracy is not confined to the affairs of governments-it is also observable in the church, where one would think all

people should appear in a state of equality. I have seen the great man's pew in the church of England, raised far above the others, lined with crimson velvet, and furnished with curtains of silk and satin cushions. At the approach of the wealthy booby may be seen the votaries of aristocracy, who hear the sacred name of God mentioned with indifference, and bow with a cringing servility. Surely wealth, and not the blessed Redeemer, is the object such mortals adore. The reason is obvious: being blinded by the god of this world, they see pleasure only in the enjoyment of wealth; hence many who have not wealth in their own possession to worship, worship the wealth of those who look with contempt upon them-I mean the rich-the affluent. Little do they think that wealth too often is the source of pain instead of pleasure. Most assuredly pleasure was made for man, and man was made for pleasure, and this pleasure is only to be found in the practice of virtue.

How often has an expression of discontent at the usurpations of despotism (perhaps innocently spoken, when the tongue was loosened by wine) been the death-warrant of a man! How often have the cavalry been seen trampling the oppressed multitude under their feet, merely for the unpardonable crime of begging a redress of their grievances! How often have the poor been hung like dogs for stealing a few pence from the rich, while royal villains, right honourable robbers, and right reverend impostors were at the same time circumventing the mouth of labour and robbing the public of millions! Yet they pass on with impunity, solacing them. selves in extravagant plenty at the expense of honour, honesty, the tears of the orphan, and the groans of the oppress. ed. Hence man, who was made in the image of God, in most countries is as ignorant as the ass, and as servile as the spaniel dog; consequently they suffer one of their own species to yoke them like an ox, and drive them like a horse ac. customed to the harness, nor dare think, much less speak of liberty.

"But when the toil of each sad day is o'er,

They sink to sleep, and wish to wake no more."

What better than beasts of burden are Hessian mercenaries and Russian soldiers? Have they more rights, or as