[PDF]The case of the opposition impartially stated

THE CASE OF THE


OPPOSITION


fiflQQPtOQpe^QpB


The

Robert E. Gross
Collection

A Memorial to the Founder
of the

&LccA//< <u)o/'Aomitt< m


'f Business Administration Library 1,

f/>t(i:< rit/y 1/ (;
Los Angeles


THE

CASE

OF THE

OPPOSITION.


OMIMiaMkMl


THE


CASE


OF THE


OPPOSITION

Impartially Stated.


He that has Ears to hear, let Him bear!


By a Gentleman of the Inner -Temple.


LONDON:

Printed for J. ROBERTS, at the Oxford-
Arms in JVarwick-Lane.

(Price One Shilling.)


THE


CASE


O F T H E

OPPOSITION.

HERE is a fingle Point in which all
Parties, how much foever they differ a-
bout other Things, unanimoufly agreej
and it is this, that nothing can be of
more dangerous Consequence at this
critical Juncture, to this Nation, than the continuing
of our Divifions. Indeed there requires no great
Penetration to difcern this, fmce every body knows
and confefies, that our Debts, our Taxes, and in
reality every other Evil, the Weight of which we
feel, and of the Burthen of which we complain, have
been all brought upon us by our Divifions. Ic can-
not therefore but be an acceptable Thing to ftate
the Cafe truly, and to fliew the Grounds of our pre-
fent Divifions, that every honeft Man may know
which Side to chufe, and by going over to that Side,
preponderate the Scale of Jultice and Equity, fince
B what


[■■»']

a J Aw in Athens, will remain a
true political Maxim amongfu every free People ■>
that in Debates which regard the Conltitution, every
Man ought to take cither the one Side or the other.
In Matters of fmall Moment, we may be indiffer-
ent -,but here, where both Parties confefs our ALL
is at Stake, we are bound to make our Choice. To
be L in the Caufe of our Country, is to be

cgainjl it.

It is now fomewhat more than twenty Years,
that a certain Party hath iubfifted amongft us, un-
der the Title of the Oppqfition ; they have at certain
Times been compofed of very different People, and
confequently have been confidered in different
Lights; but the proper Characteriftic of the Party,
and that from which it derives it's Name, is the
Oppofmg of Po^er, or endeavouring to circumfcribe
in Parliament the Grants of Money and Extention
of Authority, which have from Time to Time
been demanded by feveral Adminiftrations. Now,
if this Scheme of Oppofition has been right with
Regard to the Intereft of the Nation, that is to lay,
if the People of Great-Britain would have been
Gainers, by putting in Practice what the Perfons
from Time to Time concerned in this Oppofition
propos'd, then, without Queftion, the Defign of
the Oppofition is right upon the whole, though at
particular Times, and by particular Perfons, it
might be profecuted on rJcrong Motives.

It is neceffary to make this Diftinction between
the Scheme fupported by the Party, who have form-
ed the Oppofition for fo many Years, and the pri-
vate Views of particular Perfons, who have at cer-
tain Times engaged therein, becaufe the common

Topick


Topick of Reproach into which the Writers on
the Side of Power unanimoufly run, is this ; that
Men have often contradicted themfelves, and not-
withiiatnling the Language they have made Ule of
when out, have avowed quite oppofite Doctrines
when in. Nov/ the plain meaning of this, is no
more than tfaat particular Pcrfbns have had great
Failings, and have in different Situations,, contend-
ed with equal Vehemence for different 'Things. That
this may, and ought to affect them I do not deny ;
but certainly their Behaviour could no way affect
Things themfelves. If the Demands of the Ad-
min iteration for fo many Years pafi, were juft and
reafonable, then all Oppofition was v.njiift and m~
reafonable from whatever Quarter it came ; and on
the other Hand, if the proposing a ftrict Examina-
tion into publick Affairs, a narrow Inflection of all
the Pretences on which either Money or Power
were demanded by Men at the Helm, was with
refpect to the Intereft of this Nation fit and right,
then the Oppofition was always a good Thing, though
poflibly all who were concerned in it might not be
good Men.

Such as have endeavoured to {tt the Conduct of
thofe in the Oppofition conftantly in a bad Light,
have found themfelves under a Neceflity of mifre-
prefenting the Thing, and therefore the firft Step
to be taken in order to give fuch as are impartial
a juft infight into this Matter, is to render thefe
Mifreprefentations manifeft, which is the Defign of
this Paper. Oppofition in the Stile of fome People,
is a Term Synonimous with DifaffeSlion, and great
Pains has been taken to make the World believe,
that none ever oppofe a. Government, who wijh well
B 2 to


[4]

to it. But this is certainly begging the Queftion,
and by proving too much, proves nothing. If we
confider the Reafon of the Thing, and take for
our Guide a Maxim in which all Parties at prefent
agree, viz. That the End of Government is the
Good of the Subject, then it will appear very poflible
for fuch as mean the Government well, to oppofe
fuch as are in the Adminijlration of it, unlefs it can
bz fliewn, that Men vefted with Power, have never
aimed at violating their Trufl, or that according to
the Principles of our Conftitution, fuch as have the
executive Part of the Government in their Hands*
are the only fit Judges how they ought to ufe it. But
as thefe are Notions abfolutely repugnant to Liberty
and Common S.nfe, lo they have been long ago
exploded ; and therefore as I laid before, all Cir-
cumftances taken in, it muft be allowed that Oppo-
fition is not malum in fe, or a direct and conclufive
Proof of Difojftftion, but quite the contrary.

Experience has verified this in all Reigns, and
if we go no higher than the Reftauration, it will
be no hard Task to prove, that the beji Friends of
every Government, have at certain Times found
themfelves under a N.cefTky of oppofing it. Every
Body knows that the Cavaliers in the Reign of
King Charles II. were againft the Earl of Claren-
don1* Adminiflration, and yet nobody ever imagin-
ed that they were Enemies to that King, or that
they intended by their Conduct in this Point, any
Prejudice, either to his Majefty's Perfon or Govern-
ment. The Earl of Clarendon was certainly a very
great, and a very deferving Man ; but he was like-
wife a very over-bearing, and a very opiniative
JMinifter, I do not pretend to enter into the

Merits


[5]

Merits of that Oppofition ; it might be right m
fome Refpects, and wrong in others : I mention it
only to prove, that the beft Friends to a Prince
may think themfelves obliged even by their being
io, to oppole his Minifters. The Cavaliers in the
fame Reign, acted the fame Part with refpect to
another Miniflry, ftiled the Cabal, and from the
very fame Motives. In the fucceeding Reign, fuch
as wifhed the King well, and fuffer'd afterwards for
their Affeclion to him, oppos d his Meafures with
the greateft Firmnefs, and never thought themfelves,
nor have been thought by Pofterity the worfe Sub-
jects, but the better upon that Account. They fore-
faw that the Steps the King and his Minifters were
taking, would prove fatal to the Nation and to him9
and therefore they did all that lay in their Power
to prevent their taking Effecl -, but they did this
in a legal Way, either by an Oppofition in Parlia-
ment^ or by dutifully expreffing their Sentiments in
Petitions to his Majefty, when no Parliament was
fubfiiting •■> and though they were blam'd and perfe-
cted for this, at the Time they did it, yet their
Conducl was juftined by the Event.

After the Revolution, when the Nation was ef-
fectually cured of fome political Prejudices, equally
dangerous to Prince and People, there frequently
appeared a Spirit of the fame Kind among the beft
Friends to the Government, as it was then eftablifh-
ed. They remember'd what Meafures were thought
oppreflive and unjuft in former Reigns, and they op-
pofed them in this. Mr. Trencbard, who wrote the
Hiftory of ' ftanding Armies, was undoubtedly as true a
Friend to the Revolution, and as defirous of fupport-r
ing King William^ Government, as any Man in the

Nation


Nation, and yet he thought himfelf at Liberty to
crols as 'far as lay in his Power, the Defigns of
fome of that King's Minijrers, and to exprefs as
great a Concern for what he took to be the true
*ft of his Country, as if the Revolution, in
•which he heartily coiicurr'd, had never happen'd.
It mufi: be confefied, and great Advantages have
been taken from it, that there were at that Time
Abundance of People who joined in oppofing the
Government, becaufe they were difaffefted to it j but
this had Dcfign of theirs could not operate on fuch
M.afures as were right in themfelves ; but they re-
main'd ftill right, though thefe People maintained
them to be fo from wrong Motives. Without
Queftion, the oppofing ftanding Armies % Increafe of
publick Debts, and making fecret and fufpicions Trea-
ties with foreign Powers, were Acts very laudable
in themfelves, and not at all the lefs fo becaufe ill
Men concurred in them. We live at fuch a Dif-
tance of Time as enables us to fee that in thefe
Points they thought juftly and reafon'd right. The
Things they attempted to prevent, have had very
fatal Confequences, and therefore it had been happy
for the Nation if they had been prevented. To
fay that all who were embark'd in this Oppofition
were Patriots, would be certainly fajfe ; but then
it would be asfalfe to affert, that none were engaged
in that Oppofition but Jacobites. There will be
honeft Men and bad Men, fincere and infincere, of
all Parties; but the true Way to judge of the Merit
of any Party, is to confider its Principles.

In Queen ANNE's Time, there were feveral Op-
portions, and thefe carried on with great Heat and
Pafiion ; and yet fuch as were concerned in them,

infifted


C 7 3

infifted, and many of them I believe with JuRice,
that none wiped better to the Qjeen and her Govern-
ment, than they did. In fhort, if we fhould pre-
tend to take it for granted, that all fuch as have
oppofed the Administration were at leaft concealed
Enemies to the Government under which they lived,
we rauft run into a very grofs Miilake, fmce none
mewed greater Fidelity to the Crown at that Time,
than fuch as acted againft its Minifters. To fum up
all, as no fet of Men amongft us have Scrupled to
oppofe at fome time or other the Administrations
under which they lived-, this is a convincing Argu-
ment, that all Parties have thought it lawful,
and expedient, no way derogatory to their Duty, no
fort of Blemifh to their Loyalty, and therefore we
ought in this Refpecl, to prefer their concurring
Testimonies to the warm Declamations of prejudie'd
Perfons, who would have us believe, that Spite
appears in no Drefs, more commonly than in
that of publick Spirit. If therefore we tnuft con-
demn all Parties , if we condemn Oppofilion in
general, it is better to acquit all, and to confefs that
Oppofition, as well as Attachment, is govern'd by
Circumstances, and that as it is not impoSTible Men
may betray a Government they ferve, Co on the
other Hand, it is not improbable that Zeal for the
publick Service may induce Men to oppofe the Mea-
sures of fuch as are intruded with the Management
of publick Affairs.

From what has been laid, it clearly and evi-
dently appears, that there can be nothing more
groundiefs than thofe Infmuations which we fo fre-
quently hear thrown out, as if Oppofition could pro-
ceed from nothing elfe but a Diflike to the Prime

upon


en

upon the Throne: whereas, generally fpeaking, it
may with much greater Propriety be referred to a
high Concern for bis Safety. Befides, according to
our Conftitution, and as we ought always to be con-
fider'd, as a free People, Regard to the Nation, is
Loyalty to the King ; for fuch as pretend to make
any Difference between his Intereits, and thofe of
his Subjects, may be his Minions, but can never
poffibly be his Friends. Such Perfons for their own
Intereft may mi/lead him; but it does by no means
follow, that becauie they deceive him, it becomes
the Part of every good Suljctl to (hut his Eyes •, it
having been long ago determined here, that Kings
are to be confider'd in their political Capacity, in
which as the Law fuppofes they do no wrong ; fo it
mull be underftood, not to lay the- People under
any Neceffity of fuffering Wrong. Thefe are Maxims
that may be gathered from the unrepeatable Parts of
our Conftitution, fuch as the Bill of Rights, and
therefore in adhering to thefe it cannot, it ought not
to be furmifed, that Men depart from their Duty,
fince that would imply a Distinction between Loyalty,
and the Love of one's Country, which can never hap-
pen under a limited Monarchy. The plain Meaning
of the Term, being this, that the Power of the
Sovereign is retrained by thofe Laws which have
been thought necefTary for the common Benefit of his
People,

If we carry thefe Speculations a little farther,
we fhall foon meet with inconteftable Proofs of
their being jus! and right. The Happinefs of a
Prince can confiit in only thefe two Points, being
eafy at Home, and refpctlcd Abroad. Now nothing
can be clearer than that an impoveri(h*d, corrupted

and


and vicious People muft render their Monarch m\~
eafy, becaufe they can neither fupport his Dignity in
a proper Manner, nor can he rely upon their Fi-
delity ; and as plain it is, that a King in fuch Cir-
cumftance at Home, can never be confidered as a
ufeful Ally, or a formidable Enemy by his Neighbours.
Whatever therefore contributes to the reducing any
Nation into fuch a Condition, muft contribute at
the fame time to the Weakening the Authority of the
Prince. Forms and Appearances may poffibly be
preferved for a little while ; but Time and Acci-
dents will inevitably betray the true State of Things
at Jail, and therefore the oppojing fuch Meafures as
have a Tendency to exhaufting the Wealth, break-
ing the Spirits, or corrupting the Manners of a
whole Nation, is doing the highefi Service to the
Sovereign -, however, he or his Minijlers may con-
ceive it, and fuch as purfue this Track, will fooner
or later be known for his beji and trueji Friend, how-
ever they may be belied or mifreprefented by Court-
>>>