This they ordered to be made public; and it was published accordingly in all the newspapers: the house then adjourned for no less than seven weeks, to give their constituents time to consider the matter, and themselves an opportunity of taking their opinion and advice. Could any thing be more deliberate, more fair and open, or more respectful to the people that chose them?—During this recess, the people, in many places, held little meetings with each other; the result of which was, that they would manifest their sentiments to their representatives, by petitioning the crown directly of themselves, and requesting the assembly to transmit and support those petitions. At the next meeting many of these petitions were delivered to the house with that request; they were signed by a very great[67] number of the most substantial inhabitants; and not the least intimation was received by the assembly from any other of their constituents, that the method was disapproved; except in a petition from an obscure town-ship in Lancaster county, to which there were about forty names indeed, but all evidently signed by three hands only. What could the assembly infer from the expressed willingness of a part, and silence of the rest; but that the measure was universally agreeable! They accordingly resumed the consideration of it; and though a small, very small opposition then appeared to it in the house; yet as even that was founded not on the impropriety of the thing; but on supposed unsuitableness of the time or the manner, and a majority of nine tenths being still for it; a petition was drawn agreeable to the former resolve, and ordered to be transmitted to his majesty.
But the preface tells us, that these petitioners for a change were a "number of rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate people," and generally of a low rank. To be sure they were not of the proprietary officers, dependents, or expectants; and those are chiefly the people of high rank among us; but they were otherwise generally men of the best estates in the province, and men of reputation. The assembly, who come from all parts of the country, and therefore may be supposed to know them, at least as well as the prefacer, have given that testimony of them. But what is the testimony of the assembly; who in his opinion are equally rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate with the petitioners? And if his judgment is right, how imprudently and contrary to their charter, have his three hundred thousand souls acted in their elections of assembly-men these twenty years past; for the charter requires them to choose men of most note for virtue, wisdom and ability!
But these are qualities engrossed, it seems, by the proprietary party. For they say, "the wiser and better part of the province had far different notions of this measure: they considered, that the moment they put their hands to these petitions they might be surrendering up their birthright." I felicitate them on the honour they have thus bestowed upon themselves; on the sincere compliments thus given and accepted; and on their having with such noble freedom discarded the snivelling pretence to modesty, couched in that threadbare form of words, "though we say it, that should not say it." But is it not surprising, that, during the seven weeks recess of the assembly, expressly to consult their constituents on the expediency of this measure, and during the fourteen days the house sat deliberating on it after they met again, these their wisdoms and betternesses should never be so kind as to communicate the least scrap of their prudence, their knowledge, or their consideration, to their rash, ignorant, and inconsiderate representatives? Wisdom in the mind is not like money in the purse, diminished by communication to others: they might have lighted up our farthing candles for us, without lessening the blaze of their own flambeaux. But they suffered our representatives to go on in the dark till the fatal deed was done; and the petition sent to the king, praying him to take the government of this province into his immediate care: whereby, if it succeeds, "our glorious plan of public liberty and charter of privileges is to be bartered away," and we are to be made slaves for ever! Cruel parsimony! to refuse the charity of a little understanding, when God had given you so much, and the assembly begged it as an alms! O that you had but for once remembered and observed the counsel of that wise poet Pope, where he says,
Be niggards of advice on no pretence;
For the worst avarice is that of sense.
In the constitution of our government, and in that of one more, there still remains a particular thing that none of the other American governments have; to wit, the appointment of a governor by the proprietors, instead of an appointment by the crown. This particular in government has been found inconvenient; attended with contentions and confusions wherever it existed; and has therefore been gradually taken away from colony after colony, and every where greatly to the satisfaction and happiness of the people. Our wise first proprietor and founder was fully sensible of this; and being desirous of leaving his people happy, and preventing the mischiefs that he foresaw must in time arise from that circumstance if it was continued, he determined to take it away, if possible, during his own lifetime. They accordingly entered into a contract for the sale of the proprietary right of government to the crown, and actually received a sum in part of the consideration. As he found himself likely to die before that contract (and with it, his plan for the happiness of his people) could be completed, he carefully made it a part of his last will and testament; devising the right of the government to two noble lords, in trust, that they should release it to the crown. Unfortunately for us, this has never yet been done. And this is merely what the assembly now desire to have done. Surely he that formed our constitution, must have understood it. If he had imagined, that all our privileges depended on the proprietary government; will any one suppose, that he would himself have meditated the change; that he would have taken such effectual measures, as he thought them, to bring it about speedily, whether he should live or die? Will any of those, who now extol him so highly, charge him at the same time with the baseness of endeavouring thus to defraud his people of all the liberties and privileges he had promised them, and by the most solemn charters and grants assured to them, when he engaged them to assist him in the settlement of his province? Surely none can be so inconsistent!—And yet this proprietary right of governing or appointing a governor has all of a sudden changed its nature; and the preservation of it become of so much importance to the welfare of the province, that the assembly's only petitioning to have their venerable founder's will executed, and the contract he entered into for the good of his people completed, is stiled, an "attempt to violate the constitution for which our fathers planted a wilderness; to barter away our glorious plan of public liberty and charter privileges; a risquing of the whole constitution; an offering up of our whole charter rights; a wanton sporting with things sacred, &c."
Pleasant surely it is to hear the proprietary partizans, of all men, bawling for the constitution, and affecting a terrible concern for our liberties and privileges. They, who have been these twenty years cursing our constitution, declaring that it was no constitution, or worse than none; and that things could never be well with us till it was new modelled, and made exactly conformable to the British constitution: they, who have treated our distinguishing privileges as so many illegalities and absurdities; who have solemnly declared in print, that though such privileges might be proper in the infancy of a colony to encourage its settlement, they became unfit for it in its grown state, and ought to be taken away: they, who by numberless falshoods, propagated with infinite industry in the mother country, attempted to procure an act of parliament for the actual depriving a very great part of the people of their privileges: they too, who have already deprived the whole people of some of their most important rights, and are daily endeavouring to deprive them of the rest: are these become patriots and advocates for our constitution? Wonderful change! astonishing conversion! Will the wolves then protect the sheep, if they can but persuade them to give up their dogs? Yes; the assembly would destroy all their own rights, and those of the people; and the proprietary partizans are become the champions for liberty! Let those who have faith now make use of it: for if it is rightly defined, the evidence of things not seen, certainly never was there more occasion for such evidence, the case being totally destitute of all other.
It has been long observed, that men are with that party, angels or demons, just as they happen to concur with or oppose their measures. And I mention it for the comfort of old sinners, that in politics, as well as in religion, repentance and amendment, though late, shall obtain forgiveness, and procure favour. Witness the late speaker, Mr. Norris; a steady and constant opposer of all the proprietary encroachments; and whom, for thirty years past, they have been therefore continually abusing, allowing him no one virtue or good quality whatsoever: but now, as he shewed some unwillingness to engage in this present application to the crown, he is become all at once the "faithful servant;"—but let me look at the text, to avoid mistakes—and indeed I was mistaken—I thought it had been "faithful servant of the public," but I find it is only "of the house." Well chosen that expression, and prudently guarded. The former, from a proprietary pen, would have been praise too much, only for disapproving the time of the application. Could you, much respected [Mr. Norris], go but a little farther, and disapprove the application itself? Could you but say, the proprietary government is a good one, and ought to be continued; then might all your political offences be done away, and your scarlet sins become as snow and wool; then might you end your course with (proprietary) honour. P—— should preach your funeral sermon, and S——, the poisoner of other characters, embalm your memory. But those honours you will never receive; for with returning health and strength you will be found in your old post, firm for your country.
There is encouragement too for young sinners. Mr. Dickenson, whose speech our prefacer has introduced to the world, (though long hated by some, and disregarded by the rest of the proprietary faction) is at once, for the same reason as in Mr. Norris's case, become a sage in the law, and an oracle in matters relating to our constitution. I shall not endeavour to pluck so much as a leaf from these the young gentleman's laurels. I would only advise him carefully to preserve the panegyrics with which they have adorned him: in time they may serve to console him, by balancing the calumny they shall load him with, when he does not go through with them in all their measures: he will not probably do the one, and they will then assuredly do the other. There are mouths that can blow hot as well as cold, and blast on your brows the bays their hands have placed there. "Experto crede Roberto." Let but the moon of proprietary favour withdraw its shine for a moment, and that "great number of the principal gentlemen of Philadelphia," who applied to you for the copy of your speech, shall immediately despise and desert you.
"Those principal gentlemen!" What a pity it is that their names were not given us in the preface, together with their admirable letter! We should then have known, where to run for advice on all occasions. We should have known, who to choose for our future representatives: for undoubtedly these were they that are elsewhere called "the wiser and better part of the province." None but their wisdoms could have known before-hand, that a speech which they never heard, and a copy of which they had never seen, but were then requesting to see, was "a spirited defence," and "of our charter privileges," and that "the publication of it would be of great utility, and give general satisfaction." No inferior sagacity could discover, that the appointment of a governor by the proprietor was one of our "charter privileges," and that those who opposed the application for a royal government were therefore patriot members, appearing on the side of our privileges and our charter!