Tht RIGHT CONSTITUTION of a COMMON- W EALTH 'EXAMINED. {Continued from our /<?//.] Camillus, to spare himfelf reproach and envy, Dictator as he was, wrote to the senate, " that by the favor oi the Gods, his own exertions, and the patience of the soldiers, Veii would loon be in his hands, and therefore he desired their di rections what to do with the spoils." The senate were of two opinions: Licinius was forgiving notice to all the citizens that they might go anil (hare in the plunder ; Appius Claudius would have it all brought into the public treasury, or appropriated to the payment of the soldiers, which would ease the people of taxes. Licinius replied, that if the money should be brought to the treasury, it would be the cause of eternal complaints, murmurs, and seditions. The latter advice prevailed, and the plunder was indifirimi nate, for the city of Veii, after a ten years siege, in wliich many commanders had been employed, i\as at last taken by Camillus by stratagem ; and the opulence of it appeared lb great, that the dictator was terrified at his own good fortune, and that of his country. He prayed the gods, if it mufl: be qualified with any disgrace, that it might tall upon him, not the commonwealth. This pie ty and patriotifm,'however,did not always govern Camillus : His triumph betrayed an extravagance of "canity more than bordering on profanenefs ; he_ had the arrogance and presumption to liarnefs four white horses in his chariot, a colour peculiar to Jupiter and the Sun, an ambitibn more than Roman, more than human. Here the people were very angry w:th Camillus for having too little reverence for religion : The next moment they were still more incensed against hiin for hav ing too much, for he reminded them of a vow he had made to consecrate a tenth part of the spoils to Apollo. The people, in short, did not love Camillus ; and the senate adored him be caule he opposed the multitude on all occasions, without any relerve, and appeared the most ar dent and aftjve in refilling their caprices. It wasealier to conquer enemies than to please citi zens*- This mighty aristocratic grew so unpopu tT' t^lat ° ne - t * le tr^unes accused him before the people oi applying part of the spoils of Veii V > .' 1 l?. own u^"e > a,; d finding, upon cohfulting , ""iends, that he had no chance of acquittal, lie went into voluntary banishment at Ardea : but he prayed to the gods to make his ungrate ful country regret his absence. He was tried in his absence, and condemned in a fine.—Had Nedham s constitution existed at Rome, would Camillus have iakenVeii, or been made dictator, or employed at all ? Certainly not. Characters much more plausible would have run him down,or have obliged him to imitate all their indulgencies. In all rhefe examples of Cincinnatus, Curius, r abius, and Camillus, &c. our author quotes exam ples of virtues which grew up onlyin a few arifto cratical families, were cultivated by the emula tion between the two orders in the State, and by tneir struggles to check and balance each other, to prove the excellence of a Hate where there is but one order, no emulation and no balance. This is like the condudl of a poet, who should enume rate the cheerful rays and refulgent glories of the iun in a description of the beauties of midnight. Whether succession is, or is not, the grand pre servative again!): corruption, the United SLates of America have adopted this author's idea in this Reason, so far as to make the governor and ienate, as well as the house of representatives, annually elective. They have therefore a clear aim bis congratulations. They are that liap py nation : 1 hey ought to rejoice in the wisdom and justice of their trustees ; far certain limits and bounds are fixed to the powers in beinjx, by adeclaredfucceJhon of thefupreme authority an nually in the hands of the people. It is still, however, problematical, whether this Aiccelnon will be the grand preservative a gainlt corruption, or the grand inlet to it. The elections of governors andfenators are so guarded that there is room to hope ; but, if we recolletfL t, e experience of past ages and other nations, there are grounds to fear. The experiment is made, ar.d will have fair play. If corruption breaks in, a remedy must be provided; and what that remedy must be is well enough known to every man who thinks. Our authors examples are taken from the Ro mans, after the abolition of monarchy, while the government was an aristocracy, in the hands of a senate, balanced only by the tribunes. It is most certainly true, that a (landing authority in the hands of one, the few, or the many, has an im petuous propensity to corruption ; ' and it is to controul this tendency that three orders equal and inuependent of each other, are contended for in the legislature. While power was in the hands of a senate, according to our author, the people were even in danger of losing their liberty. It would be nearer the truth to fay, that the peo * Exccllentibus ingeniis citing defuerit ars qus civem recant <{uani qua hoftem fuperent. Liv. ii. 43. ' » pie had ho liberty,or a very imperfed: and uncer tain liberty ; none at all before the inttitution of the tribunes, and but an imperfect lhare after wards ; becaufethe tribunes were an unequal bal ance to the fenate,and lb on the other fide were the consuls. " Sometimes in danger from kingly afpirers." But whose fault was that ? The senate had a futlicient abhorrence of fach conspiracies : It was the people who encouraged the ambition of particular peifons to aspire, and who became their partizans. Melius would have been made a King by the people, if they had not been check ed by the senate ; and so would Manlins : To be convinced of tliis, it isneceflary only to recollect the ttory.—Spurius Melius, a rich citizen of the Equettrian order, in the year before Clirilt 437, and of Rome the 31 jth, a time offcarcity and fa mine, aspired to the consulship. He bought a large quantity of corn in Etruria, and distribu ted It among the people. Becoming by his libe rality the darling of the populace, they attend ed his train, wherever he went, and promiled him the cons ulfhip. Sensible, however, that the lenators, with the wliole yuintian family at their head, would oppose him, he mult use force ; and as ambition is insatiable, and cannot be con tented with what is attainable, he conceived that to obtain the sovereignty would cost him no more trouble than the consulship. The election came on, and as he had not concerted all his measures, 1 • Quintius Capitolinus and Agrippa Menonius Lanatus were cholen by the influence of the se nate. L. Minutious was continued prasfetftus an nona?, or superintendent of provisions : His of fice obliged him to do in public the fame that Melius affe<fled to do in private ; so that the fame land of people frequented the houl'es of both, f - rom them he learned the tranfa<ftions at Melius's and informed the senate, that arms were carried J.ito his houle, where he held aflemblies, made harrangues, and was taking nieafure to make himfelf King ; and that the tribunes, corrupted by money, had divided among them the mea i 111 es neccilary to secure the fuocefs of the enter- P n ?tl .Quintals Capitolinus proposed a dictator, and Oumtius Cincinnatus (for the Quintian f a ! mily were omnipotent) was appointed. The earnest entreaties and warm remonstrances of the whole senate prevailed on him to accept the tiutt, after having long refuled it, not from any reluctance to public fercice, but on account of his great age, which made him believe himfelf incapable of it. Imploring the gods not to fuf fer his age to be a detriment to the public, he consented to be nominated, and immediately ap gointed Ahala matter of the horse, appeared Suddenly in the forum with his lienors, rods, and axes ascended the tribunal with all the ensigns of the sovereign authority, and sent his matter of horse tbfumnum Melius before liiin. Melius endeavoured in his firft surprize to escape : A Mcl,us complained that he was tobefacrificed to the intrigues of the senate for the good he had done the people. The peo ple grew tumultuous : his partisans encouraged each other, and tooxliini by force from the lie tor. Melius threw himfelf into the crowd : Ser fworH T h im, run him through with his lwoid, and returned, covered with his blood, to r* an ,, a rT t0 , the di<ftaCor of wl «t he had You ha^ e d " ne wel V laid Cincinnatus ; continue to defend your country with the fame courage as you have now delivered it—Madte vir tute etto liberata republica.'- he P eo P le being in great commotion,the ditfa- Iv ki!], V m 1/ and P ronou " ces Melius jutt y lied. With all our admiration for the 1110 v" " ,odeft y» the simplicity and subli mity of h ls character, it mutt be confeflfcd that J'" 6 " ln the harrangue of Cincinnatus more of the anttocratical jealousy of Kings and oligarchies and even more of contempt of the Of a foul devoted to equal liberty, or pofleflbd of underftandingto comprehend it : It is the speech of a simple arittpcratic, pofltfled of a great foul ir,? "PT m Whlch ' such was arittocratical jealouly of monarchy and oligarchy, Brutus had pumfhedhis son ; Collatinus Tarquinius, in mere hatred of his name, had been obliged to S cate the confuifhip and banish himfelf; Spurius Caffius had been put to death for intending to be King ; and the decemvirs had been punished with coimfcation, exile, and death,for their oligarchy In such a city of ariftocratics Melius had etneeiv r:! J'r-° Pe ° f beU 'S a , Kin S- "Kt quis homo ?" ays Cincinnatus ; and who was Melius ? *' quan ;; quam nullam nobilitatem,nnllos honoresSa merita cuiquam ad dominationem pandere fed tamen Clandios, Caffios, confulati " bus' ftlend Vlra f -I- AliS lna j° rU!,l que honori bus fplendore famiharum inftnlifTb animos quo nefas fuerit*." Melius, therefore, was not' ;; anceltoro, and the lplendor o( their famifie./'—ls their J maiden aunt Eleanor, of fevnty years of age, in any family "hr brain is more replete with the haughty ideas of blood [h 3 of the magnanimous Cincinnatus appears P R ~c d in , vaft contempt I The equcftrian order is no honn nobility; that too is held in sovereign disdain ' Beneficed °°J charity, „. a most cxaltcd a traitor but a monster; his cllate nn.ft be con "'' cated, his lioufe pulled down, and theip ot V"" ed yLcjuiiiielium, as a monument of the cr'" '* and the punifhment,(Liv.lib.iv. c . 13,14, K ,T\ and his corn distributed to the populdce cheap in order them. This whole !},' ry u a demonlh ation of the oppreilion of th 6 people under the ariftocraty , of the extreme jealousy ot that ardtocracy of Kings, of an oli garchy, and , of popular power; of the constant lecrct NviL.es of the people to I'd up a Kin- tj defend them againlt the nobles, aid of thei readinefs to fall in with the views of any rich man whoflatteredthsm, and set him up as a monarch hut it is a.ii.<rrt unfortunate ililtance for Ned'.iaji) It was not the people who defended the renub' he agamft the designs of Melius, but thefenate defended it against both Melius and the people' Had Rome been then goverened by « IVjarcha mont Nedham 's right Constitution of a Common wealth, Melius would infallibly "have b*e~i made a King, and have transmitted his crown to his heirs. Ihe necelfity of an independent fe nate,as a check upon the people, is molt apparent m this mftance. if the people had been un checked, or it they had only had the right of choofingan house ot representatives unchecked, they would in either cafe have crowned Melius. ariftocratet were griping the people 'to death by the mod crurl revenues, aid the Bioftford.d and ava.icious ufurv, was no ™ fIL fT consulships, decetnviratej, honors, ar ,d the n d :,° flml !' h " h " profound adm.ration Ind such ' »h y C !' C ! m /" CC ot th,s "ppears in this fpecch, and was the rcal of the man : And whoever celebrate or commemorates Ctncmnitus as a patron of libertv not Jus character, or underAands not t|e nature " (To*be continued.) An ESSAY on FREE TRADE and FINANCES^ particularly jhcluing what supplies of public reve nue may be drawn from Merchandise, without in jurmg our trade or burdening our people, [by a Citizen of Philadelphia in, 1783.] (Continuedfrom No. XV.) VII When any country finds that any arti cles are growing into use, and their confumptio, liicreahng io far as to become hurtful to the pros perity of the people, or to corrupt their moral* or (Economy, tis the interest a,id good policy of fuck country 16 check and diminijh the use and ionfvLtb on 0} such articles, down to fucli degrees as lliall conlift with the greatest happi'iefs and puritv of their people. 1 J VIII. This is done the most effectually and un exceptionably, by taxingfuch articles, and thereby raijing them Jo high, as shall be neceflary to reduce their confumpDon, as far as is needful for the ge neral good. The force of this observation has been felt by all nations, and sumptuary laws have been tried in all shapes, to prevent or reduce fuchhurt confumptions; but none can doit lb effectually as raising the price ofthem : This touches the feelings ot every purchaser, and connects the use of fucli articles with the pain of the purchaser, who can not ailord them, so closely and so constantly, as , t0 °P erate h y way of diminution or If ofTuchconfumption; and as tofuch richcr pt o ,ga people, as can or will go to the price of such articles they are the very persons which I t 111 v 1 te most able and suitable to pay taxes to the State. I think it would not be difficult to enumerate a great number of such articles of lux ury, pride, or mere ornament, which are grow ing into such exceflive use among us, as to become angerous to the wealth, economy, morals, and health of our people, viz. diftillcd spirits of all orts, tlpeoally whilkey and country rum; all imported wines ; silks of all forts, cambricks, aw n, laces, &c. See. fuperfine cloaths and velvets; jc At , or all kinds, &c. to which micrht be added a very large catalogue of articles, thoueh notfo capita y t angerous as these, yet such as would admit a check in their consumption, without any amage tot he States, such as sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, me mens ; all cloaths and fluffs generally used >y the richer class of people, &c. all which may be judiciously taxed at ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred per cent, on their firft importation ; and to these might be added, afmall duty of perhaps live per cent.on all other importedgoods whatever. 1 wo things are here to be confidefed and pro vt ' * * . at this mode of taxation would be more beneficial to the community,than any other! ,2 . i hat this mode is practicable, if these two things are fairly and clearly proved, I think t leie can be no room left for doubt, whether tnis kind of taxation ought to be immediately adopted, and put in practice. I will offermy reafdnsin favor of tl r '";'opo* litions as fully, clearly, andtrul- hope they may be judged wort> , £ ecl yorw. attention. I will endeavor in tt. n ° r ' n point out the benefits arising fro* 8 arifi »g fro: taxatlon - (To be continue 7° be p ub]^ e r b 77oTr f n^N^ = °> No 'lrear thc Ufr'go-Marktt, Nsw-Yor" York '"
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