ters, and, whenever the occasion requires it, to warn them
against any abuse of the authorities committed to them; but it is very
lately,[59] that, in a manner not more unseemly than irregular and
preposterous, ministers have thought proper, by admonition from the
throne, implying distrust and reproach, to convey the expectations of
the people to us, their sole representatives,[60] and have presumed to
caution us, the natural guardians of the Constitution, against any
infringement of it on our parts.

This dangerous innovation we, his faithful Commons, think it our duty to
mark; and as these admonitions from the throne, by their frequent
repetition, seem intended to lead gradually to the establishment of an
usage, we hold ourselves bound thus solemnly to protest against them.

This House will be, as it ever ought to be, anxiously attentive to the
inclinations and interests of its constituents; nor do we desire to
straiten any of the avenues to the throne, or to either House of
Parliament. But the ancient order in which the rights of the people have
been exercised is not a restriction of these rights. It is a method
providently framed in favor of those privileges which it preserves and
enforces, by keeping in that course which has been found the most
effectual for answering their ends. His Majesty may receive the opinions
and wishes of individuals under their signatures, and of bodies
corporate under their seals, as expressing their own particular sense;
and he may grant such redress as the legal powers of the crown enable
the crown to afford. This, and the other House of Parliament, may also
receive the wishes of such corporations and individuals by petition. The
collective sense of his people his Majesty is to receive from his
Commons in Parliament assembled. It would destroy the whole spirit of
the Constitution, if his Commons were to receive that sense from the
ministers of the crown, or to admit them to be a proper or a regular
channel for conveying it.

That the ministers in the said speech declare, "His Majesty has a just
and confident reliance that we (his faithful Commons) are animated with
the same sentiments of loyalty, and the same attachment to our excellent
Constitution which he had the happiness to see so fully manifested in
every part of the kingdom."

To represent, that his faithful Commons have never foiled in loyalty to
his Majesty. It is new to them to be reminded of it. It is unnecessary
and invi