at he had formed no system for enslaving his
people is, that the chief object of his government has been to raise
a naval, not a military force; a project useful, honorable, nay,
indispensably requisite, and, in spite of his great necessities, brought
almost to a happy conclusion. It is now full time to free him from all
these necessities, and to apply cordials and lenitives, after those
severities which have already had their full course against him. Never
was sovereign blessed with more moderation of temper, with more justice,
more humanity, more honor, or a more gentle disposition. What pity that
such a prince should so long have been harassed with rigors, suspicions,
calumnies, complaints, encroachments; and been forced from that path,
in which the rectitude of his principles would have inclined him to have
constantly trod! If some few instances are found of violations made on
the petition of right, which he himself had granted, there is an easier
and more natural way for preventing the return of like inconveniencies,
than by a total abolition of royal authority. Let the revenue be
settled, suitably to the ancient dignity and splendor of the crown; let
the public necessities be fully supplied; let the remaining articles of
prerogative be left untouched; and the king, as he has already lost the
power, will lay aside the will, of invading the constitution. From what
quarter can jealousies now arise? What further security can be desired
or expected? The king's preceding concessions, so far from being
insufficient for public security, have rather erred on the other
extreme; and, by depriving him of all power of self-defence, are the
real cause why the commons are emboldened to raise pretensions hitherto
unheard of in the kingdom, and to subvert the whole system of the
constitution. But would they be content with moderate advantages, is
it not evident that, besides other important concessions, the present
parliament may be continued, till the government be accustomed to the
new track, and every part be restored to full harmony and concord? By
the triennial act, a perpetual succession of parliaments is established,
as everlasting guardians to the laws, while the king possesses no
independent power or military force by which he can be supported in his
invasion of them. No danger remains but what is inseparable from all
free constitutions, and what forms the very essence of their freedom;
the danger of a change in the people'