He, that confiders IRELAND in any other Relation to GREAT-BRITAIN, is a Stranger, if not an Enemy, to the Conftitutions of both; muft be void of Benevolence and public Spirit, and, in mine humble Judgement, unworthy of the Name of a BRITON. But, private Intereft and public Concerns conspire to make IRELAND dear to the City of LONDON. Let me onely recommend it to your Reflection, whether your Eftate in Ulfter will be more fecure and valuable to You, when that Kingdom is under the juft DOMINION of LAWS, or when it is fubjected to the unjust arbitrary Rule of lawless Men; and then fee whether You be bound or not, by every moral and political Confideration, to intereft yourselves in the Peace, Liberty and Profperity of that poor, unhappy Kingdom, and it's reduced Capital.A Word is enough to the Wife.

I need not, therefore, take up your Time with arguing this Point. Nor fhould I have troubled You or myself upr on this Occafion, were I not fully perfuaded, that You retain fo high, fo juft a Notion of Civil Society, that You can not look upon yourselves to be fecure, when any Body. Corporate within thefe CONFEDERATE KINGDOMS, of the, Hike Conftitutions with Yours, is affailed by, and much lefs, when it has fallen under, the Weight of illicit Power.

WELL-CONSTITUTED Cities, being the beft Form of Civil Society, have ever been found the moft firm and fecure Bulwarks of POPULAR GOVERNMENTS. Free and powerful Cities may be looked upon as the greatest Bleffings of a WELL-CONSTITUTED STATE, and have therefore, ever been encouraged and supported by every PATRIOT PRINCE, and every wife and virtuous Subject.

1 On the other Hand, no Nation was ever known to preferve her Freedom long after the chief City was difpoffeffed of her Privileges, or confiderably ftreightened in her Estate. Hence, wherever any evil difpofed Prince fought the Subverfion of the Liberties of his People, his utmost Force was levelled at the greatest and freeft City; well knowing, that, when the capital City is once fubdued, other smaller Bodies Corporate must foon fall of Course, and scattered individual Members muft neceffarily fhare the fame Fate.

It is unneceffary to recite the Hiftories of foregne Nations, ancient or modern, to illuftrate the Truth of these Pofitions; our own Annals afford as many evident Proofs of fuch wicked Attempts being made, under every evil Adminiftration, upon the Rights and Liberties, nay, upon the very. ING, of the City of LONDON.

BE

Though

Though I cannot fuppofe a fingle fenfible Citizen among You, ignorant of the many nefarious Efforts made to impoverish and to inflave the City, give me Leave, in order to obviate Mifapprehenfion, to remind You, of the intollerable, Lawless Amercements or Exactions, by way of Benevolence, Loans or Ship-money, equal to any Ranfam, a Conqueror could impofe; of the arbitrary Imprisonments, cruel and illegal Whippings and Pillerings of your Members; of the Proclamations probibiting all the Nobility, Bishops, Clergy and Gentry, who were not of the Privy-Council, to refide in the City, and forbiding all Trade and Intercourse with the City; then, of the most infolent and contemptuous Treatment given the Sherifs, and the whole City in them, and the most unjust Perfecution and Im prifenment of many brave Officers, eminent Magiftrates and good Citizens, for none other Crime, than the most faithful and Loyal Difcharge of their respective Duties; of the influencing, directing or obftructing the Elections of the Officers and MagiAtrates of the City; of the procuring a Judgement, upon a Writ of Que Warranto, for the Forfeiture of the Charter and· Franchifes of the City, by the most fraudelent and illicit Meafures, and upon the most falfe and frivolous Pretenfions; of the propofing the most base and flavish Terms, as the fole Means of obviating the Execution of this unlawful and wicked Judgement; yet, executing that very Judgement, and feifing the City into the Hands of the Crown, after having extorted the propofed Submiffion from the broken Body Corporate; then, of the appointing Lord Mayors, Sherifs and Recorders of the City, by royal Commiffion, at, and during, the King's Pleafure; of the degrading and appointing Aldermen and Juftices for the City, at Pleafure; of the unlawful and cruel Condemnation, and the inbuman and merciless Execution, of a brave and worthy Alderman, in the principal Street of the City; to which let me add the general Outrages committed in those infernal Tribunals, the Star-Chamber and High-Commiffion Courts, and even in the Courts of Law, then Strangers to Justice and Mercy, and the worft Enemies, inftead of the Protectors of the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, whileft their Judges were made abject Tools, by being kept dependent Mercenaries of the Crown, whole unjust Decrees, with the rest of the Measures of those anticonftitutional Administrations, or rather Ufurpations, were fupported by the RAT10 ULTIMA REGUM, Military Force. The Remembrance of thefe, and many fuch-like Inftances of the horrid Cruelty and Tyranny of fome late Princes, cannot furely be effaced, in generous Minds, by any Length of fucceding Tranquility. If that were poffi

H 2

ble

ble, it might move the bleffed Spirits of your plundered and murdered Ancestors, or thofe virtuous and pious Matrons, their WIVES, whofe matchless Love for their Country, prompted them, not onely, to animate their Husbands, their Fathers and Brothers, their Children and Apprentices, to exert themfelves, in the Councils and in the Field, for the Cause of LIBERTY, but even to offer their Plate, Gold and Jewels, not fparing their Bodkins, or their Thimbles, a FREE SACRIFICE for the Redemption of their Country, to upbraid You with Undutifulness and Ingratitude. But, this need not be: For, I muft prefume, that, on thofe baneful Fruits of the pretended Divine, and indefeafable bereditary Right of abfolute Monarchy, as well as on the OPPOSING VIRTUES of his Anceftors, every TRUE BRITON, especially every WORTHY CITIZEN of LONDON, muft ever have an Eye, and muft fhew both the one and the other, in the proper Light, to his Children; as the fureft Means of preventing the like Poifon's being taken, or offered, in any future Time. It will then be remembered, by latest Pofterity, to the eternal Infamy of thefe Tyrants and their Tools, but to YOUR IMMORTAL GLORY, and the GENERAL HAPPINESS of all, British Subjects, that you have always given fuch juft, fuch powerful Op pofition to the Measures of all lawless Rulers, that You have hitherto been, and I hope, ever will be, found more than Proof against all the moft fubtil Machinations of fuch Monfters. And give me Leave, to mingle my Joy with that of every truly loyal Heart, upon feeing your GREATNESS and LIBERTY established upon fo firm and fecure a Bafis, by thefe, YOUR PUBLIC VIRTUES, that, without fuch a general Depravity in Morals and Policy, as muft deprive You of all Titule to your natural and legal Freedom, You may look down with. Contempt on all future Efforts to annoy your City; whileft the COMMON-WEALTH may exult in feeing her Security confirmed in YOURS.

To perpetuate and extend the Bleffings, which the whole British Dominions have a Right to expect, from the Greatnefs and Power, with which PROVIDENCE has intrufted You, fhould be the moft zealous Endeavor of every worthy Member of these Common-Wealths: And this is the fole Intent and Purport of my prefent Address to You.

If it please YOUR LORDSHIP and HONORS to confider the Subjects of thefe confederate Kingdoms, or COMMONWEALTHS, whether individual Perfons, or Badies Corporate, as one and the fame People, under one and the fame HEAD,

though

though under difint, yet fimilar Modes of Government, and having but one and the fame common Interest, civil and religious, to attend; and fure, You cannot view them in any other Light; whatsoever Violence is offered the remoteft of those, under the Protection and Government of the fame Crown with You, muft not onely call to the Minds of the CITIZENS of LONDON, the many and unspeakable Grievances impofed upon them and their Fellow-Subjects, by fome late Kings and Minifters, as before glanced at, but, muft affuredly make You fenfible, that, though their iniquitaus Schemes to enflave You, have, by the Wisdom and Virtue of your GREAT ANCESTORS, and the concommittant Affiftance of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, proved, after a tedious and doubtful Conflict, abortive, with Regard to your City and Country; yet, if the like Measures fhould appear to have been successfully ufed in fapping the Foundation of a neighbouring, of a Sifter City, it is to be apprehended, they may, in fome future Time, be tried upon You, and with far greater Danger of Succefs.

Prudent Navigators fet up Marks to teach others to avoid the Shoals and Racks, upon which fome incautious Ships have Split: And all wife Men take Warning by the Difafters of their Neighbours. This Caution, I would endeavor to inculcate, with Regard to You. And, I think I cannot do this more effectually, than by prefenting You with the following Papers, in which are expofed to your View, in a fair and true Light, the intollerably heavy Oppreffions and Grevances, under which, fome of your Fellow-Subjects and Bre thren, at prefent, groan, without any vifible Means of Re

drefs.

It will foon appear to the Reader, that thefe Papers were written in a great Hurry, during the Vacancy of the Seats of Members to reprefent Dublin in Parlement, and while the Author was fet up a Candidate in that City, by the popular Voice. The Reasons for their appearing again in this crude, inconnected Manner, are, the public Demands for a Collection of them, and the Author's Want of Health, as well as Leifure, to enable him to reduce them to a more regular Form; though, had he had Means and Opportunity to alter them, it was judged neceffary, by fome of his Friends, ta let them appear in the fame rude and fimple Drefs, in which they were first published, that the Foundation for the virulent, wamerciful and unprecedented Perfecution of the Author, may be fairly layed open to every impartial, unprejudiced Eye.

But,

But, however, I hope the Judicious and Public-fpirited, who alone are the Objects of this Addrefs, will find in thefe Papers, a juft Epitome of the national Conftitution of GreatBritain, the Prerogative, Power, Privilege, Authority and Duty of the GOVERNORS, and the Rights, Liberties and Duty of the GOVERNED, upon the legal and proper Principles, fet forth and ascertained; as being the Model, by which the Conftitution of Ireland, was framed and established; In these, You will likewife find, a fuccinct Account of the Foundation and Conftitution of the City of Dublin, together, with the fatal Changes, that have been wrought in the States of the Nation and City, by fundry oppressive and tyrannical Governors, ufurping and lawless Magifirates, dependent and iniquitous Judges, Spurious and corrupt Parlements; the onely Enemies, our COMMON-WEALTHS, or CITIES, need, at any Time, to dread.

In thefe Papers, the exact Analogy between the political Conftitutions of the two Nations, with the chief Cities of Great-Britain and Ireland, together, with the mutual and reciprocal Interefts, and the infeparable and invariable Connection of both, will clearly appear. The former, it is true, might fubfift, had the later never had Being: But, give me leave to ask You, can the one be looked upon to be equally fecure, when the other is governed in the fame Manner and upon the fame Principles, as when it is, by Artifice, by Corruption, by Force, or by any other Means, Spoiled of every Right and Privilege of the established Conflitution, reduced from BRITISH FREEDOM, to more than Gallic Slavery? from a FREE CIVIL SOCIETY, to a defpotic monarchical Government? to a Nursery of Military Mercenaries?— Surely, Men, juftly jealous of their Liberties, and duly tenacious of their Rights, cannot fuppofe fuch an Abfurdity. Nor can I fufpect You infenfible that the greatest CommonWealth was not reduced to Slavery, or brought to final Diffolution, before Corruption took Root, and a fufficient Military Force was established in the more remote Territories of the State.-A Catastrophe never to be forgot in Britain."

My LORD and GENTLEMEN of this great City, I can make no Doubt, whatever defigning Men may artfully infinuate to the contrary, that, holding the many former Attempts to ruin and enflave You, and thefe Kingdoms in You, in perpetual Remembrance, and juft Deteftation and Abhorrence; You must be actuated by a proper Sense of the Happiness You enjoy under the Reign of a Prince, in

the