Page:Common sense - addressed to the inhabitants of America.djvu/21

Rh dark covering of antiquity, and trace them to their firt rie, that we hould find the firt of them nothing better than the principal Ruffian of ome retles Gang, whoe avage manners or pre-eminence in ubtilty obtained him the title of Chief among Plunderers; and who by increaing in power, and extending his depredations, overawed the quiet and defenceles to purchae their afety by frequent contributions. Yet his electors could have no idea of giving hereditary right to his decendents, becaue uch a perpetual excluion of themelves was incompatible with the free and unretrained principles they profeed to live by. Wherefore hereditary ucceion, in the early ages of Monarchy, could not take place as a matter of claim, but as omething caual or complimental; but as few or no records were extant in thoe days, and traditionary hitory tuffed with fables, it was very eay, after the lape of a few generations, to trump up ome upertitious tale, conveniently timed, Mahomet-like, to cram hereditary right down the throats of the vulgar. Perhaps the diorders which threatened, or eemed to threaten, on the deceae of a leader, and the choice of a new one (for elections among ruffians could not be very orderly) induced many at firt to favour hereditary pretenions; by which means it happened, as it hath happened ince, that what at firt was ubmitted to as a convenience, was afterwards claimed as a right.

England ince the conquet hath known ome few good Monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones; yet no man in his enes can ay, that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French Batard landing with an armed banditti, and etablihing himelf King of England againt the conent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry racally original.—It certainly hath no divinity in it. However it is needles to pend much time in expoing the folly of hereditary right; if there are any o weak as to believe it, let them promicuouly worhip the As and the Lion and welcome. I hall neither copy their humility, nor diturb their devotion.

Yet I hould be glad to ak how they uppoe Kings came at firt? The quetion admits but of three anwers, viz. either by lot, by election, or by uurpation. If the firt King was taken by lot, it etablihes a precedent for the next, which excludes hereditary ucceion. Saul was by lot, yet the ucceion was not hereditary, neither does it appear from the tranaction there was any intention it ever hould. If the firt King of any country was by election, that likewie etablihes a precedent for the next; for to ay, that the right of all future generations is taken away by the act of the firt electors, in their choice not only of a King, but of a family of Kings for ever, hath no parallel in or out of cripture but the doctrine of original in, which uppoes the free-will of all men lot in Adam: And from uch comparion, and it will admit of no other, hereditary ucceion can derive no glory. For as in Adam all inned, and as in the firt electors all men obeyed; as in the one all mankind were