matter thereof be approved by three juftices of the peace, or the major part of the grand jury, in the country; and in London by the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council; nor fhall any petition be prefented by more than ten perfons at a time. But, under these regulations, it is declared by the ftatute 1 W. & M. ft. 2. c. 2. that the subject hath a right to petition; and that all commitments and profecutions for fuch petitioning are illegal. 5. The fifth and laft auxiliary right of the fubject, that we fhall at prefent mention, is that of having arms for their defence, fuitable to their condition and degree, and fuch as are allowed by law. Which is alfo declared by the same statute 1 W. & M. ft. 2. c. 2. and is indeed a public allowance, under due restrictions, of the natural right of refiftance and felf-prefervation, when the fanctions of fociety and laws are found infufficient to reftrain the violence of oppreffion. In these feveral articles confift the rights, or, as they are frequently termed, the liberties of Britons: liberties more generally talked of, than thoroughly understood; and yet highly neceffary to be perfectly known and confidered by every man of rank or property, left his ignorance of the points whereon they are founded should hurry him into faction and licentioufnefs on the one hand, or a pufillanimous indifference and criminal fubmifsion on the other. And we have feen that these rights confift, primarily, in the free enjoyment of personal security, of personal liberty, and of private property. So long as these remain inviolate, the fubject is perfectly free; for every fpecies of compulfive tyranny and oppreffion must act in oppofition to one or other of these rights, having no STORY OF HAMLET was a prince celebrated in the annals of Denmark, whofe name has been rendered familiar in this country, and his ftory interefting, by being the fubje&t of one of the nobleft tragedies of our immortal Shakefpeare.-Adjoining to a royal palace which flands about half a mile from that of Cronborg in Elfineur, is a gar other object upon which it can be employed. To preferve thefe from violation, it is neceffary that the conftitution of parliaments be fupported in its full vigour; and limits, certainly known, be fet to the royal prerogative. And, laftly, to vindicate thefe rights, when actually violated or attacked, the fubjects of Britain are intitled, in the first place, to the regular adminiftration and free courfe of juftice in the courts of law; next, to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redrefs of grievances, and, laftly, to the right of having and uling arms for felf-prefervation and defence. And all these rights and liberties it is our birth-right to enjoy entire; unless where the laws of our country have laid them under neceflary reftraints. Restraints in themfelves fo gentle and moderate, as will appear upon farther. inquiry, that no man of fense or probity would with to fee them flackened. For all of us have it in our choice to do every thing that a good man would defire to do; and are reftrained from nothing, but what would be pernicious either to ourfelves, or to our fellow-citizens. So that this review of our fituation may fully justify the obfervation of a learned French author, who indeed generally both thought and wrote in the fpirit of genuine freedom; and who hath not fcrupled to profefs, even in the very bofom of his native. country, that the British is the only nation in the world, where political or civil liberty is the direct end of its conftitution. Recommending therefore to the ftudent in our laws a farther and more accurate fearch into this extenfive and important title, we fhall clofe our remarks upon it with the expiring with of the fainous Father Paul to his country, "ESTO PERPETUA." HAMLE T. den, which is called Hamlet's Garden, and is faid by tradition to be the very fpot where the murder of his fatherwas perpetrated. The houfe is of modern date, and is fituated at the foot of a fandy ridge near the fea. The garden occupies the fide of the hill, and is laid out in terraces'rifing one above another. Ellineur is the fcene of ShakeG 2 Speare's fpeare's Hamlet; and the original hiftory from which our poet derived the principal incidents of his play is founded upon facts, but fo deeply buried in remote antiquity that it is difficult to difcriminate truth from fable. SaxoGrammaticus, who flourished in the 12th century, is the earliest historian of Denmark that relates the adventures of Hamlet. His account is extracted, and much altered, by Belleforest, a French author; an English tranflation of whose romance was published under the title of the Hiftorye of Hamblet: and from this tranflation Shakespeare formed the ground-work of his play, though with many alterations and additions. The following fhort sketch of Hamlet's hiftory, as recorded in the Danish annals, will enable the reader to compare the original character with that delineated by Shakespeare. Long before the introduction of Christianity into Denmark, Horwendillus, prefect or king of Jutland, was married to Geruthra, or Gertrude, daughter of Ruric, King of Denmark, by whom he had a fon called Amlettus, or Hamlet. Fengo murders his brother, Horwendillus, marries Gertrude, and afcends the throne. Hamlet, to avoid his uncle's jealoufy, counterfeits folly; and is represented as fuch an abhorrer of falsehood, that though he constantly frames the most evasive and abfurd answers, yet artfully contrives never to deviate from truth. Fengo, fufpecting the reality of his madness, endea vours by various methods to discover the real ftate of his mind: amongst others, he departs from Elfineur, concerts a meeting between Hamlet and Gertrude, concluding that the former would not conceal his fentiments from his own mother; and orders a courtier to conceal himself, unknown to both, for the purpose of overhearing their converfation. The courtier repairs to the queen's apartment, and hides himfelf under a heap of ftraw, which in thofe days was fpread on floors as a luxury, as carpets are now. Hamlet, · upon entering the cabinet, fufpecting the prefence of fome fpy, imitates, after his ufual affectation of folly, the crow of a cock, and, thaking his arms like wings, jumps upon the heap of ftraw; till, feeling the courtier, he draws his fword, and instantly dif patches him. He then cuts the body to pieces, boils it, and gives it to the hogs. He then avows to his mother that he only perfonated a fool, reproaches her for her incestuous marriage with the murderer of her husband; and concludes his remonftrances by saying, "Inftead, therefore, of condoling my infanity, deplore your own infamy, and learn to lament the deformity of your own mind.” * The queen is filent, but is recalled to virtue by these admonitions. Fengo returns to Elfineur, fends Hamlet to England under the care of two courtiers, and requefts the king by a letter to put him to death. Hamlet discovers and alters *The closet-fcene, which is fo beautiful in Shakespear's Hamlet, is thus concisely, but not lefs finely, defcribed by the Danish hiftorian: "Cumque mater magno ejulatu quæfta prefentis filii focordiam deflere cæpiffet: Quid (inquit) mulierum turpiffima graviffimi criminis diffimulationem falfo lamenti genere expetis, quæ fcorti more lafciviens nefariam ac deteftabilem thori conditionem fecuta viri tui intefectorum pleno incesti finu amplecteris; et ei qui prolis fuæ parentem extinxerat obfcœniffimis blandimentorum illecebris adularis.. Ita nempe equæ conjugum fuorum victoribus maritantur. Brutorum natura hæc eft; ut in diverfa paffim conjugia rapiantur: hoc tibi exemplo prioris mariti memoriam exoleviflè conftat. Ego vero non ab re ftolidi fpeciem gero, cum haud dubitem quin is qui fratrem opprefferit, in affines quoque pari crudelitate debacchaturus fit: unde ftoliditatis quæ induftriæ habitum amplecti præftat, et incolumitatis præfidium ab extrema delira, mentorum fpecie mutuari. In animo tamen paternæ ultionis ftudium præferverat ; fed rerum occafiones aucupor, temporum opportunitates opperior. Non idem omnibus locus competit. Contra obfcurum immitemque animum altioribus ingenii modis uti convenit. Tibi vero fupervacuum fit meam lamentari defipientiam, quæ tuam juftius ignominiam deplorare debueras. Itaque non aliene fec propriæ mentis vitium defleas neceffe eft. Cætera filere memineris.' Tali convitio laceratam matrem ad excolendum virtutis habitum revocavit, præteritofque ignes præfentibus illecebris præferre docuit." the : fervices; and if I have deserved it, prefent me with the crown. Behold in me the author of thefe advantages: no degenerate perfon, no parricide; but the rightful fucceffor to the throne, and the pious avenger of a father's murder. I have refcued you from flavery, restored you to liberty, and re-established your glory: I have deftroyed a tyrant, and triumphed over an affaffin. The recompence is in your hands: you can eftimate the value of my fervices, and in your virtue I reft my hopes of reward." This fpeech has the defired effect: the greater part of the affembly fhed tears, and all who are prefent unanimoutly proclaim him king amid repeated acclamations. the letter; fo that, upon their arrival in England, the king orders the two courtiers to immediate execution, and betroths his daughter to Hamlet, who gives many aftonishing proofs of a moft tranfcendent understanding. At the end of the year he returns to Denmark, and alarms the court by his unexpected appearance; as a report of his death had been fpread, and preparations were making for his funeral. Having re-affumed his affected infanity, he purpofely wounds his fingers in draw ing his fword, which the bystanders immediately faften to the scabbard. He afterwards invites the principal nobles to an entertainment, makes them intoxicated, and in that state covers them with a large curtain, which he fastens Hamlet foon after his elevation fails to the ground with wooden pegs: he to England, and orders a fhield to be then fets fire to the palace; and the made on which the principal actions nobles, being inveloped in the curtain, of his life are represented. The king perifh in the flames. During this tranf- receives him with feigned demonftraaction he repairs to Fengo's apartment; tions of joy, falfely affures him that his and taking the fword which lay by the daughter is dead, and recommends him fide of his bed, puts his own in its to repair to Scotland as his ambassador, place he inftantly awakens and in- and to pay his addreffes to the queen forms him, that Hamlet is come to re- Hermetruda. He gives this infidious venge the murder of his father. Fengo advice with the hopes that Hamlet may ftarts from his bed, feizes the fword, perish in the attempt; as the queen, but, being unable to draw it, falls by who was remarkable for her chastity the hand of Hamlet. The next morn- and cruelty, had fuch an averfion to all ing, when the populace were affenn- propofals of marriage, that not one of bled to view the ruins of the palace, her fuitors had escaped falling a facri. Hamlet fummons the remaining no- fice to her vengeance. Hamlet, in opbles; and, in a masterly fpeech, which pofition to all difficulties, performs the is too long to infert in this place, lays embaffy; and, by the affiftance of the open the motives of his own conduct, fhield, which infpires the lady with a proves his uncle to have been the afavourable opinion of his wisdom and faffin of his father; and concludes in the following words: "Tread upon the afhes of the monfter, who, polluting the wife of his murdered brother, joined inceft to parricide; and ruled over you with the moft oppreffive tyranny. Receive me as the minister of a just revenge, as one who felt for the fufferings of his father and his people. Confider me as the person who has purged the difgrace of his country; extinguish ed the infamy of his mother; freed you from the defporifin of a monster, whofe crimes, if he had lived, would have daily increased, and terminated your deftruction. Acknowledge my in courage, obtains her in marriage, and returns with her to England. Informed by the princefs to whom he had been betrothed that her father meditates his affaffination, Hamlet avoids his fate by wearing armour under his robe; puts to death the king of England, and fails to Denmark with his two wives, where he is foon afterwards killed in a combat with Vigletus, fon of Ruric. Hamlet, adds the hiftorian, was a price, who if his good fortune had been equal to his deferts, would have rival led the gods in fplendor, and in his actions would have exceeded even the lab, urs of Hercules. THE THE TRIBUNAL ONSCIENCE is a fecret arbiter Co the foul, which gives its ap probation to things that are naturally good, and condemns thofe that are evil. A man of integrity will never Liften to any reafon, or give way to any meafure, or be misled by any inducement, against Confcience.-The inhabitants of a great town offered Marshal de Turenne 100,000 crowns, upon condition he would take another road, and not march his troops their way. He answered them, "As your town is not in the road I intend to march, I cannot accept the money you offer me."-The Earl of Derby, in the reign of Edward III. making a defcent in Guienne, carried by ftorm the town of Bergerac, and gave it up to be plundered. A Welch knight happened by chance to light upon the receiver's office. He found there fuch a quantity of money that he thought himself obliged to acquaint his general with it, imagining that fo great a booty naturally belonged to him. But he was agreeably furprised when the earl told him, with a pleafant countenance, that he wished him joy of his good fortune: and that he did not make the keeping of his word to depend upon the great or little value of the thing he had promifed. In the fiege of Falifci by Camillus general of the Romans, the fchoolmaster of the town, who had the children of the fenators under his care, led them abroad under the pretext of recreation, and carried them to the Roman camp, faying to Camillus, that by this artifice he had delivered Falifci into his hands. Camillus abhorring this treachery, obferved, "That there were laws for war as well as for peace; and that the Romans were taught to make war with integrity not lefs than with courage." He ordered the schoolmafter to be stripped, his hands to be bound behind his back, and to be delivered to the boys to be lashed back into the town. The Falerians, formerly obftinate in refiftance, ftruck with an act of justice fo illuftrious, delivered themselves up to the Romans; convinced that they would be far better to have the Romans for their allies than their enemies, OF CONSCIENCE. It is a faying, That no man ever offended his own confcience, but first or laft it was revenged upon him. The power of confcience indeed has been remarked in all ages, and the examples of it upon record are innumerable. The following is related by Mr. Fordyce, in his Dialogues on Education, as a real occurrence which happened in a neighbouring ftate not many years ago. A jeweller, a man of good character and confiderable wealth, having occafion in the way of his business to travel at fome diftance from the place of his abode, took along with him a fervant, in order to take care of his portmanteau. He had with him fome of his best jewels, and a large fum of money, to which his fervant was likewife privy. The mafter having occafion to difmount on the road, the fervant, watching his opportunity, took a piftol from his mafter's faddle and fhot him dead on the fpot; then rifted him of his jewels and money, and hanging a large ftone to his neck, he threw him into the nearest canal. With this booty he made off to a diftant part of the country, where he had reason to believe that neither he nor his master were known. There he began to trade in a very low way at firft, that his obfcurity might fcreen him from obfervation, and in the courfe of a good many years feemed to rife, by the natural progrefs of bufinefs, into wealth and confideration; fo that his good fortune appeared at once the effect and reward of industry and virtue. Of thefe he counterfeited the appearance fo well, that he grew into great credit, married into a good family, and by laying out his hidden ftores difcreetly, as he faw occafion, and joining to all an univerfal affability, he was admitted to a share of the government of the town, and rofe from one poft to another, till at length he was chofen chief magi-. ftrate. In this office he maintained a fair character, and continued to fill it with no fmall applaufe, both as a governor and a judge; till one day as he fat on the bench with fome of his brethren, a criminal was brought before him who was accufed of murdering his mafter, The evidence came out full full, the jury brought in their verdict that the prifoner was guilty, and the whole affembly waited the fentence of the prefident of the court (which he happened to be that day) with great fufpence. Mean while he appeared to be in unusual disorder and agitation of mind, and his colour changed often; at length he arofe from his feat, and coming down from the bench, placed himself just by the unfortunate man at the bar. "You fee before you (faid he, addreffing himself to those who had fat on the bench with him), a ftriking inftance of the just rewards of heaven, which this day, after 30 years IT ADVANTAGES OF T may be thought odd to affert, that virtue is no enemy to a man's fortune, in the present state of things. But if by fortune be meant a moderate or competent share of wealth, power, or credit, not overgrown degrees of them, what fhould hinder the virtuous man from obtaining that? He cannot cringe or fawn, it is true, but he can be civil and obliging as well as the knave; and furely his civility is more alluring, because it has more manliness and grace in it than the mean adulation of the other: he cannot cheat or undermine; but he may be cautious, provident, watchful of occafions, and equally prompt with the rogue in improving them: he fcorns to prostitute himself as a pander to the paffions, or as a tool to the vices, of mankind; but he may have as found an understanding and as good capacities for promoting their real interefts as the verieft court-flave: and then he is more faithful and true to those who employ him. In the commón courfe of bufinefs, he has the fame chances with the knave of acquiring a fortune, and rifing in the world. He may have equal abilities, equal induftry, equal attention to bufinefs; and in other refpects he has greatly the advantage of him. People love better to deal with him; they can trust him more; they know he will not impofe on them, nor take advantage of them, and can depend more on his word than on the oath or strongest fecurities of others. Whereas what is commonly called cunning, which is the concealment, prefents to you a greater criminal than the man jult now found guilty." Then he made an ample confeffion of his guilt, and of all its aggravations. "Nor can I feel (continued he) any relief from the agonies of an awakened confcience, but by requiring that juftice be forthwith done againft me in the most public and folemn manner." We may easily fuppofe the amazement of all the affembly, and efpecially of his fellow-judges. However, they proceeded, upon this confeffion, to pafs fentence upon him, and he died with all the symptoms of a penitent mind. FAIR DEALING. offspring of ignorance, and constant conpanion of knavery, is not only a meanfpirited, but a very fhort-fighted talent, and a fundamental obftacle in the road of business. It may procure indeed immediate and petty gains; but it is attended with dreadful abatements, which do more than overbalance them, both as it finks a man's credit when discovered, and cramps that largeness of mind which extends to the remoteft as well as the nearest interest, and takes in the most durable equally with the moft tranfient gains. It is therefore eafy to fee how much a man's credit and reputation, and confequently his fuccefs, depend on his honesty and virtue. With regard to fecurity and peace with his neighbours, it may be thought, perhaps, that the man of a quiet forgiv ing temper, and a flowing benevolence and courtefy, is much exposed to injury and affronts from every proud or peevifh mortal, who has the power or will to do mischief. If we fuppofe, indeed, this quietnefs and gentleness of nature accompanied with cowardice and pufillanimity, this may often be the cafe; but in reality the good man is bold as a lion, and fo much the bolder for being the calmer. Such a perfon will hardly be a butt to mankind. The ill-natured will be afraid to provoke him, and the good-natured will not incline to do it. Befides, true virtue, which is conducted by reafon, and exerted gracefully and without parade, is a moft infinuating and commanding thing; if it cannot difarm |
