I PRESENT myself before you in a situation that ought to engage your attention, because, in fact, it no less concerns yourselves than me. It has hitherto been your great boast,

that

you were possessed of the best form of government in the world; that in England all men are subject to the laws, from the king upon the throne to the meanest person in the realm; that no man can be can be long confined, much less punished, without the sentence of law; that whenever any man is accused of a crime, opportunity is given him to make his defence, in the presence of his accusers and of the witnesses against him; and that in all cases he must be tried by his peers, by persons in a situation in all respects similar to his own, so that they themselves may expect the same treatment in the same circumstances. Without this you are sensible there can be no equal law, or equal liberty. It has also been the great pride of Englishmen, that with us the press is free; so that any opinion whatever, civil or religious, may be openly proposed and discussed without any apprehension of danger.

A jealousy with respect to law has ever distinguished Englishmen, so that you have been content to suffer the greatest pests of society to escape punishment, rather than that the law should be violated in their persons; reasoning justly, that it is better that one man, though ever so criminal, should escape punishment, than that a precedent should be established, in consequence of which, thousands of innocent persons might be exposed to suffering; and this might be the case if any arbitrary mode of proceeding should be encouraged in courts of justice. Should a person actually condemned to die for the greatest crime, be put to death otherwise than by the sentence of a judge, and by the direction of the sheriff, it would be deemed murder; so sacred do you justly esteem the regular execution of the laws, not bearing that any punishment should be inflicted but such as the law directs, and in the precise manner directed by it. Need I then to say, what you ought to think of the mode of proceeding against me and my friends at Birmingham, when all that I am charged with is the freedom of my writings?

I was born an Englishman as well as any of you. Though labouring under civil disabilities as a Dissenter, I have long contributed my share to the support of government, and supposed I had the protection of its constitution and laws for my inheritance. But I have found myself greatly deceived; and so may any of you, if, like me, you should, with or without cause, be so unfortunate as to incur popular odium. For then, as you have seen in my case, without any form of trial whatever, without any intimation of your crime, or of your danger, your houses and all your property may be destroyed, and you may not have the good fortune to escape with life, as I have done. Other innocent persons also may be involved in the same calamities with yourselves. What are the old French Lettres de Cachet, or the horrors of the late demolished Bastille, compared to this? Make then my case, what it soon may be, your own, and you will not rate the advantages of the British government so high as you have generally done. For in what part of the world could a peaceable citizen have had less protection of law, or enjoyed less security, which is the great end of all civil government?

If we offend against the law, let us be tried according to law, and suffer the penalty denounced by it. I do not flee my country, and am at all times amenable to the laws

of it. But as you would not allow me to judge in my own case, and take my revenge upon any person whom I may conceive to have injured me, let not others wreak their vengeance upon me.

You will say, that such outrages as these cannot be prevented under any government, that they are like hurricanes or earthquakes; so that to complain of them, is to complain of the order of nature and providence. But, not to say that sufficient provision might easily be made to prevent any disorder of this kind, our complaint is, that the injury is not universally resented. The country does not yet sufficiently feel the disgrace that has been done to it, and great numbers rather exult in our sufferings, so that we are far from thinking ourselves secure from farther injuries. Many persons not only express no disapprobation of our sufferings, or of the illegal manner in which they were inflicted, but plainly enough threaten us with more outrages of the same kind.*

Before you, therefore, I accuse my townsmen, and many others, whom I have described, of the greatest injustice and cruelty; and not having had an opportunity before my punishment, I now after it, plead my cause, and explain my whole conduct, in this Appeal. Rather, the laws themselves, the laws that have been violated in my case, complain that they have been infringed, and that a principle which leads to all confusion, and the dissolution of all government, has usurped their place. And no foreign enemy can be so dangerous to you as this within yourselves.

But we suffer, it is said, as Dissenters from the established religion. On this account, we have a double title to protection.

A Dissenter is one of a minority, and the Unitarian Dissenters, with whom I class myself, are a small minority, though an increasing one. We therefore stand in greater need of the protection of law; and it is the more inexcusable to treat us ill, because you have nothing to fear from You are more obliged to Dissenters than to other members of the community, as, besides bearing the whole expense

us.

Among other circumstances which prove this, is the following extract from a printed paper, dated Birmingham Constitutional Tavern, Oct. 17, 1791, sent to me by the post from Birmingham. "But let them" (the Dissenters)" beware--The arm of loyalty has been raised against them. Their present deportment is in proof that it was needful. The bolt, though shot, is not entirely spent, and the people at large have too much affection for their KING, and reverence for their present Goto suffer either of them to be attacked with impunity, by the arts of the seditious. The lion is too magnanimous to trample upon the fallen. Misuse not then his noble nature, ye Dissenters, for if ye again arouse him, your commentator, Mr. Keir, may explain the consequences." (P.) The last sentence refers, I apprehend, to "Mr. Keir's Vindication of the Revolution Dinner." See Appendix, No. XII.

VERNMENT,

of our own religion, we contribute our share to the expense of yours. If we be not defective in any civil duty, why should we be exposed to any civil punishment? Leave our religion to our consciences, and to God, whom alone it concerns, and consider how you would wish to be treated if you lived in a country where any other religion than your own was professed. We are excluded, and we think unjustly, from civil employments and emoluments. If you think proper to continue this negative punishment, do not add positive ones, and, least of all, encourage such as åre illegal, and which may introduce evils of an unknown nature and extent, which even your latest posterity may feel. For such has been the case of persecution in other countries, even when it was carried on in a much more unexceptionable manner than it has been at Birmingham.

As to the French Revolution, the defence and commemoration of which has been imputed to myself and others as so great a crime, you will soon see it in a different light. The enormous expenses of all modern European governments have opened the eyes of men to the nature and uses of government in general; and in consequence of this, the whole of the Gothic Feudal system, embracing matters both of a civil and ecclesiastical nature, is beginning to shake to its foundation. This will necessarily produce a convulsion that will be felt in every state in Europe. All nations must ultimately be benefited by it, though they may suffer by the temporary shock. But be assured, that those countries will suffer the least in which great revolu tions will be prevented by temperate and seasonable reforms. Then we who have suffered by the fury of a misguided populace, (who have committed their lawless devastations in the name of the church and the king,) shall be considered as the martyrs of your liberties; and in the firm belief of this we joyfully bear all their outrages.

As individuals, we pretend not to deserve your notice; but our case is general, and we hope it will lead you to respect, if not us, at least the law, yourselves, and your posterity.

Though an advocate for reformation, I am a friend to the general principles of our constitution; and as a wellwisher to my country, and every description of men in it, I subscribe myself, your injured countryman,

London, Nov. 1, 1791.

See supra, p. 214.

J. PRIESTLEY.