date

nd [wm 1818] + To Erskine ult
nd [wm 1818] +

To Erskine

ult o

Lett. 6. E. Anti Reformist

§ 7.5. Petitions rely on

5

3

47

6

{Had I a petition to draw /for refer/ for the people of Britain and Ireland I would drench Honourable House the beverage it insists on till its gorge rose at it /it cried mercy/: till every /each/ Honourable cheek turned pale at the real reproach seen through the extorted covering { Satis te eo quod satiste satiate yourself /surfeit yourselves/ with that poison for which alone you have any relish.} Nor would /could/ these after this declaration plain as it is, in any such perfect excess so much as “colourable could any pretence be found for that rejection pretences for which are looked out for so persevering an eagerness: since /for/ nothing hinders an address[?] pursued with one sort of affection /in one view/ /of one sort/ may be adopted and joined /signed/ in a quite different one}

For these fifty years and more, with eyes more or less comprehensive and attentive, I have looked into the {state of} laws and government in most civilized countries, in times past and present: and in no one instance have I ever descried the marks of any such well-considered as well as passionate attachment to falshood, as in this country the book of law and government displays in every page of it.

If to hate falshood is to hate the constitution, whose fault is it?

Knowing all this {falshood} – seeing all this falshood – all this falshood continually staring him in the face, up gets a man with a grave face, and thinks he is covering another with merited opprobrium when he says to him “Sir, You are an enemy to English institutions.” To any /every/ such person the answer may be – So then, Sir, You think it matter of reproach to a man to be an enemy to English institutions, but not so to be an enemy to truth /sincerity/, to justice, to good government, virtue public and private, and all those blessings that depend on it.
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