H..

To the ears of man, what mufic fweeter than the Rights of

man?

F.

Yes. Such mufic as the whistling of the wind before a tempeft. You You very well know what thefe gentlemen, think of it. You cannot have forgotten

"Sir, Whenever I hear of the word RIGHTS, I have learned "to confider it as preparatory to fome defolating doctrine. "It seems to me, to be productive of fome wide spreading “ruin, of fome wafting defolation."

And do you not remember the enthufiafm with which these fentiments were applauded by the Houfe, and the fplendid rewards which immediately followed this declaration? For no other earthly merit in the fpeaker that Edipus himfelf could have difcovered.

II.

It is never to be forgotten. Pity their ignorance.

F.

Punish their wickedness.

H.

We fhall never, I believe, differ much in our actions, wifhes: or opinions. I too say with you-Punifh the wickednefs of

thofe

those mercenaries who utter fuch atrocities: and do you, with me, pity the ignorance and folly of those regular governments who reward them: and who do not fee that a claim of RIGHTS by their people, so far from treason or fedition, is the strongest avowal they can make of their fubjection: and that nothing can more evidently fhew the natural difpofition of mankind to rational obedience, than their invariable ufe of this word, RIGHT, and their perpetual application of it to all which they defire, and to every thing which they deem excellent.

F.

I fee the wickedness more plainly than the folly; the confequence ftaring one in the face: for, certainly, if men can claim no RIGHTS, they cannot justly complain of any WRONGS.

H.

Moft affuredly. But your last is almost an identical propofition; and you are not accustomed to make fuch. What do you mean by the words RIGHT and WRONG ?

F.

What do I mean by those words? What every other perfon means by them.

H.

Yes. But not better: and therefore not at all.

F.

Muft we always be seeking after the meaning of words?

H.

Of important words we must, if we wifh to avoid important error. The meaning of these words especially is of the greatest confequence to mankind; and feems to have been strangely neglected by those who have made the most use of them.

F.

The meaning of the word RIGHT?-Why-It is ufed fo variously, as fubftantive, adjective, and adverb; and has such apparently different fignifications; (I think they reckon between thirty and forty) that I fhould hardly imagine any one fingle explanation of the term would be applicable to all its uses.

We fay A man's RIGHT.

A RIGHT Conduct.

A RIGHT reckoning.

A RIGHT line.

The RIGHT road.

To do RIGHT.

To be in the RIGHT.

To have the RIGHT on one's fide.

The RIGHT hand.

RIGHT itself is an abstract idea: and, not referring to any fenfible objects, the terms which are the representatives of abstract ideas are fometimes very difficult to define or explain.

H.

Oh! Then you are for returning again to your convenient abstract ideas; and fo getting rid of the question.

F.

Let us fee how

No. I think it worth confideration. Johnson handles it. He did not indeed acknowledge any RIGHTS of the people; but he was very clear concerning Ghofts and Witches, all the myfteries of divinity, and the facred, indefeasible, inherent, hereditary RIGHTS of Monarchy. Let us fee how he explains the term.

RIGHT-
RIGHT
RIGHT

No. He gives no explanation * :-Except of RIGHT hand.

* Johnson is as bold and profufe in affertion, as he is fhy and sparing in explanation. He fays that RIGHT means-" True." Again, that it means—“ passing true judgment,” and—“ passing a judgment according "to the truth of things." Again, that it means-" Happy." And again, that it means-" Perpendicular." And again, that it means"In a great degree.'

All falfe, abfurd, and impoffible.

4

H. How

How does he explain that?

H.

F.

He fays, RIGHT hand means" Not the Left."

H.

You must look then for LEFT hand. What fays he there?

F.

He fays-LEFT" finiftrous, Not right.”

H.

Aye. So he tells us again that RIGHT is-" Not wrong," and WRONG is-" Not right *."

رو

But feek no farther for intelligence in that quarter; where nothing but fraud, and cant, and folly is to be found-mifleading, mischievous folly; because it has a fham appearance of labour, learning, and piety.

* Our lawyers give us equal fatisfaction. Say they-" DROIT eft, ou "lun ad chofe que fuit tolle d'auter per Tort; le challenge ou le claim "de luy que doit aver ceo, eft terme DROIT."

"RIGHT is, where one hath a thing that was taken from another "wrongfully; the challenge or claim of him that ought to have it, is called RIGHT."

Termes de la Ley.