“Some of the addresses in the reign of the Stuarts breathed a very free and independent spirit. That of the Quakers, upon the accession of King James the Second, may serve as an instance. It was conceived in the following terms:-- “‘We come,’ said they, ‘to testify our sorrow for the death of our good friend Charles, and our joy for thy being made our governor. We are told thou art not of the persuasion of the Church of England, no more than we; wherefore we hope thou wilt grant us the same liberty which thou allowest thyself. Which doing, we wish thee all manner of happiness.’ “There we see the Quakers, with their usual plainness and simplicity, very roundly tell his majesty, that he was not a member of the church of England; a circumstance, which was then thought by many, and hath since been declared by law, to be sufficient to disqualify him for wearing the crown of these Kingdoms. “But how much more courtly and polite is the language of our present Addressers. They not only pay the highest compliments to the King, which he certainly deserves, they even offer the most nauseous and fulsome flattery to his ministers and servants, and express their entire approbation of every part of their conduct. They must therefore approve of the robbery committed upon the Duke of Portland, of the massacre in St. George’s Fields, of the riot and murders at Brentford, of withdrawing MacLaughlin from the cognizance of the laws, and of pardoning Balfe and McQuirk after they had been fairly tried and condemned by their country. “But, not satisfied with declaring their approbation of the conduct of the ministry, they express their utter abhorrence and detestation of the conduct of those who have had the presumption to oppose them. They must, therefore, _abhor_ the conduct of the Freeholders of Middlesex, who chose Mr. Wilkes and Mr. Serjeant Glynn, their representatives in parliament, in spite of all the violent, outrageous, and illegal attempts which the ministry made to prevent them. They must _abhor_ the conduct of the 139 independent members who voted against the expulsion of Mr. Wilkes from an august assembly, of which they form the respectable, and perhaps even the most wealthy, tho’ not the most numerous part. They must _abhor_ the conduct of the Citizens of London, of the Citizens of Westminster, of the Freeholders of Middlesex, and of all the other counties and corporations, who, in their instructions to their representatives, have disapproved of those very measures which the Addressers approve. In a word, they must abhor the conduct, at least the sentiments, of ninety-nine parts in a hundred of the people of England, who, if taken separately, and fairly interrogated, would be found to entertain opinions very different from those of the Addressers.”