R K r 



The commons are the people's reprefeiU.itives in parlia- 

 ment ; which fee. 



There is this defcft in the conditution of our parhamcnt ; 

 that whereas all Eiigliflimen who have coiifiJerable ellates 

 ought not to be taxed without their own confeut in par- 

 liamei.!:, by themfclvf-s, or their rep;rtfentalives ; copy- 

 holders, of whom foine have a thoufaiid pounds a-year, have 

 no voice in the eleiition of knights of the (liire. Sec Par- 



r.IAMENT. 



Repkeslntativi; CharaSer, in Folilical Economy, thus 

 denominated by way of excellence, or in contradiltindtiun 

 to other kiiids of reprefentatioii, conditutes the anibailador, 

 or ininiflcr of the full rank, who reprefents his mailer in 

 his very perfon and dignity. It places him above all other 

 miniilers, who are not invefted with the fame chara£ter, and 

 prcc'udes their entering into competition with the ambada- 

 dur. (Sec EMBASSAnoii.) Envoys are minifters of tlie fe- 

 coud rank, and are not invelted with the reprcfentative 

 character, properly fo called, or in the firll degree. See 

 Envoy. 



RkpreskntatiVE Poiucr, in Metnphyjtcs, a term intro- 

 duced by Leibnitz, to fignify that power of the human foul, 

 by which it reprefents to itfelf t!ie univerfe, according to 

 the fttuation of the body in the univerfe. 



Woifius calls this power "vis reprefentaliva, to denote its 

 beiniT an aftive power, or rather a force actually exerting 

 itfelf. For he exprefsly fays, quod vis conjijhit in conlinuo 

 ngcndi conaln. And he thinks that from this principle of a 

 "vis repreffiilaliva, every phenomenon of the human mind 

 may be accounted for. See his Pfycholog. Ration, art. 529. 

 But it may be prefumed, that many will find this princi- 

 ple too obfcure'to be admitted. 



When it is faid, that our ideas are reprefentative of things 

 without us, or of the univerfe ; it may be afked in what 

 fcnfe this is to be underftood ? Do they reprcfent it, i. As 

 a picture does its original ? Or, 2. As an effeft of a caufe ? 

 Or, 3. As a fign reprefents the thing fignitied ? Tlie firft 

 opinion is explodi'd in part by Locke and the Cartelians, 

 and totally by Dr. Berkeley, late bifhop of Cloyne. The 

 fecond is admiued by Hobbcs, but den.iei.by Leibnitz him- 

 felf and the idcalills. The third (hould feem to be the 

 opinion of Leibnitz, but he is not fufSciently explicit. 



Dr. Berkeley admits ideas to be figns ; but according to 

 him they are arbitrary figns, depending on the immediate 

 will of the Deity : hence the vifual language ; and ideas 

 only fignify or fuggell each other, and fpirits ; but not 

 bodies, the exiftence of which is totally unknown. 



REPRIEVE, or Reprive, from reprendre, to tahc hack, 

 in l.aiu, a fufpending or deferring the execution of the law 

 upon the prifoner for the prefent time. 



A reprieve is properly a warrant from the king, for fuf- 

 pend.-ng the execution of a perfon condemned. 



This may be, fird, ex arbitrio judicis, either before or after 

 judgment ; as, where the judge is not fatistied with the ver- 

 dift, or the evidence is fufpicious, or the indiftment infuf- 

 ficient, or he is doubtful, whether the offence be within 

 clergy ; or fometimes, if it be a fmall felony, or any favour- 

 able circumdances appear in the criminal's charafter, in order 

 to give room to apply to the crown for either an ablolute 

 ©r conditional pardon. Thefe arbitrary reprieves may be 

 granted or taken off by the judices of gaol-delivery, al- 

 though their fedion be finldied, and their commidion ex- 

 pired ; but this rather by common ufage than by drift right. 

 (2 Hal. P. C. 412.) Reprieves may alfo be ex necefjitate 

 icgis, as where a woman is capitally convifted, and pleads 

 htr pregnancy ; which is referred to a j«>jr o/'OTa/renj'. An- 

 othtr caufe of regular reprieve is, if the offender become 



REP 



non cornpos between the judgment and the award of execU- 

 tion. See Lunatic. 



REPRIMAND, a diarp authoritative reproof. Such a 

 perfon was reprimanded in court by tlie bench, &c. 



Rei'IUMAnd, a military pnnidiment at the head of a 

 regiment, is fometimes ordered by a court-martial, and 

 iometimes only m the prefeiice of the officers of the corps : 

 it IS generally given by one of tlie field-officers, and ufually 



in fnch terms as thefe : " Cantain. or !;,>■, to,,, r.t A n 



have been tried for — 



Captain, or lieutenant A. B., you 

 -, and are, bv tlie fentence of a ge- 

 neral court-martial, found guilty thereof, and fentenced to 

 be reprimanded at the head of tiie regiment : the difagree- 

 able talk of doing it is adigned to me : I therefore do hereby 

 reprimand you, and hope, that it may prevent your falling 

 again into the like error." Non-commiffion officers are 

 iometimes, though not frequently, ordered to be repri- 

 manded. 



REPRISALS, or Repkizai.s, Reprlfdia, in the Civil 

 Laiu, a right which princes have to retake from their ene- 

 mies fuch things as they unjudly detain from them ; or other 

 things equivalent to them. 



The word is formed from the Italian rrprefngUa, which 

 fignifies the fame thing. 



When a place is taken or held from a prince, he feizes 

 another by way of repnfal. Sometimes he takes men of the 

 oppofite party, by right of reprifals. 



The Romans called this f/a/7^(7<;'(3 ; and the Greeks had 

 fomething like it under the name of androltpjia. 



Reprifals are ufed between nation and nation, to do juf- 

 tice to themfelves, when they cannot otherwife obtain it. 

 If a nation has taken poffeffion of what belongs to another ; 

 if it refufes to pay a debt, to repair an injury, or to make a 

 juft fatisfaftion ; the other may feize what belongs to it, 

 and apply it to its own advantage, till it has obtained what 

 is due for intereft and damage, or keep it as a pledge till 

 full fatisfadion has been made. Tlie law of nations per- 

 mits reprifals only upon a caufe that is evidently jud, as for 

 a debt that is extremely clear. For he who forms a doubt- 

 ful pretenfion, can at fird demand only an equitable examin- 

 ation of his right. In the fecond place, he .diould, before 

 he proceeds lo far, have in vain demanded judice, or, at 

 lead, have the utmod reafon to believe that it would be in 

 vain for him to dem.and it. Then alone he may right him- 

 felf. It would be too contrary to the peace, to the repofe, 

 and fafety of nations, to their mutual commerce, and to the 

 duties which bind them to each other, for any prince fud- 

 denly to apply to force, without knowing whether the other 

 is dilpofed to do him judice, or to refufe it. It mud be 

 obferved, in order perfeftly to undcrdand this article, that 

 if, in a litigious affair, our adverfary refufes the means of 

 bringing the right to proof, or artfully eludes it ; if he does 

 not, with good faith, apply to pacific meafures for ter- 

 minating the difference ; and, above all, if he is the firll 

 who begins afts of hodility, he renders the caufe jud, which 

 was before doubtful : we may then make ufe of reprifals, or 

 leize his effetls, to obhge him to embrace the methods of 

 reconcihation, which the law of nature prefcribes. This is 

 the laft attempt before coming to an open war. Ajs the 

 wcakh of the citizens forms a part of the total wealth of a 

 nation, and between date and date, whatever is the pro- 

 perty of the members is confidered as belonging to the 

 body, and is anfwerable tor the debts of the body; it fol- 

 lows, that in reprifals they feize the goods of the lubjeft, in 

 the fame manner as thofe of the ftate, or fo\ereigD. Every- 

 thing that belongs to the nation is fubjeft to reprifals, as 

 foon as it can be feized, provided it be not a depoiit truded 

 lo the public faith. This depofit is found in onr hands, 



only 



