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Title: The Works of Samuel Johnson, Vol. 10.
Parlimentary Debates I.
Author: Samuel Johnson
Release Date: December 1, 2003 [EBook #10351]
[Last updated. February 17, 2013]
Language: English
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THE WORKS OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D,
VOLUME THE TENTH.
MDCCCXXV.
CONTENTS
Debate on the bill for prohibiting the exportation of corn.
Debate on a seditious paper.
Debate on incorporating the new-raised men into the standing regiments.
Debate on taking the state of the army into consideration.
Debate respecting officers on half-pay.
Debate on an address for papers relating to admiral Haddock.
Debate regarding the departure of the French and Spanish squadrons.
Debate on addressing his majesty for the removal of sir R. Walpole.
Debate on cleansing the city of Westminster.
Debate on the bill to prevent inconveniencies arising from the insurance
of ships.
Debate on the bill for the encouragement and increase of seamen.
Debate on the bill for the punishment of mutiny and desertion.
Debate on addressing the king.
Debate on supporting the queen of Hungary.
Debate on choosing a speaker.
Debate on the address.
PREFATORY OBSERVATIONS TO THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES.
The government of this country has long and justly been considered the
best among the nations of Europe; and the English people have ever
evinced a proportionate desire for information in its proceedings. But
in the earlier days of our constitution, we shall find that much
jealousy on the part of our rulers debarred the people from access to
the national deliberations. Queen Elizabeth, with a sagacity that
derived no assurance from the precedents of former times, foresaw the
mighty power of the press, as an engine applied to state purposes, and
accordingly aroused the spirit of her subjects, by causing the first
gazettes to be published in the year of the armada [Footnote: See sir J.
Mackintosh's Defence in the Peltier case.]: and D'Ewes's journals of her
parliaments contain the earliest reports of parliamentary debates.
The first volume of the commons' journals comprises the debates from the
accession of James the first, to the cessation of parliaments under
Charles the first. The publication, in 1766, of a member's notes,
furnished authentic debates of the session in 1621. Rushworth, in his
voluminous collections, presents us with many of the debates during the
civil wars. Gray's more regular debates succeeded. From these, until the
times that followed the glorious revolution in 1688, we have no reports
of parliamentary proceedings, interesting as they must have been, on
which we can place any more reliance, than on those of Dr. Johnson,
which, we shall presently see, cannot pretend to the character of
faithful reports, however deservedly eminent they are as eloquent and
energetic compositions. But the revolution was not immediately followed
by a liberal diffusion of parliamentary intelligence, for the newspapers
of William's reign only give occasionally a detached speech. That
sovereign scarcely allowed liberty of speech to the members of
parliament themselves, and was fully as tyrannical in disposition as his
predecessor on the throne; but, happily for the English nation, he was
tied and bound by the strong fetters of law.
The stormy period that ensued on William's death, is somewhat
illustrated by Boyer's POLITICAL STATE. The HISTORICAL REGISTERS which
appeared on the accession of George the first, may be considered as more
faithful depositories of political information than Boyer's partial
publication. The spirited opposition to sir Robert Walpole excited an
unprecedented anxiety in the nation to learn the internal proceedings of
parliament. This wish on the part of constituents to know and scrutinize
the conduct of their representatives, which to us appears so reasonable
a claim, was regarded in a different light by our ancestors. But the
frown of authority in the reign of George the second began to have less
power to alarm a people whose minds were undergoing progressive
illumination. A general desire was then loudly expressed for
parliamentary information, which Cave sought to gratify by the insertion
of the debates in the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. The jealousy of the houses,
however, subjected that indefatigable man to the practices of stratagem
for the accomplishment of his design. He held the office of inspector of
franks in the postoffice, which brought him into contact with the
officers of both houses of parliament, and afforded him frequent and
ready access to many of the members. Cave, availing himself of this
advantage, frequented the houses when any debate of public interest was
expected, and, along with a friend, posted himself in the gallery of the
house of commons, and in some retired station in that of the lords,
where, unobserved, they took notes of the several speeches. These notes
were afterwards arranged and expanded by Guthrie, the historian, then in
the employment of Cave, and presented to the public, monthly, in the
Gentleman's Magazine. They first appeared in July, 1736 [Footnote: Gent.
Mag. vol. vi.], and were perused with the greatest eagerness. But it was
soon intimated to Cave, that the speaker was offended with this freedom,
which he regarded in the light of a breach of privilege, and would
subject Cave, unless he desisted, to parliamentary censure, or perhaps
punishment. To escape this, and likewise to avoid an abridgment of his
magazine, Cave had recourse to the following artifice. He opened his
magazine for June, 1738, with an article entitled, "Debates in the
senate of Magna Lilliputia;" in which he artfully deplores the
prohibition that forbids him to present his readers with the
consultations of their own representatives, and expresses a hope that
they will accept, as a substitute, those of that country which Gulliver
had so lately rendered illustrious, and which untimely death had
prevented that enterprising traveller from publishing himself. Under
this fiction he continued to publish the debates of the British
parliament, hiding the names of persons and places by the transposition
of letters, in the way of anagram. These he contrived to explain to his
readers, by annexing to his volume for 1738, feigned proposals for
printing a work, to be called Anagrammata Rediviva. This list, and
others from different years, we give in the present edition, though we
have rejected the barbarous jargon from the speeches themselves. A
contemporary publication, the LONDON MAGAZINE, feigned to give the
debates of the Roman senate, and adapted Roman titles to the several
speakers. This expedient, as well as Cave's contrivance, sufficed to
protect its ingenious authors from parliamentary resentment; as the
resolution of the commons was never enforced.
The debates contained in the following volumes, commence with the 19th
November, 1740, and terminate with the 23d February, 1742-3. The
animated attempts that were made to remove sir Robert Walpole from
administration, seemed, in Cave's opinion, to call for an abler reporter
than Guthrie. Johnson was selected for the task; and his execution of it
may well justify the admiration which we have so often avowed for those
wonderful powers of mind, which, apparently, bade defiance to all
impediments of external fortune.
He was only thirty-two years of age, little acquainted with the world;
had never, perhaps, been in either house, and certainly had never
conversed with the men whose style and sentiments he took upon himself
to imitate. But so well and skilfully did he assume, not merely the
sedate and stately dignity of the lords, and the undaunted freedom of
the commons, but also the tone of the respective parties, that the
public imagined they recognised the individual manner of the different
speakers. Voltaire, and other foreigners of distinction, compared
British with Greek and Roman eloquence; and ludicrous instances are
detailed by Johnson's biographers, of praises awarded to Pulteney or to
Pitt, in the presence of the unsuspected author of the orations which
had excited such regard [Footnote: See Boswell, and sir John Hawkins.]!
For Johnson confessed, that he composed many of the speeches entirely
from his own imagination, and all of them from very scanty materials.
This confession he undoubtedly made from his love of truth, and not for
the gratification of vanity. When he heard that Smollett was preparing
his History of England, he warned him against relying on the debates as
authentic; and, on his death-bed, he professed that the recollection of
having been engaged in an imposture was painful to him. That this was a
refined scrupulosity the most rigid moralist must allow; but,
nevertheless, it is matter for congratulation, that the liberality of
parliament no longer subjects its reporters to the subterfuges which we
have thus briefly attempted to describe. And a comparison of this age
and its privileges with the restrictions of former times, may not be
without its use, if, by reminding us that we were not always free, it
teaches us political contentment, suggests to us the policy of
moderation, and enables us to love liberty, and yet be wise.
OXFORD, NOVEMBER, 1825.
_The List of fictitious Terms used by Cave to disguise the real Names
that occur in his Debates._
Abingdon, Ld. ... Adonbing or Plefdrahn
Ambrose, Captain ... Ambreso
Archer ... Arech
Argyle, Duke of ... Agryl
Arthur ... Aruth
Anne ... Nuna
Aston ... Anots
Aylesford, Lord ... Alysfrop
Baltimore, Lord ... Blatirome
Barnard, Sir John ... Branard
Barrington ... Birrongtan
Bath, Earl of ... Baht
Bathurst, Lord ... Brustath
Bedford, Duke of ... Befdort
Berkeley, Lord ... Berelky
Bishop ... Flamen
Bladen, Mr. ... Bledna
Bootle, Mr. ... Butul
Bowles, Mr. ... Bewlos
Bristol, Lord ... Broslit
Bromley, Mr. ... Bormlye
Brown, Mr. ... Brewon or Buron
Burleigh ... Bruleigh
Burrell, Mr. ... Berrull
Campbell ... Campobell
Carew, Mr. ... Cawar
Carlisle, Earl of ... Carsilel
Carteret, Lord ... Quadrert
Castres, Mons ... Cahstrehs
Cavendish ... Candevish
Charles ... Chorlo
Chesterfield, Earl of ... Castroflet
Cholmondeley, Earl of ... Sholmlug
Churchill ... Chillchurch
Clutterbuck, Mr. ... Cluckerbutt
Cocks ... Cosck
Coke, Mr. ... Quoke
Cooke ... Coeko
Cooper, Mr. ... Quepur
Corbet, Mr. ... Croteb
Cornwall, Mr. ... Carnwoll
Cromwell ... Clewmro
Danes ... Danians
Danvers ... Dranevs
Delawarr, Lord ... Devarlar
Devonshire, Duke of ... Dovenshire
Digby ... Dibgy
Drake, Mr. ... Dekra
Earle, Mr. ... Eral
Edmund ... Emdond
Edward ... Eddraw
Elizabeth ... Ezila
Erskine, Mr. ... Eserkin
Eugene, Prince ... Eunege
Falconberg, Lord ... Flacnobrug
Falkland ... Flakland
Fanshaw, Mr. ... Fashnaw
Fazakerly ... Fakazerly
Fenwick, Mr. ... Finweck
Ferrol ... Ferlor
Fox, Mr. ... Feaux
Francis ... Farncis or Friscan
Gage, Lord ... Gega
George ... Gorgenti
Gibbon, Mr. ... Gibnob
Gloucester, Duke of ... Glustre
Godolphin, Lord ... Golphindo
Gore ... Gero
Gower, Lord ... Gewor
Grenville, Mr. ... Grevillen
Gybbon, Mr. ... Gybnob
Halifax, Lord ... Haxilaf
Haddock, Admiral ... Hockadd
Handasyd, Mr. ... Hasandyd
Harding, Mr. ... Hadringe
Hardwick, Lord ... Hickrad
Harrington ... Hargrinton
Hay, Mr. ... Heagh
Heathcote ... Whethtoc
Henry ... Hynrec
Herbert ... Hertreb
Hervey, Lord ... Heryef
Hessian ... Hyessean
Hind Cotton ... Whind Cotnot
Hindford ... Honfryd
Hinton ... Hwenton
Hobart ... Hobrat
Holdernesse, Lord ... Hodrelness
Hooper ... Horeop
Hosier, Admiral ... Hozeri
Howe ... Hewo
Islay, Lord ... Yasli
Isham ... Ishma
Ilchester ... Itchletser
James ... Jacomo
Jekyl ... Jelyco
Jenkins ... Jenkino
John ... Juan
Joseph ... Josippo
Keene, Mr. ... Knee
Ledbury, Mr. ... Lebdury
Lindsay ... Lisnayd
Litchneld ... Liftchield
Lockwood ... Lodowock
Lombe ... Lebom
Lonsdale, Lord ... Lodsneal
Lovel ... Levol
Lymerick, Lord ... Lyromick
Lyttleton ... Lettyltno
Marlborough, Duke of ... Maurolburgh
Malton, Lord ... Matlon
Manley ... Manly
Mary ... Marya
Montrose, Duke of ... Morontosse
Mordaunt ... Madrount
Morton ... Motron
Newcastle, Duke of ... Nardac secretary
Noel ... Neol
Norris, Admiral ... Nisror
Nugent ... Netgun
Ogle, Admiral ... Oleg
Onslow ... Olswon
Orange ... Organe
Ord, Mr. ... Whord
Orford, Earl of ... Orfrod
Orleans ... Olreans
Ormond, Duke of ... Omrond
Oxford, Earl of ... Odfrox
Oxenden ... Odnexen
Paxton ... Pantox
Pelham, Mr. ... Plemahm
Perry ... Peerur
Peterborough ... Petraborauch
Pitt, Mr. ... Ptit
Plumer, Mr. ... Plurom
Polwarth ... Polgarth
Portland, Duke of ... Poldrand
Powlett ... Powltet or Pletow
Pretender ... Rednetrep
Puffendorf ... Pudenfforf
Pulteney ... Pulnub
Quarendon ... Quenardon
Rainsford ... Rainsfrod
Ramelies ... Ramles
Raymond ... Ramonyd
Robert ... Retrob
Rochester ... Roffen
Saint Aubyn ... St. Aybun
Salisbury ... Sumra
Samuel ... Salvem
Sandwich, Earl of ... Swandich
Sandys, Mr. ... Snadsy
Scarborough, Lord ... Sarkbrugh
Scroop, Mr. ... Screop
Sidney, Lord ... Sedyin
Selwin, Mr. ... Slenwy
Shaftsbury, Lord ... Shyftasbrug
Shippen, Mr. ... Skeiphen
Sloper ... Slerop
Somers ... Sosrem
Somerset ... Sosermet
Southwell ... Suthewoll
Strafford ... Stordraff
Stair ... Stari
Stanislaus ... Stasinlaus
Sundon ... Snodun
Talbot ... Toblat
Thomas ... Tsahom
Thomson, Mr. ... Thosmon
Tracey ... Tryace
Trenchard ... Trachnerd
Trevor, Mr. ... Tervor
Turner ... Truron
Tweedale, Marquis of ... Tewelade
Tyrconnel, Lord ... Trinocleng
Vernon, Admiral ... Venron
Vyner, Mr. ... Vynre or Venry
Wade ... Weda
Wager, Admiral ... Werga
Wakefield ... Wafekeild
Waller, Mr. ... Welral
Walpole, Sir Robert ... Walelop
Walpole, Mr. ... Walelop
Walter, Mr. ... Gusbret
Watkins, Mr. ... Waknits
Wendover ... Wednevro
Westmoreland ... Westromland
William ... Wimgul
Willimot, Mr. ... Guillitom
Winchelsea, Lord ... Wichensale
Winnington, Mr. ... Wintinnong
Wortley, Mr. ... Wolresyt or Werotyl
Wyndham ... Gumdahm
Wynn ... Ooyn
Yonge ... Yegon
_The List of fictitious Characters used by Cave to disguise the Places
that occur in his Debates._
Almanza ... Almanaz
America ... Columbia
Amsterdam ... Amstredam
Aschaffenburg ... Aschafnefburg
Austria ... Aurista
Barbadoes ... Bardosba
Barcelona ... Bracolena
Brittany ... Brateney
Bavaria ... Baravia
Blenheim ... Blehneim or Blenhem
Bourbon ... Buorbon
Brandenburg ... Brangburden
Bristol ... Broslit
Britain ... Lilliput
Cadiz ... Cazid
Cambridge ... Guntar
Campechy ... Capemchy
Carolina ... Carolana
Carthagena ... Carthanega
Cologne ... Colgone
Commons ... Clinabs
Connecticut ... Contecticnu
Cressy ... Cerlsy
Cuba ... Cabu
Denmark ... Dancram
Dettingen ... Detteneg
Dunkirk ... Donkirk
Dutch ... Belgians
Edinburgh ... Edina
Europe ... Degulia
Flanders ... Flandria
France ... Blefuscu
Georgia ... Gorgentia
Germany ... Allemanu
Gibraltar ... Grablitra
Guastalla ... Gua Stalla
Guernsey ... Guensrey
Hanover ... Hanevro
Haversham ... Havremarsh
Hesse Cassel ... Hyesse Clessa
Hispaniola ... Iberionola
Holland ... Belgia
Hungary ... Hungruland
India ... Idnia
Ireland ... Ierne
Italy ... Itlascu
Jamaica ... Zamengol
Jucatan ... Jutacan
Leghorn ... Lehgron
London ... Mildendo
Madrid ... Mardit
Malplaquet ... Malpalquet
Mardyke ... Mardryke
Martinico ... Marnitico
Mediterranean ... Middle Sea
Minorca ... Minocra
Munster ... Munstru
Muscovy ... Mausqueeta
New York ... Noveborac
Orkney ... Orkyen
Orleans ... Olreans
Ostend ... Odsten
Parma ... Par Ma
Pennsylvania ... Pennvasilia
Poland ... Poldrand
Portugal ... Lusitania
Port Mahon ... Port Mohan
Prussia ... Parushy
Prague ... Praga
Sardinia ... Sadrinia
Schellembourg ... Schemelbourg
Seville ... Sebfule
Sicily ... Cilisy
South Sea ... Pacific Ocean
Spain ... Iberia
Straits ... Narrow Seas
Sweden ... Swecte
Turkey ... Korambec
Utrecht ... Ultralt
Vienna ... Vinena
Virginia ... Vegrinia
Westminster ... Belfaborac
Wolfenbuttle ... Wobentuffle
_The List of fictitious Characters used by Cave to disguise the Names of
Things that occur in his Debates._
Admiral ... Galbet
Baronet ... Hurgolen
Commons ... Clinabs
Duke ... Nardac
Earl ... Cosern
Esquire ... Urg
Gentleman ... Urgolen
High Heels or Tory ... Tramecsan
Knight ... Hurgolet
Legal ... Snilpal
Lord ... Hurgo
Penny ... a Grull
Popery ... Missalsm
Prophet ... Lustrug
Sprug ... a Pound
Squire ... Urg
Viscount ... Comvic
Years ... Moons
REFERENCES TO THE SPEAKERS
Abingdon, Lord,
Archer, Mr. Hy.
Argyle, Duke of,
Attorney General,
Bathurst, Mr.
Baltimore, Lord,
Barnard, Sir John,
Barrington, Mr.
Bedford, Duke of,
Bladen, Mr.
Bowles, Mr.
Brown, Mr.
Burrel, Mr.
Campbell, Mr.
Carew, Mr.
Carlisle, Lord,
Carteret, Lord,
Cholmondeley, Lord,
Clutterbuck, Mr.
Cocks, Mr.
Cornwall, Capt.
Cornwall, Mr.
Cotton, Sir Hind,
Devonshire, Duke of,
Digby, Mr.
Earle, Mr.
Fazakerly, Mr.
Fox, Mr.
Gage, Lord,
Gore, Mr.
Gore, Mr.
Gower, Lord,
Gybbon, Mr.
Halifax, Lord,
Hardwick, Lord,
Harrington, Lord,
Hay, Mr.
Hervey, Lord,
Howe, Mr.
Littleton, Mr.
Lockwood, Mr.
Lord Chancellor,
Lovel, Lord,
Marlborough, Duke of,
Mordaunt, Col.
Newcastle, Duke of,
Norris, Admiral,
Onslow, Mr.
Ord, Mr.
Pelham, Mr.
Pitt, Mr.
Pulteney, Mr.
Quarendon, Lord,
Salisbury, Bishop of,
Sandys, Mr.
Shippen, Mr.
Sloper, Mr.
Southwell, Mr.
Talbot, Lord,
Thompson, Lord,
Tracey, Mr.
Tyrconnel,
Vyner, Mr.
Wade, General,
Wager, Sir Charles,
Waller, Mr.
Walpole, Sir Robert,
Walpole, Mr.
Westmoreland, Lord,
Willimot, Mr.
Winnington, Mr.
Yonge, Sir Wm.
DEBATES IN PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, NOVEMBER 19, 1740.
PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATE, WITH REGARD TO THE BILL FOR PROHIBITING THE
EXPORTATION OF CORN, ETC.
On the first day of the session, his majesty, in his speech from the
throne, recommended to parliament to consider of some good law to
prevent the growing mischief of the exportation of corn to foreign
countries.
On the fourth day, a bill for preventing, for a limited time, the
exportation, etc, was read a first time in the house of commons, and the
question put, whether it should be printed, which passed in the
negative.
This day the agent for the colonies of Pennsylvania and New Jersey,
presented a petition against the said corn bill, which was referred to
the committee.
Another petition was also presented by the agent for the colony of
Connecticut, in New England, setting forth that the chief trade of that
colony arose from supplying other British colonies with corn, so that
unless that colony be excepted from the restraints intended by this
bill, both that and those which are supplied by it will be reduced to
great distress, and praying, therefore, that such exception may be
allowed.
The allegations in this petition were confirmed by another, from one of
the provinces supplied by the colony of Connecticut.
Another petition was presented by the agent for South Carolina, setting
forth, that unless the rice produced in that province were allowed to be
exported, the colony must be ruined by the irretrievable loss of their
whole trade, as the countries now supplied from thence might easily
procure rice from the French settlements, already too much their rivals
in trade.
This petition was supported by another, offered at the same time by the
merchants of Bristol.
A petition was likewise presented by the agent for the sugar islands, in
which it was alleged, that if no provisions be imported thither from
Britain, they must, in one month, suffer the extremities of famine.
All these petitions were referred to the committee for the bill.
A printed paper was also delivered to the members, entitled,
'considerations on the embargo,' which enumerated many dangerous
consequences likely to be produced by an embargo on provisions, and
suggested that it was no better than a wicked scheme for private profit,
with other reflections, for which the paper was deemed a libel, and the
author committed to prison.
The bill being read in the committee, produced the following memorable
debate.
Mr. PULTNEY spoke to this effect:--Sir, after all the attention which
has been bestowed upon the bill now before us, I cannot yet conceive it
such as can benefit the nation, or such as will not produce far greater
inconveniencies than those which it is intended to obviate, and
therefore, as those inconveniencies may be prevented by other means, I
cannot but declare that I am far from approving it.
Our ancestors, sir, have always thought it the great business of this
house to watch against the encroachments of the prerogative, and to
prevent an increase of the power of the minister; and the commons have
always been considered as more faithful to their trust, and more
properly the representatives of the people, in proportion as they have
considered this great end with more attention, and prosecuted it with
more invariable resolution. If we inquire into the different degrees of
reputation, which the several assemblies of commons have obtained, and
consider why some are remembered with reverence and gratitude, and
others never mentioned but with detestation and contempt, we shall
always find that their conduct, with regard to this single point, has
produced their renown or their infamy. Those are always, by the general
suffrage of mankind, applauded as the patterns of their country, who
have struggled with the influence of the crown, and those condemned as
traitors, who have either promoted it by unreasonable grants, or seen it
increase by slow degrees, without resistance.
It has not, indeed, sir, been always the practice of ministers to make
open demands of larger powers, and avow, without disguise, their designs
of extending their authority; such proposals would, in former times,
have produced no consequences but that of awakening the vigilance of the
senate, of raising suspicions against all their proceedings, and of
embarrassing the crown with petitions, addresses, and impeachments.
They were under a necessity, in those times, of promoting their schemes;
those schemes which scarcely any ministry has forborne to adopt, by more
secret and artful and silent methods, by methods of diverting the
attention of the publick to other objects, and of making invisible
approaches to the point in view, while they seemed to direct all their
endeavours to different purposes.
But such, sir, have been the proofs of implicit confidence, which the
administration has received from this assembly, that it is now common to
demand unlimited powers, and to expect confidence without restriction,
to require an immediate possession of our estates by a vote of credit,
or the sole direction of our trade by an act for prohibiting, during
their pleasure, the exportation of the produce of our lands.
Upon what instances of uncommon merit, of regard to the publick
prosperity, unknown in former times, or of discernment superior to that
of their most celebrated predecessors, the present ministers found their
new claims to submission and to trust, I am, indeed, at a loss to
discover; for, however mankind may have determined concerning the
integrity of those by whom the late memorable convention was transacted,
defended, and confirmed, I know not that their wisdom has yet appeared
by any incontestable or manifest evidence, which may set their abilities
above question, and fix their reputation for policy out of the reach of
censure and inquiries.
The only act, sir, by which it can be discovered that they have any
degree of penetration proportionate to their employments, is the embargo
lately laid upon provisions in Ireland, by which our enemies have been
timely hindered from furnishing themselves, from our dominions, with
necessaries for their armies and their navies, and our fellow-subjects
have been restrained from exposing themselves to the miseries of famine,
by yielding to the temptation of present profit; a temptation generally
so powerful as to prevail over any distant interest.
But as nothing is more contrary to my natural disposition, or more
unworthy of a member of this house, than flattery, I cannot affirm that
I ascribe this useful expedient wholly to the sagacity or the caution of
the ministry, nor can I attribute all the happy effects produced by it
to their benign solicitude for the publick welfare.
I am inclined to believe that this step was advised by those who were
prompted to consider its importance by motives more prevalent than that
of publick spirit, and that the desire of profit which has so often
dictated pernicious measures, has, for once, produced, in return, an
expedient just and beneficial; and it has, for once, luckily fallen out,
that some of the friends of the administration have discovered that the
publick interest was combined with their own.
It is highly probable, sir, that the contractors for supplying the navy
with provisions, considering, with that acuteness which a quick sense of
loss and gain always produces, how much the price of victuals would be
raised by exportation, and, by consequence, how much of the advantage of
their contracts would be diminished, suggested to the ministry the
necessity of an embargo, and laid before them those arguments which
their own observation and wisdom would never have discovered.
Thus, sir, the ministers, in that instance of their conduct, on which
their political reputation must be founded, can claim, perhaps, no
higher merit, than that of attending to superiour knowledge, of
complying with good advice when it was offered, and of not resisting
demonstration when it was laid before them.
But as I would never ascribe to one man the merit of another, I should
be equally unwilling to detract from due commendations, and shall
therefore freely admit, that not to reject good counsel, is a degree of
wisdom, at which I could not expect that they by whom the convention was
concluded would ever have arrived.
But whatever proficiency they may have made in the art of government
since that celebrated period, however they may have increased their
maxims of domestick policy, or improved their knowledge of foreign
affairs, I cannot but confess myself still inclined to some degree of
suspicion, nor can prevail upon myself to shut my eyes, and deliver up
the publick and myself implicitly to their direction.
Their sagacity, sir, may, perhaps, of late, have received some
improvements from longer experience, and with regard to their integrity,
I believe, at least, that it is not much diminished; and yet I cannot
forbear asserting the right of judging for myself, and of determining
according to the evidence that shall be brought before me.
I have, hitherto, entertained an opinion that for this purpose only we
are deputed by our constituents, who, if they had reposed no confidence
in our care or abilities, would have given up, long since, the vexatious
right of contesting for the choice of representatives. They would have
furnished the ministry with general powers to act for them, and sat at
ease with no other regard to publick measures, than might incite them to
animate, with their applauses, the laudable endeavours of their
profound, their diligent, and their magnanimous governours.
As I do not, therefore, check any suspicions in my own mind, I shall not
easily be restrained from uttering them, because I know not how I shall
benefit my country, or assist her counsels by silent meditations. I
cannot, sir, but observe that the powers conferred by this bill upon the
administration are larger than the nation can safely repose in any body
of men, and with which no man who considers to what purposes they may be
employed will think it convenient to invest the negotiators of the
convention.
Nor do my objections to this act, arise wholly from my apprehensions of
their conduct, who are intrusted with the execution of it, but from my
reflections on the nature of trade, and the conduct of those nations who
are most celebrated for commercial wisdom.
It is well known, sir, how difficult it is to turn trade back into its
ancient channel, when it has by any means been diverted from it, and how
often a profitable traffick has been lost for ever, by a short
interruption, or temporary prohibition. The resentment of disappointed
expectations inclines the buyer to seek another market, and the civility
to which his new correspondents are incited by their own interest,
detains him, till those by whom he was formerly supplied, having no
longer any vent for their products or their wares, employ their labours
on other manufactures, or cultivate their lands for other purposes.
Thus, sir, if those nations who have hitherto been supplied with corn
from Britain, should find a method of purchasing it from Denmark, or any
other of the northern regions, we may hereafter see our grain rotting in
our storehouses, and be burdened with provisions which we can neither
consume ourselves, nor sell to our neighbours.
The Hollanders, whose knowledge of the importance or skill in the arts
of commerce will not be questioned, are so careful to preserve the
inlets of gain from obstruction, that they make no scruple of supplying
their enemies with their commodities, and have been known to sell at
night those bullets which were next day to be discharged against them.
Whether their example, sir, deserves our imitation I am not able to
determine, but it ought at least to be considered, whether their conduct
was rational or not, and whether they did not, by a present evil, ensure
an advantage which overbalanced it.
There are, doubtless, sir, sometimes such exigencies as require to be
complied with at the hazard of future profit, but I am not certain that
the scarcity which is feared or felt at present, is to be numbered
amongst them; but, however formidable it may be thought, there is surely
no need of a new law to provide against it: for it is one of those
extraordinary incidents, on which the king has the right of exerting
extraordinary powers. On occasions like this the prerogative has
heretofore operated very effectually, and I know not that the law has
ever restrained it.
It is, therefore, sir, in my opinion, most prudent to determine nothing
in so dubious a question, and rather to act as the immediate occasion
shall require, than prosecute any certain method of proceeding, or
establish any precedent by an act of the senate.
To restrain that commerce by which the necessaries of life are
distributed is a very bold experiment, and such as once produced an
insurrection in the empire of the Turks, that terminated in the
deposition of one of their monarchs.
I therefore willingly confess, sir, that I know not how to conclude: I
am unwilling to deprive the nation of bread, or to supply our enemies
with strength to be exerted against ourselves; but I am, on the other
hand, afraid to restrain commerce, and to trust the authors of the
convention.
Mr. PELHAM spoke next, to the following purport:--Sir, I am always in
expectation of improvement and instruction when that gentleman engages
in any discussion of national questions, on which he is equally
qualified to judge by his great abilities and long experience, by that
popularity which enables him to sound the sentiments of men of different
interests, and that intelligence which extends his views to distant
parts of the world; but, on this occasion, I have found my expectations
frustrated, for he has inquired without making any discovery, and
harangued without illustrating the question before us.
He has satisfied himself, sir, with declaring his suspicions, without
condescending to tell us what designs or what dangers he apprehends. To
fear, without being able to show the object of our terrours, is the
last, the most despicable degree of cowardice; and to suspect, without
knowing the foundation of our own suspicions, is surely a proof of a
state of mind, which would not be applauded on common occasions, and
such as no man but a patriot would venture to confess.
He has, indeed, sir, uttered some very ingenious conceits upon the late
convention, has alluded to it with great luxuriancy of fancy, and
elegance of diction, and must, at least, confess that whatever may be
its effects upon the interest of the nation, it has to him been very
beneficial, as it has supplied him with a subject of raillery when other
topics began to fail him, and given opportunity for the exercise of that
wit which began to languish, for want of employment.
What connexion his wonderful sagacity has discovered between the
convention and the corn bill, I cannot yet fully comprehend, but have
too high an opinion of his abilities to imagine that so many
insinuations are wholly without any reason to support them. I doubt not,
therefore, sir, but that when some fitter opportunity shall present
itself he will clear their resemblance, and branch out the parallel
between them into a thousand particulars.
In the mean time, sir, it may be proper for the house to expedite the
bill, against which no argument has yet been produced, and which is of
too much importance to be delayed by raillery or invectives.
Mr. SANDYS spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, the bill before
us, as it is of too great importance to be negligently delayed, is
likewise too dangerous to be precipitately hurried into a law.
It has been always the practice of this house to consider money bills
with particular attention, because money is power in almost the highest
degree, and ought not, therefore, to be given but upon strong assurances
that it will be employed for the purposes for which it is demanded, and
that those purposes are in themselves just.
But if we consider, sir, the bill now before us, it will appear yet more
than a money bill, it will be found a bill for regulating the disposal
of that, which it is the great use of money to procure, and is,
therefore, not to be passed into a law without a close attention to
every circumstance that may be combined with it, and an accurate
examination of all the consequences that may be produced by it.
Some of these circumstances or consequences, it is the duty of every
member to lay before the house, and I shall, therefore, propose that the
inducements to the discovery of any provisions illegally exported, and
the manner of levying the forfeiture, may be particularly discussed; for
by a defect in this part, the regulation lately established by the
regency, however seasonable, produced tumults and distractions, which
every good government ought studiously to obviate.
By their proclamation, sir, half the corn that should be found designed
for exportation was to be given to those who should discover and seize
it. The populace, alarmed at once with the danger of a famine, and
animated by a proclamation that put into their own hands the means of
preventing it, and the punishment of those from whose avarice they
apprehended it, rose in throngs to execute so grateful a law. Every
man, sir, whose distress had exasperated him, was incited to gratify his
resentment; every man, whose idleness prompted him to maintain his
family by methods more easy than that of daily labour, was delighted
with the prospect of growing rich on a sudden by a lucky seizure. All
the seditious and the profligate combined together in the welcome
employment of violence and rapine, and when they had once raised their
expectations, there was no small danger lest their impatience of
disappointment should determine them to conclude, that corn, wherever
found, was designed for exportation, and to seize it as a lawful prize.
Thus, sir, by an imprudent regulation, was every man's property brought
into hazard, and his person exposed to the insults of a hungry, a
rapacious, and ungovernable rabble, let loose by a publick proclamation,
and encouraged to search houses and carriages by an imaginary law.
That we may not give occasion to violence and injustice of the same
kind, let us carefully consider the measures which are proposed, before
we determine upon their propriety, and pass no bill on this important
occasion without such deliberation as may leave us nothing to change or
to repent.
Mr. EARLE spoke next to this effect:--Sir, notwithstanding the dangers
which have been represented as likely to arise from any errour in the
prosecution of this great affair, I cannot but declare my opinion, that
no delay ought to be admitted, and that not even the specious pretence
of more exact inquiries, and minute considerations, ought to retard our
proceedings for a day.
My imagination, sir, is, perhaps, not so fruitful as that of some other
members of this house, and, therefore, they may discover many
inconveniencies which I am not able to conceive. But, as every man ought
to act from his own conviction, it is my duty to urge the necessity of
passing this bill, till it can be proved to me, that it will produce
calamities equally to be dreaded with the consequences of protracting
our debates upon it, equal to the miseries of a famine, or the danger of
enabling our enemies to store their magazines, to equip their fleets,
and victual their garrisons.
If it could be imagined, that there was in this assembly a subject of
France or Spain, zealous for the service of his prince, and the
prosperity of his country, I should expect that he would summon all his
faculties to retard the progress of this bill, that he would employ all
his sophistry to show its inconveniency and imperfections, and exhaust
his invention to suggest the dangers of haste; and certainly he could do
nothing that would more effectually promote the interest of his
countrymen, or tend more to enfeeble and depress the power of the
British nation.
If this would naturally be the conduct of an enemy, it is unnecessary to
prove that we can only be safe by acting in opposition to it, and I
think it superfluous to vindicate my ardour for promoting this bill,
when it is evident that its delay would be pleasing to the Spaniards.
Mr. BURREL then spoke as follows:--Sir, if this law be necessary at any
time, it cannot now be delayed, for a few days spent in deliberation,
may make it ineffectual, and that evil may be past of which we sit here
contriving the prevention.
That many contracts, sir, for the exportation of provisions are already
made in all the maritime parts of the empire, is generally known; and it
requires no great sagacity to discover that those by whom they are made,
and made with a view of immense profit, are desirous that they may be
executed; and that they will soon complete the execution of them, when
they are alarmed with the apprehension of a bill, which, in a few days,
may take from them the power of exporting what they have already
collected, and snatch their gain from them when it is almost in their
hands.
A bill for these purposes, sir, ought to fall upon the contractors like
a sudden blow, of which they have no warning or dread; against which
they, therefore, cannot provide any security, and which they can neither
elude nor resist.
If we allow them a short time, our expedients will be of little benefit
to the nation, which is every day impoverished by the exportation of the
necessaries of life, in such quantities, that in a few weeks the law, if
it be passed, may be without penalties, for there will be no possibility
of disobeying it.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to the following purpose:--Sir, I cannot
discover the necessity of pressing the bill with such precipitation, as
must necessarily exclude many useful considerations, and may produce
errours extremely dangerous; for I am not able to conceive what
inconveniencies can arise from a short delay.
The exportation of provisions from Ireland is at present stopped by the
proclamation; and the beef which was designed for other nations, has
been prudently bought up by the contractors, by which those murmurs have
been in a great measure obviated which naturally arise from
disappointments and losses.
There is, therefore, sir, no danger of exportations from that part of
our dominions, which is the chief market for provisions, and from whence
our enemies have been generally supplied: in Britain there is less
danger of any such pernicious traffick, both because the scarcity here
has raised all provisions to a high price, and because merchants do not
immediately come to a new market.
The bill, at least, ought not to be passed without regard to the general
welfare of our fellow-subjects, nor without an attentive consideration
of those petitions which have been presented to us; petitions not
produced by panic apprehensions of imaginary dangers, or distant
prospects of inconveniencies barely possible, but by the certain
foresight of immediate calamities, the total destruction of trade, and
the sudden desolation of flourishing provinces.
By prohibiting the exportation of rice, we shall, sir, in one year,
reduce the colony of South Carolina below the possibility of subsisting;
the chief product of that country, the product which induced us
originally to plant it, and with which all its trade is carried on, is
rice. With rice the inhabitants of that province purchase all the other
necessaries of life, and among them the manufactures of our own country.
This rice is carried by our merchants to other parts of Europe, and sold
again for large profit.
That this trade is very important appears from the number of ships which
it employs, and which, without lading, must rot in the harbours, if rice
be not excepted from the general prohibition. Without this exception,
sir, it is not easy to say what numbers, whose stations appear very
different, and whose employments have no visible relation to each other,
will be at once involved in calamity, reduced to sudden distress, and
obliged to seek new methods of supporting their families. The sailor,
the merchant, the shipwright, the manufacturer, with all the
subordinations of employment that depend upon them, all that supply them
with materials, or receive advantage from their labours, almost all the
subjects of the British crown, must suffer, at least, in some degree, by
the ruin of Carolina.
Nor ought the danger of the sugar islands, and other provinces, less to
alarm our apprehensions, excite our compassion, or employ our
consideration, since nothing is more evident than that by passing this
bill without the exceptions which their petitions propose, we shall
reduce one part of our colonies to the want of bread, and confine the
other to live on nothing else; for they subsist by the exchange of those
products to which the soil of each country is peculiarly adapted: one
province affords no corn, and the other supplies its inhabitants with
corn only.
The necessity of expediting this bill, however it has been exaggerated,
is not so urgent but that we may be allowed time sufficient to consider
for what purpose it is to be passed, and to recollect that nothing is
designed by it, but to hinder our enemies from being supplied from the
British dominions with provisions, by which they might be enabled more
powerfully to carry on the war against us.
To this design no objection has been made, but it is well known, that a
good end may be defeated by an absurd choice of means, and I am not able
to discover how we shall increase our own strength, or diminish that of
our enemies, by compelling one part of our fellow-subjects to starve the
other.
It is necessary, sir, to prohibit the exportation of corn to the ports
of our enemies, and of those nations by which our enemies will be
supplied, but surely it is of no use to exclude any part of our own
dominions from the privilege of being supplied from another. Nor can any
argument be alleged in defence of such a law, that will not prove with
equal force, that corn ought to remain in the same granaries where it is
now laid, that all the markets in this kingdom should be suspended, and
that no man should be allowed to sell bread to another.
There is, indeed, sir, a possibility that the liberty for which I
contend, may be used to wicked purposes, and that some men may be
incited by poverty or avarice to carry the enemy those provisions, which
they pretend to export to British provinces. But if we are to refuse
every power that may be employed to bad purposes, we must lay all
mankind in dungeons, and divest human nature of all its rights; for
every man that has the power of action, may sometimes act ill.
It is, however, prudent to obstruct criminal attempts even when we
cannot hope entirely to defeat them, and, therefore, I am of opinion,
that no provisions ought to be exported without some method of security,
by which the governours of every place may be assured that they will be
conveyed to our own colonies. Such securities will easily be contrived,
and may be regulated in a manner that they shall not be defeated without
such hazard, as the profit that can be expected from illegal commerce,
will not be able to compensate.
It is, therefore, sir, proper to delay the bill so long, at least, as
that we may produce by it the ends intended, and distress our enemies
more than ourselves; that we may secure plenty at home, without the
destruction of our distant colonies, and without obliging part of our
fellow-subjects to desert to the Spaniards for want of bread.
Mr. BOWLES spoke in this manner:--Sir, the necessity of excepting rice
from the general prohibition, is not only sufficiently evinced by the
agent of South Carolina, but confirmed beyond controversy or doubt, by
the petition of the merchants of Bristol, of which the justice and
reasonableness appears at the first view, to every man acquainted with
the nature of commerce.
How much the province of South Carolina will be distressed by this
prohibition, how suddenly the whole trade of that country will be at a
stand, and how immediately the want of many of the necessaries of life
will be felt over a very considerable part of the British dominions, has
already, sir, been very pathetically represented, and very clearly
explained; nor does there need any other argument to persuade us to
allow the exportation of rice.
But, from the petition of the merchants of Bristol, it appears that
there are other reasons of equal force for this indulgence, and that our
regard for the inhabitants of that particular province, however
necessary and just, is not the only motive for complying with their
request.
It is shown, sir, in this petition, that the prohibition of rice will
very little incommode our enemies, or retard their preparations; for
they are not accustomed to be supplied with it from our plantations. We
ought, therefore, not to load our fellow-subjects with embarrassments
and inconveniencies, which will not in any degree extend to our enemies.
It appears, sir, not only that a very important part of our commerce
will be obstructed, but that it will, probably, be lost beyond recovery;
for, as only a small quantity of the rice of Carolina is consumed at
home, and the rest is carried to other countries, it is easy to conceive
that those who shall be disappointed by our merchants will procure so
necessary a commodity from other places, as there are many from which it
may be easily purchased; and it is well known that trade, if it be once
diverted, is not to be recalled, and, therefore, that trade which may be
without difficulty transferred, ought never to be interrupted without
the most urgent necessity.
To prove, sir, that there is now no such necessity, by a long train of
arguments, would be superfluous, for it has been shown already, that our
enemies will not suffer by the prohibition, and the miseries that
inevitably arise from a state of war, are too numerous and oppressive,
to admit of any increase or aggravation upon trivial motives.
The province of Carolina, sir, has already suffered the inconveniencies
of this war beyond any other part of his majesty's dominions, as it is
situate upon the borders of the Spanish dominions, and as it is weak by
the paucity of the inhabitants in proportion to its extent; let us,
therefore, pay a particular regard to this petition, lest we aggravate
the terrour which the neighbourhood of a powerful enemy naturally
produces, by the severer miseries of poverty and famine.
Sir Robert WALPOLE spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, nothing is
more absurd than for those who declare, on all occasions, with great
solemnity, their sincere zeal for the service of the publick, to
protract the debates of this house by personal invectives, and delay the
prosecution of the business of the nation, by trivial objections,
repeated after confutation, and, perhaps, after conviction of their
invalidity.
I need not observe how much time would be spared, and how much the
despatch of affairs would be facilitated by the suppression of this
practice, a practice by which truth is levelled with falsehood, and
knowledge with ignorance; since, if scurrility and merriment are to
determine us, it is not necessary either to be honest or wise to obtain
the superiority in any debate, it will only be necessary to rail and to
laugh, which one man may generally perform with as much success as
another.
The embargo in Ireland was an expedient so necessary and timely, that
the reputation of it is thought too great to be allowed to the
administration, of whom it has been for many years the hard fate, to
hear their actions censured only because they were not the actions of
others, and to be represented as traitors to their country for doing
always what they thought best themselves, and perhaps sometimes what was
in reality approved by those who opposed them.
This, sir, they have borne without much uneasiness, and have contented
themselves with the consciousness of doing right, in expectation that
truth and integrity must at last prevail, and that the prudence of their
conduct and success of their measures would at last evince the justice
of their intentions.
They hoped, sir, that there would be some occasions on which their
enemies would not deny the expedience of their counsels, and did not
expect that after having been so long accused of engrossing exorbitant
power, of rejecting advice, and pursuing their own schemes with the most
invincible obstinacy, they should be supposed on a sudden to have laid
aside their arrogance, to have descended to adopt the opinions, and give
themselves up to the direction of others, only because no objection
could be made to this instance of their conduct.
How unhappy, sir, must be the state of that man who is only allowed to
be a free agent, when he acts wrong, and whose motions, whenever they
tend to the proper point, are supposed to be regulated by another!
Whether such capricious censurers expect that any regard should be paid
by the publick to their invectives, I am not able to determine, but I am
inclined to think so well of their understandings, as to believe that
they intend only to amuse themselves, and perplex those whom they
profess to oppose. In one part of their scheme I know not but they may
have succeeded, but in the other it is evident how generally they have
failed. It must, at least, sir, be observed of these great patrons of
the people, that if they expect to gain them by artifices like this,
they have no high opinion of their discernment, however they may
sometimes magnify it as the last appeal, and highest tribunal.
With regard, sir, to the manner in which the embargo was laid, and the
expedients made use of to enforce the observation of it, they were not
the effects of a sudden resolution, but of long and deliberate
reflection, assisted by the counsels of the most experienced and
judicious persons of both nations; so that if any mistake was committed,
it proceeded not from arrogance or carelessness, but a compliance with
reasons, that if laid before the house, would, whether just or not, be
allowed to be specious.
But, sir, it has not appeared that any improper measures have been
pursued, or that any inconveniencies have arisen from them which it was
possible to have avoided by a different conduct; for when any expedient
fails of producing the end for which it was proposed, or gives occasion
to inconveniencies which were neither expected nor designed, it is not
immediately to be condemned; for it might fail from such obstacles as
nothing could surmount, and the inconveniencies which are complained of
might be the consequences of other causes acting at the same time, or
cooperating, not by the nature of things, but by the practices of those
who prefer their own interest to that of their country.
But though it is, in my opinion, easy to defend the conduct of the
ministry, I am far from thinking this a proper time to engage in their
vindication. The important business before us, must now wholly engage
us, nor ought we to employ our attention upon the past, but the future.
Whatever has been the ignorance or knowledge, whatever the corruption or
integrity of the ministry, this bill is equally useful, equally
necessary. The question is now concerning an act of the senate, not of
the ministry, and the bill may proceed without obstructing future
examinations.
If the bill, sir, now before us be so far approved as to be conceived of
any real benefit to the nation, if it can at all contribute to the
distress or disappointment of our enemies, or the prevention of those
domestic disturbances which are naturally produced by scarcity and
misery, there is no need of arguments to evince the necessity of
despatch in passing it. For if these effects are to be produced by
preventing the exportation of provisions, and a law is necessary for
that purpose, it is certain that the law must be enacted, while our
provisions are yet in our own hands, and before time has been given for
the execution of those contracts which are already made.
That contracts, sir, are entered into for quantities that justly claim
the care of the legislative power, I have been informed by such
intelligence as I cannot suspect of deceiving me. In one small town in
the western part of this kingdom, fifty thousand barrels of corn are
sold by contract, and will be exported, if time be allowed for
collecting and for shipping them.
A few contracts like this will be sufficient to store an army with
bread, or to furnish garrisons against the danger of a siege; a few
contracts like this will produce a considerable change in the price of
provisions, and plunge innumerable families into distress, who might
struggle through the present difficulties, which unsuccessful harvests
have brought upon the nation, had we not sold the gifts of providence
for petty gain, and supported our enemies with those provisions which
were barely sufficient for our own consumption.
I have not heard many objections made against the intention of the bill,
and those which were offered, were mentioned with such diffidence and
uncertainty, as plainly showed, that even in the opinion of him that
proposed them, they were of little weight; and I believe they had no
greater effect upon those that heard them. It may, therefore, be
reasonably supposed that the propriety of a law to prevent the
exportation of victuals is admitted, and surely it can be no question,
whether it ought to be pressed forward, or to be delayed till it will be
of no effect.
Mr. FAZAKERLY spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, as the bill now under
our consideration is entangled with a multitude of circumstances too
important to be passed by without consideration, and too numerous to be
speedily examined; as its effects, whether salutary or pernicious, must
extend to many nations, and be felt in a few weeks to the remotest parts
of the dominions of Britain, I cannot but think, that they who so much
press for expedition on this occasion, consult rather their passions
than their reason, that they discover rather enthusiasm than zeal, and
that by imagining that they have already traced the effects of a law
like this to their utmost extent, they discover rather an immoderate
confidence in their own capacity than give any proofs of that anxious
caution, and deliberate prudence, which true patriotism generally
produces.
There is another method, sir, of proceeding, more proper on this
occasion, which has been already pointed out in this debate; a method of
exerting the prerogative in a manner allowed by law, and established by
immemorial precedents, and which may, therefore, be revived without
affording any room for jealousy or complaints.
An embargo imposed only by the prerogative may be relaxed or enforced as
occasion may require, or regulated according to the necessity arising
from particular circumstances; circumstances in themselves variable, and
subject to the influence of a thousand accidents, and which, therefore,
cannot be always foreseen, or provided against by a law positive and
fixed.
Let us not subject the commonwealth to a hazardous and uncertain
security, while we have in our hands the means of producing the same
end, with less danger and inconveniency; and since we may obviate the
exportation of our corn by methods more speedily efficacious than the
forms of making laws can allow, let us not oppress our fellow-subjects
by hasty or imprudent measures, but make use of temporary expedients,
while we deliberate upon the establishment of a more lasting regulation.
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke to the following purpose;--Sir, that an embargo on
merchandise or provisions may, upon sudden emergencies, or important
occasions, be imposed by the prerogative, cannot be doubted by any man
whose studies have made him acquainted with the extent of the regal
power, and the manner in which it has been exerted in all ages. The
chief use of the prerogative is to supply the defects of the laws, in
cases which do not admit of long consultations, which do not allow time
to convoke senates or inquire into the sentiments of the people.
For this reason, in times of war the imperial power is much enlarged,
and has still a greater extent as exigencies are more pressing. If the
nation is invaded by a foreign force, the authority of the crown is
almost without limits, the whole nation is considered as an army of
which the king is general, and which he then governs by martial laws, by
occasional judicature, and extemporary decrees.
Such, sir, is the power of the king on particular emergencies, and such
power the nature of human affairs must, sometimes, require; for all
forms of government are intended for common good, and calculated for the
established condition of mankind, but must be suspended when they can
only obstruct the purposes for which they were contrived, and must vary
with the circumstances to which they were adapted. To expect that the
people shall be consulted in questions on which their happiness depends,
supposes there is an opportunity of consulting them without hazarding
their lives, their freedom, or their possessions, by the forms of
deliberation.
The necessity of extending the prerogative to the extremities of power,
is, I hope, at a very great distance from us; but if the danger of the
exportation of victuals be so urgent as some gentlemen have represented
it, and so formidable as it appears to the whole nation, it is surely
requisite that the latent powers of the crown should be called forth for
our protection, that plenty be secured within the nation, by barring up
our ports, and the people hindered from betraying themselves to their
enemies, and squandering those blessings which the fertility of our soil
has bestowed upon them.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied in the following manner:--Sir, it is so
unusual among the gentlemen who have opposed my opinion to recommend an
exertion of the regal authority, or willingly to intrust any power to
the administration, that, though they have on this occasion expressed
their sentiments without any ambiguity of language, or perplexity of
ideas, I am in doubt whether I do not mistake their meaning, and cannot,
without hesitation and uncertainty, propose the motion to which all
their arguments seem necessarily to conduct me; arguments of which I do
not deny the force, and which I shall not attempt to invalidate by
slight objections, when I am convinced, in general, of their
reasonableness and truth.
The necessity of that despatch which I have endeavoured to recommend, is
not only universally admitted, but affirmed to be so pressing, that it
cannot wait for the solemnity of debates, or the common forms of passing
laws. The danger which is every moment increasing, requires, in the
opinion of these gentlemen, to be obviated by extraordinary measures,
and that pernicious commerce, which threatens the distress of the
community, is to be restrained by an immediate act of the prerogative.
If this be the opinion of the house, it will be necessary to lay it
before his majesty, by a regular address, that the nation may be
convinced of the necessity of such extraordinary precautions, and that
the embargo may be imposed, at once, with the expedition peculiar to
despotick power, and the authority which can be conferred only by
senatorial sanctions.
Whether this is the intention of the members, from whose declarations I
have deduced it, can only be discovered by themselves, who, if they have
any other scheme in view, must explain it in clearer terms, that the
house may deliberate upon it, and reject or adopt it, according to its
conformity to the laws of our country, and to the present state of our
affairs.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke thus:--Sir, whatever may be the meaning of other
gentlemen, who must undoubtedly be left at full liberty to explain their
own expressions, I will freely declare, that I am sufficiently
understood by the right honourable gentleman, and that, in my opinion,
no remedy can be applied to the present distemper of the nation, a
distemper by which it is hourly pining away, by which its vitals are
impaired, and the necessary nourishment withdrawn from it, that will
operate with sufficient efficacy and speed, except an embargo be imposed
by the prerogative.
That this opinion, if received by the house, must be the subject of an
address, is in itself manifest, and the reason for which an embargo is
required, proves that an address ought not to be delayed.
I cannot omit this opportunity of remarking, how plainly it must now
appear that many of us have been unjustly charged with obstructing the
progress of the bill for pernicious purposes, with views of raising
discontents in the nation, of exposing the administration to publick
hatred, of obstructing the measures of the government, or hindering the
success of the war, when we have receded from our general principles,
and suspended the influence of our established maxims, for the sake of
facilitating an expedient which may promote the general advantage, by
recommending his majesty to the affections of his people.
Mr. PELHAM here replied, to this effect:--Sir, I am far from blaming any
gentleman for asserting, on all occasions, the integrity of his designs,
or displaying the reasonableness of his conduct; and of what I do not
disapprove I shall not decline the imitation.
It is not uncommon, in the heat of opposition, while each man is
convinced of his own honesty, and strongly persuaded of the truth of his
own positions, to hear each party accused by the other of designs
detrimental to the publick interest, of protracting debates by artful
delays, of struggling against their own conviction, and of obscuring
known truth by objections which discover themselves to be without force.
These accusations, which are on both sides frequent, are, I hope, on
both sides generally false; at least, it must appear on this occasion,
that those who press the bill had no views of strengthening their party
by a victory, of wearying their opponents by obstinacy, or of promoting
any private purposes by a new law; since an expedient, by which time may
be gained, and the avowed end of hastening this necessary bill secured,
is no sooner proposed on one part, than received on the other.
At the close of the debate, a form of an address was proposed by Mr.
CLUTTERBUCK; which, being approved by the house, was presented to his
majesty: and an embargo was laid on all provisions accordingly.
On the 17th day of sitting the house proceeded on the bill for
preventing exportation; and ordered an account of the corn which had
been exported for six years last past to be laid before the committee.
The house also addressed his majesty to take off the embargo on ships
laden with fish or rice, which his majesty had before ordered to be
done.
On the 21st the corn bill was again the subject of deliberation, and
some amendments were offered by Mr. SANDYS, containing not only
exceptions of rice and fish, which had been before admitted, but
likewise of butter, as a perishable commodity, which, if it were not
allowed to be exported, would corrupt and become useless in a short
time.
He proposed, likewise, that the two islands of Jersey and Guernsey might
continue to be supplied, with certain restrictions, from the port of
Southampton.
It was proposed, likewise, in favour of some other colonies, that they
might receive provisions from Britain, lest there should be a necessity
for the inhabitants of those provinces to abandon their settlements.
The penalties of this law, and the manner in which they should be
recovered and applied, were likewise settled on this day.
NOVEMBER 25, 1740.
The consideration of the corn bill was resumed; and it was particularly
debated from what time it should commence, which some of the members
were inclined to fix on the 9th day of the session, on which occasion
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke as follows:
Sir, that the laws may be observed by the nation without daily violence
and perpetual compulsion, that our determinations may be received with
reverence, and the regulations which we establish confirmed by the
concurrence of our constituents, it is necessary that we endeavour to
preserve their esteem, and convince them that the publick prosperity may
be safely trusted in our hands.
This confidence is to be gained as well in high stations, as in lower
conditions, by large assemblies, as by individuals, only by a constant
practice of justice, and frequent exertion of superiour wisdom. When any
man finds his friend oppressive and malicious, he naturally withdraws
his affections from him; when he observes him advancing absurd opinions,
and adhering to them with obstinacy incapable of conviction, he falls
unavoidably into a distrust of his understanding, and no longer pays any
deference to his advice, or considers his conduct as worthy of
imitation.
In the same manner, sir, if the legislative powers shall, in making
laws, discover that they regard any motives before the advantage of
their country, or that they pursue the publick good by measures
inadequate and ill-concerted, what can be expected from the people, but
that they should set up their own judgment in opposition to that of
their governours, make themselves the arbiters in all doubtful
questions, and obey or disregard the laws at discretion?
If this danger may arise from laws injudiciously drawn up, it may surely
be apprehended from a compliance with this proposal; a proposal that the
operation of the law should commence eleven days before the law itself
is in being.
I have, hitherto, sir, regarded it as a principle equally true in
politicks as in philosophy, that nothing _can act_ when it does _not
exist_; and I did not suspect that a position so evident would ever
stand in need of a proof or illustration.
We live, indeed, in an age of paradoxes, and have heard several notions
seriously defended, of which some would, not many years ago, have
condemned their abetter to a prison or a madhouse, and would have been
heard by the wisest of our ancestors with laughter or detestation; but I
did not expect that the most hardy innovator would have shocked my
understanding with a position like this, or have asserted that a law may
operate before it is made, or before it is projected.
That where there is no law there is no transgression, is a maxim not
only established by universal consent, but in itself evident and
undeniable; and it is, sir, surely no less certain, that where there is
no transgression there can be no punishment.
If a man may be punished, sir, by a law made after the fact, how can any
man conclude himself secure from the jail or the gibbet? A man may
easily find means of being certain that he has offended no law in being,
but that will afford no great satisfaction to a mind naturally timorous;
since a law hereafter to be made, may, if this motion be supposed
reasonable, take cognizance of his actions, and how he can know whether
he has been equally scrupulous to observe the future statutes of future
senates, he will find it very difficult to determine.
Mr. PELHAM rose, and spoke thus:--Sir, notwithstanding the absurdity
which the honourable gentleman imagines himself to have discovered in
this proposal, and which he must be confessed to have placed in a very
strong light, I am of opinion, that it may, with very little
consideration, be reconciled to reason and to justice, and that the wit
and satire that have been so liberally employed, will appear to have
been lost in the air, without use and without injury.
The operation of the law may, very properly, commence from the day on
which the embargo was laid by his majesty's proclamation, which surely
was not issued to no purpose, and which ought not to be disobeyed
without punishment.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but be
somewhat surprised, that a gentleman so long conversant in national
affairs, should not yet have heard or known the difference between a
proclamation and a penal law.
By a proclamation, his majesty may prevent, in some cases, what he
cannot punish; he may hinder the exportation of our corn by ordering
ships to be stationed at the entrance of our harbours; but if any should
escape with prohibited cargoes, he can inflict no penalties upon them at
their return.
To enforce this prohibition by the sanction of punishments is the
intention of the present bill, but a proclamation can make nothing
criminal, and it is unjust and absurd to punish an action which was
legal when it was done.
The law ought, sir, in my opinion, not to commence till time is allowed
for dispersing it to the utmost limits of this island; for as it is
unreasonable to punish without law, it is not more equitable to punish
by a law, of which, they who have unhappily broken it, could have no
intelligence.
A future day was agreed to.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, DEC. 2, 1740.
DEBATE RELATING TO A SEDITIOUS PAPER OF THE SAME KIND WITH THE
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EMBARGO ON PROVISIONS.
Lord THOMSON took notice of a paper which he had in his hand, and said
he received it at the door, where it was given to the members as they
came in, and, complaining of it as an indignity offered to the house,
desired that it might be read. Which being done, he rose up, and spoke
in substance as follows:
Sir, the crime of exasperating the people against their governours, of
raising discontent, and exciting murmurs in a time of general danger,
and of attempting to represent wise and salutary measures, which have
received the approbation of the whole legislature, as mean artifices,
contrived only to raise the fortunes of some favourites of the minister,
and aggrandize the officers of state, by the miseries of the people, is
a crime too enormous to require or admit any aggravation from rhetorick,
and too dangerous to hope for any excuse from candour and lenity.
To read or hear this paper is sufficient for a full conviction of its
pernicious tendency, and of the malice of its author; a charge not fixed
upon particular expressions capable of a doubtful meaning, and which
heat or inadvertency might casually have produced, but supported by the
general design of the whole paper, and the continued tenour of the
argument, which is evidently intended to show, that an act of
government, which cannot but appear necessary and seasonable in the
present state of our affairs, an act ratified by the concurrence of all
the powers of the legislature, is nothing but a scheme of avarice to
grow rich by oppression.
Nor is this scandalous libel written with more confidence and insolence
than it is dispersed. Not content, sir, with vilifying the proceedings
of the state, the author has industriously published his calumny at our
door: the time has been when defamation skulked in secret, and calumnies
against the government were dispersed by whispers or private
communication; but this writer adds insults to his injuries, and at once
reproaches and defies us.
I beg leave to move, therefore, that the house do censure this paper as
"a malicious and scandalous libel, highly and injuriously reflecting
upon a just and wise act of his majesty's government, and also upon the
proceedings of both houses of senate; and tending to create jealousies
in the minds of the people." I also move, "that the author may be
ordered to attend, to be examined at our bar."
[This was unanimously agreed to by the house. The doorkeeper was called
in, and, being shown the paper, was asked from whom he received it? who
answered, that he believed the person who delivered it to him, was then
detained in one of the committee rooms, upon which he was ordered to
look for, and fetch him to the bar.]
Mr. SANDYS, taking notice that the person was already in custody, said,
that he should be glad to know by what authority. It was not reasonable
to punish first, and judge afterwards.
Upon which sir William YONGE replied, that he had caused him to be
detained, in order to know the pleasure of the house; and that he
thought it his duty to secure so enormous an offender from escaping.
Soon after, the doorkeeper brought the man in, when he declared, upon
examination, his name and his profession, which was that of a scrivener,
and owned with great openness, that he was the author of the paper. He
was then asked who was the printer, and answered that he printed it
himself. Which he explained afterwards, by saying, that as he had
carried it to the printer's, he might be said, in the general
acceptation of the term, as applied to an author, to be the printer. He
then discovered the printer, and was asked, where was the original
manuscript, which he said he had destroyed, as he did any other useless
paper.
It having been observed by some of the members, that it was printed in
one of the daily papers, he was asked, who carried it thither? and
answered, that he carried it himself. It was then demanded, what he gave
for having it inserted, and he answered that he gave nothing.
[After many questions, Mr. Henry ARCHER desired that he might be asked,
whether on the Friday before he was in the gallery; at which some of the
members expressed their disapprobation, and the man being ordered to
withdraw, the following debate ensued upon the propriety of the
question.]
Mr. SANDYS spoke first, in substance as follows:--Sir, those who are
intrusted by their country with the authority of making laws, ought,
undoubtedly, to observe them with the utmost circumspection, lest they
should defeat their own endeavours, and invalidate, by their example,
their own decrees.
There is no part, sir, of our civil constitution more sacred, none that
has been more revered by those that have trampled upon other forms of
justice, and wantoned in oppression without restraint, than that
privilege by which every Briton is exempted from the necessity of
accusing himself, and by which he is entitled to refuse an answer to any
question which may be asked, with a view to draw from him a confession
of an offence which cannot be proved.
Whether this great privilege, sir, is not violated; whether the
unalienable right of a free subject is not infringed, by the question
put to the person at our bar, the house must decide. The punishment to
which intruders are subject by the orders of this house, proves that his
presence in the house is considered as a crime, of which, as we have no
proof of it, a confession ought not to be extorted by an artful and
insidious question, of which he may not discover the intention or the
consequence. Such treatment, sir, is rather to be expected by slaves in
the inquisition of Spain, than a Briton at the bar of this house; a
house instituted to preserve liberty, and to restrain injustice and
oppression.
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but concur with
the opinion of the honourable gentleman, that, in requiring an answer to
this question, we shall expose a man to a punishment against whom we
have no evidence, but what is extorted from himself; and, consequently,
no knowledge of his crime upon which we can proceed to inflict censures
or penalties, without the manifest infraction of our constitution.
It cannot be imagined, sir, that he intends to confess himself guilty of
a crime of which no proof has been brought, or that he will voluntarily
subject himself to punishments. It must, therefore, follow, that he is
entrapped in his examination, by an artifice, which, I hope, will never
find any countenance in this house.
Mr. WINNINGTON answered to the following purpose:--Sir, it is not
impossible that the honourable gentlemen, having not lately looked into
the orders of the house, may mistake the tendency of the question; I,
therefore, move that the order may be read.
[The order being read by the clerk, he proceeded.]
It is evident, sir, that by the order now read, the serjeant at arms
attending on this house, may take into custody all strangers that shall
be found in the house or gallery while we are assembled; and that this
order is not always put in practice, must be attributed to the lenity of
the house. But that this order extends to past offences, and subjects
any man to imprisonment for having been present in some former day,
cannot be conceived. For how far may such a retrospect be extended? or
at what time, after having intruded into the house, can any man presume
to consider himself as exempt from the danger of imprisonment?
Our order, sir, only decrees present punishment for present offences,
and, therefore, the question asked by the honourable gentleman, may be
insisted on without scruple, and answered without hazard. Let then the
honourable gentlemen reserve their laudable zeal for our constitution
till it shall be invaded by more important occasions.
Mr. SANDYS replied:--Sir, what victory the honourable gentleman imagines
himself to have gained, or whence proceeds all his wantonness of
exultation, I am not able to discover. The question only relates to the
interpretation of one of our own orders, and is, therefore, not of the
highest importance; nor can his success, in so trivial a debate, entitle
him to great applause from others, or produce, in a person of his
abilities, any uncommon satisfaction to himself.
But, whatever may be the pleasure of the victory, it must, at least, be
gained before it can be celebrated; and it is by no means evident, that
he has yet any reason to assure himself of conquest.
His interpretation, sir, of the order, which he has so confidently laid
before the house, seems to me to have no foundation in reason or
justice; for if it be an offence against the house to be present at our
consultations, and that offence be justly punishable, why should any man
be exempt from a just censure by an accidental escape? or what makes the
difference between this crime and any other, that this alone must be
immediately punished, or immediately obliterated, and that a lucky
flight is equivalent to innocence?
It is surely, sir, more rational to believe, that the house may punish
any breach of its orders at a distant time, that if our censure is once
eluded, it may be afterwards enforced; and, therefore, that the question
put to the person at the bar ought not to be asked, because it cannot
safely be answered.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke next, in words to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but
conceive that our order may extend its influence beyond the present
moment, and that intrusions may be punished by the house on another day
than that on which they were committed.
I am so far, sir, from being of opinion, that, to make the execution of
this order valid, the house must sit, without interruption, from the
time of the offence to that of the punishment, that if the gentlemen in
the gallery were to be taken into custody, I should advise the serjeant
to wait till the house should break up, and seize them as they should
come out.
Sir William YONGE spoke next, in the manner following:--Sir, if any such
punishment were now intended, I should advise the gentlemen in the
gallery to retire, indeed, but not to hide themselves like felons, or
men proscribed by proclamation; for as the power of seizing any man in
the house is sufficient to secure us from intrusion, there is no reason
to extend it farther; and penalties are not, without reason, to be
inflicted, neither has the house ever coveted the power of oppressing;
and what else is unnecessary punishment?
If, therefore, an intruder is not seized in the act of intrusion, he
cannot legally be imprisoned for it. And any of the strangers, who now
hear this debate, may retire to a very small distance from the house,
and set the serjeant at arms at defiance.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then spoke to this effect:--Sir, whether the question
be proper or not, it seems very unnecessary to debate; because, however
it be answered, it cannot be of great importance: the man has already
confessed himself the author of the libel, and may, therefore, be
punished without farther examination.
That he is the real author, sir, I am not, indeed, convinced by his
assertion, with whatever confidence it was made; for so far as his
appearance enables me to judge of his education and sphere of life, it
is not probable that he should be much versed in political inquiries, or
that he should engage in the discussion of questions like this.
There appears, sir, in the paper before us, a more extensive knowledge
of facts, a more accurate attention to commerce, more artful reasoning,
and a more elevated style, than it is reasonable to expect from this
man, whom, without pretending to determine the limits of his capacity,
or the compass of his knowledge, I am, for my part, inclined to look
upon as an agent to some other person of higher station, and greater
accomplishments.
It is not uncommon, sir, for gentlemen to exercise their abilities, and
employ their pens, upon political questions, and when they have produced
any thing, which their complaisance for themselves equally hinders them
from owning and suppressing, they are known to procure some person of
inferiour rank, to take upon him, in publick, the character of the
author, and to stand the danger of the prosecution, contenting
themselves with the applause and admiration of their chosen friends,
whom they trust with the important secret, and with whom they sit and
laugh at the conjectures of the publick, and the ignorance of the
ministry.
This, sir, is a frequent practice, not only with those who have no other
employment, but, as I have sufficient reasons to believe, among some
gentlemen who have seats in this house; gentlemen, whose abilities and
knowledge qualify them to serve the publick in characters much superiour
to that of lampooners of the government.
Mr. PULTENEY answered in terms to the following purpose:--Sir, whether
the man who confessed himself the author of the paper, has accused
himself of what he did not commit, or has ingenuously and openly
discovered the truth, it is beyond my penetration absolutely to decide;
the frankness and unconcern with which he made the declaration, gave it,
at least, the appearance of truth, nor do I discover any reason for
doubting his sincerity. Is there any improbability in the nature of the
fact, that should incline us to suspect his veracity? Is there any
apparent advantage to be gained by assuming a false character? Neither
of those circumstances can be produced against him, and an assertion is
to be admitted for its own sake, when there is nothing to invalidate it.
But the honourable gentleman, sir, appears to have a very particular
reason for his doubts; a reason, which will, I hope, have no weight with
any but himself. By denying the paper to this man, he gives room for
conjecture and suspicion to range far and wide, and wanton with whatever
characters he shall think proper subjects for his amusement. An author
is now to be sought, and many diverting arguments may be brought by the
dullest inquirer for fixing it upon one man, or denying it to another.
The honourable gentleman, sir, has given us a bold specimen of this kind
of wit, by insinuating that it is the production of some one of the
members of this house; a conjecture of which I am not able to find the
foundation, and therefore imagine, that raillery rather than argument
was intended. But let the honourable gentleman recollect, that the chief
excellence of raillery is politeness, to which he has surely paid little
regard, in supposing that what has been unanimously condemned as a
libel, has one of those who censured it for its author.
If I am particularly hinted at in this sagacious conjecture, I take this
opportunity of declaring that I am equally ignorant of the whole affair
with any other gentleman in this house; that I never saw the paper till
it was delivered to me at the door, nor the author till he appeared at
the bar. Having thus cleared myself, sir, from this aspersion, I declare
it as my opinion, that every gentleman in the house can safely purge
himself in the same manner; for I cannot conceive that any of them can
have written a libel like this. There are, indeed, some passages which
would not disgrace the greatest abilities, and some maxims true in
themselves, though perhaps fallaciously applied, and at least such an
appearance of reasoning and knowledge, as sets the writer far above the
level of the contemptible scribblers of the ministerial vindications: a
herd of wretches whom neither information can enlighten, nor affluence
elevate; low drudges of scurrility, whose scandal is harmless for want
of wit, and whose opposition is only troublesome from the
pertinaciousness of stupidity.
Why such immense sums are distributed amongst these reptiles, it is
scarce possible not to inquire; for it cannot be imagined that those who
pay them expect any support from their abilities. If their patrons would
read their writings, their salaries would quickly be withdrawn; for a
few pages would convince them, that they can neither attack nor defend,
neither raise any man's reputation by their panegyrick, nor destroy it
by their defamation.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then spoke in the following manner:--I hope it is not
expected, that the heat with which one class of our political writers
have been attacked by the honourable gentleman, should engage me to
undertake their defence with the same earnestness. I have neither
interest enough in the question to awaken my passions, nor curiosity or
leisure sufficient for such an examination of the writings on each side,
as is necessary, before the superiority of any author above his brethren
can he justly asserted.
It is no part, sir, of my employment or amusement to compare their
arguments, or to balance their abilities; nor do I often read the papers
of either party, except when I am informed by some that have more
inclination to such studies than myself, that they have risen by some
accident above their common level.
Yet that I may not appear entirely to desert the question, I cannot
forbear to say, that I have never, from these accidental inspections of
their performances, discovered any reason to exalt the authors who write
against the administration, to a higher degree of reputation than their
opponents. That any of them deserve loud applauses, I cannot assert, and
am afraid that all, which deserves to be preserved of the writings on
either side, may be contracted to a very few volumes.
The writers for the opposition appear to me to be nothing more than the
echoes of their predecessors, or, what is still more despicable, of
themselves, and to have produced nothing in the last seven years, which
had not been said seven years before.
I may, perhaps, be thought by some gentlemen of each class to speak
contemptuously of their advocates, nor shall I think my own opinion less
just for such a censure; for the reputation of controversial writers
arises, generally, from the prepossession of their readers in favour of
the opinions which they endeavour to defend. Men easily admit the force
of an argument which tends to support notions, that it is their interest
to diffuse, and readily find wit and spirit in a satire pointed at
characters which they desire to depress: but to the opposite party, and
even to themselves, when their passions have subsided, and their
interest is disunited from the question, those arguments appear only
loud assertions, or empty sophistry; and that which was clamorously
praised, discovers itself to be only impudence or low conceits; the
spirit evaporates, and the malignity only remains.
If we consider, sir, what opposition of character is necessary to
constitute a political writer, it will not be wondered that so few excel
in that undertaking. He that will write well in politicks, must at the
same time have a complete knowledge of the question, and time to digest
his thoughts into method, and polish his style into elegance; which is
little less than to say, he must be at once a man of business, and a man
of leisure; for political transactions are not easily understood, but by
those who are engaged in them, and the art of writing is not attainable
without long practice, and sedentary application.
Thus it happens that political writings are generally defective: for
they are drawn up by men unacquainted with publick business, and who
can, therefore, only amuse their readers with fallacious recitals,
specious sophistries, or an agreeable style; or they are the hasty
productions of busy negotiators, who, though they cannot but excel the
other class of writers in that which is of most importance, the
knowledge of their subject, are yet rarely at leisure to display that
knowledge to advantage, or add grace to solidity.
Writers of the latter sort appear but seldom, and most of our political
papers are the amusements of leisure, or the expedients of want.
Whether the paper now before us is the produce of ease, or of necessity,
I shall not determine; I have already offered my opinion, that the man
who claims it is not the author, nor do I discover any reason for
changing my sentiment: the question is a question merely of conjecture,
since neither I nor the honourable gentleman attempt to offer any
demonstrative proofs of our opinion. If he has any to produce in favour
of his own notions, let him lay them before you, but let him always
forbear to impute to me assertions which I never uttered, and beware of
representing me as declaring that I believe this paper the composition
of some member of this house.
[It was then debated, whether this offence should be punished by the
authority of the house, or referred to the cognizance of some of the
courts of judicature in Westminster hall, on which occasion Mr. HOWE
spoke as follows:]
Sir, it is the duty of every part of the legislature, not only to
preserve the whole system of our government unaltered and unimpaired,
but to attend particularly to the support of their own privileges,
privileges not conferred upon them by our ancestors, but for wise
purposes.
It is the privilege of this house that we, and we only, are the judges
of our own rights, and we only, therefore, can assign the proper
punishment when they shall be presumptuously invaded.
If we remit this offender, who has attempted to debase the house in the
opinion of the nation, to any inferiour court, we allow that court to
determine, by the punishment that shall be inflicted, the importance of
this assembly, and the value of the collective character of this house.
It therefore concerns us, in regard to our own dignity, and to the
privileges of our successours, that we retain the cognizance of this
crime in our own hands, in which it is placed by perpetual prescription
and the nature of our constitution.
[The house agreed to this, and the libeller was sent to the common jail
of Middlesex, by warrant from the speaker.]
Sir William YONGE then spoke to this effect:--Sir, I am pleased with
finding that the malice and indecency of this libel, has raised in the
house a just resentment, and that the wretch, who, with a confidence so
steady, and such appearance of satisfaction in his countenance,
confesses, or rather proclaims himself the author, is treated as he
deserves. But let us not forget that the same degree of guilt always
requires the same punishment, and that when the author of scandal is in
prison, the printer and propagator of it ought not to be at liberty.
The printer of the daily news is surely the proper object of your
indignation, who inserted this libel in his paper, without the fondness
of an author, and without the temptation of a bribe; a bribe, by the
help of which it is usual to circulate scurrility. To this man the
expense or labour of aspersing the government was recompensed by the
pleasure, and he could not prevail on himself to omit any opportunity of
incensing the people, and exposing at once the whole legislature to
censure and contempt.
Those, therefore, that have concurred in the imprisonment of the author,
will doubtless join with me in requiring the attendance of his officious
accomplice, and I cannot forbear expressing my hopes, that he will not
meet with kinder treatment.
It is far from being the first offence of his licentious press; and the
lenity of the government, by which he has been so long spared, has had
no other effect upon him, than to add confidence to his malice, and
incite him to advance from one degree of impudence to another.
He has for several weeks persisted in misrepresenting the intention of
the embargo, by letters pretended to be written by friends of the
government who are injured by it. He has vented his insinuations
hitherto, as without punishment, so, as it appears, without fear. It is
time, therefore, to disturb his security, and restrain him from adding
one calumny to another.
Sir John BARNARD rose up hereupon, and opposed this motion in terms to
the following effect:--Sir, the end of punishment is to prevent a
repetition of the same crime, both in the offender, and in those who may
have the same inclinations; and when that end is accomplished, all
farther severities have an appearance rather of cruelty than justice.
By punishing the author of this libel, we have, in my opinion,
sufficiently secured our dignity from any future attacks, we have
crushed the head of the confederacy, and prevented the subordinate
agents from exerting their malice. Printers can do no injury without
authors; and if no man shall dare to write a libel, it is not worthy of
our inquiry how many may be inclined to publish it.
But if the printer must necessarily be punished before the resentment of
the house can be satisfied; if it shall not be thought sufficient to
punish him without whose assistance the other could not have offended;
let us, at least, confine our animadversion to the present fault,
without tracing back his life for past misdemeanours, and charging him
with accumulated wickedness; for if a man's whole life is to be the
subject of judicial inquiries, when he shall appear at the bar of this
house, the most innocent will have reason to tremble when they approach
it.
Even with regard, sir, to the offence of which he is now accused,
somewhat may, perhaps, be said in extenuation of his guilt, which I do
not offer to gratify any personal affection or regard for him, to whom I
am equally a stranger with any other gentleman in this house, but to
prevent a punishment which may be hereafter thought disproportioned to
the crime.
It is, sir, to be remembered, that he was not the original printer of
the libel, which he only reprinted from a paper, of which he knew that
it was to be dispersed at our door, and in which he could not naturally
suspect any seditious or dangerous assertions to be contained. It is,
therefore, probable that he fell into the offence by ignorance, or, at
worst, by inadvertency; and, as his intention was not criminal, he may
properly be spared.
Mr. WINNINGTON spoke, in answer, to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but
think the honourable gentleman betrayed, by his zeal for the defence of
this man, into some assertions not to be supported by law or reason. If
it be innocent to print a paper once printed, will it not inevitably
follow, that the most flagitious falsehoods, and the most enormous
insults on the crown itself, the most seditious invectives, and most
dangerous positions, may be dispersed through the whole empire, without
any danger but to the original printer? And what reason, sir, can be
assigned, why that which is criminal in one man, should be innocent in
another?
Nor is this the only position which has been advanced contrary to the
laws of our country; for it has been asserted, that the general
character of an offender is a consideration foreign from that of his
immediate crime; and that whatever any man's past life has been, he is
only to be judged according to the evidence for the offence which is
then the subject of examination.
How much this opinion is consistent with the practice of our courts, a
very slight knowledge of their methods of proceeding will readily
discover. Is any villain there convicted but by the influence of his
character? And is not the chief question at a trial the past conduct of
the person at the bar?
Sir John BARNARD rose here, and spoke thus:--Sir, I rise up only to
answer a question, which is, whether properly or not, put to me, and
hope the irregularity will not be imputed to me, by the house, but to
the occasion which produces it.
I am asked, whether it is not the chief question at the bar of our
courts of justice, what is the character of the prisoner? and cannot but
feel some amazement that any man should be so ignorant of common
proceedings, and so much unacquainted with the execution of our laws, as
to have admitted a notion so chimerical.
The character of the prisoner is never examined, except when it is
pleaded by himself, and witnesses are produced to offer testimony in his
favour; that plea, like all others, is then to be examined, and is
sometimes confuted by contrary evidence. But, the character of a
criminal, though it may be urged by himself as a proof of his innocence,
is never to be mentioned by his prosecutor as an aggravation or proof of
his guilt. It is not required by the law, that the general character of
a criminal, but that the particular evidence of the crime with which he
stands charged, should be examined; nor is his character ever mentioned
but by his own choice.
Sir William YONGE spoke next, to the effect following:--Sir, to prove
the malignity of the intention with which this libel was inserted in the
daily paper, it cannot be improper to observe, that the embargo has been
for many days past the favourite topic of this printer, and that,
therefore, it was not by accident that he admitted so zealous an
advocate for his opinions to be seasonably assisted by the circulation
of his paper, but that he, doubtless, was delighted with an opportunity
of dispersing sedition by means of greater abilities than his own.
Nor can it be justly pleaded, sir, in his favour, that he was encouraged
to publish it by the confidence with which he saw it dispersed; for it
was printed by him in the morning, and not brought hither till the
afternoon. I cannot, therefore, but conclude, that his intentions were
agreeable to his practice, and that he deserves to accompany the author
in his present confinement.
The advocate, CAMPBELL, spoke next, to this purpose:--Sir, I hope it
will not be imputed to me as disregard of the government, or neglect of
the honour of this house, that I declare myself, on all occasions like
this, inclined to lenity, and think it necessary always to proceed by
regular methods, and known forms of justice, not by capricious
determinations, and orders variable at pleasure.
I opposed the imprisonment of the man who just now appeared at the bar
of our house, and am still more unwilling to proceed to severities
against another, who is criminal only in a subordinate degree. The
loudest declaimers against these men cannot have stronger detestation of
falsehood and sedition than myself; but however flagrant may be the
crimes, they may be punished with unjustifiable rigour, and, in my
opinion, we have already proceeded with severity sufficient to
discourage any other attempts of the same kind.
Whether it will promote the advantage of the publick, and the efficacy
of our deliberations, to deter any man from the common practice of
giving us information by delivering papers at our door, must be
considered by the house.
Nor is it less worthy of our most attentive inquiry, whether it is not
more reasonable to prosecute this offender in the common forms of
justice, than to punish him by any act of uncontroulable, unaccountable
authority? Whether it is not more reasonable to have him prosecuted
before a judge unprejudiced, and a disinterested jury, than to act at
once as party, evidence, and judge? I have no desire, sir, of
diminishing the privileges of this house; and yet less would I
contribute to establish any precedents of unlimited power or arbitrary
punishments.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, whence so
much tenderness can arise for an offender of this kind, I am at a loss
to discover, nor am I able to conceive any argument that can be produced
for exempting from punishment the printer of a paper, which has been
already determined, by the vote of the house, to be a scandalous libel,
tending to promote sedition.
It has been, indeed, agreed, that there are contained in the paper some
true positions, and some passages innocent, at least, and perhaps
rational and seasonable. But this, sir, is nothing more than to say,
that the paper, flagitious as it is, might have been swelled to a
greater degree of impudence and scurrility; that what is already too
heinous to be borne, might, by greater virulence, become more enormous.
If no wickedness, sir, is to be checked till it has attained the
greatest height at which it can possibly arrive, our courts of criminal
judicature may be shut up as useless; and if a few innocent paragraphs
will palliate a libel, treason may be written and dispersed without
danger or restraint; for what libel was ever so crowded with sedition,
that a few periods might not have been selected, which, upon this
principle, might have secured it from censure.
The danger of discouraging intelligence from being offered at the door
of our house, does not alarm me with any apprehensions of disadvantage
to the nation; for I have not so mean an opinion of the wisdom of this
assembly, as to imagine that they can receive any assistance from the
informations of their officious instructors, who ought, in my opinion,
sir, rather to be taught by some senatorial censure to know their own
station, than to be encouraged to neglect their proper employments, for
the sake of directing their governours.
When bills, sir, are depending, by which either the interest of the
nation, or of particular men, may be thought to be endangered, it is,
indeed, the incontestable right of every Briton to offer his petition at
the bar of the house, and to deliver the reasons upon which it is
founded. This is a privilege of an unalienable kind, and which is never
to be infringed or denied; and this may always be supported without
countenancing anonymous intelligence, or receiving such papers as the
authors of them are afraid or ashamed to own, and which they, therefore,
employ meaner hands to distribute.
Of this kind, sir, undoubtedly, is the paper now under our
consideration, of which I am far from imagining that it was drawn up by
the man who declares himself the writer, and am, therefore, convinced of
the necessity of calling the printer to the bar, that whatever the
lenity or justice of this assembly may determine with regard to his
punishment, he may be examined with respect to the real authors of the
libel; and that our resentment may fall upon him, who has endeavoured to
shelter himself by exposing another.
Counsellor ORD spoke to this effect:--Sir, I am inclined to believe,
that the persons associated in writing and dispersing this paper,
whosoever they may be, are of no high rank, or considerable influence;
as it is not likely that any man who had much to hazard, would expose
himself to the resentment of the whole legislature; but let us not for
that reason exert our superiority in wanton punishments, or tyrannise
merely because we cannot be resisted. Let us remember that the same
justice and the same humanity is due to the meanest, as the highest of
our fellow-subjects; and that there is even less necessity of rigorous
measures, as the attack is less formidable.
But, sir, there is one motive to moderation that has seldom been found
less efficacious than the consideration of the laws of justice or
humanity. We ought to be withheld by regard to our posterity, and even
to ourselves, from any exorbitant extension of our privileges. We know,
that authority once exerted, is claimed afterwards by prescription. And
who knows by what sudden rotation of power he may himself suffer by a
precedent which he has concurred to establish, and feel the weight of
that oppressive power which he first granted for the punishment of
another?
Mr. HOWE spoke thus:--Sir, I am always unwilling to oppose any proposal
of lenity and forbearance, nor have now any intention of heightening the
guilt of this man by cruel exaggerations, or inciting the house to
rigour and persecution.
But let us remember, sir, that justice and mercy are equally to be
regarded, and while we pity the folly of a misguided, or, perhaps, a
thoughtless offender, let us not suffer ourselves to be betrayed, by our
compassion, to injure ourselves and our posterity.
This house, sir, has always claimed and exerted the privilege of judging
of every offence against itself, a privilege so long established, and so
constantly exercised, that I doubt whether the inferiour courts of
judicature will take cognizance of an attack upon us; for how can they
venture to decide upon a question of such importance without any form or
precedent for their proceedings.
There seems also to be at this time, sir, an uncommon necessity for
tenaciousness of our privileges, when, as some whispers, which have been
wafted from the other house, inform us, a motion has been made in terms
which might imply the subordination of this assembly, an assertion
without foundation either in reason or justice, and which I shall always
oppose as destructive to our rights, and dangerous to our constitution.
Let us, therefore, sir, retain in our hands the cognizance of this
affair, and let the criminal either suffer his punishment from _our_
sentence, or owe his pardon to _our_ mercy.
[It was agreed that the printer of the daily paper should attend next
day, when, being called in, it was proposed that he should be asked,
whether he printed the paper complained of. It was objected to, for the
same reason as the question about the author's being in the gallery,
because the answer might tend to accuse himself; and he being withdrawn,
a debate of the same nature ensued, and the question being put whether
he should be asked, if he be the person that printed the daily paper
shown to him, which paper the house the day before resolved to contain a
malicious and scandalous libel, etc. it was, on a division, carried in
the affirmative, by two hundred and twenty-two against one hundred and
sixty-three: accordingly he was called in again, and being asked the
question, he owned that he printed the said paper from a printed copy
which was left for him with one of his servants; and being asked what he
had to allege in his justification or excuse for printing the said
libel, he said that as he had before printed several other things which
he had received from the said person, which had not given offence, he
inserted part of the paper in his news, and which he should not have
inserted, if he had thought it would have given offence to the house,
and that he forbore to print the remainder, having heard that it had
given offence. Upon which he withdrew, and the house, after some debate,
on a division, one hundred and eighty-eight to one hundred and
forty-five, not only ordered him into the custody of the serjeant, but
resolved to present an address to his majesty, that he would be pleased
to give directions to his attorney general to prosecute him at law.
The first printer of the libel was also ordered into custody. This was
on the 3d of December, but the next day presenting his petition,
expressing his sorrow for the offence, whereby he had justly incurred
the displeasure of the house, and praying to be discharged, he was
brought to the bar on the following day, received a reprimand on his
knees, and was ordered to be discharged, paying his fees.]
On the 12th, lord BARRINGTON presented a petition from the printer of
the daily paper, expressing his sorrow, promising all possible care not
to offend for the future, and praying to be discharged.
This petition being read, a motion was made, that the serjeant at arms
do carry the petitioner to some court of law, to give security for his
appearance to the prosecution to be carried on against him by the
attorney general; which done, that he be discharged, paying his fees.
Sir William YONGE spoke to this effect:--Sir, I know not for what reason
this enormous offender is entitled to so much regard, or by what
interest he has engaged so many, who, I doubt not, abhor his crimes, to
pity his sufferings.
Had he been young and unexperienced, and seduced into the commission of
this offence by artifice or persuasion, his act might have been
reasonably considered rather as an errour than a crime, and it might
have been proper to treat with lenity a delinquent neither obstinate nor
malicious.
But how, sir, can this plea be urged in favour of a man, whose daily
employment it has been, for these two years past, to misrepresent the
public measures, to disperse scandal, and excite rebellion, who has
industriously propagated every murmur of discontent, and preserved every
whisper of malevolence from perishing in the birth.
The proper judge, sir, of this affair, is his majesty's attorney
general, who is not now in the house. I am, therefore, for detaining him
in custody, and for referring the consideration of farther proceedings
against him to that gentleman, whose proper province it is to prosecute
for the crown.
Mr. WALLER spoke next, to the following purpose:--Sir, it is
undoubtedly the duty of every man to oppose the introduction of new
laws, and methods of oppression and severity, which our constitution
does not admit; and what else is the mention of a prisoner's character
as an aggravation of his present offence?
It is well known, and has been already asserted, upon this occasion,
that in the lower courts of justice, though the prisoner may plead his
character, in his own defence, his prosecutor is not at liberty to
produce it to his disadvantage. Even those who are cited to the bar for
murder or for treason, are tried only by the evidence of that crime for
which they are indicted.
That this house is not bound to strict forms, and is not accountable for
the exercise of its power, is easily granted; but authority cannot
change the nature of things, and what is unjust in a lower court, would
be in us not less unjust, though it may not be punishable.
* * * * *
It was replied that this question had been before sufficiently
discussed.
The attorney general not being present, the debate was adjourned to the
next sitting.
On the next day of the session, the lord BARRINGTON proposed, that the
adjourned debate might be resumed, and several members interceded for
the petitioner, that he might be released; to which it was objected,
that it was not proper to release him, unless an information was lodged
against him, without which he could not be held to bail; and the
question being put, whether he should be released, was determined in the
negative.
At the sixth sitting, the author of the libel, who was committed to the
common prison of Middlesex, petitioned the house to permit him to
implore pardon on his knees, and promising, by the strongest and most
solemn assurances, not to offend again, was ordered to be discharged the
next day, paying his fees.
On the forty-seventh sitting, the printer of the daily paper again
petitioned the house, representing, that he most heartily bewailed his
offence, that he was miserably reduced by his confinement, having
borrowed money of all his friends to support himself, his wife, and
children, and praying the mercy of the house. He was then ordered to be
discharged, paying his fees, and giving security for his appearance to
answer the prosecution.
On the eighty-fifth day, Mr. George Heathcote offered another petition
for the said printer, and represented, that the fees amounting to one
hundred and twenty-one pounds, he was not able to pay them, that,
therefore, he hoped the house would consider his case; but the petition
was not allowed to be brought up. On which he remained in custody
fourteen days longer, till the end of the session, and, the authority of
the senate ceasing, had his liberty without paying any fees.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, DEC. 4-11, 1740.
ON INCORPORATING THE NEW-RAISED MEN INTO THE STANDING REGIMENTS.
On the 4th of December, sir William YONGE, secretary at war, having
presented to the house of commons an estimate of the expense of raising
ten thousand men, the same was taken into consideration in a committee
on the supply, and after debate agreed to. At the report of this
proceeding, on the 11th, another debate happened on a motion that the
new-raised men should be incorporated into the standing regiments, etc.
As in these two debates the arguments were the same, they are thrown
into one, to prevent unnecessary repetitions.
Sir William YONGE opened the debate with respect to what he had
delivered in the estimate, after the manner following:--Sir, as this
estimate has been drawn up after very accurate calculations and careful
inquiries, I hope that no objections will be raised against it, and that
the sum necessary for raising the new regiments will be very readily
granted by that house, which voted the war necessary for which they are
designed.
I hope it will be admitted as some proof of frugality, that this
estimate requires less money than one that was laid before the senate in
the reign of king William; for if it be considered, that since that
time, the necessaries of life are become dearer, and that, therefore,
all expenses are increased, it will appear to be the effect of the
exactest economy, that the sum required for the same service is less.
I have heard, indeed, sir, that in conversation, the method of raising
troops on this occasion has been censured as improper, and that in the
opinion of some, whose judgment cannot be entirely disregarded, it would
be more reasonable to add more men to our regiments already established,
than to raise new regiments with new officers.
The chief argument, sir, produced in support of their method of
augmentation, is drawn from the necessity of publick frugality, a very
popular topick, which never fails to produce favour and attention; for
every man is naturally inclined to hear his friend, and to consider that
man as performing the office of friendship, who proposes methods of
alleviating his taxes.
Frugality is undoubtedly a virtue very necessary to the happiness of the
nation, and such as there occur frequent occasions of inculcating to
those who are intrusted with the superintendence of publick
disbursements, but I am far from thinking that this estimate affords any
opportunity for declamations of this kind, and am of opinion that the
addition of new soldiers to each regiment, would, in reality, be more
expensive.
It cannot be denied, sir, that by augmenting the regiments, there would
be immediately saved to the publick the expense of the officers which
are necessary in the method now proposed; but it is to be considered how
much the number of officers contributes to the regularity and discipline
of the troops, and how much discipline and order promote their success.
It is to be considered, sir, that the most successful method of making
war is undoubtedly the cheapest, and that nothing is more expensive than
defeats.
If by raising the same number of men under fewer officers, we should
give our enemies any advantage, if a single party should be cut off, a
garrison forced, an expedition rendered fruitless, or the war protracted
but a few months, where will be the advantage of this admired frugality?
What would be the consequence, but the same or a greater expense, not to
gain advantages, but to repair losses, and obviate the effects of our
former parsimony?
In private life, sir, it is common for men to involve themselves in
expense, only by avoiding it; to repair houses at greater charges than
new ones might be built, and to pay interest, rather than the debt. Weak
minds are frighted at the mention of extraordinary efforts, and decline
large expenses, though security and future affluence may be purchased by
them; as tender bodies shrink from severe operations, though they are
the certain methods of restoring health and vigour. The effects of this
timidity are the same in both cases, the estate is impaired insensibly,
and the body languishes by degrees, till no remedy can be applied.
Such examples, sir, are frequent, and the folly of imitating them is
therefore greater, for who would pursue that track by which he has seen
others led to destruction? Nor need we search for remote illustrations
to discover the destructive tendency of unseasonable tenderness for the
publick, for I believe the whole history of the wars of king William
will prove, that too close an attention to parsimony is inconsistent
with great achievements.
It may be expected that I, who cannot claim any regard in this
disquisition, from my own experience, should produce some decisive
evidence in favour of the method which I have taken upon me to defend;
this expectation I shall endeavour to satisfy, by alleging the authority
of the greatest commander of later ages, whom neither his friends nor
his enemies will deny to have been well versed in these subjects, and
whose success is a sufficient proof of the soundness of his principles.
The illustrious duke of MARLBOROUGH was of opinion, that the whole force
of the French armies consisted in the number of the officers, and that
to be always equal to them in the field, it was necessary to form our
troops nearly upon the same plan; to this scheme he conformed in his
practice of war, and how much his practice confirmed his opinion, let
Blenheim and Ramillies attest.
As I pretend not to have determined myself on this question, otherwise
than by authority, and, as I know not any authority equal to that of the
duke of MARLBOROUGH, I cannot discharge the trust reposed in me by my
country, any otherwise, than by proposing, that, on this occasion, we
agree to grant his majesty the sum calculated for raising the new
regiments, as I believe that method of augmentation most likely to
produce success in our undertakings, and consequently to procure a
speedy conclusion of the war.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, I have been so
long accustomed to the debates of this house, and have so often attended
to the eloquence of the right honourable gentleman, that I am never
startled at paradoxes, nor shocked at absurdities; I can now hear with
great tranquillity an harangue upon the necessity of placemen in this
house, upon the usefulness of standing armies, and the happiness of a
general excise.
I am no longer offended with facts quoted in opposition to history, nor
with calculations drawn up without regard to the rules of arithmetick; I
know that there are persons in this house, who think themselves obliged
to speak, even when in their own opinion nothing can be said with weight
or with propriety; who come hither prepared against the shame of
confutation, and determined not to be convinced.
To reason with such men, sir, is, indeed, no pleasing task; it is to
fight with enchanted heroes, upon whom the common weapons of argument
have no effect, and who must be softened by a countercharm, before they
can be attacked with any prospect of success.
There are some, however, of whom I am willing to believe that they
dispute only for truth, and inquire with the view of attaining a
solution of their doubts. For the sake of these, sir, I think it
necessary to declare my sentiments, as I shall be desirous, in my turn,
to hear their sentiments; but with regard to those whose opinion I know
already by their posts, I should think it of great advantage to the
despatch of publick affairs, if they would content themselves with
voting for their pay, without any ambition of other service, or adding
the praise of volubility to that of steadiness.
Having this opportunity, sir, of declaring my opinion of the measures
pursued in regulating our military preparations, I shall not confine
myself entirely to the present question, but lay before the house my
thoughts upon some parts of the establishment, which may, perhaps,
require a reform, and which are at least proper objects of
consideration, though not absolutely necessary to the determination of
our opinion upon the present motion.
I have long ago, sir, declared, what, therefore, it is scarcely of any
use to repeat, that I know not any advantage to be hoped from a standing
army, nor can discover why the ablest and most vigorous of the
inhabitants of this kingdom should be seduced from the loom, the anvil
and the plough, only to live at ease upon the labour of industry, only
to insult their landlords, and rob the farmers. I never could find why
any body of men should be exempt from the common labour of social
duties, or why they should be supported by a community, who contribute
neither to its honour nor its defence.
I doubt not, sir, but I shall hear, on this occasion, of the service of
our troops in the suppression of riots; we shall be told, by the next
pompous orator who shall rise up in defence of the army, that they have
often dispersed the smugglers; that the colliers have been driven down
by the terrour of their appearance to their subterraneous
fortifications; that the weavers, in the midst of that rage which hunger
and oppression excited, fled at their approach; that they have at our
markets bravely regulated the price of butter, and, sometimes, in the
utmost exertion of heroick fury, broken those eggs which they were not
suffered to purchase on their own terms.
Some one, perhaps, of more penetration, may inform us of the use which
has been made of them at elections, where the surly burgesses have been
sometimes blind to the merit of those worthy gentlemen, whom the
soldiers have known how to esteem according to their desert; nor,
indeed, do I see how those can refuse their votes in favour of our
troops, who are indebted for the power of giving them, to their kind
interposition.
To these arguments, sir, I shall content myself with answering, that
those who are versed in the history of Britain, know that we have had
colliers and weavers for many years before a standing army was heard of
among us, and that it is, nevertheless, nowhere recorded that any of our
kings were deposed by those formidable bodies of men, or that any
remarkable changes were made by them in the form of our government; and,
therefore, till some reason shall be alleged, why such insurrections are
now more dangerous, and our civil magistrates more impotent than in
former ages, I humbly conceive, that even without the protection of a
standing army, we might yet sleep in security, notwithstanding the plots
of the colliers, and the combinations of the weavers.
But I must own, sir, these are not our only enemies, for there is
somewhere, yet in existence, a person that lays claim to the dominion of
these kingdoms, and pleads an hereditary title to dispose of our wealth,
to subvert our liberties, and destroy our religion.
If any foreigner, sir, unacquainted with our affairs, were to be present
at our debates, and to hear with what ardour we animate each other to an
obstinate resistance of this pretender to the throne, how often he is
represented as hovering over us, and how often we have caught a general
panick, and imagined ourselves upon the verge of destruction, how often
our most zealous patriots take opportunities of declaring their
resolution to die in defence of their liberties; and how pathetically
our most elegant declaimers have expatiated on the misery of that
unhappy race, whom they should leave behind to groan under the
oppression of absolute power, what would be his opinion of this
pretender, whom he saw so perpetually dreaded, against whom so many
alliances were formed, so many armies were levied, and so many navies
equipped?
Would he not believe him to be some formidable tyrant in a neighbouring
country, the lord of wide dominions, and the master of numerous armies
and powerful fleets? Would he not imagine that he could assemble half
the continent at his call, that he was supported by powerful alliances,
and that nothing but a fair wind was required to land him on our coasts
at the head of millions? And would he not, even on that supposition, be
inclined to censure us as timorous, as somewhat regardless of the honour
of our nation, and condemn us for giving way to such suspicions and
exclamations, as have a natural tendency to heighten the apprehension of
danger, and depress the spirits of the people?
But what would be his conclusion, sir, when he should be told, what in
reality is true, that this dreadful pretender is an unhappy fugitive,
driven in his infancy from this country, and by consequence without any
personal interest; that he is supported by the charity of a prince whose
name is hated almost by every inhabitant of the kingdom; that he has
neither sovereignty, nor money, nor alliances, nor reputation in war,
nor skill in policy; that all his actions are watched by British spies;
and that the few friends that remain to support the farce of a court,
are such only as dare not return to their native country, and are,
therefore, without fortune, and without dependants?
What could a wise man conceive of a nation held in continual alarms by
an enemy like this; of a nation always watchful against an invasion from
a man who has neither dominions to supply, nor money to hire a single
regiment; from a man whose title all the neighbouring princes disown,
and who is at such a distance from them, that he cannot be assisted by
them without open preparations, of which we cannot fail of having
intelligence, and which may be defeated, without danger, by the vessels
regularly stationed on our coasts?
Would not any stranger imagine, sir, that we were a nation infected with
a general phrensy, that cowardice had perverted our imaginations, filled
us with apprehensions of impossible invasions, raised phantoms before
our eyes, and distracted us with wild ideas of slavery and tyranny,
oppression and persecution?
I have dwelt thus long on this point, because I know the pretender is
the last refuge of those who defend a standing army; not that I propose
to convince any man of the folly of such apprehensions, or to fortify
him against such terrours for the time to come; for if any man, in
reality, now dreads the pretender, fear must be his distemper; he is
doomed to live in terrours, and it is of no importance whether he dreads
an invasion or a goblin, whether he is afraid to disband the army, or to
put out his candle in the night; his imagination is tainted, and he must
be cured, not by argument, but by physick.
But the greatest part of those who disturb our consultations with the
mention of the pretender, are men of a very different character, men
equally unconcerned about his designs, or his motions, with those who
are most desirous of setting the nation free from the burden of an army,
and very often such as we may discover, from their conduct, to be
determined to comply with every government; and such as have, therefore,
nothing to fear from a change of masters.
The men, for whose sake I am now speaking, sir, laugh equally with
myself at the apprehensions of those whom they contribute to terrify;
they know too well the impotence of the pretender to dread an invasion
from him, and affect only to continue their outcries, that they may not
be deprived of a topick, on which, by long practice, they have attained
an uncommon facility of haranguing, which they know how to diversify
with various combinations of circumstances, and how to accommodate to
any emergent occasion, without the pain of torturing their inventions.
It may be useful, sir, to inform these men, that their disguise ought at
last to be thrown off, because it deceives no longer, and that the
nation cannot be cheated but at the expense of more cunning than they
are willing, or perhaps able, to display. A mask must necessarily be
thrown aside, when, instead of concealing, it discovers him by whom it
is used.
Those who are attempting, sir, to deceive others, and whose character is
exalted, in their own opinion, in proportion to the success of their
endeavours, have surely a sense of shame, though they have none of
virtue, and cannot, without pain, find their artifices detected, and
themselves made the objects of ridicule, by those stratagems which they
employ for the deception of others.
I hope, therefore, sir, that, for their own sakes, these declaimers on
the exploded story of the pretender, will change their bugbear, that if
it be necessary to frighten those whom they want art or eloquence to
persuade, they will find out some other object of terrour, which, after
a little practice in private meetings, they may first produce in the
court, and then turn loose in the senate.
The world, methinks, allows them a sufficient choice of tyrants more
formidable than the pretender. Suppose they should revive the history of
the Mohocks. The Mohocks are a dreadful race, not to be mentioned
without horrour, by a true lover of his country, and a steady adherent
to the house of Hanover; they might then very easily increase our army,
or enhance our taxes; for who would not be urged by his wife and
daughter to agree to any measures that might secure them from the
Mohocks?
But as an army is, at present, likely to be kept up for our defence,
against an enemy less formidable, it may be more seasonable to propose
the regulation than the dismission of our troops, and to mention those
evils which arise from the present establishment, rather than those
which are inseparable from the expense of a standing force.
If it be necessary, sir, to support soldiers, I suppose that it will not
be denied by the advocates for an army, that we ought to levy such
troops as may be of use; yet in their practice they seem to have paid
very little regard to this principle. Our troopers are mounted upon
horses which can serve no purpose but that of show, which may, indeed,
wheel about in the park with a formidable air, but can neither advance
upon an enemy with impetuosity, nor retreat from him with expedition;
and which, therefore, though purchased by the nation at a very high
price, and supported at a large expense, can only grace a review, but
are of very little use in an enemy's country, and must perish in the
march, or stand unactive in the battle.
Nor is much more service to be expected, sir, from their riders, than
from the horses, for there are very few of them acquainted with the
first elements of their profession, or who have ever learned more than a
few postures of exercise, and the meaning of a few words of command, but
have a number of officers with large appointments.
The French troops, sir, if they are doubly officered, are officered and
maintained at a less expense, and to greater effect; for the soldiers
are better instructed, and the same number of men cost not, perhaps,
much more than half the charge of a British regiment.
The guards, sir, that are maintained about this metropolis, for no other
purpose than to keep up the splendour of a modern court, cost the
nation, yearly, such a sum as would be sufficient to support an army of
Frenchmen, for the protection of their frontier towns, or the invasion
of neighbouring countries.
For my part, I cannot see what injury would be done to the nation by
abolishing an establishment, at the same time useless and expensive, and
employing that money which is at present squandered upon idlers without
effect, upon levies of useful soldiers for marching regiments, who might
be employed, when occasion should require them, in the service of their
country.
It will, doubtless, be objected, that the officers of this body of men,
many of whom are persons of the highest merit, and who have, generally,
purchased their commissions, might very justly complain of being
deprived, without a crime, of that which they have bought at its full
value, and to which, therefore, they imagine themselves entitled, till
they shall forfeit their right by some offence against the laws, or some
neglect of their duty.
I shall not, sir, at present, inquire into the justness of this plea,
nor examine, whether he who purchases an employment, which he knows to
be useless, and therefore burdensome to the publick, deserves that the
publick should be solicitous to support him in the enjoyment of it; but
I shall declare, on this occasion, with confidence, that I know many of
the officers of the guards to be men of honour, who would gladly
exchange their posts, so chargeable to the nation, for an opportunity of
serving it, and who are not very anxious for the increase of their pay,
so they may not be degraded from their present rank.
If these gentlemen, sir, might, in the regiments that should be raised
by disbanding the guards, be advanced to higher commissions, though with
some diminution of their pay, they would imagine themselves abundantly
compensated by the happiness of becoming useful subjects, and serving
that nation by which they have been, hitherto, supported only to fill up
the pomp of levees, and add to the magnificence of drawing-rooms, to
loiter in antechambers, and to quarrel at gaming tables.
If this scheme should not be approved, the method eligible, in the next
degree, seems to be that of incorporating our new levies into the
regiments already raised, that being associated with men already
acquainted with discipline, they may learn their duty much more
expeditiously than in separate bodies, where one officer will be obliged
to attend to the instruction of great numbers, and where no man will be
excited to application, because no man will see any degree of excellence
which he may be ambitious of attaining.
I have, indeed, heard no reason alleged for the necessity of new levies,
which appeared likely to convince even those by whom it was produced. It
appears to me that our present army is more than sufficient for the
publick service, without an augmentation, and that some of our regiments
might immediately embark, not only without danger to the nation, but
with far greater hopes of success, as our enemies would have less time
to strengthen their fortifications, and collect their troops, and as
disciplined forces are more formidable than troops newly levied; for
discipline must be of great efficacy to the success of military
undertakings, or all arguments which have been used in the defence of a
standing army fall to the ground.
In answer to this proposal, we shall probably be once again intimidated
with an invasion, whether from the pretender, the Spaniards, the French,
or any other power, it is of no great importance. An invasion is a
formidable sound; the sack of towns, the destruction of villages, the
captivity of our children, the ruin of our fortunes, and the desolation
of our country, are frightful images, and may, therefore, be
successfully produced, on this occasion, to perplex our thoughts, and
embarrass our inquiries.
To remove, therefore, this panick, and to dissipate, for ever, the
phantoms of invasion, I will lay before the house the opinion of the
great commander whose name has already been introduced in this debate.
In the late reign, on a day when the great officers of the crown, and
many of the council, were at a publick feast in the city, a report was
suddenly spread that the duke of Ormond had landed in the west, with two
thousand men. This account was, in appearance, well attested, and
universally believed; all jollity was, therefore, at an end, the company
departed, the council was summoned, and every man offered such
expedients as his present thoughts, confused and oppressed with the
proximity of the danger, suggested to him. One proposed, that a body of
troops should be sent to a distant part of the kingdom, to restrain the
seditions of the populace; another apprehended more danger from a
different quarter, and advised that the inhabitants should be awed by
another detachment sent thither; the most experienced easily saw the
unprofitableness of the measures proposed, but could not so easily
strike out more efficacious expedients, and therefore sat in great
perplexity. Lord Somers, particularly, shook his head, and seemed to
consider the kingdom as in the hands of the invaders, and the dreadful
pretender as seated on the throne.
At last, the duke of MARLBOROUGH, who had hitherto sat silent, asked
calmly, whether they were certain that any forces were really landed,
and was answered, that though it might not be absolutely certain, yet
they were to consult and send orders upon that supposition. Then, says
he, I will lay down this great rule to be observed invariably, whenever
you are invaded. Attend only to one point, nor have any other purpose in
view than that of destroying the regular forces that shall be landed in
the kingdom, without any regard to petty insurrections, which may be
always easily quelled, and which will probably cease of themselves, when
the army by which they were excited is cut off. For this end, let it be
your rule, to keep your army undivided, and to make no motion but
towards the enemies; fight them with the utmost expedition before they
can fortify themselves, or receive reinforcements from the continent. By
the observation of this plain method of operation, continued he, I will
engage, without any other force than the regiments generally stationed
about the capital, to put a stop to any troops that shall be landed on
the coast of Britain.
So far was this great officer, who was acquainted with the whole art of
war, from sinking into astonishment at the sound of an invasion, and so
far from thinking it necessary that the nation should be harassed by
standing troops, to preserve it from being plundered by a foreign army.
But though our troops, sir, should not be necessary to prevent an
invasion, they may be useful in services of equal importance; the
ministry may think the suffrages of the officers more serviceable than
their swords, and may be more afraid of exposing themselves than the
nation by any detachment of their forces.
Such is, at present, sir, the state of this unhappy country, that
neither in peace nor war are any measures taken, but with a view of
increasing or confirming the power of the ministry; for this purpose
those troops whose officers have seats here, are to be retained at home,
and the fate of our American settlements to be committed to new-levied
forces, without military skill.
For this reason is an army to be raised without necessity, and raised in
a manner that may furnish the court with an opportunity of extending its
influence, by the disposal of great numbers of new commissions. By this
plan every family that is burdened with a relation whose vices have
ruined his fortune, or whose stupidity disqualifies him for employment,
will have an opportunity of selling, for a commission, its interest at
the approaching election; dependence will be propagated, and the
troublesome spirit of liberty be depressed.
To little purpose will it be objected, that soldiers and officers will
be equally ignorant, that discipline is not infused instantaneously,
that a military dress will not make a soldier, that men can only know
their duty by instruction, and that nothing is to be hoped from
ploughmen and manufacturers, commanded by schoolboys. The success of the
expedition is not so much considered by those who have the direction of
the levies, as that of the election, and while they keep their posts,
they are very little concerned about the affairs of America.
In defence of this method, it has, indeed, been affirmed, that it was
preferred by the duke of MARLBOROUGH; but we are not informed to whom,
or upon what occasion he declared his opinion, and, therefore, are left
at liberty to doubt, whether his authority is not produced for a method
which he did not approve, or approved only at some particular time for
some extraordinary service.
It is urged, that he recommended it by his practice, and that his
success is a sufficient proof that his practice was founded upon right
maxims. But if it be remembered what was, in that time, the method of
obtaining commissions, and who it was that had the disposal of them, it
will appear not absolutely certain, that his practice ought to be
produced as a decisive proof of his opinion.
If the success of troops be properly urged as an argument for the form
of their establishment, may not the victories of prince Eugene afford a
proof, equally convincing, that a few officers are sufficient? And if
the arguments which arise from success are equal on both sides, ought
not the necessity of saving the publick money to turn the balance?
War, sir, is in its own nature a calamity very grievous to the most
powerful and flourishing people, and to a trading nation is particularly
destructive, as it at once exhausts our wealth, and interrupts our
commerce, at once drinks up the stream and chokes up the fountain. In
those countries whose affairs are wholly transacted within their own
frontiers, where there is either very little money, or where their
wealth is dug out of their own mines, they are only weakened by the loss
of men, or by the diminution of their dominions, and, in general, can
only suffer by being overcome.
But the state of Britain is far different; it is not necessary to our
ruin that an enemy should be stronger than ourselves, that he should be
able to pour armies into our country, to cover the sea with fleets, to
burn our villages by incursions, or destroy our fortresses with bombs;
for he that can secure his own dominions from our attacks, to which
nothing but distance and some advantages of situation are necessary, may
support a war against us, and he that can fit out privateers to
interrupt our trade, may, without obtaining a victory, reduce us to
distress.
Our situation, sir, as it preserves us from the danger of an invasion,
except from that powerful monarch, the pretender, who is, indeed, always
to be dreaded, has, likewise, the effect of securing other nations from
being invaded by us; for it is very difficult to transport in one fleet,
and to land at one time, a number sufficient to force their way into a
country where the ports are fortified, and the inhabitants in arms.
Our wars, sir, are, therefore, to be determined by naval battles, and
those nations have very little to fear from us who have no trade to be
disturbed, and no navies to be destroyed; if they can only fit out
cruisers, which may always be done by granting commissions to foreign
adventurers, they may ruin our merchants by captures, exhaust the nation
by the necessity of convoys, and give neutral traders an opportunity of
establishing their credit at those markets which have been, hitherto,
supplied by our manufactures.
This is, indeed, far from being at present an exact account of the state
of Spain, whose wide-extended dominions are liable to insults, and from
whom many of her most wealthy provinces may be torn without great hazard
or difficulty. The particular state of her commerce, which, being only
carried on from one part of her dominions to another, can only be for a
time interrupted, but is in no danger of being invaded by any rival, or
lost by disuse, at least requires our consideration, and we ought to
make war with the utmost frugality, against a people whom no hostilities
can really impoverish, whose commerce may be said to lie at rest rather
than to be shackled, as it will rise into greater vigour at the end of
the war, and whose treasures, though the want of them is a present
inconvenience, are only piled up for a time of security.
As the only method, sir, of reducing this nation, must be that of
invading its colonies, and dismembering its provinces, by which the
chief persons will be deprived of their revenues, and a general
discontent be spread over the people, the forces which are levied for
this expedition, an expedition on which so much of the honour of our
arms and the prosperity of our trade must necessarily depend, ought to
be selected with the greatest care, and disciplined with the exactest
regularity.
On this occasion, therefore, it is surely improper to employ troops
newly collected from shops and villages, and yet more irrational to
trust them to the direction of boys called on this occasion from the
frolicks of a school, or forced from the bosoms of their mothers, and
the softness of the nursery. It is not without compassion, compassion
very far extended, that I consider the unhappy striplings doomed to a
camp, from whom the sun has hitherto been screened, and the wind
excluded, who have been taught, by many tender lectures, the
unwholesomeness of the evening mists and the morning dews, who have been
wrapt in furs in winter, and cooled with fans in summer, who have lived
without any fatigue but that of dress, or any care but that of their
complexion.
Who can forbear, sir, some degree of sympathy, when he sees animals like
these taking their last farewell of the maid that has fed them with
sweetmeats, and defended them from insects; when he sees them drest up
in the habiliments of soldiers, loaded with a sword, and invested with a
command, not to mount the guard at the palace, nor to display their lace
at a review; not to protect ladies at the door of an assembly room, nor
to show their intrepidity at a country fair, but to enter into a kind of
fellowship with the rugged sailor, to hear the tumult of a storm, to
sustain the change of climates, and to be set on shore in an enemy's
dominions?
Surely, he that can see such spectacles without sorrow, must have
hardened his heart beyond the common degrees of cruelty, and it may
reasonably be expected, that he who can propose any method by which such
hardships may be escaped, will be thought entitled to gratitude and
praise.
For my part, I should imagine, sir, that an easy method might be
discovered of obviating such misery, without lessening that number of
officers, which, perhaps, in opposition to reason and experience, some
gentlemen will continue to think necessary, and hope that this may be no
improper time to declare my opinion.
I have observed, that for some time no private centinel has ever risen
to any rank above that of a serjeant, and that commissions have been
reserved as rewards for other services than those of the camp. This
procedure I cannot but think at once impolitick and unjust.
It is impolitick, sir, as it has a natural tendency to extinguish in the
soldiery all emulation and all industry. Soldiers have an equal genius
with other men, and undoubtedly there might be found among them great
numbers capable of learning and of improving the military sciences; but
they have, likewise, the same love of ease, and the desire of honour and
of profit, and will not condemn themselves to labour without the
prospect of reward, nor sacrifice their time to the attainment of that
knowledge, which can have no other effect than to make them discover the
stupidity of their commanders, and render their obedience more
difficult, as it will destroy that reverence which is necessary to
subordination.
It is unjust, sir, because it is not to be doubted, that some soldiers,
by the natural force of their faculties, or by a laudable activity of
mind, have extended their knowledge beyond the duties of a private
station; and he that excels in his profession, has an equitable claim to
distinction and preferment. To advance any man in the army, because his
father is an orator in the senate, or the chief inhabitant of a borough,
seems not more rational, than to make another man a judge, because some
of his ancestors were skilled in gunnery; nor would the lawyers have
juster reasons for complaint in one case, than the soldiers in the
other.
It is, therefore, sir, in my opinion, necessary to the advancement of
military knowledge, that, as a centinel is, for excelling in his
profession, advanced to the degree of a serjeant, the serjeant, who
continues his application, and performs his duty, should, in time, be
honoured with a commission.
It may be objected, indeed, that serjeants, though they are skilful
commanders in war, can very seldom arrive at any remarkable skill in
politicks, and though they should be so fortunate as to gain estates,
could never be of any use as the representatives of a borough; and to
what purpose should those men be advanced, who can only serve their
country, but can contribute very little to the support of the court?
This is, I own, sir, an objection, which I despair of answering to the
satisfaction of those by whom it will be raised. The hardy serjeant
would never cringe gracefully at a levee, would never attain to any
successful degree of address in soliciting votes; and if he should by
mere bribery be deputed hither, would be unable to defend the conduct of
his directors.
In vindication of the present scheme, I believe few of those rugged
warriours would find many arguments; they would not recommend to the
nation a troop of boys, under the command of boys, as the most proper
forces to be sent to make conquests in distant countries, nor would
imagine, that unskilful soldiers could, under the direction of officers
equally ignorant with themselves, attain the knowledge of their duty in
the same time as if they were incorporated with regular troops, in which
every man might receive instructions, and learn his business from his
comrade.
I had lately, sir, the opportunity of hearing the opinion of one of the
greatest generals in the world, on this subject, who declared, with the
utmost confidence of certainty, that raw troops could be disciplined in
a short time, only by being incorporated with those that had been
already taught their duty, and asserted, that with an army so mixed, he
should think himself sufficiently enabled to meet any forces of the same
number, and should not fear to acquit himself successfully, either in
attacking or defending.
Such are the sentiments of this great man, to whom I know not whether
any name can be opposed that deserves equally to be reverenced. He has
had the honour of defending the rights of his country in the senate as
well as in the field, has signalized himself equally in the debate and
in the battle, and, perhaps, deserves less regard for having hazarded
his life, than for having been divested of his employments.
Since, therefore, it is apparent that great numbers of officers are by
no means necessary to success in war, since they are dangerous to our
liberty in time of peace, since they are certainly expensive, and at
best not certainly useful; and since the greatest general of the present
age has declared, that our new levies ought to be mingled with our
standing forces, I shall think it my duty to vote against the present
scheme of raising new regiments, and shall agree to no other supplies
than such as may be sufficient for adding the same numbers to the
present army.
General WADE then spoke as follows:--Sir, though I cannot pretend to
pursue the honourable gentleman through the whole compass of his
argument, nor shall attempt to stand up as his rival, either in extent
of knowledge, or elegance of language, yet as my course of life has
necessarily furnished me with some observations relating to the question
before us, and my present station in the army may, in some measure, be
said to make it my duty to declare my opinion, I shall lay before the
house a few considerations, with the artless simplicity of a plain
soldier, without engaging in a formal debate, or attempting to overthrow
the arguments of others.
It is observed, sir, that for the greatest part, the farther any man has
advanced in life, the less confidence he places in speculation, and the
more he learns to rest upon experience, as the only sure guide in human
affairs; and as the transactions in which he is engaged are more
important, with the greater anxiety does he inquire after precedents,
and the more timorously does he proceed, when he is obliged to regulate
his conduct by conjecture or by deliberation.
This remark, sir, though it may be just with regard to all states of
life, is yet more constantly and certainly applicable to that of the
soldier; because, as his profession is more hazardous than any other, he
must with more caution guard against miscarriages and errours. The old
soldier, therefore, very rarely ventures beyond the verge of experience,
unless in compliance with particular accidents, which does not make any
change in his general scheme, or in situations where nothing can
preserve him but some new stratagem or unprecedented effort, which are
not to be mentioned as part of his original plan of operation, because
they are produced always by unforeseen emergencies, and are to be
imputed, not to choice, but to necessity; for, in consequence of my
first principle, an old soldier never willingly involves himself in
difficulties, or proceeds in such a manner as that he may not expect
success by the regular operations of war.
It will not, therefore, be strange, if I, who, having served in the
army, in the wars of king William, may justly claim the title of an old
soldier, should not easily depart from the methods established in my
youth; methods of which their effects have shown me, that they at least
answer the intention for which they were contrived, and which,
therefore, I shall be afraid of rejecting, lest those which it is
proposed to substitute in their place, however probable in speculation,
should be found defective in practice, and the reasonings, which,
indeed, I cannot answer, should be confuted in the field, where
eloquence has very little power.
The troops of Britain, formed according to the present establishment,
have been found successful; they have preserved the liberties of Europe,
and driven the armies of France before them; they have appeared equally
formidable in sieges and in battles, and with strength equally
irresistible have pressed forward in the field, and mounted the breach.
It may be urged, that this vigour, alacrity, and success, cannot be
proved to have been produced by the number of officers by whom they were
commanded; but since, on the contrary, it cannot be shown that the
number of officers did not contribute to their victories, I think it not
prudent to try the experiment, which, if it should succeed, as it
possibly may, would produce no great advantage; and if it should fail,
and that it may fail no man will deny, must bring upon us, not only the
expense which we are so solicitous to avoid, but disgrace and losses, a
long interruption of our trade, and the slaughter of great numbers of
our fellow-subjects.
Thus far, sir, I have proceeded upon a supposition that the balance of
argument is equal on both sides, and that nothing could be alleged on
one part but experience, or objected to the other but the want of it;
but as I am now called to declare my opinion in a question relating to
my profession, a question of great importance to the publick, I should
think that I had not discharged my duty to my country with that fidelity
which may justly be exacted from me, if I should omit any observation
that my memory may suggest, by which the house may be better enabled to
proceed in this inquiry.
I think it, therefore, proper to declare, that we not only, in the last
great war, experienced the usefulness of numerous officers, but that we
have likewise felt the want of them on a signal occasion, and that the
only great advantage which our enemies obtained, was gained over an army
rendered weak by the want of the usual number of officers. Such were the
forces that were defeated at the fatal battle of Almanza, by which
almost all Spain was recovered from us. And it is, sir, the opinion of
very skilful commanders, that the Germans, only by having fewer officers
than the French, did not succeed in those long and obstinate battles of
Parma and Guastalla.
It is, indeed, natural to imagine, that a greater number of officers
must promote success, because courage is kindled by example, and it is,
therefore, of use to every man to have his leader in his view. Shame, at
one time, and affection at another, may produce the effects of courage
where it is wanted, and those may follow their commander, who are
inclined to desert their duty; for it is seldom known that, while the
officers appear confident, the soldiers despair, or that they think of
retreating but after the example of their leaders.
Where there are only few officers, it is apparent that more is left to
chance, in which it becomes not a wise man to place any confidence; for
if the officers are killed at the beginning of the action, the soldiers
must become an useless, defenceless herd, without order, without
unanimity, and without design; but by the present method, if an officer
happens to fall, his place is immediately supplied by another, the
action goes forward, and the enemy receives no advantage from confusion
or delay.
I am, therefore of opinion, that in raising troops for the expedition
now intended, the established method ought to be followed, and that we
ought not to hazard the success of our attempt by new regulations, of
which no human sagacity can fortell the event.
Though it cannot be denied, that some addition might be made to our
companies without any visible or certain inconvenience, yet the
augmentation now intended is too numerous to be so incorporated without
some neglect of discipline, as the officers would be charged with more
men than they could properly superintend.
There is, indeed, sir, another method of incorporation, by adding new
companies to each regiment; but of this method the advantage would be
small, because the number of captains and inferiour officers must be the
same, and the pay of only the field officers would be saved, and this
trifling gain would be far over-balanced by the inconveniencies which
experience has shown to arise from it. There have been regiments formed
of thirteen companies, instead of ten; but it was found, that as the
officers of a company may be over-charged with soldiers, a colonel may
likewise have more companies than he can conveniently inspect, and the
ancient regulation was restored, as the least liable to difficulties and
objections.
Having thus endeavoured to vindicate the manner in which our new troops
are proposed to be levied, it may be expected that I should now make
some observations on the service in which they are to be employed, which
I cannot think liable to any unanswerable objection. It is now, sir, in
our choice whether we will send the new regiments abroad or keep them at
home; and our choice may easily be determined by comparing the value of
our colonies with that of their mother country. If it be not necessary
to have any army here to defend us against insults and invasions, the
question about the manner of raising or employing new regiments is
superfluous, because none ought to be raised, as our old troops are
sufficiently numerous for foreign service. But if the security of the
nation requires an army, would it not be madness to send those troops to
a distant part of the world, in which we can confide most! Would not
those, who speak with such contempt of an expedition undertaken by boys,
have a better reason for their censure, if only boys were stationed on
our coasts to repel the veterans of France? Would not such measures
animate our enemies, and invite an invasion?
It may, perhaps, be urged farther, that the troops which are sent into
America, are more likely to succeed in their design, than any regiment
of ancient establishment. The chief danger to be feared in that part of
the world, is not from the enemy but the climate, with which young men
are most able to contend, though they may not be equally qualified for
attempts in which skill is equally necessary with vigour.
I am convinced, sir, that this war has hitherto been prosecuted with
ardour and fidelity, and that no measures have been taken but such as
experience and reason have supported, and therefore affirm, without
scruple, that if we are not successful, our miscarriages must be imputed
to the chance of war, from which no prudence can exempt us.
Lord QUARENDON spoke next, in the following manner, being his first
speech:--Sir, having-but very lately had the honour of a seat in this
assembly, I am conscious how little I am acquainted with either the
subjects or forms of debate, and should, therefore, continue to listen
to the sentiments of persons more experienced, with silent veneration,
did I not observe with how much indulgence they are heard who mean well,
however deficient in knowledge, or in eloquence.
As the honourable gentleman who spoke last, sir, professes to have
formed his opinion rather from facts than arguments, I hope I shall be
indulged by the house, in an attempt to examine those facts which he has
produced, because I think them not sufficient to support his positions,
which must, therefore, be established by some other proofs, before a
decision of this question can be fixed by them.
With regard to his experience, to which undoubtedly no small degree of
veneration is due, he confesses that we have tried only one of the two
forms of establishment now in competition, and that, therefore, though
he has had reason to approve that with which he is most acquainted, he
has no certain proofs of the inefficacy or imperfection of the other.
But experience, sir, may be extended much farther than our own personal
transactions, and may very justly comprehend those observations which we
have had opportunities of making upon the conduct and success of others.
This gentleman, though he has only commanded in the armies of Britain,
has seen the forces of other nations, has remarked their regulations,
and heard of their actions with our confederates in the last war; he has
probably acted in conjunction, and though it is known that they differ
from us in the proportion of soldiers and officers, he has mentioned no
disadvantage which might be supposed to arise from their establishment,
and therefore, I suppose, he cannot deny that their behaviour and
success was the same with that of our own troops.
The battles of Almanza, Parma, and Guastalla, which he has particularly
mentioned, were lost, as he informs us, by armies not officered
according to the establishment which he recommends to us: but it is
observable that his argument is defective in an essential part; for
though he affirms that the armies which were defeated had fewer officers
than the enemy, he has neither shown, nor attempted to show, that the
want of officers occasioned the defeat, or that the loss would have been
prevented by a greater number.
These instances, therefore, can be of no effect on the determination of
the present question; for though it is certain that at Germany, and at
other places, armies with few officers have lost the battle, it is not
less common for those troops that are more liberally supplied, to be
overthrown by others which are differently modelled.
With regard, sir, to the troops of Germany, I have heard them praised,
in many parts of Europe, as not inferiour either to those of France, or
of any other nation, and have been informed, that their ill success,
both at Parma and Guastalla, may be justly imputed to other causes than
the want of officers.
There has, perhaps, sir, seldom been an example of firmness, discipline,
and resolution, beyond that which was shown by the Germans at the action
of Parma, where they attacked the trenches of the French, sustained the
fire of the ramparts of the city, and though they lost their
commander-in-chief and two others, towards the beginning of the action,
they continued the fight for eleven hours, and at last retired only at
the approach of night.
At Guastalla, sir, they attacked the French in their trenches, even with
forces inferiour in number, so far were they from any diffidence in the
form of their establishment; and after a fight of seven hours, in which
their loss was, under all their disadvantages, not greater than that of
their enemies, they retreated to their former camp unmolested and
unpursued. The French, sir, were preserved in both these battles, not by
the number of their officers, but by their situation, by woods,
cassines, ditches, and intrenchments.
Nor do I discover, sir, what can be inferred from his observation of the
influence of example in time of action, but that officers should be
selected with great care, and not be promoted by favour, or interest, or
caprice; for an example of cowardice in a leader must be pernicious, in
proportion as that of bravery is beneficial; and as, where more officers
are supposed necessary, there is less room for choice, it must be
allowed that the troops, which have more officers than other forces, are
in more danger of being infected with cowardice.
It appears, therefore, to me that the expense of the present
establishment is a certain evil, and that the advantages are very
doubtful: it appears that the present state of the nation requires
frugality, and, therefore, I shall vote for the incorporation of our new
levies with the old regiments.
By this incorporation, sir, our new-levied troops will be no longer
distinguished from our veterans; they will be equally acquainted with
discipline, and will learn, from the conversation of their associates, a
spirit of enterprise, and a contempt of danger; we may then employ
forces equally formidable in all parts of the publick service, and
invade the dominions of our enemies, without leaving our own country
desolate.
The arguments which the honourable gentleman has offered in defence of
sending our younger troops to America, which may likewise be used
against an incorporation, is, in my opinion, sir, far from being
conclusive; for it supposes, what will not be granted, that a cold
climate may be changed for a hotter with more safety by a young than an
old man. I have been told, on the contrary, that superabundant heat is
the great disease of youth, and that the want of it produces most of the
infirmities of age; and every one has known the lives of persons
languishing with age, prolonged by a removal into warm countries. I am,
therefore, of opinion, that the honourable gentleman's argument is
defective in all its parts, and hope that I shall not be charged with
obstinacy or perverseness for dissenting from him.
Mr. HOWE spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, before I engage in a
discussion of the question, I cannot but think it necessary to observe,
that the honourable gentleman who spoke the second in this debate, has
been very far from consulting either policy or justice in his
declamation, and that he deviated from the subject only to ridicule his
country, to exalt our enemies, and depress our efforts.
He has described, sir, the British youth, the sons of noble families,
and the hopes of the nation, in terms too contemptuous to be heard
without indignation; he has amused himself with displaying their
ignorance and their effeminacy, and has indulged his imagination in a
malignant kind of gaiety, which, however it may divert himself, is very
far from contributing either to the reformation or prevention of those
practices which he censures.
I believe, sir, it will be granted, that nothing ought to please but in
proportion to its propriety and truth; and, if we try the satire that we
have lately heard, by this test, it will be found to have very little
claim to applause; for our armies must be composed of the youth of the
nation; and, for my part, I cannot discover what advantage we shall gain
over the Spaniards, by informing them how little our troops are
accustomed to danger, how short a time they have been acquainted with
fatigue, how tenderly they have been nursed, how easily they may be
frighted, and how certainly they will be conquered, if they but meet
with opposition.
Nor, sir, is such an account of the youth of Britain more true, in my
opinion, than it is prudent. I am far from discovering any such
remarkable degeneracy in the age, or any great prevalence of cowardice
and unmanly delicacy; nor do I doubt of hearing that our youth, if they
are sent upon any expedition, have shown that the British courage is not
yet extinguished, and that, if they are ranged on the plains of America,
they will discover themselves the sons of those that forced those
passes, and those trenches, that other troops would have failed in
attempting.
That the degeneracy of the British youth, is, at least, not universal,
we have just now sir, received an incontestable proof from the gentleman
who spoke last, and spoke with so much elegance of language, and
justness of reasoning, as shows, that there are to be found, among the
youth of Britain, persons very well qualified for the senate; and I have
never heard that a post in the army required greater abilities.
The pleasure, however, with which I have attended to his remarks, has
not so far prejudiced me in favour of his opinion, as that I shall
easily consent to change that method of discipline, to which our troops
have been accustomed, and of which we know by experience, that it is, at
least, not less efficacious than that of any other nation. Customs, if
they are not bad, are not to be changed, because it is an argument in
favour of a practice that the people have experienced it, and approved
it, and every change is disagreeable to those who judge only by
prejudice, of whom I need not say how great is the number.
Many arguments may, sir, in my opinion, be added to our experience in
favour of the present establishment. The number of officers--but I find
myself unable to pursue my design, because I can no longer read my
notes, which, being written by another hand, somewhat embarrass me in
this decline of the light. I shall, therefore, only make some
observations upon the speech of the gentleman who spoke the second in
this debate, and hope that I shall be allowed to deviate from the
principal question, since I do it only in pursuit of another.
He has observed, that our troopers are mounted upon horses that are of
no use; a remark, sir, which I never heard from any other person, and
for which, I believe, no authority can be produced: they are mounted,
indeed, upon horses very different from those which are used by other
nations, because scarcely any other country breeds horses of equal size
and strength, and, therefore, I am informed that the French have
purchased horses from this island, and believe that all the cavalry of
Europe would be mounted upon our horses if they could procure them. I
have been informed, that their pressure in the shock of battle is such,
as no forces in the world are able to sustain; and that it was not less
by the strength of our horses than the spirit of our soldiers, that the
squadrons of France were, in the battle of Blenheim, pushed into the
Danube.
Nor do I less disapprove his censure of the choice which has been made
of the troops intended for the American service, which, though I
ardently desire its success, I cannot think of equal importance with the
defence of our own country; for though we may be disgraced by a defeat,
we can be endangered only by an invasion; and, therefore, I think it
necessary to retain those troops on which we may best rely for the
security of this island, lest our enemies should take the advantage of
their absence, and set the pretender on the throne.
Sir William YONGE next rose, and spoke to the effect following:--Sir, it
is a standing maxim, both in private life and public transactions, that
no man can obtain great advantages who is afraid of petty
inconveniencies; and that he that will hope to obtain his end without
expense, will languish for ever in fruitless wishes, and have the
mortification of seeing the adventurous and the liberal enjoy that
felicity, which, though it is within his reach, he is afraid of seizing.
When the depredations of the Spaniards became first the subject of our
debates, nothing was heard amongst us but threats of vengeance, demands
of reparation, assertions of sovereignty, and resolutions to obtain
security: the importance of our commerce, the necessity of rigorous
measures, the danger of pusillanimity, the meanness of negotiation, and
the disadvantages of delay, were thundered from every part of the house.
Every man seemed to imagine that there was no mean between victory and
ruin, and that not to humble Spain was to betray our country to insults,
ignominy, and slavery.
Far was I then, sir, from suspecting, that when the war, thus vehemently
urged, should be declared, that the prosecution of it would produce any
debates. I doubted not but that every man would be desirous of
signalizing his zeal for the prosperity of commerce, by expediting the
supplies, and forwarding the preparations; and that the only contention
among us would be, who should appear the most ardent enemy of Spain.
But no sooner are hostilities begun against this insolent and oppressive
nation, than those who expressed most resentment at the prudence and
moderation by which they were delayed, those that accused every attempt
for an accommodation, of cowardice, and charged the ministry with
conniving at the rapine of pirates, begin to inquire into the necessity
of the expenses occasioned by the war, to harangue on the advantages of
parsimony, and to think it of more importance to ease our taxes than to
subdue our enemies.
In pursuance of this new doctrine they are now endeavouring to embarrass
the measures of his majesty, that they may save, according to their own
computation, only thirty thousand pounds, which, in reality, I can
easily show to be no more than fifteen thousand.
For the sake of this important sum, our army is to be modelled by a new
regulation, and the success of the war is to be impeded, the security of
our commerce to be hazarded, and our colonies are to be endangered.
Frugality is, undoubtedly, a virtue, but is, like others, to be
practised on proper occasions: to compute expenses with a scrupulous
nicety, in time of war, is to prefer money to safety, and, by a very
perverse kind of policy, to hazard the whole for the preservation of a
part.
The gentlemen, sir, who have most endeavoured to distinguish themselves
as the constant opponents of the administration, have charged it, on all
occasions, with giving encouragement to the Spaniards, but can charge it
with nothing so likely to raise the confidence and confirm the obstinacy
of the enemy, as the objections which they themselves have made to the
present scheme of levying forces; for to how great a degree of poverty
must they believe that nation reduced, of which the warmest patriots
struggle to save a sum so inconsiderable, by an experiment of so much
uncertainty? And how easily will the Spaniards promise themselves, that
they shall gain the victory only by obliging us to continue in a state
of war, a state which, by our own confession, we are not able to
support?
Had any other argument, sir, been produced than the necessity of
parsimony, it had been less dangerous to have agreed to this new scheme;
but to adopt it only for the sake of sparing fifteen thousand pounds,
would be to make ourselves contemptible, to intimidate our allies, and
to unite all those against us, who are inclined to trample on misery,
and to plunder weakness.
I am inclined to judge so favourably, sir, of the intentions of those
whom I am now opposing, that I believe they have only used this
argument, because they were able to produce no other, and that if either
reason or experience had been on their side, the poverty of the nation
had not been mentioned.
But the honourable gentleman, who has been so long engaged in military
employments, has shown that all our success has been obtained by the
present establishment, and that the battle in which we suffered most,
was lost by our unfortunate deficiency of officers.
Nor do his reasons, sir, however modestly offered, deserve less regard
than his experience, for he has shown that a greater number of officers
naturally contribute to preserve discipline, and excite courage; and it
is not necessary that a man should be much a soldier to discover, that
discipline and courage united, must generally prevail. To the examples
which he has produced in favour of his opinion, it has been objected,
that victories equally wonderful have been gained with fewer officers,
and, by the honourable gentleman that spoke the second on this occasion,
the actions of Eugene were opposed to those of the duke of MARLBOROUGH.
That victories have been gained by troops differently regulated, I
cannot deny; victories have likewise been gained, sir, under every
circumstance of disadvantage; victories have been gained by inferiour
numbers, and by raw troops, over veteran armies, yet no prudent general
ever produced these instances as arguments against the usefulness of
discipline, or as proofs that superiority of numbers was no advantage.
The success of prince Eugene, in the late war, was far from convincing
the British general, that the German establishment was preferable to our
own; for he required that the Hessian troops, which were paid by
Britain, should be officered like our national troops. In this he could
be influenced only by his own opinion; for he neither nominated their
officers, nor could advance his interest at home by creating new posts
to which he did not recommend; he could, therefore, only regard the
success of the war, and changed their model only because he thought it
defective.
The Germans themselves, sir, are far from imagining that their armies
might not be made more formidable by approaching nearer to the British
methods; for one of their officers, a man of great reputation and
experience, has informed me, that they were convinced of their defect,
and that nothing hindered them from adding more officers, but the fear
of expenses; that they imputed all their defeats to the necessity of
parsimony, that their men wanted not courage but leaders, and that their
enemies gained advantages merely by the superiority of their opulence.
In the late war, it was common for the auxiliary troops, when they were
sent upon any expedition of importance, to be supplied with officers
either from their other regiments, or by the British forces; so
necessary did the duke of MARLBOROUGH think a larger number of officers
in time of action, that where he could not alter the establishment, he
deviated from the common methods of war, and transferred his officers
occasionally into troops over which they had no settled authority.
It is, therefore, most evident, sir, that the model on which our troops
are formed, was, by this great commander, preferred to that which is now
so warmly recommended, and I know not why we should recede from his
practice, if we are desirous of his success.
Nor can I discover, sir, any better method of selecting officers than
that which has of late been followed, however some may censure or
ridicule it. To advance gentlemen to command, seems to be the most
likely way to unite authority with rank, for no man willingly obeys
those to whom he has lately seen himself equal, or whose conduct in
lower stations he has, perhaps, had opportunities of examining too
nearly.
The distinction of birth, however chimerical in itself, has been so long
admitted, and so universally received, that it is generally imagined to
confer on one man an indelible and evident superiority over another, a
superiority, which those who would easily imagine themselves equal in
merit cannot deny, and which they allow more willingly, because, though
it be an advantage to possess it, to want it cannot be justly considered
as a reproach.
For this reason, sir, men cheerfully obey those to whom their birth
seems to have subjected them, without any scrupulous inquiries into
their virtue or abilities; they have been taught from their childhood to
consider them as placed in a higher rank than themselves, and are,
therefore, not disgusted at any transient bursts of impatience, or
sudden starts of caprice, which would produce, at least, resentment,
and, perhaps, mutiny, in men newly exalted from a low station. The more
attentively, sir, we look upon the world, the more strongly shall we be
convinced of the truth of these assertions, and the more evidently shall
we discover the influence which operates, in a degree scarcely credible,
even to those who have experienced its power, and which is, indeed, one
of the chief means of subordination, by which society is held together.
Nor are officers of birth, sir, to be preferred to men who are
recommended by nothing but military service, only because they are more
cheerfully obeyed, but for another reason of equal importance. It has
been observed, that, in reality, they discharge the duty of commanders
in a manner more likely to preserve dignity and increase reverence; that
they discover, on all occasions, a sense of honour, and dread of
disgrace, which are not easily to be found in a mind contracted by a
mean education, and depressed by long habits of subjection.
It is not, indeed, sir, universally and unvariably certain, that a man,
raised from meanness and poverty, will be insolent and oppressive; nor
do I doubt but there are many now languishing in obscurity, whose
abilities might add new lustre to the highest honours, and whose
integrity would very faithfully discharge the most important trust, and
in their favour, wherever they can be discovered, some exceptions ought
to be made; but as general rules are generally to be followed, as well
in military regulations as other transactions, it will be found, upon
the exactest inquiry, by no means improper to advance gentlemen to posts
of command rather than private sentinels, however skilful or courageous.
It is to be considered, sir, that the present state of the continent,
has for many years made it necessary to support an army, even when we
are not engaged in an actual war; that this army, though of late it has,
for the ease of the people, been sometimes encamped during the summer,
is, for the greatest part, quartered in towns, and mingled with the rest
of the community, but governed, at the same time, by the officers, and
subject to the martial law. It has often been observed by those who have
argued against standing forces, that this difference of government makes
different societies, which do not combine in the same interest, nor much
favour one another; and it is, indeed, certain, that feuds are sometimes
produced, that when any private quarrel happens, either by drunkenness
or accident, or claims really disputable, between a soldier and any
other, person, each applies for support and assistance to those in the
same condition with himself, the cause becomes general, and the soldiers
and townsmen are not easily restrained from blows and bloodshed.
It is true, likewise, that the rhetorick of the patriots has been so
efficacious, that their arguments have been so clamorously echoed, and
their weekly productions so diligently dispersed, that a great part of
the nation, as men always willingly admit what will produce immediate
ease or advantage, believes the army to be an useless burden imposed
upon the people for the support of the ministry; that the landlord,
therefore, looks upon the soldier as an intruder forced into his house,
and rioting in sloth at his expense; and the farmer and manufacturer
have learned to call the army the vermin of the land, the caterpillars
of the nation, the devourers of other men's industry, the enemies of
liberty, and the slaves of the court.
It is not to be supposed, sir, that the soldiers entertain the same
ideas of their profession, or that they do not conceive themselves
injured by such representations: they undoubtedly consider themselves as
the bulwark of their country, as men selected for the defence of the
rest of the community, as those who have engaged, at the hazard of their
lives, to repel invasion, and repress rebellion, and who contribute more
than their part to the general felicity, by securing property, and
preventing danger.
It is not to be doubted, sir, but sentiments so widely different, must
produce an equal contrariety of claims, and diversity of conduct: the
trader imagines, that the man who subsists upon the taxes which are
raised only from his labour, ought to consider himself as his inferiour,
at least, if not as his hireling and his servant; the soldier wonders
how he can ever conceive himself sufficiently grateful to him that has
devoted his life to his defence, and to whom he must fly for protection
whenever danger shall approach him, and concludes, that he has an
incontestable right to the better part of that, of which the
preservation of the whole depends upon him.
Thus does self-love magnify every man in his own eyes, and so
differently will men determine when each is to judge in his own cause.
Which of these competitors thinks most justly of his own station and
character, or whether both are not mistaken in their opinion, I think it
by no means necessary to decide. This, at least, is evident, that to
preserve peace and harmony between two bodies of men obliged to live
together with sentiments so opposite, there is required an uncommon
degree of prudence, moderation, and knowledge of mankind, which is
chiefly to be exerted on the part of the soldiers, because they are
subject to more rigorous command, and are more easily governed by the
authority of their superiours.
Let us suppose any dispute of this kind, sir, to happen where the
soldiers were commanded only by private sentinels, disguised in the
dress of officers, but retaining, what it cannot be expected that they
should suddenly be able to lay aside, the prejudices which they had
imbibed in the ranks, and all the ardour of trifling competition in
which their station had once engaged them. What could be expected from
their councils and direction? Can it be imagined that they would inquire
impartially into the original cause of the dispute, that they would
attend equally to the parties, endeavour, by mildness and candour, to
soften the malevolence of each, and terminate the dispute by some
addressful expedient, or decent accommodation? He, surely, must be very
little acquainted with the vulgar notions of bravery and honour, that
could form any hopes of such conduct.
The plain soldier, sir, has not accustomed himself to regulate his
motions by reason, nor has learned any more of honour, than that it
consists in adhering invariably to his pretensions, even though he
should discover that they are false; and in resenting affronts with the
utmost rigour, even when they were provoked by himself, he is taught,
that it is his business to conquer in whatever cause, and that to desist
from any of his attempts, or retract any of his assertions, is unworthy
of a man of honour.
Warm with such notions as these, sir, would such officers, as have been
recommended by the honourable gentleman, apply themselves to the
termination of differences? Without any knowledge of the laws of
society, without any settled ideas of the different rights of different
persons, they would have nothing in view but the honour of their
profession, nor endeavour to support it by any other method than that of
violence. If a soldier was affronted by a farmer, they would probably
lay his territories waste, and ravage his plantations like an enemy's
country; if another disagreed with his landlord, they would advise him
to _make good his quarters_, to invade the magazines of provision
without restraint, to force the barricadoes of the cellar, and to forage
in the stables without controul.
But gentlemen, sir, are proper judges of debates between the army and
the rest of the community, because they are equally related to both
parties, as men who possess or expect estates, or who are allied to
those whose influence arises from their property. As men bred in
affluence and freedom, and acquainted with the blessings of our
constitution, and the necessity of civil government, they cannot
willingly contribute to the increase of the military power, and as
members of the army they cannot but be desirous to support their own
rank, and to hinder their profession from sinking into contempt; it is,
therefore, their care to repress insolence on one part, and to prevent
oppression on the other, to stop dissensions in their beginning, and
reconcile all the different pretensions of Britons and soldiers.
I am, indeed, surprised, sir, to hear the promotion of serjeants
recommended by the honourable gentleman who has so often strained his
lungs, and exhausted his invention, to explain how much our constitution
is endangered by the army, how readily those men will concur in the
abolition of property who have nothing to lose, and how easily they may
be persuaded to destroy the liberties of their country, who are already
cut off from the enjoyment of them, who, therefore, can only behold with
envy and malevolence those advantages which they cannot hope to possess,
and which produce in them no other effects than a quicker sense of their
own misery.
Upon what principles, sir, any gentleman can form those notions, or with
what view he can so long and so studiously disperse them, it is his
province to explain; for the only reason that can be offered by any
other person for his incessant declamations, the desire of securing his
country from the oppression of a standing army, is now for ever
overthrown by this new proposal; which, if it were to be received, would
in a very few years produce an army proper to be employed in the
execution of the most detestable designs, an army that could be of no
other use than to gratify an ambitious prince, or a wicked ministry, as
it would be commanded, not by men who had lost their liberty, but by men
who never enjoyed it, by men who would abolish our constitution without
knowing that they were engaged in any criminal undertaking, who have no
other sense of the enjoyment of authority than that it is the power of
acting without controul, who have no knowledge of any other laws than
the commands of their superiours.
To men like these, sir, to men raised up from poverty and servility to
rank and power, to ignorance invested with command, and to meanness
elated with preferment, would any real patriot, any zealous assertor of
liberty, any inflexible enemy to the corruptions of the ministry,
consign the protection of his country, and intrust to these our
happiness, properties, and our lives?
Whether the honourable gentleman has changed any of the sentiments which
he has hitherto appeared to admit with regard to the army, whether this
new determination is only an instance of that inconsistency which is
scarcely to be avoided in the vindication of a bad cause, or whether he
was betrayed to it only by his hatred of the administration, which would
prompt him to recant his own advice, if it should happen to be approved,
I will not pretend to determine, but I must lament, on this occasion,
the entertainment which the house will lose, by the eternal cessation of
any harangues on the army, since he cannot now declaim on either part
without contradicting his former declarations.
Nor will the honourable gentleman find less difficulty in proving, that
justice, rather than policy, requires the promotion of Serjeants to
commissions. Military preferments are always at the disposal of the
crown, nor can any right be pretended to them, but such as arises from
the custom which has been generally followed in conferring them, which
is not only variable at pleasure, but has never been, at any time,
regularly observed. The order of rotation has been suffered sometimes to
proceed, because of two persons, otherwise equal, he that has served
longest may plead the most merit; but the plea of service has been
always overruled by birth or powerful recommendation. And though, sir,
it is natural for men disappointed to complain, yet as those officers,
whose preferment has been delayed, were not thought, in reality, to have
received any injury, their murmurs have been the less regarded.
It might be expected, sir, from a patriot, a lamenter of the degeneracy
of mankind, and an inflexible opponent of corruption, that he should
consider rather facts than persons, that he should regulate his decision
by the unvariable principles of reason and justice, and that, therefore,
he should not applaud at one time what he condemns at another.
But this gentleman seems to have established some new maxims of conduct,
and, perhaps, upon new notions of morality; for he seems to imagine,
that his friends may seize, as their right, what his adversaries cannot
touch without robbery, though the claim of both be the same.
It is well known, sir, to the whole army, that a noble person, whose
abilities are so loudly celebrated, whose virtues are so liberally
praised, and whose removal from his military employments is so solemnly
lamented as a publick calamity, obtained his first preferments by
pretensions very different from military merit, and that at the age only
of seventeen, a time of life in which, whatever might be his abilities,
very little prudence or experience could be expected, he was advanced to
the command of a regiment, and exalted above many officers whose known
bravery and frequent hazards entitled them to favour.
I do not assert that he was undeservedly promoted, or condemn those who
either solicited or granted his commission; I maintain only, that what
was then reasonable and just, is not now either iniquitous or
ridiculous, and different persons in the same circumstances have a right
to the same treatment.
In the reign of queen Anne, a reign, sir, which every Briton recollects
with so much satisfaction, and which will for ever afford examples of
the wisest councils, and most successful wars, when new regiments were
to be raised, it was far from being thought necessary to observe this
gentleman's favourite method of rotation; posts were filled, not with
the officers of other regiments, that room might be left for the
promotion of serjeants, but with gentlemen who had never seen a battle,
or learned any part of the military discipline.
But though, sir, the regulation of our army be thus violently attacked,
the greatest crime of the ministry is, in this gentleman's opinion, that
of levying new troops, when we have no employment for our standing
forces, of laying unnecessary impositions upon the nation, and alarming
with the fears of an invasion, only that the army might be increased.
On this head, sir, a declaration of the duke of MARLBOROUGH has been
produced, with a great pomp of circumstances, and such a seeming
accuracy of narration, that the attention of the house was engaged, and
the account was received with all the solemnity of universal silence,
and with the veneration due to so high an authority in a question of so
much importance.
The subject is, indeed, so worthy of regard, that I think, sir, every
man ought to contribute to its elucidation, and, therefore, I take the
liberty of adding to the honourable gentleman's relation, what I hope
will be heard with equal curiosity, the method by which that great
commander proposed to put a stop to an invasion with so small a number.
He was very far, sir, from imagining that he should be able to repel
them by open force, he was far from being so confident of his
superiority in military skill, as to imagine that he should defeat them
by stratagem, and, therefore, he designed, by burning the villages, and
destroying the country, to deprive them of the means of subsistence, and
harass them with famine; to hover at a distance, and cut off those
parties which necessity should force out to forage, till a body of
troops could be assembled sufficient to overthrow them in a battle, or
to drive them back to their ships.
Such was the scheme, sir, as I have been informed, of this great man,
nor, perhaps, can any other be struck out by human abilities, where
greater numbers are to be opposed by smaller. But this scheme, though
preferable, in the last extremities, to slavery, is such as cannot be
mentioned without horrour, and of which the execution ought to be
avoided by every expedient that can be practised without the danger of
our liberties. We ought, certainly, not to reject a nauseous medicine,
by which that health is preserved, which, if lost, can only be restored
by the amputation of a limb.
As it was, therefore, necessary, sir, to secure our coasts from an
invasion, it was necessary to raise new troops for the American
expedition; nor did this method produce any delay, for the regiments
were completed a long time before the ships of war and the transports
were ready to convoy and receive them, nor could the utmost ardour and
diligence despatch them sooner from our coasts.
The ships, sir, were, by the violence of a frost, scarcely exampled,
retained, for a long time, in the harbours, without a possibility of
being put to sea; when they were all assembled at the place appointed
for their conjunction, they waited for a wind; all the delay that can be
objected, was produced by the seasons, of which the regulation was in no
man's power.
But the time, sir, which was unwillingly spent in the camp, was not,
however, lost or misemployed, for the troops were, by the order of the
general, every day exercised, and instructed in the art of war, so that
what was lost in time, was more than recompensed by the advantage of
better discipline.
Nor did these troops appear an herd so ignorant and contemptible, as
they have been represented by malicious invectives and ludicrous
descriptions; there were not, indeed, among them many grey-headed
warriours, nor were their former campaigns and past exploits the
subjects of their conversation; but there was not one amongst them who
did not appear ready to suffer, in the cause of his country, all that
the most hardened veteran could undergo, or whose alacrity and eagerness
did not promise perseverance in the march, and intrepidity in the
battle.
Their general, sir, who saw them pursue their exercises, declared how
much he was satisfied with their proficiency, applauded their
appearance, and expressed his confidence in their courage; nor do I
doubt, but our enemies will find, that it is not necessary to send out
our most formidable forces to humble them, and that the youth of Britain
will compensate their want of experience by their courage.
If I, sir, have been drawn aside from the present question, it is by
following, perhaps, with an exactness too scrupulous, the honourable
gentleman, whose propositions I have now shown to be erroneous, and
whose reproaches will, I believe, now appear rather the effects of
disappointment than of zeal, and, therefore, I think it now necessary to
return to the business before us, the consideration of the present
establishment, from which, as it was approved by the duke of
MARLBOROUGH, and has been defended with very strong arguments, by one of
the most experienced officers of this time, I cannot think it safe or
prudent to depart.
Mr. GRENVILLE spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, as a noble
person has been frequently hinted at in this debate, to whom my relation
is well known, and whom, as I know him well, I have the strongest
motives to reverence and honour, I cannot forbear to give, on this
occasion, an attestation which he will be allowed to deserve by all
those whom interest has not blinded, and corruption depraved.
It will be allowed, sir, that he is one of those who are indebted for
their honours only to merit, one whom the malice of a court cannot
debase, as its favour cannot exalt; he is one of those whose loss of
employments can be a reproach only to those who take them from him, as
he cannot forfeit them but by performing his duty, and can only give
offence by steady integrity, and a resolution to speak as he thinks, and
to act as his conscience dictates.
There are, sir, men, I know, to whom this panegyrick will seem romantick
and chimerical, men, to whom integrity and conscience are idle sounds,
men, who are content to catch the word of their leader, who have no
sense of the obligation of any law but the supreme will of him that pays
them, and who know not any virtue but diligence in attendance, and
readiness in obedience.
It is surely, sir, no loss to the noble person to be debarred from any
fellowship with men like these. Nothing can be more unpleasing to virtue
than such a situation as lays it under a necessity of beholding
wickedness that cannot be reformed; as the sight of a pesthouse must
raise horrour, though we should suppose the spectator secure from the
contagion.
Mr. ORD spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, as I cannot approve
the scheme now proposed, for augmenting our forces, I shall endeavour to
show why the arguments, by which it has hitherto been supported, have
failed to convince me, and shall lay before the house some reasons
against it, to which I shall expect an answer, before I shall think that
I can agree to it, without squandering the money of which my
constituents have intrusted me with the disposal.
The argument, sir, with which this motion was introduced, which is,
indeed, the strongest that has yet been offered, was, that this estimate
is less expensive than one that was laid before the house in a late
reign, and that, therefore, it could not reasonably be charged with
extravagance.
Let us now consider this argument with that care which is required by
the importance of the question, let us inquire what consequences will
follow from it, and to what previous suppositions it must owe its force.
The argument, sir, evidently supposes that the estimate in king
William's reign was drawn up without any intention to deceive the house,
or to raise money for purposes different from those for which it was
really expended. But if we suppose that estimate to be fraudulently
calculated, this may contain the same fallacies in a lower degree, and
the only merit that can be claimed by the authors of it, will be, that
they are not the most rapacious plunderers of their country, that,
however they may be charged with profusion of publick money, they are
yet more modest than some of their predecessors.
But it is known, sir, that in king William's reign, very few estimates
were honestly computed; it is known that the rotation of parties, and
fluctuation of measures, reduced the ministry to subsist upon artifices,
to amuse the senate with exorbitant demands, only that they might obtain
the necessary grants, and to pretend expenses which never were incurred,
that the supplies which the publick affairs really required, might not
be withheld; as fraudulent tradesmen fix immoderate prices, that the
buyer may make offers proportionate to their demands.
The estimates, therefore, of that reign are of very little authority,
though they might sometimes pass the house without censure; for it is to
be considered, that by the frequency of new elections, the greatest part
of the members were often unacquainted with the state of publick
accounts, and that an army was so little known to this kingdom, that the
true expense of it might easily be concealed.
Nor is this, sir, the only fallacy of this argument; for it supposes,
likewise, that the nation is no less wealthy than in the time when that
computation was offered, with which this is so triumphantly compared.
For every man knows that publick as well as private expenses are to be
proportioned to the revenue by which they are supplied, and that the
charges which are easily supported at one time, may threaten ruin at
another.
But unhappily, sir, it is evident, that, since the days of that
sovereign, the nation has been exhausted by a long and wasteful war, and
since, by a peace equally destructive, it is embarrassed with an
enormous debt, and entangled in treaties, of which the support may call
every day for new expenses; it has suffered since that time a thousand
losses, but gained no advantage, and yet the expenses of that time are
mentioned as an example to be compared with those which are proposed in
this.
The difference of the condition of the British nation at those two
periods of time, sir, is not less than that of the strength of the same
man in the vigour of youth and the frigidity of old age, in the flush of
health and the languor of disease, of the same man newly risen from rest
and plenty, and debilitated with hunger and fatigue.
To make such a comparison, sir, betrays, at least, a very criminal
insensibility, of the publick misery, if it may not be charged with
greater malignity. I know not whether those who shall hear of this
debate, may not impute such reflections rather to cruelty than
negligence, and imagine that those who squander the treasure of the
nation take pleasure in reproaching that poverty which their counsels
produce, and indulge their own vanity by contemplating the calamities
from which they are themselves secure, and to which they are indebted
for opportunities of increasing their own fortunes, and gratifying their
ambition. It is evident, that an estimate which requires less than that
which has been mentioned, may yet exact more than the nation can now
raise, without feeling too great inconveniencies to be compensated by
the advantages which can be expected from our new forces. Nor is it
sufficient that it is lower than those of former times; for, as it ought
to be the care of the government to preserve the ease and happiness of
the people, it should be reduced in proportion to the diminution of the
national wealth.
The right honourable gentleman confesses, sir, that frugality is a
virtue, and his argument supposes that to contract expenses is an
argument of prudent measures; why then is he afraid of carrying virtue
to a greater height, of making the burden still more light, and
preferring the cheapest estimate that can be proposed, when it is
asserted by those whose authority is most worthy of regard, that it will
produce no weakness in our troops, nor give our enemies any superiority?
I do not pretend any other skill in military affairs, than may be gained
by casual conversation with soldiers, and by a cursory observation of
daily occurrences; but I speak with greater confidence on this occasion,
because I do not think any other qualifications necessary for the
determination of this question, than a habit of just reasoning, and
freedom from the prejudices of interest.
Every man knows, sir, without a military education, that it is imprudent
to purchase any thing at a greater price which may be procured at a
less, and that when the same sum will buy two things, of which one is
evidently preferable to the other, the best ought to be chosen.
If the application of either of these two positions will decide this
controversy, there will be no need of recurring to experience, of citing
the authority of foreign commanders, of comparing the actions of the
German and British generals, or of inquiring how battles have been lost,
or to what victories are to be ascribed.
It is evident, sir, that the scheme now proposed, is twice as costly as
that which is recommended in opposition to it, and therefore, unless it
will produce twice the advantage, it must be acknowledged to be
imprudently chosen. The advantage in war, is to be rated by comparing
the strength of different numbers in different circumstances, and
inquiring what degree of superiority will be found.
If we suppose, sir, two bodies of men, equally armed and disciplined,
opposed to each other without any advantage of situation, we must
conceive that neither party could be conquered, that the balance of the
day must remain equal, and that the contest would continue undecided.
It cannot be objected to this supposition, sir, that no such event is
recorded in history, because in war many causes really act which cannot
be estimated; one army may consist of soldiers more courageous, and more
confident in the justice of their cause; unforeseen accidents may
operate, orders may be mistaken, or leaders may be misinformed; but all
these considerations are to be set aside in speculation, because they
may equally be alleged on either part.
Two bodies of men, sir, equally numerous, being, therefore, supposed
equal, it is to be inquired how either may be superiour to the other. It
is proposed, on one part, to produce this effect by doubling the number
of officers rather than increasing that of the soldiers; on the other,
to double the soldiers under the same officers, the expense being the
same of both methods.
When two armies, modelled according to these different schemes, enter
the field, what event can be expected? Either five thousand men, with a
double number of officers, must be equal to ten thousand, differently
regulated, or the publick has paid more for assistance of the officers
than its real value, and has chosen, of two methods equally expensive,
that which is least efficacious.
This, sir, is the state of the question now before us; our present
deficiency is not of men but money, and we may procure ten thousand men
regulated like the foreign troops, at the same expense as five thousand
in the form proposed; but I am afraid that no man will be found to
assert, that the addition of officers will be equivalent to a double
number of soldiers.
Thus it is evident, sir, evident to demonstration, that the most
expensive method is, at the same time, the least advantageous, and that
the proposal of new regiments is intended to augment the strength of the
ministry rather than of the army.
If we suppose, sir, what is more than any foreigner will grant, that the
additional officers raise a body of five thousand men to an equality
with six thousand, is not the pay of four thousand men apparently thrown
away? And do not the officers receive a reward which their service
cannot deserve? Would it not be far more rational to raise seven
thousand, by which our army would be stronger by a seventh part, and as
the pay of three thousand would be saved, the publick would be richer by
almost a third.
Surely, sir, numerical arguments cannot but deserve some consideration,
even from those who have learned by long practice to explain away mere
probability at pleasure, to select the circumstances of complicated
questions, and only to show those which may be produced in favour of
their own opinions.
In the present question, sir, there is very little room for fallacy; nor
do I see what remains to the decision of it, but that those gentlemen
who have been acquainted with military operations, inform us, what
degree of superiority is conferred by any assignable number of officers;
that we may compare their service with the price, and discover whether
the same money will not purchase greater advantages.
The experience of the late war may evince, sir, that those troops which
have the greatest number of officers are not always victorious; for our
establishment never admitted the same, or nearly the same number with
that of the French, our enemies; nevertheless, we still boast of our
victories; nor is it certain that we might not have been equally
successful, though the number of our officers had been yet less.
Foreigners, sir, are very far from discovering the defect of their own
establishment, or imagining that they should become more formidable by
imitating our methods. When I travelled, I took opportunities of
conversing with the generals of those nations which are most famous for
the valour of their troops, and was informed by them, that they thought
a multitude of officers by no means useful, and that they were so far
from desiring to see their own regulation changed, that they should make
no scruple of recommending it to other nations, who, in their opinion,
squandered their treasure upon useless commissions, and increased the
calamities of war by unnecessary burdens.
I hope no man will think it sufficient to reply to these arguments with
general assertions, or will deny the necessity of frugality, and extol
the opulence of the nation, the extent of our commerce, and the
happiness of our condition. Such indeed, sir, is the method of
argumentation made use of by the hireling scribblers of the court, who,
because they feel none of the publick calamities, represent all
complaints as criminal murmurs, and charge those with sedition who
petition only for relief. Wretches like these would celebrate our
victories, though our country should be overrun by an invader, would
praise the lenity of any government by which themselves should be
spared, and would boast of the happiness of plenty, when half the people
should be languishing with famine.
I do not suppose, sir, that the despicable sophistry of prostitutes like
these has any effect here, nor should I have thought them worthy of the
least notice, had it not been proper to inquire, whether those may not
be justly suspected of some inclination to deceive, even in this
assembly, by whom the most profligate of mankind are openly paid for the
promulgation of falsehood, and the patronage of corruption.
It is indeed, sir, artful, in those who are daily impairing our honour
and influence, to endeavour to conceal from the people their own
weakness, that weakness which is so well known in foreign countries,
that every nation is encouraged to insult us, and by which it may
reasonably be imagined that new enemies will, in a short time, be
raised.
The late changes in our military regulations have, indeed, taken away
all the terrour of our arms; those troops are now no longer dreaded, by
which the liberties of Europe were recovered, and the French reduced to
abandon their schemes of universal empire, for the defence of their own
country, because the officers by whom they were formerly conducted to
glory and to victory, are now dismissed, and men advanced to their
posts, who are neither feared nor known.
When the duke of ARGYLE was lately deprived of his command, the
Spaniards could not conceal their satisfaction; they bestowed, however
unwillingly, the highest panegyrick upon his bravery and conduct, by
showing that he was the only Briton of whom they were afraid. Nor did
their allies, the French, discover less exultation; for by them it was
declared, that the nation was now disarmed, that either no war was
intended, or that none could be successfully prosecuted, since, as they
made no scruple to assert, though I know not whether I ought to repeat
it, we have no other man capable of commanding armies, or conducting any
great design.
I am informed that this illustrious warriour, whose abilities are
sufficiently attested by these enemies, that have felt their prevalence,
is of opinion, that the number of officers now required is not
necessary, and has declared that he should with equal confidence
undertake either invasion or defence, with forces modelled after the
German custom; and since I have shown, that, unless the troops so
regulated, are equivalent to a double number, added to the standing
regiments, part of the expense of the officers is evidently squandered,
I shall vote against the motion, unless it be proved, which I believe
will not be attempted, that the force of a regiment is doubled by
doubling the officers.
General WADE then spoke, to the purpose following:--Sir, the learned
gentleman who spoke last, must be acknowledged to have discovered a very
specious method of reasoning, and to have carried his inquiry as far as
speculation without experience can hope to proceed, but has, in my
opinion, admitted a false principle, by which all his argument has been
perplexed.
He supposes, that the advantages must be always in proportion to the
money expended in procuring them, and that, therefore, if five thousand
men, raised at any given cost, will be equal to five thousand, they
ought, if they are regulated according to an establishment of double the
charge, to be able to encounter ten thousand.
But in this supposition, sir, he forgets that the possibility of loss is
to be thrown into the balance against the advantage of the expense
saved, and that though the strength of the troops be not increased in
proportion to the increase of the cost, yet the additional security
against a great loss may justly entitle the most expensive regulation to
the preference.
Suppose five thousand men to be brought into the field against six
thousand; if they can, by multiplying their officers at a double
expense, be enabled to engage successfully a body superiour in number by
only a sixth part, the nation may be justly said to gain all that would
have been lost by suffering a defeat.
That we ought not to choose a worse method when we can discover a
better, is indisputably true, but which method is worse or better, can
be discovered only by experience. The last war has taught us, that our
troops in their present establishment are superiour to the forces of
France, but how much they might suffer by any alteration it is not
possible to foresee.
Success is gained by courage, and courage is produced by an opinion of
superiority; and it may easily be imagined, that our soldiers, who judge
of their own strength only by experience, imagine their own
establishment and discipline advanced to the highest perfection; nor
would they expect any other consequences from an alteration of it, but
weakness and defeats. It is, therefore, dangerous to change the model of
our forces, because it is dangerous to depress the spirit of our
soldiers.
Though it is confessed, sir, that the French, whose officers are still
more numerous, have been conquered by our troops, it must be likewise
alleged, that they had yielded us far easier victories had their
officers been wanting; for to them are they indebted for their conquests
wherever they have been successful, and for their resistance wherever
they have been with difficulty defeated; their soldiers are a spiritless
herd, and were they not invigorated by the example of their leaders, and
restrained by the fear of instant punishment, would fly at the approach
of any enemy, without waiting for the attack.
I cannot, therefore, sir, but be of opinion, that the necessity of a
large number of officers, may be learned even from the behaviour of
those troops which have been unsuccessful, since it is certain, that
though they have been often overcome, they have generally resisted with
great steadiness, and retired with great order.
If those, who are only speculative warriours, shall imagine that their
arguments are not confuted, I can only repeat what I declared when I
first attempted to deliver my sentiments in this debate, that I do not
pretend to be very skilful in the arts of disputation. I, who claim no
other title than that of an old soldier, cannot hope to prevail much by
my oratory; it is enough for me that I am confident of confuting those
arguments in the field, which I oppose in the senate.
Mr. FOX spoke next, in this manner:--Sir, I am far from thinking that
this question has been hitherto fully explained by those who have either
considered it only as a dispute about money, or a question merely
speculative concerning the proportions between different degrees of
expense, and probability of success. In a war of this kind, expense is
the last and lowest consideration, and where experience may be
consulted, the conjectures of speculation ought to have no weight.
The method, sir, by which our troops have hitherto been regulated, is
well known to have produced success beyond our expectations, to have
exalted us to the arbitration of the world, to have reduced the French
to change their threats of forcing a monarch upon us, into petitions for
peace, and to have established the liberties of almost every nation of
the world that can call itself free.
Whether this method, sir, so successful, so easy, and so formidable,
shall be changed, whether it shall be changed at a time when the whole
continent is in commotion, and every nation calling soldiers to its
standard; when the French, recovered from their defeats, seem to have
forgotten the force of that hand that crushed them in the pride of
victory; when they seem to be reviving their former designs, and
rekindling their extinguished ambition; whether, at such a time, the
regulations of our army shall be changed to save, upon the highest
computation, only thirty thousand pounds, is the present question.
On such a question, sir, I cannot observe, without astonishment, any man
deliberating for a single moment. To suspend our opinion in this case,
would be to balance our lives, our liberties, our patrimonies, and our
posterity, against thirty thousand pounds.
The effects of our present method, sir, are well known to ourselves, our
confederates, our enemies, to every man that has heard the name of
Blenheim and Ramillies; the consequences of the establishment, now
contended for, our most experienced commanders own themselves unable to
foresee, and I am far from believing that theoretical disquisitions can
enable any man to make great discoveries in military affairs.
Our own inexperience of the method which is so warmly recommended, is
not the strongest objection to it, though even this ought, in my
opinion, to restrain us from trying it at this hazardous conjuncture.
But since arguments, merely negative, may be thought over-balanced by
the prospect of saving money, I shall lay before the house, what effects
the want of officers has produced, with regard to those nations whose
poverty has laid them under a necessity of parsimonious establishments.
When the Germans were defeated by the French, in the late war, I was at
the Sardinian court, where the battle was, as it may easily be supposed,
the reigning subject of conversation, and where they did not want
opportunities of informing themselves minutely of all the circumstances
which contributed to the event; it was there, sir, universally
determined, that the Germans lost the day merely for want of officers.
It was observed also, sir, that some troops, which were once courted and
feared by all the neighbouring potentates, had lost their reputation in
later times, of which no reason could be alleged, but that they had
lessened the number of their officers; such is the change in the model
of the Walloons, and such is the consequence produced by it.
I am very far, sir, from thinking, that reason is not to be consulted in
military operations, as in other affairs, and have no less satisfaction
than the learned gentleman who spoke last but one, in clear and
demonstrative deductions; but in this question, reason itself informs
me, that regard ought only to be had to experience, and that authority
unsupported by practice, ought to have no prevalence.
I shall, therefore, sir, make no inquiry into the abilities of the
generals, by whom these contrary opinions are defended, nor draw any
parallel between their actions or their knowledge. It is sufficient for
me that the one is proposing a new scheme, and that the opinion of the
other can plead the practice of king William, and the duke of
MARLBOROUGH, and the success of the last war.
Yet, sir, if parsimony be a virtue at this time so eminently necessary,
it may be urged in favour of this estimate, that it will be less
expensive than those that have been formerly offered, and that as all
changes ought to be gradual, this may be considered as the first step
towards a general reduction of the publick charge.
Mr. HEATHCOTE spoke to the following purpose:--Sir, it is not without
astonishment, that I heard the honourable gentleman who spoke lately,
conclude his remarks with an attempt to renew our apprehensions of the
pretender, a chimerical invader, an enemy in the clouds, without spirit,
and without forces, without dominions, without money, and without
allies; a miserable fugitive, that has not a friend in this kingdom, or
none but such as are exasperated by those whom the men that mention him
with so much terrour are attempting to vindicate.
The vanity, sir, of such fears, the folly of admitting them, if they are
real, and of counterfeiting them, if they are false, has been
sufficiently exposed in this debate, by my honourable friend; but as he
thought it unnecessary to employ arguments in proof of what cannot be
denied, and believed it sufficient to ridicule a panick which he
supposed merely political, I, who judge, perhaps, more favourably of the
sincerity of some, and more tenderly of the cowardice of others, shall
endeavour to show, that the frequent revolutions which have happened in
this nation, afford us no reason for fearing another, equally sudden and
unforeseen in favour of the pretender.
The government, sir, is always stronger, as it is complicated with the
private interest of more individuals; because, though there are few that
have comprehension sufficient to discern the general advantage of the
community, almost every man is capable of attending to his own; and
though not many have virtue to stand up in opposition to the approach of
general calamities, of which every one may hope to exempt himself from
his particular share, yet the most sanguine are alarmed, and the most
indolent awakened at any danger which threatens themselves, and will
exert their utmost power to obviate or escape it.
For this reason, sir, I have long considered the publick funds
established in this nation, as a barrier to the government, which cannot
easily be broken: a foreign prince cannot now be placed upon the throne,
but in opposition almost to every wealthy man, who, having trusted the
government with his money, has reposited a pledge of his own fidelity.
But to this gentleman, sir, whom I am now answering, arguments can be of
very little importance, because, by his own confession, he is retained
as a mere machine, to speak at the direction of another, and to utter
sentiments which he never conceived, and which his hesitation and abrupt
conclusion shows him to admit with very little examination. He had not
even allowed himself time to know the opinion which he was to assert, or
to imprint upon his memory those arguments to which he was to add the
sanction of his authority. He seems to have boldly promised to speak,
and then to have inquired what he was to say. Yet has this gentleman
often declaimed here with all the apparent ardour of integrity, and been
heard with that regard which is only due to virtue and independence.
Some of his assertions are such, however, as require confutation, which
is, perhaps, more necessary since he has produced an authority for them,
which many of those who heard him may think of much greater weight than
his own. He affirms, that we can suffer only by an invasion, and infers
from this position, that we need only to guard our own coasts. I am of
an opinion very different, and having not yet prevailed upon myself to
receive notes from any other person, cannot forbear to speak what I
think, and what the publick prosperity requires to be generally known.
We may surely suffer by many other causes, by the ignorance, or
treachery, or cowardice of the ministry, by the negligence of that
person to whom this gentleman was probably indebted for his notes. We
may suffer by the loss of our sugar colonies, which may be justly valued
at ten millions.
These plantations, which afford us almost all the profitable trade that
is now left us, have been exposed to the insults of the enemy, without
any other guard than two ships, almost unfit for service. They have been
left to the protection of chance, with no other security, at a time when
the Spaniards had fitted out a squadron, to infest and ravage our
American dominions.
The admiral, who was sent into America, was confined for almost a year
in the ports, without forces, ships, or ammunition, which yet might have
been sent in a few months, had not pretences of delay been studiously
invented, had not the preparations been obstructed by clandestine
expedients, and had not every man been tacitly assured, that he should
recommend himself to his superiours, by raising difficulties, rather
than by removing them.
Such was the conduct of those who now stand up in the face of their
country, and, without diffidence or shame, boast of their zeal, their
assiduity, and their despatch; who proclaim, with an air of triumphant
innocence, that no art or diligence could have been more expeditious,
and that the embarkation was only impeded by the seasons and the winds.
With assertions equally intrepid, and arguments equally contemptible,
has the same person, who boasted his expedition, endeavoured to defend
the establishment of new regiments, in opposition to the practice of
foreign nations, and to the opinion of the greatest general among us;
and, to show how little he fears confutation, has recommended his scheme
on account of its frugality.
It is not to be wondered, sir, that such an orator should undertake to
defend the model of the troops sent to America, that he should prefer
boys to veterans, and assert the propriety of intrusting new levies to
unexperienced commanders; for he has given us in this debate such proofs
of controversial courage, that nothing can be now imagined too arduous
for him to attempt.
His strength, sir, is, indeed, not equal to his spirit, and he is
frequently unsuccessful in his most vigorous efforts, but it must be
confessed that he is generally overborne only by the force of truth, by
a power which few can resist so resolutely as himself, and which,
therefore, though it makes no impression upon him, prevails upon others
to leave him sometimes alone in the vindication of his positions.
The examples, sir, of those noble persons who were advanced early to
commissions, will be produced by him without effect, because the cases
are by no means parallel. They were not invested with command till they
had spent some time in the service, and exhibited proofs of their
courage and their capacity; and it cannot be doubted, but some men may
discover at seventeen, more merit than others in the full strength of
manhood.
But, sir, there is another consideration of more importance, which will
annihilate the parallel, and destroy the argument founded upon it. At
the time in which these persons were preferred, the nation had but newly
seen an army, and had, therefore, very few old officers whose experience
could be trusted, or whose services required to be rewarded: the
ministers were obliged to select those, who, though they did not
understand the military sciences, were likely to attain them in a short
time, and the event has sufficiently proved, that in the choice no
greater regard was paid to interest than to judgment.
It was prudent, likewise, sir, to choose young persons, supposing their
abilities equal with those of others, because the nation was likely to
possess them longer, and would not be reduced, by an interval of peace,
to make war again with raw forces, under the direction of ignorant
commanders.
But this provision, however reasonable, the wisdom of this ministry has
found means to defeat, by detaining at home the disciplined troops, and
depriving the most experienced generals of their commands, at a time
when they are most necessary, at a time when the whole world is in arms,
when the ambition of France is reviving its claims, and the Spaniards
are preparing to invade our colonies.
But, sir, though our generals are discarded, we are sufficiently
informed, that it is not because we are imagined to be in a state of
safety; for the increase of our army betrays our fear, of which, whether
it will be dispelled or increased by such measures, it is not difficult
to determine.
An army thus numerous, sir, is, in the opinion of every honest Briton,
of every man that reveres the constitution, or loves his liberty, an
evil more to be dreaded, than any from which we can be defended by it.
The most unpopular act of the most unpopular of our monarchs, was the
establishment of a standing-army; nor do I know any thing to be feared
from the exaltation of the dreadful pretender to the throne, but that he
will govern the nation with an armed force.
If our troops continue to be increased, which we may reasonably suspect,
since, if arguments like these be admitted, pretences for augmentations
can never be wanting, the consequences are easily foreseen; they will
grow too numerous to be quartered in the towns, and, with an affectation
of easing them of such unwelcome guests, it will be proposed, that after
having spent the summer in a camp, they shall retire in winter to
barracks. Then will the burden of a standing army be imposed for ever on
the nation; then may our liberties be openly invaded, and those who now
oppress us by the power only of money, will then throw aside the mask,
and deliver themselves from the constraint of hypocrisy; those who now
sooth us with promises and protestations, will then intimidate us with
threatenings, and, perhaps, revenge the opposition of their schemes by
persecution and sequestrations.
Mr. GAGE spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, if the weakness of
arguments proved the insincerity of those who produce them, I should be
inclined to suspect the advocates for the establishment of new
regiments, of designs very different from the defence of their country;
but as their intentions cannot be known, they cannot be censured, and I
shall, therefore, confine myself to an examination of the reasons which
they have offered, and the authorities which they have cited.
The German general, who has been mentioned on this occasion with so much
regard, is not less known to me than to the honourable gentleman, nor
have I been less diligent to improve the hours in which I enjoyed his
friendship and conversation. Among other questions, which my familiarity
with him entitled me to propose, I have asked him to what causes he
imputed the ill success of the last war, and he frankly ascribed the
miscarriages of it to the unhappy divisions by which the German councils
were at that time embarrassed.
Faction produces nearly the same consequence in all countries, and had
then influenced the imperial court, as of late the court of Great
Britain, to dismiss the most able and experienced commanders, and to
intrust the conduct of the war to men unequal to the undertaking; who,
when they were defeated for want of skill, endeavoured to persuade their
patrons and their countrymen, that they lost the victory for want of
officers.
They might, perhaps, think of their countrymen, what our ministers seem
to imagine of us, that to gain belief among them, it was sufficient to
assert boldly, that they had not any memory of past transactions, and
that, therefore, they could not observe, that the same troops were
victorious under Eugene, which were defeated under the direction of his
successours; nor could discover that the regulation was the same, where
the effects were different.
Thus, in every place, it is the practice of men in power, to blind the
people by false representations, and to impute the publick calamities
rather to any other cause than their own misconduct. It is every where
equally their practice to oppress and obscure those who owe their
greatness to their virtue or abilities, because they can never be
reduced to blind obedience, or taught to be creatures of the ministry,
because men who can discover truth, will sometimes speak it, and because
those are best qualified to deceive others, who can be persuaded that
they are contending for the right.
But it is surely time for this nation to rouse from indolence, and to
resolve to put an end to frauds that have been so long known. It is time
to watch with more vigilance the distribution of the publick treasure,
and to consider rather how to contract the national expenses, than upon
what pretences new offices may be erected, and new dependencies created.
It is time to consider how our debts may be lessened, and by what
expedients our taxes may be diminished.
Our taxes, sir, are such, at present, as perhaps no nation was ever
loaded with before, such as never were paid to raise forces against an
invader, or imposed by the insolence of victory upon a conquered people.
Every gentleman pays to the government more than two thirds of his
estate, by various exactions.--This assertion is received, I see, with
surprise, by some, whose ample patrimonies have exempted them from the
necessity of nice computations, and with an affected appearance of
contempt by others, who, instead of paying taxes, may be said to receive
them, and whose interest it is to keep the nation ignorant of the causes
of its misery, and to extenuate those calamities by which themselves are
enriched.
But, sir, to endeavour to confute demonstration by a grin, or to laugh
away the deductions of arithmetick, is, surely, such a degree of
effrontery, as nothing but a post of profit can produce; nor is it for
the sake of these men, that I shall endeavour to elucidate my assertion;
for they cannot but be well informed of the state of our taxes, whose
chief employment is to receive and to squander the money which arises
from them.
It is frequent, sir, among gentlemen, to mistake the amount of the taxes
which are laid upon the nation, by passing over, in their estimates, all
those which are not paid immediately out of the visible rents of their
lands, and imagining that they are in no degree interested in the
imposts upon manufactures or other commodities. They do not consider
that whenever they purchase any thing of which the price is enhanced by
duties, those duties are levied upon them, and that there is no
difference between paying ten shillings a year in land taxes, and paying
five shillings in land taxes, and five shillings to manufacturers to be
paid by them to the government.
It would be, in reality, equally rational for a man to please himself
with his frugality, by directing half his expenses to be paid by his
steward, and the event is such as might be expected from such a method
of economy; for, as the steward might probably bring in false accounts,
the tradesman commonly adds twopence to the price of his goods for every
penny which is laid on them by the government; as it is easy to show,
particularly in the prices of those two great necessaries of life,
candles and leather.
Now, sir, let any gentleman add to the land tax the duties raised from
the malt, candles, salt, soap, leather, distilled liquors, and other
commodities used in his house; let him add the expenses of travelling so
far as they are increased by the burden laid upon innkeepers, and the
extortions of the tradesmen which the excises have occasioned, and he
will easily agree with me that he pays more than two-thirds of his
estate for the support of the government.
It cannot, therefore, be doubted that it is now necessary to stop in our
career of expenses, and to inquire how much longer this weight of
imposts can possibly be supported. It has already, sir, depressed our
commerce, and overborne our manufactures, and if it be yet increased, if
there be no hope of seeing it alleviated, every wise man will seek a
milder government and enlist himself amongst slaves that have masters
more wise or more compassionate.
We ought to consider, sir, whether some of our present expenses are not
superfluous or detrimental, whether many of our offices are not merely
pensions without employment, and whether multitudes do not receive
salaries, who serve the government only by their interest and their
votes. Such offices, if they are found, ought immediately to be
abolished, and such salaries withdrawn, by which a fund might be now
established for maintaining the war, and afterwards for the payment of
our debts.
It is not now, sir, in my opinion, a question whether we shall choose
the dearest or the cheapest method of increasing our forces, for it
seems to me not possible to supply any new expenses. New troops will
require more money to raise and to pay them, and more money can only be
obtained by new taxes; but what now remains to be taxed, or what tax can
be increased? The only resource left us is a lottery, and whether that
will succeed is likewise a lottery; but though folly and credulity
should once more operate according to our wishes, the nation is, in the
meantime, impoverished, and at last lotteries must certainly fail, like
other expedients. When the publick wealth is entirely exhausted,
artifice and violence will be equally vain. And though the troops may
possibly be raised, according to the estimate, I know not how we shall
pay them, or from what fund, yet unmortgaged, the officers who will be
entailed upon us, can hope to receive their half-pay.
For my part, sir, I think the question so easy to be decided, that I am
astonished to see it the subject of a debate, and imagine that the
controversy might be ended only by asking the gentleman, on whose
opinion all his party appear to rely, without any knowledge or
conviction of their own, whether, if he were to defend a nation from its
enemies, and could procure only a small sum for the war, he would not
model his forces by the cheapest method.
Mr. SLOPER then spoke thus:--Sir, I cannot, without the highest
satisfaction, observe any advances made in useful knowledge, by my
fellow-subjects, as the glory of such attainments must add to the
reputation of the kingdom which gives rise to such elevated abilities.
This satisfaction I have received from the observations of the right
honourable member, whose accurate computations cannot but promise great
improvements of the doctrine of arithmetick; nor can I forbear to
solicit him, for the sake of the publick, to take into his consideration
the present methods of traffick used by our merchants, and to strike out
some more commodious method of stating the accoinpts between those two
contending parties, debtor and creditor. This he would, doubtless,
execute with great reputation, who has proved, from the state of our
taxes, that new forces require new funds, and that new funds cannot be
established without a lottery.
I am, indeed, inclined to differ from him in the last of his positions,
and believe the nation not yet so much exhausted but that it may easily
bear the expense of the war, and shall, therefore, vote for that
establishment of our troops which will be most likely to procure
success, without the least apprehension of being censured either by the
present age, or by posterity, as a machine of the ministry, or an
oppressor of my country.
General WADE spoke again, thus:--Sir, since the right honourable member
has been pleased to insinuate, that by answering a plain question I may
put an end to the debate, I am willing to give a proof of my desire to
promote unanimity in our councils, and despatch in our affairs, by
complying with his proposal.
If I were obliged with a small sum to raise an army for the defence of a
kingdom, I should, undoubtedly, proceed with the utmost frugality; but
this noble person's ideas of frugality would, perhaps, be very different
from mine; he would think those expenses superfluous, which to me would
seem indispensably necessary, and though we should both intend the
preservation of the country, we should provide for its security by
different methods.
He would employ the money in such a manner as might procure the greatest
numbers; I should make my first inquiry after the most skilful officers,
and should imagine myself obliged, by my fidelity to the nation that
intrusted me with its defence, to procure their assistance, though at a
high price.
It is not easy for persons who have never seen a battle or a siege,
whatever may be their natural abilities, or however cultivated by
reading and contemplation, to conceive the advantage of discipline and
regularity, which is such, that a small body of veteran troops will
drive before them multitudes of men, perhaps equally bold and resolute
with themselves, if they are unacquainted with the rules of war, and
unprovided with leaders to direct their motions.
I should, therefore, in the case which he has mentioned, prefer
discipline to numbers, and rather enter the field with a few troops,
well governed and well instructed, than with a confused multitude,
unacquainted with their duty, unable to conduct themselves, and without
officers to conduct them.
Mr. VINER spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, I am not very
solicitous what may be the determination of the house upon this
question, because I think it more necessary to resolve against an
augmentation of the army, than to inquire, whether it shall be made by
one method or another.
Every addition to our troops, I consider as some approach towards the
establishment of arbitrary power, as it is an alienation of part of the
British people, by which they are deprived of the benefits of the
constitution, and subjected to rigorous laws, from which every other
individual is exempt.
The principal of these laws, which all the rest are intended to enforce,
requires from every soldier an unlimited and absolute obedience to the
commands of his officers, who hold their commission, and expect
advancement, by the same compliance with the orders of the ministry.
The danger of adding to the number of men, thus separated from their
fellow-subjects, and directed by the arbitrary determinations of their
officers, has been often explained with great strength and perspicuity;
nor should I have taken this occasion of recalling it to the attention
of the house, but that I think it a consideration, to which, in all
debates on the army, the first regard ought to be paid.
Colonel MORDAUNT spoke to the purpose following:--Sir, the objection
which the honourable gentleman has raised, will be most easily removed,
by considering the words of the act by which the military authority is
established, where it is by no means declared, that either officers or
soldiers are obliged indiscriminately to obey all the orders which they
shall receive, but that they shall, on pain of the punishments there
enacted, obey all the _lawful_ orders of their commanders.
The obedience, therefore, sir, required from a soldier, is an obedience
according to law, like that of any other Briton, unless it can be
imagined that the word _lawful_ is, in that place, without a meaning.
Nor does his condition differ from that of his fellow-subjects by an
exemption from any law, but by a greater number of duties, and stricter
obligations to the performance of them; and I am not able to conceive
how our constitution can be endangered by augmenting an army, which, as
it can only act in conformity to it, can act only in defence of it.
[The question at last was put, that the new-raised troops be
incorporated into the standing corps, but it passed in the negative, 232
to 166.]
HOUSE OF LORDS, DEC. 9, 1740.
DEBATE ON TAKING THE STATE OF THE ARMY INTO CONSIDERATION.
The duke of ARGYLE rose first, and spoke to the following effect:--My
lords, as the present situation of our affairs may require an
augmentation of our forces, and as the success of our arms, and the
preservation of our liberties, may equally depend upon the manner in
which the new forces shall be raised, there is, in my opinion, no
question more worthy the attention of this august assembly, than what
may be the most proper method of increasing our army.
On this question, my lords, I shall offer my own sentiments with greater
confidence, as there are few men who have had more opportunities of
being acquainted with it in its whole extent, as I have spent great part
of my life in the field and in the camp. I commanded a regiment under
king William, and have long been either the first, or almost the first
man in the army.
I hope, my lords, it will be allowed, without difficulty, that I have,
at least, been educated at the best school of war, and that nothing but
natural incapacity can have hindered me from making some useful
observations upon the discipline and government of armies, and the
advantages and inconveniencies of the various plans upon which other
nations regulate their forces.
I have always maintained, my lords, that it is necessary, in the present
state of the neighbouring countries, to keep up a body of regular
troops, that we may not be less able to defend ourselves, than our
enemies to attack us.
It is well known, my lords, that states must secure themselves by
different means, as they are threatened by dangers of different kinds:
policy must be opposed by policy, and force by force; our fleets must be
increased when our neighbours grow formidable by their naval power, and
armies must be maintained at a time like this, in which every prince on
the continent estimates his greatness by the number of his troops.
But an army, my lords, as it is to be admitted only for the security of
the nation, is to be so regulated, that it may produce the end for which
it is established; that it may be useful without danger, and protect the
people without oppressing them.
To this purpose, my lords, it is indispensably necessary, that the
military subordination be inviolably preserved, and that discipline be
discreetly exercised without any partial indulgence, or malicious
severities; that every man be promoted according to his desert, and that
military merit alone give any pretensions to military preferment.
To make the army yet more useful, it ought to be under the sole command
of one man, exalted to the important trust by his known skill, courage,
justice, and fidelity, and uncontrouled in the administration of his
province by any other authority, a man enabled by his experience to
distinguish the deserving, and invested with power to reward them.
Thus, my lords, ought an army to be regulated, to which the defence of a
nation is intrusted, nor can any other scheme be formed which will not
expose the publick to dangers more formidable than revolutions or
invasions. And yet, my lords, how widely those who have assumed the
direction of affairs have deviated from this method is well known. It is
known equally to the highest and meanest officers, that those who have
most opportunities of observing military merit, have no power of
rewarding it; and, therefore, every man endeavours to obtain other
recommendations than those of his superiours in the army, and to
distinguish himself by other services than attention to his duty, and
obedience to his commanders.
Our generals, my lords, are only colonels with a higher title, without
power, and without command; they can neither make themselves loved nor
feared in their troops, nor have either reward or punishment in their
power. What discipline, my lords, can be established by men, whom those
who sometimes act the farce of obedience, know to be only phantoms of
authority, and to be restrained by an arbitrary minister from the
exercise of those commissions which they are invested with? And what is
an army without discipline, subordination, and obedience? What, but a
rabble of licentious vagrants, set free from the common restraints of
decency, exempted from the necessity of labour, betrayed by idleness to
debauchery, and let loose to prey upon the people? Such a herd can only
awe the villages, and bluster in the streets, but can never be able to
oppose an enemy, or defend the nation by which they are supported.
They may, indeed, form a camp upon some of the neighbouring heaths, or
pass in review with tolerable regularity; they may sometimes seize a
smuggler, and sometimes assist a constable with vigour and success. But
unhappy would be the people, who had no other force to oppose against an
army habituated to discipline, of which every one founds his hopes of
honour and reward upon the approbation of the commander.
That no man will labour to no purpose, or undergo the fatigue of
military vigilance, without an adequate motive; that no man will
endeavour to learn superfluous duties, and neglect the easiest road to
honour and to wealth, merely for the sake of encountering difficulties,
is easily to be imagined. And, therefore, my lords, it cannot be
conceived, that any man in the army will very solicitously apply himself
to the duties of his profession, of which, when he has learned them, the
most accurate practice will avail him nothing, and on which he must lose
that time, which might, have been employed in gaining an interest in a
borough, or in forming an alliance with some orator in the senate.
For nothing, my lords, is now considered but senatorial interest, nor is
any subordination desired but in the supreme council of the empire. For
the establishment of this new regulation, the honours of every
profession are prostituted, and every commission is become merely
nominal. To gratify the leaders of the ministerial party, the most
despicable triflers are exalted to an authority, and those whose want of
understanding excludes them from any other employment, are selected for
military commissions.
No sooner have they taken possession of their new command, and gratified
with some act of oppression the wantonness of new authority, but they
desert their charge with the formality of demanding a permission to be
absent, which their commander dares not deny them. Thus, my lords, they
leave the care of the troops, and the study of the rules of war, to
those unhappy men who have no other claim to elevation than knowledge
and bravery, and who, for want of relations in the senate, are condemned
to linger out their lives at their quarters, amuse themselves with
recounting their actions and sufferings in former wars, and with reading
in the papers of every post, the cormissions which are bestowed on those
who never saw a battle.
For this reason, my lords, preferments in the army, instead of being
considered as proofs of merit, are looked on only as badges of
dependence; nor can any thing be inferred from the promotion of an
officer, but that he is in some degree or other allied to some member
of the senate, or the leading voters of a borough.
After this manner, my lords, has the army been modelled, and on these
principles has it subsisted for the last and the present reign; neither
myself, nor any other general officer, have been consulted in the
distribution of commands, or any part of military regulations. Our
armies have known no other power than that of the secretary of war, who
directs all their motions, and fills up every vacancy without
opposition, and without appeal.
But never, my lords, was his power more conspicuous, than in raising the
levies of last year; never was any authority more despotically exerted,
or more tamely submitted to; never did any man more wantonly sport with
his command, or more capriciously dispose of posts and preferments;
never did any tyrant appear to set censure more openly at defiance,
treat murmurs and remonstrances with greater contempt, or with more
confidence and security distribute posts among his slaves, without any
other reason of preference than his own uncontroulable pleasure.
And surely no man, my lords, could have made choice of such wretches for
military commands, but to show that nothing but his own private
inclinations should influence his conduct, and that he considered
himself as supreme and unaccountable: for we have seen, my lords, the
same animals to-day cringing behind a counter, and to-morrow swelling in
a military dress; we have seen boys sent from school in despair of
improvement, and intrusted with military command; fools that cannot
learn their duty, and children that cannot perform it, have been
indiscriminately promoted; the dross of the nation has been swept
together to compose our new forces, and every man who was too stupid or
infamous to learn or carry on a trade, has been placed, by this great
disposer of honours, above the necessity of application, or the reach of
censure.
Did not sometimes indignation, and sometimes pity, check the sallies of
mirth, it would not be a disagreeable entertainment, my lords, to
observe, in the park, the various appearances of these raw commanders,
when they are exposing their new scarlet to view, and strutting with the
first raptures of sudden elevation; to see the mechanick new-modelling
his mien, and the stripling tottering beneath the weight of his cockade;
or to hear the conversation of these new adventurers, and the
instructive dialogues of schoolboys and shopkeepers.
I take this opportunity, my lords, of clearing myself from any suspicion
of having contributed, by my advice, to this stupendous collection. I
only once interposed with the recommendation of a young gentleman, who
had learned his profession in two campaigns among the Muscovians, and
whom yet neither his own desert, nor my patronage could advance to a
commission. And, I believe, my lords, all the other general officers
were equally unconsulted, and would, if their advice had been asked,
equally have disapproved the measures that have been pursued.
But thus, my lords, were our new regiments completed, in which, of two
hundred and fifty officers who have subsisted upon half-pay, only
thirty-six have been promoted, though surely they might have pleaded a
juster claim to employment, who had learned their profession in the
service of their country, and had long languished in penury, than those
who had neither knowledge nor capacity, who had neither acted nor
suffered any thing, and who might have been destined to the hammer or
the plough, without any disreputation to their families, or
disappointment to themselves.
I have been told, indeed, my lords, that to some of these officers
commissions were offered, which they refused, and for this refusal every
reason is alleged but the true: some, indeed, excused themselves as
disabled by age and infirmities from military service; nor can any
objection be made to so just a plea. For how could those be refused in
their age the comforts of ease and repose, who have served their country
with their youth and vigour?
Others there are, my lords, who refused commissions upon motives very
different, in which, nevertheless, some justice cannot be denied. They
who had long studied and long practised their profession; they, who had
tried their courage in the breach, and given proofs of their skill in
the face of the enemy, refused to obey the command of novices, of
tradesmen, and of schoolboys: they imagined, my lords, that they ought
to govern those whom they should be obliged to instruct, and to lead
those troops whom they must range in order. But they had forgot that
they had outlived the time when a soldier was formed by study and
experience, and had not heard, in their retreats, that a colonel or a
captain was now formed in a day; and, therefore, when they saw and heard
their new commanders, they retired back to their half-pay, with surprise
and indignation.
But, my lords, the follies of last year cannot be easily rectified, and
are only now to be exposed that they may not be repeated. If we are now
to make new levies, and increase the number of our land-forces, it is,
in my opinion, incumbent upon us to consider by what methods we may best
augment our troops, and how we may be able to resist our foreign
enemies, without exposing the nation to intestine miseries, and leaving
our liberties at the mercy of the court.
There are, my lords, two methods of increasing our forces; the first is,
that of raising new regiments; the other, of adding new men to those
which already subsist.
By raising new regiments, my lords, we shall only gratify the minister
with the distribution of new commissions, and the establishment of new
dependents; we shall enlarge the influence of the court, and increase
the charge of the nation, which is already loaded with too many taxes to
support any unnecessary expense.
By the other method, of adding a hundred men to every company, we shall
not only save the pay of the officers, which is no slight consideration,
but what seems, if the reports raised by the ministry of our present
danger be true, of far more importance, shall form the new forces with
more expedition into regular troops; for, by distributing them among
those who are already instructed in their duty, we shall give them an
opportunity of hourly improvement; every man's comrade will be his
master, and every one will be ambitious of forming himself by the
example of those who have been in the army longer than themselves.
If it be objected, my lords, that the number of officers will not then
bear a just proportion to that of the soldiers, it may be answered, that
the foreign troops of the greatest reputation have no greater number of
officers, as every one must know who is acquainted with the constitution
of the most formidable armies of Europe. Those of the Prussian monarch,
or of the various nations by which we were assisted in the late war,
either as confederates or mercenaries, have but few officers. And I very
well remember, my lords, that whenever they were joined by parties of
our own nation, the inequality in the number of the officers produced
contests and disputes.
The only troops of Europe, my lords, that swarm with officers, are those
of France, but even these have fewer officers, in proportion to their
private men, in time of war; for when they disband any part of their
forces, they do not, like us, reduce their officers to half-pay, but add
them to the regiments not reduced, that the families of their nobility
may not be burdened with needy dependents, and that they may never want
officers for new levies.
There are many reasons, my lords, that make this practice in France more
reasonable than it would be in our kingdom. It is the chief view of
their governours to continue absolute, and therefore their constant
endeavour to keep great numbers in dependence; it ought to be our care
to hinder the increase of the influence of the court, and to obstruct
all measures that may extend the authority of the ministry, and
therefore those measures are to be pursued by which independence and
liberty will be most supported.
It is likewise to be remembered, my lords, that a French officer is
supported with pay not much larger than that of a private soldier among
us, and that, therefore, the argument which arises from the necessity of
frugality is not of the same force in both nations.
There is yet another reason why the French are under the necessity of
employing more officers than any other nation: the strength of their
armies consists in their gentlemen, who cannot be expected to serve
without some command: the common soldiers of the French army are a mean,
spiritless, despicable herd, fit only to drudge as pioneers, to raise
intrenchments, and to dig mines, but without courage to face an enemy,
or to proceed with vigour in the face of danger.
Their gentlemen, my lords, are of a very different character; jealous of
their honour, and conscious of their birth, eager of distinction, and
ambitious of preferment. They have, commonly, their education in the
army, and have no expectations of acquiring fortunes equal to their
desires by any other profession, and are, therefore, intent upon the
improvement of every opportunity which is offered them of increasing
their knowledge and exalting their reputation.
To the spirit of these men, my lords, are the French armies indebted for
all their victories, and to them is to be attributed the present
perfection of the art of war. They have the vigilance and perseverance
of Romans joined with the natural vivacity and expedition of their own
nation.
We are, therefore, not to wonder, my lords, that there is in the French
armies an establishment for more gentlemen than in other countries,
where the disparity between the military virtues of the higher and lower
classes of men is less conspicuous. In the troops of that nation nothing
is expected but from the officers, but in ours the common soldier meets
danger with equal intrepidity, and scorns to see himself excelled by his
officer in courage or in zeal.
We are, therefore, my lords, under no necessity of burdening our country
with the expense of new commissions, which, in the army, will be
superfluous, and, in the state, dangerous, as they will fill our senate
with new dependents, and our corporations with new adherents to the
minister, whose steady perseverance in his favourite scheme of
senatorial subordination, will be, perhaps, the only occasion of these
new levies, or, at least, has hindered the right application of our
standing troops. For what reason, my lords, can invention or imagination
assign, why the troops, who had been for some time disciplined, were not
rather sent to the assistance of Vernon than the new marines, except
that some of them were commanded by men who had obtained seats in the
other house, and who, by their settled adherence and avowed fidelity to
the minister, had recommended themselves too powerfully to be rashly
exposed in the service of their country to the bullets of the Spaniards.
So great, my lords, has been the minister's regard to senatorial
abilities, and so strict his gratitude to his friends, that I know of
but one member of the other house that has been hazarded in this
expedition, and he a hopeless, abandoned patriot, insensible of the
capacity or integrity of our ministry, and whom nothing has been able to
reconcile to our late measures. He, therefore, who has never exerted
himself in defence of the ministry, was, in his turn, thought unworthy
of ministerial protection, and was given up to the chance of war without
reluctance.
But I hope your lordships will concur with me in the opinion, that it is
not always necessary to gratify the ministry, but that our country
claims some part of our regard, and, therefore, that in establishing our
army we should pursue that method which may be most accommodated to our
constitution, and, instead of imitating the military policy of the
French, follow the example of those nations by whose troops they have
been conquered.
Had this scheme been hitherto followed, had our new levies, instead of
being put under the command of boys, been distributed in just
proportions among the standing regiments, where they might soon have
been qualified for service by the inspection of experienced officers, we
might now have seen an army capable of awing the court of Spain into
submission, or, if our demands had been still refused, of revenging our
injuries, and punishing those who have insulted and despised us.
From an army thus raised and disciplined, detachments, my lords, ought
to have been sent on board of all our fleets, and particularly that
which is now stationed in the Mediterranean, which would not then have
coasted about from one port to another, without hurting or frighting the
enemy, but might, by sudden descents, have spread terrour through a
great part of the kingdom, harassed their troops by continual marches,
and, by frequent incursions, have plundered all the maritime provinces,
driven the inhabitants into the inland country, and laid the villages in
ashes.
There is yet, my lords, no appearance of a peace, for our success has
not enabled us to prescribe terms, and I hope we are not yet fallen so
low as to receive them; it is, therefore, proper to form such
resolutions as may influence the conduct of the war, and enable us to
retrieve the errours of our past measures.
The minister, my lords, is not without panegyrists, who may, perhaps,
endeavour to persuade us, that we ought to resign all our understandings
to his superiour wisdom, and blindly trust our fortunes and our
liberties to his unshaken integrity. They will, in proof of his
abilities, produce the wonderful dexterity and penetration which the
late negotiations have discovered, and will confirm the reputation of
his integrity by the constant parsimony of all his schemes, and the
unwillingness with which he at any time increases the expenses of the
nation.
But, my lords, it is the great duty of your high station to watch over
the administration, and to warn those, who are more immediately
intrusted with the publick affairs, against measures which may endanger
the safety or happiness of the nation; and, therefore, if I have proved
to your lordships, that to raise new regiments is dangerous to our
liberties, that a multitude of officers is of no use in war, and that an
army may be more expeditiously disciplined by adding new men to every
company, I hope your lordships will agree to this resolution, which I
have drawn up with the utmost brevity, and of which the meaning cannot
be mistaken:
"That the augmenting the army by raising regiments, as it is the most
unnecessary and expensive method of augmentation, is also the most
dangerous to the liberties of the nation."
The duke of NEWCASTLE next spoke, to this effect:--My lords, as my
education and employments have afforded me no opportunity of acquiring
any skill in military affairs, it will not be expected by your
lordships, that I should be able to confute the arguments of the noble
duke, whose acknowledged superiority in the art of war, and the
abilities which he has displayed in the administration of every province
which he has undertaken, give him a claim to the highest deference.
But, my lords, as I cannot assume the province of disputing on this
question, so I cannot, without longer consideration, form any resolution
concerning it; for arguments may be fallacious, which, yet, I cannot
confute, and to approve without knowledge is no less weak than to
censure.
There is not any present necessity, my lords, of forming a resolution on
this subject; we are not now called upon particularly to consider it,
and certainly it cannot be prudent, by so determinate a decision,
pronounced without reflection or deliberation, to preclude a fuller
examination of this important question.
Lord CARTERET rose, and spoke in this manner:--My lords, the noble duke
who made the present motion has supported it by such strength of
argument, and so fully explained the advantages of the method which it
tends to recommend, that not only the present age, but posterity may,
probably, be indebted to him, for juster notions of a military
establishment, than have been yet attained even by those whose
profession obliges them to such inquiries.
Nor, my lords, could we expect less from his long experience and
extensive capacity; experience gained in the heat of war, and in the
midst of danger; a capacity not only cultivated by solitary
disquisitions in retirement and security, but exercised by difficulties,
and quickened by opposition.
Such abilities, my lords, matured by such an education, have justly made
the noble duke the oracle of war, and procured him the esteem and
reverence of all the powers upon earth.
As I did not receive from my education any military knowledge, I am not
able to add much to the arguments which your lordships have already
heard; but, nevertheless, having been under the necessity of regulating
the army when I had the honour to be employed in Ireland, and having
made, in those countries where I transacted the business of the crown,
some observations upon the different forms of military establishments, I
hope I shall be allowed to offer what my experience or my remarks may
suggest to me, in confirmation of the sentiments of the noble duke.
When I was in Ireland, my lords, the troops of that kingdom consisted of
twenty-one regiments, of which ten were, as last year, brought into
Britain, and the Irish forces were to be filled up by new levies, which
were raised in the manner now proposed, by increasing every regiment
from three hundred and forty to six hundred men; so that the eleven
regiments remaining composed a body of nearly the same number with the
twenty-one regiments, as formerly constituted.
Of the Swedish establishment, my lords, the reputation and success of
their troops are an uncontrovertible vindication, attd I have often had
an opportunity of comparing the number of officers with that of ours,
and found their private men to be far more numerous in proportion to the
officers.
In Hanover, my lords, I have seen his majesty's troops remarkable for
the elegance of their appearance; and being once asked, by the
commander, at what expense one of those gallant troopers and his horse
was supported, was told, after confessing my ignorance, that he cost no
more than fourteen pounds a year, who could not, in this country, be
maintained for less than forty.
I believe, my lords, that the French forces are not more expensive than
those of Hanover, and, therefore, we are by no means to imitate their
establishment, for the price of provisions and habits of life do not
admit of any diminution of the pay of either our officers or soldiers,
and we can only lessen our expenses by reducing their numbers, to which
I shall, for my part, most willingly contribute.
But as this, my lords, is not the proper time for disbanding our forces,
of which the present state of our affairs may, perhaps, demand an
augmentation, it is necessary to compare the state of our forces with
that of foreign troops, and supply, by prudent methods, the
disadvantages to which we are subject, by the peculiar condition of our
country. For, if the French can support an army at a fourth part of our
expense, what must be the consequence of a war, supposing the wealth of
the two nations nearly equal? It will be to little purpose that we
boast, however justly, of the superiority of our troops; for though it
should be granted that the British cannot be resisted by an equal
number, yet it can never be expected that they should conquer troops
four times as numerous as themselves.
Thus, my lords, it appears, with all the evidence of arithmetical
demonstration, that the method now proposed is highly expedient, nor can
any objection, in my opinion, be made to the resolution offered to your
lordships.
That this is not a proper time for this inquiry has been, indeed, urged,
but surely no time can be more proper than when we may, by a resolution
unanimously passed, regulate, in some degree, the conduct of the other
house, and faint to them the opinion of this assembly on a question
which is, perhaps, to-morrow to be brought before them.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY then spoke thus:--My lords, though I was once honoured
with a command in the army, and consequently ought to have attained some
military knowledge, yet I have so long resigned my commission, possessed
it for so short a time, and have suffered my attention to be diverted
from inquiries on that subject by employments of so different a kind,
that I cannot presume to oppose any knowledge of my own to the reasons
which have been offered; but I cannot think that the conclusions drawn
by the noble duke, are so evidently true as to force conviction, and
exclude all possibility of reply; nor can I conceive it consistent with
the dignity of this assembly, to yield implicitly to any man's
assertions, or to pass any resolution without an accurate inquiry.
Some objections, my lords, arise, upon reflection, from my narrow
observation and transient reading, and these I shall lay before your
lordships, with an open acknowledgment of my insufficiency to discuss
the question, and a sincere desire of being instructed where I may be
mistaken.
The subordination of the army, my lords, appears to me, in general, to
be sufficiently maintained, nor is it ever infringed but by particular
partiality, that can never be prevented, or a casual difference in the
circumstances of the officers, which, though not relative to their
military characters, will always produce some degree of influence.
I know not, my lords, how the general regulation of our forces, and the
distribution of military honours, can be condemned, without extending
some degree of censure to a person who ought not to be mentioned as
concurring in any measures injurious to the publick. Our army, my lords,
is maintained by the parliament, but commanded by the king, who has not
either done or directed any thing of which his people may justly
complain.
Here the duke of ARGYLE interrupted him:--My lords, it is necessary to
clear myself from misrepresentations, and to preserve, at the same time,
the order of this assembly, by reminding the noble lord, that his
majesty is never to be introduced into our debates, because he is never
to be charged with wrong; and by declaring to your lordships, that I
impute no part of the errours committed in the regulation of the army to
his majesty, but to those ministers whose duty it is to advise him, and
whom the law condemns to answer for the consequences of their counsels.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY resumed:--My lords, if I misrepresented any assertion
of the noble duke, it was by misapprehension, or failure of memory, and
not by malice or design; and if in any other objections which I shall
make, I shall fall into any errour of the same kind, I desire that it
may be ascribed to the same cause.
The ignorance and inexperience of our present officers have been exposed
with great gaiety of imagination, and with the true spirit of satirical
rhetorick, nor can I presume to support them against so formidable
censures. But, my lords, I cannot discover any method of protracting the
lives of our old officers beyond the usual term, nor of supplying the
loss of those whom death takes away from the army, but by substituting
others, who, as they have seen no wars, can have little experience.
With regard to the number of officers in the foreign troops, I have been
informed, that they were, by an express stipulation, to be constituted
in the same manner with the British and Dutch forces.
Then the duke of ARGYLE again interrupted him:--My lords, as it was my
province in the late war to superintend the payment of the foreign
troops, I may be allowed to have some knowledge of the establishment,
and hope I shall not be imagined to need any information on that
subject.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY said:--My lords, I do not presume to dispute any
assertion of the noble duke, for whose knowledge I have the highest
veneration, but only to offer such hints for inquiry as may be pursued
by other lords of greater abilities, and to show, that as some
difficulties may be raised, the resolution ought not to be agreed to
without farther deliberation; since it not only tends to prescribe the
measures which shall be hereafter taken, and prohibit a method of
raising forces, which, when diligently examined, may, perhaps, appear
most eligible, but to censure the methods, which, when they were put in
practice the last year, received the approbation of all the powers of
the legislature.
Lord WESTMORELAND spoke next, as follows:--My lords, I have, for my own
satisfaction, stated the difference of the expense between the two
methods of raising forces, and find it so great, that the method
proposed by the noble duke ought, undoubtedly, to be preferred, even
though it were attended with some inconvenience, from which he has shown
it to be free.
Frugality, my lords, is one of the chief virtues of an administration; a
virtue without which no government can be long supported: the publick
expense can never be too accurately computed, or the first tendency to
profusion too rigorously opposed; for as in private life, so in
political economy, the demands of necessity are easily supplied; but if
once the calls of wantonness and caprice are complied with, no limits
can be fixed, nor will any treasure be sufficient.
Whether the burdens under which the people are now toiling were all
imposed by necessity, I will not inquire, but I think, my lords, we may
readily determine, that whatever is not necessary is cruel and
oppressive, and that, therefore, since the expense of raising new
regiments appears, at least, not to be necessary, it ought to be
opposed; and how can it be opposed more properly or effectually than by
the noble duke's resolution?
Lord HERVEY spoke to this effect:--My lords, I do not claim any
superiority of knowledge in any affairs that relate to the publick, but
have less acquaintance with the military establishment than with any
other part of the government, and can, therefore, neither oppose the
resolution now offered to your lordships by such arguments as may
deserve your attention, nor agree to it with that degree of conviction
which the importance of it seems to require.
That the chief argument which has been produced against raising new
regiments, is less formidable than it has been represented, will, I
believe, appear to your lordships, when it is considered that the
officers are always gentlemen of the first families in the empire, who,
therefore, cannot be supposed voluntarily to give up their relations and
posterity to the power of any ministry, or, for the sake of their
commissions, to betray that constitution by which their own properties
are secured.
Whether every other argument may not with equal justice be controverted,
is not, without longer consideration, possible to be determined, and,
therefore, it cannot be reasonably expected that we should agree to the
resolution, which would be only to decide without examination, and to
determine what we don't understand; for I am under no apprehension of
being imagined to reflect unjustly on this assembly, in supposing that
many of your lordships may be strangers to the question, which, when the
last levies were made, was neither discussed nor proposed.
I therefore move, that the previous question may be put, which may,
perhaps, gain time sufficient for a more exact inquiry upon this
important subject.
Lord TALBOT replied to this purport:--My lords, if, in imitation of some
noble lords, I profess my ignorance of the subject on which I am to
speak, may it not yet be allowed me, after the example of others, to
employ the little knowledge which I have in the defence of a resolution,
which appears to have no other tendency than the advantage of the
publick, and to show my zeal for the happiness of my country, though,
perhaps, without the true knowledge of its interest?
The noble lord, who spoke last, is too great a master of eloquence not
to be heard with all the attention which pleasure naturally produces,
and a reasoner too formidable not to raise in his hearers all the
anxiety which is produced by the fear of being deceived by partial
representations, and artful deductions. I am always afraid, my lords,
lest errour should appear too much like truth in the ornaments which his
lordship's imagination may bestow, and lest sophistry should dazzle my
understanding whilst I imagine myself only guided by the light of
reason.
I shall, therefore, endeavour, my lords, to review his ornaments, and
try whether they owe their influence to the force of truth, or to that
of eloquence.
His lordship has observed, that the objections which are now made to the
method of raising new regiments, were not produced last year upon a like
occasion. I know not, indeed, what can be inferred from this assertion;
for, surely, it will not maintain, that an errour, once admitted, is to
become perpetual.
But, my lords, another reason may be assigned, for which the objections
that occurred last year might not be produced. The ministry, after a
long course of disgraceful negotiations, and artful delays, were, at
length, compelled to a war, by the general clamours of the whole nation;
but they acted as men unwilling to execute what they did not approve.
They proceeded so slowly in their preparations, and were so languid in
all their motions, that it was evident how willingly they would have
improved every opportunity of retarding the vengeance which they were
forced to threaten; and with what artifices they would have protracted
any delay, which they could have imputed to those by whom they were
opposed. It was, therefore, to the last degree, improper to embarrass
their measures of themselves sufficiently perplexed, or to lay any
obstacle in the way of those who would gladly be stopped.
That the army is filled with gentlemen, is so far, my lords, from
proving that there is nothing to be feared from it, that it is the only
foundation of all our solicitude. For none but gentlemen can injure our
liberties, and while the posts of the army are bestowed as rewards of
senatorial slavery, gentlemen will always be found who will be corrupted
themselves, and can corrupt a borough; who will purchase a vote in the
house, and sell it for military preferments. By the posts of the army
the senate may be corrupted, and by the corruption of the senate the
army be perpetuated.
Those, my lords, who are the warmest opponents of the army, apprehend
not any danger from their swords, but from their votes. As they have
been of late regulated without discipline or subordination, I should not
feel such anxiety at seeing them led on by their new commanders against
a body of honest ploughmen, united in the cause of virtue and of
liberty; I should, with great alacrity, draw my sword against them, and
should not doubt of seeing them in a short time heaped upon our fields.
But, my lords, they are employed to ruin us by a more slow and silent
method; they are directed to influence their relations in the senate,
and to suborn the voters in our small towns; they are dispersed over the
nation to instil dependence, and being enslaved themselves, willingly
undertake the propagation of slavery.
That the army is instrumental in extending the influence of the ministry
to the senate, cannot be denied, when military preferments are held no
longer than while he that possesses them gives a sanction, by his vote,
to the measures of the court; when no degree of merit is sufficient to
balance a single act of senatorial opposition, and when the nation is
rather to be left to the defence of boys, than the minister be suspected
of misconduct.
Could either bravery or knowledge, reputation, or past services, known
fidelity to his majesty, or the most conspicuous capacity for high
trust, have secured any man in the enjoyment of his post, the noble duke
who made the motion, had carried his command to his grave, nor had the
nation now been deprived either of his arms, or of his counsels.
But, as he has now offered his advice to his country, and supported his
opinion with proofs from reason and experience, which even those who
oppose them have confessed themselves unable to answer; as the justness
of his reasoning, and the extent of his knowledge, have silenced those
whose prejudices will not suffer them to own themselves convinced; let
us not, my lords, reject what we cannot condemn, nor suffer our country
to be defrauded of the advantage of this resolution, by that low
senatorial craft, the previous question.
Then the CHANCELLOR spoke to the following purpose:--My lords, I am far
from suspecting that an open profession of my inability to examine the
question before us, in its full extent, will be imputed to an
affectation of modesty, since any knowledge of military affairs could
not be acquired in those stations in which I have been placed, or by
those studies, in which the greatest part of my life is known to have
been spent.
It will not be expected, my lords, that I should attempt a formal
confutation of the noble duke's positions, or that I should be able to
defend my own opinion against his knowledge and experience; nor would I,
my lords, expose myself to the censure of having harangued upon war in
the presence of Hannibal.
The noble duke has explained his sentiments to your lordships with the
utmost accuracy of method, and the most instructive perspicuity of
language; he has enforced them with a strength of reasoning rarely to be
found, and with an extent of knowledge peculiar to himself. Yet, my
lords, as his arguments, however powerful in themselves, do not strike
me with the same force with which others may be affected, who are more
capable of receiving them, I hope that your lordships will allow me to
mention such objections as occur to me, that in voting on this question
I may, at least, preserve my conscience from violation, and neither
adopt the opinion of another, however great, without examination, nor
obstinately reject the means of conviction.
Every lord who has spoken either in support of the noble duke's opinion,
or in opposition to it, has confessed that he is very little acquainted
with the subject of our debate; and it may not, therefore, be an
improper or useless attempt, if I endeavour by objections, however
injudicious, or by arguments, however inconclusive, to procure some
illustration of a question so important, and, at the same time, so
little understood.
The objections, my lords, which I shall produce, are such as I have
heard in conversation with those whose long acquaintance with military
employments give them a just claim to authority in all questions which
relate to the art of war; among whom I find no uniformity of opinion
with regard to the most proper method of augmenting our forces. And, my
lords, when we observe those to differ in their sentiments, whose
education, experience, and opportunities of knowledge have been nearly
the same, and who have all obtained a very great degree of reputation in
their profession, what can be inferred, but that the question is in its
own nature obscure and difficult? That it involves a multitude of
relations, and is diffused through a great variety of circumstances?
And that, therefore, it is prudent for every man, who can judge only
upon the authority of others, to suspend his opinion?
The chief argument, or that, at least, which impressed itself most
strongly on my mind, against any innovation in our military
constitution, was drawn from the success of our armies in their present
form, with that proportion of soldiers and officers, which the present
motion tends to abolish. Our forces, say the advocates for the present
establishment, have afforded us a sufficient testimony of the propriety
of their regulation, by their frequent victories over troops, whose
discipline has been studied with the utmost vigilance, and which have
been trained up to war with a degree of attention not disproportioned to
the mighty design for which they were raised, the subjection of the
world, and attainment of universal monarchy. These troops, who have been
taught, almost from their infancy, that cowardice and flight are the
greatest crimes, and persuaded, by national prejudices, and principles
studiously instilled, that no foreign forces could withstand them, have
fled before equal numbers of Britons, and been driven from one province
to another, till, instead of grasping at general dominion, they were
reduced to defend their wives and children.
How much of this success was to be ascribed to that part of the
regulation which this motion proposes to be changed, it is not, my
lords, within my province to determine; the great commander whom I have
the honour to oppose, can best explain to your lordships the province of
every officer in the field, and how far the number of inferiour officers
may influence the success of a battle and the fate of a kingdom.
But to me, my lords, the establishment of our armies, comprising
different views, and connecting various subordinate regulations, may be
compared to a medicine composed of different ingredients, and found
infallibly efficacious in a dangerous disease, in which, though some of
the parts may seem to physicians of the profoundest learning,
superfluous or improper, it would be no less than the folly of
preferring experiments to life, to make any alteration.
The wantonness of innovation, my lords, is a dangerous disease of the
mind; in a private station, it prompts men to be always discontented
with what they find, and to lose the enjoyment of good in search of
something better; it incites them to leave the safe and beaten tracks of
life, in search of those which they imagine nearer, but, which are, at
best, less secure, and which generally lead them to points far different
from that to which they originally intended to direct their course.
It is dangerous, my lords, to admit any alteration which is not
absolutely necessary, for one innovation makes way for another. The
parts of a constitution, like a complicated machine, are fitted to each
other, nor can one be changed without changing that which corresponds to
it. This necessity is not always foreseen, but when discovered by
experience is generally complied with; for every man is more inclined to
hazard farther changes, than to confess himself mistaken by retracting
his scheme. Thus, my lords, one change introduces another, till the
original constitution is entirely destroyed.
By the ambition of innovation, my lords, have almost all those empires
been destroyed, of which nothing now is left but the memory. Every human
establishment has its advantages and its inconveniencies, and by weak
attempts to remedy these defects, which, notwithstanding the utmost
attention, will embarrass the machine of government, alterations have
been introduced which have been quickly followed by a total dissolution.
There seem, my lords, to be few regulations on which it is more
dangerous to make experiments than on that of the armies of a nation. We
are sufficiently convinced how much of success is the consequence of
courage, and that courage is only an opinion of our own superiority,
arising from certain circumstances, either imaginary or real.
The courage which at present animates our forces, arises, my lords, from
a very proper ground, their former victories over the enemies which they
are now to combat, and will, therefore, doubtless, continue while they
can consider themselves as enjoying the same advantage with those
particular men by whom the victories were obtained. But, my lords, if
any essential part of their establishment be changed, they will be
considered, both by themselves and their enemies, as a different army;
they will then charge with less alacrity, and be opposed with less
dejection; they will consider themselves as fighting without that
certainty of success which arises from experience, and their enemies
will resolve to try, by an obstinate resistance, whether they are now
equally formidable as in their former state.
Thus, my lords, I have attempted, however weakly, to represent the
arguments which I have heard for the continuance of the establishment,
of which your lordships will examine the validity, and shall now proceed
to consider the noble duke's system of a military subordination in time
of peace.
Whether a standing army in time of peace is made necessary to the change
of conduct in foreign courts, it is now useless to inquire; but it will
be easily granted by your lordships, that no motive but necessity,
necessity absolute and inevitable, ought to influence us to support a
standing body of regular forces, which have always been accounted
dangerous, and generally found destructive to a free people.
The chief reason, my lords, of the danger arising from a standing army,
may be ascribed to the circumstances by which men, subject to military
laws, are distinguished from other members of the same community; they
are, by the nature of martial government, exposed to punishment which
other men never incur, and tried by forms of a different and more
rigorous kind than those which are practised by the civil power. They
are, if not exempted from the jurisdiction of a magistrate, yet subject
to another authority which they see more frequently and more severely
exerted, and which, therefore, they fear and reverence in a higher
degree. They, by entering into the army, lay aside, for the most part,
all prospect of advantage from commerce or civil employments, and, in a
few years, neither fear nor hope any thing but from the favour or
displeasure of their own officers.
For these, my lords, or for other reasons, the soldiers have always been
inclined to consider themselves as a body distinct from the rest of the
community, and independent on it, a government regulated by their own
laws, without regard to the general constitution of their country; they
have, therefore, been ready to subvert the constitution, from which they
received little advantage, and to oppress the civil magistrates, for
whom they had lost their reverence.
And how soon, my lords, might such outrages be expected from an army
formed after the model of the noble duke, released from the common
obligations of society, disunited from the bulk of the nation, directed
solely by their own officers, and ultimately commanded by a man who had
the right of commanding no other? Would they not soon consider
themselves as a separate community, whose interests were, no less than
their laws, peculiar to themselves? Would they not consider him, from
whom they received all their rewards, and all their punishments, as the
proper object of their supreme regard, and endeavour to exalt him to the
same dominion over others, which he enjoyed in regard to themselves,
that they might share in his superiority?
A body of men, my lords, thus separated from the rest of the people,
must consider themselves as either ennobled or degraded by such
distinction, and would soon find themselves inclined to use the power of
their arms, either in the exertion of their privileges, or the revenge
of their disgrace. Then, my lords, would they set at defiance the laws
of the nation, nor would one of these noble lords be able to disband,
nor the other to resist them.
The army, my lords, is, in time of peace, then best regulated when it is
kept under the strictest subordination to the civil power, that power
which it is instituted to protect and to preserve.
Thus, my lords, have I examined the proposal and reasons of the noble
duke, perhaps not much to the information of your lordships; but it
cannot be expected that any capacity should be able, in an unexpected
and sudden debate, to dispute on a subject, which the noble duke's
education gave him particular opportunities of understanding far beyond
almost every other man, and which he has had time to consider with
respect to this present motion.
For this reason, my lords, I cannot but think the previous question
highly expedient, but not for this reason alone; for as the state of the
army, and the proper methods of augmenting it, are soon to be examined
by the other house, to prejudice their determinations, may raise a
contest about privileges, and oblige us either to persist, for our own
honour, in opposition to measures necessary to the security of the
publick, or, in compliance with the present exigence, accept their
scheme, however opposite to our own resolution.
Lord CARTERET spoke in substance as follows:--My lords, the known
abilities of that noble lord incline me always to hear him with uncommon
expectation and attention, which seldom fail to be rewarded by such
pleasure and information as few other men are able to afford. But his
observations on the question before us, my lords, have only convinced
me, that the greatest abilities may be sometimes betrayed into errour,
and the most candid disposition be vitiated by accidental prejudices.
For his own arguments neither appear just, nor his representation
impartial, of those advanced in favour of the motion.
With regard to the number of officers necessary in time of war, his
lordship asserted nothing from his own knowledge, nor do I believe that
any other lord will imagine himself qualified to dispute with the noble
duke upon questions purely military. His experience entitles him to the
highest authority, in debates of this kind; and if every man has a claim
to credit in his own profession, surely, he who has given evidence of
his proficiency in the art of war in the eyes of the whole world, will
not be denied, in this house, that superiority which would readily be
allowed him in any other part of the universe.
And yet less, my lords, can it be suspected, that he intends to deceive
us, than that he can be deceived himself; for not only his probity, his
love of his country, and his fidelity to the crown, concur to secure him
from any temptations to make an ill use of his credit, but his own
interest obliges him to offer that scheme for the regulation of our
forces, which, in his own opinion, will most certainly contribute to
their success. For it is not to be doubted, my lords, that when we shall
be engaged in war too far for negotiations and conventions, when we
shall be surrounded by enemies, and terrified at the near approach of
danger, he will be called upon to lead our armies to battle, and attack,
once more, those enemies that have fled so often before him.
Then, my lords, if he has contributed to form a weak plan of our
military constitution, must he atone for it with the loss of his
reputation; that reputation, for which he has undergone so many
fatigues, and been exposed to so many dangers.
But, my lords, it is ridiculous to suspect where nothing appears to
provoke suspicion, and I am very far from imagining that the dangers of
innovation, however artfully magnified, or the apprehensions of the
soldiers, however rhetorically represented, will be thought of any
weight.
The establishment of the army, my lords, is an innovation, and, as the
noble lord has justly represented it, an innovation that threatens
nothing less than the destruction of our liberties, and the dissolution
of our government. Our vigilance ought, therefore, to be very anxiously
employed in regulating this new part of our government, and adapting it,
in such a manner, to the national constitution, that no detriment may
arise from it, and that our civil rights may be protected, not
oppressed, by the military power.
To this purpose, says the noble lord, the soldiers are to be restrained
by a due subordination to the magistrate, a position undoubtedly true,
but now superfluously urged: for it was never controverted by the noble
person whose opinion he intended to oppose.
Should any man assert, my lords, that the army ought to be formed into a
distinct and independent society, which should receive laws only from a
council of war, and have no other governour than their officers, none
should oppose such an assertion with more ardour or constancy than
myself, but what was never advanced it is unnecessary to confute.
Yet, my lords, to obviate those dangers from the army which have been so
strongly and justly represented, it is necessary, not only that a legal
subordination to the civil authority be firmly established, but that a
personal dependence on the ministry be taken away.
How readily men learn to reverence and obey those on whom their fortunes
depend, has been already shown by the noble lord, and therefore it will
follow, that a minister who distributes preferments at his pleasure, may
acquire such an influence in the army, as may be employed to secure
himself from justice by the destruction of liberty. And unless it can be
proved, that no such minister can ever exist; that corruption, ambition,
and perfidy, have place only in the military race; every argument that
shows the danger of an army, dependent only on the general, will show
the danger, likewise, of one dependent only on the minister.
The influence of the minister, my lords, is known to arise from the
number of the officers, and to be proportioned to the value of the
preferment, which it is in his power to bestow; it is, therefore,
evident, by adding new officers to our army, we shall throw weight into
the scale, which already is, at least, an equal balance to our
constitution, and enable the ministry either to employ an army in
defence of their measures, or to obtain such an influence in the senate,
as shall make any other security superfluous.
Such, my lords, is the danger of a multitude of officers, a danger which
surely deserves more attention than the imaginary prejudice of the
soldiers in favour of the present establishment; a prejudice represented
so powerful, both in our own forces, and those of our enemies, that the
future success of our arms may probably depend upon it.
Surely, my lords, that cause may be allowed indefensible, which such a
patron defends so weakly. What can be more chimerical than to imagine
that men would lay down their arms, and forsake their standards, because
there are twenty more in a company than have formerly been? That such a
panick, from such a cause, was never found, I need not prove; and I
scarce think it necessary to assert, that, without supposing a universal
depravity of reason, it never can be found.
The establishment proposed by the noble duke, is the same with that of
most foreign troops, and particularly with that of his majesty's forces
in his foreign dominions, and, therefore, cannot but be approved by him,
if it should be proposed by your lordships. For why should he imagine a
greater number of officers necessary to the troops of Britain, than to
those of any other nation.
The expediency of the motion, my lords, is, in my opinion, so obvious
and incontestable, as to require no farther consideration, and,
therefore, it is no argument against it, that we were not previously
informed of the question.
Much less, my lords, can I discover the force of the assertion, that by
such a resolution we shall excite the displeasure of the other house; we
have, my lords, at least, an equal right with them to examine any
position relating to the publick security, a right which we may exert
with less danger of disgusting them, while they have yet formed no
determination, and with less danger to the nation, than when their
opinion, whatever it may be, cannot be controverted without retarding
the important bill against mutiny.
We are never offended, my lords, at receiving the opinions of the other
house, which we often adopt without any alteration, and often make use
of for our own instruction, and now are become so contemptible as that
no regard should be paid by them to our resolutions.
It is well known, my lords, that this assembly is an essential and
constituent part of the legislature of this kingdom, and that we
received from our ancestors a great extent of power, which it ought to
be our care not to suffer to be contracted by degrees, till this
assembly shall become merely formal, and sit only to ratify implicitly
the determinations of the other house.
[Several other lords spoke in the debate, and the president having put
the previous question, "Whether the question should be then put?" upon a
division, it passed in the negative. Content, 42. Not content, 59.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, DECEMBER 12, 1740.
RESPECTING OFFICERS ON HALF-PAY.
Mr. SANDYS this day moved for an humble address to his majesty, that,
for the future ease of his majesty's subjects, all officers now
subsisting upon half-pay, etc. might be employed in the army, and
supported it to the following effect:
Sir, though I have often known motions opposed without any just
objections, or at least without any proof of such inconveniencies likely
to arise from them, as were equivalent to the advantages which they
would have produced, yet I cannot but confess, that any opposition to
this will be unexpected and surprising; for it is, in my opinion,
supported by every law of justice and humanity. If we regard the publick
in general, it cannot but produce some alleviation of the national
expense; and if we consider the particular persons to whom it
immediately relates, they have certainly a just claim to that regard
which it is the tendency of this motion to procure them.
To burden with superfluous officers, and unnecessary expenses, a people
already overwhelmed with taxes, and overrun with the dependents on the
crown, is, surely, to the highest degree cruel and absurd. And to
condemn those men to contempt and penury, who have served their country
with bravery and fidelity, to prefer unexperienced striplings to those
commissions, which would gladly be accepted by men who have already
tried their courage in the battle, and borne the fatigues of marches,
and the change of climates, is surely not only to oppress the deserving,
and scatter promotion without just distinction; but, what is yet more
enormous, it is to wanton with the publick safety, and expose us to our
enemies.
Nor does it appear to me sufficient, that the veteran officers be
restored to the commissions which they formerly enjoyed; they ought,
upon an augmentation of our troops, to be recompensed by some
advancement for their services and their sufferings; the ensign ought to
become a lieutenant, and the lieutenant be exalted to a captain;
stations which they will surely fill with more dignity and greater
abilities, than boys newly discharged from school, and intrusted with
unexpected authority.
If it be reasonable, sir, that expense should be spared in a time of
general poverty, if it be politick to carry on war in the manner most
likely to produce success, if it be just, that those who have served
their country should be preferred to those who have no merit to boast,
this motion cannot be rejected.
Sir William YONGE answered to this purpose:--Sir, to the motion now
made, it will not, I believe, be objected, that it is unreasonable, or
unjust, but that it is unnecessary, and that it is not drawn up with
sufficient consideration.
It is unnecessary, because his majesty is advised by it to no other
measures than those which he has already determined to pursue; for he
has declared to me, sir, his intention of conferring the new commissions
upon the officers who receive half-pay, before any other officers shall
be promoted.
The motion appears to me not to be very attentively considered, or drawn
up with great propriety of expression; for it supposes all the half-pay
officers fit for the service, which cannot be imagined by any man, who
considers that there has been peace for almost thirty years; a space of
time, in which many vigorous constitutions must have declined, and many,
who were once well qualified for command, must be disabled by the
infirmities of age. Nor is the promotion of one of these gentlemen
considered always by him as an act of favour; many of them have, in this
long interval of peace, engaged in methods of life very little
consistent with military employments, many of them have families which
demand their care, and which they would not forsake for any advantages
which a new commission could afford them, and therefore it would not be
very consistent with humanity to force them into new dangers and
fatigues which they are now unable to support.
With regard to these men, compassion and kindness seem to require that
they should be suffered to spend their few remaining days without
interruption, and that the dangers and toils of their youth should be
requited in their age with ease and retirement.
There are others who have less claim to the regard of the publick, and
who may be passed by in the distribution of new preferments without the
imputation of neglecting merit. These are they who have voluntarily
resigned their commissions for the sake of half-pay, and have preferred
indolence and retreat to the service of their country.
So that it appears, that of those who subsist upon half-pay, some are
unable to execute a commission, some do not desire, and some do not
deserve it; and with regard to the remaining part, which can be no great
number, I have already stated the intention of his majesty, and
therefore cannot but conclude that the motion is needless.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke as follows:--Sir, I know not by what fatality it is,
that all the motions made by one party are reasonable and necessary, and
all that are unhappily offered by the other, are discovered either to be
needless, or of pernicious tendency. Whenever a question can be clouded
and perplexed, the opponents of the ministry are always mistaken,
confuted, and, in consequence of the confutations, defeated by the
majority of votes. When truth is too notorious to be denied, and too
obvious to be contested, the administration claim the honour of the
first discovery, and will never own that they were incited to their duty
by the remonstrances of their opponents, though they never, before those
remonstrances, had discovered the least intention of performing it.
But that the motion is allowed to be just and proper, is sufficient; the
importance of it will be easily discovered. For my part I shall always
consider that motion as important, which tends to contract the expenses
of the publick, to rescue merit from neglect, and to hinder the increase
of the dependents on the ministry.
Sir Robert WALPOLE answered:--Sir, there is no temper more opposite to
that incessant attention to the welfare of the publick, which is the
perpetual boast of those who have signalized themselves by opposing the
measures of the administration, than a lust of contradiction, and a
disposition to disturb this assembly with superfluous debates.
Whether this disposition is not discovered in the reply made to the
declaration of his majesty's intentions, and the confession of the
propriety of the motion, let the house determine. It must surely be
confessed, that it is not necessary to advise what is already
determined.
Nor is it less evident, that many of the officers whose interest is now
so warmly solicited, must be incapacitated by their age for service, and
unable to receive any benefit from the offer of new commissions. To deny
this, is to question the flux of time, or to imagine that the
constitution of a soldier is exempt from its injuries.
Mr. SANDYS explained himself to this effect:--Sir, I am far from
intending by this motion to fill the army with decrepit officers, or to
obstruct in any manner the service of the publick; nor have I any other
intention, than to secure to those whose years permit, and whose
inclinations incite them to enter once more into the army, that
preferment to which they have a claim, not only from their past
services, but from the state of penury and obscurity in which they have
languished.
I desire to preserve those, whose valour has heretofore made our nation
the terrour of the world, from the mortification of seeing themselves
insulted by childhood, and commanded by ignorance; by ignorance exalted
to authority by the countenance of some rhetorician of the senate, or
some mayor of a borough.
Whoever has observed the late distribution of military honours, will
easily discover that they have been attained by qualifications very
different from bravery, or knowledge of the art of war; he will find
that regiments and companies are the rewards of a seasonable vote, and
that no man can preserve his post in the army, whether given him as the
reward of acknowledged merit, or sold him for the full value, any longer
than he employs all his influence in favour of the ministry.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then said:--Sir, it has been already admitted, that
the motion can only be objected to as superfluous, and, therefore, all
farther debate is mere waste of time, without any prospect of advantage;
nor is any thing now necessary, but to review the motion, and correct
such expressions as may be thought inaccurate or improper.
That _all_ the half-pay officers are not able to enter into the service,
has been already shown, and, therefore, I should imagine, that, instead
of _all the officers_, we might very justly substitute _officers
properly qualified_.
Sir John BARNARD replied:--Sir, though I cannot discover the necessity
of any alteration, since it cannot be conceived that the senate can
advise impossibilities, yet since so much accuracy is affected, it may
be allowed that the word _all_ shall be left out, as seeming to imply
more than can be intended.
But the honourable gentleman is not, in my opinion, so happy in his
amendment, as in his objection; for the words _properly qualified_
convey to me no distinct idea. He that is qualified is, I suppose,
_properly qualified_, for I never heard of _improper qualifications_;
but if the word _properly_ be omitted, I have no objection to the
amendment.
This motion was agreed to.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, JAN. 24, 1740-1.
[DEBATE ON AN ADDRESS FOR PAPERS RELATING TO ADMIRAL HADDOCK.]
Mr. WALLER this day offered the following motion in writing, That an
humble address be presented to his majesty, that he will be graciously
pleased to give directions that there may be laid before this house
copies of two particular letters written by his majesty's secretary of
state to admiral Haddock, which had been addressed for before, and of
the letters received from admiral Ogle mentioned therein; together with
all letters written by admiral Haddock to either of his majesty's
secretaries of state, concerning the said letters, and the execution of
the orders contained therein.
This motion he supported by arguments to the following effect:--Sir, no
man who considers the present situation of our foreign affairs, the
expense and inefficacy of our military preparations, the appearance of
negligence in our naval expeditions, and the general disappointment of
the hopes which the nation had conceived of victories, vengeance, and
reparations, can, in my opinion, doubt the expediency of the motion
which I have taken the liberty to make.
When the expectations of the nation are deceived, it certainly becomes
those who are deputed to watch over the prosperity of the publick, to
inquire whence the disappointment proceeds, and either to inform their
constituents that their uneasiness arises from their own errour, and
that their hopes are destroyed because they had no rational foundation;
or to detect the weak management of those by whom the publick measures
have been ill-conducted, or the national treasure has been misapplied.
With regard, sir, to the present war, I know not how the nation can be
charged with having formed unreasonable expectations. If they considered
the speech from the throne, the most authentick declaration of the
intentions of the government, they found there the warmest resentments
of the injuries which they had sustained, and the strongest assurances
of a vigorous prosecution of all those measures which might produce
speedy recompense, and inviolable security.
If they reflect, sir, on the preparations for war, on the multitude of
ships, the demand of materials for naval equipments, and the high prices
at which workmen were retained, they could not but imagine that either
some mighty attempt was designed, or some formidable enemy dreaded, and
as they know not whom they had to fear, they ascribed the vigour of our
proceedings to a resolution of humbling our enemies by one fatal blow,
and re-establishing our naval dominion by a single effort.
And justly, sir, might they indulge this pleasing imagination; with
reason might they anticipate a triumph over an enemy whose strength
bears no proportion to the force that was fitted out against them, and
expect that in a few months they should see the ambassadors of Spain
supplicating for peace.
To raise their expectations yet higher, their trade was suspended by an
embargo, long continued, and in the strictest manner enforced, and the
impresses were let loose upon the sailors; they saw nothing omitted,
however grievous to the nation, that could contribute to make it
formidable, and bore part of the miseries of war without impatience, in
hopes of being rewarded by military glory, and repaid by the plunder of
Spain.
But, sir, when so long a time has elapsed, and no account is brought of
either a victory or a battle, when they hear nothing but that our fleets
have visited several neutral ports, and those of the enemy sailed
unmolested from coast to coast, and when they are every day told of the
losses of our merchants, are insulted in our own channel by the Spanish
privateers, and receive no relations of our success upon the shores of
our enemies, can it be wondered that they suspect the reality of our
designs, or inquire whence it proceeds that their money has been wasted,
their trade interrupted, and the liberty of their fellow-subjects
invaded to no purpose?
But how much more justly, sir, are they inflamed when they hear of the
lucky stratagems, or daring enterprises of those enemies, which a just
sense of their own superiority, had induced them to consider as
vanquished before the battle, and of whom they had no apprehensions but
that their cowardice would always secure them from vengeance? How
justly may they murmur when they read, that our fleets leave every part
of the enemy's coast where their presence is necessary, and have
afforded the Spaniards an opportunity of changing one port for another,
as it is most convenient, and at length of joining the French squadrons,
and sailing to the defence of their American dominions?
May they not justly, sir, require of their representatives some reason
for such inexplicable conduct? May they not reasonably demand an account
of the arguments which procured their approbation of measures, which, so
far as they can be examined by those who have no opportunity of perusing
the necessary papers, appear either cowardly or treacherous?
And what answer, sir, can we return to such remonstrances, unless this
motion be agreed to? How can we appease the discontents of our
constituents, or discharge the trust reposed in us, without a very
minute and attentive inquiry into questions thus obscure and thus
important?
Are we to tell our constituents, that we absolutely rely upon the
prudence and fidelity of the ministry and admirals, and recommend to
them the same implicit dependence? Are we to confess that we have now
for two sessions voted in the dark, and approved what we were not
suffered to examine and understand?
Such answers, sir, to questions so reasonable, will not contribute to
increase the veneration of the people either for ourselves, or our
constitution; and yet this answer, and this only, they can receive from
us, if the papers mentioned in the motion I have made are denied.
Mr. CLUTTERBUCK replied in the following manner:--Sir, this motion,
though so warmly urged, and so artfully supported, I can consider only
as a repetition of a former motion which was approved by the assembly,
so far as it could properly be complied with, nor was any paper then
concealed which it would not have been an injury to the nation to have
divulged.
If the design of this motion be to promote the success of the present
war, and the zeal with which it has been pressed, be incited only by the
ardour of true patriotism, I doubt not but it will easily be withdrawn
by those who are now most inclined to support it, when they shall
reflect that it tends to the discovery of our schemes, and to the
overthrow of our designs, that it will expose all our consultations to
our enemies, and instruct them how to annoy us with most success, and
how to shelter themselves from our intended attacks.
It is the first care, sir, of every administration, that their military
designs should only be discovered by the execution of them, and that
their enemies, by being obliged to guard all parts, should be weak in
all. If, by laying our papers before this house, the Spaniards should
come to be informed against what part of their dominions our expeditions
are designed, will they not increase their strength, improve their
fortifications, and double their vigilance? And if we are thus obliged
to form new schemes, must we not impute the defeat of the former to our
own imprudent zeal, or unseasonable curiosity?
Mr. SANDYS spoke to this effect:--Sir, that we should demand the schemes
laid for the future conduct of the war with Spain was never proposed,
nor, as it may reasonably be concluded, ever imagined; for what is
mentioned in the motion but the papers relating to the transactions of
the two last years.
That it should be necessary to remind gentlemen of the difference
between the _future_ and the _past_, would hardly be suspected by any
man not accustomed to senatorial controversies and artifices of state;
and yet in the argument which has been offered against the motion,
nothing has been asserted but that the orders relating to past
transactions are not to be laid before us, lest the enemy should thereby
gain intelligence of what we now design against them.
The necessity of secrecy in war needs not be urged, because it will not
be denied; but when designs have been laid, and miscarried, the reasons
of that miscarriage may surely be inquired, without danger of betraying
the councils of our country.
If the negligence of our councils, and the misconduct of our commanders,
has been such, that no designs have been premeditated; if a war has been
carried on by chance, and nothing has succeeded, because nothing has
been attempted; if our commanders have not done ill, and have only done
nothing; if they have avoided loss by avoiding danger; we may surely
inquire to whom such proceedings are to be imputed, whether the defeat
of our designs is to be charged upon the strength of our enemy, or the
cowardice of our officers; or whether the inactivity and apparent
neutrality of our forces is occasioned by the negligence of our
admirals, or the irresolution of our own ministry.
There have been, sir, many incidents in these two last years, of which
the examination can be of very little advantage to the Spaniards. I do
not know what pernicious intelligence they can glean from an inquiry
into the reasons for which Haddock's fleet was divided, and Ogle sent to
the defence of Minorca, or for which he afterwards returned.
Nor can I conceive that any advantage, except that of merriment and
diversion, can be thrown into the hands of our enemies, though we should
seriously inquire into what no man has yet pretended to understand, the
wonderful escape of the Spanish squadron. A transaction on which we had
dwelt long enough with that admiration which ignorance produces, and on
which it may not be improper at length to enable us to reason.
This is an affair, perhaps, much better understood by our enemies than
by ourselves, and surely we cannot, therefore, be afraid of informing
them of it; at least since the fleet has long since sailed out, and left
their coast, we can hardly be restrained in our inquiries by the fear of
discovering our _future_ designs.
If, therefore, it be the incontestable right of the senate to examine
the conduct of publick affairs, which I suppose will scarcely be denied,
this motion cannot be rejected as unseasonable, nor can the papers be
refused, without increasing those suspicions which are already too
prevalent throughout the nation.
Nor, indeed, for our own sakes, ought we to delay this inquiry any
longer, lest by having long acted without being accountable, the
minister should form a prescription against our privilege, and, in time,
tell us in plain terms that we are his slaves, and that we are not to
presume to carry our examinations, however solemn and important they may
continue to appear, farther than he shall be pleased to permit; and
that, whatever may be the opinion of the people that deputes us, or,
whatever ancient claims we may plead to authority, we are now to
consider ourselves only as the oppressors of the nation, and the
panegyrists of the court.
Mr. WALPOLE next rose, and spoke to this purpose:--Sir, it cannot be
denied to be reasonable that all those papers should be laid before the
senate, which can be communicated without injury to the publick. Of this
number we may justly imagine the orders sent to the admirals, in which
the time of their departure is fixed, and many others which may be of
use to inform the house, but cannot enable the enemy to judge either of
our force or our designs.
But it is evident, that there must be others included in this motion,
which our regard for the success of the war, and the prosperity of our
country, ought to determine us to conceal, and such as are never exposed
by any administration; it is, therefore, proper to limit the address to
papers of a certain kind, or a certain date, which may be considered by
the house without benefit to our enemies, and for the examination of
which a day or two will be more than sufficient.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I know not what
number of papers the wisdom of the administration will allow us, but, if
we judge by the time proposed to be spent in examination, we shall not
be distracted with a great diversity of subjects; intelligence will be
very penuriously dealt out, and if we submit to their choice of the
writings which shall be laid before us, our inquiry will probably end
without any discoveries made either by our enemies or ourselves.
But I hope, sir, we shall not be so cheaply satisfied, nor exposed by
the fear of one enemy, to the insolence of another. I hope we shall
resolutely continue our demands of information, while a single line is
concealed, from which any light can be expected.
There may, indeed, be circumstances in which our demands, however loud,
will necessarily be vain. It is not impossible that we may suspect those
transactions of deep art, and secret contrivance, which have been the
consequences of mere indolence, and want of consideration. Our great
ministers have been, perhaps, only doing nothing, while we have imagined
that they were working out of sight.
Misled, sir, by this notion, we may call for the orders that have been
despatched in these two last years, when, perhaps, our secretaries of
state have been fattening on their salaries without employment, and have
slept without care, and without curiosity, while we have been
congratulating ourselves upon their vigilance for our preservation.
Or if orders have been given, it is to be considered, that the end of
inspecting orders is to compare them with the conduct of the admirals to
whom they were directed: from this comparison, I doubt not but many
gentlemen expect uncommon discoveries; but to check all unreasonable
hopes before they have taken possession of their hearts, for
unreasonable hopes are the parent of disappointment, I think it proper
to remind them, that to draw any conclusions from the orders, it is
necessary to understand them.
This consideration alone is sufficient to redress the ardour of inquiry,
for every man that has had opportunities of knowing the wonderful
accomplishments of our ministry, the depth of their designs, the
subtilty of their stratagems, and the closeness of their reasoning, will
easily conceive it probable that they might send such orders as none but
themselves could understand; and what then will be the consequence of
our idle curiosity, but that we be led into a labyrinth of endless
conjectures? For we have long ago found that no explanations are to be
expected, and that our ministry are too wise to discover their secrets
to their enemies.
Let us, therefore, examine the naked facts which have fallen within our
observation, and endeavour to inform ourselves of the meaning of these
secret orders by the execution of them.
Admiral Ogle was despatched from Haddock's fleet to protect Minorca,
and, in his absence, the Spanish squadron sailed away. Perhaps he was
ordered to watch Ferrol and Minorca at the same time, and not
understanding how that was to be done, neglected one part of his charge,
by an attention to the other: as a watchman who should be employed to
guard at once the bank in London, and the treasury in Westminster.
Admiral NORRIS, sir, sailed lately forth, I suppose, in pursuance of
orders, with a very formidable fleet, and after having lost sight for
some days of the British coast, sailed back again with great
precipitation. Whether his orders were only to sail forth, or whether,
when he examined them farther, he could not understand them, I pretend
not to determine; but it may reasonably be imagined that his orders were
of the same kind with those of our other admirals, because they produced
the same consequences.
I have been told, that formerly our commanders were ordered to _burn_,
_sink_, and _destroy_; and that in those times it was not uncommon for a
British admiral to do much mischief with a strong fleet; but it is
evident that the style is since changed, for our admirals are now very
inoffensive, and go out only to come back. I, therefore, think the
motion highly necessary, and such as ought to be complied with.
Admiral NORRIS here rose up, and spoke thus:--Sir, I am not conscious
that my conduct in any part of my life has exposed me to be justly
treated with contempt and ridicule, and what I have not deserved I will
not bear.
If any gentleman in this house can accuse me of having neglected my
duty, or deserted it, let him not spare insults or invectives, let him
now expose my cowardice or my carelessness, let him prove me unworthy of
trust or of command.
But my own conscience acquits me, and I defy any man to produce and
support his accusation; nor can you, sir, [Footnote: Addressing himself
to Mr. PULTENEY.] who have thus contemptuously treated me, allege any
thing against me that may justify your neglect of decency: that you have
transgressed the rules of decency is the softest censure that your
behaviour admits, and I think it may with equal propriety be asserted,
that you have broken the laws of justice.
Mr. PULTENEY replied in this manner:--Sir, I shall submit to you and all
who hear me, whether I have treated the honourable gentleman's name with
any contemptuous freedom of speech. The usual method of mentioning an
expedition is that of naming the commander, who is not thereby
necessarily included in the censure of an unsuccessful attempt, and I am
very far from calling his courage and capacity into question.
Not that I shall ever think it necessary to make an apology for
expressing my sentiments with freedom as a member of this house, in
which I shall always speak what I think, and in what manner it shall
appear to me most proper, nor shall I fear to repeat without doors what
I say here.
Sir Robert WALPOLE next rose up, and spoke to this purpose:--Sir, as I
am not acquainted with any measures pursued by the administration, which
it is their particular interest to conceal, I am desirous that all
papers should be laid before the house which will not afford our enemies
any opportunity of obviating our designs.
What necessity there is for this address I cannot, indeed, discover,
because I know not any foundation for suspicion of either negligence or
treachery, which have been both insinuated in this debate.
Nor are the ministry, however ludicrously their abilities have been
treated, afraid of discovering their ignorance, by laying before the
house the orders which they have given to our admirals; orders of which
they are far from doubting that they will appear, upon a candid
examination, rational and proper.
The chief objection to this motion arises from its unreasonableness, and
the necessity which it will produce of assigning to a fruitless inquiry
those hours that may be more usefully employed.
Mr. PITT replied in terms to the effect following:--Sir, it is my
opinion, that our time cannot be more usefully employed during a war,
than in examining how it has been conducted, and settling the degree of
confidence that may be reposed in those to whose care are intrusted our
reputations, our fortunes, and our lives.
There is not any inquiry, sir, of more importance than this; it is not a
question about an uncertain privilege, or a law, which, if found
inconvenient, may hereafter be repealed; we are now to examine whether
it is probable that we shall preserve our commerce and our independence,
or whether we are sinking into subjection to a foreign power.
But this inquiry, sir, will produce no great information, if those,
whose conduct is examined, are allowed to select the evidence. For what
accounts will they exhibit but such as have often already been laid
before us, and such as they now offer without concern: accounts obscure
and fallacious, imperfect and confused, from which nothing can be
learned, and which can never entitle the minister to praise, though they
may screen him from punishment.
Mr. PELHAM spoke as follows:--Sir, I am confident that no man engaged in
the administration desires to be _screened_ from the most rigorous
inquiry, or would defer to exhibit the papers a moment for any other
reason than his regard for the publick.
I am confident, that nothing could so much contribute to advance the
particular and distinct interest of the ministry as the publication of
all the writings that relate to the present war, by which it would
incontestably appear that nothing has been omitted that could promote
our success, that our commanders have been sent out with orders to act
with the utmost vigour, and that our preparations have been not
disproportioned to the importance of our design.
It will appear that no former ministry have given greater proofs of
their zeal for the publick interest, or have more steadily pursued the
most proper measures by which it might be advanced.
I am not, indeed, certain that those who now call so loudly for
information would be prevailed on by any degree of evidence to suspend
their censures. Them, who are now dissatisfied, I shall despair of
influencing by reason or testimony; for they seem to inquire only to
condemn; nor is this motion, perhaps, made so much for the sake of
obtaining information, as of harassing the ministry with delays, and
suspending affairs of greater importance.
This motion was agreed to, and upon another motion made by Mr. SANDYS,
it was resolved,
"That an humble address be presented to his majesty, that he will be
graciously pleased to give directions, that there may be laid before
this house a copy of the reasons sent by admiral Cavendish, in pursuance
of an order from the commissioners of the admiralty, which had retarded
the sailing of admiral Ogle's squadron, so much beyond expectation."
Likewise,
"That an humble address be presented to his majesty, that he will be
graciously pleased to give directions, that there may be laid before
this house a copy of the reasons transmitted by admiral Ogle, that did
prevent him from sailing, pursuant to his repeated orders for that
purpose, and particularly to those sent him by the commissioners of the
admiralty."
HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 3, 1740-1.
[DEBATE REGARDING THE DEPARTURE OF THE FRENCH AND SPANISH SQUADRONS.]
Mr. SANDYS this day presented a motion in writing, for petitioning his
majesty to inform them when the regency received intelligence that the
French and Spanish squadrons sailed, which was seconded, as follows, by
Mr. WALLER:--
Sir, the information now moved for, appears to me so necessary in their
deliberations on the conduct of the war, that without it we can only
conjecture in the dark, and entangle ourselves in an inextricable
labyrinth.
It is well known, that in war all motions are, in a great degree, to be
regulated by those of the enemy, and that, therefore, no vigilance is to
be spared by which any knowledge can be gained of their designs, nor any
methods omitted of communicating them to those who have the direction of
the war.
A ministry may, in conducting military operations, disappoint the
expectations of their country, either by neglecting to procure
intelligence, or by failing to make use of those opportunities which
seasonable information puts into their power, and they may, when their
designs fail of success, justify themselves, by proving that they were
deceived by intelligence which it was reasonable to believe, or that
better intelligence was not attainable, or that they made use, however
unsuccessfully, of all the forces that could then be employed, and of
all the advantages that were then in their possession.
But how shall we judge of our administration, how shall we know what
confidence we ought to repose in their prudence and fidelity, and what
miscarriages are to be attributed to the chance of war or superiour
force of our enemies, if we cannot be informed with what diligence they
endeavour at information, and how early they have notice of the motions
of the enemy?
The sailing, or rather escape of the Ferrol squadron, and departure of
the French fleet, are the most important events of the present war;
events that threaten very dangerous consequences, no less than descents
upon our American colonies, the conquest of our dominions, the slavery
of our fellow-subjects, and perhaps the destruction of the brave Vernon,
who is secure in the imagined vigilance of the other commanders, and
may, perhaps, in a few days see himself surrounded by formidable
squadrons of different nations, and exposed to the attack of forces to
which his little fleet bears no proportion.
Nothing appears more evident, than that we had opportunities of
observing, at least, all the preparations of the French, and of watching
the moment of their departure, and that our force on the coast of Spain
was sufficient to have confined their fleets for ever in their harbours,
or to have destroyed them at their first entrance into the open seas, of
which we may justly inquire, why it was not attempted, but shall inquire
to no purpose till we know when they departed, that we may consider the
state of our own forces, and whether our enemies escaped by our
negligence, cowardice, or weakness.
Mr. WINNINGTON then spoke to the following purpose:--Sir, that we
cannot deliberate upon subjects which we do not understand, and that,
therefore, no necessary or useful information ought to be denied to the
house, I shall readily admit; but must observe, at the same time, that
the reputation of the house would be very little consulted, in demanding
information which cannot be given.
To address his majesty to inform us of the time at which the squadrons
of our enemies sailed, is to inquire of him what it ought to be the
highest care of those princes to conceal from him, and which he can only
know by having spies in their privy councils.
And of what importance is it to inquire what intelligence was brought
him, or when he received it, if it appears that his intelligence must be
in its own nature uncertain and dubitable?
That they have left their ports is now certain, because they have been
twice discovered in different parts of the world; but, as we can now
only form conjectures on their designs and courses, so, before they
sailed, it was impossible to know when they were fully equipped, or what
time was fixed for their departure. It is to be remembered, that they
form their measures, and make their preparations in their own dominions,
and therefore, have more advantages of concealing their schemes than we
of discovering them.
Mr. Advocate CAMPBELL then spoke thus:--Sir, this motion, which has been
represented as unreasonable and absurd, is, in my opinion, not only
proper, but important.
It is important, because it will enable us to judge, upon sufficient
foundations, of the conduct of the ministry, who are censured by the
voice of the nation, for having been either defective in vigilance or in
activity, for having been either ignorant by their own fault of the
designs of the enemy, or perfidiously passive in permitting the
execution of them.
I am far from believing that such intelligence as our ministry is
expected to procure, requires any uncommon subtilty, or any other agents
than are always employed by every minister, to transmit to them
informations from foreign courts. Such, I am afraid, are always hovering
about our consultations, and I know not why our ministers should be less
diligent or less successful than those of other princes.
If, therefore, such intelligence might have been obtained, it was
criminal not to obtain it; and if the departure of the Spanish squadron
was foreseen, it ought to be inquired, why it was not prevented; and if
it was only known when it was too late to hinder it from sailing, why it
was not pursued, or why succours were not immediately despatched to
admiral Vernon.
All these questions can only be resolved, in consequence of the
information which his majesty shall give us; and for which it is,
therefore, in my opinion, necessary to petition.
Mr. Henry PELHAM spoke next, to this purpose:--Sir, how the regency
could be informed of the intention of the Spaniards to leave their ports
till it appeared by their departure, or by what means it can be expected
that his majesty should be now acquainted with their particular course,
or farther designs, I confess myself unable to conceive.
With regard, sir, to the intelligence transmitted from foreign courts by
agents and spies, a little consideration will easily discover that it is
not to be trusted. For what can be generally expected from them, but
that they should catch flying reports, or by chance intercept uncertain
whispers, that they should inquire timorously, and, therefore, for the
greatest part, of those from whom no satisfactory accounts can be
received, and that they should often endeavour to deserve their salaries
by such information as is rather pleasing than true.
All the knowledge that can be obtained of an enemy's designs, must arise
from a diligent comparison of one circumstance with another, and from a
general view of his force, his interest, and his opportunities. And that
such conjectures will be often erroneous, needs not be told.
Probability, therefore, is, in such inquiries, all that can be attained,
and he that sits idle in the time of war, expecting certain
intelligence, will see his enemies enjoying the advantages of his folly,
and laying hold on a thousand opportunities which he has neglected to
improve.
The war in which we are now engaged, has been carried on by the
administration with the utmost diligence and vigour; nor have any
measures been omitted that could probably produce success, and the
success of the wisest measures is only probable.
Should the great admiral, who is now present in the house, have met the
French and Spaniards in the open seas, by what art could he arrive at a
certain knowledge of their designs? He might by his acquaintance with
the situation and state of neighbouring countries, the observation of
their course, the periods of particular winds, and other hints of
observation, form probable conjectures, but could never reach to
certainty or confidence.
It seems to me, therefore, highly improper, to petition his majesty for
intelligence which he cannot be imagined to have received, and I cannot
agree to any motion for that purpose.
Mr. SANDYS then made another motion, to address his majesty, that there
may be laid before the house copies of all letters received from, or
written to, admiral Vernon since his going to the West Indies. Which
being seconded,
Mr. PELHAM spoke to this effect:--Sir, this motion, if the intention of
it be limited by proper restrictions, is doubtless reasonable and just;
for the right of this house to examine into the conduct of publick
affairs, and, consequently, for calling for the papers necessary to
enlighten their inquiries, is not to be disputed.
But, as the end of all such inquiries is the promotion of the publick
welfare, so they are not to be made in a manner by which that end may be
defeated. Papers are not to be demanded, which cannot be produced
without discovering our own secrets, and acquainting our enemies either
with that weakness which we ought carefully to conceal, or that force
which will be most effectually employed if it is not known, and,
therefore, no preparations are made to oppose it.
It cannot be imagined, but that many of the papers which have passed
between the admiralty and the commander in America, contain plans for
the prosecution of the war, observations on the conditions of our own
colonies, and, perhaps, intelligence of the estate of the Spanish
fortresses and towns. Many informations of the utmost consequence to our
enemies may be collected from those papers, but nothing can be expected
from them, that will enable us to prosecute a senatorial inquiry with
more success, that will put it in our power to discover frauds,
negligence, or treachery.
There are, sir, other papers which may, indeed, be laid before us,
without any benefit to our enemies, and, perhaps, with some advantage to
ourselves; the papers which contain the accompts of our preparations and
stores, the lists of our forces, and the calculation of our expenses,
are the proper subjects of senatorial inquiries; and if the motion be
restrained to those, I believe it will not be opposed by any gentleman
engaged in the administration of our affairs. I shall beg leave to
propose these words may be added, "So far as the same relates to a
supply of ships, marines, or land forces."
The motion, thus amended, was agreed to.
HOUSE OF LORDS, FEB. 13, 1740-1.
DEBATE ON ADDRESSING HIS MAJESTY FOR REMOVING SIR ROBERT WALPOLE.
The opposition which for a long time had been made in the commons, to
the measures of the administration, was on this day pushed to a crisis,
and produced a motion in both houses. In the house of lords it
occasioned the following debate:
Lord CARTERET began in this manner:--My lords, as the motion which I am
about to make is of the highest importance, and of the most extensive
consequences; as it cannot but meet with all the opposition which the
prejudices of some, and the interest of others, can raise against it; as
it must have the whole force of ministerial influence to encounter,
without any assistance but from justice and reason; I hope to be excused
by your lordships for spending some time in endeavouring to show, that
it wants no other support, that it is not founded upon doubtful
suspicions, but upon uncontestable facts; that it is not dictated by
private interest, but by the sincerest regard to publick happiness; not
abetted by the personal malevolence of particular men, but enforced by
the voice of the people; a voice which ought always to be attended to,
and, generally, to be obeyed.
To endeavour, my lords, to remove from places of publick trust all those
who appear to want either the virtues or abilities necessary for
executing their offices, is the interest of every member of a community.
And it is not only the interest but the duty of all those who are,
either by the choice of the people, or by the right of birth, invested
with the power of inspecting publick affairs, and intrusted with the
general happiness of their country. That, therefore, every motive
combines to make it the duty, and every argument concurs to prove it the
privilege of your lordships, is too evident to be doubted.
How often this privilege has been exerted by this house, and how often
it has rescued our country from oppression, insolence, and rapine; how
often our constitution has been reanimated, and impending ruin been
averted by it, a superficial acquaintance with history may inform us.
And we are now called upon by the universal cry of the nation, and urged
by the perplexed and uncertain state of our foreign affairs, and
declension of our wealth, and attacks upon our liberties at home, to
recollect these precedents of magnanimity and justice, and to make
another effort for the relief of our country.
This house, my lords, has proceeded against ministers, whose conduct
they disapproved, by methods of greater or less severity, according to
the necessity of affairs, or the supposed malignity of the crimes
alleged against them; and, therefore, have sometimes thought it
necessary to deter posterity from imitating them by rigorous censures,
and exemplary punishments, and sometimes have thought it sufficient to
set the nation free from its distresses, without inflicting any
penalties on those by whose misconduct they imagined them produced.
What were the more violent and vindictive methods of proceeding, it is
not necessary, with regard to this motion, to examine; since I shall
only propose, that we should, in imitation of our predecessors, in cases
of this nature, humbly address his majesty to remove the minister from
his presence and councils.
Nothing, my lords, can be more moderate or tender than such an address,
by which no punishment is inflicted, nor any forfeiture exacted. The
minister, if he be innocent, if his misconduct be only the consequence
of his ignorance or incapacity, may lay down in peace an office for
which nature has not designed him, enjoy the vast profits of long
employment in tranquillity, and escape the resentment of an unhappy
people; who, when irritated to the highest degree, by a continuation of
the same miscarriages, may, perhaps, in the heat of a more malevolent
prosecution, not sufficiently distinguish between inability and guilt.
Those, therefore, among your lordships, that think him honest but
mistaken, must willingly agree to a motion like this, as the best
expedient to appease the people without the ruin of the minister. For
surely no man who has read the history, or is acquainted with the temper
of this nation, can expect that the people will always bear to see
honours, favours, and preferments, distributed by the direction of one
universally suspected of corruption, and arbitrary measures; or will
look only with silent envy upon the affluence of those whom they believe
to be made great by fraud and plunder, swelled to insolence by the
prosperity of guilt, and advanced to wealth and luxury by publick
miseries.
Such of your lordships who join with the people in ascribing our present
unhappy state not to the errours, but to the crimes of the minister, and
who, therefore, think a bare removal not sufficient to satisfy the
demands of justice, must, doubtless, give their consent to the motion,
for the sake of obtaining proper evidence of his wickedness, which
cannot be expected while he stands exalted in prosperity, and
distributes the riches of the nation, and the gifts of his sovereign at
his own choice; while he is in possession of every motive that can
influence the mind, enforce secrecy, and confirm fidelity; while he can
bribe the avaricious, and intimidate the fearful; while he can increase
the gratification of luxury, and enlarge the prospects of ambition. For,
my lords, if it be considered from whom this evidence must be drawn, it
will soon appear that no very important discoveries can be made, but by
those whom he has intrusted with his secrets, men whose disregard of
virtue recommended them to his favour, and who, as they are moved only
by interest, will continue faithful while they can hope for recompense;
but may, perhaps, be willing to buy their own security by sacrificing
their master, when they shall see no farther prospect of advantage from
serving him, or any other method of escaping punishment.
But, my lords, all must allow this motion to be reasonable, whatever
they think of the minister's conduct, who are of opinion that a free
people have a right of complaining when they feel oppression, and of
addressing the crown to remove a minister that has incurred their
universal detestation. That such is the condition of the present
minister, I believe, will scarcely be denied, or may be discovered by
those who find themselves inclined to doubt it, by asking any man whom
they shall accidentally meet, what are his sentiments on the situation
of national affairs, and of the hands by which they are administered.
What answer he will receive is well known to most of your lordships. Let
him not be satisfied with a single suffrage, let him repeat the question
to ten thousand persons, different in their ages, their conditions, and
religious opinions, in every thing that produces contrariety of
dispositions and affections, he will yet find them unanimous in
complaining of publick misconduct, and in censuring one gentleman as the
author of it.
Let us not imagine, my lords, that these accusations and murmurs are
confined to the lowest class of the people, to men whose constant
attention to more immediate distresses, hinder them from making
excursions beyond their own employments. For though, perhaps, it might
be made evident from the accounts of past times, that no general
dissatisfaction, even among men of this rank, was ever groundless;
though it might be urged that those who see little can only clamour,
because they feel themselves oppressed; and though it might not
unseasonably be hinted that they are at least formidable for their
numbers, and have, sometimes, executed that justice which they had not
interest to procure, and trampled upon that insolence that has dared to
defy them; yet I shall not insist upon such motives, because it is
notorious that discontent is epidemical in all ranks, and that condition
and observation are far from appeasing it.
Whether the discontent, thus general, is groundless, whether it is
raised only by the false insinuations of the disappointed, and the
wicked arts of the envious, whether it is, in exception to all the
maxims of government, the first dislike of an administration that ever
overspread a nation without just reasons, deserves to be inquired into.
In this inquiry, my lords, it will be necessary to consider not only the
state of domestick affairs, increase or diminution of our debts, the
security or violation of our liberties, the freedom or dependence of our
senates, and the prosperity or declension of our trade, but to examine
the state of this nation, with regard to foreign powers; to inquire,
whether we are equally feared and equally trusted now as in former
administrations; whether our alliances have contributed to secure us
from our inveterate and habitual enemies, or to expose us to them;
whether the balance of Europe be still in our hands; and whether, during
this long interval of peace, our power has increased in the same
proportion with that of our neighbours. France, my lords, is the
constant and hereditary enemy of Britons, so much divided from her in
religion, government, and interest, that they cannot both be prosperous
together; as the influence of one rises, that of the other must, by
consequence, decline. Alliances may form a temporal show of friendship,
but it cannot continue; for their situation produces a natural
rivalship, which every accidental circumstance has contributed to
increase. Long wars, for many reigns after the conquest, established a
radical and insuperable hatred between us, nor did those wars cease till
the reformation produced new occasions of jealousy and aversion. France
was, by these reasons, obliged for many ages to employ all her influence
and policy in strengthening herself against us, by treaties and
alliances; and in our times, has given us a new reason for jealousy by
extending her commerce, and improving her manufactures.
It has been, therefore, my lords, the settled principle of every wise
administration, of every Briton, whose opinions were not regulated by
some other motives than those of reason, to attend, with the highest
degree of vigilance, to all the designs of the French, and oppose, with
incessant diligence, every attempt to increase their force, or extend
their influence, and to check their conquests, obstruct their alliances,
and forestal their trade.
For this great end it has been our constant endeavour to support the
Austrian family, whose large dominions and numerous forces make a
counterbalance on the continent to the power of France. For this end we
entered into a long war, of which we still languish under the
consequences, squandered the lives of our countrymen, and mortgaged the
possessions of our posterity. For failing in the prosecution of this
purpose, for leaving France too formidable, and neglecting the interests
of the emperour, was the treaty of Utrecht censured, and the authors of
it prosecuted by the present minister; but how much he has improved the
errours of his predecessors to his own advantage, how diligent he has
been to rectify the miscarriages of their conduct, and supply the
defect, I shall endeavour to explain.
It is well known, my lords, that during the regency of the duke of
Orleans, we had nothing to apprehend from French machinations; his
interest, a tie which that nation is seldom found to break, held him
steady to his engagements with us; nor is it less known how much he
distrusted Spain, and how little, by consequence, he favoured her. We
had, at that time, no necessity of anxiously attending to every whisper
of the French court, which was sufficiently engaged in regulating their
domestick affairs, and repairing the ruins of a destructive war; but, my
lords, we ought to observe, that it had been happy for us had our
minister laboured with equal address at the same employment.
After the death of this duke, the affairs of France were restored to
their former situation, her old schemes were revived, her ancient
alliances cultivated, and her general interest pursued. Spain was again
considered as the power which had the same views with her, and which
could never rival, but might always assist her.
This alliance, my lords, was intended to have been unalterably confirmed
by a marriage, but as no human policy can form measures certain of
success, an irreconcilable hatred was nearly produced by the measure
intended to confirm a settled and indissoluble friendship. The infanta
was sent back after her arrival in France, an affront which no nation
would soon have forgot, but which the general character and habitual
sentiments of the Spaniards inclined them to resent beyond any other
people. To any one acquainted with their character in this respect, it
will readily appear, that no other insult or injury could so sensibly
affect them, or excite so eager a desire of revenge, This, my lords, the
sagacity of our minister should have discovered, this opportunity should
have been improved with the utmost care, by which Spain and France might
possibly have been disunited for ages, and Britain have gained such
advantages as would have made her the sole arbitress of Europe.
The Spaniards were not deficient on their side, nor did they neglect to
court our friendship, but gave us the highest proof of their confidence
by offering us the sole mediation of their differences with the emperour
of Germany: but at this time it was, that the gentleman whose conduct I
am examining, obtained the chief influence in our councils, and by his
peculiar penetration discovered, that nothing was to be done which might
give the least offence to the French. We, therefore, refused to mediate,
unless French ministers might be associated with ours, which the
Spaniards had too much spirit to consent to.
Thus, my lords, was neglected the first opportunity of forming against
the French an alliance by which they might have been awed in all their
designs, and by which the peace of Europe might have been long
preserved.
The Spaniards, finding that we would not undertake to reconcile their
differences with the emperour of Germany, and continuing their
abhorrence of French mediators, concluded, without the intervention of
any other power, a treaty both of peace and alliance with his imperial
majesty.
This, my lords, was the famous treaty of Vienna, the source of so many
projects and expedients, of so much terrour and solicitude, of such
immense expenses, and perplexed negotiations. This treaty, a paper
innocent and well-meaning, which related only to the contracting
parties, kept, for some time, this nation in alarms, in apprehensions of
conspiracies, and expectations of invasions.
To this treaty, had we singly regarded our own affairs, without applying
to France for instructions, we ought to have acceded, by which we should
have divided the interest of the house of Bourbon, broken the
combination of these pontifical powers, and, by improving one lucky
incident, obtained what our arms and our politicks had never, hitherto,
been able to accomplish.
But the French, sensible of their danger, and well acquainted with our
minister, contrived an expedient which, indeed, would not often have
succeeded, but which was so well adapted to the intellects of this
gentleman, that it extricated them from all their difficulties.
They told us, my lords, and, what is yet more wonderful, they prevailed
upon us to believe, that in this dreadful treaty of Vienna, it was
stipulated between the German emperour and Spain, that they should
employ their joint forces against Britain, that they should exalt the
pretender to the throne, take immediate possession of Gibraltar, and,
without mercy, debar us for ever from our trade both in Spain and in the
Western Indies. This his late majesty was advised to assert in his
speech from the throne, which I desire may be read.
Of which the following clauses were read:
"My lords and gentlemen,
"The distressed condition of some of our religious brethren abroad, and
the negotiations and engagements entered into by some foreign powers,
which seem to have laid the foundation of new troubles and disturbances
in Europe, and to threaten my subjects with the loss of several of the
most advantageous branches of their trade, obliged me, without any loss
of time, to concert with other powers such measures as might give a
check to the ambitious views of those who are endeavouring to render
themselves formidable, and put a stop to the farther progress of such
dangerous designs. For these ends I have entered into a defensive
alliance with the French king, and the king of Prussia, to which several
other powers, and particularly the Dutch, have been invited to accede,
and I have not the least reason to doubt of their concurrence. This
treaty shall, in a short time, be laid before you.
"By these means, and by your support and assistance, I trust in God, I
shall be able not only to secure to my own subjects the enjoyment of
many valuable rights and privileges, long since acquired for them by the
most solemn treaties, but effectually to preserve the peace and balance
of Europe, the only view and end of all my endeavours.
"It is not to be doubted, but the enemies to my government will conceive
hopes, that some favourable opportunity for renewing their attempts may
offer, from the prospect of new troubles and commotions: they are
already very busy by their instruments and emissaries in those courts
whose measures seem most to favour their purposes, in soliciting and
promoting the cause of the pretender; but I persuade myself,
notwithstanding the countenance and encouragement they may have
received, or flatter themselves with, the provision you shall make for
the safety and defence of the empire, will effectually secure me from
any attempts from abroad, and render all such projects vain and
abortive.
"When the world shall see that you will not suffer the British crown and
nation to be menaced and insulted, those who most envy the present
happiness and tranquillity of this empire, and are endeavouring to make
us subservient to their ambition, will consider their own interest and
circumstances before they make any attempt upon so brave a people,
strengthened and supported by prudent and powerful alliances, and though
desirous to preserve the peace, able and ready to defend themselves
against the efforts of all aggressors. Such resolutions and such
measures, timely taken, I am satisfied, are the most effectual means of
preventing a war, and continuing to us the blessings of peace and
prosperity."
Who would not have been terrified, my lords, at a treaty like this? Our
religion was to be destroyed, our government subverted, and our trade
reduced to nothing. What could a ministry, thus intimidated, do, but
resign themselves implicitly to the direction of a kind neighbour, that
promised to shelter them from the storm?
There have been ministers, my lords, in former times, who, upon hearing
such a representation, would have considered, that Britain was an
island, that the pretender could not be forced upon us without an army,
and that an army could not be transported without ships, that the
emperour of Germany had neither navies nor ports, that Gibraltar might
be easily supplied with every thing requisite for its defence, and that
any attempt made by Spain to injure our trade, might easily be punished
by intercepting their Plate fleets.
They would then have considered whether attempts so improbable, and
stipulations so absurd and ridiculous, ought to be credited upon the
information of an ambassadour's secretary, who, as he proposed to reveal
his master's secrets for a bribe, might as probably take another reward
for imposing upon those whom he pretended to inform. Those, therefore,
who advised his majesty to assert to the senate what they knew from no
better authority, those whose daring insolence could make their
sovereign instrumental in alarming the people with false terrours, and
oppressing them with unnecessary burdens, well deserve to feel a
senatorial censure.
But our ministers, my lords, were too much frighted to make such
reflections: they imagined that destruction was hanging over us, and, in
a dread of arbitrary government, oppression, and persecution, concluded
at Hanover a treaty with the French.
Thus the French gained our confidence, and raised in us a distrust of
both the powers with whom it was our interest to be united: but the
alliance of the emperour of Germany with Spain made them still uneasy;
and, therefore, they determined, once more, to make our credulity
instrumental in procuring a reconciliation between them and the
Spaniards.
To effect this, they kindly gave us intelligence, that when the
Spaniards should receive their treasures from the Western Indies, they
designed to employ it in favour of the pretender, and that, therefore,
it was necessary to intercept it. This advice was thankfully listened
to, a fleet was fitted out, and thousands were sacrificed without any
advantage; for the French not only forbore to assist us in the
expedition, but forbade us to seize the treasure when we had found it.
The Spaniards, apprehending themselves attacked, omitted no opportunity
of showing their resentment; they seized our ships, and laid siege to
Gibraltar, while our new allies looked quietly on, and expected the
event of their own scheme, which was far from being defeated by our
policy; for the Spaniards, finding the return of their American revenues
insuperably obstructed, and knowing that the emperour of Germany, that
emperour who was to invade Britain, had not any power even to assist
them, were obliged to have recourse to the nation which they then hated,
and to forgive the past affront, that they might obtain their good
offices in this exigence.
But, my lords, it was not sufficient for the designs of the French, that
they had recovered their ancient allies the Spaniards, unless they could
disunite them from the emperour of Germany: this it was, likewise, our
interest to prevent, and yet this, likewise, we enabled them to effect;
for they prevailed upon us to promise, in our stipulations with the
Spaniards, what they had not the least claim to demand, that Spain,
instead of neutral troops, should be introduced into Italy, to secure
certain successions there to a son of the queen of Spain.
With what reluctance the emperour of Germany would consent to see troops
placed in the provinces bordering upon his dominions, which would
certainly, on the first occasion, be employed to invade them, it was
easy to foresee, and with what degree of good-will he would regard those
by whom they were introduced; yet, my lords, such was the influence of
France, and so ardent our desire of diverting Spain from setting the
pretender upon the throne of Britain, that we complied at all events,
without any prospect or promise of advantage.
Thus were the Spaniards, by being persuaded to make this demand, and we,
by granting it, brought equally to ill terms with the emperour of
Germany; and France was, by procuring such agreeable conditions to the
Spaniards, again considered as their most useful ally.
That nation, my lords, is in a very unhappy state, which is reduced to
admit such terms as mediators are pleased to prescribe. We durst not
refuse the introduction of Spanish troops, nor durst we introduce them
without the emperour of Germany's consent, which, however, he granted at
an easy rate, for he demanded only that we should become guarantees of
the Pragmatick sanction. This we gladly agreed to, and thought ourselves
so happy in purchasing, so cheaply, an opportunity of ingratiating
ourselves with Spain, that we desired no other recompense.
This treaty with the emperour of Germany, was, however, by no means
improper, nor could we, after the errours which had been committed, do
any thing more effectual to preserve the balance of Europe, and
reestablish our credit.
But, my lords, this only treaty, which it was for our interest to make,
seems to have been made without any intention of observing it; for about
this time all the northern powers were alarmed by the approaching
election of Poland, and every nation that had any thing either to hope
or fear from the event of it, endeavoured to influence it.
How this election was determined, my lords, and by what means, it is
unnecessary to relate; but it may not be improper to remark, that
whatever cause we may have to congratulate ourselves upon the choice, it
does not appear that we had any part in promoting it. Nay, as it is not
common for ministers to keep the best part of their conduct secret,
there is reason for suspecting that they were not altogether without
foundation reported to have favoured France.
The emperour of Germany, sensible of his own interest, promoted the
election with vigour and resolution, proportioned to the greatness of
the danger that might have arisen from neglecting it. By this conduct he
drew upon himself the resentment of the French, who had now a pretence
for taking measures which might effectually reunite them to Spain, and,
as the event showed, alienate us from the emperour, and, therefore, in
vindication of the claim of Stanislaus, declared war upon Germany, in
conjunction with Spain.
Now, my lords, the emperour learned to set the true value upon his
alliance with Britain, and all Europe had an opportunity of remarking
our spirit, our power, and our vigilance. The troops which we prevailed
upon his imperial majesty to admit into Italy, were now drawn out of the
garrisons against him, his dominions were attacked on each side, by
formidable enemies, and his British allies looked with tranquillity and
unconcern upon the difficulties into which they had betrayed him. The
liberties of Europe were endangered by a new combination of the houses
of Bourbon; and Britain, the great protectress of the rights of mankind,
the great arbitress of the balance of power, either neglected or feared
to interpose.
Of the event of the war, my lords, I need only observe, that it added
new strength to France, and contributed to such an union between her and
Spain, as the most artful politician cannot hope to dissolve.
Thus, my lords, whether by negligence, ignorance, cowardice, or
treachery, it is not easy to determine, we were made the instruments of
the French policy. Thus was that power enabled by our assistance to
retrieve all that she had lost by the ill success of her arms, and by
her indecent and contemptuous treatment of Spain. Thus was the German
emperour dispirited and weakened; thus were we deprived at once of our
allies and our reputation.
Our loss of reputation, the greatest loss that bad measures can bring
upon a nation, is made evident beyond controversy, by the insolence with
which the Spaniards have treated us while we were flattering, enriching,
and supporting them. While we were fitting out squadrons to convey their
princes to Italy, and increasing their dominions at our own expense,
they seem to have considered our good offices, not as the benefits of
friends, but the drudgery of slaves, and, therefore, could scarcely
refrain from insults while they employed us, at least when they no
longer wanted our immediate assistance. They renewed their contempt and
cruelty, their robberies and oppressions; they prescribed laws to our
navigation, and laid claim to our colonies.
To these ravages and injuries what did we oppose? What but humble
intreaties, pacifick negotiations, and idle remonstrances? Instead of
asserting our just claims, and incontestable possessions, instead of
preventing war by threatening it, and securing ourselves from a second
injury by punishing the first, we amused ourselves with inquiries,
demands, representations, and disputes, till we became the jest of that
nation which it was in our power to distress, by intercepting their
treasure, and to reduce to terms almost without bloodshed.
Thus, my lords, did we proceed, new questions ever arose, and the
controversy became more intricate; commissaries were despatched to
Spain, who returned without obtaining either restitution or security,
and in the mean time no opportunity was neglected of plundering our
merchants, and insulting our flag: accounts of new confiscations and of
new cruelties daily arrived, the nation was enraged, and the senate
itself alarmed, and our ministers, at length awakened from their
tranquillity, sent orders to the envoy at the Spanish court to expedite
an accommodation; these directions were immediately obeyed, and produced
the celebrated convention.
What was given up, or what was endangered by this detestable treaty,
your lordships have often had occasion to observe, and the consequences
of it were so obvious, that the nation was astonished. Every man saw
that we were either treacherously betrayed by our own ministry, or that
the ministers were almost the only men in the kingdom utterly
unacquainted with our claims, our injuries, and our danger.
A war could now no longer be avoided, it was not in the power of the
ministry any longer to refuse to send out our fleets, and make an
appearance of hostile measures; but they had still some expedients
remaining to shelter the Spaniards from our resentment, and to make
their country yet more contemptible: they could contrive such orders for
their admirals as should prevent them from destroying their enemies with
too little mercy; and if any one was suspected of intentions less
pacifick, there were methods of equipping his fleet in such a manner as
would effectually frustrate his schemes of revenge, reprisals, and
destruction.
These, my lords, are not the murmurs of the disappointed, nor the
insinuations of the factious; it is well known to our countrymen and to
our enemies, how ill admiral Vernon was furnished with naval and
military stores, and how little his importunate demands of a supply were
regarded. What opportunities were lost, and what advantages neglected,
may be conjectured from the success of his inconsiderable force. A very
little reflection on the situation and state of those countries will
easily satisfy your lordships, how far a small body of land-forces might
have penetrated, what treasures they might have gained, and what
consternation they might have spread over the whole Spanish America.
That our squadrons in the Mediterranean have been, at least, useless,
that they have sailed from point to point, and from one coast to
another, only to display the bulk of our ships, and to show the opulence
of our nation, can require no proof: I wish, my lords, there was less
reason for suspecting that they acted in concert with our enemies, that
they retired from before their ports only to give them an opportunity of
escaping, and that they, in reality, connived at some attempts which
they were, in appearance, sent to prevent.
There are some miscarriages in war, my lords, which every reasonable man
imputes to chance, or to causes of which the influence could not be
foreseen; there are others that may justly be termed the consequences of
misconduct, but of misconduct involuntary and pardonable, of a
disregard, perhaps, of some circumstances of an affair produced by too
close an attention to others. But there are miscarriages, too, for which
candour itself can find no excuses, and of which no other causes can be
assigned than cowardice or treachery. From the suspicion of one, the
past actions of the admiral who commands our fleet in those seas will
secure him, but I know not whether there are now any that will attempt
to clear the minister's character from the imputation of the other.
All the insolence of the Spaniards, a nation by no means formidable, is
the consequence of the reunion of the houses of Bourbon; a reunion which
could not easily have been accomplished, but by the instrumental
offices of our ministry, whom, therefore, the nation has a right to
charge with the diminution of its honour, and the decay of its trade.
Nor has our trade, my lords, been only contracted and obstructed by the
piracies of Spain, but has been suffered to languish and decline at
home, either by criminal negligence, or by their complaisance for
France, which has given rise to our other calamities. The state of our
woollen manufactures is well known, and those whose indolence or love of
pleasure keeps them strangers to the other misfortunes of their country,
must yet have been acquainted with this, by the daily accounts of riots
and insurrections, raised by those who, having been employed in that
manufacture, can provide for their families by no other business, and
are made desperate by the want of bread.
We are told, my lords, by all parties, and told with truth, that our
manufactures decline, because the French have engrossed most of the
foreign markets; and it is not denied even by those whose interest it
might be to' deny it, that the cloth which they ruin us by vending, is
made of our own wool, which they are suffered to procure either by the
folly of an unskilful, or the connivance of a treacherous
administration.
If our own manufactures, my lords, had been carefully promoted, if the
whole influence of our government had been made to cooperate with the
industry of our traders, there had always been such a demand for our
wool, that they could not have afforded to purchase it at a price
equivalent to the danger of exporting it: and if any means were now
steadily practised to prevent the exportation, our trade must
consequently revive, because cloth is one of the necessaries of life
which other nations must have from Britain, when France can no longer
supply them.
But, my lords, notwithstanding the decay of trade, our expenses have
never been contracted; we have squandered millions in idle preparations,
and ostentatious folly; we have equipped fleets which never left the
harbour, and raised armies which were never to behold any other enemy
than the honest traders and husbandmen that support them. We have,
indeed, heard many reasons alleged for oppressing the empire with
standing troops, which can have little effect upon those who have no
interest to promote by admitting them: sometimes we are in danger of
invasions, though it is not easy to imagine for what purpose any prince
should invade a nation, which he may plunder at pleasure, without the
least apprehension of resentment, and which will resign any of its
rights whenever they shall be demanded: sometimes, as we have already
heard, the pretender is to be set upon the throne by a sudden descent of
armies from the clouds; and sometimes the licentiousness and
disobedience of the common people requires the restraint of a standing
army.
That the people are, to the last degree, exasperated and inflamed, I am
far from intending to deny, but surely they have yet been guilty of no
outrage so enormous as to justify so severe a punishment; they have
generally confined themselves to harmless complaints, or, at least, to
executions in effigy. The people, my lords, are enraged because they are
impoverished, and, to prevent the consequences of their anger, their
poverty is increased by new burdens, and aggravated by the sight of an
useless, despicable herd, supported by their industry, for no other
purpose than to insult them.
By these useless armaments and military farces, our taxes, my lords,
have been continued without diminishing our debts, and the nation seems
condemned to languish for ever under its present miseries, which, by
furnishing employment to a boundless number of commissioners, officers,
and slaves, to the court, under a thousand denominations, by diffusing
dependence over the whole country, and enlarging the influence of the
crown, are too evidently of use to the minister for us to entertain any
hopes of his intention to relieve us.
Let it not be boasted that nine millions are paid, when a new debt of
seven millions appears to be contracted; nothing is more easy than to
clear debts by borrowing, or to borrow when a nation is mortgaged for
the payment.
But the weight of the present taxes, my lords, though heavier than was
perhaps ever supported by any nation for so long a time, taxes greater
than ever were paid, to purchase neither conquests nor honours, neither
to prevent invasions from abroad, nor to quell rebellions at home, is
not the most flagrant charge of this wonderful administration, which,
not contented with most exorbitant exactions, contrives to make them yet
more oppressive by tyrannical methods of collection. With what reason
the author of the excise scheme dreads the resentment of the nation is
sufficiently obvious; but surely, in a virtuous and benevolent mind, the
first sentiments that would have arisen on that occasion, would not have
been motions of anger, but of gratitude. A whole nation was condemned to
slavery, their remonstrances were neglected, their petitions ridiculed,
and their detestation of tyranny treated as disaffection to the
established government; and yet the author of this horrid scheme riots
in affluence, and triumphs in authority, and without fear, as without
shame, lifts up his head with confidence and security.
How much, my lords, is the forbearance of that people to be admired,
whom such attacks as these have not provoked to transgress the bounds of
their obedience, who have continued patiently to hope for legal methods
of redress, at a time when they saw themselves threatened with legal
slavery, when they saw the legislative power established only for their
protection, influenced by all possible methods of corruption to betray
them to the mercy of the ministry?
For, that corruption has found its way into one of the houses of the
legislature, is universally believed, and, without scruple, maintained
by every man in the nation, who is not evidently restrained from
speaking as he thinks; and that any man can even be of a different
opinion, that any man can even affirm that he thinks otherwise, would
be, in any other age, the subject of astonishment. That an immense
revenue is divided among the members of the other house, by known
salaries and publick employments, is apparent; that large sums are
privately scattered on pressing exigencies, that some late transactions
of the ministry were not confirmed but at a high price, the present
condition of the civil list, a civil list vastly superiour to all the
known expenses of the crown, makes highly probable. That the commons
themselves suspect the determinations of their assembly to be influenced
by some other motives than justice and truth, is evident from the bill
this day sent hither for our concurrence; and, surely, no aggravation
can be added to the crimes of that man who has patronised our enemies,
and given up our navigation, sunk his country into contempt abroad, and
into poverty at home, plundered the people, and corrupted the
legislature.
But, my lords, the minister has not only contributed, by his wickedness
or his ignorance, to the present calamities, but has applied all his art
and all his interest to remove from posts of honour and trust, to banish
from the court, and to exclude from the legislature all those whose
counsels might contribute to restore the publick affairs, without any
regard to the popularity of their characters, the usefulness of their
talents, or the importance of their past services to the crown. Had any
of these considerations prevailed, we had not seen the greatest general
in Britain dispossessed of all his preferments, dispossessed at a time
when we are at war with one nation, and in expectation of being attacked
by another far more powerful, which will, doubtless, be encouraged, by
his removal, to more daring contempt, and more vigorous measures.
What were the motives of this procedure it is easy to discover. As his
open defence of the present royal family in the late rebellion, exempts
him from the imputation of being disaffected to the crown, the only
crime with which he can be charged is disaffection to the minister.
Perhaps, my lords, the minister may have determined to have no need of
generals in his transactions with foreign powers; but in proportion as
he relies less upon the sword, he must depend more upon the arts of
peaceable negotiation, and, surely, there has been another person
dismissed from his employments, whose counsels it had been no reproach
to have asked, and to have followed.
The nature of my motion, my lords, makes it not necessary to produce
evidence of these facts, it is sufficient that any minister is
universally suspected; for when did an innocent man, supported by power,
and furnished with every advantage that could contribute to exalt or
preserve his character, incur the general hatred of the people? But if
it could ever happen by a combination of unlucky accidents, what could
be more for the happiness of himself, his master, and the nation, than
that he should retire and enjoy the consciousness of his own virtue.
His own interest, in such a retirement, I have already considered, and
that both of the prince and the people is no less apparent: while a
hated minister is employed, the king will always be distrusted by the
nation, and, surely, nothing can so much obstruct the publick happiness,
as a want of confidence in those who are intrusted with its
preservation.
That common fame is, in this case, sufficient, will not be questioned,
when it is considered that common fame is never without a foundation in
facts, that it may spread disquiet and suspicion over all the kingdom,
and that the satisfaction of millions is very cheaply purchased by the
degradation of one man, who was exalted only for their benefit.
The objection, that there is no sole minister, will create no greater
difficulty; if there be many concerned in these transactions,
_respondeat superior:_ but it is too apparent that there is, in reality,
one whose influence is greater than that of any other private man, and
who is arrived at a height not consistent with the nature of the British
government; it is uncontested that there is one man to whom the people
impute their miseries, and by whose removal they will be appeased.
The affairs of Europe, my lords, will probably be so much embarrassed,
and the struggles between the different designs of its princes be so
violent, that they will demand all our attention, and employ all our
address, and it will be to the highest degree dangerous to be distracted
at the same time with apprehensions of domestick troubles; yet, such is
the present unhappy state of this nation, and such is the general
discontent of the people, that tranquillity, adherence to the
government, and submission to the laws, cannot reasonably be hoped,
unless the motion I shall now take leave to make your lordships, be
complied with: and I move, "That an humble address be presented to his
majesty, most humbly to advise and beseech his majesty, that he will be
most graciously pleased to remove the right honourable sir Robert
WALPOLE, knight of the most noble order of the blue riband, first
commissioner of his majesty's treasury, and chancellor of the exchequer,
and one of his majesty's most honourable privy council, from his
majesty's presence and councils for ever."
He was seconded by lord ABINGDON in the following manner:--My lords, the
copiousness and perspicuity with which the noble lord has laid down the
reasons of his motion, make it neither easy nor necessary to enlarge
upon them. I shall, therefore, only offer to your lordships a few
thoughts upon the authority of common fame, as the evidence upon which
the motion is in part founded.
That all the miscarriages of our late measures are by common fame
imputed to one man, I suppose, will not be denied; nor can it, in my
opinion, be reasonably required, that in the present circumstances of
things any other proof should be brought against him.
Common fame, my lords, is admitted in courts of law as a kind of
auxiliary or supplemental evidence, and is allowed to corroborate the
cause which it appears to favour. The general regard which every wise
man has for his character, is a proof that in the estimation of all
mankind, the testimony of common fame is of too great importance to be
disregarded.
If we consider the nature of popular opinions on publick affairs, it
will be difficult to imagine by what means a persuasion not founded on
truth should universally take possession of a people; it will be yet
more difficult to believe that it should preserve its empire, and that
in opposition to every art that can be made use of to undeceive them,
they should pertinaciously adhere to an errour not imbibed in their
education, nor connected with their interest. And how has any man been
originally prejudiced against the present minister? Or what passion or
interest can any man gratify, by imagining or declaring his country on
the verge of ruin? The multitude, my lords, censure and praise without
dissimulation, nor were ever accused of disguising their sentiments;
their voice is, at least, the voice of honesty, and has been termed the
voice of heaven, by that party of which those affect to be thought whom
it now condemns.
Let it not be urged, that the people are easily deceived, that they
think and speak merely by caprice, and applaud or condemn without any
calm inquiry or settled determination; these censures are applicable
only to sudden tumults, and gusts of zeal excited by fallacious
appearances, or by the alarms of a false report industriously
disseminated, but have no relation to opinions gradually propagated, and
slowly received.
If the credulity of the people exposes them to so easy an admission of
every report, why have the writers for the minister found so little
credit? Why have all the loud declamations, and the laboured arguments,
the artful insinuations, and positive assertions, which have been for
many years circulated round the nation, at the expense of the
government, produced no effect upon the people, nor convinced any man,
who was not apparently bribed, to resign his private opinion to that of
his patrons? Whence comes it, my lords, that falsehood is more
successful than truth, and that the nation is inclined to complain
rather than to triumph? It is well known that the people have been
charged in all former ages, with being too much dazzled by the glitter
of fortune, and the splendour of success, and bestowing their applauses
not according to the degrees of merit, but prosperity. The minister, my
lords, has defeated his opponents in almost all their attempts; his
friends have sounded victory every session, and yet the people declare
against him; his adversaries have retired into the country with all the
vexation of disappointment, and have been rewarded for their
unsuccessful efforts with general acclamations. What is it, my lords,
but the power of truth, that can preserve the vanquished from ridicule,
and influence the nation to believe them the only patrons of their
commerce and liberty, in opposition to all the writers and voters for
the ministry?
If we consult history, my lords, how seldom do we find an innocent
minister overwhelmed with infamy? Innocent men have sometimes been
destroyed by the hasty fury, but scarcely ever by the settled hatred of
the populace. Even that fury has generally been kindled by real
grievances, though imputed to those who had no share in producing them;
but when the tempest of their first rage has subsided, they have seldom
refused to hear truth, and to distinguish the patriot from the
oppressor.
But though it should be acknowledged, my lords, that the people have
been blinded by false representations, and that some causes yet
undiscovered, some influence which never has been known to operate in
any state before, hinder them from beholding their own felicity; yet, as
publick happiness is the end of government, and no man can be happy that
thinks himself miserable, it is, in my opinion, necessary to the honour
of his majesty, and to the tranquillity of the nation, that your
lordships should agree to the present motion.
The duke of NEWCASTLE answered to this effect:--My lords, it is not
without wonder that I hear a motion so uncommon and important, a motion
which may be reasonably supposed to have been long premeditated, and of
which such affecting expectations have been raised, so weakly supported
by evidence. I cannot think that any other attestation is needful for
the vindication of the right honourable gentleman, whose conduct is this
day to be examined, than the declaration of the noble lord, that there
appears no positive evidence against him.
The pretence that no evidence can be expected while he continues in his
present station, is too openly fallacious to impose upon your lordships;
for why should his influence be greater, and his power less resistible
than that of other ministers, who are well known to have found accusers
in the height of their authority, and to have been dragged to punishment
almost from behind the throne?
It is sufficiently known, that during the continuance of this
administration, many have been dismissed from their employments, who
appear not altogether unaffected with the loss, and from whose
resentment a discovery of wicked measures might be reasonably expected,
as their acquaintance with the secrets of the government must have given
opportunities of detecting them. If, therefore, no particular crimes are
charged upon him, if his enemies confine themselves to obscure surmises,
and general declamations, we may reasonably conclude, that his behaviour
has been at least blameless. For what can be a higher encomium than the
silence of those who have made it the business of years to discover
something that might be alleged against him on the day of trial.
I suppose that no man can question the penetration of those noble lords
who have opened this debate, and I, my lords, shall be very far from
insinuating that cowardice suppresses any of their sentiments. As the
highest reproach that can be thrown upon any man, is to suggest that he
speaks what he does not think; the next degree of meanness would be to
think what he dares not speak, when the publick voice of his country
calls upon him.
When, therefore, popular reports are alleged as the foundation of the
address, it is probable that it is not founded, in reality, upon known
crimes or attested facts, and if the sudden blasts of fame may be
esteemed equivalent to attested accusations, what degree of virtue can
confer security?
That the clamour is so loud and so general as it is represented, I can
discover no necessity of admitting; but, however the populace may have
been exasperated against him, we are surely not to be influenced by
their complaints, without inquiring into the cause of them, and
informing ourselves whether they proceed from real hardships,
unnecessary severities, and calamities too heavy to be borne, or from
caprice, and inconstancy, idle rumours, and artful representations.
I very readily allow, my lords, that nothing has been left unattempted
that might fill the people with suspicion and discontent. That
inevitable calamities have been imputed to misconduct, or to treachery,
and even the inconstancy of the winds and severity of the weather
charged upon the right honourable gentleman, the daily libels that are
in every man's hand, are a standing evidence; and though I should grant
that the people never complain without cause, and that their burdens are
always heavy before they endeavour to shake them off, yet it will by no
means follow, that they do not sometimes mistake the cause of their
miseries, and impute their burdens to the cruelty of those whose utmost
application is employed to lighten them.
Common fame is, therefore, my lords, no sufficient ground for such a
censure as this, a censure that condemns a man long versed in high
employments, long honoured with the confidence of his sovereign, and
distinguished by the friendship of the most illustrious persons in the
nation, to infamy and contempt, unheard, and even unaccused; for he
against whom nothing is produced but general charges, supported by the
evidence of common fame, may be justly esteemed to be free from
accusation.
That other evidence will appear against him when he shall be reduced, in
consequence of our agreeing to this motion, to the level with his
fellow-subjects, that all informations are now precluded by the terrours
of resentment, or the expectations of favour, has been insinuated by the
noble lord, who made the motion: whether his insinuation be founded only
upon conjecture, whether it be one of those visions which are raised by
hope in a warm imagination, or upon any private informations
communicated to his lordship, I pretend not to determine; but if we may
judge from the known conduct of the opposition, if we consider their
frequent triumphs before the battle, and their chimerical schemes of
discoveries, or prosecutions and punishments, their constant assurance
of success upon the approach of a new contest, and their daily
predictions of the ruin of the administration, we cannot but suspect
that men so long accustomed to impose upon themselves, and flatter one
another with fallacious hopes, may now, likewise, be dreaming of
intelligence which they never will receive, and amusing themselves with
suspicions which they have no reasonable expectation of seeing
confirmed.
And to confess the truth, my lords, if I may be allowed, in imitation of
these patrons of their country, to indulge my own imagination, and
presume to look forward to the future conduct of those who have exerted
such unwearied industry in their attempts upon the administration, and
so long pursued the right honourable gentleman with inquiries,
examinations, rhetorick, and ridicule, I cannot but find myself inclined
to question whether, after their motion shall have been received in this
house, and their petition granted by his majesty, they will very
solicitously inquire after evidence, or be equally diligent in the
discovery of truth, as in the persecution of the minister.
I am afraid, my lords, that they will be too deeply engaged in the care
of making a dividend of the plunder in just proportions, to find leisure
for pursuit of the enemy, and that the sight of vacant posts, large
salaries, and extensive power, will revive some passions, which the love
of their country has not yet wholly extinguished, and leave in their
attention no room for deep reflections, and intricate inquiries. There
have formerly, my lords, been patriots, who, upon a sudden advancement
to a place of profit, have been immediately lulled into tranquillity,
learned to repose an implicit confidence in the ministers, forgotten to
harangue, threaten, inquire, and protest, and spent the remaining part
of their lives in the harmless amusement of counting their salaries,
perquisites, and gratuities.
How great, my lords, would be the disappointment of the people, that
unhappy people which has been long neglected and oppressed, which so
justly detests the minister, and calls so loudly for vengeance, when
they shall see their defenders remit the vigour of the pursuit, when
once the minister flies before them, and instead of driving him into
exile, contend about his places!
Unhappy then surely, my lords, would the nation be: the administration,
we are told, is already universally abhorred, and its hope is only in
the opposition; but should the zeal of the patriots once grow cold,
should they discover to the publick, that they have been labouring not
for general liberty, but for private advantage; that they were enemies
to power only because it was not in their hands; and disapproved the
measures of the government only because they were not consulted; how
inevitably must the people then sink into despair; how certain must they
then imagine their destruction?
It seems, therefore, my lords, equally prudent and just to reject this
motion, till better proof shall be brought to support it; lest, by
complying with it, we should heighten rather than appease the discontent
of the people; lest we should too soon deprive them of their only
consolation, and expose the patriots to censure, without vindicating the
ministry.
In my opinion, my lords, all who have approved the conduct of the
present ministry, must necessarily join in rejecting the motion, as
cruel and unequitable, and incline to support a just, and continue a
wise administration; and all those whom the restless clamours of the
opposite party have persuaded to regard them as arbitrary, corrupt, and
perfidious, must, if they are true friends to their country, and steady
exacters of justice, resolve to defer their compliance, in order to
bring to light the evidences necessary for a legal conviction, and
severer punishment.
That these evidences will never be found, and that, therefore, no legal
punishment will ever be inflicted, we may reasonably collect from the
injustice of the laboured charge which your lordships have now heard; a
charge drawn up with all the assistance of senatorial and political
knowledge, and displayed with all the power of eloquence, a collection
of every occurrence for many years, of which any circumstance could be
shown in an unfavourable light, and a recapitulation of all the measures
which have miscarried by unforeseen events, or which the populace have
been persuaded to dislike.
In the administration of governments, my lords, many measures reasonable
and just, planned out in pursuance of a very exact knowledge of the
state of things then present, and very probable conjectures concerning
future events, have yet failed to produce the success which was
expected; they have been sometimes defeated by the inconstancy or
dishonesty of those who are equally engaged in them, and sometimes
frustrated by accidents, of which only providence has the disposal. It
will even be allowed, my lords, that the ministry have been sometimes
mistaken in their conjectures, and, perhaps, deceived by their
intelligence, but I will presume to say, it never will be discovered
that they willingly betrayed, or heedlessly neglected their trust, that
they ever oppressed their country with unnecessary burdens, or exposed
it to be insulted by foreign powers. Nor will it, perhaps, be found that
they ever appeared grossly ignorant of the publick interest, or failed
to discover any obvious truth, or foresee any probable contingencies.
But, my lords, I am willing to confess that they cannot judge of events
to come with such unerring and demonstrative knowledge as their
opponents can obtain of them after they have happened; and they are
inclined to pay all necessary deference to the great sagacity of those
wonderful prognosticators, who can so exactly _foresee_ the _past_. They
only hope, my lords, that you will consider how much harder their task
is than that of their enemies; they are obliged to determine very often
upon doubtful intelligence, and an obscure view of the designs and
inclinations of the neighbouring powers; and as their informers may be
either treacherous or mistaken, and the interests of other states are
subject to alterations, they may be sometimes deceived and disappointed.
But their opponents, my lords, are exempt, by their employment, from the
laborious task of searching into futurity, and collecting their
resolutions, from a long comparison of dark hints and minute
circumstances. Their business is not to lead or show the way, but to
follow at a distance, and ridicule the perplexity, and aggravate the
mistakes of their guides. They are only to wait for consequences, which,
if they are prosperous, they misrepresent as not intended, or pass over
in silence, and are glad to hide them from the notice of mankind. But if
any miscarriages arise, their penetration immediately awakes, they see,
at the first glance, the fatal source of all our miseries, they are
astonished at such a concatenation of blunders, and alarmed with the
most distracting apprehensions of the danger of their country.
Accusation of political measures is an easy province; easy, my lords, in
the same proportion as the administration of affairs is difficult; for
where there are difficulties there will be some mistakes; and where
there are mistakes, there will be occasions of triumph, to the factious
and the disappointed. But the justice of your lordships will certainly
distinguish between errours and crimes, and between errours of weakness
and inability, and such as are only discoverable by consequences.
I may add, my lords, that your wisdom will easily find the difference
between the degree of capacity requisite for recollecting the past, and
foreknowing the future; and expect that those whose ambition incites
them to endeavour after a share in the government of their country,
should give better proofs of their qualifications for that high trust,
than mere specimens of their memory, their rhetorick, or their malice.
Even the noble lord, who must be confessed to have shown a very
extensive acquaintance with foreign affairs, and to have very accurately
considered the interests and dispositions of the princes of Europe, has
yet failed in the order of time, and by one errour very much invalidated
his charge of misconduct in foreign affairs.
The treaty of Vienna, my lords, was not produced by the rejection of the
infanta, unless a treaty that was made before it could be the
consequence of it; so that there was no such opportunity thrown into our
hands as the noble lord has been pleased to represent. Spain had
discovered herself our enemy, and our enemy in the highest degree,
before the French provoked her by that insult; and, therefore, how much
soever she might be enraged against France, there was no prospect that
she would favour us, nor could we have courted her alliance without the
lowest degree of meanness and dishonour.
See then, my lords, this atrocious accusation founded upon false dates,
upon a preposterous arrangement of occurrences; behold it vanish into
smoke at the approach of truth, and let this instance convince us how
easy it is to form chimerical blunders, and impute gross follies to the
wisest administration; how easy it is to charge others with mistakes and
how difficult to avoid them.
But we are told, my lords, that the dangers of the confederacy at Vienna
were merely imaginary, that no contract was made to the disadvantage of
our dominions, or of our commerce, and that if the weakness of the
Spaniards and Germans had contrived such a scheme, it would soon have
been discovered by them to be an airy dream, a plan impossible to be
reduced to execution.
We have been amused, my lords, on this occasion with great profusion of
mirth and ridicule, and have received the consolation of hearing that
Britain is an island, and that an island is not to be invaded without
ships. We have been informed of the nature of the king's territories,
and of the natural strength of the fortress of Gibraltar; but the noble
lord forgot that though Britain has no dominions on the continent, yet
our sovereign has there a very extensive country, which, though we are
not to make war for the sake of strengthening or enlarging it, we are,
surely, to defend when we have drawn an invasion upon it.
The weakness of the Spaniards, my lords, has been also much enlarged
upon, but the strength of the jacobites at home has been passed over in
silence, though it is apparent how easily the pretender might have
landed here, and with what warmth his cause would have been espoused,
not only by those whose religion avowed and professed makes them the
enemies of the present royal family, but by many whom prospects of
interest, the love of novelty, and rage of disappointment, might have
inclined to a change.
That no such stipulations were made by that treaty, that no injury was
intended to our commerce, nor any invasion proposed in favour of the
pretender, are very bold assertions, and though they could be supported
by all the evidence that negatives admit of, yet will not easily be
believed by your lordships, in opposition to the solemn assurances of
his late majesty. It is evident, from this instance, how much prejudice
prevails over argument; they are ready to condemn the right honourable
gentleman to whom they give the title of sole minister, upon the
suffrage of common fame, yet will not acquit him upon the testimony of
the king himself.
But, my lords, the arguments alleged to prove the improbability of such
a confederacy, are so weak in themselves, that they require no such
illustrious evidence to overbalance them. For upon what are they
founded, but upon the impossibility of executing such designs?
It is well known, my lords, how differently different parties consider
the same cause, the same designs, and the same state of affairs. Every
man is partial in favour of his own equity, strength, and sagacity. Who
can show that the same false opinion of their own power, and of our
intestine divisions, which now prompts the Spaniards to contend with us,
might not then incite them to invade us, or at least to countenance the
attempts of one, whom they are industriously taught to believe the
greatest part of the nation is ready to receive?
That they might have injured our trade is too evident from our present
experience, and that they would have supported the Ostend company, which
they espoused in an open manner, is undeniable. Nor is it in the least
unlikely, that, elated with the certain power of doing much mischief,
and with the imaginary prospects of far greater effects, they might
engage in a confederacy, and farther attempts against us.
I am far from imagining, my lords, that it was in the power of the
Germans and Spaniards united to force the pretender upon us, though we
had stood alone against them; but the impossibility of succeeding in
their design was not then so apparent to them as it is at present to us;
they had many reasons to wish, and therefore would not be long without
some to believe it practicable; and it was not the danger but the insult
that determined his late majesty to enter into an alliance with France.
War, my lords, is always to be avoided, if the possessions and
reputation of a people can be preserved without it; it was, therefore,
more eligible to oblige them to lay aside their scheme while it was yet
only in idea, than to defeat it in its execution. And an alliance with
France effectually restrained the emperour, as our fleets in America
reduced the Spaniards to desire peace.
Why we did not seize the cargo of the galleons, has been often asked,
and as often such answers have been returned as ought to satisfy any
rational examiner. We did not seize them, my lords, because a larger
part belonged to other nations than to the Spaniards, and because the
interests of our trade made it convenient not to exasperate the
Spaniards, so far as to render a reconciliation very difficult.
In the terms of this reconciliation, my lords, it is charged upon the
ministry, that they were guilty of contributing to the power of the
house of Bourbon, by stipulating that Spain, instead of neutral troops,
should be introduced into Italy. That those troops were less agreeable
to the emperour cannot be denied, but it has already been shown how
little reason we had to consult his satisfaction; and with regard to the
advantages gained by the French and Spaniards in the late war, a very
small part of them can be ascribed to six thousand troops.
With as little reason, my lords, is the charge advanced of neglecting to
preserve the balance of Europe, by declining to assist the emperour
against the French; for the intention of the war seems to have been
rather revenge than conquest, and the emperour rather exchanged than
lost his dominions.
That we declined engaging too far in the affairs of the continent,
proceeded, my lords, from a regard to the trade of the nation, which is
not only suspended and interrupted during the time of war, but often
thrown into another channel, out of which it is the business of many
years to recover it.
Nor have the ministry, my lords, deviated from their regard to trade, in
their transactions with Spain, which have been the subject of so much
clamour, and such pathetick declamations; they always knew what the
nation now feels, that the merchants would suffer much more from a war
than from piracies and depredations, which, however, they were far from
submitting to, and for which they constantly made demands of
satisfaction. To these demands they received such answers, as, if they
had been sincere, would have left the nation no room to complain; but
when it was discovered that nothing but verbal satisfaction was to be
expected, the security of our trade, and the honour of our country,
demanded that war should be declared.
The conduct of the war, my lords, has been frequently the subject of
censure; we are told of the inactivity of one fleet, and the imperfect
equipment of another, the escape of our enemies, and the interception of
our trading ships. War, my lords, is confessed to be uncertain, and ill
success is not always the consequence of bad measures: naval wars are by
the nature of the element on which they are to be conducted, more
uncertain than any other; so that, though it cannot but be suspected
that the common people will murmur at any disappointment, call every
misfortune a crime, and think themselves betrayed by the ministry, if
Spain is not reduced in a single summer, it might be reasonably hoped,
that men enlightened by a long familiarity with the accounts of past,
and instructed by personal experience in national transactions, will
produce stronger arguments than want of success, when they charge the
ministry with misconduct in war.
But, my lords, they have not any misfortunes to complain of; nor is the
accusation, that we have been defeated ourselves, but that we have not
enough molested our enemies. Of this, my lords, it is not easy to judge,
at a distance from the scene of action, and without a more accurate
knowledge of a thousand minute circumstances, which may promote or
retard a naval expedition. It is undoubtedly true, my lords, that many
of our merchant ships have been taken by the enemy; but it is not
certain that they do not murmur equally that they have been obstructed
in their commerce, and have been so little able to interrupt ours, since
they have so many advantages from the situation of their coasts. When we
reckon those that are lost, let us not forget to number those that have
escaped. If admiral Vernon's fleet was ill provided with arms and
ammunition, even then, let all censure be suspended till it can be
proved that it was ill furnished by the fault of the ministry.
Nothing is more common, my lords, in all naval wars, than sudden changes
of fortune; for on many occasions an accidental gust of wind, or
unexpected darkness of the weather, may destroy or preserve a fleet from
destruction, or may make the most formidable armaments absolutely
useless; and in the present disposition of some people towards the
ministry, I should not wonder to hear an alteration of wind charged upon
them.
For what objections may they not expect, my lords, when all the
disadvantages which the nation suffers from the enemies of his majesty,
are imputed to them; when daily endeavours are used to make them
suspected of favouring arbitrary power, for maintaining an army which
nothing has made necessary but the struggles of those men whose
principles have no other tendency than to enslave their country. Let not
our domestick animosities be kept alive and fomented by a constant
opposition to every design of the administration, nor our foreign
enemies incited by the observation of our divisions, to treat us with
insolence, interrupt our trade, prescribe bounds to our dominions, and
threaten us with invasions--and the army may safely be disbanded.
For the ministry, my lords, are not conscious of having consulted any
thing but the happiness of the nation, and have, therefore, no
apprehensions of publick resentment, nor want the protection of an armed
force. They desire only the support of the laws, and to them they
willingly appeal from common fame and unequitable charges.
I mention the ministry, my lords, because I am unacquainted with any man
who either claims or possesses the power or title of sole minister. I
own, in my province, no superiour but his majesty, and am willing and
ready to answer any charge which relates to that part of the publick
business which I have had the honour to transact or direct.
A great part of what I have now offered was, therefore, no otherwise
necessary on the present occasion, than because silence might have
appeared like a consciousness of misconduct, and have afforded a new
subject of airy triumph to the enemies of the administration; for very
few of the transactions which have been so severely censured, fell under
the particular inspection of the right honourable gentleman against whom
the motion is levelled; he was not otherwise concerned in counselling or
in ratifying, than as one of his majesty's privy council; and,
therefore, though they should be defective, I do not see how it is
reasonable or just, that he should be singled out from the rest for
disgrace or punishment.
The motion, therefore, my lords, appears to me neither founded on facts,
nor law, nor reason, nor any better grounds than popular caprice, and
private malevolence.
If it is contrary to law to punish without proof; if it is not agreeable
to reason that one should be censured for the offences of another; if it
is necessary that some crime should be proved before any man can suffer
as a criminal, then, my lords, I am convinced that your lordships will
be unanimous in rejecting the motion.
The duke of ARGYLE spoke next, as follows:--My lords, if we will
obstinately shut our eyes against the light of conviction; if we will
resolutely admit every degree of evidence that contributes to support
the cause which we are inclined to favour, and to reject the plainest
proofs when they are produced against it, to reason and debate is to
little purpose: as no innocence can be safe that has incurred the
displeasure of partial judges, so no criminal that has the happiness of
being favoured by them, can ever be in danger.
That any lord has already determined how to vote on the present
occasion, far be it from me to assert: may it never, my lords, be
suspected that private interest, blind adherence to a party, personal
kindness or malevolence, or any other motive than a sincere and
unmingled regard for the prosperity of our country, influences the
decisions of this assembly; for it is well known, my lords, that
authority is founded on opinion; when once we lose the esteem of the
publick, our votes, while we shall be allowed to give them, will be only
empty sounds, to which no other regard will be paid than a standing army
shall enforce.
The veneration of the people, my lords, will not easily be lost: this
house has a kind of hereditary claim to their confidence and respect;
the great actions of our ancestors are remembered, and contribute to the
reputation of their successours; nor do our countrymen willingly suspect
that they can be betrayed by the descendants of those, by whose bravery
and counsels they have been rescued from destruction.
But esteem must languish, and confidence decline, unless they are
renewed and reanimated by new acts of beneficence; and the higher
expectations the nation may have formed of our penetration to discover
its real advantages, and of our steadiness to pursue them, the more
violent will be its resentment, if it shall appear, on this important
question, that we are either ignorant or timorous, that we are
unconcerned at the miseries of the people, or content ourselves with
pitying what our ancestors never failed to redress.
Let us, therefore, my lords, for our own interest, attend impartially to
the voice of the people; let us hear their complaints with tenderness,
and if, at last, we reject them, let it be evident that they were
impartially heard, and that we only differed from them because we were
not convinced.
Even then, my lords, we shall suffer, for some time, under the suspicion
of crimes, from which I hope we shall always be free; the people will
imagine that we were influenced by those whose interest it appears to
continue their miseries, and, my lords, all the consolation that will be
left us, must arise from the consciousness of having done our duty.
But, my lords, this is to suppose what I believe no history can furnish
an example of; it is to conceive that we may inquire diligently after
the true state of national affairs, and yet not discover it, or not be
able to prove it by such evidence as may satisfy the people.
The people, my lords, however they are misrepresented by those who, from
a long practice of treating them with disregard, have learned to think
and speak of them with contempt, are far from being easily deceived, and
yet farther from being easily deceived into an opinion of their own
unhappiness: we have some instances of general satisfaction, and an
unshaken affection to the government, in times when the publick good has
not been very diligently consulted, but scarcely any of perpetual
murmurs and universal discontent, where there have been plain evidences
of oppression, negligence, or treachery.
Let us not, therefore, my lords, think of the people as of a herd to be
led or driven at pleasure, as wretches whose opinions are founded upon
the authority of seditious scribblers, or upon any other than that of
reason and experience; let us not suffer them to be at once oppressed
and ridiculed, nor encourage, by our example, the wretched advocates for
those whom they consider as their enemies, nor represent them as
imputing to the misconduct of the ministry the late contrariety of the
winds, and severity of the winter.
The people, my lords, if they are mistaken in their charge, are mistaken
with such evidence on their side, as never misled any nation before; not
only their reason but their senses must have betrayed them; and those
marks of certainty that have hitherto established truth, must have
combined in the support of falsehood.
They are persuaded, my lords, too firmly persuaded, to yield up their
opinions to rhetorick, or to votes, or any proof but demonstration, that
there is a _first_, or, to speak in the language of the nation, a _sole_
minister, one that has the possession of his sovereign's confidence, and
the power of excluding others from his presence, one that exalts and
degrades at his pleasure, and distributes, for his own purposes, the
revenues of his master, and the treasure of the nation.
Of this, my lords, can it be maintained that they have no proof? Can
this be termed a chimerical suspicion, which nothing can be produced to
support? How can power appear but by the exercise of it? What can prove
any degree of influence or authority, but universal submission and
acknowledgment? And surely, my lords, a very transient survey of the
court and its dependents, must afford sufficient conviction, that this
man is considered by all that are engaged in the administration, as the
only disposer of honours, favours, and employments.
Attend to any man, my lords, who has lately been preferred, rewarded, or
caressed, you will hear no expressions of gratitude but to that _man_;
no other benefactor is ever heard of, the royal bounty itself is
forgotten and unmentioned, nor is any return of loyalty, fidelity, or
adherence professed, but to the minister; the minister! a term which,
however lately introduced, is now in use in every place in the kingdom,
except this house.
Preferments, my lords, whether civil, ecclesiastical, or military, are
either wholly in his hands, or those who make it the business of their
lives to discover the high road to promotion, are universally deceived,
and are daily offering their adorations to an empty phantom that has
nothing to bestow; for, no sooner is any man infected with avarice or
ambition, no sooner is extravagance reduced to beg new supplies from the
publick, or wickedness obliged to seek for shelter, than this man is
applied to, and honour, conscience, and fortune offered at his feet.
Did either those whose studies and station give them a claim to
advancement in the church, or those whose bravery and long service
entitle them to more honourable posts in the army; did either those who
profess to understand the laws of their own country, or they who declare
themselves versed in the interests and transactions of foreign powers,
apply to any other man for promotion or employment, he might then,
indeed, be called the _chief_, but not properly the _sole_ minister.
But it is well known, my lords; many of us know it too well, that
whatever be the profession or the abilities of any person, there is no
hope of encouragement or reward by any other method than that of
application to this man, that he shall certainly be disappointed who
shall attempt to rise by any other interest, and whoever shall dare to
depend on his honesty, bravery, diligence, or capacity, or to boast any
other merit than that of implicit adherence to his measures, shall
inevitably lie neglected and obscure.
For this reason, my lords, every one whose calmness of temper can enable
him to support the sight, without starts of indignation and sallies of
contempt, may daily see at the levee of this great man, what I am
ashamed to mention, a mixture of men of all ranks and all professions,
of men whose birth and titles ought to exalt them above the meanness of
cringing to a mere child of fortune, men whose studies ought to have
taught them, that true honour is only to be gained by steady virtue, and
that all other arts, all the low applications of flattery and servility
will terminate in contempt, disappointment, and remorse.
This scene, my lords, is daily to be viewed, it is ostentatiously
displayed to the sight of mankind, the minister amuses himself in
publick with the splendour, and number, and dignity of his slaves; and
his slaves with no more shame pay their prostrations to their master in
the face of day, and boast of their resolutions to gratify and support
him. And yet, my lords, it is inquired why the people assert that there
is a _sole_ minister?
Those who deny, my lords, that there is a _sole_ minister to whom the
miscarriages of the government may justly be imputed, may easily
persuade themselves to believe that there have been no miscarriages,
that all the measures were necessary, and well formed, that there is
neither poverty nor oppression felt in the nation, that our compliance
with France was no weakness, and that our dread of the treaty of Vienna
was not chimerical.
The treaty of Vienna, my lords, which has been the parent of so many
terrours, consultations, embassies, and alliances is, I find, not yet to
be acknowledged, what it certainly was, a mere phantom, an empty
illusion, sent by the arts of the French to terrify our ministry. His
late majesty's testimony is cited to prove that stipulations were really
entered into by the two powers allied by that treaty, to destroy our
trade, subvert our constitution, and set a new king upon the throne,
without consent of the nation.
Such improbabilities, my lords, ought, indeed, to be proved by a high
testimony, by a testimony which no man shall dare to question or
contradict; for as any man is at liberty to consult his reason, it will
always remonstrate to him, that it is no less absurd to impute the folly
of designing impossibilities to any powers not remarkable for weak
counsels, than unjust to suspect princes of intending injuries, to which
they have not been incited by any provocation.
But, my lords, nowithstanding the solemnity with which his late majesty
has been introduced, his testimony can prove nothing more than that he
believed the treaty to be such as he represents, that he had been
deceived into false apprehensions and unnecessary cautions by his own
ministers, as they had been imposed upon by the agents of France.
This is all, my lords, that can be collected from the royal speech, and
to infer more from it is to suppose that the king was himself a party in
the designs formed against him; for if he was not himself engaged in
this treaty, he could only be informed, by another, of the stipulations,
and could only report what he had been told upon the credit of the
informer, a man, necessarily of very little credit. Thus, my lords, all
the evidence of his late majesty vanishes into nothing more than the
whisper of a spy.
But as great stress ought, doubtless, to be laid upon intelligence which
the nation is believed to purchase at a very high price, let it be
inquired, what proofs those have who dare to suspect the sagacity of our
ministers, to put in the balance against their intelligence, and it will
be discovered, my lords, that they have a testimony no less than that of
the German emperour himself, who could not be mistaken with regard to
the meaning of the treaty concluded at his own court, and to whom it
will not be very decent to deny such a degree of veracity as may set him
at least on the level with a traitor and a hireling.
If the treaty of Vienna was an imposture, most of our misfortunes are
evidently produced by the weakness of the minister; but even supposing
it real, as it was only a formidable mockery, an idle threat, that could
never be executed, it was not necessary, that in order to obviate it, we
should give ourselves implicitly into the hands of France.
It was not necessary, my lords, that we should suffer them first to
elude the treaty of Utrecht, by making a port at Mardyke, and then
directly and openly to violate it by repairing Dunkirk. That this latter
is a port contrary to treaty, the bills of entry at the custom-house
daily show; and as the customs are particularly under the inspection of
the commissioners of the treasury, this man cannot plead ignorance of
this infraction, were no information given him by other means. If it
should now be asked, my lords, what, in my opinion, ought to be done, I
cannot advise that we should attempt to demolish it by force, or draw
upon ourselves the whole power of France by a declaration of war, but
what it may be difficult now to remedy, it was once easy to obviate.
Had we shown the same contempt of the French power with our ancestors,
and the same steadiness in our councils, the same firmness in our
alliances, and the same spirit in our treaties, that court would never
have ventured to break a known solemn stipulation, to have exasperated a
brave and determined adversary by flagrant injustice, and to have
exposed themselves to the hazard of a war, in which it would have been
the interest of every prince of Europe who regarded justice or posterity
to wish their defeat.
Now they see us engaged in a war, my lords, they may be animated to a
more daring contempt of the faith of treaties, and insult us with yet
greater confidence of success, as they cannot but remark the cowardice
or the ignorance with which we have hitherto carried on this war. They
cannot but observe that either our minister means in reality to make war
rather upon the Britons than the Spaniards, or that he is totally
unacquainted with military affairs, and too vain to ask the opinion of
others who have greater knowledge than himself.
Nothing, my lords, is more apparent than that the minister was forced,
by the continual clamours of the nation, to declare war, contrary to his
own inclination, and that he always affected to charge it upon others,
and to exempt himself from the imputation of it. It is, therefore,
probable that he has not acted on this occasion so wisely as even his
own experience and penetration might, if they were honestly employed,
enable him to act, and that he has suffered our counsels to be
embarrassed; that he sees with great tranquillity those suffering by the
war, at whose request it was begun, and imagines it a proof of the
excellence of his own scheme, that those who forced him to break it, may
in time repent of their importunities.
For that in the management of the war, my lords, no regard has been had
either to the advantages which the course of our trade inevitably gives
to our enemies, or to the weakness to which the extent of their
dominions necessarily subjects them, that neither the interest of the
merchant has been consulted, nor the ease of the nation in general
regarded, that the treasure of the publick has been squandered, and that
our military preparations have intimidated no nation but our own, is
evident beyond contradiction.
It is well known, my lords, to every man but the minister, that we have
nothing to fear from either the fleets or armies of the Spaniards, that
they cannot invade us except in America, and that they can only molest
us by intercepting our traders. This they can only effect by means of
their privateers, whose vessels, being light and active, may be easily
fitted out, nimbly seize their prey, and speedily retire.
The experience of the last French war, my lords, might have taught us
how much we have to fear from the activity of men incited by prospects
of private gain, and equipped with that care and vigilance, which,
however omitted in national affairs, the interest of particular men
never fails to dictate. It is well known, my lords, how much we lost
amidst our victories and triumphs, and how small security the merchants
received from our magnificent navies, and celebrated commanders. It was,
therefore, surely the part of wise men, not to miscarry twice by the
same omission, when they had an opportunity to supply it.
I need not inform your lordships of what every reader of newspapers can
tell, and which common sense must easily discover, that privateers are
only to be suppressed by ships of the same kind with their own, which
may scour the seas with rapidity, pursue them into shallow water, where
great ships cannot attack them, seize them as they leave the harbours,
or destroy them upon their own coasts.
That this is, in its own nature, at once obvious to be contrived, and
easy to be done, must appear upon the bare mention of it, and yet that
it has been either treacherously neglected, or ignorantly omitted, the
accounts of every day have long informed us. Not a week passes in which
our ships are not seized, and our sailors carried into a state of
slavery. Nor does this happen only on the wide ocean, which is too
spacious to be garrisoned, or upon our enemies' coasts, where they may
have, sometimes, insuperable advantages, but on our own shores, within
sight of our harbours, and in those seas of which we vainly style our
nation the sovereign.
Who is there, my lords, whose indignation is not raised at such
ignominy? Who is there by whom such negligence will not be resented? It
cannot be alleged that we had not time to make better preparations; we
had expected war long before we declared it, and if the minister was the
only man by whom it was not expected, it will make another head of
accusation.
Nor was his disregard of our dominions less flagrant than that of our
trade: it was publickly declared by don Geraldino, that his master would
never give up his claim to part of our American colonies, which yet were
neither fortified on the frontiers, nor supplied with arms, nor enabled
to oppose an enemy, nor protected against him.
One man there is, my lords, whose natural generosity, contempt of
danger, and regard for the publick, prompted him to obviate the designs
of the Spaniards, and to attack them in their own territories; a man,
whom by long acquaintance I can confidently affirm to have been equal to
his undertaking, and to have learned the art of war by a regular
education, who yet miscarried in his design, only for want of supplies
necessary to a possibility of success.
Nor is there, my lords, much probability that the forces sent lately to
Vernon will be more successful; for this is not a war to be carried on
by boys: the state of the enemy's dominions is such, partly by
situation, and partly by the neglect of that man whose conduct we are
examining, that to attack them with any prospect of advantage, will
require the judgment of an experienced commander; of one who had learned
his trade, not in Hyde-park, but in the field of battle; of one that has
been accustomed to sudden exigencies and unsuspected difficulties, and
has learned cautiously to form, and readily to vary his schemes.
An officer, my lords, an officer qualified to invade kingdoms is not
formed by blustering in his quarters, by drinking on birth-nights, or
dancing at assemblies; nor even by the more important services of
regulating elections, and suppressing those insurrections which are
produced by the decay of our manufactures. Many gallant colonels have
led out their forces against women and children, with the exactest
order, and scattered terrour over numerous bodies of colliers and
weavers, who would find difficulties not very easily surmountable, were
they to force a pass, or storm a fortress.
But, my lords, those whom we have destined for the conquest of America,
have not even flushed their arms with such services, nor have learned,
what is most necessary to be learned, the habit of obedience; they are
only such as the late frost hindered from the exercise of their trades,
and forced to seek for bread in the service; they have scarcely had time
to learn the common motions of the exercise, or distinguish the words of
command.
Nor are their officers, my lords, extremely well qualified to supply
those defects, and establish discipline and order in a body of
new-raised forces; for they are absolutely strangers to service, and
taken from school to receive a commission, or if transplanted from other
regiments, have had time only to learn the art of dress. We have sent
soldiers undisciplined, and officers unable to instruct them, and sit in
expectation of conquests to be made by one boy acting under the
direction of another.
To their commander-in-chief, my lords, I object nothing but his
inexperience, which is by no means to be imputed to his negligence, but
his want of opportunities; though of the rest, surely it may be said,
that they are such a swarm as were never before sent out on military
designs; and, in my opinion, to the other equipments, the government
should have added provisions for women to nurse them.
Had my knowledge of war, my lords, been thought sufficient to have
qualified me for the chief command in this expedition, or had my advice
been asked with regard to the conduct of it, I should willingly have
assisted my country with my person or my counsels; but, my lords, this
man, who engrosses all authority, seems, likewise, to believe that he is
in possession of all knowledge, and that he is equally capable, as he is
equally willing, to usurp the supreme and uncontroulable direction both
of civil and military affairs.
Why new forces were raised, my lords, it is very easy to judge; new
forces required new commissions, and new commissions produced new
dependencies, which might be of use to the minister at the approaching
election; but why the new-raised troops were sent on this expedition
rather than those which had been longer disciplined, it is very
difficult to assign a reason, unless it was considered that some who had
commands in them had likewise seats in the senate; and the minister was
too grateful to expose his friends to danger, and too prudent to hazard
the loss of a single vote. Besides the commander-in-chief, there is but
one senator in the expedition, and, my lords, he is one of too great
integrity to be corrupted, and, though sensible of the weakness of the
troops, too brave to quit his post. How much our country may suffer by
such absurd conduct, I need not explain to your lordships; it may easily
be conceived how much one defeat may dispirit the nation, and to what
attempts one victory may excite our enemies; those enemies whom, under a
steady and wise administration, we should terrify into submission, even
without an army.
I cannot forbear to remark on this occasion, how much the ignorance of
this man has exposed a very important part of our foreign dominions to
the attempts of the Spaniards. Gibraltar, my lords, is well known to be
so situated, as to be naturally in very little danger of an attack from
the land, and to command the country to a great distance; but these
natural advantages are now taken away, or greatly lessened, by new
fortifications, erected within much less than gunshot of the place,
erected in the sight of the garrison, and while one of our admirals was
cruizing upon the coast.
The pretence, my lords, upon which they were erected, was, that though
Gibraltar was granted to Britain, yet there was no district appendent to
it, nor did the British authority extend beyond the walls of the town:
this poor excuse did the chicanery of the Spaniards invent, and with
this, my lords, was our minister contented, either not knowing or not
appearing to know what, I hope, the children whom we have despatched to
America have been taught, and what no man, versed in national affairs,
can be ignorant of without a crime, that when a fortress is yielded to
another nation, the treaty always virtually includes, even without
mentioning it, an extent of land as far as the guns of the fortification
can reach.
Whether this man, my lords, was so ignorant as to be deceived thus
grossly, or so abandoned as willingly to deceive his country, he is
equally unqualified to support the office of first minister, and almost
equally deserves to be prosecuted by the indignation and justice of this
assembly, in the severest manner; for how great must be his wickedness
who undertakes a charge above his abilities, when his country may be
probably ruined by his errours?
Your lordships cannot but observe, that I make use rather of the term
minister than that of the administration, which others are so desirous
to substitute in its place, either to elude all inquiry into the
management of our affairs, or to cover their own shameful dependence.
Administration, my lords, appears to me a term without a meaning, a wild
indeterminate word, of which none can tell whom it implies, or how
widely it may extend: a charge against the administration may be
imagined a general censure of every officer in the whole subordination
of government, a general accusation of instruments and agents, of
masters and slaves: my charge, my lords, is against the minister,
against that man, who is believed by every one in the nation, and known
by great numbers, to have the chief, and, whenever he pleases to require
it, the sole direction of the publick measures; he, to whom all the
other ministers owe their elevation, and by whose smile they hold their
power, their salaries, and their dignity.
That this appellation is not without sufficient reason bestowed upon
that man, I have already proved to your lordships; and as it has already
been made appear that common fame is a sufficient ground of accusation,
it will easily be shown that this man has a just claim to the title of
minister; for if any man be told of an accusation of the minister; he
will not ask the name of the person accused.
But there is in the motion one title conferred upon him, to which he has
no pretensions; for there is no law for styling him the first
commissioner of the treasury. The commissioners, my lords, who
discharge, in a collective capacity, the office of lord high treasurer,
are constituted by the same patent, invested with equal power and equal
dignity, and I know not why this man should be exalted to any
superiority over his associates.
If we take, my lords, a review of our affairs, and examine the state of
the nation in all its relations and all its circumstances, we cannot,
surely, conceive that we are in a state of prosperity, unless discontent
at home, and scorn abroad, the neglect of our allies, and insolence of
our enemies, the decay of trade, and multitude of our imposts, are to be
considered as proofs of a prosperous and nourishing nation.
Will it be alleged, my lords, has this man one friend adventurous enough
to assert, in open day, that the people are not starving by thousands,
and murmuring by millions, that universal misery does not overspread the
nation, and that this horrid series of calamities is not universally,
among all conditions, imputed to the conduct of this man?
That great evils are felt, my lords, no Briton, I am certain, who
converses promiscuously with his countrymen, will attempt to dispute,
and until some other cause more proportioned to the effect shall be
assigned, I shall join the publick in their opinion, and while I think
this man the author of our miseries, shall conclude it necessary to
comply with the motion.
Lord HARDWICK spoke next, to the following effect:--My lords, though I
very readily admit that crimes ought to be punished, that a treacherous
administration of publick affairs is, in a very high degree, criminal,
that even ignorance, where it is the consequence of neglect, deserves
the severest animadversion, and that it is the privilege and duty of
this house to watch over the state of the nation, and inform his majesty
of any errours committed by his ministers; yet I am far from being
convinced either of the justice or necessity of the motion now under
consideration.
The most flagrant and invidious part of the charge against the right
honourable gentleman appears to consist in this, that he has engrossed
an exorbitant degree of power, and usurped an unlimited influence over
the whole system of government, that he disposes of all honours and
preferments, and that he is not only _first_ but _sole_ minister.
But of this boundless usurpation, my lords, what proof has been laid
before you? What beyond loud exaggerations, pompous rhetorick, and
specious appeals to common fame; common fame, which, at least, may
sometimes err, and which, though it may afford sufficient ground for
suspicion and inquiry, was never yet admitted as conclusive evidence,
where the immediate necessities of the publick did not preclude the
common forms of examination, where the power of the offender did not
make it dangerous to attack him by a legal prosecution, or where the
conduct of the accusers did not plainly discover that they were more
eager of blood than of justice, and more solicitous to destroy than to
convict.
I hope none of these circumstances, my lords, can at present obstruct a
candid and deliberate inquiry: with regard to the publick, I am not able
to discover any pressing exigencies that demand a more compendious
method of proceeding, than the established laws of the land, and the
wisdom of our ancestors have prescribed. I know not any calamity that
will be aggravated, nor any danger that will become move formidable, by
suffering this question to be legally tried.
Nor is there, my lords, in the circumstances of the person accused, any
thing that can incite us to a hasty process; for, if what is alleged by
the noble lords is not exaggerated beyond the truth, if he is
universally detested by the whole nation, and loaded with execrations by
the publick voice; if he is considered as the author of all our
miseries, and the source of all our corruptions; if he has ruined our
trade, and depressed our power, impoverished the people, and attempted
to enslave them, there is, at least, no danger of an insurrection in his
favour, or any probability that his party will grow stronger by delays.
For, my lords, to find friends in adversity, and assertors in distress,
is only the prerogative of innocence and virtue.
The gentleman against whom this formidable charge is drawn up, is, I
think, not suspected of any intention to have recourse either to force
or flight; he has always appeared willing to be tried by the laws of his
country, and to stand an impartial examination; he neither opposes nor
eludes inquiry, neither flies from justice, nor defies it.
And yet less, my lords, can I suspect, that those by whom he is accused,
act from any motive that may influence them to desire a sentence not
supported by evidence, or conformable to truth; or that they can wish
the ruin of any man whose crimes are not notorious and flagrant, that
they persecute from private malice, or endeavour to exalt themselves by
the fall of another.
Let us, therefore, my lords, inquire before we determine, and suffer
evidence to precede our sentence. The charge, if it is just, must be, by
its own nature, easily proved, and that no proof is brought may,
perhaps, be sufficient to make us suspect that it is not just.
For, my lords, what is the evidence of common fame, which has been so
much exalted, and so confidently produced? Does not every man see that,
on such occasions, two questions may be asked, of which, perhaps,
neither can easily be answered, and which, yet, must both be resolved
before common fame can be admitted as a proof of facts.
It is first to be inquired, my lords, whether the reports of fame are
necessarily or even probably true? A question very intricate and
diffusive, entangled with a thousand, and involving a thousand,
distinctions; a question of which it may be said, that a man may very
plausibly maintain either side, and of which, perhaps, after months or
years wasted in disputation, no other decision can be obtained than what
is obvious at the first view, that they are often true, and often false,
and, therefore, can only be grounds of inquiry, not reasons of
determination.
But if it appear, my lords, that this oracle cannot be deceived, we are
then to inquire after another difficulty, we are to inquire, _What is
fame?_
Is fame, my lords, that fame which cannot err? a report that flies, on a
sudden, through a nation, of which no man can discover the original; a
sudden blast of rumour, that inflames or intimidates a people, and
obtains, without authority, a general credit? No man versed in history
can inquire whether such reports may not deceive. Is fame rather a
settled opinion, prevailing by degrees, and for some time established?
How long, then, my lords, and in what degree must it have been
established, to obtain undoubted credit, and when does it commence
infallible? If the people are divided in their opinions, as in all
publick questions it has hitherto happened, fame is, I suppose, the
voice of the majority; for, if the two parties are equal in their
numbers, fame will be equal; then how great must be the majority before
it can lay claim to this powerful auxiliary? and how shall that majority
be numbered?
These questions, my lords, may be thought, perhaps with justice, too
ludicrous in this place, but, in my opinion, they contribute to show the
precarious and uncertain nature of the evidence so much confided in.
Common fame, my lords, is to every man only what he himself commonly
hears; and it is in the power of any man's acquaintance to vitiate the
evidence which they report, and to stun him with clamours, and terrify
him with apprehensions of miseries never felt, and dangers invisible.
But, without such a combination, we are to remember, that most men
associate with those of their own opinions, and that the rank of those
that compose this assembly naturally disposes such as are admitted to
their company, to relate, or to invent, such reports as may be
favourably received, so that what appears to one lord the general voice
of common fame, may, by another, be thought only the murmur of a petty
faction, despicable, with regard to their numbers, and detestable, if we
consider their principles.
So difficult is it, my lords, to form any solid judgment concerning the
extent and prevalence of any particular report, and the degree of credit
to be given to it. The industry of a party may supply the defect of
numbers, and some concurrent circumstances may contribute to give credit
to a false report.
But, my lords, we are ourselves appealed to as witnesses of the truth of
facts, which prove him to be sole minister, of the number of his
dependents, the advancement of his friends, the disappointments of his
opponents, and the declarations made by his followers of adherence and
fidelity.
If it should be granted, my lords, that there is nothing in these
representations exaggerated beyond the truth, and that nothing is
represented in an improper light, what consequence can we draw, but that
the followers of this gentleman, make use of those arts which have
always been practised by the candidates of preferment, that they
endeavour to gain their patron's smile by flattery and panegyrick, and
to keep it by assiduity and an appearance of gratitude. And if such
applications exalted any man to the authority and title of first
minister, the nation has never, in my memory, been without some man in
that station, for there is always some one to whom ambition and avarice
have paid their court, and whose regards have been purchased at the
expense of truth.
Nor is it to be wondered at, my lords, that posts of honour and profit
have been bestowed upon the friends of the administration; for who
enriches or exalts his enemies? who will increase the influence that is
to be exerted against him, or add strength to the blow that is levelled
at himself?
That the right honourable gentleman is the only disposer of honours, has
never yet appeared; it is not pretended, my lords, that he distributes
them without the consent of his majesty, nor even that his
recommendation is absolutely necessary to the success of any man's
applications. If he has gained more of his majesty's confidence and
esteem than any other of his servants, he has done only what every man
endeavours, and what, therefore, is not to be imputed to him as a crime.
It is impossible, my lords, that kings, like other men, should not have
particular motions of inclination or dislike; it is possible that they
may fix their affection upon objects not in the highest degree worthy of
their regard, and overlook others that may boast of greater excellencies
and more shining merit; but this is not to be supposed without proof,
and the regard of the king, as of any other man, is one argument of
desert more than he can produce, who has endeavoured after it without
effect.
This imputed usurpation must be proved upon him either by his own
confession, or by the evidence of others; and it has not been yet
pretended that he assumes the title of _prime minister_, or indeed, that
it is applied to him by any but his enemies; and it may easily be
conceived how weakly the most uncorrupted innocence would be supported,
if all the aspersions of its enemies were to be received as proofs
against it.
Nor does it appear, my lords, that any other evidence can be brought
against him on this head, or that any man will stand forth and affirm
that either he has been injured himself by this gentleman, or known any
injury done by him to another by the exertion of authority with which he
was not lawfully invested; such evidence, my lords, the laws of our
country require to be produced before any man can be punished, censured,
or disgraced. No man is obliged to prove his innocence, but may call
upon his prosecutors to support their accusation; and why this
honourable gentleman, whatever may have been his conduct, should be
treated in a different manner than any other criminal, I am by no means
able to discover.
Though there has been no evidence offered of his guilt, your lordships
have heard an attestation of his innocence, from the noble duke who
spoke first against the motion, of whom it cannot be suspected that he
would, voluntarily, engage to answer for measures which he pursued in
blind compliance with the direction of another. The same testimony, my
lords, can I produce, and affirm with equal truth, that in the
administration of my province, I am independent, and left entirely to
the decisions of my own judgment.
In every government, my lords, as in every family, some, either by
accident or a natural industry, or a superiour capacity, or some other
cause, will be engaged in more business, and treated with more
confidence than others; but if every man is willing to answer for the
conduct of his own province, there is all the security against
corruption that can possibly be obtained; for if every man's regard to
his own safety and reputation will prevent him from betraying his trust,
or abusing his power, much more will it incite him to prevent any
misconduct in another for which he must himself be accountable. Men are,
usually, sufficiently tenacious of power, and ready to vindicate their
separate rights, when nothing but their pride is affected by the
usurpation, but surely no man will patiently suffer his province to be
invaded when he may himself be ruined by the conduct of the invader.
Thus, my lords, it appears to me to be not only without proof, but
without probability, and the first minister can, in my opinion, be
nothing more than a formidable illusion, which, when one man thinks he
has seen it, he shows to another, as easily frighted as himself, who
joins with him in propagating the notion, and in spreading terrour and
resentment over the nation, till at last the panick becomes general, and
what was at first only whispered by malice or prejudice in the ears of
ignorance or credulity, is adopted by common fame, and echoed back from
the people to the senate.
I have hitherto, my lords, confined myself to the consideration of one
single article of this complicated charge, because it appears to me to
be the only part of it necessary to be examined; for if once it be
acknowledged that the affairs of the nation are transacted not by the
minister but the administration, by the council in which every man that
sits there has an equal voice and equal authority, the blame or praise
of all the measures must be transferred from him to the council, and
every man that has advised or concurred in them, will deserve the same
censure or the same applause; as it is unjust to punish one man for the
crimes of another, it is unjust to choose one man out for punishment
from among many others equally guilty.
But I doubt not, my lords, when all those measures are equitably
considered, there will be no punishment to be dreaded, because neither
negligence nor treachery will be discovered. For, my lords, with regard
to the treaty of Vienna, let us suppose our ministers deceived by
ignorant or corrupt intelligence, let us admit that they were cautious
where there was no danger, and neglected some opportunities, which, if
they had received better information, they might have improved to the
advantage and security of the nation. What have they done, even under
all these disadvantageous suppositions, but followed the lights which
they judged most clear, and by which they hoped to be conducted to
honour and to safety?
Policy, my lords, is very different from prescience; the utmost that can
be attained is probability, and that, for the most part, in a low
degree. It is observed, that no man is wise but as you take into
consideration the weakness of another; a maxim more eminently true of
political wisdom, which consists, very often, only in discovering
designs which could never be known but by the folly or treachery of
those to whom they are trusted. If our enemies were wise enough to keep
their own secrets, neither our ministers nor our patriots would be able
to know or prevent their designs, nor would it be any reproach to their
sagacity, that they did not know what nobody would tell them.
If therefore, my lords, the princes, whose interest is contrary to our
own, have been at any time served by honest and wise men, there was a
time when our ministers could act only by conjecture, and might be
mistaken without a crime.
If it was always in our power to penetrate into the intentions of our
enemies, they must necessarily have the same means of making themselves
acquainted with our projects, and yet when any of them are discovered we
think it just to impute it to the negligence of the minister.
Thus, my lords, every man is inclined to judge with prejudice and
partiality. When we suffer by the prudence of our enemies, we charge our
ministers with want of vigilance, without considering, that very often
nothing is necessary to elude the most penetrating sagacity, but
obstinate silence.
If we inquire into the transactions of past times, shall we find any
man, however renowned for his abilities, not sometimes imposed upon by
falsehoods, and sometimes betrayed by his own reasonings into measures
destructive of the purposes which he endeavoured to promote? There is no
man of whose penetration higher ideas have been justly formed, or who
gave more frequent proofs of an uncommon penetration into futurity than
Cromwell; and yet succeeding times have sufficiently discovered the
weakness of aggrandizing France by depressing Spain, and we wonder now
how so much policy could fall into so gross an errour, as not rather to
suffer power to remain in the distant enemy, than transfer it to another
equally divided from us by interest, and far more formidable by the
situation of his dominions.
Cromwell, my lords, suffered himself to be hurried away by the near
prospect of present advantages, and the apprehension of present dangers;
and every other man has been, in the same manner, sometimes deluded into
a preference of a smaller present advantage, to a greater which was more
remote.
Let it not be urged, my lords, that politicks are advanced since the
time of Cromwell, and that errours which might then be committed by the
wisest administration, are now gross and reproachful; we are to remember
that every part of policy has been equally improved, and that if more
methods of discovery have been struck out, there have been likewise more
arts invented of eluding it.
When, therefore, we inquire into the conduct, or examine the abilities
of a minister, we are not to expect that he should appear never to have
been deceived, but that he should never be found to have neglected any
proper means of information, nor ever to have willingly given up the
interest of his country; but we are not to impute to his weakness what
is only to be ascribed to the wisdom of those whom he opposed.
If this plea, my lords, is reasonable, it will be necessary for those
who support the motion, to prove, not only that the treaty of Vienna was
never made, but that the falsehood of the report either was or might
have been known by our ministers; otherwise, those who are inclined to
retain a favourable opinion of their integrity and abilities, may
conclude, that they were either not mistaken, or were led into errour by
such delusions as would no less easily have imposed on their accusers,
and that by exalting their enemies to their stations, they shall not
much consult the advantage of their country.
This motion, therefore, my lords, founded upon no acknowledged, no
indisputable facts, nor supported by legal evidence; this motion, which,
by appealing to common fame, as the ultimate judge of every man's
actions, may bring every man's life, or fortune, into danger; this
motion, which condemns without hearing, and decides without examining, I
cannot but reject, and hope your lordships will concur with me.
Lord CARLISLE spoke next, to the following purport:--My lords, the state
of the question before us has, in my opinion, not been rightly
apprehended by the noble lord who spoke last, nor is the innocence or
guilt of the minister the chief question before us, because a minister
may possibly mean well, and yet be, in some particular circumstances,
unqualified for his station.
He may not only want the degree of knowledge and ability requisite to
make his good intentions effectual, but, my lords, however skilful,
sagacious, or diligent, he may be so unfortunate, in some parts of his
conduct, as to want the esteem and confidence of the people.
That a very able and honest minister may be misinformed by his
intelligence, disappointed by his agents, or baffled by other men of
equal capacity and integrity with himself, cannot be controverted; but
it must surely be owned likewise, that when this has happened so often,
and in cases of such importance, as to deprive him entirely of the
regard and affection of the people; when he is reduced to intrench
himself behind his privileges, to employ all the influence of the crown
for his own security, and make it his daily endeavour to create new
dependencies, he ought to be pitied and discarded.
That this is the state of the minister whose removal is desired by the
motion, cannot be denied; the exaltation of his adherents to places and
preferments, the noble lord has been so far from questioning, that he
has endeavoured to justify it, and has in plain terms inquired, who
would have acted otherwise?
Every man, my lords, would have acted otherwise, whose character had not
been blasted by general detestation; every man would have acted
otherwise, who preferred the publick good to his own continuance in
power; and every man has acted otherwise who has distinguished himself
as a friend to the publick.
It is the interest of the nation, my lords, that every office should be
filled by that man who is most capable of discharging it, whatever may
be his sentiments with regard to the minister; and that his attention
should be confined to his employment, rather than distracted by various
concerns and opposite relations. It is, therefore, an injury to the
publick, to thrust a skilful commissioner into the senate, or to
embarrass an industrious senator with a post or commission.
Yet, my lords, that multitudes have obtained places, who have no
acquaintance with the duties of their offices, nor any other pretensions
to them, than that they have seats in the other house, and that by
distinguishing himself in that assembly, any man may most easily obtain
the preferments of the crown, is too obvious for controversy.
This practice, my lords, is a sufficient foundation for the motion; a
practice so injurious to the nation, so long continued, and so openly
avowed, requires to be vigorously opposed, lest it should become
established by long custom, and entangle itself with our constitution.
If the minister, my lords, has made it necessary to employ none but his
adherents and blind followers, this necessity is alone a sufficient
proof how little he confides in his own prudence or integrity, how
apprehensive he is of the censure of the senate, and how desirous of
continuing his authority, by avoiding it. And, surely, my lords, it is
our duty, as well as our right, to address the throne, that a minister
should be removed who fears the people, since few men fear without
hating, and nothing so much contributes to make any man an enemy to his
country, as the consciousness that he is universally abhorred.
But, my lords, if this is done by him without necessity, if the general
preference of his friends is only the consequence of mistaken judgment,
or corrupt gratitude, this address is equally necessary, because the
effects are equally pernicious.
When a minister, suspected of ill intentions, is continued in
employment, discontent must naturally spread over the nation; and if the
end of government be the happiness of the people; if suspicion and
jealousy be contrary to a state of happiness; and if this suspicion
which generally prevails, this discontent which fills the whole nation,
can only be appeased by the removal of the minister; prudence, justice,
and the examples of our ancestors, ought to influence us to endeavour
that the affairs of the nation may be transferred to such whose greater
integrity or wisdom has recommended them to the affection of the people.
In this motion, therefore, we need not be supposed to imply that the
minister is either ignorant or corrupt, but that he is disliked by the
people, disliked to such a degree, my lords, that it is not safe for his
majesty to employ him.
It is, doubtless, our duty, my lords, to guard both the rights of the
people, and the prerogatives of the throne, and with equal ardour to
remonstrate to his majesty the distresses of his subjects, and his own
danger. We are to hold the balance of the constitution, and neither to
suffer the regal power to be overborne by a torrent of popular fury, nor
the people to be oppressed by an illegal exertion of authority, or the
more insupportable hardships of unreasonable laws.
By this motion, my lords, the happiness of the people, and the security
of his majesty, are at once consulted, nor can we suppress so general a
clamour without failing equally in our duty to both.
To what, my lords, is the untimely end of so many kings and emperours to
be imputed, but to the cowardice or treachery of their counsellors, of
those to whom they trusted that intercourse, which is always to be
preserved between a monarch and his people? Were kings honestly informed
of the opinions and dispositions of their subjects, they would never,
or, at least rarely, persist in such measures, as, by exasperating the
people, tend necessarily to endanger themselves.
It is the happiness of a British monarch, that he has a standing and
hereditary council, composed of men who do not owe their advancement to
the smiles of caprice, or the intrigues of a court; who are, therefore,
neither under the influence of a false gratitude, nor of a servile
dependence, and who may convey to the throne the sentiments of the
people, without danger, and without fear. But, my lords, if we are
either too negligent, or too timorous to do our duty, how is the
condition of our sovereign more safe, or more happy than that of an
emperour of Turkey, who is often ignorant of any complaints made against
the administration, till he hears the people thundering at the gates of
his palace.
Let us, therefore, my lords, whatever may be our opinion of the conduct
of the minister, inform his majesty of the discontent of his subjects,
since, whether it is just or not, the danger is the same, and whenever
any danger threatens the king, we ought either to enable him to oppose,
or caution him to avoid it.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY spoke next, to the following effect:--My lords, I
cannot but observe in this debate an ambition of popularity, in my
opinion not very consistent with the freedom of debate, and the dignity
of this assembly, which ought to be influenced by no other motive than
the force of reason and truth.
It has been a common method of eluding the efficacy of arguments, to
charge the opponent with blind adherence to interest, or corrupt
compliance with the directions of a court; nor has it been less frequent
to prevent inquiries into publick measures, by representing them as the
clamours of faction, the murmurs of disobedience, and the prelude to
rebellion.
So necessary, my lords, has it been always thought to be uninfluenced in
our examinations by dependence or interest, that the most irrefragable
reasons have lost the power of conviction, by the condition and
characters of those by whom they were produced; and so much is it
expected from innocence and justice to despise all foreign assistance,
and to stand the test of inquiry without asking the support of power,
that every man has been concluded guilty that has fled for shelter to
the throne.
And surely, my lords, if that man's suffrage is of little weight, who
appears determined to subscribe to the dictates of a minister, no
greater credit can be assigned to another, who professes himself only
the echo of the clamours of the populace. If it be a proof of a weak
cause, and consciousness of misconduct, to apply to the crown for
security and protection, it may be accounted an acknowledgment of the
insufficiency of arguments, when the people is called in to second them,
and they are only to expect success from the violence of multitudes.
That all government is instituted for the happiness of the people, that
their interest ought to be the chief care of the legislature, that their
complaints ought patiently to be heard, and their grievances speedily
redressed, are truths well known, generally acknowledged, and, I hope,
always predominant in the mind of every lord in this assembly. But, that
the people cannot err, that the voice of fame is to be regarded as an
oracle, and every murmur of discontent to be pacified by a change of
measures, I have never before heard, or heard it only to disregard it.
True tenderness for the people, my lords, is to consult their advantage,
to protect their liberty, and to preserve their virtue; and perhaps
examples may be found sufficient to inform us that all these effects are
often to be produced by means not generally agreeable to the publick.
It is possible, my lords, for a very small part of the people to form
just ideas of the motives of transactions and the tendency of laws. All
negotiations with foreign powers are necessarily complicated with many
different interests, and varied by innumerable circumstances, influenced
by sudden exigencies, and defeated by unavoidable accidents. Laws have
respect to remote consequences, and involve a multitude of relations
which it requires long study to discover. And how difficult it is to
judge of political conduct, or legislative proceedings, may be easily
discovered by observing how often the most skilful statesmen are
mistaken, and how frequently the laws require to be amended.
If then, my lords, the people judge for themselves on these subjects,
they must necessarily determine without knowledge of the questions, and
their decisions are then of small authority. If they receive,
implicitly, the dictates of others, and blindly adopt the opinions of
those who have gained their favour and esteem, their applauses and
complaints are, with respect to themselves, empty sounds, which they
utter as the organs of their leaders. Nor are the desires of the people
gratified when their petitions are granted; nor their grievances
overlooked when their murmurs are neglected.
As it is no reproach to the people that they cannot be the proper judges
of the conduct of the government, so neither are they to be censured
when they complain of injuries not real, and tremble at the apprehension
of severities unintended. Unjust complaints, my lords, and unreasonable
apprehensions, are to be imputed to those who court their regard only to
deceive them, and exalt themselves to reputation by rescuing them from
grievances that were never felt, and averting dangers that were never
near.
He only who makes the happiness of the people his endeavour, loves them
with a true affection and a rational tenderness, and he certainly
consults their happiness who contributes to still all groundless
clamours, and appease all useless apprehensions, who employs his care,
not only to preserve their quiet and their liberty, but to secure them
from the fear of losing it, who not only promotes the means of
happiness, but enables them to enjoy it.
Thus, it appears, my lords, that it is possible to be a friend, at the
same time, to the people and the administration, and that no man can
more deserve their confidence and applause, than he that dissipates
their unreasonable terrours, and contributes to reconcile them to a good
government.
That most of the clamours against the present government arise from
calumnies and misrepresentations, is apparent from the sanction of the
senate, which has been given to all the measures that are charged as
crimes upon the administration.
That the army is supported by the consent of the senate, that the senate
has approved the convention, and that our taxes are all imposed and
continued by the senate, cannot be denied. What then is demanded by
those that censure the conduct of publick affairs, but that their
opinion should be considered as an overbalance to the wisdom of the
senate, that no man should be allowed to speak but as they dictate, nor
to vote but as they shall influence them by their rhetorick or example?
To repeat the particular topicks of accusation, and recapitulate the
arguments which have been produced to confute it, would be a tedious and
unnecessary labour; unnecessary, because it is well known that they once
had the power of convincing this house, and that nothing has since
happened to lessen their force, and because many of them now have been
already repeated by the noble lords that have opposed the motion.
To search far backward for past errors, and to take advantage of later
discoveries in censuring the conduct of any minister, is in a high
degree disingenuous and cruel; it is an art which may be easily
practised, of perplexing any question, by connecting distant facts, and
entangling one period of time with another.
The only candid method of inquiry is to recur back to the state of
affairs, as it then appeared, to consider what was openly declared, and
what was kept impenetrably secret, what was discoverable by human
sagacity, and what was beyond the reach of the most piercing politician.
With regard to the Hanover treaty, it is not, my lords, requisite that
we should engage ourselves in a very minute examination; for it was not
only not transacted by the right honourable gentleman whose behaviour is
the subject of this debate, but cannot be proved to have been known by
him till it was formally ratified. If he afterwards approved it either
in the council or the senate, he cannot justly, how destructive or
ridiculous soever that treaty may be thought, be charged with more than
his share of the guilt, the bare guilt of a single vote.
But there is one accusation yet more malicious, an accusation not only
of crimes which this gentleman did not commit, but which have not yet
been committed, an accusation formed by prying into futurity, and
exaggerating misfortunes which are yet to come, and which may probably
be prevented. Well may any man, my lords, think himself in danger, when
he hears himself charged not with high crimes and misdemeanours, not
with accumulative treason, but with misconduct of publick affairs, past,
present, and future.
The only charge against this gentleman, which seems to relate more to
him than to any other man engaged in the administration, is the
continuance of the harbour of Dunkirk, which, says the noble duke, he
must be acquainted with as commissioner of the treasury; but if the
title of first commissioner be denied, if his authority be but the same
with that of his associates, whence comes it, my lords, that he is more
particularly accused than they? Why is his guilt supposed greater if his
power is only equal?
But, my lords, I believe it will appear, that no guilt has been
contracted on this account, and that Dunkirk was always intended, even
by those that demanded the demolition of it, to continue a harbour for
small trading vessels, and that if larger ever arrived from thence, they
lay at a distance from the shore, and were loaded by small vessels from
the town.
With regard to other affairs, my lords, they were all transacted by the
council, not by his direction, but with his concurrence; and how it is
consistent with justice to single him out for censure, I must desire the
noble lords to show who approve the motion.
If the people, my lords, have been, by misrepresentations industriously
propagated, exasperated against him, if the general voice of the nation
condemns him, we ought more cautiously to examine his conduct, lest we
should add strength to prejudice too powerful already, and instead of
reforming the errours, and regulating the heat of the people, inflame
their discontent and propagate sedition.
The utmost claim of the people is to be admitted as accusers, and
sometimes as evidence, but they have no right to sit as judges, and to
make us the executioners of their sentence; and as this gentleman has
yet been only condemned by those who have not the opportunities of
examining his conduct, nor the right of judging him, I cannot agree to
give him up to punishment.
Lord HALIFAX spoke next, in substance as follows:--My lords, though I do
not conceive the people infallible, yet I believe that in questions like
this they are seldom in the wrong, for this is a question not of
argument but of fact; of fact discoverable, not by long deductions and
accurate ratiocinations, but by the common powers of seeing and feeling.
That it is difficult to know the motives of negotiations, and the
effects of laws, and that it requires long study and intense meditation
to discover remote consequences, is indubitably true. And, with regard
to the people in general, it cannot be denied, that neither their
education qualifies them, nor their employments allow them to be much
versed in such inquiries.
But, my lords, to refer effects to their proper causes, and to observe,
when consequences break forth, from whence they proceed, is no such
arduous task. The people of the lowest class may easily feel that they
are more miserable this year than the last, and may inquire and discover
the reason of the aggravation of their misery; they may know that the
army is increased, or our trade diminished; that the taxes are heavier,
and penal laws become more grievous.
Nor is it less easy for them to discover that these calamities are not
brought upon them by the immediate hand of heaven, or the irresistible
force of natural causes; that their towns are not ruined by an invasion,
nor their trade confined by a pestilence; they may then easily collect,
that they are only unhappy by the misconduct of their governours; they
may assign their infelicity to that cause, as the only remaining cause
that is adequate to the effect.
If it be granted, my lords, that they may be mistaken in their
reasoning, it must be owned, that they are not mistaken without
probabilities on their side: it is probable that the ministry must
injure the publick interest when it decays without any other visible
cause; it is still more probable, when it appears that among those whose
station enables them to enter into national inquiries, every man imputes
his calamities to the minister, who is not visibly dependent on his
favour. It becomes more probable, yet, when it appears that it is the
great business of the minister to multiply dependencies, to list
accomplices, and to corrupt his judges.
At least, my lords, if it be granted, which, surely, cannot be denied,
that the people may be sensible of their own miseries, it is their part
to declare their sufferings, and to apply to this house for relief, and
it is our business to discover the authors of them, and bring them to
punishment.
That the people are very loud and importunate in their complaints, is
daily evident; nor is it less apparent, that their complaints are just;
if, therefore, their miseries must have an author, let the defenders of
this gentleman point out the man whom they may more properly accuse.
But, my lords, nothing is more evident, than that the crimes and the
criminal are equally known, that there is one man predominant in his
majesty's councils, and that it has long been the practice of that man
at once to oppress and ridicule the people, to plunder them, and set
them at defiance.
Nothing is more known than that this man pretends to a superiour
knowledge, and exerts a superiour power in the management of the publick
revenues, and that they have been so ill managed for many years, that
the expenses of peace have been almost equal to those of a most vigorous
and extensive war.
Nothing is more probable, than that most of the foreign negotiations are
conducted by his direction, nor more certain, than that they have
generally tended only to make us contemptible.
That the excise was projected in his own head, that it was recommended
by him upon his own conviction, and pressed upon the legislature by his
influence, cannot be questioned; and if this were his only crime, if
this were the only scheme of oppression that ever he planned out, it is
such a declaration of war upon the publick liberty, such an attack of
our natural and constitutional rights, as was never, perhaps, pardoned
by any nation.
Nor is it less notorious, that the late infamous convention was
transacted by one of his own dependents, that he palliated or concealed
the losses of our merchants, that he opposed the declaration of war, and
has since obstructed its operations.
On this occasion, my lords, it may be useful to remark the apparent
partiality of this gentleman's vindicators, who declare, that measures
are not to be censured as imprudent, only because they are unsuccessful,
and yet when other instances of his conduct fall under our examination,
think it a sufficient defence to exclaim against the unreasonableness of
judging before the event.
To deny that, in the conduct both of civil and military affairs, he has
obtained, I know not by what means, an authority superiour to that of
any other man, an authority irresistible, uncontroulable, and regal, is
to oppose not only common fame, but daily experience. If as commissioner
of the treasury he has no more power than any of his associates, whence
is it, that to oppose or censure him, to doubt of his infallibility, to
suspect his integrity, or to obstruct his influence, is a crime punished
with no lighter penalty than forfeiture of employment, as appears, my
lords, from the late dismission of a gentleman, against whom nothing can
be alleged but an obstinate independence and open disregard of this
arbitrary minister.
But happy would it be, my lords, for this nation, if he endeavoured not
to extend his authority beyond the treasury or the court; if he would
content himself with tyrannising over those whose acceptance of salaries
and preferments has already subjected them to his command, without
attempting to influence elections, or to direct the members of the other
house.
How much the influence of the crown has operated upon all publick
councils since the advancement of this gentleman, how zealously it has
been supported, and how industriously extended, is unnecessary to
explain, since what is seen or felt by almost every man in the kingdom
cannot reasonably be supposed unknown to your lordships.
Nothing can be more contrary to the true notion of the British
constitution, than to imagine, that by such measures his majesty's real
interest is advanced. The true interest, my lords, of every monarch, is
to please the people, and the only way of pleasing Britons, is to
preserve their liberties, their reputation, and their commerce. Every
attempt to extend the power of the crown beyond the limits prescribed by
our laws, must in effect make it weaker, by diverting the only source of
its strength, the affection of his subjects.
It is, therefore, my opinion, my lords, that we ought to agree to this
motion, as a standing memorial not only of our regard for the nation,
but of our adherence to our sovereign; that his councils may be no
longer influenced by that man whose pernicious advice, and unjustifiable
conduct, has added new hopes and new strength to his enemies,
impoverished and exasperated his subjects, inflamed the discontent of
the seditious, and almost alienated the affection of the loyal.
The bishop of SALISBURY spoke next, to the following purport:--My lords,
after all the exaggerations of the errours, and all the representations
of the malconduct of the right honourable gentleman; after the most
affecting rhetorick, and the most acute inquiries, nothing has appeared
of weight sufficient to prevail with me to agree to the present motion;
a motion, if not of an unprecedented, yet of a very extraordinary kind,
which may extend in its consequences to futurity, and be, perhaps, more
dangerous to innocence than guilt.
I cannot yet discover any proof sufficient to convict him of having
usurped the authority of _first_ minister, or any other power than that
accidental influence which every man has, whose address or services have
procured him the favour of his sovereign.
The usurpation, my lords, of regal power must be made evident by
somewhat more than general assertions, must appear from some publick act
like that of one of the prelates left regent of the kingdom by Richard
the first, who, as soon as the king was gone too far to return, in the
first elevations of his heart, began his new authority by imprisoning
his colleague.
To charge this gentleman with the dismission of any of his colleagues,
can, after the strongest aggravations, rise no higher than to an
accusation of having advised his majesty to dismiss him, and even that,
my lords, stands, at present, unsupported by evidence; nor could it,
however uncontestably proved, discover either wickedness or weakness, or
show any other authority than every man would exercise, if he were able
to attain it.
If he had discharged this gentleman by his own authority, if he had
transacted singly any great affair to the disadvantage of the publick,
if he had imposed either upon the king or the senate by false
representations, if he had set the laws at defiance, and openly trampled
on our constitution, and if by these practices he had exalted himself
above the reach of a legal prosecution, it had been worthy of the
dignity of this house, to have overleaped the common boundaries of
custom, to have neglected the standing rules of procedure, and to have
brought so contemptuous and powerful an offender to a level with the
rest of his fellow-subjects by expeditious and vigorous methods, to have
repressed his arrogance, broken his power, and overwhelmed him at once
by the resistless weight of an unanimous censure.
But, my lords, we have in the present case no provocations from crimes
either openly avowed, or evidently proved; and certainly no incitement
from necessity to exert the power of the house in any extraordinary
method of prosecution. We may punish whenever we can convict, and
convict whenever we can obtain evidence; let us not, therefore, condemn
any man unheard, nor punish any man uncondemned.
The duke of BEDFORD spoke next, in substance as follows:--My lords, it
is easy to charge the most blameless and gentle procedure with injustice
and severity, but it is not easy to support such an accusation without
confounding measures widely different, and disguising the nature of
things with fallacious misrepresentations.
Nothing is more evident than that neither condemnation nor punishment is
intended by the motion before us, which is only to remove from power a
man who has no other claim to it than the will of his master, and who,
as he had not been injured by never obtaining it, cannot justly complain
that it is taken from him.
The motion, my lords, is so far from inflicting punishment, that it
confers rewards, it leaves him in the possession of immense wealth,
however accumulated, and enables him to leave that office in security,
from which most of his predecessors have been precipitated by national
resentment, or senatorial prosecution.
There is no censure, my lords, made of his conduct, no charge of
weakness, or suspicion of dishonesty, nor can any thing be equitably
inferred from it, than that in the opinion of this house his majesty may
probably be served by some other person, more to the satisfaction of the
British nation.
Though it is not just to punish any man without examination, or to
censure his conduct merely because it has been unpleasing or
unsuccessful; though it is not reasonable that any man should forfeit
what he possesses in his own right, without a crime, yet it is just to
withdraw favours only to confer them on another more deserving; it is
just in any man to withhold his own, only to preserve his right, or
obviate an injurious prescription, and it is, therefore, just to advise
such a conduct whenever it appears necessary to those who have the right
of offering advice.
To advise his majesty, my lords, is not only our right but our duty; we
are not only justifiable in practising, but criminal in neglecting it.
That we should declare our apprehensions of any impending danger, and
our disapprobation of publick misconduct, is expected both by our
sovereign and the people, and let us not, by omitting such warnings,
lull the nation and our sovereign into a dangerous security, and, from
tenderness to one man, prolong or increase the miseries of our country,
and endanger or destroy the honour of our sovereign.
Lord HERVEY spoke next, in effect as follows:--My lords, this is surely
a day destined by the noble lords who defend the motion, for the support
of paradoxical assertions, for the exercise of their penetration, and
ostentation of their rhetorick; they have attempted to maintain the
certainty of common fame in opposition to daily observation; the
existence of a sole minister in contradiction to the strongest evidence;
and having by these gradations arrived at the highest degree of
controversial temerity, are endeavouring to make it appear that the
publick censure of the house of lords is no punishment.
If we take the liberty, my lords, of using known words in a new sense,
in a meaning reserved to ourselves only, it will, indeed, be difficult
to confute, as it will be impossible to understand us; but if punishment
be now to be understood as implying the same idea which has hitherto
been conveyed by it, it will not be easy to show that a man thus
publickly censured is not severely punished, and, if his crimes are not
clearly proved, punished in opposition to law, to reason, and to
justice.
It has been hitherto imagined, my lords, that no punishment is heavier
than that of infamy; and shame has, by generous minds, been avoided at
the hazard of every other misery. That such a censure as is proposed by
the motion, must irreparably destroy the reputation of the person
against whom it is directed, that it must confirm the reports of his
enemies, impair the esteem of his friends, mark him out to all Europe as
unworthy of his sovereign's favour, and represent him to latest
posterity as an enemy to his country, is indisputably certain.
These, my lords, are the evident consequences of the address moved for
by the noble lord; and, if such consequences are not penal, it will be
no longer in our power to enforce our laws by sanctions of terrour.
To condemn a man unheard, is an open and flagrant violation of the first
law of justice, but it is still a wider deviation from it to punish a
man unaccused; no crime has been charged upon this gentleman
proportioned to the penalty proposed by the motion, and the charge that
has been produced is destitute of proof.
Let us, therefore, my lords, reverence the great laws of reason and
justice, let us preserve our high character and prerogative of judges,
without descending to the low province of accusers and executioners; let
us so far regard our reputation, our liberty, and our posterity, as to
reject the motion.
[Several other lords spoke in this debate, which lasted eleven hours; at
length the question was put, and, on a division, carried in the
negative. Content, 59. Not content, 108.]
After the determination of the foregoing question, the duke of
MARLBOROUGH rose up, and spoke as follows:--My lords, though your
patience must undoubtedly be wearied by the unusual length of this day's
debate, a debate protracted, in my opinion, not by the difficulty of the
question, but by the obstinacy of prejudice, the ardour of passion, and
the desire of victory; yet, I doubt not but the regard which this
assembly has always paid to the safety and happiness of the state, will
incline you to support the fatigue of attention a little longer, and to
hear with your usual impartiality another motion.
The proposition which I am about to lay down, my lords, is not such as
can admit of controversy; it is such a standing principle as was always
acknowledged, even by those who have deviated from it. Such a known
truth as never was denied, though it appears sometimes to have been
forgotten.
But, my lords, as it never can be forgotten, without injury to
particular persons, and danger to the state in general, it cannot be too
frequently recollected, or too firmly established; it ought not only to
be tacitly admitted, but publickly declared, since no man's fortune,
liberty, or life, can be safe, where his judges shall think themselves
at liberty to act upon any other principle. I therefore move, "That any
attempt to inflict any kind of punishment on any person without allowing
him an opportunity to make his defence, or without any proof of any
crime or misdemeanour committed by him, is contrary to natural justice,
the fundamental laws of this realm, and the ancient established usage of
the senate, and is a high infringement of the liberties of the subject."
He was seconded by the duke of DEVONSHIRE:--My lords, though the motion
made by the noble duke is of such a kind, that no opposition can be
expected or feared, yet I rise up to second it, lest it should be
imagined that what cannot be rejected is yet unwillingly admitted.
That where this maxim is not allowed and adhered to, rights and
liberties are empty sounds, is uncontestably evident; if this principle
be forsaken, guilt and innocence are equally secure, all caution is
vain, and all testimony useless. Caprice will, in our courts, supply the
place of reason, and all evidence must give way to malice, or to favour.
I hope, therefore, my lords, that your regard to justice, to truth, and
to your own safety, will influence you to confirm this great and
self-evident principle by a standing resolution, that may not only
restrain oppression in the present age, but direct the judiciary
proceedings of our successors.
Lord LOVEL rose next, and spoke as follows:--My lords, liberty and
justice must always support each other, they can never long flourish
apart; every temporary expedient that can be contrived to preserve or
enlarge liberty by means arbitrary and oppressive, forms a precedent
which may, in time, be made use of to violate or destroy it. Liberty is
in effect suspended whenever injustice is practised; for what is
liberty, my lords, but the power of doing right without fear, without
control, and without danger.
But, my lords, if any man may be condemned unheard, if judgment may
precede evidence, what safety or what confidence can integrity afford?
It is in vain that any man means well, and acts prudently; it is even in
vain that he can prove the justice and prudence of his conduct.
By liberty, my lords, can never be meant the privilege of doing wrong
without being accountable, because liberty is always spoken of as
happiness, or one of the means to happiness, and happiness and virtue
cannot be separated. The great use of liberty must, therefore, be to
preserve justice from violation; justice, the great publick virtue, by
which a kind of equality is diffused over the whole society, by which
wealth is restrained from oppression, and inferiority preserved from
servitude.
Liberty, general liberty, must imply general justice; for wherever any
part of a state can be unjust with impunity, the rest are slaves. That
to condemn any man unheard is oppressive and unjust, is beyond
controversy demonstrable, and that no such power is claimed by your
lordships will, I hope, appear from your resolutions.
Lord GOWER spoke next:--My lords, to the principle laid down by those
noble lords, I have no objection, and concur with them in hoping that
all our proceedings will contribute to establish it; but why it should
be confirmed by a formal resolution, why the house should solemnly
declare their assent to a maxim which it would be madness to deny, it is
beyond my penetration to discover.
Though the noble lord's position cannot be controverted, yet his motion,
if it is designed to imply any censure of the proceedings of this day,
may reasonably be rejected, and that some censure is intended we may
conjecture, because no other reason can be given why it was not made at
some other time.
Lord HALIFAX then rose:--My lords, that a censure is intended, will, I
suppose, not be denied, and that such a censure is unjust must doubtless
be the opinion of all those who are supposed to have incurred it, and it
will, therefore, not be wondered that the motion is opposed by them, as
indecent and calumnious: late as it is, my lords, I will not, for my
part, suffer such an indignity without opposition, and shall think my
conscience and my honour require, that I should not be overborne by
perseverance or by numbers, but that I should, if I cannot convince the
noble lords by argument, of the impropriety of the motion, record my
reasons against it, which may, perhaps, be more candidly received by
posterity.
Lord TALBOT spoke to this effect:--My lords, it is not without
indignation that I hear a motion so injurious to my own honour, and to
that of the noble lords who have concurred with me in the last debate,
nor without contempt that I observed the motion confounded with the
positions contained in it; the low subtilty of such conduct is no less
to be despised than the malice to be abhorred.
Fifty-nine lords are here branded as strangers, or enemies to the first
principle of judicial equity, for doing what will entitle them to the
general applause of every man in the kingdom that has the full
possession of his understanding, or the free use of his senses; of every
man that can distinguish truth, or feel oppression.
They have endeavoured to rescue their country from the rapine of
pensioners and the tyranny of an army, from perpetual taxes, and useless
expenses; they have attempted to expose the errours of arrogant
ignorance, and to depress the power of greatness, founded on corruption,
and swelling beyond legal restraints.
That for such attempts they are vilified and reproached, is not to be
observed without indignation and astonishment; astonishment which
nothing could abate but the recollection of the situation of those lords
who have united to promote so unjust a censure.
Let us, my lords, consider the circumstances of the three noble lords by
whom this motion has been made and supported, let us take a view of
their conduct, and consider the visible motives to which it may be
ascribed, their places, their dependence--
Lord CHOLMONDELEY spoke next, in substance as follows:--My lords, I rise
thus abruptly to preserve that order and decency which is essential to
publick councils, and particularly suitable to the dignity of this
assembly, which can only become a scene of tumult and confusion by such
methods of debate, and lose that respect which it has hitherto
preserved, not only by the justice of its determinations, but by the
solemn grandeur of its procedure.
The motion, my lords, is allowed to contain nothing but what every man
avows in speculation, and observes, or ought to observe, in publick
transactions, and yet those that offer and support it are represented as
abettors of oppression, and instruments of tyranny.
It is surely wonderful, my lords, that those who are solicitous for the
preservation of their own honour, and so diligent to obviate the most
remote reflection that may glance upon it, should not remember, that the
same delicacy may raise in others the same resentment, when their
reputation is openly attacked; and that while they are asserting the
right of the minority to an exemption from censure, they shall not allow
the greater number at least an equal claim to the same privilege.
Lord TALBOT then resumed:--My lords, whether any thing has escaped from
me that deserves such severe animadversions, your lordships must decide.
For what I might intend to say, since by the interruption of that noble
lord I was hindered from proceeding, I hope I shall not be accountable.
Not that I acknowledge myself to have asserted any thing either contrary
to law, or to the privileges of the house, or inconsistent with the
character of an independent lord, a character which I shall always
endeavour to preserve, and which I will not forfeit for the smiles of a
court, the dignity of high employment, or the affluence of a pension.
Nor, my lords, whenever the necessities of my country require that I
should speak my sentiments with freedom, will I be awed into silence and
submission, but will set any power at defiance that shall dare to
restrain me.
I pretend not, my lords, to be always in the right, I claim no other
merit than that of meaning well; and when I am convinced, after proper
examination, that I am engaged on the side of truth, I will trample on
that insolence that shall command me to suppress my sentiments.
When I reflect, my lords, on the distresses of my country, when I
observe the security and arrogance of those whom I consider as the
authors of the publick miseries, I cannot always contain my resentment;
I may, perhaps, sometimes start out into unbecoming transports, and
speak in terms not very ceremonious of such abandoned, such detestable--
But as this is, perhaps, not the language of the house, I shall
endeavour to repress it, and hope that the bounds of decency have never
been so far transgressed by me that I should be exposed to the censure
of your lordships.
Lord ABINGDON next rose, and said:--My lords, the present motion is
undoubtedly just, but by no means necessary, or particularly adapted to
the present time. It contains a general principle, uncontested, and
established; a principle which this assembly has never denied, and from
which I know not that it has ever departed.
As there is, therefore, no particular necessity of confirming it by a
new resolution, and as the present time seems less proper than any
other, I cannot but declare my opinion, that to resume it at some other
time will be more prudent, than to give the lords, who think their
conduct censured, any occasion of resentment or discontent.
Lord CARTERET spoke to the following effect:--My lords, the maxim laid
down in the present motion, is in itself incontestable, and so far from
any inconsistency with the former, that as there was no reason for
making, there is, in my opinion, none for opposing it; as it may at any
time be made, it may at any time be properly passed. And I hope that our
unanimity on this occasion will show that truth, however unseasonably
advanced, will, in this house, be always received.
But, lest the noble lords who have opposed the motion, should think
their honour engaged in continuing the opposition, I take the liberty,
my lords, to move that the previous question may be put.
[Other lords spoke on each side; at last the previous question was put
by the president, who demanded, "Is it your lordships' pleasure, that
the question be now put? Those lords who are for it, say, Content:
those who are against it, say, Not content." There was, accordingly, a
cry of both; after which the president declared, "the contents have it;"
and some lords replying, "the non-contents have it," his lordship said,
"the non-contents must go below the bar:" which is the manner of
dividing the house. Those who remained being told in their seats, and
those who went out being told at coming in again, there were Content,
81; Not content, 54: so that the resolution moved for, passed without a
division.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 24, 1740-1.
[DEBATE ON CLEANSING THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER.]
Lord TYRCONNEL made a motion for bringing in a bill for the better
cleansing and paving the streets of Westminster, and the liberties
thereof; in support of which motion he spoke to the following purpose:--
Sir, though the grievance which I am about to lay before the house is
not of the most formidable or dangerous kind, yet as it is such as grows
every day greater, and such as every day endangers the lives of
thousands, I hope it will not be thought useless or improper to propose
it to the consideration of this assembly, to offer my thoughts on the
methods by which it may be most easily removed, and to endeavour to
incite others to the same considerations.
It is impossible, sir, to come to this assembly, or to return from it
without observations on the present condition of the streets of
Westminster; observations forced upon every man, however inattentive, or
however engrossed by reflections of a different kind.
The warmest zeal for publick happiness, the most anxious vigilance
against general dangers, must, I believe, sometimes give way to objects
of immediate, though of less importance, nor will the most
publick-spirited senators deny, that they have often been in the streets
alarmed with obstructions, or shocked with nuisances.
The filth, sir, of some parts of the town, and the inequality and
ruggedness of others, cannot but in the eyes of foreigners disgrace our
nation, and incline them to imagine us a people, not only without
delicacy, but without government, a herd of barbarians, or a colony of
hottentots.
The most disgusting part of the character given by travellers, of the
most savage nations, is their neglect of cleanliness, of which, perhaps,
no part of the world affords more proofs, than the streets of the
British capital; a city famous for wealth, and commerce, and plenty, and
for every other kind of civility and politeness, but which abounds with
such heaps of filth, as a savage would look on with amazement.
If that be allowed which is generally believed, that putrefaction and
stench are the causes of pestilential distempers, the removal of this
grievance may be pressed from motives of far greater weight than those
of delicacy and pleasure; and I might solicit the timely care of this
assembly for the preservation of inuumerable multitudes, and intreat
those, who are watching against slight misfortunes, to unite their
endeavours with mine, to avert the greatest and most dreadful of
calamities.
Not to dwell, sir, upon dangers, which may, perhaps, be thought only
imaginary, I hope that it will be at least considered, how much the
present neglect of the pavement is detrimental to every carriage,
whether of trade, or pleasure, or convenience, and that those who have
allowed so much of their attention to petitions, relating to the roads
of the kingdom, the repair of some of which is almost every session
thought of importance sufficient to produce debates in this house, will
not think the streets of the capital alone unworthy of their regard.
That the present neglect of cleansing and paving the streets is such as
ought not to be borne, that the passenger is every where either
surprised and endangered by unexpected chasms, or offended or obstructed
by mountains of filth, is well known to every one that has passed a
single day in this great city; and that this grievance is without remedy
is a sufficient proof that no magistrate has, at present power to remove
it; for every man's private regard to his own ease and safety, would
incite him to exert his authority on this occasion.
I humbly propose, therefore, that a bill may be brought into the house,
to enable his majesty's justices of peace for the liberties of
Westminster, to inspect the publick ways of this city, and punish the
neglect of cleansing and paving them; or that a new officer be
appointed, and vested with full authority for the same purpose.
Mr. SANDYS spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, I believe the grievance, so
much complained of by the right honourable member, is not difficult to
be removed without a new act of the legislature, being, perhaps, more
properly to be imputed to the negligence of the justices, than a defect
of their authority; for they have already sufficient power to regulate
this disorder: and I may be allowed to hope, sir, that they do not want
leisure to observe it, for their number is so great, that if we suppose
them to be wholly engaged by the common business of their office, a
foreigner would have occasion of reproaching us with defects more
important than want of delicacy, and might justly censure us as a people
corrupt beyond the common rate of human wickedness, a nation divided
only into two classes, magistrates and criminals.
But they, in reality, abound so much among us, that most of them are
only nominal magistrates, vested with authority which they never exert,
or exert to bad purposes, and which it were well if they were obliged to
employ in the real service of their country, by superintending the
paviers and the scavengers.
For this reason it is unnecessary to erect a new officer, as an
inspector of our streets, since every office that is not necessary is
pernicious. Were the consequences of this grievance such as they have
been represented, I should, perhaps, willingly erect a new office,
though I should not be surprised to hear the wisest man declare rather
for a pestilence than an increase of officers.
As I neither think the grievance insupportable, nor the methods proposed
for removing it necessary or proper, I declare myself against the
motion.
Lord GAGE spoke in the following manner:--Sir, as the grievance cannot
be denied to be real, and the motion, therefore, may reasonably be
imagined to have been made without any other intention than of
benefiting the publick by an useful law, I cannot discover any
sufficient reason for a rejection so peremptory and contemptuous.
That every man is disgusted, and almost every man daily endangered in
our streets, has not been denied; nor will any man, I suppose, question
what, if he has not yet experienced it, he may, perhaps, be fully
convinced of, in his next visit or excursion.
Those evils, which every man feels, though slight, are worthy of the
attention of the legislature; and that danger that threatens multitudes,
though distant, ought to be averted: for a small disorder, like a small
expense, when it extends to multitudes, becomes a national affair.
But though this motion may, perhaps, be liable to some objections, there
is, certainly, no such absurdity to be found in it, as may justify us in
rejecting it without examination; to reject a motion when it is first
offered, is a proof of prejudice, next to that of rejecting it unheard;
it is to determine a question, before it is discussed, or can be fully
understood.
Mr. SANDYS replied, in substance as follows:--Sir, I cannot but differ
very widely in opinion from the right honourable member that spoke last,
with regard to the propriety of opposing a motion when it is first made;
a practice, which I can by no means think inconsistent with either
decency or prudence, and which would, perhaps, be of use to the publick,
if it was more frequent.
When any motion is made, it is subjected to the consideration of this
assembly, and every member is at full liberty to examine and discuss it.
If it appears to deserve farther attention, it may be admitted, but if
the subject be either improper or unseasonable, or the measures proposed
injudicious or dangerous, it is then to be rejected; and if it is at
last to be rejected, it is apparent that no time ought to be thrown away
upon it.
The hours, and days, and weeks, that have been improfitably spent upon
bills which after all our endeavours could not be passed; the delays of
real benefits to the publick, which have been produced by long pursuits
of shadowy advantages, have inclined me to a more expeditious method of
proceeding, and determined me speedily to reject what I cannot hope to
amend.
[The question being put, passed in the negative, 142 against 109.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEB. 27, 1740-1.
DEBATE ON THE SECOND READING OF A BILL TO PREVENT INCONVENIENCIES
ARISING FROM INSURANCE OF SHIPS.
The bill being read, sir John BARNARD spoke thus:--Sir, there cannot be
brought before this house any questions more difficult in themselves,
more entangled with a multiplicity of relations, or more perplexed with
an endless diversity of circumstances, than those which relate to
commercial affairs; affairs on which the most experienced often
disagree, and on which the most sagacious may deceive themselves with
erroneous conjectures.
There are no questions, sir, which require so much personal knowledge of
the subject to which they relate, nor is there any subject with which so
few gentlemen in this house have had opportunities of being acquainted.
There are no questions, sir, which their variety of relations to
different persons exposes to be so easily misrepresented without
detection, nor any in which the opposition of particular interests so
much incites a false representation. In all these cases, deceit is easy,
and there is a strong temptation to deceive.
Nor are these questions, sir, always perplexed by intentional fraud, or
false assertions, of which they that utter them are themselves
conscious.
Those who deceive us, do not always suppress any truth of which they are
convinced, nor set facts before us in any other light, than that in
which themselves behold them; they for the most part err with an honest
intention, and propagate no mistakes but those which they have
themselves admitted.
Of this kind, sir, are, doubtless, the measures proposed in the bill
before us, which those by whom they are promoted may easily think to be
of benefit to the publick, but which, I believe, will appear the result
of imperfect views, and partial consideration.
The great and fundamental errour, sir, of the patrons of this bill,
seems to be an opinion that the practice of insuring is not known to
other nations, nor can be carried on in any other place; and from this
principle they deduce consequences, which, if they were inevitably
certain, might easily influence us to an immediate approbation of the
bill, as necessary to secure our commerce, and distress our enemies.
They conclude, sir, with sufficient justness, that very few merchants
would hazard their fortunes in long voyages or distant commerce, or
expose themselves to the dangers of war, without the security which
insurances afford them; and having persuaded themselves that such
security is to be obtained from no other nation, they imagine that we
might, by prohibiting it, confine all the foreign vessels in their
ports, and destroy, by one resolution, the trade of both our rivals and
our enemies.
That our East India company may desire the ratification of this bill, I
cannot deny, because they might, perhaps, receive from it some temporary
advantage by the short inconveniencies which those whom they consider as
the enemies of their commerce would feel from it. They may desire it,
because the experiment, if it fails, as it must, cannot injure them; and
if it succeeds, may produce great advantages to them: they may wish it,
because they will feel the immediate benefit, and the detriment will
fall upon others.
I shall not inquire whether our merchants are inclined to look with
malevolence on all those who cultivate the same branches of commerce
with themselves, though they have neither the violation of natural
rights, nor the infringement of national treaties, to complain of. I
should be unwilling to suspect a British merchant, whose acquaintance
with the constitution of his own country ought to show him the value of
liberty, who ought to be above narrow schemes, by the knowledge which
his profession enables him to gain, of a desire to encroach upon the
rights of others, or to engross the general benefits of nature; and
shall only observe, that several other nations can plead a claim to the
East India trade, a claim of equal validity with our own; that the Danes
have their settlement there, and that the Portuguese discovered the way
to those regions of wealth, from which some, perhaps, are inclined to
exclude them.
But nothing is more vain than to attempt to exclude them by refusing to
ensure their ships, because the opinion that they can be insured by no
other nation is entirely without foundation. There are at this time
offices of insurance along the whole coasts of the midland sea, among
the Dutch, and even among the French. Nothing can debar any nation from
the trade of insurance but the want of money; and that money is not
wanted by foreigners for this purpose, appears from the great sums which
they have deposited in our funds.
That this trade is now carried on chiefly by this nation, though not
solely, is incontestable; but what can be inferred from that, but that
we ought not to obstruct our own gain; that we ought not to make a law
to deprive ourselves of that advantage of which either favourable
accidents or our own sagacity have put us in possession.
For this reason it appears that it would not contribute to the wealth of
the publick to debar us from insuring the ships even of those with whom
we are at war, for it is always to be remembered that they will receive
no detriment from such prohibitions, nor will feel any other consequence
from them than a necessity of transferring to some other nation the
profit which we receive from it.
What the profit is which arises to the nation from the trade of
insurance it is not possible exactly to determine, but that the trade is
really advantageous may be reasonably conceived, because after many
years' experience it is diligently followed, and a law was never
necessary to prohibit the pursuit of a business by which nothing was to
be gained. But could the gain of the insurer be a doubtful point, there
is a certain advantage to the nation by the money paid for commission,
brokerage, stamps, and the credit of the premium deposited here.
I might add, sir, another considerable sum yearly arising to the
government from the additional letters, occasioned by this trade, which
increase the revenues of the post-office, without any deduction for
additional charge.
That the loss of this profit, and the gain of insuring, will ensue upon
the ratification of this bill, cannot be denied; nor does it appear,
that this loss will be counterbalanced by any advantage that will be
gained over our rivals or our enemies.
Whether this bill, sir, would produce to the merchants of that city by
which it is promoted, the advantages which they expect from it, or
remove any of the grievances of which they complain, I am not able
positively to determine; but know, that it is not uncommon for
merchants, as well as other men, to confound private with publick
grievances, and to imagine their own interest the interest of the
nation.
With regard, sir, to the practice of insuring, _interest or no
interest_, as the term is, when an imaginary value is put upon the ship
or cargo, often much above its real worth, it cannot be denied, that
some opportunities may be given by it for wicked practices. But there
will always be circumstances in which there can be no security against
frauds, but common faith; nor do I see how we can secure the insurers
against the possibility of being defrauded.
I cannot, indeed, discover, sir, how this method of insuring can be
prevented; for how can the value of a cargo be estimated, which is to be
collected in a long voyage, at different ports, and where the success of
the adventurers often depends upon lucky accidents, which are, indeed,
always hoped for, but seldom happen. An imaginary value must, therefore,
be fixed upon, when the ship leaves the port; because the success of
that voyage cannot be foreknown, and the contracting parties may be
safely trusted to set that value, without any law to direct or restrain
them.
If the merchants are oppressed by any peculiar inconveniencies, and can
find means of redressing them without injuring the publick commerce, any
proposal for that purpose ought to be favourably received; but as the
bill now before us proposes general restraints, and proposes to remove
grievances which are not felt, by remedies, which those upon whom they
are to operate, do not approve, I think it ought not to be referred to a
committee, but rejected.
Mr. SOUTHWELL spoke next, in terms to this purpose:--Sir, when I first
proposed this bill to the house, I lamented the absence of that
honourable gentleman, from whose discussions and arguments I expected
great information; and for whose judgment, in all commercial questions,
I have the highest esteem, as his penetration not only enables him to
discover the consequences of methods which have not yet been tried, but
as his extensive acquaintance with many branches of trade, cannot but
have informed him of the success of many expedients tried, as well in
other nations as our own, for the advancement of it.
Trade, sir, is a subject, of which it has been justly observed, that
very few gentlemen have attained knowledge sufficient to qualify
themselves to judge of the propriety of any new regulation; and I cannot
but confess, that I have no uncommon skill in these questions. What I
have to offer on this occasion, has been suggested to me, not so much by
my own observations, as by the intelligence which I have very
industriously sought, and by which, as I endeavoured to inquire of those
whose opinion was least likely to be perverted by their interest, I hope
I have not been misled.
The merchants, sir, to whom it has been my fortune to apply, have
generally concurred in the opinion that the present practice of insuring
is prejudicial to our commerce, nor have I found any disagreement
between my constituents and the traders of this great metropolis.
I am unwilling to imagine that there can be any evil for which the
wisdom of this assembly cannot discover a remedy, and am, therefore, of
opinion, that if the grievance is real, some expedient may be discovered
for removing it; and that it is real, I cannot but be convinced by the
declarations of so many men, who can have no interest in complaining
when they suffer nothing, and whose known abilities exempt them from the
suspicion of imputing any part of their uneasiness to a cause which
cannot produce it.
The bill before us, sir, requires, in my opinion, some amendments, and
in its present state might, perhaps, produce more detriment than
advantage; but since it is necessary at least to attempt something for
the relief of men so useful to this nation, it appears to me necessary
to form a committee, and to deliberate on this subject with more
attention.
Mr. LOCKWOOD spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, though I am not
of opinion that the bill in its present state ought to be passed into a
law, yet I am far from thinking it so imperfect as not easily to be
amended, and, therefore, am desirous that it should be considered in a
committee.
I have not, indeed, sir, often observed, that bills injudiciously drawn
up at first have received great improvements from a second
consideration, and have found it more easy to form a new bill, than to
make alterations in one that is laid before us; for some original errour
will commonly remain, and the sentiments of different men, pursuing
different views, can seldom be modelled into one consistent scheme. But
I am far from considering this bill as one of those that cannot be
amended, for I can discover but few objections to the regulations
proposed in it, and those not relating to any of the essential parts,
but slight and circumstantial, such as will easily be removed, or,
perhaps, answered.
The grievance, sir, for which this bill proposes a remedy, is so
generally known, and so universally lamented, that, I believe, there is
not any thing more worthy of the attention of the legislature than an
inquiry into the cause of it, and the proper method of redressing it.
In our inquiry into the causes of this obstruction of trade, I am of
opinion, sir, that the practice of insuring, _interest or no interest_,
will appear to be the foundation of this general uneasiness; it will be
found a practice of so natural a tendency to fraud, and so easily
susceptible of dishonest artifices, that I believe every member of this
house will desire its suppression.
To confirm my assertion, sir, and illustrate the question before us, I
shall mention some particular instances of fraud to which this custom
has given occasion; of fraud so evident and so detestable that it cannot
be related without indignation.
The Royal George was a large ship belonging to the South sea company,
which, having been a voyage to Vera Cruz, put in at Jamaica in her
return; and being there refitted to proceed on her voyage homewards, set
sail, and came within a week's sailing of the port, when, upon a sudden,
the officers entered into a consultation, and determined to go back a
month's voyage to Antigua; for what reason, sir, may easily be guessed,
when it was told that a ship was insured upon a supposed value of sixty
thousand pounds.
This resolution, sir, was no sooner formed, than orders were given to
change the course and steer to Antigua, in opposition to all the
remonstrances of the carpenter, who is the proper judge of the condition
of a vessel, and who declared, with honesty and resolution, against
their whole procedure. But they pursued their new scheme without any
regard to his murmurs or assertions; and when they arrived at Antigua,
found some method of influencing the officers of that island to declare
the ship unfit for the prosecution of the voyage.
Their design, sir, was now happily completed. To confirm the
determination which had been pronounced in their favour, they stranded
the ship upon a bank of sand, forced out the iron that grapples the
timber together, and having first taken away the masts and rigging, and
whatever else could be used or sold, threw the ballast to each end, and
so broke the vessel in the middle.
By this well-contrived shipwreck, having, as they imagined, raised their
fortunes, they came home triumphantly from their prosperous voyage, and
claimed the money for which the ship was insured. The insurers, startled
at a demand so unexpected, inquired into the affair with all the
industry which its importance might naturally incite, and, after some
consultation, determined to try whether the ship might not be refitted
and brought to Britain.
In pursuance of this resolution, they sent workmen and materials, and,
without much expense, or any difficulty, brought it hither.
I believe, sir, this relation is sufficient at once to prove the
practice, and explain the nature of the frauds to which this method of
insurance gives occasion; but as the frequency of them is such, that
many instances may be produced, I shall offer another short narrative of
the same kind.
A ship that belonged to the East India company, insured after this
method, was run ashore by the captain, in such a manner that he imagined
none but himself able to recover it, and therefore, though it cost five
thousand pounds, sold it for five hundred; but the purchaser, no less
expert than the captain, found means very speedily to disengage it, to
restore it to a proper condition with little expense, and was much
enriched by his fortunate bargain.
I cannot but observe, sir, that this kind of fraud is more formidable,
as it may be practised without a possibility of detection: had the
captain, instead of stranding, destroyed his vessel, how could his
wickedness ever have been discovered; or how could the South sea
company's ship have been brought home, had it been sunk in some distant
corner of the world.
This practice, sir, and the frauds which it has occasioned, and the
suspicions which the easy practice of frauds always creates, have
produced so many trials, and filled the courts of justice with such
intricate contentions, that the judges, who know, perhaps, nothing of
this practice but from its effects, have often declared it to be so
pregnant with contests and cheats, that it ought not to be suffered, and
that a law for suppressing it would much contribute to the establishment
of peace, and the security of property.
I am not insensible, sir, of the force of the argument made use of by
the honourable gentleman who spoke in favour of this practice, and
cannot but allow it that regard which his reasonings always deserve; it
is the strongest, and perhaps the only argument that can be produced.
His assertion of the impossibility of estimating the real value of a
ship, or of foreknowing the success of a voyage, is incontestable: but
perhaps it will follow from thence, not that an imaginary value ought to
be admitted, but that no insurance ought to be allowed, where there is
no rational method of ascertaining it; or, at least, that all such
insurance ought to be rather below the probable value than above it.
If the grievance complained of has been proved not to be imaginary, we
ought, doubtless, to consult how it may be remedied; nor do I believe
that our consultations will be ineffectual, if we engage in them, not
with an intention to perplex, but to inform each other. I am of opinion,
sir, that the importance of the question requires a committee; nor can I
discover any essential defect in the bill, which should hinder it from
passing into a law.
Mr. BURRELL spoke to this effect:--Sir, I am convinced by experience, as
well as reason, that so many inconveniencies arise from this method of
insurance, that it affords so many opportunities of fraud, and gives
such encouragement to negligence, that I shall willingly concur in any
measures that may effectually suppress it.
It is, sir, too well known to require proof, that interest is the parent
of diligence, and that men attend to the performance of their duty, in
proportion as they must suffer by the neglect of it; and, therefore,
every practice that deprives honesty of its reward is injurious to the
publick.
But that this is the consequence of estimating ships at an imaginary
value in the offices of insurance, is, to the highest degree, evident.
When a ship is estimated above its real value, how will the commander
suffer by a wreck, or what shall restrain him from destroying his
vessel, when it may be done with security to himself, except that
integrity, which, indeed, ought to be generally diffused, but which is
not always to be found, and to which few men think it safe to trust upon
occasions of far less importance.
To show, sir, that I do not indulge groundless suspicions, or magnify
the bare possibility of fraud into reality; that I do not blacken human
nature, or propose laws against wickedness that has not yet existed; it
may be proper to mention some letters, in which I have been informed, by
my correspondent at Leghorn, of the state of the ships which have
arrived there; ships so weakly manned, and so penuriously or negligently
stored, so much decayed in the bottoms, and so ill fitted with rigging,
that he declares his astonishment at their arrival.
It may deserve our consideration, sir, whether the success of the
Spanish privateers may not be, in great part, attributed to this
pernicious practice; whether captains, when their vessels are insured
for more than their value, do not rashly venture into known danger?
whether they do not wilfully miss the security of convoys? whether they
do not direct their courses where privateers may most securely cruise?
whether they do not surrender with less resistance than interest would
excite? and whether they do not raise clamours against the government
for their ill success, to avoid the suspicion of negligence or fraud?
That other frauds are committed in the practice of insuring, is well
known to the honourable gentleman: it is a common practice to take money
upon bottomry, by way of pledge, for the captain's fidelity, and to
destroy this security by insuring above the real value; so that the
captain may gain by neglecting the care of his vessel, or, at least,
secure himself from loss, and indulge his ease or his pleasure without
any interruption from the fear of diminishing his fortune.
The whole practice of insurance, sir, is, in its present state, I
believe, so perplexed with frauds, and of such manifest tendency to the
obstruction of commerce, that it absolutely requires some legal
regulations.
Sir John BARNARD then spoke to this purpose:--Of frauds in the practice
of insurance, with regard to which the honourable gentleman has appealed
to me, I can confidently affirm that I am totally ignorant: I know not
of any fraudulent practices openly carried on, or established by custom,
which I suppose are meant: for with regard to single acts of fraud,
committed by particular men, it is not to be supposed but that they have
been detected in this, as in all other branches of traffick: nor can I
conceive that any argument can be drawn from them against the practice;
for if every part of commerce is to be prohibited, which has furnished
villains with opportunities of deceit, we shall contract trade into a
narrow compass.
With regard, sir, to the instance of the Royal George, though the
proceedings of the officers are not wholly to be vindicated, yet part of
their conduct is less inexplicable than it has been represented. Their
return to Antigua, when they were bound for Britain, and were within a
week's sailing of their port, is easily to be defended, if the wind was
contrary to their intended course; for it is not difficult to conceive
that they might reach a distant port, with a favourable wind, much
sooner than one much nearer, with the wind against them.
I have always observed, sir, that the gentlemen engaged in the trade to
the East Indies, assume an air of superiority, to which I know not what
claim they can produce, and seem to imagine, that their charter gives
them more extensive knowledge, and more acute sagacity, than falls to
the lot of men not combined in their association.
But however these gentlemen may disapprove my arguments, and however
they may misrepresent them, I shall be satisfied, that they will have,
with the disinterested and impartial, their just weight, and that this
affair will not be hastily determined upon an imperfect examination.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied to this effect:--Whether the merchants are
satisfied with the present methods of insuring, or what is the opinion
of any separate body of men, I think it absolutely unnecessary to
inquire. We are constituted for the publick advantage, and are engaged
by our senatorial character to consider, not the private interest of
particular men, but the general advantage of our country.
In our pursuit, sir, of national interest, we shall be obliged
frequently to oppose the schemes which private men or separate
fraternities, have formed for their own advantage, and which they may be
expected to defend with all their art; both because every man is
unwilling to imagine that the publick interest and his own are opposite,
and because it is to be feared, that many may consider the publick only
in subordination to themselves, and be very little solicitous about the
general prosperity of their country, provided none of the calamities
which afflict it extend their influence to themselves.
We are in the discussion of this question, sir, to consider that we are
engaged in a war against a nation from which insults, depredations,
oppressions, and cruelties, have been long complained of, and against
which we are, therefore, to act with a resolution proportioned to the
injuries which we have suffered, and to our desire of vengeance. We are
to practice every method of distressing them, and to promote the success
of our arms even at the expense of present gain, and the interest of
private men.
It is well known, sir, to all who have either heard or read of the
Spaniards, that they live in carelessness and indolence, neglect all the
natural advantages of their own country, despise the gain of foreign
commerce, and depend wholly on their American settlements, for all the
conveniences, and, perhaps, for most of the necessaries of life.
This is the particular circumstance that makes a war with Britain so
much to be dreaded by them. A nation superiour to them by sea holds them
besieged, like a garrison surrounded by an army, precludes them from
supplies, intercepts their succours, and if it cannot force their walls
by attack, can, at least, by a blockade, starve them to a capitulation.
Thus, sir, by a naval war with an enemy of superiour strength, they must
at length be subdued, and subdued, perhaps, without a battle, and
without the possibility of resistance; against such an enemy their
courage or their discipline is of no use; they may form armies, indeed,
but which can only stand upon the shore, to defend what their enemies
have no intention of invading, and see those ships seized in which their
pay is treasured, or their provisions are stored.
Such, sir, is our natural superiority over the Spaniards, a species of
superiority that must inevitably prevail, if it be not defeated by our
own folly; and surely a more effectual method of defeating it, the
Spaniards themselves could not have discovered, than that of insuring,
their ships among our merchants.
When a ship thus insured is taken, which, notwithstanding all
precautions, must sometimes happen, we examine the cargo, find it
extremely valuable, and triumph in our success; we not only count the
gain to ourselves, but the loss to our enemies, and determine that a
small number of such captures will reduce them to offer us peace upon
our own terms.
Such are the conclusions which are made, and made with reason, by men
unacquainted with the secret practices of our merchants, and who do not
suspect us to be stupid enough to secure our enemies against ourselves;
but it is often found, upon a more close examination, that our ships of
war have only plundered our merchants, and that our privateers may,
indeed, have enriched themselves, but impoverished their country. It is
discovered that the loss of the Spaniards is to be repaid, and, perhaps,
sometimes with interest, by the British insurers.
If it be urged, that we ought not to enact any laws which may obstruct
the gain of our fellow-subjects, may it not be asked, why all trade with
Spain is prohibited; may not the trade be equally gainful with the
insurance, and may not the gain be more generally distributed, and,
therefore, be more properly national?
But this trade was prohibited, because it was more necessary to our
enemies than to ourselves; it was prohibited, because the laws of war
require, that a less evil should be suffered to inflict a greater; it is
upon this principle that every battle is fought, and that we fire our
own ships to consume the navies of the enemy.
For this reason, sir, it appears to me evident beyond contradiction,
that the insurance of Spanish ships ought to be prohibited: we shall,
indeed, lose the profit of the insurance, but we shall be reimbursed by
the captures, which is an argument that cannot be produced for the
prohibition of commerce.
It is urged, sir, that they may insure their ships in other countries;
an assertion, of which, whether it be true or not, I am not able to
decide; but it is acknowledged, that the necessity of establishing new
correspondence will be at least a temporary obstruction of their trade,
and an obstruction of even a short continuance may lay them at our
mercy.
But let us, sir, reflect upon the weakness of this argument,--_they
must be allowed to insure here, because they may insure in other
places;_ will it not be equally just to urge, that _they must trade with
us, because they may trade with other nations?_ And may it not be
answered, that though we cannot wholly suspend their commerce, it is yet
our business to obstruct it as far as we are able?
May it-not, sir, be farther affirmed, that by insuring in other nations,
they may injure their allies by falling into our hands, but do not the
less benefit us? that if they do not grow weaker, we at least are
strengthened; but that by insuring among us, whatever steps are taken,
the equilibrium of the war is preserved always the same?
It is asserted, and I suppose with truth, that we insure at a lower rate
than others, and it will, therefore, follow, that the Spaniards,
whenever their ships shall escape us, will suffer more by having-insured
amongst foreigners, than if they had contracted with our merchants.
Thus it appears, sir, that there are stronger reasons for prohibiting
the insurance of Spanish ships, than for putting a stop to our commerce
with them; and that whether their ships are taken by us, or escape us,
it is the general interest of the nation, that they shall be insured by
foreign merchants.
With respect, sir, to the East India company, I have no regard to their
interest, considered as distinct from that of the rest of the nation;
nor have received any solicitations from them to promote this bill, or
to espouse their interest; but cannot, without concealing my real
sentiments, deny, that as they have the grant of an exclusive trade to
the East Indies, to insure the ships that are sent thither without their
permission, is to invade their rights, and to infringe their charter;
and that the practice, if the validity of their charter be admitted, is
illegal, and ought to be discountenanced.
The practice, sir, of insuring, _interest or no interest_, or of
assigning to ships an imaginary value, is nothing more than a particular
game, a mere solemn species of _hazard_, and ought, therefore, to be
prohibited, for every reason that can be urged against games of chance.
With regard to this bill in general, it is, in my opinion, highly
necessary, nor can I discover any important objection that can be made
against it. Some law of this kind, and to this purpose, I have long
intended to offer to the consideration of this assembly, and since it is
now before us, I think we ought to consider it with the attention which
may be justly expected from us.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke thus:--Sir, I know not how properly the practice of
insuring may be termed a species of hazard, nor do I think any thing
more is to be considered, than whether the game be gainful to the
nation, or not, for I cannot discover that there is any absurdity in
enriching ourselves at the expense of other nations, whether enemies or
allies. That we ought to prefer the general good to the advantage of
individuals, is undoubted, but I cannot conceive that in this case there
can be any opposition between private and publick interest. If our
insurers gain by securing the ships of our enemies, the nation is
benefited, for all national gain must circulate through the hands of
individuals.
No man will assert that we ought to assist our enemies, nor will any man
imagine that we assist them by impoverishing them, and if our insurers
gain by their practice, the Spaniards must undoubtedly be losers.
Mr. WILLIMOT spoke next, to the following purpose:--Sir, I have
conversed on the question to which this bill relates, with men engaged
in various kinds of traffick, and who have no common interest but that
of their country. I have dispersed among the merchants, most eminent for
their acquaintance with the whole extent of commerce, and for their
knowledge of the true interest of the nation, copies of this bill, and
cannot find any of them so sensible of the grievance of which we have so
loud complaints, as to desire that it should be redressed by the
measures now proposed.
That frauds are practised on every side, in this, as well as in other
trades, the general corruption of our age gives us sufficient reason to
suspect; but what is common to every sort of traffick, cannot be
produced as an argument for the prohibition of any.
That the practice of insuring an imaginary value may give opportunity
for greater frauds than can be practised in common dealings, is likewise
evident, but I cannot discover such frauds to require the interposition
of the legislature.
If they are practised only by those of our own nation, the publick does
not suffer; for property is only transferred from one subject to
another: the fraud ought, indeed, to be severely punished in the courts
of criminal justice, but the custom which gave the opportunity of
practising it, ought not to be restrained, any more than any other
profession not criminal in itself, but liable to accidental abuses.
If our insurers are defrauded by foreigners, the nation is then, indeed,
more nearly affected, but even in that case, it is to be remembered,
that the private interest of the insurers, who must be immediately
ruined, is a sufficient security for the publick. For it cannot, sir, be
conceived that any man will obstinately carry on a business, by which he
becomes every day poorer, or, that when he desists he will be succeeded
by another, who cannot but know that he engages in that traffick to his
certain ruin.
The true state of this affair is, that frauds are, indeed, often
committed, and are for that reason always suspected, and that the
insurers, when they insure the ship and cargo against accidents, reckon,
among other chances, the probability of being cheated, and proportion
their demands, not only to the length and danger of the voyage, but to
the character, likewise, of the man with whom they contract.
This, sir, is always the practice of those whom experience has made
acquainted with the danger of implicit confidence and unsuspecting
credulity, nor do any but the young and unskilful suffer themselves to
be so exposed to frauds, as that their fortunes should be injured, or
the general gain of their business overbalanced, by a few deceits.
Thus it appears, that notwithstanding the ease and safety with which the
present methods of insurance admit fraud to be practised, the insurers,
by a proportionate degree of caution, secure themselves from being
injured, and, by consequence, the nation.
The insurance of foreign ships is now to be considered, by which great
profit arises to the nation. We insure, sir, as it has been observed, at
lower rates than other nations, because we have more business of this
kind, and the smallness of our profit is compensated by the frequency;
the cheapness of insurances, and eagerness of foreigners to insure here,
reciprocally contribute to each other; we are often applied to, because
we insure at an easy rate, and we can insure at an easy rate, because we
are often applied to.
Nor is the cheapness of British insurance the only motive to the
preference which it preserves among foreigners, who are induced to apply
to this nation, by the reputation which our merchants have deservedly
gained for probity and punctuality superiour to that of any other
traders. Our merchants, sir, bargain without artifice, pay without
subterfuges, and are ready on all occasions to preserve their character
at the hazard of their profit.
From these two considerations we may draw unanswerable arguments against
any restraints upon the practice of insuring: if foreigners are once
disappointed in their applications to us, our business will in a great
part cease, and as we shall not then be able to insure at lower rates
than other nations, we shall never recover that branch of our trade. And
as the character of the British merchants exempts them from any
suspicion of practices pernicious to the publick, why should they be
restrained? Why, sir, should they appear to be suspected by the
legislature of their own country, whom foreigners trust without
hesitation.
It has been objected to them with great warmth, and urged with much
rhetorical exaggeration, that they assist the enemies of their country,
that they prolong the war, and defeat those advantages which our
situation and commerce have given us; imputations sufficiently
atrocious, if they were founded upon truth.
But let us, sir, examine the arguments by which this accusation has been
supported, and inquire whether this triumph of eloquence has been
occasioned by any real superiority of evidence or reason; it is urged,
that we have already prohibited commerce with the Spaniards, and that,
therefore, we ought, likewise, to prohibit the insurance of their ships.
It will not require, sir, an imagination very fertile, or a knowledge
very extensive, to supply arguments sufficient to refute the supposed
demonstration; in opposition to which it may be urged, that this kind of
commerce is of a peculiar nature, that it subsists upon opinion, and is
preserved by the reputation of our insurers; a reputation that the
insurers of other nations may obtain by the same means, and from whom we
shall, therefore, never recover it.
It may be observed, sir, that other commodities are the peculiar product
of different countries, and that there is no danger of losing our other
trade by suspending it, because it depends upon the excellence of our
manufactures; but that insurance may be the commodity of any country,
where money and common honesty are to be found.
This argument may, perhaps, be yet more effectually invalidated, or,
perhaps, entirely subverted, by denying the expedience of that
prohibition which is produced as a precedent for another restraint. Nor,
indeed, does it appear why we should preclude ourselves from a gainful
trade, because the money is drawn by it out of the hands of our enemies;
or why the product of our lands should lie unconsumed, or our
manufactures stand unemployed, rather than we should sell to our enemies
what they will purchase at another place, or by the intervention of a
neutral power.
To sell to an enemy that which may enable him to injure us, that which
he must necessarily obtain, and which he could buy from no other, would,
indeed, be to the last degree, absurd; but that may surely be sold them
without any breach of morality or policy, which they can want with less
inconvenience than we can keep. If we were besieging a town, I should
not advise our soldiers to sell to the inhabitants ammunition or
provisions, but cannot discover the folly of admitting them to purchase
ornaments for their houses, or brocades for their ladies.
But, without examining with the utmost accuracy, whether the late
prohibition was rational or not, I have, I hope, suggested objections
sufficient to make the question doubtful, and to incline us to try the
success of one experiment, before we venture upon another more
hazardous.
I am never willing, sir, to load trade with restraints; trade is, in its
own nature, so fugitive and variable, that no constant course can be
prescribed to it; and those regulations which were proper when they were
made, may, in a few months, become difficulties and obstructions. We
well know, that many of the measures which our ancestors pursued for the
encouragement of commerce, have been found of pernicious consequence;
and even in this age, which, perhaps, experience, more than wisdom, has
enlightened, I have known few attempts of that kind which have not
defeated the end for which they were made.
It is more prudent to leave the merchants at liberty to pursue those
measures which experience shall dictate upon every occasion, and suffer
them to snatch the present opportunity of honest gain, whenever it shall
happen; they will never injure their own interest by the use of this
liberty, and by preserving themselves, they will preserve the nation
from detriment; nor will they need to be restrained by a law proposed
without their solicitation, and of which they cannot discover any
beneficial consequences.
Mr. Horace WALPOLE spoke next, to this purpose:--Sir, for the bill now
before us I have no particular fondness, nor desire that it should be
promoted by any other means than rational arguments, and the
representation of indubitable facts.
I have no regard, sir, in this inquiry, to any private interest, or any
other desire than that of securing the interest of my country, which, in
my opinion, evidently requires that we should give no assistance to our
enemies, that our merchants should cooperate with our navies, and that
we should endeavour to withhold every thing that may make the war less
burdensome to them, and, consequently, of longer continuance.
It was observed, sir, in the beginning of the debate, by a gentleman
eminently skilled in mercantile affairs, that insurance was practised by
many nations; but he did not inform us of what one of the clauses makes
it proper to inquire, whether they allowed the method of insuring
_interest or no interest_, and rating ships at an imaginary value. This
is, I know, prohibited by the Dutch, a nation whose authority on
commercial questions will not be disputed, nor do they allow their East
Indian ships to be insured at all.
The difficulty of estimating the value of any cargo has been urged in
defence of this practice, nor is the defence wholly without weight,
because the cargo in many voyages cannot be ascertained. I shall,
however, take this opportunity of observing, though I may somewhat
digress from the present argument, how necessary it is that some of our
exported cargoes should be exactly specified.
I have been lately informed, sir, that six ships laden with British
wool, have entered at one time into a port of France; nor do I know how
this practice, which is justly complained of as pernicious to our trade,
and threatening the ruin of our country, can be prevented but by a
constant and regular particularization of every cargo carried to France.
I admit, sir, that some cargoes which are imported cannot be
particularly registered; such is the gold with which we are daily
supplied by our commerce with the Portuguese, in opposition to their
laws, and which our merchants are, therefore, under the necessity of
concealing.
It is not, indeed, easy to foresee all the inconveniencies that may
arise from new regulations of commerce; but the difficulty is not so
great as has been represented, nor can I conceive why all our
consultations on trade should be without effect. Gentlemen may obtain
some knowledge of commerce from their own observation, which they may
enlarge by an unconfined and indifferent conversation with traders of
various classes, and by inquiries into the different branches of
commerce; inquiries, sir, which are generally neglected by those whose
employments confine their attention to particular parts of commerce, or
whose application to business hinders them from attending to any
opinions but those which their own personal experience enables them to
form.
From these informations impartially collected, and diligently compared,
a man not engaged in the profession of a merchant may form general
principles, and draw consequences, more certain, and more extensive in
their relations, than those which are struck out only from the
observation of one subdivided species of commerce.
A member of this house, sir, thus enlightened by inquiry, and whose
judgment is not diverted from its natural rectitude by the impulse of
any private consideration, may judge of any commercial debate with less
danger of errour or partiality than the merchants, of whom,
nevertheless, I have the highest esteem, and whose knowledge, or
probity, I do not intend to depreciate, when I declare my fears that
they may sometimes confound general maxims of trade with the opinions of
particular branches, and sometimes mistake their own gain for the
interest of the publick.
The interest of the merchants ought, indeed, always to be considered in
this house; but then it ought to be regarded only in subordination to
that of the whole community, a subordination which the gentleman who
spoke last seems to have forgotten. He may, perhaps, not intend long to
retain his senatorial character, and, therefore, delivered his opinion
only as a merchant.
He has distinguished between the conduct of experienced and unskilful
insurers, with how much justice I shall not determine. I am afraid that
a vigorous inquiry would discover, that neither age nor youth has been
able to resist strong temptations to some practices, which neither law
nor justice can support, and that those, whose experience has made them
cautious, have not been always equally honest.
But this is a subject upon which I am not inclined to dwell, and only
mention as the reason which convinces me of the propriety of the bill
before us.
Sir William YONGE spoke to this effect:--Sir, there appears no
probability that the different opinions which have been formed of this
bill will be reconciled by this debate; nor, indeed, is there any reason
for wondering at this contrariety of sentiments.
The several clauses of the bill have relations and consequences so
different, that scarce any one man can approve them all; and in our
present deliberation, an objection to a particular clause is considered
as an argument against the whole bill.
It is, therefore, necessary, to prevent an unprofitable expense of time,
to resolve the house into a committee, in which the bill may be
considered by single clauses, and that part which cannot be defended may
be rejected, and that only retained which deserves our approbation. In
the committee, when we have considered the first clause, and heard the
objections against it, we may mend it; or, if it cannot be amended,
reject or postpone it, and so proceed through the whole bill with much
greater expedition, and at the same time, with a more diligent view of
every clause, than while we are obliged to take the whole at once into
our consideration.
I shall, for my part, approve some clauses, and make objections to
others; but think it proper to reserve my objections, and the reasons of
my approbation, for the committee into which we ought to go on this
occasion.
[The bill was referred to a committee, but not forty members staying in
the house, it was dropped.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 2, 1740-1.
DEBATE ON THE BILL FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND INCREASE OF SEAMEN.
The bill was ordered to be read the second time, and to be printed for
the use of the members, that it might be thoroughly examined and
understood.
On the forty-fourth day, the second reading of the bill was postponed to
the fiftieth; but the grand motion being debated on that day, nothing
else was heard.
On the fifty-first it was again put off; but
On the fifty-sixth day, being read a second time, it was, after some
opposition, referred to a committee of the whole house, to sit five days
after. In the meanwhile,
On the fifty-seventh, it was ordered that the proper officers do lay
before this house an account of what persons were authorized, by virtue
of the act in the 4th of queen Anne, for "the encouragement and increase
of seamen, and for the better and speedier manning her fleet;" to
conduct seamen or seafaring men taken upon privy searches made by
applications to justices; and what number of seamen or seafaring men
were returned; also, the charge attending the same.
On the sixty-first day, moved that the said account should be read;
which being done, the house resolved itself into a grand committee on
the present bill; and the first clause being read, proposing the blanks
to be filled thus: that every volunteer seamen, after five years'
service, be entitled to six pounds per year, during life.
Sir John BARNARD rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, as it is our duty to
provide laws, by which all frauds and oppressions may be punished, when
they are detected, we are no less obliged to obviate such practices as
shall make punishments necessary; nor are we only to facilitate the
detection, but take away, as far as it is possible, the opportunities of
guilt. It is to no purpose that punishments are threatened, if they can
be evaded, or that rewards are offered, if they may by any mean
artifices be withheld.
For this reason, sir, I think it necessary to observe, that the intent
of this clause, the most favourable and alluring clause in the bill, may
lose its effect by a practice not uncommon, by which any man, however
inclined to serve his country, may be defrauded of the right of a
volunteer.
Many men have voluntarily applied to the officers of ships of war, and
after having been rejected by them as unfit for the service, have been
dragged on board within a few days, perhaps within a few hours
afterwards, to undergo all the hardships, without the merit, of
volunteers.
When any man, sir, has been rejected by the sea officers, he ought to
have a certificate given him, which shall be an exemption from an
impress, that if any other commander shall judge more favourably of his
qualifications, he may always have the privilege of a volunteer, and be
entitled to the reward which he deserved, by his readiness to enter the
service.
If such provisions are not made, this hateful practice, a practice, sir,
common and notorious, and very discouraging to such as would enter the
service of the publick, may so far prevail, that no man shall be able to
denominate himself a volunteer, or claim the reward proposed by the
bill.
Admiral WAGER spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, it is not
common for men to receive injuries without applying for redress, when it
may certainly be obtained. If any proceedings like those which are now
complained of, had been mentioned at the board of admiralty, they had
been immediately censured and redressed; but as no such accusations were
offered, I think it may probably be concluded, that no such crimes have
been committed.
For what purpose oppressions of this kind should be practised, it is not
easy to conceive; for the officers are not at all rewarded for
impressing sailors. As, therefore, it is not probable that any man acts
wickedly or cruelly without temptation: as I have never heard any such
injury complained of by those that suffered it, I cannot but imagine,
that it is one of those reports which arise from mistake, or are forged
by malice, to injure the officers, and obstruct the service.
Lord BALTIMORE rose next, and spoke to the following effect:--That the
practice now complained of, sir, is very frequent, and, whatever may be
the temptation to it, such as every day produces some instances of, I
have reasons for asserting with great confidence. I have, within these
few days, as I was accidentally upon the river, informed myself of two
watermen ignominiously dragged by force into the service to which they
had voluntarily offered themselves a few days before. The reasons of
such oppression, it is the business of those gentlemen to inquire, whom
his majesty intrusts with the care of his fleet; but to interrupt the
course of wickedness, to hinder it from frustrating the rewards offered
by the publick, is the province of the representatives of the people.
And I hope, sir, some proviso will be made in this case.
Admiral NORRIS rose and said:--Sir, if any such practices had been
frequent, to what can it be imputed, that those who employ their lives
in maritime business should be strangers to them? Why have no complaints
been made by those that have been injured? Or why should officers expose
themselves to the hazard of censure without advantage? I cannot
discover why these hardships should be inflicted, nor how they could
have been concealed, and, therefore, think the officers of the navy may
be cleared from the imputation, without farther inquiry.
Sir John BARNARD spoke again, to the following purpose:--Sir, it is in
vain that objections are made, if the facts upon which they are founded
may be denied at pleasure: nothing is more easy than to deny, because
proofs are not required of a negative. But as negatives require no
proof, so they have no authority, nor can any consequence be deduced
from them. I might, therefore, suffer the facts to remain in their
present state, asserted on one side by those that have reasons to
believe them, and doubted on the other without reasons; for surely he
cannot be said to reason, who questions an assertion only because he
does not know it to be true.
But as every question, by which the liberty of a Briton may be affected,
is of importance sufficient to require that no evidence should be
suppressed by which it may be cleared, I cannot but think it proper that
a committee should be formed to examine the conduct of the officers in
this particular; and in confidence of the veracity of those from whom I
received my information, I here promise to produce such evidence as
shall put an end to controversy and doubt.
If this is not granted, sir, the fact must stand recorded and allowed;
for to doubt, and refuse evidence, is a degree of prejudice and
obstinacy without example. Nor is this the only objection to the clause
before us, which appears very imperfect, with regard to the
qualifications specified as a title to the reward. The reward ought not
to be confined to those who shall hereafter be invited by the promise of
it to engage in the service, while those who entered into it without any
such prospect, are condemned to dangers and fatigues without a
recompense. Where merit is equal, the reward ought to be equal; and,
surely, where there is greater merit, the reward proposed by the senate,
as an encouragement to bravery, ought not to be less. To be excluded
from the advantages which others have obtained, only by avoiding the
service, cannot but depress the spirit of those whose zeal and courage
incited them, at the beginning of the war, to enter into the fleet; and
to deject those from whom we expect defence and honour, is neither
prudent nor just.
Nor is it, in my opinion, proper to offer the same reward
indiscriminately to all that shall accept it; rewards ought to be
proportioned to desert, and no man can justly be paid for what he cannot
perform; there ought, therefore, to be some distinction made between a
seaman by profession, one that has learned his art at the expense of
long experience, labour, and hazard, and a man who only enters the ship
because he is useless on land, and who can only incommode the sailors
till he has been instructed by them.
It appears, sir, to me, a considerable defect in our naval regulations,
that wages are not proportioned to ability; and I think it may not be
now unseasonably proposed, that sailors should be paid according to the
skill which they have acquired; a provision by which an emulation would
be raised among them, and that industry excited, which now languishes
for want of encouragement, and those capacities awakened which now
slumber in ignorance and sloth, from the despair of obtaining any
advantage by superiority of knowledge.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then rose, and spoke as follows:--That this charge,
sir, however positively urged, is generally unjust, the declarations of
these honourable gentlemen are sufficient to evince, since it is not
probable that the injured persons would not have found some friend to
have represented these hardships to the admiralty, and no such
representations could have been made without their knowledge.
Yet, sir, I am far from doubting that by accident, or, perhaps, by
malice, some men have been treated in this manner; for it is not in the
power of any administration to make all those honest or wise whom they
are obliged to employ; and when great affairs are depending, minute
circumstances cannot always be attended to. If the vigilance of those
who are intrusted with the chief direction of great numbers of
subordinate officers be such, that corrupt practices are not frequent,
and their justice such, that they are never unpunished when legally
detected, the most strict inquirer can expect no more. Power will
sometimes be abused, and punishment sometimes be escaped.
It is, sir, easy to be conceived that a report may become general,
though the practice be very rare. The fact is multiplied as often as it
is related, and every man who hears the same story twice, imagines that
it is told of different persons, and exclaims against the tyranny of the
officers of the navy.
But these, in my opinion, sir, are questions, if not remote from the
present affair, yet by no means essential to it. The question now before
us is, not what illegalities have been committed in the execution of
impresses, but how impresses themselves may become less necessary? how
the nation may be secured without injury to individuals? and how the
fleet may be manned with less detriment to commerce?
Sir, the reward now proposed is intended to excite men to enter the
service without compulsion; and if this expedient be not approved,
another ought to be suggested: for I hope gentlemen are united in their
endeavours to find out some method of security to the publick, and do
not obstruct the proceedings of the committee, that when the fleets lie
inactive and useless, they may have an opportunity to reproach the
ministry.
Admiral NORRIS spoke next, in substance:--Sir, though it is not
necessary to enter into an accurate examination of the gentleman's
proposal, yet I cannot but observe, that by making it, he discovers
himself unacquainted with the disposition of seamen, among whom nothing
raises so much discontent as the suspicion of partiality. Should one
man, in the same rank, receive larger wages than another, he who thought
himself injured, as he who is paid less will always think, would be so
far from exerting his abilities to attain an equality with his
associate, that he would probably never be prevailed on to lay his hand
upon the tackling, but would sit sullen, or work perversely, though the
ship were labouring in a storm, or sinking in a battle.
Mr. GORE then spoke as follows:--Sir, the danger of introducing
distinctions among men in the same rank, where every man that imagines
his merit neglected, may have an opportunity of resenting the injury,
is, doubtless, such as no prudent commander will venture to incur.
Every man, in this case, becomes the judge of his own merit; and as he
will always discover some reason for the preference of another very
different from superiority of desert, he will, by consequence, be either
enraged or dispirited, will either resolve to desert his commander, or
betray him to the enemies, or not oppose them.
I remember, sir, though imperfectly, a story which I heard in my
travels, of an army in which some troops received a penny a day less
than the rest; a parsimony which cost dear in the day of battle; for the
disgusted troops laid down their arms before the enemy, and suffered
their general to be cut in pieces.
General WADE then spoke to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but concur with
the honourable gentleman in his opinion, that those who are already
engaged in the service, who have borne the fatigues of a long voyage,
and perhaps are, at this hour, exposing their lives in battle to defend
the rights of their country, ought to have the same claim to the reward
proposed, with those who shall hereafter offer themselves. Nor, in my
opinion, ought those who have hitherto been pressed into our fleets to
be discouraged from their duty by an exclusion from the same advantage.
For if they were compelled to serve in the fleet, they were compelled
when there was not this encouragement for volunteers, which, perhaps,
they would have accepted if it had been then proposed, Every man, at
least, will allege, that he would have accepted it, and complain he
suffers only by the fault of the government; a government which he will
not be very zealous to defend, while he is considered with less regard
than others, from whom no greater services are expected.
A prospect of new rewards, sir, will add new alacrity to all the forces,
and an equal distribution of favour will secure an unshaken and
inviolable fidelity. Nothing but union can produce success, and nothing
can secure union but impartiality and justice.
Mr. SANDYS rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, the efficacy of rewards,
and the necessity of an impartial distribution, are no unfruitful
subjects for rhetorick; but it may, perhaps, be more useful at present
to consider, with such a degree of attention as the question must be
acknowledged to deserve, to whom these rewards are to be paid, and from
what fund they are expected to arise.
With regard to those who are to claim the reward, sir, they seem very
negligently specified; for they are distinguished only by the character
of having served five years; a distinction unintelligible, without
explanation.
It is, I suppose, sir, the intent of the bill, that no man shall miss
the reward but by his own fault; and, therefore, it may be inquired,
what is to be the fate of him who shall be disabled in his first
adventure, whom in the first year, or month, of his service, an unlucky
shot shall confine for the remaining part of his life to inactivity: as
the bill is now formed, he must be miserable without a recompense; and
his wounds, which make him unable to support himself, will, though
received in defence of his country, entitle him to no support from the
publick.
Nor is this the only difficulty that may arise from the specifying of so
long a service; for how can any man that shall enter on board the fleet
be informed that the war will continue for five years? May we not all
justly hope, that alacrity, unanimity, and prudence, may, in a much
shorter time, reduce our enemies to beg for peace? And shall our sailors
lose the reward of their hazards and their labours, only because they
have been successful? What will this be less than making their bravery a
crime or folly, and punishing them for not protracting the war by
cowardice or treachery?
But let us suppose, sir, those defects supplied by a more explicit and
determinate specification; there will yet arise an objection far more
formidable; an objection, which the present state of our revenues will
not suffer to be answered. The consideration of the greatness of the
annual payment which this proposal requires, ought to incite every man
to employ all his sagacity in search of some other method, equally
efficacious, and less expensive.
We have already, sir, forty thousand seamen in our pay, to whom eight
thousand more are speedily to be added: when each of these shall demand
his stipend, a new burden of two hundred and eighty-eight thousand
pounds must be laid upon the nation; upon a nation, whose lands are
mortgaged, whose revenues are anticipated, and whose taxes cannot be
borne without murmurs, nor increased without sedition.
The nation has found, by experience, that taxes once imposed for just
reasons, and continued upon plausible pretences, till they are become
familiar, are afterwards continued upon motives less laudable, are too
productive of influence, and too instrumental towards facilitating the
measures of the ministry, to be ever willingly remitted.
Mr. BLADEN spoke next, as follows:--Sir, it is obvious, that when the
balance is unequal, it may be reduced to an equilibrium, as well by
taking weight out of one scale, as adding it to the other. The wages
offered by the merchants overbalance, at present, those which are
proposed by the crown; to raise the allowance in the ships of war, will
be, to lay new loads upon the publick, and will incommode the merchants,
whose wages must always bear the same proportion to the king's. The only
method, then, that remains, is to lighten the opposite scale, by
restraining the merchants from giving wages, in time of war, beyond a
certain value; for, as the service of the crown is then more immediately
necessarv to the general advantage than that of the merchants, it ought
to be made more gainful. Sailors, sir, are not, generally, men of very
extensive views; and, therefore, we cannot expect that they should
prefer the general good of their country before their own present
interest; a motive of such power, that even in men of curious
researches, refined sentiments, and generous education, we see, too
often, that it surmounts every other consideration.
Lord BALTIMORE then spoke again:--Sir, to the expedient which the
honourable gentleman who spoke last has suggested, and which he must be
confessed to have placed in the strongest light, many objections may be
raised, which I am afraid will not easily be removed.
The first, sir, which occurs to me on this short reflection is not less
than the impossibility of putting his scheme in execution. The
prescription of wages which he proposes, may be eluded by a thousand
artifices, by advanced money, by gratuitous acknowledgments, the payment
of money for pretended services, or by secret contracts, which it would
be the interest of both parties to conceal.
But if this objection could be surmounted by severity and vigilance,
would not this expedient help to defeat the general intention of the
bill? A bill not designed as an immediate resource, a mere temporary
project to supply our fleets for the present year, but as a method for
removing the only obstruction of the British power, the difficulty of
manning our ships of war.
It is, I hope, sir, the intention of every man who has offered his
sentiments on this occasion, to contrive some general encouragement for
seamen, which shall not only invite them to assist their country at the
first summons, but shall allure others to qualify themselves for the
publick service, by engaging in the same profession.
This is only to be done by making the condition of sailors less
miserable, by entitling them to privileges, and honouring them with
distinctions. But by limiting the merchant's wages, if such limitations
are, indeed, possible, though we may palliate the present distress, we
shall diminish the number of sailors, and thereby not only contract our
commerce but endanger our country.
Mr. TRACEY spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, I know not for
what reasons the present method of advancing rewards at entrance is
practised, of which, however specious it might appear, the success by no
means encourages the continuance. The sailors, though not a generation
of men much disposed to reflection, or qualified for ratiocination, are
not yet so void of thought as not easily to perceive that a small
increase of constant wages is of more value than several pounds to be
paid only at once, and which are squandered as soon as they are
received.
Instead, therefore, of restraining the wages of the merchants, it seems
probable, that by raising those of the king, we may man the fleet with
most expedition; and one method of raising the wages will be to suppress
the advanced money.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL spoke next:--Sir, if the sum of money now paid by
way of advance can be supposed to have any effect, if it can be imagined
that any number of seamen, however inconsiderable, are allured by it
into the fleet, it is more usefully employed than it can be supposed to
be when sunk into the current wages, and divided into small payments.
The advance money is only paid to those that enter: if no volunteers
present themselves, no money is paid, and the nation doth not suffer by
the offer: but if the wages are raised, the expense will be certain,
without the certainty of advantage; for those that enter voluntarily
into the fleet, will receive no more than those that are forced into it
by an impress; and therefore there will be no incitement to enter
without compulsion. Thus every other inconvenience will remain, with the
addition of a new burden to the nation; our forces will be maintained at
a greater expense, and not raised with less difficulty.
Lord BALTIMORE said:--Sir, I cannot but concur in opinion with the
honourable gentleman who spoke last, from my own acquaintance with the
sentiments and habits that unalterably prevail among those who have been
accustomed to the sea, a race of men to the last degree negligent of any
future events, and careless about any provision against distant evils;
men who have no thoughts at sea, but how to reach the land; nor at land,
but how to squander what they have gained at sea. To men like these, it
may easily be imagined that no encouragement is equal to the temptation
of present gain, and the opportunity of present pleasure.
Of this any man, sir, may convince himself, who shall talk to a crew but
half an hour; for he shall find few among them, who will not, for a
small sum of present money, sell any distant prospect of affluence or
happiness.
Whether I am mistaken in my opinion, the honourable members who have
long commanded in the naval service can easily determine, and I doubt
not but they will agree that no motive can be proposed to a sailor
equivalent to immediate reward.
Sir William YONGE spoke next:--Sir, that some distinction ought to be
made to the advantage of volunteers, if we intend to man our fleet
without compulsion, is obvious and incontestable; and to avoid the
necessity of compulsion ought to be the chief end of this bill; for
nothing can be less to the advantage of the nation, than to continue the
use of such ungrateful methods, and yet increase the publick expense.
We ought, therefore, in my opinion, to determine upon some peculiar
reward, either to be advanced upon their entrance into the service, or
paid at their dismission from it.
But as I see, sir, no reason for hoping that all the encouragement which
can be offered, will raise volunteers in a sufficient number to secure
our navigation, and assert our sovereignty, it seems not proper to
confine our consultations to this part of the bill; for since compulsion
is on many occasions apparently necessary, some method requires to be
considered, in which it may be legal.
What new power ought to be placed in the magistrate, for what time, and
with what restrictions, I am far from assuming the province of
determining; but that some measures must be taken for compelling those
who cannot be persuaded, and discovering those that will not offer
themselves, cannot admit of doubt; and as the magistrate is at present
without any authority for this purpose, it is evident that his power
must be extended, for the same reason as it was given in its present
degree--the general benefit of the whole community.
Sir John BARNARD then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, if the
intent of this bill be to enable one part of the nation to enslave the
other; if the plausible and inviting professions of encouraging and
increasing seamen, are to terminate in violence, constraint, and
oppression; it is unnecessary to dwell longer upon particular clauses.
The intention of the bill is detestable, and deserves not the ceremony
of debate, or the forms of common regard.
If a man, sir, is liable to be forced from the care of his own private
affairs, from his favourite schemes of life, from the engagements of
domestick tenderness, or the prospects of near advantage, and subjected,
without his consent, to the command of one whom he hates, or dreads, or
perhaps despises, it requires no long argument to show, that by whatever
authority he is thus treated, he is reduced to the condition of a slave,
to that abject, to that hateful state, which every Englishman has been
taught to avoid at the hazard of his life.
It is therefore evident, that a law which tends to confer such a power,
subverts our constitution as far as its effects extend; a constitution,
which was originally formed as a barrier against slavery, and which one
age after another has endeavoured to strengthen.
Such a power, therefore, in whatever hands it may be lodged, I shall
always oppose. It is dangerous, sir, to intrust any man with absolute
dominion, which is seldom known to be impartially exercised, and which
often makes those corrupt, and insolent, whom it finds benevolent and
honest.
The bill proposes only encouragement, and encouragement may be given by
his majesty, without a new law; let us, therefore, draw up an address,
and cease to debate, where there is no prospect of agreement.
Mr. WINNINGTON spoke as follows:--Sir, the payment of an annual salary
will, in my opinion, be to the last degree inconvenient and dangerous.
The yearly expense has been already estimated, and arises to a sum very
formidable in our present state. Nor is the necessity of adding to the
publick burden, a burden which already is hard to be borne, the only
objection to this proposal.
Nothing can more contribute to dispirit the nation, than to protract the
consequences of a war, and to make the calamity felt, when the pleasures
of victory and triumph have been forgotten; we shall be inclined rather
to bear oppression and insult than endeavour after redress, if we
subject ourselves and our posterity to endless exactions.
The expenses of the present provision for superannuated and disabled
sailors, is no inconsiderable tax upon the publick, which is not less
burdened by it for the manner of collecting it by a deduction from the
sailors' wages; for, whoever pays it immediately, it is the ultimate
gift of the nation, and the utmost that can be allowed for this purpose.
It must be confessed, sir, the persons entitled to the pension are not
sufficiently distinguished in the bill; by which, as it now stands, any
of the worthless superfluities of a ship, even the servants of the
captains, may, after five years, put in their demand, and plunder that
nation which they never served.
Nor do I think, sir, the efficacy of this method will bear any
proportion to the expense of it; for I am of opinion, that few of the
sailors will be much affected by the prospect of a future pension. I am,
therefore, for dazzling them with five pounds, to be given them at their
entrance, which will be but a single payment, and probably fill our
fleets with greater expedition, than methods which appear more refined,
and the effects of deeper meditation.
Lord GAGE spoke in the following manner:--Sir, nothing is more clear
than that a yearly pension will burden the nation, without any
advantage; and as it will give occasion to innumerable frauds, it is a
method which ought to be rejected.
As to the new power, sir, which is proposed to be placed in the hands of
the magistrates, it undoubtedly reduces every sailor to a state of
slavery, and is inconsistent with that natural right to liberty, which
is confirmed and secured by our constitution. The bill, therefore, is,
in my opinion, defective in all its parts, of a tendency generally
pernicious, and cannot be amended but by rejecting it.
Mr. Henry PELHAM spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but think it
necessary, that on this occasion, at least, gentlemen should remit the
ardour of disputation, and lay the arts of rhetorick aside; that they
should reserve their wit and their satire for questions of less
importance, and unite, for once, their endeavours, that this affair may
meet with no obstructions but from its natural difficulty.
We are now, sir, engaged in a war with a nation, if not of the first
rank in power, yet by no means contemptible in itself; and, by its
alliances, extremely formidable. We are exposed, by the course of our
trade, and the situation of our enemies, to many inevitable losses, and
have no means of preventing our merchants from being seized, without any
danger or expense to the Spaniards, but by covering the sea with our
squadrons.
Nor are we, sir, to satisfy ourselves with barely defeating the designs
of the Spaniards; our honour demands that we should force them to peace
upon advantageous terms; that we should not repulse, but attack them;
not only preserve our own trade and possessions, but endanger theirs.
It is by no means certain, sir, that in the prosecution of these designs
we shall not be interrupted by the interest or jealousy of a nation far
more powerful, whose forces we ought, therefore, to be able to resist.
A vigorous exertion of our strength will probably either intimidate any
other power that may be inclined to attack us, or enable us to repel the
injuries that shall be offered: discord and delay can only confirm our
open enemies in their obstinacy, and animate those that have hitherto
concealed their malignity to declare against us.
It is, therefore, sir, in no degree prudent to aggravate the
inconveniencies of the measures proposed for accomplishing what every
man seems equally to desire; to declaim against the expedients offered
in the bill as pernicious, unjust, and oppressive, contributes very
little to the production of better means. That our affairs will not
admit of long suspense, and that the present methods of raising seamen
are not effectual, is universally allowed; it, therefore, evidently
follows, sir, that some other must be speedily struck out.
I think it necessary to propose, that the house be resolved into a
committee to-morrow morning; and hope all that shall assemble on this
occasion, will bring with them no other passion than zeal for their
country.
[The speaker having taken the chair, the chairman of the committee
reported, that they had made some progress; and desiring leave to sit
again, it was resolved to go into the committee again on the morrow.]
MARCH 4, 1740-1.
On the sixty-second day the affair was put off; but on the sixty-third,
the house resolving itself into a committee, a clause was offered, by
which five pounds were proposed to be advanced to an able seaman, and
three pounds to every other man that should enter voluntarily into his
majesty's service, after twenty days, and within sixty.
After which, Mr. WINNINGTON spoke as follows:--Sir, this is a clause in
which no opposition can be apprehended, as those gentlemen who declared
their disapprobation of the former, were almost unanimous in proposing
this expedient, as the least expensive, and the most likely to succeed.
The time for the reception of volunteers upon this condition, is, sir,
in my opinion, judiciously determined. If it was extended to a greater
length, or left uncertain, the reward would lose its efficacy, the
sailors would neglect that which they might accept at any time, and
would only have recourse to the ships of war when they could find no
other employment.
Yet I cannot conceal my apprehensions, that this bounty will not alone
be sufficient to man our fleets with proper expedition; and that as
allurements may be useful on one hand, force will be found necessary on
the other; that the sailors may not only be incited to engage in the
service by the hopes of a reward, but by the fear of having their
negligence to accept it punished, by being compelled into the same
service, and forfeiting their claim by staying to be compelled.
Lord BALTIMORE then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, to the reward
proposed in this clause, I have declared in the former conference on
this bill, that I have no objection, and, therefore, have no amendment
to propose, except with regard to the time limited for the payment.
As our need of seamen, sir, is immediate, why should not a law for their
encouragement immediately operate? What advantage can arise from
delays? Or why is not that proper to be advanced now, that will be
proper in twenty days? That all the time between the enaction and
operation of this law must be lost, is evident; for who will enter for
two pounds, that may gain five by withholding himself from the service
twenty days longer?
Nor do I think the time now limited sufficient; many sailors who are now
in the service of the merchants, may not return soon enough to lay claim
to the bounty, who would gladly accept it, and who will either not serve
the crown without it, or will serve with disgust and complaints; as the
loss of it cannot be imputed to their backwardness, but to an accident
against which they could not provide.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:--Sir, though I think the time now fixed by the
bill sufficient, as I hope that our present exigency will be but of
short continuance, and that we shall soon be able to raise naval forces
at a cheaper rate, yet as the reasons alleged for an alteration of the
time may appear to others of more weight than to me, I shall not oppose
the amendment.
Sir John BARNARD next rose, and said:--Sir, with regard to the duration
of the time fixed for the advancement of this bounty, we may have
leisure to deliberate; but surely it must be readily granted by those
who have expatiated so copiously upon the present exigencies of our
affairs, that it ought immediately to commence. And if this be the
general determination of the house, nothing can be more proper than to
address his majesty to offer, by proclamation, an advance of five
pounds, instead of two, which have been hitherto given; that while we
are concerting other measures for the advantage of our country, those in
which we have already concurred may be put in execution.
Mr. PULTENEY rose up next, and spoke as follows:--Sir, I take this
opportunity to lay before the house a grievance which very much retards
the equipment of our fleets, and which must be redressed before any
measures for reconciling the sailors to the publick service can be
pursued with the least probability of success.
Observation, sir, has informed me, that to remove the detestation of the
king's service, it is not necessary to raise the wages of the seamen; it
is necessary only to secure them; it is necessary to destroy those
hateful insects that fatten in idleness and debauchery upon the gains of
the industrious and honest.
When a sailor, sir, after the fatigues and hazards of a long voyage,
brings his ticket to the pay-office, and demands his wages, the
despicable wretch to whom he is obliged to apply, looks upon his ticket
with an air of importance, acknowledges his right, and demands a reward
for present payment; with this demand, however exorbitant, the
necessities of his family oblige him to comply.
In this manner, sir, are the wives of the sailors also treated when they
come to receive the pay of their husbands; women, distressed,
friendless, and unsupported; they are obliged to endure every insult,
and to yield to every oppression. And to such a height do these
merciless exacters raise their extortions, that sometimes a third part
of the wages is deducted.
Thus, sir, do the vilest, the meanest of mankind, plunder those who have
the highest claim to the esteem, the gratitude, and the protection of
their country. This is the hardship which withholds the sailors from our
navies, and forces them to seek for kinder treatment in other countries.
This hardship, sir, both justice and prudence call upon us to remedy;
and while we neglect it, all our deliberations will be ineffectual.
Mr. SOUTHWELL then spoke to this effect:--Sir, of the hardships
mentioned by the honourable gentleman who spoke last, I have myself
known an instance too remarkable not to be mentioned. A sailor in
Ireland, after his voyage, met with so much difficulty in obtaining his
wages, that he was at length reduced to the necessity of submitting to
the reduction of near a sixth part. Such are the grievances with which
those are oppressed, upon whom the power, security, and happiness of the
nation are acknowledged to depend.
Sir Robert WALPOLE, the prime minister, then rose, and spoke as
follows:--Sir, it is not without surprise that I hear the disgust of the
sailors ascribed to any irregularity in the payment of their wages,
which were never, in any former reign, so punctually discharged. They
receive, at present, twelve months' pay in eighteen months, without
deduction; so that there are never more than six months for which any
demand remains unsatisfied.
But, sir, the punctuality of the payment has produced of late great
inconveniencies; for there has been frequently a necessity of removing
men from one ship to another; and it is the stated rule of the
pay-office, to assign every man so removed his full pay. These men, when
the government is no longer indebted to them, take the first opportunity
of deserting the service, and engaging in business to which they are
more inclined.
This is not a chimerical complaint, founded upon rare instances, and
produced only to counterbalance an objection; the fact and the
consequences are well known; so well, that near fourteen hundred sailors
are computed to have been lost by this practice.
The PRESIDENT of the commons, who always in a committee takes his seat
as another member, rose here, and spoke to the following effect, his
honour being paymaster of the navy:--Mr. Chairman, the nature of the
employment with which I am intrusted makes it my duty to endeavour that
this question may be clearly understood, and the condition of the
seamen, with regard to the reception of their pay, justly represented.
I have not been able to discover that any sailor, upon producing his
ticket, was ever obliged to submit to the deduction of any part of his
wages, nor should any clerk or officer under my inspection, escape, for
such oppression, the severest punishment and most publick censure: I
would give him up to the law without reserve, and mark him as infamous,
and unworthy of any trust or employment.
But there are extortions, sir, by which those unhappy men, after having
served their country with honesty and courage, are deprived of their
lawful gains of diligence and labour. There are men to whom it is usual
amongst the sailors to mortgage their pay before it becomes due, who
never advance their money but upon such terms as cannot be mentioned
without indignation. These men advance the sum which is stipulated, and
by virtue of a letter of attorney are reimbursed at the pay-office.
This corruption is, I fear, not confined to particular places, but has
spread even to America, where, as in his own country, the poor sailor is
seduced, by the temptation of present money, to sell his labour to
extortioners and usurers.
I appeal to the gentleman, whether the instance which he mentioned was
not of this kind. I appeal to him without apprehension of receiving an
answer that can tend to invalidate what I have asserted.
This, sir, is, indeed, a grievance pernicious and oppressive, which no
endeavours of mine shall be deficient in attempting to remove; for by
this the sailor is condemned, notwithstanding his industry and success,
to perpetual poverty, and to labour only for the benefit of his
plunderer.
[The clauses were then read, "empowering the justices of the peace, etc.
to issue warrants to the constables, etc. to make general privy
searches, by day or night, for finding out and securing such seamen and
seafaring men as lie hid or conceal themselves; and making it lawful for
the officers appointed to make such searches, to force open the doors of
any house, where they shall _suspect_ such seamen to be concealed, if
entrance be not readily admitted; and for punishing those who shall
harbour or conceal any seaman."]
Sir John BARNARD upon this rose up, and spoke to the following
effect:--Mr. Chairman, we have been hitherto deliberating upon
questions, in which diversity of opinions might naturally be expected,
and in which every man might indulge his own opinion, whatever it might
be, without any dangerous consequences to the publick. But the clauses
now before us are of a different kind; clauses which cannot be read
without astonishment and indignation, nor defended without betraying the
liberty of the best, the bravest, and most useful of our
fellow-subjects.
If these clauses, sir, should pass into a law, a sailor and a slave will
become terms of the same signification. Every man who has devoted
himself to the most useful profession, and most dangerous service of his
country, will see himself deprived of every advantage which he has
laboured to obtain, and made the mere passive property of those who live
in security by his valour, and owe to his labour that affluence which
hardens them to insensibility, and that pride that swells them to
ingratitude.
Why must the sailors alone, sir, be marked out from all the other orders
of men for ignominy and misery? Why must they be ranked with the enemies
of society, stopped like vagabonds, and pursued like the thief and the
murderer by publick officers? How or when have they forfeited the common
privilege of human nature, or the general protection of the laws of
their country? If it is a just maxim, sir, that he who contributes most
to the welfare of the publick, deserves most to be protected in the
enjoyment of his private right or fortune; a principle which surely will
not be controverted; where is the man that dares stand forth and assert,
that he has juster claims than the brave, the honest, the diligent
sailor?
I am extremely unwilling, sir, to engage in so invidious an undertaking
as the comparison of the harmless, inoffensive, resolute sailor, with
those who think themselves entitled to treat him with contempt, to
overlook his merit, invade his liberty, and laugh at his remonstrances.
Nor is it, sir, necessary to dwell upon the peculiar merit of this body
of men; it is sufficient that they have the same claims, founded upon
the same reasons with our own, that they have never forfeited them by
any crime, and, therefore, that they cannot be taken away without the
most flagrant violation of the laws of nature, of reason, and of our
country.
Let us consider the present condition of a sailor, let us reflect a
little upon the calamities to which custom, though not law, has already
made him subject, and it will surely not be thought that his unhappiness
needs any aggravation.
He is already exposed to be forced, upon his return from a tedious
voyage, into new hardships, without the intermission of a day, and
without the sight of his family; he is liable, after a contract for a
pleasing and gainful voyage, to be hurried away from his prospects of
interest, and condemned amidst oppression and insolence, to labour and
to danger, almost without the possibility of a recompense. He has
neither the privilege of choosing his commander, nor of leaving him when
he is defrauded and oppressed.
These, sir, I say, are the calamities to which he is now subject, but
there is now a possibility of escaping them. He is not yet deprived of
the right of resistance, or the power of flight; he may now retire to
his friend, and be protected by him; he may take shelter in his own
cottage, and treat any man as a robber, that shall attempt to force his
doors.
When any crews are returning home in time of war, they are acquainted
with the dangers of an impress, but they comfort themselves with
contriving stratagems to elude it, or with the prospect of obtaining an
exemption from it by the favour of their friends; prospects which are
often deceitful, and stratagems frequently defeated, but which yet
support their spirits, and animate their industry.
But if this bill, sir, should become a law, the sailor, instead of
amusing himself on his return with the prospects of ease, or of
pleasure, will consider his country as a place of slavery, a residence
less to be desired than any other part of the world. He will probably
seek, in the service of some foreign prince, a kinder treatment; and
will not fail, in any country but his own, to see himself, at least, on
a level with other men.
Nor will this bill, sir, only give the seamen new reasons of disgust,
but it will tend, likewise, to aggravate those grievances, which already
have produced a detestation of the publick service, scarcely to be
conquered.
The officers of the navy, sir, will hardly be made less insolent by an
increase of power; they whose tyranny has already alienated their
fellow-subjects from the king's service, though they could only depend
upon the character of probity and moderation for the prospect of manning
their ships in succeeding expeditions, will probably, when they are
animated by a law like this, and made absolute both by land and sea,
indulge themselves in the enjoyment of their new authority, contrive new
hardships and oppressions, and tyrannise without fear and without mercy.
Thus, sir, will the bill not only be tyrannical in itself, but the
parent of tyranny; it will give security to the cruel, and confidence to
the arrogant.
That any man, at least any man bred from his infancy to change his
residence, and accustomed to different climates and to foreign nations,
will fix by choice in that country where he finds the worst reception,
is hardly to be imagined. We see indeed, that men unqualified to support
themselves in other countries, or who have, by long custom, contracted a
fondness for particular methods of life, will bear very uncomfortable
circumstances, without endeavouring to improve their conditions by a
change of their habitations. But the temper of a sailor, acquainted with
all parts, and indifferent to all, is of another kind. Such, sir, is his
love of change, arising either from wantonness, or curiosity, that he is
hard to be retained by the kindest treatment and most liberal rewards;
and will, therefore, never struggle with his habitual dispositions, only
to continue in a state of slavery.
I think it, therefore, sir, very evident that this new method of
_encouraging_ sailors will be so far from _increasing_ them, that it may
probably drive them out of the empire, and at once ruin our trade and
our navy; at once beggar and disarm us.
Let me now suppose, sir, for a moment, the bill less pernicious in its
consequences, and consider only the difficulties of executing it. Every
seafaring man is to be seized, at pleasure, by the magistrate; but what
definition is given of a seafaring man? Or by what characteristick is
the magistrate to distinguish him? I have never been able to discover
any peculiarities in the form of a seaman that mark him out from the
rest of the species. There is, indeed, less servility in his air, and
less effeminacy in his face, than in those that are commonly to be seen
in drawing-rooms, in brothels, and at reviews; but I know not that a
seaman can be distinguished from any other man of equal industry or use,
who has never enervated himself by vice, nor polished himself into
corruption. So that this bill, sir, if it shall pass into a law, will
put it at once in the power of the magistrate to dispose of seamen at
his pleasure, and to term whom he pleases a seaman.
Another expedient, sir, has been offered on this occasion, not equally
tyrannical, but equally inadequate to the end in view. It is proposed to
restrain the merchants from giving wages beyond a certain rate, on the
supposition that the sailors have no motive but that of larger wages, to
prefer the service of the merchants to that of the crown.
This, sir, is a mistake which might easily arise from a partial and
imperfect knowledge of the affair, with which very few gentlemen have
opportunities of being well acquainted. The wages, sir, are the smallest
inducements which fix the seamen in their choice. The prospect of kinder
treatment, the certainty of returning home in a fixed time, and the
power of choosing what voyages they will undertake, cannot but be
acknowledged very reasonable motives of preference.
On the contrary, sir, when they are once engaged in a ship of war, they
know neither whither they are going, what dangers they shall encounter,
what hardships they shall suffer, nor when they shall be dismissed.
Besides, sir, I do not think it possible by any law to limit the wages
to be paid by merchants, since they will change the term of wages into
that of a present, or admit the sailors to a small share in the freight,
and so all the precaution we can take will become ineffectual.
In the mean time, sir, how much shall we embarrass our own commerce, and
impair our natural strength--the power of our fleets? We shall terrify
our sailors on the one hand, and endeavour to starve them on the other;
we shall not only drive them from us by unheard-of severities, but take
away every motive that can induce them to expose themselves to the
danger of suffering them.
If we consider, sir, with what effect methods nearly approaching these
were practised in the reign of the late queen, we shall find that not
more than one thousand five hundred seamen were raised, and those at the
expense of more than four thousand pounds; so that the effects bore no
proportion to the means; our laws were infringed, and our constitution
violated to no purpose.
But what reason, sir, can be assigned for which it must be more
difficult to supply the fleet now with sailors than at any other time?
This war, sir, was demanded by the publick voice, in pursuance of the
particular remonstrances of the merchants, and it is not to be supposed
that the sailors or any other body of men engage in it with a particular
reluctance.
I am, therefore, inclined to believe that the suspicion of great numbers
hid in the country, at a distance from the coast, is merely chimerical;
and that if we should pass this bill, we should do nothing more than
grant an oppressive and unconstitutional power of search for what, in
reality, is not to be found.
How oppressive this power may become in the hands of a corrupt or
insolent magistrate, any man may discover, who remembers that the
magistrate is made judge without appeal, of his own right to denominate
any man a sailor, and that he may break open any man's doors at any
time, without alleging any other reason than his own suspicion; so that
no man can secure his house from being searched, or, perhaps, his person
from being seized.
It may, indeed, be alleged, sir, that this will be only a temporary law,
and is to cease with the exigence that made it necessary: but long
experience has informed us, that severe laws are enacted more readily
than they are repealed; and that most men are too fond of power to
suffer willingly the diminution of it.
But, sir, though this law should not be perpetuated, every precedent of
an infringement of our constitution, makes way for its dissolution; and
the very cessation of an oppressive law, may be a plea, hereafter, for
the revival of it.
This bill, therefore, must be confessed to be at once violent and
ineffectual; to be a transgression of the laws of justice to particular
men, without any prospect of real benefit to the community; and,
therefore, cannot be passed without deviating at once from prudence and
our constitution.
Captain CORNWALL then rose, and spoke to this effect:--I have observed,
sir, that every man is apt to think himself ill treated, who is not
treated according to his own opinion of his deserts, and will endeavour
to diffuse his own notion of the partiality and tyranny of the naval
officers; general clamours, therefore, are little to be regarded.
I have had, from my early years, a command in the sea service, and can
assert, that I never knew more than one instance of injustice, and that
was punished with the severity which it deserved.
The PRIME MINISTER rose next, and spoke to this effect:--Mr. Chairman,
it is with uncommon satisfaction that I see every clause of this bill
regularly debated, without unbecoming impatience, or passionate
exclamations. I am willing to collect from this conduct, that the
disposition of every gentleman is, on this occasion, the same with my
own; and that every expedient here proposed will be diligently examined,
and either be seriously approved, or be calmly rejected.
Such coolness and impartiality, sir, is certainly required by the
importance of the present question; a question which cannot but
influence the prosperity of the nation for many years.
It is not necessary to remind any gentleman of the importance of our
trade, of the power of the enemy against whom we have declared war in
defence of it, or of the necessity of showing the world that our
declarations of war are not empty noises, or farces of resentment. But
it may be proper, sir, to remark, that this is not the only enemy, nor
the most powerful, whose attempts we have reason to provide against, and
who may oblige us to exert our whole power, and practise every expedient
to increase our forces.
The war has been, hitherto, prosecuted with the utmost vigour, with all
the attention that its importance requires, and with success not
disproportioned to our preparations; nor will it ever be suffered to
languish, if the powers necessary for carrying it on are not denied.
Nothing is more evident, sir, than that the natural power of the nation
consists in its fleets, which are now, by the care of the government, so
numerous, that the united power of many nations cannot equal them. But
what are fleets unfurnished with men? How will they maintain the
dominion of the sea, by lying unactive in our harbours?
That no methods, hitherto used, have been sufficient to man our navies,
and that our preparations have, therefore, been little more than an
expensive show of war, the whole nation is sufficiently informed; it is,
therefore, not doubtful that some new measures must be taken; whether
any better can be suggested than are offered in this bill, must be
inquired.
With regard, sir, to the clause now under our consideration, it is to be
remembered, that little more is proposed by it, than to add the sanction
of legality to a power which has long been exercised by the admiralty,
without any other authority than that of long prescription, the power of
issuing warrants of impress upon emergent occasions, by which sailors
are forced into the publick service.
This power, in its present state, must be allowed to have no foundation
in any law, and, by consequence, to be unlimited, arbitrary, and easily
abused, and, upon the whole, to be justifiable only by necessity: but
that necessity is so frequent, that it is often exercised, and,
therefore, ought to be regulated by the legislature; and by making such
regulations, we may rather be said to remove than introduce a grievance.
The power of searching for sailors, however it has been represented, is
far from setting them on a level with felons, murderers, or vagabonds;
or, indeed, from distinguishing them, to their disadvantage, from the
rest of the community, of which every individual is obliged to support
the government.
Those that possess estates, or carry on trades, transfer part of their
property to the publick; and those ought, by parity of reason, to serve
the publick in person, that have no property to transfer. Every man is
secured by the constitution in the enjoyment of his life, his liberty,
or his fortune; and, therefore, every man ought reciprocally to defend
the constitution to which he is himself indebted for safety and
protection.
I am, therefore, sir, unable to discover in what consists the hardship
of a law by which no new duties are enjoined, nor any thing required,
which is not already every man's duty. Every man, indeed, who is
desirous of evading the performance of any of the duties of society,
will consider every compulsion as a hardship, by which he is obliged to
contribute to the general happiness; but his murmurs will prove nothing
but his own folly and ingratitude, and will certainly deserve no regard
from the legislative power.
There is in the bill before us, sir, encouragement sufficient for
volunteers, and an offer of greater rewards than some gentlemen think
consistent with the present state of the national revenues; and what
remains to be done with respect to those who are deaf to all
invitations, and blind to all offers of advantage? Are they to sit at
ease only because they are idle, or to be distinguished with indulgence
only for want of deserving it?
It seems generally granted, sir, that such drones are the proper objects
of an impress. Let us then suppose that every man who is willing to
serve his country, has laid hold of the reward proposed, and entered a
volunteer. The fleets are not yet sufficiently manned, and more sailors
must be procured. Warrants are issued out in the common form. The
negligent, the imprudent, the necessitous, are taken. The vigilant, the
cunning, and those that have more money, find shelter and escape. Can it
be said, that those whose circumstances, or good fortune, enable them to
secure themselves from the officers of the impress, deserve any
exemption from the publick service, or from the hardships to which their
companions are exposed? Have they discharged their debt of gratitude to
the publick so effectually by running away from its service, that no
search ought to be made after them? It seems evident, that if it was
right to seize the one, it is likewise right to pursue the other; and if
it be right to pursue him, it is likewise right to hinder him from
escaping the pursuers. It is then right to vest some persons with the
power of apprehending him, and in whom is that power to be lodged, but
in the civil magistrate?
Every man, sir, is obliged by compulsive methods to serve his country,
if he can be prevailed upon by no other. If any man shall refuse to pay
his rates or his taxes, will not his goods be seized by force, and sold
before his face? If any particular methods are proposed for obliging
seamen to contribute to the publick safety, it is only because their
service is necessary upon more pressing occasions than that of others;
upon occasions which do not admit of delay, without the hazard of the
whole community.
I must confess, sir, there are instances in which the hardships of the
seafaring part of the nation are peculiar, and truly calamitous. A
sailor, after the dangers and toils of a long voyage, when he is now in
the sight of the port, where he hopes to enjoy that quiet which he has
deserved by so long a series of fatigues, to repair the injuries which
his health has suffered, by change of climate, and the diet of the
ships, and to recover that strength which incessant vigilance has worn
away; when he is in expectation of being received by his family with
those caresses, which the succours that he brings them naturally
produce, and designs to rest awhile from danger and from care; in the
midst of these pleasing views, he is, on the sudden, seized by an
impress, and forced into a repetition of all his miseries, without any
interval of refreshment.
Let no man who can think without compassion on such a scene as this,
boast his zeal for freedom, his regard for bravery, or his gratitude to
those who contribute to the wealth and power of their country; let every
man who declares himself touched with the pity which the slightest
reflection upon such a disappointment must naturally produce, sincerely
endeavour to obviate the necessity of such oppressive measures, which
may, at least in part, be prevented, by assigning to magistrates the
power of hunting out of their retreats, those who neglect the business
of their callings, and linger at once in laziness and want.
There are great numbers who retire not from weariness but idleness, or
an unreasonable prepossession against the publick service; and, surely,
nothing is more unreasonable, than that bad dispositions should be
gratified, and that industry should expose any man to penalties.
Upon the whole, sir, I am not able to discover, that any man should be
exempted from an impress merely because he finds means to escape it, or
because idleness or disinclination to the publick service prompts him to
abscond.
If any men deserve indulgence, in opposition to the demands of the
publick, they are rather those who have already, in some degree,
discharged their duty to it, by contributing to bring in that wealth
which is the consequence of a prosperous and well-regulated commerce,
and without which war cannot be supported.
It is not without grief and regret, that I am obliged to represent, on
this occasion, the obstructions which the war has suffered from those at
whose request it was undertaken; and to declare, that the conduct of the
merchants, has afforded proof that some law of this tendency is
absolutely necessary.
The merchants, sir, who have so loudly complained of the decline of
trade, the interruption of navigation, and the insolence, rapacity, and
cruelty of the Spaniards; the merchants, who filled the nation with
representations of their hardships, discouragements, and miseries, and
lamented in the most publick manner, that they were the only body for
whom the legislature had no regard, who were abandoned to the caprice of
other nations, were plundered abroad, and neglected at home; the
merchants, after having at length by their importunities engaged the
state in a war, of which they have themselves certainly not the least
pretensions to question either the justice or necessity, now, when by
the natural consequences of a naval armament, sailors become less
numerous, and ships more difficult to be equipped, contract in private
with such sailors as they are inclined to employ, and conceal them in
garrets, hired for that purpose, till the freight is ready, or the
danger of an impress is past, and thus secure their own private affairs
at the hazard of the publick, and hinder the operations of a war, which
they, and they only, solicited.
The danger of having other enemies than the Spaniards, enemies, sir,
more active, more powerful, and more ambitious, has already been
mentioned; a danger so near, and so formidable, that he will not be
thought very solicitous for his country, whom the bare mention of it
does not alarm. This danger we are, therefore, to obviate by vigorous
preparations, and unanimous resolutions; nor do I doubt but both our
enemies, if they find us united, will repent of attacking us.
Sir, the most efficacious method of manning our fleets, which law or
custom has yet put into our hands, is that of suspending our commerce by
an embargo; and yet the whole nation knows how much, and by what means,
it has been eluded: no sooner was it known that an embargo was laid,
than the sailors flew away into the country, or hid themselves in
corners of this great city, as from the most formidable danger; and no
sooner did the embargo cease, than the banks of the river were again
crowded with sailors, and all the trading vessels were immediately
supplied.
As I cannot doubt, sir, that every gentleman is equally zealous for the
success of the war, and the prosperity of his country; and as the
insufficiency of the present methods of providing for them is apparent,
I hope, that either the regulations proposed by this bill, to which I
see no important objections, or some other of equal use, will be
established by a general concurrence.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke next:--Though no gentleman in this assembly, sir,
can more ardently wish the success of the British arms, or shall more
willingly concur in any measure that may promote it, yet I cannot agree
to the clause now under our consideration; I disapprove it both from
moral and political motives; I disapprove it as neither just nor
prudent.
The injustice of so flagrant an invasion of the liberty of particular
men has been already exposed; nor is it, in my opinion, less easy to
discover the imprudence of exhausting all our supplies at once, and
sweeping away all our sailors, to supply a single exigency.
It has often been remarked, sir, in favour of a standing army, that it
is requisite to have a number of regular forces, who, though too weak to
oppose an invasion, might be able to establish discipline in a larger
body. An observation which may, with much greater justness, be applied
to the seamen, whose art is much more difficult to be attained, and who
are equally necessary in war and peace.
If our stock of seamen, sir, be destroyed, if there is not left in our
trading vessels a sufficient number of experienced artists to initiate
novices, and propagate the profession, not only our ships of war must
lie useless, but our commerce sink to nothing.
Nor have I reason to believe the naval power of France so formidable, as
that we ought to be terrified by the apprehensions of it into any
extraordinary methods of procedure. I am informed that they have now
very few ships of force left in their harbours; and that they have
exerted their whole strength in the American fleet.
I am not, therefore, sir, for providing against present dangers, without
regard to our future security; and think nothing more worthy of the
consideration of this assembly, than the means of encouraging and
increasing our seamen, which will not be effected by the bill before us.
Land forces may be hired upon emergencies; but sailors are our own
peculiar strength, and the growth of our own soil; we are, therefore,
above all other regards, to attend, if I may use the term, to the
preservation of the species.
Mr. VYNER next spoke:--Mr. Chairman, as there can be no stronger
objection to any law than ambiguity, or indeterminate latitude of
meaning, I think it necessary to propose, that some word of known and
limited import, be substituted in the place of _seafaring men_; an
expression which, if I was asked the meaning of it, I should find it
difficult to explain.
Are _seafaring_ men those only who navigate in the _sea_? The term is
then superfluous, for all such are evidently comprised in the word
_seamen_. Are they bargemen or watermen, who ply on rivers and transport
provision or commodities from one inland town to another? In that sense
nobody will affirm that it is a proper word; and impropriety in the
expression of laws, produces uncertainty in the execution of them.
Captain CORNWALL rose up:--Sir, the term _seafaring men_, of which an
explication is desired, is intended to include all those who live by
conveying goods or passengers upon the water, whether the sea or inland
rivers: nor can we restrain it to a narrower sense, without exempting
from the publick service great numbers, whose manner of life has
qualified them for it, and from whom their country may, with equal
justice, expect assistance, as from those who are engaged in foreign
traffick.
Mr. VYNER replied:--Sir, I am far from concurring with the honourable
gentleman in his opinion, that the inland watermen are, by their
profession, in any degree qualified for sea service, or can properly be
called _seafaring men_.
All qualifications for the service must consist either in some knowledge
of the arts of navigation, or in some familiarity with the dangers of
the sea. With regard to any previous knowledge of naval business, it is
well known that they have no advantage over any common labourer; for the
manner of navigating a ship and a barge have, for the most part, nothing
in common.
Nor are these watermen, sir, more able to stand firm in the terrours of
the storm, or the noise of a battle, than those who follow any other
occupation. Many of them never saw the sea, nor have less dread of its
danger than the other inhabitants of the inland counties. They are,
therefore, neither _seafaring_ men, nor peculiarly capable of being made
_seamen_.
But the hardship upon particular men is not the strongest objection to
this clause, which, by obstructing our inland navigation, may make our
rivers useless, and set the whole trade of the nation at a stand. For
who will bring up his son a waterman, who knows him exposed by that
profession to be impressed for a seaman?
It seems, therefore, necessary, sir, either to omit the term _seafaring
men_ [Footnote: Agreed to be omitted.], or to explain it in such a
manner, that inland watermen may not be included.
Lord GAGE spoke next:--Sir, so much has been urged against the
compulsive methods proposed in this clause, and so little produced in
favour of them, that it may seem superfluous to add any thing, or to
endeavour, by a multiplicity of arguments, to prove what common reason
must immediately discover. But there is one consequence of this clause
which has not yet been observed, and which is yet too important not to
be obviated by a particular proviso.
It is well known, sir, that many of those to whom this act will extend,
are freeholders and voters, for electing the representatives of the
nation; and it is therefore apparent, that elections may be influenced
by an ill-timed or partial execution of it. How easy will it be, when an
election approaches, to raise a false alarm, to propose some secret
expedition, or threaten us with an invasion from some unknown country,
and to seize on all the seafaring voters whose affections are suspected,
and confine them at Spithead till the contest is over.
I cannot, therefore, sir, but think it necessary, that if this clause be
suffered to pass, some part of its hateful consequences should be
prevented by an exception in favour of freeholders and voters, which,
surely, is no less than what every man owes to his own security, to the
welfare of his country, and to those by whom he has been honoured with
the care of their liberties.
Mr. Henry PELHAM then said, as follows:--Sir, I do not rise in
opposition to the proposal made by that right honourable member, nor do
I think this the proper time either for opposing or approving it. Method
is of the highest importance in inquiries like these; and if the order
of the debate be interrupted by foreign questions, or incidental
objections, no man will be able to consider the clauses before us with
the attention necessary to his own satisfaction, or to the conviction of
others; the mind will be dissipated by a multiplicity of views, and
nothing can follow but perplexity and confusion.
The great end, sir, for which we are now assembled, is to strike out
methods of manning the fleet with expedition and certainty. It is,
therefore, proper, in the first place, to agree upon some general
measures, to each of which there may, undoubtedly, be particular
objections raised, that may be afterwards removed by exceptions or
provisions; but these provisions should, for the sake of order, be
inserted in particular clauses, to be separately considered.
Of this kind is the exception now offered, to which I have no objection
but its present impropriety, and the interruption of the debate which it
may now occasion; for I see, at present, no reason against admitting it
in a particular clause.
When it is considered how much the success of the war may depend upon
the determinations of this day, and how much our future happiness and
security may depend upon the success of our present undertakings, I hope
my solicitude for regularity and expedition will be easily excused.
Sir Hind COTTON answered:--I am not able, sir, to discover any imminent
danger to the nation in suspending our attention to the clause before
us, for a few moments; nor, indeed, do we cease to attend to it, while
we are endeavouring to mollify it, and adapt it to our constitution.
The exception proposed is, in the opinion of the honourable gentleman,
so reasonable, that he declares himself ready to approve it in another
place; and, to me, no place seems more proper of its making part of this
bill than this. As a connexion between the clause and exception appears
necessary and immediate, I cannot see why it should be postponed, unless
it is hoped that it may be forgotten.
Mr. PULTENEY then spoke:--Sir, that this exception should be forgotten
there is no danger; for how long soever it be delayed, I will never
agree to the act till I see it inserted. If we suffer the liberty of the
freeholders to be infringed, what can we expect but to be charged with
betraying our trust, and giving up to servitude and oppression those who
deputed us to this assembly, as the guardians of their privileges, and
the asserters of their birthright; a charge too just to be denied, and
too atrocious to be borne.
Sir, the right of a freeholder is independent on every other
circumstance, and is neither made more or less by wealth or poverty: the
estate, however small, which gives a right of voting, ought to exempt
the owner from every restraint that may hinder the exertion of his
right; a right on which our constitution is founded, and which cannot be
taken away without subverting our whole establishment.
To overlook the distinctions which the fundamental laws of our country
have made in respect to different orders of men, and to regard only the
accidents of affluence and necessity, is surely unjust in itself, and
unworthy of this assembly; an assembly, sir, instituted principally to
protect the weak against the strong, and deputed to represent those, in
a collective state, who are not considerable enough to appear singly,
and claim a voice in the legislature.
To expose an honest, a laborious, and an useful man, to be seized by the
hands of an insolent officer, and dragged from the enjoyment of his
right, only because he will not violate his conscience, and add his
voice to those of sycophants, dependents, and prostitutes, the slaves of
power, the drudges of a court, and the hirelings of a faction, is the
highest degree of injustice and cruelty. Let us rather, sir, sweep away,
with an impress, the drones of large fortunes, the tyrants of villages,
and the oppressors of the poor; let us oblige those to serve their
country by force, whose fortunes have had no other effect than to make
them insolent and worthless; but let such who, by contributing to
commerce, make every day some addition to the publick wealth, be left in
the full enjoyment of the rights which they deserve: let those, by whose
labour the expenses of the war are furnished, be excused from
contributing to it by personal service.
It is necessary, sir, to have our laws established by the
representatives of the people; it is necessary that those
representatives should be freely elected; and, therefore, every law that
obstructs the liberty of voters, is contrary to the fundamental laws of
our constitution; and what multitudes may, by this law, be either
hindered from giving their votes, or be terrified into such a choice as
by no means corresponds with their judgments or inclinations, it is easy
to foresee.
I am, indeed, of opinion, sir, that this clause cannot be adapted to our
constitution, nor modified, by any expedient, into a law, which will not
lay insupportable hardships upon the nation, and make way for absolute
power. But as it is necessary that a constant supply of seamen should be
provided, I think it not improper to observe, that there is one
expedient yet remaining, by which, though it will not much assist us in
our present exigence, the fleets of this nation may hereafter be
constantly supported.
We have, at present, great numbers of charity schools established in
this nation, where the children of the poor receive an education
disproportioned to their birth. This has often no other consequences
than to make them unfit for their stations, by placing them, in their
own opinion, above the drudgery of daily labour; a notion which is too
much indulged, as idleness, cooperating with vanity, can hardly fail to
gain the ascendant, and which sometimes prompts them to support
themselves by practices not only useless, but pernicious to society.
This evil, sir, cannot be better obviated than by allotting a reasonable
proportion out of every school to the service of the sea, in which, by
entering early, they cannot fail to become proficients; and where their
attainments, which, at present, too frequently produce laziness and
dishonesty, might enable them to excel, and entitle them to promotion.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:--Sir, notwithstanding the confidence with which
some gentlemen have proposed this amendment, and the easiness with which
others have consented to it, I declare, without hesitation, that I
oppose it now, and intend to oppose it whenever it shall be offered,
because it will defeat all the other provisions which shall be made in
the bill.
I will venture to say, sir, that if every man, who has, by whatever
tenure, the right of voting, shall be exempted from the necessity of
contributing to the publick safety by his personal service, every man
qualified for the sea will by some means acquire a vote.
Sir, a very small part of those who give their votes in this nation for
representatives in senate, enjoy that right as the appendage of a
freehold; to live in some towns, and to be born only in others, gives
the unalienable privilege of voting. Any gentleman, to secure his own
interest, or obstruct the publick service, may, by dividing a small
piece of barren ground among a hundred sailors, exalt them all to
freeholders, and exempt them from the influence of this law.
However, sir, I am not less a friend to the freeholders than those who
propose the exception in their favour, but, in my opinion, the great
interest of the freeholders is the preservation of their freeholds,
which can only be secured by a vigorous exertion of the power of the
nation, in the war which is now declared against the Spaniards.
Mr. BARRINGTON spoke next:--Sir, by the observations which I have
opportunities of making at the place which I have the honour to
represent, I am convinced of the influence that this law will have upon
all the boroughs along the coasts. There, most of the voters are, in one
sense or other, sir, seafaring men, being, almost all of them, owners of
vessels, and in some degree acquainted with navigation; they may,
therefore, be hurried away at the choice of an officious or oppressive
magistrate, who may, by partiality and injustice, obtain a majority,
contrary to the general inclination of the people, and determine the
election by his own authority.
Sir William YONGE then said:--Sir, if every freeholder and voter is to
be exempted from the influence of the law, the bill that we are with so
much ardour endeavouring to draw up and rectify, and of which the
necessity is so generally acknowledged, will be no other than an empty
sound, and a determination without an object; for while we are
empowering the government to call seamen into the service, we are
exempting almost all that are able to serve from the denomination of
seamen: what is this but to dispute without a subject? to raise with one
hand and demolish with the other?
In the western parts of the nation, sir, where I reside, many who vote
at elections claim their privilege by no other title than that of
boiling a pot; a title which he who has it not, may easily obtain, when
it will either gratify his laziness or his cowardice, and which, though
not occasionally obtained, seems not sufficient to set any man out of
the reach of a just and necessary law.
It is, therefore, sir, undoubtedly requisite that the terms of the
exception should be explicit and definitive, and that only those should
be exempted who have such possessions or qualifications as this assembly
shall think a just title to exemption. For on the western coast, from
whence great supplies may be expected, almost every sailor has a vote,
to which nothing is there required but to hire a lodging, and boil a
pot; after which, if this exception be admitted in all its latitude, he
may sit at ease amidst the distresses of his country, ridicule the law
which he has eluded, and set the magistrate at open defiance.
The PRIME MINISTER spoke next:--As I think, Sir, some exception may be
just and proper, so I suppose every gentleman will concur with me in
rejecting one of such extent as shall leave no object for the operation
of the law.
It is, in my opinion, proper to restrain the exemption to those
freeholders who are possessed of such an estate as gives a vote for the
representative of the county, by which those whose privilege arises from
their property will be secured; and it seems reasonable that those who
have privileges without property, should purchase them by their
services.
Counsellor BROWN spoke next:--Sir, the exception proposed will not only
defeat the end of the bill, by leaving it few objects, but will obstruct
the execution of it on proper occasions, and involve the magistrate in
difficulties which will either intimidate him in the exertion of his
authority, or, if he persists in discharging his duty with firmness and
spirit, will perhaps oblige him sometimes to repent of his fidelity.
It is the necessary consequence, sir, of a seaman's profession, that he
is often at a great distance from the place of his legal settlement, or
patrimonial possessions; and he may, therefore, assert of his own
circumstances what is most convenient, without danger of detection.
Distance is a security that prompts many men to falsehoods, by which
only vanity is gratified; and few men will tell truth in opposition to
their interest, when they may lie without apprehension of being
convicted.
When, therefore, a magistrate receives directions to impress all the
seamen within his district, how few will he find who will not declare
themselves freeholders in some distant county, or freemen of some
obscure borough. It is to no purpose, sir, that the magistrate
disbelieves what he cannot confute; and if in one instance in a hundred
he should be mistaken, and, acting in consequence of his errour, force a
freeman into the service, what reparation may not be demanded?
I, therefore, propose it to the consideration of the committee, whether
any man ought to claim exemption from this law by a title, that may so
readily be procured, or so safely usurped.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL spoke next:--Sir, the practice of impressing, which
has been declaimed against with such vehement exaggerations, is not only
founded on immemorial custom, which makes it part of the common law, but
is likewise established by our statutes; for I remember to have found it
in the statutes of queen Mary, and therefore cannot allow that it ought
to be treated as illegal, and anti-constitutional.
That it is not inconsistent with our constitution may be proved from the
practice of erecting the royal standard, upon great emergencies, to
which every man was obliged immediately to repair; this practice is as
old as our constitution, and as it may be revived at pleasure, may be
properly mentioned as equivalent to an impress.
Mr. VYNER answered:--This word, sir, which the learned member has by his
wonderful diligence discovered in the statutes, may perhaps be there,
but in a signification far different from that which it bears at
present. The word was, without doubt, originally French, _prêt_, and
implied what is now expressed by the term _ready_; and to impress any
man was in those days only to make him _ready_, or engage him to hold
himself in _readiness_, which was brought about not by compulsion,
pursuit, and violence, but by the allurements of a pecuniary reward, or
the obligation of some ancient tenure.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 9, 1740-1.
On the sixty-sixth day, the consideration of the bill for raising seamen
was resumed, and a clause read, by which every constable, headborough,
tithingman, or other person, was liable to be examined upon oath by the
justices of peace, who were empowered to lay a fine upon them for any
neglect, offence, or connivance.
Sir John BARNARD rose up, and spoke to the following effect:--Mr.
Chairman, it is the peculiar happiness of the Britons, that no law can
be made without the consent of their representatives, and I hope no such
infatuation can ever fall upon them as may influence them to choose a
representative capable of concurring in absurdities like this.
The folly, the iniquity, the stupidity of this clause, can only be
conceived by hearing it repeated; it is too flagrant to be extenuated,
and too gross to admit exaggerations: to oblige a man to make oath
against himself, to subject himself by his own voice to penalties and
hardships, is at once cruel and ridiculous, a wild complication of
tyranny and folly.
To call upon any man to accuse himself, is only to call upon him to
commit perjury, and has therefore been always accounted irrational and
wicked: in those countries where it is practised, the confession is
extorted by the rack, which indeed is so necessary on such occasions,
that I should not wonder to hear the promoters of this clause openly
declaring for the expediency of tortures.
Nothing is more evident than that this bill, however the importance of
the occasion may be magnified, was drawn up without reflection, and that
the clauses were never understood by those that offered them: errours
like these must arise only from precipitation and neglect, for they are
too gross to be committed either by ignorance or design.
To expose such absurdities is, indeed, easy, but not pleasing; for what
end is answered by pointing at folly, or how is the publick service
advanced by showing that the methods proposed are totally to be
rejected? Where a proposition is of a mixed kind, and only erroneous in
part, it is an useful and no disagreeable task to separate truth from
errour, and disentangle from ill consequences such measures as may be
pursued with advantage to the publick; but mere stupidity can only
produce compassion, and afford no opportunities for inquiry or dispute.
Admiral WAGER replied:--Sir, this clause, however contemptuously
treated, has been already passed into a law by a senate which brought no
dishonour upon the British nation, by a senate which was courted and
dreaded by the greatest part of the universe, and was drawn up by a
ministry that have given their posterity no reason to treat them with
derision and contumely.
In the reign of the late great queen, this method of proceeding was
approved and established, and we may judge of the propriety of the
measures followed in that war by the success which they procured.
Those, therefore, by whom this bill was drawn up have committed no new
absurdities, nor have proposed any thing which was not enacted by the
wisest of our predecessors, in one of the most illustrious periods of
our history.
Mr. GYBBON answered:--Sir, I am far from thinking a proposition
sufficiently defended by an assertion that it was admitted by our
predecessors; for though I have no inclination to vilify their memory, I
may without scruple affirm, that they had no pretensions to
infallibility, and that there are in many of our statutes instances of
such ignorance, credulity, weakness, and errour, as cannot be considered
without astonishment.
In questions of an abstruse and complicated nature, it is certain, sir,
that experience has taught us what could never have been discovered
previously by the wisdom of our ancestors; and we have found, by their
consequences, the impropriety of many practices which they approved, and
which we should have equally applauded in the same circumstances.
But to what purpose is observation, if we must shut our eyes against it,
and appeal for ever to the wisdom of our ancestors?--if we must fall
into errour, merely because they were mistaken, and rush upon rocks out
of veneration to those who were wrecked against them.
In questions easily to be examined, and determinations which comprised
no perplexing contrarieties of interest, or multiplicity of
circumstances, they were equally liable with ourselves to be supine and
negligent, to sink into security, or be surprised by haste. That the
clause now before us was enacted by them, must be ascribed merely to the
hurry of the session in which it was brought before them; a time in
which so many inquiries of the highest importance were to be made, and
great diversity of views to be regarded, that it is no wonder that some
absurdities should escape without detection.
In the fourth of the reign of the queen, this bill was brought in, as
now, at the latter end of a session, when the attention of the senate
was fatigued and distracted; and it was hurried through both houses, and
ratified by the queen, with very little consideration.
But then, as this circumstance may be justly termed an extenuation of
their errour, it ought to be a lesson of caution to us, that we may not
be, in the like manner, betrayed into the same weakness.
Mr. Henry PELHAM next rose up:--Sir, the conduct of our predecessors
seems not to stand in need of any excuse; for it might be easy to
vindicate it by arguments, but that it is more proper to approve it by
imitation.
Whenever the bill was passed, or how hastily soever the law was enacted,
it was, I believe, rather the effect of necessity than of inadvertency;
of the same necessity which now presses, and which is very ill consulted
by tedious debates.
They were then involved in a war, and were not so distracted by private
interests as not to unite in the most vigorous opposition of their
enemies. They knew that the publick good is often promoted by the
temporary inconveniencies of individuals; and when affairs of the
highest importance demanded their attention, when the security of the
whole nation and the happiness of their posterity were the subject of
their inquiries, they wisely suffered less considerations to pass,
without superfluous and unseasonable solicitude.
How justly they reasoned, sir, and what vigour their resolutions gave to
the military operations, our victories are a sufficient proof: and if
experience be the surest guide, it cannot be improper to imitate those
who, in the same circumstances with ourselves, found means to raise the
honour, and improve the commerce of their country.
That our circumstances are the same with those of the senate by which
this law was made, is obvious beyond dispute; or where they vary, the
difference is, perhaps, to our disadvantage. We have, sir, the same
enemies, or, at least, have reason to apprehend the same; but have
little hope of the same allies. The present war is to be carried on at a
greater distance, and in more places at the same instant; we cannot,
therefore, supply our ships occasionally, but must raise great numbers
in a short time.
If, therefore, it was then concluded, that the method under our
examination was useful; if measures, not eligible in themselves, may be
authorized by necessity, why may not we, in compliance with the same
exigencies, have recourse to the same expedients?
Sir William YONGE then spoke:--Sir, how much weight is added to the
determinations of the senate, by the dignity of their procedure, and the
decency of their disputations, a slight knowledge of mankind is
sufficient to evince. It is well known that government is supported by
opinion; and that he who destroys the reputation, destroys the authority
of the legislative power. Nor is it less apparent, that he who degrades
debate into scurrility, and destroys the solemnity of consultation,
endeavours to sink the senate into contempt.
It was, therefore, sir, with indignation and surprise, that I heard the
clause before us censured with such indecency of language, and the
authors of it treated with contumelies and reproaches that mere errour
does not deserve, however apparent, but which were now vented before any
errour was detected.
I know not, sir, why the gentlemen, who are thus indecently attacked,
have suffered such reproaches without censure, and without reply. I know
not why they have omitted to put the honourable gentleman in mind of the
respect due to this assembly, or to the characters of those whom he
opposes; gentlemen equally skilled with himself in the subject of our
inquiries, and whom his own attainments, however large, or his
abilities, however comprehensive, cannot give him a right to charge with
ignorance or folly.
To reproach men with incapacity, is a cheap method of answering their
arguments; but a method which the rules of this house ought to exclude
from our debates, as the general civility of the world has banished it
from every other place of concourse or conversation.
I, for my part, sir, shall always endeavour to confine my attention to
the question before us, without suffering my reason to be biassed, or my
inquiries diverted by low altercations, or personal animosities; nor
when any other man deviates into reproachful and contemptuous language,
shall I be induced to think more highly of either his arguments or
capacity.
Sir John BARNARD replied:--Sir, I have always heard it represented as an
instance of integrity, when the tongue and heart move in concert, when
the words are representations of the sentiments; and have, therefore,
hitherto, endeavoured to explain my arguments with perspicuity, and
impress my sentiments with force; I have thought it hypocrisy to treat
stupidity with reverence, or to honour nonsense with the ceremony of a
confutation. As knavery, so folly, that is not reclaimable, is to be
speedily despatched; business is to be freed from obstruction, and
society from a nuisance.
Nor, sir, when I am censured by those whom I may offend, by the use of
terms correspondent with my ideas, will I, by a tame and silent
submission, give reason to suspect that I am conscious of a fault, but
will treat the accusation with open contempt, and show no greater regard
to the abettors, than to the authors of absurdity.
That decency is of great use in publick debates, I shall readily allow;
it may sometimes shelter folly from ridicule, and preserve villany from
publick detection; nor is it ever more carefully supported, than when
measures are promoted that nothing can preserve from contempt, but the
solemnity with which they are established.
Decency is a proper circumstance; but liberty is the essence of
senatorial disquisitions: liberty is the parent of truth; but truth and
decency are sometimes at variance: all men and all propositions are to
be treated here as they deserve; and there are many who have no claim
either to respect or decency.
Mr. WINNINGTON then rose:--Sir, that it is improper in its own nature,
and inconsistent with our constitution, to lay any man under an
obligation to accuse himself, cannot be denied; it is, therefore,
evident, that some amendment is necessary to the clause before us.
I have, for this reason, drawn up an amendment, sir, which, if approved
by the committee, will, in my opinion, remove all the objections to this
part of the bill, and, by reconciling it with our natural and legal
rights, I hope, induce those to approve it, who have hitherto opposed
it.
I therefore propose, that these words should be substituted instead of
those which are the subject of the debate; or some other to this
purpose: _That no person shall be liable to be fined by virtue of this
act, unless a witness, being examined, shall make oath of the
misdemeanour or neglect_.
Thus the necessity of examining men upon oath in their own cause will be
entirely taken away; and, as the clause will then stand, there will
remain no suspicion of injustice, or oppression, because none can be
practised without the concurrence of many persons of different
interests.
[This clause, though agreed to in the committee, was at last rejected.]
Mr. Horace WALPOLE spoke next, to this effect:--Mr. Chairman, it does
not yet appear that the gentlemen who have engaged in this debate, have
sufficiently attended to the exigence of our affairs, and the importance
of the question. They have lavished their oratory in declaiming upon the
absurdity of the methods proposed, and discovered their sagacity, by
showing how future navies may be supplied from charity schools, but have
substituted no expedients in the place of those which they so warmly
condemn, nor have condescended to inform us, how we may now guard our
coasts, or man our fleets for immediate service.
There are some circumstances, sir, of the present war, which make our
necessity of raising sea forces greater than in those of William, and
Anne that succeeded him. The chief advantages that we gained over the
French, in their wars, were the consequences of our victories by land.
At sea, sir, the balance was almost equal, though the Dutch fleet and
ours were united; nor did they quit the sea because their fleets were
destroyed, but because they were obliged to recruit their land forces
with their sailors. Should they now declare war against us, they would
be under no such necessity of defrauding the sea service, for they have
now on foot an army of one hundred and sixty thousand men, which are
maintained at no greater expense than forty thousand, by the British
government; as they are, therefore, sir, so formidable by land, we have
no way of opposing them but by our sea forces.
Nor is their navy so contemptible as some have, either by conjecture or
misinformation, represented it. The fleet which they have despatched to
America, consists not of fewer than twenty ships, of which the least
carry sixty guns, and they are fitting out now an equal number in their
own ports; besides, their East India company is obliged to furnish ten
ships of the line, at the demand of the government.
Thus it appears that we have neighbours sufficiently powerful to alarm
us with the sense of immediate danger; danger which is made more
imminent by the expeditious methods by which the French man their
fleets, and which we must imitate if we hope to oppose them with
success.
I need not say how little we can depend upon any professions of
neutrality, which will be best observed when they cannot be securely
violated; or upon the pacifick inclination of their minister, which
interest, persuasion, or caprice, may alter, and to which it is not very
honourable to trust for safety. How can that nation sink lower, which is
only free because it is not invaded by its neighbours; and retains its
possessions, only because no other has leisure or inclination to take
them away?
If it be asked, what can provoke the French to interrupt us in the
prosecution of our designs, and in the punishment of those who have
plundered and insulted us, it is not only easy to urge the strict
alliance between the two crowns, the ties of blood, the conformity of
interests, and their equal hatred of the Britons, but another more
immediate reason may be added. It is suspected, that under pretence of
vindicating our own rights, we are endeavouring to gain the possession
of the Spanish dominions, and engross the wealth of the new world; and
that, therefore, it is the interest of every power, whose subjects
traffick to those countries, to oppose us.
Thus, whether we succeed or fail in our attempts upon America, we have
the French power to apprehend. If we make conquests, they may, probably,
think it necessary to obviate the torrent of our victories, and to
hinder the increase of our dominions, that they may secure their own
trade, and maintain their own influence.
If we should be defeated, of which no man, sir, can deny the
possibility, the inclination of all to insult the depressed, and to push
down the falling, is well known; nor can it be expected that our
hereditary enemies would neglect so fair an opportunity of attacking us.
How they might ravage our coasts, and obstruct our trade; how they might
triumph in the Channel, and block us up in our own ports, bombard our
towns, and threaten us with invasions, I hope I need but barely mention,
to incite this assembly to such despatch in manning our fleets, as may
secure us at once from insults and from terrour.
It is, undoubtedly, sir, in our power to raise a naval force sufficient
to awe the ocean, and restrain the most daring of our enemies from any
attempts against us; but this cannot be effected by harangues,
objections, and disputations.
There is nothing, sir, more frequently the subject of raillery or
declamation, than the uselessness or danger of a standing army, to which
I declare myself no otherwise inclined than by my concern for the common
safety; I willingly allow that not one soldier ought to be supported by
the publick, whose service is not necessary; but surely none of those
who declare so warmly for the honour and privileges of their country,
would expose it to the insults of foreign powers, without defence. If,
therefore, they think the danger of land forces more than equivalent to
the benefit, they ought unanimously to concur in the increase of our
naval strength, by which they may be protected, but cannot be oppressed:
they ought willingly to give their assistance to any propositions for
making the fleet, formidable, that their declarations against the army
may not be thought to proceed from a resolution to obstruct the measures
of the government, rather than from zeal for the constitution. For he
that equally opposes the establishment of the army, and the improvement
of the navy, declares in effect against the security of the nation; and
though, perhaps, without design, exposes his countrymen to the mercy of
their enemies.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke next:--Sir, I cannot discover for what reason the
bill before us is so vigorously supported, but must observe, that I have
seldom known such vehement and continued efforts produced by mere
publick spirit, and unmingled regard for the happiness of the nation.
Nothing, sir, that can be urged in favour of the measures now proposed
has been omitted. When arguments are confuted, precedents are cited;
when precedents fail, the advocates for the bill have recourse to
terrour and necessity, and endeavour to frighten those whom they cannot
convince.
But, perhaps, sir, these formidable phantoms may soon be put to flight,
and, like the other illusions of cowardice, disappear before the light.
Perhaps this necessity will be found only chimerical; and these dangers
appear only the visions of credulity, or the bugbears of imposture.
To arrive at a clear view of our present condition, it will be
necessary, sir, not to amuse ourselves with general assertions, or
overwhelm our reason by terrifying exaggerations: let us consider
distinctly the power and the conduct of our enemies, and inquire whether
they do not affright us more than they are able to hurt us.
That the force of Spain alone, sir, is much to be dreaded, no man will
assert; for that empire, it is well known, has long been seized with all
the symptoms of declining power, and has been supported, not by its own
strength, but by the interests of its neighbours. The vast dominions of
the Spaniards are only an empty show; they are lands without
inhabitants, and, by consequence, without defence; they are rather
excrescences, than members of the monarchy, and receive support rather
than communicate. In the distant branches of their empire the government
languishes, as the vital motion in an expiring body; and the struggles
which they now make, may be termed rather agonies than efforts.
From Spain, therefore, unassisted, we have nothing to apprehend, and yet
from thence we have been threatened with insults and invasions.
That the condition of the French is far different, cannot be denied;
their commerce flourishes, their dominions are connected, their wealth
increases, and their government operates with full vigour: their
influence is great, and their name formidable. But I cannot allow, sir,
that they have yet attained such a height of power as should alarm us
with constant apprehensions, or that we ought to secure ourselves
against them by the violation of our liberties. Not to urge that the
loss of freedom, and the destruction of our constitution, are the worst
consequences that can be apprehended from a conquest, and that to a
slave the change of his master is of no great importance, it is evident,
that the power of the French is of such kind as can only affect us
remotely, and consequentially. They may fill the continent with alarms,
and ravage the territories of Germany, by their numerous armies, but can
only injure us by means of their fleets. We may wait, sir, without a
panick terrour, though not without some degree of anxiety, the event of
their attempts upon the neighbouring princes, and cannot be reduced to
fight for our altars and our houses, but by a second armada, which, even
then, the winds must favour, and a thousand circumstances concur to
expedite.
But that no such fleet can be fitted out by the united endeavours of the
whole world; that our navy, in its present state, is superiour to any
that can be brought against us, our ministers ought not to be ignorant:
and, therefore, to dispirit the nation with apprehensions of armies
hovering in the air, and of conquerors to be wafted over by supernatural
means, is to destroy that happiness which government was ordained to
preserve; to sink us to tameness and cowardice; and to betray us to
insults and to robberies.
If our danger, sir, be such as has been represented, to whom must we
impute it? Upon whom are our weakness, our poverty, and our miseries to
be charged? Upon whom, but those who have usurped the direction of
affairs which they did not understand, or to which their solicitude for
the preservation of their own power hindered them from attending?
That the Spaniards, sir, are now enabled to make resistance, and,
perhaps, to insult and depopulate our colonies; that the French have
despatched a fleet into the American seas, to obstruct, as may be
conjectured, the progress of our arms, and that we are in danger of
meeting opposition which we did not expect, is too evident to be
concealed.
But, sir, is not the spirit of our enemies the consequence rather of our
cowardice than of their own strength? Does not the opposition to our
designs, by whatever nation it shall be made, arise from the contempt
which has been brought upon us by our irresolution, forbearance, and
delays? Had we resented the first insult, and repaired our earliest
losses by vigorous reprisals, our merchants had long ago carried on
their traffick with security, our enemies would have courted us with
respect, and our allies supported us with confidence.
Our negotiations, treaties, proposals, and concessions, not only
afforded them leisure to collect their forces, equip their fleets, and
fortify their coasts; but gave them, likewise, spirit to resist those
who could not be conquered but by their own cowardice and folly. By our
ill-timed patience, and lingering preparations, we encouraged those to
unite against us, who would, otherwise, have only hated us in secret;
and deterred those from declaring in our favour, whom interest or
gratitude might have inclined to assist us. For who will support those
from whom no mutual support can be expected? And who will expect that
those will defend their allies, who desert themselves?
But, sir, however late our resentment was awakened, had the war been
prosecuted vigorously after it was declared, we might have been now
secure from danger, and freed from suspense, nor would any thing have
remained but to give laws to our enemies.
From the success of Vernon with so inconsiderable forces, we may
conjecture what would have been performed with an armament proportioned
to his undertaking; and why he was not better supplied, no reason has
yet been given; nor can it be easily discovered why we either did not
begin the war before our enemies had concerted their measures, or delay
it till we had formed our own.
Notwithstanding some opportunities have been neglected, and all the
advantages of a sudden attack have been irrecoverably lost;
notwithstanding our friends, sir, have learned to despise and neglect
us, and our enemies are animated to confidence and obstinacy, yet our
real and intrinsick strength continues the same; nor are there yet any
preparations made against us by the enemy, with views beyond their own
security and defence. It does not yet appear, sir, that our enemies,
however insolent, look upon us as the proper objects of a conquest, or
that they imagine it possible to besiege us in our own ports, or to
confine us to the defence of our own country. We are not, therefore, to
have recourse to measures, which, if they are ever to be admitted, can
be justified by nothing but the utmost distress, and can only become
proper, as the last and desperate expedient. The enemy, sir, ought to
appear not only in our seas, but in our ports, before it can be
necessary that one part of the nation should be enslaved for the
preservation of the rest.
To destroy any part of the community, while it is in our power to
preserve the whole, is certainly absurd, and inconsistent with the
equity and tenderness of a good government: and what is slavery less
than destruction? What greater calamity has that man to expect, who has
been already deprived of his liberty, and reduced to a level with
thieves and murderers? With what spirit, sir, will he draw his sword
upon his invaders, who has nothing to defend? Or why should he repel the
injuries which will make no addition to his misery, and will fall only
on those to whom he is enslaved?
It is well known that gratitude is the foundation of our duty to our
country, and to our superiours, whom we are obliged to protect upon some
occasions, because, upon others, we receive protection from them, and
are maintained in the quiet possession of our fortunes, and the security
of our lives. But what gratitude is due to his country from a man
distinguished, without a crime, by the legislature, from the rest of the
people, and marked out for hardships and oppressions? From a man who is
condemned to labour and to danger, only that others may fatten with
indolence, and slumber without anxiety? From a man who is dragged to
misery without reward, and hunted from his retreat, as the property of
his master?
Where gratitude, sir, is not the motive of action, which may easily
happen in minds not accustomed to observe the ends of government, and
relations of society, interest never fails to preside, which may be
distinguished from gratitude, as it regards the immediate consequences
of actions, and confines the view to present advantages. But what
interest can be gratified by a man who is not master of his own actions,
nor secure in the enjoyment of his acquisitions? Why should he be
solicitous to increase his property, who may be torn from the possession
of it in a moment? Or upon what motive can he act who will not become
more happy by doing his duty?
Many of those to whom this bill is proposed to extend, have raised
fortunes at the expense of their ease, and at the hazard of their lives;
and now sit at rest, enjoying the memory of their past hardships, and
inciting others to the prosecution of the same adventures. How will it
be more reasonable to drag these men from their houses, than to seize
any other gentleman upon his own estate? and how negligently will our
navigation and our commerce be promoted, when it is discovered that
either wealth cannot be gained by them, or, if so gained, cannot be
enjoyed.
But it is still urged, sir, that there is a necessity of manning the
fleet; a necessity which, indeed, cannot totally be denied, though a
short delay would produce no frightful consequences, would expose us to
no invasions, nor disable us from prosecuting the war. Yet, as the
necessity at least deserves the regard of the legislature, let us
consider what motives have hitherto gained men over to the publick
service; let us examine how our land forces are raised, and how our
merchants equip their ships. How is all this to be effected without
murmurs, mutinies, or discontent, but by the natural and easy method of
offering rewards?
It may be objected, sir, that rewards have been already proposed without
effect; but, not to mention the corrupt arts which have been made use of
to elude that promise, by rejecting those that came to claim them, we
can infer from their inefficacy only, that they were too small; that
they were not sufficient to dazzle the attention, and withdraw it from
the prospect of the distant advantages which may arise from the service
of the merchants. Let the reward, therefore, be doubled, and if it be
not then sufficient, doubled anew. There is nothing but may be bought,
if an adequate price is offered; and we are, therefore, to raise the
reward, till it shall be adjudged by the sailors equivalent to the
inconveniencies of the service.
Let no man urge, that this is profusion; that it is a breach of our
trust, and a prodigality of the publick money. Sir, the money thus paid
is the price of liberty; it is disbursed to hinder slavery from
encroaching, to preserve our natural rights from infraction, and the
constitution of our country from violation. If we vote away the
privilege of one class among us, those of another may quickly be
demanded; and slavery will advance by degrees, till the last remains of
freedom shall be lost.
But perhaps, sir, it will appear, upon reflection, that even this method
needs not to be practised. It is well known, that it is not necessary
for the whole crew of a ship to be expert sailors; there must be some
novices, and many whose employment has more of labour than of art. We
have now a numerous army, which burdens our country, without defending
it, and from whom we may, therefore, draw supplies for the fleet, and
distribute them amongst the ships in just proportions; they may
immediately assist the seamen, and will become able, in a short time, to
train up others.
It will, doubtless, sir, be objected to this proposal, that the
continent is in confusion, and that we ought to continue such a force as
may enable us to assist our allies, maintain our influence, and turn the
scale of affairs in the neighbouring countries. I know not how we are
indebted to our allies, or by what ties we are obliged to assist those
who never assisted us; nor can I, upon mature consideration, think it
necessary to be always gazing on the continent, watching the motions of
every potentate, and anxiously attentive to every revolution. There is
no end, sir, of obviating contingencies, of attempting to secure
ourselves from every possibility of danger. I am, indeed, desirous that
our friends, if any there be that deserve that name, should succeed in
their designs, and be protected in their claims; but think it ought
always to be remembered, that our own affairs affect us immediately,
theirs only by consequence, and that the nearest danger is to be first
regarded.
With respect to the amendment offered to this clause, I cannot see that
it will produce any advantage, nor think any evidence sufficient to
justify the breach of our constitution, or subject any man to the
hardship of having his dwelling entered by force.
And, sir, I am not entirely satisfied of the impartiality and equity
with which it is promised that this law will be put in execution, or
what new influence is to cooperate with this law, by which corruption
and oppression will be prevented.
It is well known, sir, that many other laws are made ineffectual by
partiality or negligence, which remarkably appears by the immense
quantities of corn that are daily carried into foreign countries, by
illegal exportations, by which traffick I am informed that we obtain
most of our foreign gold, which, in reality, is paid us for corn by the
Dutch; though it is studiously represented to the nation as gained by
our traffick with Portugal. Who can assure us that this law will not be
perverted, after the example of others? and that there will not be
wretches found that may employ it to the extortion of money, or the
gratification of revenge?
Thus, sir, I have shown by what means our fleet may now be equipped, and
how a supply of sailors may be perpetuated; for I cannot think how the
boys which are educated in charity schools can be more properly
employed. A proportion may be easily selected for the service, who will
benefit the publick much more than by serving sharpers and attorneys,
and pilfering either at low gaming houses, or in the inns of court.
Since, therefore, it is not pretended, sir, that this bill can be
justified otherwise than by necessity, and it appears that supplies may
be raised by other means; since, instead of increasing and encouraging
seamen, nothing is proposed that does not manifestly tend, by depressing
and harassing them, to diminish their numbers, I think it reasonable to
declare that I shall continue to oppose it, and hope that every friend
of liberty, or commerce, will concur in the opposition.
Sir Robert WALPOLE spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, I have
considered the bill before us with the utmost impartiality, and I can
see no reason to apprehend that it will produce such universal
discontent, and give occasion to so many abuses, as the honourable
gentlemen by whom it is opposed, appear to suspect. It is not uncommon,
sir, in judging of future events, and tracing effects from causes, for
the most sagacious to be mistaken.
The safest method of conjecturing upon the future, is to consider the
past, for it is always probable, that from like causes like consequences
will arise. Let us, therefore, sir, examine what injustice or oppression
has been hitherto produced by laws of the same kind.
The power of searching, however it is now become the subject of loud
exclamation and pathetick harangues, is no new invasion of the rights of
the people, but has been already granted in its utmost extent, for an
end of no greater importance than the preservation of the game. This
formidable authority has been already trusted to the magistrate, and the
nation has been already subjected to this insupportable tyranny, only
lest the hares and partridges should be destroyed, and gentlemen be
obliged to disband their hounds and dismiss their setting dogs. Yet,
sir, even with regard to this power, thus exorbitant, and thus lightly
granted, I have heard no general complaints, nor believe that it is
looked upon as a grievance by any, but those whom it restrains from
living upon the game, and condemns to maintain themselves by a more
honest and useful industry.
I hope, sir, those that think this law for the preservation of their
amusement, rational and just, will have at least the same regard to the
defence of their country, and will not think their venison deserves
greater solicitude than their fortunes and their liberties.
Nor is it difficult, sir, to produce instances of the exercise of this
power, for the end which is now proposed, without any consequences that
should discourage us from repeating the experiment. I have now in my
hand a letter, by which the mayor and aldermen of Bristol are empowered
to seize all the sailors within the bounds of their jurisdiction, which
order was executed without any outcries of oppression, or apprehensions
of the approach of slavery.
That this law, sir, will be always executed with the strictest
impartiality, and without the least regard to any private purposes,
cannot, indeed, be demonstratively proved; every law may possibly be
abused by a combination of profligates; but it must, I think, be
granted, that it is drawn up with all the caution that reason, or
justice, or the corruption of the present age requires. I know not what
can be contrived better than an association of men, unlikely to concur
in their views and interests--a justice of the peace, a lieutenant of a
ship, and a commissioner of the navy--three men, probably unknown to
each other, and of which no one will be at all solicitous to desire the
rest to unite to commit a crime, to which no temptation can be readily
imagined.
This caution, sir, which cannot but be approved, and which surely is
some proof of judgment and consideration, ought, in my opinion, to have
exempted the bill, and those by whose assistance it was drawn up, from
the reproachful and indecent charge of absurdity, ignorance, and
incapacity; terms which the dignity of this assembly does not admit,
even when they are incontestably just, and which surely ought not to be
made use of when the question is of a doubtful nature.
The gentlemen, sir, who are now intrusted with publick employments, have
never yet discovered that they are inferiour to their predecessors in
knowledge or integrity; nor do their characters suffer any diminution by
a comparison with those who vilify and traduce them.
Those, sir, that treat others with such licentious contempt, ought
surely to give some illustrious proof of their own abilities; and yet if
we examine what has been produced on this question, we shall find no
reason to admire their sagacity or their knowledge.
We have been told, sir, that the fleet might properly be manned by a
detachment from the army; but it has not been proved that we have any
superfluous forces in the kingdom, nor, indeed, will our army be found
sufficiently numerous, if, by neglecting to equip our fleet, we give our
enemies an opportunity of entering our country.
If it be inquired what necessity there is for our present forces? What
expeditions are designed? Or what dangers are feared? I shall not think
it my duty to return any answer. It is, sir, the great unhappiness of
our constitution, that our determinations cannot be kept secret, and
that our enemies may always form conjectures of our designs, by knowing
our preparations; but surely more is not to be published than necessity
extorts, and the government has a right to conceal what it would injure
the nation to discover.
Nor can I, sir, approve the method of levying sailors by the incitement
of an exorbitant reward, a reward to be augmented at the pleasure of
those who are to receive it. For what can be the consequence of such
prodigality, but that those to whom the largest sum is offered, will yet
refuse their service in expectation of a greater. The reward already
proposed is, in my opinion, the utmost stretch of liberality; and all
beyond may be censured as profusion.
It is not to be imagined, sir, that all these objections were not made,
and answered, in the reign of the late queen, when a bill of the same
nature was proposed; they were answered, at least, by the necessity of
those times, which necessity has now returned upon us.
We do not find that it produced any consequences so formidable and
destructive, that they should for ever discourage us from attempting to
raise forces by the same means; it was then readily enacted, and
executed without opposition, and without complaints; nor do I believe
that any measures can be proposed of equal efficacy, and less severity.
Mr. SANDYS replied, in substance as follows:--Sir, whether the
precedents produced in defence of this bill, will have more weight than
the arguments, must be shown by a careful examination, which will
perhaps discover that the order sent to the magistrates of Bristol
conveyed no new power, nor such as is, in any respect, parallel to that
which this bill is intended to confer.
They were only enjoined to inquire with more than usual strictness,
after strollers and vagabonds, such as the law has always subjected to
punishment, and send them to the fleet, instead of any other place of
correction; a method which may now be pursued without danger,
opposition, or complaint.
But for my part, I am not able, upon the closest attention to the
present scene of affairs, to find out the necessity of extraordinary
methods of any kind. The fears of an invasion from France, are, in my
opinion, sir, merely chimerical; from their fleet in America the coasts
of Britain have nothing to fear, and after the numerous levies of seamen
by which it was fitted out, it is not yet probable that they can
speedily send out another. We know, sir, that the number of seamen
depends upon the extent of commerce, and surely there is as yet no such
disproportion between their trade and ours, as that they should be able
to furnish out a naval armament with much greater expedition than
ourselves.
In America our forces are at least equal to theirs, so that it is not
very probable, that after the total destruction of our fleet by them,
they should be so little injured, as to be able immediately to set sail
for the channel, and insult us in our own ports; to effect this, sir,
they must not only conquer us, but conquer us without resistance.
If they do not interrupt us in our attempts, nor expose themselves to an
engagement, they may, indeed, return without suffering great damages,
but I know not how they can leave the shores of America unobserved, or
pour an unexpected invasion upon us. If they continue there, sir, they
cannot hurt as, and when they return, we may prepare for their
reception.
There are men, I know, sir, who have reason to think highly of the
French policy, and whose ideas may be exalted to a belief that they can
perform impossibilities; but I have not yet prevailed upon myself to
conceive that they can act invisibly, or that they can equip a fleet by
sorcery, collect an army in a moment, and defy us on our own coast,
without any perceptible preparations.
Then admiral WAGER spoke thus:--The calamities produced by discord and
contention, need not to be pointed out; but it may be proper to reflect
upon the consequences of a house divided against itself, that we may
endeavour to avoid them.
Unanimity is produced by nothing more powerfully than by impending
danger, and, therefore, it may be useful to show those who seem at
present in profound security, that the power of France is more
formidable than they are willing to allow.
My age, sir, enables me to remember many transactions of the wars in the
late reigns, to which many gentlemen are strangers, or of which they
have only imperfect ideas from history and tradition.
In the second year of the reign of William, the French gained a victory
over the united fleets of the maritime powers, which gave them, for the
summer following, the dominion of the Channel, enabled them to shut up
our merchants in their ports, and produced a total suspension of our
commerce.
Those, sir, to whom the importance of trade is so well known, will
easily apprehend the weight of this calamity, and will, I hope, reject
no measures that have a manifest tendency to prevent it.
Our ships, sir, do not lie useless because there is any want of seamen
in the nation, but because any service is preferred to that of the
publick.
There are now, to my knowledge, in one town on the west coast, no fewer
than twelve hundred sailors, of which surely a third part may be justly
claimed by the publick interest; nor do I know why they who obstinately
refuse to serve their country, should be treated with so much
tenderness. It is more reasonable that they should suffer by their
refusal, than that the general happiness should be endangered.
Mr. SOUTHWELL spoke next, to the following purpose:--Sir, when any
authority shall be lodged in my hands, to be exercised for the publick
benefit, I shall always endeavour to exert it with honesty and
diligence; but will never be made the instrument of oppression, nor
execute any commission of tyranny or injustice.
As, therefore, the power of searching is to be placed in the hands of
justices of the peace, I think it necessary to declare, that I will
never perform so hateful a part of the office, and that if this bill
becomes a law, I will retire from the place to which my authority is
limited, rather than contribute to the miseries of my fellow-subjects.
Mr. LITTLETON spoke as follows:--Sir, all the arguments which have been
offered in support of this bill, are reduced at last to one constant
assertion of the necessity of passing it.
We have been told, sir, with great acuteness, that a war cannot be
carried on without men, and that ships are useless without sailors; and
from thence it is inferred that the bill is necessary.
That forces are by some means necessary to be raised, the warmest
opponents of the bill will not deny, but they cannot, therefore, allow
the inference, that the methods now proposed are necessary.
They are of opinion, sir, that cruel and oppressive measures can never
be justified, till all others have been tried without effect; they think
that the law, when it was formerly passed, was unjust, and are
convinced, by observing that it never was revived, and that it was by
experience discovered to be useless.
Necessity, absolute necessity, is a formidable sound, and may terrify
the weak and timorous into silence and compliance; but it will be found,
upon reflection, to be often nothing but an idle feint, to amuse and to
delude us, and that what is represented as necessary to the publick, is
only something convenient to men in power.
Necessity, sir, has, heretofore, been produced as a plea for that which
could be no otherwise defended. In the days of Charles the first,
ship-money was declared to be legal, because it was necessary. Such was
the reasoning of the lawyers, and the determination of the judges; but
the senate, a senate of patriots! without fear, and without corruption,
and influenced only by a sincere regard for the publick, were of a
different opinion, and neither admitted the lawfulness nor necessity.
It will become us, on this occasion, to act with equal vigour, and
convince our countrymen, that we proceed upon the same principles, and
that the liberties of the people are our chief care.
I hope we shall unite in defeating any attempts that may impair the
rights which every Briton boasts as his birthright, and reject a law
which will be equally dreaded and detested with the inquisition of
Spain.
Sir William YONGE spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, though many
particular clauses of this bill have been disapproved and opposed, some
with more, and some with less reason, yet the committee has hitherto
agreed that a bill for this purpose is necessary in the present state of
our affairs; upon this principle we have proceeded thus far, several
gentlemen have proposed their opinions, contributed their observations,
and laboured as in an affair universally admitted to be of high
importance to the general prosperity.
But now, sir, when some of the difficulties are surmounted, some
expedients luckily struck out, some objections removed, and the great
design brought nearer to execution, we are on a sudden informed, that
all our labour is superfluous, that we are amusing ourselves with
useless consultations, providing against calamities that can never
happen, and raising bulwarks without an enemy; that, therefore, the
question before us is of no importance, and the bill ought, without
farther examination, to be totally rejected.
I suppose, sir, I shall be readily believed, when I declare that I shall
willingly admit any arguments that may evince our safety; but, in
proportion as real freedom from danger is to be desired, a supine and
indolent neglect of it is to be dreaded and avoided; and I cannot but
fear that our enemies are more formidable, and more malicious, than the
gentlemen that oppose this bill have represented them.
This bill can only be opposed upon the supposition that it gives a
sanction to severities, more rigorous than our present circumstances
require; for nothing can be more fallacious or invidious than a
comparison of this law with the demand of ship-money, a demand contrary
to all law, and enforced by the manifest exertion of arbitrary power.
How has the conduct of his present majesty any resemblance with that of
Charles the first? Is any money levied by order of the council? Are the
determinations of the judges set in opposition to the decrees of the
senate? Is any man injured in his property by an unlimited extension of
the prerogative? or any tribunal established superiour to the laws of
the nation?
To draw parallels, sir, where there is no resemblance; and to accuse, by
insinuations, where there is no shadow of a crime; to raise outcries
when no injury is attempted; and to deny a real necessity because it was
once pretended for a bad purpose; is surely not to advance the publick
service, which can be promoted only by just reasonings, and calm
reflections, not by sophistry and satire, by insinuations without
ground, and by instances beside the purpose.
Mr. LITTLETON answered:--Sir, true zeal for the service of the publick
is never discovered by collusive subterfuges and malicious
representations; a mind, attentive to the common good, would hardly, on
an occasion like this, have been at leisure to pervert an harmless
illustration, and extract disaffection from a casual remark.
It is, indeed, not impossible, sir, that I might express myself
obscurely; and it may be, therefore, necessary to declare that I
intended no disrespectful reflection on the conduct of his majesty; but
must observe, at the same time, that obscure or inaccurate expressions
ought always to be interpreted in the most inoffensive meaning, and that
to be too sagacious in discovering concealed insinuations, is no great
proof of superiour integrity.
Wisdom, sir, is seldom captious, and honesty seldom suspicious; a man
capable of comprehending the whole extent of a question, disdains to
divert his attention by trifling observations; and he that is above the
practice of little arts, or the motions of petty malice, does not easily
imagine them incident to another.
That in the question of ship-money necessity was pretended, cannot be
denied; and, therefore, all that I asserted, which was only that the
nation had been once terrified without reason, by the formidable sound
of necessity, is evident and uncontested.
When a fraud has once been practised, it is of use to remember it, that
we may not twice be deceived by the same artifice; and, therefore, I
mentioned the plea of necessity, that it may be inquired whether it is
now more true than before.
That the senate, sir, and not the judges, is now applied to, is no proof
of the validity of the arguments which have been produced; for in the
days of ship-money, the consent of the senate had been asked, had there
been any prospect of obtaining it; but the court had been convinced, by
frequent experiments, of the inflexibility of the senate, and despaired
of influencing them by prospects of advantage, or intimidating them by
frowns or menaces.
May this and every future senate imitate their conduct, and, like them,
distinguish between real and pretended necessity; and let not us be
terrified, by idle clamours, into the establishment of a law at once
useless and oppressive.
Sir William YONGE replied:--Sir, that I did not intend to misrepresent
the meaning of the honourable gentleman, I hope it is not necessary to
declare; and that I have, in reality, been guilty of any
misrepresentation, I am not yet convinced. If he did not intend a
parallel between ship-money and the present bill, to what purpose was
his observation? and if he did intend it, was it not proper to show
there was no resemblance, and that all which could be inferred from it
was, therefore, fallacious and inconclusive?
Nor do I only differ, sir, in opinion with the honourable gentleman with
relation to his comparison of measures, which have nothing in common
with each other; but will venture to declare, that he is not more
accurate in his citations from history. The king did not apply to the
judges, because the senate would not have granted him the money that he
demanded, but because his chief ambition was to govern the nation by the
prerogative alone, and to free himself and his descendants from
senatorial inquiries.
That this account, sir, is just, I am confident the histories of those
times will discover; and, therefore, any invidious comparison between
that senate and any other, is without foundation in reason or in truth.
Mr. BATHURST spoke as follows:--Sir, that this law will easily admit, in
the execution of it, such abuses as will overbalance the benefits, may
readily be proved; and it will not be consistent with that regard to the
publick, expected from us by those whom we represent, to enact a law
which may probably become an instrument of oppression.
The servant by whom I am now attended, may be termed, according to the
determination of the vindicators of this bill, a seafaring man, having
been once in the West Indies; and he may, therefore, be forced from my
service, and dragged into a ship, by the authority of a justice of the
peace, perhaps of some abandoned prostitute, dignified with a commission
only to influence elections, and awe those whom excises and riot-acts
cannot subdue.
I think it, sir, not improper to declare, that I would by force oppose
the execution of a law like this; that I would bar my doors and defend
them; that I would call my neighbours to my assistance; and treat those
who should attempt to enter without my consent, as thieves, ruffians,
and murderers.
Lord GAGE spoke to this effect:--Sir, it is well known that by the laws
of this nation, poverty is, in some degree, considered as a crime, and
that the debtor has only this advantage over the felon, that he cannot
be pursued into his dwelling, nor be forced from the shelter of his own
house.
I think it is universally agreed, that the condition of a man in debt is
already sufficiently miserable, and that it would be more worthy of the
legislative power to contrive alleviations of his hardships, than
additions to them; and it seems, therefore, no inconsiderable objection
to this bill, that, by conferring the power of entering houses by force,
it may give the harpies of the law an opportunity of entering, in the
tumult of an impress, and of dragging a debtor to a noisome prison,
under pretence of forcing sailors into the service of the crown.
Mr. TRACEY then said:--Sir, that some law for the ends proposed by the
bill before us, is necessary, I do not see how we can doubt, after the
declarations of the admirals, who are fully acquainted with the service
for which provision is to be made; and of the ministry, whose knowledge
of the present state of our own strength, and the designs of our
enemies, is, doubtless, more exact than they can acquire who are not
engaged in publick employments.
If, therefore, the measures now proposed are necessary, though they may
not be agreeable to the present dispositions of the people, for whose
preservation they are intended, I shall think it my duty to concur in
them, that the publick service may not be retarded, nor the safety of a
whole nation hazarded, by a scrupulous attention to minute objections.
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke as follows:--Sir, I have often, amidst my elogies on
British liberty, and my declarations of the excellence of our
constitution, the impartiality of our government, and the efficacy of
our laws, been reproached by foreigners with the practice of impresses,
as a hardship which would raise a rebellion in absolute monarchies, and
kindle those nations into madness, that have, for many ages, known no
other law than the will of their princes. A hardship which includes
imprisonment and slavery, and to which, therefore, no aggravations ought
to be added.
But if justice and reason, sir, are to be overborne by necessity; if
necessity is to stop our ears against the complaints of the oppressed,
and harden our hearts at the sight of their misery, let it, at least,
not destroy our memories, nor deprive us of the advantages of
experience.
Let us inquire, sir, what were the effects of this hateful authority
when it was formerly consigned to the magistrates. Were our fleets
manned in an instant? were our harbours immediately crowded with
sailors? did we surprise our enemies by our expedition, and make
conquests before an invasion could be suspected? I have heard, sir, of
no such consequences, nor of any advantages which deserved to be
purchased by tyranny and oppression. We have found that very few were
procured by the magistrates, and the charge of seizing and conveying was
very considerable; and, therefore, cannot but conclude that illegal
measures, which have been once tried without success, should, for a
double reason, never be revived.
Sir John BARNARD spoke to this effect:--Sir, it is not without regret
that I rise so often on this occasion: for to dispute with those whose
determinations are not influenced by reason, is a ridiculous task, a
tiresome labour, without prospect of reward.
But, as an honourable gentleman has lately remarked, that by denying the
necessity of the bill, instead of making objections to particular
clauses, the whole design of finding expedients to supply the sea
service is at once defeated; I think it necessary to remind him, that I
have made many objections to this bill, and supported them by reasons
which have not yet been answered. But I shall now no longer confine my
remarks to single errours, but observe that there is one general defect,
by which the whole bill is made absurd and useless.
For the foundation of a law like this, sir, the description of a seaman
ought to be accurately laid down, it ought to be declared what acts
shall subject him to that denomination, and by what means, after having
once enlisted himself in this unhappy class of men, he may withdraw into
a more secure and happy state of life.
Is a man, who has once only lost sight of the shore, to be for ever
hunted as a seaman? Is a man, who, by traffick, has enriched a family,
to be forced from his possessions by the authority of an impress? Is a
man, who has purchased an estate, and built a seat, to solicit the
admiralty for a protection from the neighbouring constable? Such
questions as these, sir, may be asked, which the bill before us will
enable no man to answer.
If a bill for this purpose be truly necessary, let it, at least, be
freed from such offensive absurdities; let it be drawn up in a form as
different as is possible from that of the bill before us; and, at last,
I am far from imagining that a law will be contrived not injurious to
individuals, nor detrimental to the publick; not contrary to the first
principles of our establishment, and not loaded with folly and
absurdities.
Mr. VYNER then spoke:--Sir, a definition of a seaman is so necessary in
a bill for this purpose, that the omission of it will defeat all the
methods that can be suggested. How shall a law be executed, or a penalty
inflicted, when the magistrate has no certain marks whereby he may
distinguish a criminal? and when even the man that is prosecuted may not
be conscious of guilt, or know that the law extended to him, which he is
charged with having offended.
If, in defining a seaman on the present occasion, it be thought proper
to have any regard to the example of our predecessors, whose wisdom has,
in this debate, been so much magnified; it may be observed, that a
seaman has been formerly defined, a man who haunts the seas; a
definition which seems to imply habit and continuance, and not to
comprehend a man who has, perhaps, never gone more than a single voyage.
But though this definition, sir, should be added to the amendments
already proposed, and the bill thereby be brought somewhat nearer to the
constitutional principles of our government; I cannot yet think it so
much rectified, as that the hardships will not outweigh the benefits,
and, therefore, shall continue to oppose the bill, though to some
particular clauses I have no objection.
[The term _seafaring man_ was left out, and the several amendments were
admitted in the committee, but the clauses themselves, to the number of
eleven, were given up on the report.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 10, 1740-1.
The commons resolved their house into a committee, to consider the bill
for the encouragement of sailors, when admiral WAGER offered a clause,
by which it was to be enacted, "That no merchants, or bodies corporate
or politick, shall hire sailors at higher wages than thirty-five
shillings for the month, on pain of forfeiting the treble value of the
sum so agreed for;" which law was to commence after fifteen days, and
continue for a time to be agreed on by the house: and then spoke to the
following purpose:--
Sir, the necessity of this clause must be so apparent to every gentleman
acquainted with naval and commercial affairs, that as no opposition can
be apprehended, very few arguments will be requisite to introduce it.
How much the publick calamities of war are improved by the sailors to
their own private advantage; how generally they shun the publick
service, in hopes of receiving exorbitant wages from the merchants; and
how much they extort from the merchants, by threatening to leave their
service for that of the crown, is universally known to every officer of
the navy, and every commander of a trading vessel.
A law, therefore, sir, to restrain them in time of war from such
exorbitant demands; to deprive them of those prospects which have often
no other effect than to lull them in idleness, while they skulk about in
expectation of higher wages; and to hinder them from deceiving
themselves, embarrassing the merchants, and neglecting the general
interest of their country, is undoubtedly just. It is just, sir, because
in regard to the publick it is necessary to prevent the greatest
calamity that can fall upon a people, to preserve us from receiving laws
from the most implacable of our enemies; and it is just, because with
respect to particular men it has no tendency but to suppress idleness,
fraud, and extortion.
Mr. Henby FOX spoke next:--Sir, I have no objection to any part of this
clause, except the day proposed for the commencement: to make a law
against any pernicious practice, to which there are strong temptations,
and to give those whose interest may incite them to it, time to effect
their schemes, before the law shall begin to operate, seems not very
consistent with wisdom or vigilance.
It is not denied, sir, that the merchants are betrayed by that regard to
private interest which prevails too frequently over nobler views, to
bribe away from the service of the crown, by large rewards, those
sailors whose assistance is now so necessary to the publick; and,
therefore, it is not to be imagined that they will not employ their
utmost diligence to improve the interval which the bill allows in making
contracts for the ensuing, year, and that the sailors will not eagerly
engage themselves before this law shall preclude their prospects of
advantage.
As, therefore, to make no law, and to make a law that will not be
observed, is in consequence the same; and the time allowed by the
clause, as it now stands, may make the whole provision ineffectual; it
is my opinion, that either it ought to begin to operate to-morrow, or
that we ought to leave the whole affair in its present state.
Then sir Robert WALPOLE spoke as follows:--Sir, nothing has a greater
appearance of injustice, than to punish men by virtue of laws, with
which they were not acquainted; the law, therefore, is always supposed
to be known by those who have offended it, because it is the duty of
every man to know it; and certainly it ought to be the care of the
legislature, that those whom a law will affect, may have a possibility
of knowing it, and that those may not be punished for failing in their
duty, whom nothing but inevitable ignorance has betrayed into offence.
But if the operation of this law should commence to-morrow, what numbers
may break it, and suffer by the breach of it involuntarily, and without
design; and how shall we vindicate ourselves from having been accessory
to the crime which we censure and punish?
Mr. FOX replied:--Sir, I shall not urge in defence of my motion what is
generally known, and has been frequently inculcated in all debates upon
this bill, that private considerations ought always to give way to the
necessities of the publick; for I think it sufficient to observe, that
there is a distinction to be made between punishments and restraints,
and that we never can be too early in the prevention of pernicious
practices, though we may sometimes delay to punish them.
The law will be known to-morrow, to far the greatest number of those who
may be tempted to defeat it; and if there be others that break it
ignorantly, how will they find themselves injured by being only obliged
to pay less than they promised, which is all that I should propose
without longer warning. The debate upon this particular, will be at
length reduced to a question, whether a law for this purpose is just and
expedient? If a law be necessary, it is necessary that it should be
executed; and it can be executed only by commencing to-morrow.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke thus:--Sir, it appears to me of no great importance
how soon the operation of the law commences, or how long it is delayed,
because I see no reason for imagining that it will at any time produce
the effects proposed by it.
It has been the amusement, sir, of a great part of my life, to converse
with men whose inclinations or employments have made them well
acquainted with maritime affairs, and amidst innumerable other schemes
for the promotion of trade, have heard some for the regulation of wages
in trading ships; schemes, at the first appearance plausible and likely
to succeed, but, upon a nearer inquiry, evidently entangled with
insuperable difficulties, and never to be executed without danger of
injuring the commerce of the nation.
The clause, sir, now before us contains, in my opinion, one of those
visionary provisions, which, however infallible they may appear, will be
easily defeated, and will have no other effect than to promote cunning
and fraud, and to teach men those acts of collusion, with which they
would otherwise never have been acquainted.
Mr. LODWICK spoke to this effect:--Sir, I agree with the honourable
gentleman by whom this clause has been offered, that the end for which
it is proposed, is worthy of the closest attention of the legislative
power, and that the evils of which the prevention is now endeavoured,
may in some measure not only obstruct our traffick, but endanger our
country; and shall therefore very readily concur in any measures for
this purpose, that shall not appear either unjust or ineffectual.
Whether this clause will be sufficient to restrain all elusive
contracts, and whether all the little artifices of interest are
sufficiently obviated, I am yet unable to determine; but by a reflection
upon the multiplicity of relations to be considered, and the variety of
circumstances to be adjusted in a provision of this kind, I am inclined
to think that, it is not the business of a transient inquiry, or of a
single clause, but that it will demand a separate law, and engage the
deliberation and regard of this whole assembly.
Sir John BARNARD said:--Sir, notwithstanding the impatience and
resentment with which some men see their mistakes and ignorance
detected; notwithstanding the reverence which negligence and haste are
said to be entitled to from this assembly, I shall declare once more,
without the apprehension of being confuted, that this bill was drawn up
without consideration, and is defended without being understood; that
after all the amendments which have been admitted, and all the additions
proposed, it will be oppressive and ineffectual, a chaos of absurdities,
and a monument of ignorance.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied:--Sir, the present business of this assembly
is to examine the clause before us; but to deviate from so necessary an
inquiry into loud exclamations against the whole bill, is to obstruct
the course of the debate, to perplex our attention, and interrupt the
senate in its deliberation upon questions, in the determination of which
the security of the publick is nearly concerned.
The war, sir, in which we are now engaged, and, I may add, engaged by
the general request of the whole nation, can be prosecuted only by the
assistance of the seamen, from whom it is not to be expected that they
will sacrifice their immediate advantage to the security of their
country. Publick spirit, where it is to be found, is the result of
reflection, refined by study and exalted by education, and is not to be
hoped for among those whom low fortune has condemned to perpetual
drudgery. It must be, therefore, necessary to supply the defects of
education, and to produce, by salutary coercions, those effects which it
is vain to expect from other causes.
That the service of the sailors will be set up to sale by auction, and
that the merchants will bid against the government, is incontestable;
nor is there any doubt that they will be able to offer the highest
price, because they will take care to repay themselves by raising the
value of their goods. Thus, without some restraint upon the merchants,
our enemies, who are not debarred by their form of government from any
method which policy can invent, or absolute power put in execution, will
preclude all our designs, and set at defiance a nation superiour to
themselves.
Sir John BARNARD then said:--Sir, I think myself obliged by my duty to
my country, and by my gratitude to those by whose industry we are
enriched, and by whose courage we are defended, to make, once more, a
declaration, not against particular clauses, not against single
circumstances, but against the whole bill; a bill unjust and oppressive,
absurd and ridiculous; a bill to harass the industrious and distress the
honest, to puzzle the wise and add power to the cruel; a bill which
cannot be read without astonishment, nor passed without the violation of
our constitution, and an equal disregard of policy and humanity.
All these assertions will need to be proved only by a bare perusal of
this hateful bill, by which the meanest, the most worthless reptile,
exalted to a petty office by serving a wretch only superiour to him in
fortune, is enabled to flush his authority by tyrannising over those who
every hour deserve the publick acknowledgments of the community; to
intrude upon the retreats of brave men, fatigued and exhausted by honest
industry, to drag them out with all the wantonness of grovelling
authority, and chain them to the oar without a moment's respite, or
perhaps oblige them to purchase, with the gains of a dangerous voyage,
or the plunder of an enemy lately conquered, a short interval to settle
their affairs, or bid their children farewell.
Let any gentleman in this house, let those, sir, who now sit at ease,
projecting laws of oppression, and conferring upon their own slaves such
licentious authority, pause a few moments, and imagine themselves
exposed to the same hardships by a power superiour to their own; let
them conceive themselves torn from the tenderness and caresses of their
families by midnight irruptions, dragged in triumph through the streets
by a despicable officer, and placed under the command of those by whom
they have, perhaps, been already oppressed and insulted. Why should we
imagine that the race of men for whom those cruelties are preparing,
have less sensibility than ourselves? Why should we believe that they
will suffer without complaint, and be injured without resentment? Why
should we conceive that they will not at once deliver themselves, and
punish their oppressors, by deserting that country where they are
considered as felons, and laying hold on those rewards and privileges
which no other government will deny them?
This is, indeed, the only tendency, whatever may have been the intention
of the bill before us; for I know not whether the most refined sagacity
can discover any other method of discouraging navigation than those
which are drawn together in the bill before us. We first give our
constables an authority to hunt the sailors like thieves, and drive
them, by incessant pursuit, out of the nation; but lest any man should
by friendship, good fortune, or the power of money, find means of
staying behind, we have with equal wisdom condemned him to poverty and
misery; and lest the natural courage of his profession should incite him
to assist his country in the war, have contrived a method of precluding
him from any advantage that he might have the weakness to hope from his
fortitude and diligence. What more can be done, unless we at once
prohibit to seamen the use of the common elements, or doom them to a
general proscription.
It is just that advantage, sir, should be proportioned to the hazard by
which it is to be obtained, and, therefore, a sailor has an honest claim
to an advance of wages in time of war; it is necessary to excite
expectation, and to fire ambition by the prospect of great acquisitions,
and by this prospect it is that such numbers are daily allured to naval
business, and that our privateers are filled with adventurers. The large
wages which war makes necessary, are more powerful incentives to those
whom impatience of poverty determines to change their state of life,
than the secure gains of peaceful commerce; for the danger is overlooked
by a mind intent upon the profit.
War is the harvest of a sailor, in which he is to store provisions for
the winter of old age, and if we blast this hope, he will inevitably
sink into indolence and cowardice.
Many of the sailors are bred up to trades, or capable of any laborious
employment upon land; nor is there any reason for which they expose
themselves to the dangers of a seafaring life, but the hope of sudden
wealth, and some lucky season in which they may improve their fortunes
by a single effort. Is it reasonable to believe that all these will not
rather have recourse to their former callings, and live in security,
though not in plenty, than encounter danger and poverty at once, and
face an enemy without any prospect of recompense?
Let any man recollect the ideas that arose in his mind upon hearing of a
bill for encouraging and increasing sailors, and examine whether he had
any expectation of expedients like these. I suppose it was never known
before, that men were to be encouraged by subjecting them to peculiar
penalties, or that to take away the gains of a profession, was a method
of recommending it more generally to the people.
But it is not of very great importance to dwell longer upon the
impropriety of this clause, which there is no possibility of putting in
execution. That the merchants will try every method of eluding a law so
prejudicial to their interest, may be easily imagined, and a mind not
very fruitful of evasions, will discover that this law may be eluded by
a thousand artifices. If the merchants are restrained from allowing men
their wages beyond a certain sum, they will make contracts for the
voyage, of which the time may very easily be computed, they may offer a
reward for expedition and fidelity, they may pay a large sum by way of
advance, they may allow the sailors part of the profits, or may offer
money by a third hand. To fix the price of any commodity, of which the
quantity and the use may vary their proportions, is the most excessive
degree of ignorance. No man can determine the price of corn, unless he
can regulate the harvest, and keep the number of the people for ever at
a stand.
But let us suppose these methods as efficacious as their most sanguine
vindicators are desirous of representing them, it does not yet appear
that they are necessary, and to inflict hardships without necessity, is
by no means the practice of either wisdom or benevolence. To tyrannise
and compel is the low pleasure of petty capacities, of narrow minds,
swelled with the pride of uncontroulable authority, the wantonness of
wretches who are insensible of the consequences of their own actions,
and of whom candour may, perhaps, determine, that they are only cruel
because they are stupid. Let us not exalt into a precedent the most
unjust and rigorous law of our predecessors, of which they themselves
declared their repentance, or confessed the inefficacy, by never
reviving it; let us rather endeavour to gain the sailors by lenity and
moderation, and reconcile them to the service of the crown by real
encouragements; for it is rational to imagine, that in proportion as men
are disgusted by injuries, they will be won by kindness.
There is one expedient, sir, which deserves to be tried, and from which,
at least, more success may be hoped than from cruelty, hunger, and
persecution. The ships that are now to be fitted out for service, are
those of the first magnitude, which it is usual to bring back into the
ports in winter. Let us, therefore, promise to all seamen that shall
voluntarily engage in them, besides the reward already proposed, a
discharge from the service at the end of six or seven months. By this
they will be released from their present dread of perpetual slavery, and
be certain, as they are when in the service of the merchants, of a
respite from their fatigues. The trade of the nation will be only
interrupted for a time, and may be carried on in the winter months, and
large sums will be saved by dismissing the seamen when they cannot be
employed.
By adding this to the other methods of encouragement, and throwing aside
all rigorous and oppressive schemes, the navy may easily be manned, our
country protected, our commerce reestablished, and our enemies subdued;
but to pass the bill as it now stands, is to determine that trade shall
cease, and that no ship shall sail out of the river.
Mr. PITT spoke to the following purport:--Sir, it is common for those to
have the greatest regard to their own interest who discover the least
for that of others. I do not, therefore, despair of recalling the
advocates of this bill from the prosecution of their favourite measures,
by arguments of greater efficacy than those which are founded on reason
and justice.
Nothing, sir, is more evident, than that some degree of reputation is
absolutely necessary to men who have any concern in the administration
of a government like ours; they must either secure the fidelity of their
adherents by the assistance of wisdom, or of virtue; their enemies must
either be awed by their honesty, or terrified by their cunning. Mere
artless bribery will never gain a sufficient majority to set them
entirely free from apprehensions of censure. To different tempers
different motives must be applied: some, who place their felicity in
being accounted wise, are in very little care to preserve the character
of honesty; others may be persuaded to join in measures which they
easily discover to be weak and ill-concerted, because they are convinced
that the authors of them are not corrupt but mistaken, and are unwilling
that any man should be punished for natural defects or casual ignorance.
I cannot say, sir, which of these motives influences the advocates for
the bill before us; a bill in which such cruelties are proposed as are
yet unknown among the most savage nations, such as slavery has not yet
borne, or tyranny invented, such as cannot be heard without resentment,
nor thought of without horrour.
It is, sir, perhaps, not unfortunate, that one more expedient has been
added, rather ridiculous than shocking, and that these tyrants of the
administration, who amuse themselves with oppressing their
fellow-subjects, who add without reluctance one hardship to another,
invade the liberty of those whom they have already overborne with taxes,
first plunder and then imprison, who take all opportunities of
heightening the publick distresses, and make the miseries of war the
instruments of new oppressions, are too ignorant to be formidable, and
owe their power not to their abilities, but to casual prosperity, or to
the influence of money.
The other clauses of this bill, complicated at once with cruelty and
folly, have been treated with becoming indignation; but this may be
considered with less ardour of resentment, and fewer emotions of zeal,
because, though, perhaps, equally iniquitous, it will do no harm; for a
law that can never be executed can never be felt.
That it will consume the manufacture of paper, and swell the books of
statutes, is all the good or hurt that can be hoped or feared from a law
like this; a law which fixes what is in its own nature mutable, which
prescribes rules to the seasons and limits to the wind. I am too well
acquainted, sir, with the disposition of its two chief supporters, to
mention the contempt with which this law will be treated by posterity,
for they have already shown abundantly their disregard of succeeding
generations; but I will remind them, that they are now venturing their
whole interest at once, and hope they will recollect, before it is too
late, that those who believe them to intend the happiness of their
country, will never be confirmed in their opinion by open cruelty and
notorious oppression; and that those who have only their own interest in
view, will be afraid of adhering to those leaders, however old and
practised in expedients, however strengthened by corruption, or elated
with power, who have no reason to hope for success from either their
virtue or abilities.
Mr. BATHURST next spoke to this effect:--Sir, the clause now under our
consideration is so inconsiderately drawn up, that it is impossible to
read it in the most cursory manner, without discovering the necessity of
numerous amendments; no malicious subtilties or artful deductions are
required in raising objections to this part of the bill, they crowd upon
us without being sought, and, instead of exercising our sagacity, weary
our attention.
The first errour, or rather one part of a general and complicated
errour, is the computation of time, not by days, but by calendar months,
which, as they are not equal one to another, may embarrass the account
between the sailors and those that employ them. In all contracts of a
short duration, the time is to be reckoned by weeks and days, by certain
and regular periods, which has been so constantly the practice of the
seafaring men, that, perhaps, many of them do not know the meaning of a
calendar month: this, indeed, is a neglect of no great importance,
because no man can be deprived by it of more than the wages due for the
labour of a few days; but the other part of this clause is more
seriously to be considered, as it threatens the sailors with greater
injuries: for it is to be enacted, that all contracts made for more
wages than are here allowed shall be totally void.
It cannot be denied to be possible, and in my opinion it is very likely,
that many contracts will be made without the knowledge of this law, and
consequently without any design of violating it; but ignorance,
inevitable ignorance, though it is a valid excuse for every other man,
is no plea for the unhappy sailor; he must suffer, though innocent, the
penalty of a crime; must undergo danger, hardships, and labour, without
a recompense, and at the end of a successful voyage, after having
enriched his country by his industry, return home to a necessitous
family, without being able to relieve them.
It is scarcely necessary, sir, to raise any more objections to a clause
in which nothing is right; but, to show how its imperfections multiply
upon the slightest consideration, I take the opportunity to observe,
that there is no provision made for regulating the voyages performed in
less time than a month, so that the greatest part of the abuses, which
have been represented as the occasion of this clause, are yet without
remedy, and only those sailors who venture far, and are exposed to the
greatest dangers, are restrained from receiving an adequate reward.
Thus much, sir, I have said upon the supposition that a regulation of
the sailors' wages is either necessary or just; a supposition of which I
am very far from discovering the truth. That it is just to oppress the
most useful of our fellow-subjects, to load those men with peculiar
hardships to whom we owe the plenty that we enjoy, the power that yet
remains in the nation, and which neither the folly nor the cowardice of
ministers have yet been able to destroy, and the security in which we
now sit and hold our consultations; that it is just to lessen our
payments at a time when we increase the labour of those who are hired,
and to expose men to danger without recompense, will not easily be
proved, even by those who are most accustomed to paradoxes, and are
ready to undertake the proof of any position which it is their interest
to find true.
Nor is it much more easy to show the necessity of this expedient in our
present state, in which it appears from the title of the bill, that our
chief endeavour should be the increase and encouragement of sailors,
and, I suppose, it has not often been discovered, that by taking away
the profits of a profession greater numbers have been allured to it.
The high wages, sir, paid by merchants are the chief incitements that
prevail upon the ambitious, the necessitous, or the avaricious, to
forsake the ease and security of the land, to leave easy trades, and
healthful employments, and expose themselves to an element where they
are not certain of an hour's safety. The service of the merchants is the
nursery in which seamen are trained up for his majesty's navies, and
from thence we must, in time of danger, expect those forces by which
alone we can be protected.
If, therefore, it is necessary to encourage sailors, it is necessary to
reject all measures that may terrify or disgust them; and as their
numbers must depend upon our trade, let us not embarrass the merchants
with any other difficulties than those which are inseparable from war,
and which very little care has been hitherto taken to alleviate.
Mr. HAY replied:--Sir, the objections which have been urged with so much
ardour, and displayed with such power of eloquence, are not, in my
opinion, formidable enough to discourage us from prosecuting our
measures; some of them may be, perhaps, readily answered, and the rest
easily removed.
The computation of time, as it now stands, is allowed not to produce any
formidable evil, and therefore did not require so rhetorical a censure:
the inconveniency of calendar months may easily be removed by a little
candour in the contracting parties, or, that the objection may not be
repeated to the interruption of the debate, weeks or days may be
substituted, and the usual reckoning of the sailors be still continued.
That some contracts may be annulled, and inconveniencies or delays of
payment arise, is too evident to be questioned; but in that case the
sailor may have his remedy provided, and be enabled to obtain, by an
easy process, what he shall be judged to _have deserved_; for it must be
allowed reasonable, that every man who labours in honest and useful
employments, should receive the reward of his diligence and fidelity.
Thus, sir, may the clause, however loudly censured and violently
opposed, be made useful and equitable, and the publick service advanced
without injury to individuals.
Sir Robert WALPOLE next rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, every law
which extends its influence to great numbers in various relations and
circumstances, must produce some consequences that were never foreseen
or intended, and is to be censured or applauded as the general
advantages or inconveniencies are found to preponderate. Of this kind is
the law before us, a law enforced by the necessity of our affairs, and
drawn up with no other intention than to secure the publick happiness,
and produce that success which every man's interest must prompt him to
desire.
If in the execution of this law, sir, some inconveniencies should arise,
they are to be remedied as fast as they are discovered, or if not
capable of a remedy, to be patiently borne, in consideration of the
general advantage.
That some temporary disturbances may be produced is not improbable; the
discontent of the sailors may, for a short time, rise high, and our
trade be suspended by their obstinacy; but obstinacy, however
determined, must yield to hunger, and when no higher wages can be
obtained, they will cheerfully accept of those which are here allowed
them. Short voyages, indeed, are not comprehended in the clause, and
therefore the sailors will engage in them upon their own terms, but this
objection can be of no weight with those that oppose the clause,
because, if it is unjust to limit the wages of the sailors, it is just
to leave those voyages without restriction; and those that think the
expedient here proposed equitable and rational, may, perhaps, be willing
to make some concessions to those who are of a different opinion.
That the bill will not remove every obstacle to success, nor add weight
to one part of the balance without making the other lighter; that it
will not supply the navy without incommoding the merchants in some
degree; that it may be sometimes evaded by cunning, and sometimes abused
by malice; and that at last it will be less efficacious than is desired,
may, perhaps, be proved; but it has not yet been proved that any other
measures are more eligible, or that we are not to promote the publick
service as far as we are able, though our endeavours may not produce
effects equal to our wishes.
Sir John BARNARD then spoke, to this effect:--Sir, I know not by what
fatality it is that nothing can be urged in defence of the clause before
us which does not tend to discover its weakness and inefficacy. The
warmest patrons of this expedient are impelled, by the mere force of
conviction, to such concessions as invalidate all their arguments, and
leave their opponents no necessity of replying.
If short voyages are not comprehended in this provision, what are we now
controverting? What but the expedience of a law that will never be
executed? The sailors, however they are contemned by those who think
them only worthy to be treated like beasts of burden, are not yet so
stupid but that they can easily find out, that to serve a fortnight for
greater wages is more eligible than to toil a month for less; and as the
numerous equipments that have been lately made have not left many more
sailors in the service of the merchants than may be employed in the
coasting trade, those who traffick to remoter parts, must shut up their
books and wait till the expiration of this act, for an opportunity of
renewing their commerce.
To regulate the wages for one voyage, and to leave another without
limitation, in time of scarcity of seamen, is absolutely to prohibit
that trade which is so restrained, and is, doubtless, a more effectual
embargo than has been yet invented.
Let any man but suppose that the East India company were obliged to give
only half the wages that other traders allow, and consider how that part
of our commerce could be carried on; would not their goods rot in their
warehouses, and their ships lie for ever in the harbour? Would not the
sailors refuse to contract with them? or desert them after a contract,
upon the first prospect of more advantageous employment?
But it is not requisite to multiply arguments in a question which may
not only be decided without long examination, but in which we may
determine our conclusions by the experience of our ancestors. Scarcely
any right or wrong measures are without a precedent, and, amongst
others, this expedient has been tried by the wisdom of former times; a
law was once made for limiting the wages of tailors, and that it is
totally ineffectual we are all convinced. Experience is a very safe
guide in political inquiries, and often discovers what the most
enlightened reason failed to foresee.
Let us, therefore, improve the errours of our ancestors to our own
advantage, and whilst we neglect to imitate their virtues, let us, at
least, forbear to repeat their follies.
Mr. PERRY spoke to this purpose:--Sir, there is one objection more which
my acquaintance with foreign trade impresses too strongly upon my mind
to suffer me to conceal it.
It is well known that the condition of a seaman subjects him to the
necessity of spending a great part of his life at a distance from his
native country, in places where he can neither hear of our designs, nor
be instructed in our laws, and, therefore, it is evident that no law
ought to affect him before a certain period of time, in which he may
reasonably be supposed to have been informed of it. For every man ought
to have it in his power to avoid punishment, and to suffer only for
negligence or obstinacy.
It is quite unnecessary, sir, to observe to this assembly, that there
are now, as at all times, great numbers of sailors in every part of the
world, and that they, at least, equally deserve our regard with those
who are under the more immediate influence of the government.
These seamen have already contracted for the price of their labour, and
the recompense of their hazards, nor can we, in my opinion, without
manifest injustice, dissolve a contract founded upon equity, and
confirmed by law.
It is, sir, an undisputed principle of government, that no person should
be punished without a crime; but is it no punishment to deprive a man of
what is due to him by a legal stipulation, the condition of which is, on
his part, honestly fulfilled?
Nothing, sir, can be imagined more calamitous than the disappointment to
which this law subjects the unhappy men who are now promoting the
interest of their country in distant places, amidst dangers and
hardships, in unhealthy climates, and barbarous nations, where they
comfort themselves, under the fatigues of labour and the miseries of
sickness, with the prospect of the sum which they shall gain for the
relief of their families, and the respite which their wages will enable
them to enjoy; but, upon their return, they find their hopes blasted,
and their contracts dissolved by a law made in their absence.
No human being, I think, can coolly and deliberately inflict a hardship
like this, and, therefore, I doubt not but those who have, by
inadvertency, given room for this objection, will either remove it by an
amendment, or what is, in my opinion, more eligible, reject the clause
as inexpedient, useless, and unjust.
Sir William YONGE spoke next to this effect:--Sir, this debate has been
protracted, not by any difficulties arising from the nature of the
questions which have been the subject of it, but by a neglect with which
almost all the opponents of the bill may be justly charged, the neglect
of distinguishing between measures eligible in themselves, and measures
preferable to consequences which are apprehended from particular
conjunctures; between laws made only to advance the publick happiness,
and expedients of which the benefit is merely occasional, and of which
the sole intention is to avert some national calamity, and which are to
cease with the necessity that produced them.
Such are the measures, sir, which are now intended; measures, which, in
days of ease, security, and prosperity, it would be the highest degree
of weakness to propose, but of which I cannot see the absurdity in times
of danger and distress. Such laws are the medicines of a state, useless
and nauseous in health, but preferable to a lingering disease, or to a
miserable death.
Even those measures, sir, which have been mentioned as most grossly
absurd, and represented as parallel to the provision made in this clause
only to expose it to contempt and ridicule, may, in particular
circumstances, be rational and just. To settle the price of corn in the
time of a famine, may become the wisest state, and multitudes might, in
time of publick misery, by the benefit of temporary laws, be preserved
from destruction. Even those masts, to which, with a prosperous gale,
the ship owes its usefulness and its speed, are often cut down by the
sailors in the fury of a storm.
With regard to the ships which are now in distant places, whither no
knowledge of this law can possibly be conveyed, it cannot be denied that
their crews ought to be secured from injury by some particular
exception; for though it is evident in competitions between publick and
private interest, which ought to be preferred, yet we ought to remember
that no unnecessary injury is to be done to individuals, even while we
are providing for the safety of the nation.
Mr. FAZAKERLY spoke to this effect:--Sir, though I cannot be supposed to
have much acquaintance with naval affairs, and, therefore, may not,
perhaps, discover the full force of the arguments that have been urged
in favour of the clause now under consideration, yet I cannot but think
myself under an indispensable obligation to examine it as far as I am
able, and to make use of the knowledge which I have acquired, however
inferiour to that of others.
The argument, sir, the only real argument, which has been produced in
favour of the restraint of wages now proposed, appears to me by no means
conclusive; nor can I believe that the meanest and most ignorant seaman
would, if it were proposed to him, hesitate a moment for an answer to
it. Let me suppose, sir, a merchant urging it as a charge against a
seaman, that he raises his demand of wages in time of war, would not the
sailor readily reply, that harder labour required larger pay? Would he
not ask, why the general practice of mankind is charged as a crime upon
him only? Inquire, says he, of the workmen in the docks, have they not
double wages for double labour? and is not their lot safe and easy in
comparison with mine, who at once encounter danger and support fatigue,
carry on war and commerce at the same time, conduct the ship and oppose
the enemy, and am equally exposed to captivity and shipwreck?
That this is, in reality, the state of a sailor in time of war, I think,
sir, too evident to require proof; nor do I see what reply can be made
to the sailor's artless expostulation.
I know not why the sailors alone should serve their country to their
disadvantage, and be expected to encounter danger without the incitement
of a reward.
Nor will any part of the hardships of this clause be alleviated by the
expedient suggested by an honourable member, who spoke, some time ago,
of granting, or allowing, to a sailor, whose contract shall be void,
what our courts of law should adjudge him to deserve, a _quantum
meruit_: for, according to the general interpretation of our statutes,
it will be determined that he has forfeited his whole claim by illegal
contract. To instance, sir, the statute of usury. He that stipulates for
higher interest than is allowed, is not able to recover his legal
demand, but irrecoverably forfeits the whole.
Thus, sir, an unhappy sailor who shall innocently transgress this law,
must lose all the profit of his voyage, and have nothing to relieve him
after his fatigues; but when he has by his courage repelled the enemy,
and, by his skill, escaped storms and rocks, must suffer yet severer
hardships, in being subject to a forfeiture where he expected applause,
comfort, and recompense.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL spoke next, to this purport:--Sir, the clause
before us cannot, in my opinion, produce any such dreadful consequences
as the learned gentleman appears to imagine: however, to remove all
difficulties, I have drawn up an amendment, which I shall beg leave to
propose, that the contracts which may be affected as the clause now
stands, _shall be void only as to so much of the wages as shall exceed
the sum to which the house shall agree to reduce the seamen's pay;_ and,
as to the forfeitures, they are not to be levied upon the sailors, but
upon the merchants, or trading companies, who employ them, and who are
able to pay greater sums without being involved in poverty and distress.
With regard, sir, to the reasons for introducing this clause, they are,
in my judgment, valid and equitable. We have found it necessary to fix
the rate of money at interest, and the rate of labour in several cases,
and if we do not in this case, what will be the consequence?--a second
embargo on commerce, and, perhaps, a total stop to all military
preparations. Is it reasonable that any man should rate his labour
according to the immediate necessities of those that employ him? or that
he should raise his own fortune by the publick calamities? If this has
hitherto been a practice, it is a practice contrary to the general
happiness of society, and ought to prevail no longer.
If the sailor, sir, is exposed to greater dangers in time of war, is not
the merchant's trade carried on, likewise, at greater hazard? Is not the
freight, equally with the sailors, threatened at once by the ocean and
the enemy? And is not the owner's fortune equally impaired, whether the
ship is dashed upon a rock, or seized by a privateer?
The merchant, therefore, has as much reason for paying less wages in
time of war, as the sailor for demanding more, and nothing remains but
that the legislative power determine a medium between their different
interests, with justice, if possible, at least with impartiality.
Mr. Horace WALPOLE, who had stood up several times, but was prevented by
other members, spoke next, to this purport:--Sir, I was unwilling to
interrupt the course of this debate while it was carried on with
calmness and decency, by men, who do not suffer the ardour of opposition
to cloud their reason, or transport them to such expressions as the
dignity of this assembly does not admit. I have hitherto deferred to
answer the gentleman who declaimed against the bill with such fluency of
rhetorick, and such vehemence of gesture; who charged the advocates for
the expedients now proposed, with having no regard to any interest but
their own, and with making laws only to consume paper, and threatened
them with the defection of their adherence, and the loss of their
influence, upon this new discovery of their folly and their ignorance.
Nor, sir, do I now answer him for any other purpose than to remind him
how little the clamours of rage and petulancy of invectives contribute
to the purposes for which this assembly is called together; how little
the discovery of truth is promoted, and the security of the nation
established by pompous diction and theatrical emotions.
Formidable sounds, and furious declamations, confident assertions, and
lofty periods, may affect the young and unexperienced; and, perhaps, the
gentleman may have contracted his habits of oratory by conversing more
with those of his own age, than with such as have had more opportunities
of acquiring knowledge, and more successful methods of communicating
their sentiments.
If the heat of his temper, sir, would suffer him to attend to those
whose age and long acquaintance with business give them an indisputable
right to deference and superiority, he would learn, in time, to reason
rather than declaim, and to prefer justness of argument, and an accurate
knowledge of facts, to sounding epithets and splendid superlatives,
which may disturb the imagination for a moment, but leave no lasting
impression on the mind.
He will learn, sir, that to accuse and prove are very different, and
that reproaches, unsupported by evidence, affect only the character of
him that utters them. Excursions of fancy, and flights of oratory, are,
indeed, pardonable in young men, but in no other; and it would surely
contribute more, even to the purpose for which some gentlemen appear to
speak, that of depreciating the conduct of the administration, to prove
the inconveniencies and injustice of this bill, than barely to assert
them, with whatever magnificence of language, or appearance of zeal,
honesty, or compassion.
Mr. PITT replied:--Sir, the atrocious crime of being a young man, which
the honourable gentleman has with such spirit and decency charged upon
me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny, but content myself
with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with
their youth, and not of that number, who are ignorant in spite of
experience.
Whether youth can be imputed to any man as a reproach, I will not, sir,
assume the province of determining; but surely age may become justly
contemptible, if the opportunities which it brings have passed away
without improvement, and vice appears to prevail when the passions have
subsided. The wretch that, after having seen the consequences of a
thousand errours, continues still to blunder, and whose age has only
added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object of either abhorrence
or contempt, and deserves not that his grey head should secure him from
insults.
Much more, sir, is he to be abhorred, who, as he has advanced in age,
has receded from virtue, and becomes more wicked with less temptation;
who prostitutes himself for money which he cannot enjoy, and spends the
remains of his life in the ruin of his country.
But youth, sir, is not my only crime; I have been accused of acting a
theatrical part--a theatrical part may either imply some peculiarities
of gesture, or a dissimulation of my real sentiments, and an adoption of
the opinions and language of another man.
In the first sense, sir, the charge is too trifling to be confuted, and
deserves only to be mentioned, that it may be despised. I am at liberty,
like every other man, to use my own language; and though I may, perhaps,
have some ambition to please this gentleman, I shall not lay myself
under any restraint, nor very solicitously copy his diction, or his
mien, however matured by age, or modelled by experience.
If any man shall, by charging me with theatrical behaviour, imply that I
utter any sentiments but my own, I shall treat him as a calumniator and
a villain; nor shall any protection shelter him from the treatment which
he deserves. I shall, on such an occasion, without scruple, trample upon
all those forms, with which wealth and dignity intrench themselves, nor
shall any thing but age restrain my resentment: age, which always brings
one privilege, that of being insolent and supercilious without
punishment.
But, with regard, sir, to those whom I have offended, I am of opinion,
that if I had acted a borrowed part, I should have avoided their
censure; the heat that offended them is the ardour of conviction, and
that zeal for the service of my country, which neither hope nor fear
shall influence me to suppress. I will not sit unconcerned while my
liberty is invaded, nor look in silence upon publick robbery. I will
exert my endeavours, at whatever hazard, to repel the aggressor, and
drag the thief to justice, whoever may protect them in their villany,
and whoever may partake of their plunder. And if the honourable
gentleman--
Here Mr. WINNINGTON called to order, and Mr. PITT sitting down, he spoke
thus:--It is necessary, sir, that the order of this assembly be
observed, and the debate resumed without personal altercations. Such
expressions as have been vented on this occasion, become not an assembly
intrusted with the liberty and welfare of their country. To interrupt
the debate on a subject so important as that before us, is, in some
measure, to obstruct the publick happiness, and violate our trust: but
much more heinous is the crime of exposing our determinations to
contempt, and inciting the people to suspicion or mutiny, by indecent
reflections, or unjust insinuations.
I do not, sir, undertake to decide the controversy between the two
gentlemen, but must be allowed to observe, that no diversity of opinion
can justify the violation of decency, and the use of rude and virulent
expressions; expressions dictated only by resentment, and uttered
without regard to--
Mr. PITT called to order, and said:--Sir, if this be to preserve order,
there is no danger of indecency from the most licentious tongue: for
what calumny can be more atrocious, or what reproach more severe, than
that of speaking with regard to any thing but truth. Order may sometimes
be broken by passion, or inadvertency, but will hardly be reestablished
by monitors like this, who cannot govern his own passion, whilst he is
restraining the impetuosity of others.
Happy, sir, would it be for mankind, if every one knew his own province;
we should not then see the same man at once a criminal and a judge. Nor
would this gentleman assume the right of dictating to others what he has
not learned himself.
That I may return, in some degree, the favour which he intends me, I
will advise him never hereafter to exert himself on the subject of
order; but, whenever he finds himself inclined to speak on such
occasions, to remember how he has now succeeded, and condemn, in
silence, what his censures will never reform.
Mr. WINNINGTON replied:--Sir, as I was hindered by the gentleman's
ardour and impetuosity from concluding my sentence, none but myself can
know the equity or partiality of my intentions, and, therefore, as I
cannot justly be condemned, I ought to be supposed innocent; nor ought
he to censure a fault of which he cannot be certain that it would ever
have been committed.
He has, indeed, exalted himself to a degree of authority never yet
assumed by any member of this house, that of condemning others to
silence. I am henceforward, by his inviolable decree, to sit and hear
his harangues without daring to oppose him. How wide he may extend his
authority, or whom he will proceed to include in the same sentence, I
shall not determine; having not yet arrived at the same degree of
sagacity with himself, nor being able to foreknow what another is going
to pronounce.
If I had given offence by any improper sallies of passion, I ought to
have been censured by the concurrent voice of the assembly, or have
received a reprimand, sir, from you, to which I should have submitted
without opposition; but I will not be doomed to silence by one who has
no pretensions to authority, and whose arbitrary decisions can only tend
to introduce uproar, discord, and confusion.
Mr. Henry PELHAM next rose up, and spoke to this effect:--Sir, when, in
the ardour of controversy upon interesting questions, the zeal of the
disputants hinders them from a nice observation of decency and
regularity, there is some indulgence due to the common weakness of our
nature; nor ought any gentleman to affix to a negligent expression a
more offensive sense than is necessarily implied by it.
To search deep, sir, for calumnies and reproaches is no laudable nor
beneficial curiosity; it must always be troublesome to ourselves by
alarming us with imaginary injuries, and may often be unjust to others
by charging them with invectives which they never intended. General
candour and mutual tenderness will best preserve our own quiet, and
support that dignity which has always been accounted essential to
national debates, and seldom infringed without dangerous consequences.
Mr. LYTTLETON spoke as follows:--Sir, no man can be more zealous for
decency than myself, or more convinced of the necessity of a methodical
prosecution of the question before us. I am well convinced how near
indecency and faction are to one another, and how inevitably confusion
produces obscurity; but I hope it will always be remembered, that he who
first infringes decency, or deviates from method, is to answer for all
the consequences that may arise from the neglect of senatorial customs:
for it is not to be expected that any man will bear reproaches without
reply, or that he who wanders from the question will not be followed in
his digressions, and hunted through his labyrinths.
It cannot, sir, be denied, that some insinuations were uttered injurious
to those whose zeal may sometimes happen to prompt them to warm
declarations, or incite them to passionate emotions. Whether I am of
importance enough to be included in the censure, I despise it too much
to inquire or consider, but cannot forbear to observe, that zeal for the
right can never become reproachful, and that no man can fall into
contempt but those who deserve it.
[The clause was amended, and agreed to.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 13, 1740-1.
The seventieth day of the session being appointed for the report from
the committee on the bill for the increase and encouragement of sailors,
sir John BARNARD presented a petition from the merchants of London, and
spoke as follows:--
Sir, this petition I am directed to lay before this house by many of the
principal merchants of that great city which I have the honour to
represent; men too wise to be terrified with imaginary dangers, and too
honest to endeavour the obstruction of any measures that may probably
advance the publick good, merely because they do not concur with their
private interest; men, whose knowledge and capacity enable them to judge
rightly, and whose acknowledged integrity and spirit set them above the
suspicion of concealing their sentiments.
I therefore present this petition in the name of the merchants of
London, in full confidence that it will be found to deserve the regard
of this assembly, though I am, equally with the other members, a
stranger to what it contains; for it is my opinion that a representative
is to lay before the house the sentiments of his constituents, whether
they agree with his own or not, and that, therefore, it would have been
superfluous to examine the petition, which, though I might not wholly
have approved it, I had no right to alter.
The petition was read, and is as follows:
"The humble petition of the merchants and traders of the city of
London--showeth, that your petitioners are informed a bill is depending
in this honourable house, for the encouragement and increase of seamen,
and for the better and speedier manning his majesty's fleet, in which
are clauses, that, should the bill pass into a law, your petitioners
apprehend will be highly detrimental to the trade and navigation of this
kingdom, by discouraging persons from entering into or being bred to the
sea service, and entirely prevent the better and speedier manning his
majesty's fleet, by giving the seamen of Great Britain, and of all other
his majesty's dominions, a distaste of serving on board the royal navy.
"That your petitioners conceive nothing can be of so bad consequence to
the welfare and defence of this nation, as the treating so useful and
valuable a body of men, who are its natural strength and security, like
criminals of the highest nature, and so differently from all other his
majesty's subjects; and at the same time are persuaded, that the only
effectual and speedy method of procuring, for the service of his
majesty's fleet, a proportionable number of the sailors in this kingdom,
is to distinguish that body of men by bounties and encouragements, both
present and future, and by abolishing all methods of severity and ill
usage, particularly that practice whereby they are deprived, after long
and hazardous voyages, of enjoying, for a short space of time, the
comforts of their families, and equal liberty with other their
fellow-subjects in their native country.
"That your petitioners believe it will not be difficult to have such
methods pointed out as will tend to supply the present necessities, and
at the same time effectually promote the increase of seamen, when this
honourable house shall think fit to inquire into a matter of such high
importance to the naval power, trade, and riches of this kingdom.
"That your petitioners are convinced this bill will not only be
ineffectual to answer the ends proposed by it, but will be destructive
of the liberties of all his majesty's subjects, as it empowers any
parish officer, accompanied with an unlimited number of persons, at any
hour, by day or by night, to force open the dwelling-houses, warehouses,
or other places, provided for the security and defence of their lives
and fortunes, contrary to the undoubted liberties of the people of Great
Britain, and the laws of this land.
"In consideration, therefore, of the premises, and of the particular
prejudices, hardships, and dangers, which must inevitably attend your
petitioners, and all others the merchants and traders of this kingdom,
should this bill pass into a law, your petitioners most humbly pray this
honourable house, that they may be heard by their counsel against the
said clauses in the said bill."
Mr. BATHURST then presented a petition, and spoke as follows:--Sir, the
alarm which the bill, now depending, has raised, is not confined to the
city of London, or to any particular province of the king's dominions;
the whole nation is thrown into commotions, and the effects of the law
now proposed, are dreaded, far and wide, as a general calamity. Every
town which owes its trade and its provisions to navigation, apprehends
the approach of poverty and scarcity, and those which are less
immediately affected, consider the infraction of our liberties as a
prelude to their destruction. Happy would it be, if we, who are
intrusted with their interest, could find any arguments to convince them
that their terrour was merely panick.
That these fears have already extended their influence to the county
which I represent, the petition which I now beg leave to lay before the
house, will sufficiently evince; and I hope their remonstrances will
prevail with this assembly to remove the cause of their disquiet, by
rejecting the bill.
This was entitled "a petition of several gentlemen, freeholders, and
other inhabitants of the county of Gloucester, in behalf of themselves,
and all other, the freeholders of the said county," setting forth, in
substance, "That the petitioners being informed that a bill was
depending in this house, for the encouragement and increase of seamen,
and for the better and speedier manning his majesty's fleet, containing
several clauses which, should the bill pass into a law, would, as the
petitioners apprehend, impose hardships upon the people too heavy to be
borne, and create discontents in the minds of his majesty's subjects;
would subvert all the rights and privileges of a Briton; and overturn
Magna Charta itself, the basis on which they are built; and, by these
means, destroy that very liberty, for the preservation of which the
present royal family was established upon the throne of Britain; for
which reasons, such a law could never be obeyed, or much blood would be
shed in consequence of it."
Mr. Henry PELHAM then spoke, to this purport:--Sir, I have attended to
this petition with the utmost impartiality, and have endeavoured to
affix, to every period, the most innocent sense; but cannot forbear to
declare it as my opinion, that it is far distant from the style of
submission and request: instead of persuading, they attempt to
intimidate us, and menace us with no less than bloodshed and rebellion.
They make themselves the judges of our proceedings, and appeal, from our
determinations, to their own opinion, and declare that they will obey no
longer than they approve.
If such petitions as these, sir, are admitted; if the legislature shall
submit to receive laws, and subjects resume, at pleasure, the power with
which the government is vested, what is this assembly but a convention
of empty phantoms, whose determinations are nothing more than a mockery
of state?
Every insult upon this house is a violation of our constitution; and the
constitution, like every other fabrick, by being often battered, must
fall at last. It is, indeed, already destroyed, if there be, in the
nation, any body of men who shall, with impunity, refuse to comply with
the laws, plead the great charter of liberty against those powers that
made it, and fix the limits of their own obedience.
I cannot, sir, pass over, in silence, the mention of the king, whose
title to the throne, and the reasons for which he was exalted to it, are
set forth with uncommon art and spirit of diction; but spirit, which, in
my opinion, appears not raised by zeal, but by sedition; and which,
therefore, it is our province to repress.
That his majesty reigns for the preservation of liberty, will be readily
confessed; but how shall we be able to preserve it, if his laws are not
obeyed?
Let us, therefore, in regard to the dignity of the assembly, to the
efficacy of our determinations, and the security of our constitution,
discourage all those who shall address us for the future, on this or any
other occasion, from speaking in the style of governours and dictators,
by refusing that this petition should be laid on the table.
[The question was put, and it was agreed, by the whole house, that it
should not lie on the table.]
Mr. Henry PELHAM rose up again, and spoke thus:--Sir, I cannot but
congratulate the house upon the unanimity with which this petition, a
petition of which I speak in the softest language, when I call it
irreverent and disrespectful, has been refused the regard commonly paid
to the remonstrances of our constituents, whose rights I am far from
desiring to infringe, when I endeavour to regulate their conduct, and
recall them to their duty.
This is an occasion, on which it is, in my opinion, necessary to exert
our authority with confidence and vigour, as the spirit of opposition
must always be proportioned to that of the attack. Let us, therefore,
not only refuse to this petition the usual place on our table, but
reject it as unworthy of this house.
[The question was put, and the petition rejected, with scarcely any
opposition.]
The house then entered upon the consideration of the bill, and when the
report was made from the committee, and the blanks filled up, sir
William YONGE spoke, in the following manner:--
Sir, the bill has been brought, by steady perseverance and diligent
attention, to such perfection, that much more important effects may be
expected from it than from any former law for the same purpose, if it be
executed with the same calmness and resolution, the same contempt of
popular clamour, and the same invariable and intrepid adherence to the
publick good, that has been shown in forming and defending it.
But what can we hope from this, or any other law, if particular men, who
cannot be convinced of its expedience, shall not only refuse to obey it,
but declare their design of obstructing the execution of it? shall
determine to retire from the sphere of their authority, rather than
exercise it in compliance with the decree of the senate, and threaten,
in plain terms, to call the country in to their assistance, and to pour
the rabble by thousands upon those who shall dare to do their duty, and
obey their governours?
Such declarations as these, sir, are little less than sallies of
rebellion; and, if they pass without censure, will, perhaps, produce
such commotions as may require to be suppressed by other means than
forms of law and senatorial censures.
Nor do I think that, by rejecting the petition, we have sufficiently
established our authority; for, in my opinion, we yielded too much in
receiving it. The bill before us whatever may be its title, is, in
reality, a money bill; a bill, by which aids are granted to the crown;
and we have, therefore, no necessity of rejecting petitions on this
occasion, because the standing orders of the house forbid us to admit
them.
They then proceeded to the amendments, and when the clause for limiting
the wages of seamen was read, sir John BARNARD rose up, and spoke to
this effect:--
Sir, we are now to consider the clause to which the petition relates,
which I have now presented, a petition on a subject of so general
importance, and offered by men so well acquainted with every argument
that can be offered, and every objection which can be raised, that their
request of being heard by their council cannot be denied, without
exposing us to the censure of adhering obstinately to our own opinions,
of shutting our ears against information, of preferring expedition to
security, and disregarding the welfare of our country.
It will not be necessary to defer our determinations on this clause for
more than three days, though we should gratify this just and common
request. And will not this loss be amply compensated by the satisfaction
of the people, for whose safety we are debating, and by the
consciousness that we have neglected nothing which might contribute to
the efficacy of our measures?
The merchants, sir, do not come before us with loud remonstrances and
harassing complaints, they do not apply to our passions, but our
understandings, and offer such informations as will very much facilitate
the publick service. It has been frequent, in the course of this debate,
to hear loud demands for better expedients, and more efficacious, than
those which have been proposed; and is it to be conceived that those who
called thus eagerly for new proposals, intended not to inform
themselves, but to silence their opponents?
From whom, sir, are the best methods for the prosecution of naval
affairs to be expected, but from those whose lives are spent in the
study of commerce, whose fortunes depend upon the knowledge of the sea,
and who will, most probably, exert their abilities in contriving
expedients to promote the success of the war, than they whom the
miscarriage of our fleets must irreparably ruin?
The merchants, sir, are enabled by their profession to inform us--are
deterred by their interest from deceiving us; they have, like all other
subjects, a right to be heard on any question; and a better right than
any other when their interest is more immediately affected; and,
therefore, to refuse to hear them, will be, at once, impolitick and
cruel; it will discover, at the same time, a contempt of the most
valuable part of our fellow-subjects, and an inflexible adherence to our
own opinions.
The expedient of asserting this to be a money bill, by which the just
remonstrances of the merchants are intended to be eluded, is too trivial
and gross to be adopted by this assembly: if this bill can be termed a
money bill, and no petitions are, therefore, to be admitted against it,
I know not any bill relating to the general affairs of the nation which
may not plead the same title to an exemption from petitions.
I therefore desire that the consideration of this clause may be deferred
for two days, that the arguments of the merchants may be examined, and
that this affair may not be determined without the clearest knowledge
and exactest information.
Sir Robert WALPOLE spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, the petition,
whether justifiable or not, with regard to the occasion on which it is
presented, or the language in which it is expressed, is certainly
offered at an improper time, and, therefore, can lay no claim to the
regard of this assembly.
The time prescribed, by the rules of this house, for the reception of
petitions, is that at which the bill is first introduced, not at which
it is to be finally determined.
The petition before us is said not to regard the bill in general, but a
particular clause; and it is, therefore, asserted, that it may now
properly be heard: but this plea will immediately vanish, when it shall
be made appear that the clause is not mentioned in it, and that there is
no particular relation between that and the petition, which I shall
attempt--
Here sir John BARNARD, remarking that sir Robert WALPOLE had the
petition in his hand, rose, and said:--Sir, I rise thus abruptly to
preserve the order of this assembly, and to prevent any gentleman from
having, in this debate, any other advantage, above the rest, than that
of superiour abilities, or more extensive knowledge.
The petition was not ordered, by the house, to be placed in the right
honourable gentleman's hand, but on the table; nor has he a right to
make use of any other means for his information, than are in the power
of any other member: if he is in doubt upon any particulars contained in
it, he may move that the clerk should read it to the house.
Sir Robert WALPOLE laid down the paper; Mr. PELHAM rose, and said:--Sir,
I am so far from thinking the rules of the house asserted, that, in my
opinion, the right of the members is infringed by this peremptory
demand. Is it not, in the highest degree, requisite, that he who is
about to reason upon the petition should acquaint himself with the
subject on which he is to speak.
What inconveniencies can ensue from such liberties as this, I am not
able to discover; and, as all the orders of the house are, doubtless,
made for more easy and expeditious despatch, if an order be contrary to
this end, it ought to be abrogated for the reasons for which others are
observed.
The confidence with which this petition was presented, will not suffer
us to imagine that the person who offered it fears that it can suffer by
a close examination; and I suppose, though he has spoken so warmly in
favour of it, without perusing, he does not expect that others should
with equal confidence admit--
Sir John BARNARD observing that sir Robert WALPOLE leaned forward
towards the table, to read the petition as it lay, rose, and said:--Sir,
I rise once more to demand the observation of the orders of the house,
and to hinder the right honourable gentleman from doing by stratagem,
what he did more openly and honestly before.
It was to little purpose that he laid down the petition, if he placed it
within reach of his inspection? for I was only desirous, sir, to hinder
him from reading, and was far from suspecting that he would take it
away. I insist, that henceforward, he obey the rules of this assembly,
with his eyes as well as with his hands, and take no advantage of his
seat, which may enable him to perplex the question in debate.
Then the PRESIDENT spoke thus:--Sir, it is, undoubtedly, required by the
orders of the house, that the petitions should lie upon the table; and
that any member, who is desirous of any farther satisfaction, should
move that they be read by the clerk, that every member may have the same
opportunity of understanding and considering them; and that no one may
be excluded from information, by the curiosity or delays of another. But
the importance of this affair seems not to be so very great as to
require a rigorous observance of the rules; and it were to be wished,
for the ease and expedition of our deliberations, that gentlemen would
rather yield points of indifference to one another, than insist so
warmly on circumstances of a trivial nature.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then desired that the clerk might read the petition,
which being immediately done, he proceeded in the following manner:--
Sir, having sat above forty years in this assembly, and never been
called to order before, I was somewhat disconcerted by a censure so new
and unexpected, and, in my opinion, undeserved. So that I am somewhat at
a loss, with regard to the train of arguments which I had formed, and
which I will now endeavour to recover. Yet I cannot but remark, that
those gentlemen who are so solicitous for order in others, ought,
themselves, invariably to observe it; and that if I have once given an
unhappy precedent of violating the rules of this house, I have, in some
measure, atoned for my inadvertence, by a patient attention to reproof,
and a ready submission to authority.
I hope, sir, I may claim some indulgence from the motive of my offence,
which was only a desire of accuracy, and an apprehension that I might,
by mistaking or forgetting some passages in the petition, lose my own
time, and interrupt the proceedings of the house to no purpose.
But having now, according to order, heard the petition, and found no
reason to alter my opinion, I shall endeavour to convince the house that
it ought not to be granted.
The petition, sir, is so far from bearing any particular relation to the
clause now before us, that it does not, in any part, mention the
expedient proposed in it, but contains a general declaration of
discontent, suspicion, apprehensions of dangerous proceedings, and
dislike of our proceedings; insinuations, sir, by no means consistent
with the reverence due to this assembly, and which the nature of civil
government requires always to be paid to the legislative power.
To suspect any man, sir, in common life, is in some degree to detract
from his reputation, which must suffer in proportion to the supposed
wisdom and integrity of him who declares his suspicion. To suspect the
conduct of this senate, is to invalidate their decisions, and subject
them to contempt and opposition.
Such, and such only, appears to be the tendency of the petition which
has now been read; a petition, sir, very unskilfully drawn, if it was
intended against the clause under our consideration, for it has not a
single period or expression that does not equally regard all the other
clauses.
If any particular objection is made, or any single grievance more
distinctly pointed at, it is the practice of impresses, a hardship, I
own, peculiar to the sailors; but it must be observed that it is a
practice established by immemorial custom, and a train of precedents not
to be numbered; and it is well known that the whole common law of this
nation is nothing more than custom, of which the beginning cannot be
traced.
Impresses, sir, have in all ages been issued out by virtue of the
imperial prerogative, and have in all ages been obeyed; and if this
exertion of the authority had been considered as a method of severity
not compensated by the benefits which it produces, we cannot imagine but
former senates, amidst all their ardour for liberty, all their
tenderness for the people, and all their abhorrence of the power of the
crown, would have obviated it by some law, at those times when nothing
could have been refused them.
The proper time for new schemes and long deliberations, for amending our
constitution, and removing inveterate grievances, are the days of
prosperity and safety, when no immediate danger presses upon us, nor any
publick calamity appears to threaten us; but when war is declared, when
we are engaged in open hostilities against one nation, and expect to be
speedily attacked by another, we are not to try experiments, but apply
to dangerous evils those remedies, which, though disagreeable, we know
to be efficacious.
And though, sir, the petitioners have been more particular, I cannot
discover the reasonableness of hearing them by their council; for to
what purpose are the lawyers to be introduced? Not to instruct us by
their learning, for their employment is to understand the laws that have
been already made, and support the practices which they find
established. But the question before us relates not to the past but the
future, nor are we now to examine what has been done in former ages, but
what it will become us to establish on the present occasion; a subject
of inquiry on which this house can expect very little information from
the professors of the law?
Perhaps the petitioners expect from their counsel, that they should
display the fecundity of their imagination, and the elegance of their
language; that they should amuse us with the illusions of oratory,
dazzle us with bright ideas, affect us with strong representations, and
lull us with harmonious periods; but if it be only intended that just
facts and valid arguments should be laid before us, they will be
received without the decorations of the bar. For this end, sir, it would
have been sufficient had the merchants informed their representatives of
the methods which they have to propose; for the abilities of the
gentlemen whom the city has deputed to this assembly, are well known to
be such as stand in need of no assistance from occasional orators. Nor
can it be expected that any men will be found more capable of
understanding the arguments of the merchants, or better qualified to lay
them before the senate.
That every petitioner has, except on money bills, a right to be heard,
is undoubtedly true; but it is no less evident that this right is
limited to a certain time, and that on this occasion the proper time is
elapsed. Justice is due both to individuals and to the nation; if
petitions may at any time be offered, and are, whenever offered, to be
heard, a small body of men might, by unseasonable and importunate
petitions, retard any occasional law, till it should become unnecessary.
Petitions, sir, are to be offered when a new bill is brought into the
house, that all useful information may be obtained; but when it has
passed through the examination of the committees, has been approved by
the collective wisdom of the senate, and requires only a formal
ratification to give it the force of a law, it is neither usual nor
decent to offer petitions, or declare any dislike of what the senate has
admitted.
We are not, when we have proceeded thus far, to suffer pleaders to
examine our conduct, or vary our determinations, according to the
opinions of those whom we ought to believe less acquainted with the
question than ourselves. Should we once be reduced to ask advice, and
submit to dictators, what would be the reputation of this assembly in
foreign courts, or in our own country? What could be expected, but that
our enemies of every kind would endeavour to regulate our determinations
by bribing our instructers.
Nor can I think it necessary that lawyers should be employed in laying
before us any scheme which the merchants may propose, for supplying the
defects, and redressing the inconveniencies, of the laws by which
sailors are at present levied for the royal navy; for how should lawyers
be more qualified than other men, to explain the particular advantages
of such expedients, or to answer any objections which may happen to
rise?
It is well known that it is not easy for the most happy speaker to
impress his notions with the strength with which he conceives them, and
yet harder is the task of transmitting imparted knowledge, of conveying
to others those sentiments which we have not struck out by our own
reflection, nor collected from our own experience, but received merely
from the dictates of another.
Yet such must be the information that lawyers can give us, who can only
relate what they have implicitly received, and weaken the arguments
which they have heard, by an imperfect recital.
Nor do I only oppose the admission of lawyers to our bar, but think the
right of the merchants themselves, in the present case, very
questionable; for though in general it must be allowed, that every
petitioner has a claim to our attention, yet it is to be inquired
whether it is likely that the publick happiness is his chief concern,
and whether his private interest is not too much affected to suffer him
to give impartial evidence, or honest information. Scarcely any law can
be made by which some man is not either impoverished, or hindered from
growing rich; and we are not to listen to complaints, of which the
foundation is so easily discovered, or imagine a law less useful,
because those who suffer some immediate inconvenience from it, do not
approve it.
The question before us is required, by the present exigence of our
affairs, to be speedily decided; and though the merchants have, with
great tenderness, compassion, and modesty, condescended to offer us
their advice, I think expedition preferable to any information that can
reasonably be expected from them, and that as they will suffer, in the
first place, by any misconduct of our naval affairs, we shall show more
regard to their interest by manning our fleet immediately, than by
waiting three or four days for farther instructions.
Mr. SANDYS answered to this effect:--Sir, the merchants of London
whether we consider their numbers, their property, their integrity, or
their wisdom, are a body of too much importance to be thus
contemptuously rejected; rejected when they ask nothing that can be
justly denied to the meanest subject of the empire, when they propose to
speak on nothing but what their profession enables them to understand.
To no purpose is it urged, that the bill is far advanced, for if we have
not proceeded in the right way, we ought to be in more haste to return,
in proportion as we have gone farther; nor can I discover why we should
expedite, with so much assiduity, measures which are judged ineffectual,
by those who know their consequences best, and for whose advantage they
are particularly designed.
That we have already spent so much time in considering methods for
manning the fleet, is surely one reason why we should endeavour at last
to establish such as may be effectual; nor can we hope to succeed
without a patient attention to their opinion, who must necessarily be
well experienced in naval affairs.
It is surely, therefore, neither prudent nor just to shut out
intelligence from our assemblies, and ridicule the good intention of
those that offer it, to consult upon the best expedients for encouraging
and increasing sailors, and when the merchants offer their scheme, to
treat them as saucy, impertinent, idle meddlers, that assume--
Here the ATTORNEY GENERAL called him to order, and spoke after this
manner:--Sir, it is not very consistent to press the despatch of
business, and to retard it, at the same time, by invidious insinuations,
or unjust representations of arguments or expressions: whenever any
expression is censured, it ought to be repeated in the same words; for
otherwise, does not the animadverter raise the phantom that he
encounters? Does he not make the stain, which he endeavours, with so
much officious zeal, to wipe away.
That no epithets of contempt or ridicule have, in this debate, been
applied to the merchants, nor any violation of decency attempted, it is
unnecessary to prove, and, therefore, it is neither regular nor candid
to represent any man as aggravating the refusal of their petition with
reproaches and insults. But not to dwell longer on this incident, I will
take the liberty of reminding the gentleman, that personal invectives
are always, at least superfluous, and that the business of the day
requires rather arguments than satire.
Mr. SANDYS then spoke as follows:--Sir, I am by no means convinced that
the learned gentleman who charges me with irregularity, is better
acquainted than myself with the rules and customs of this house, which I
have studied with great application, assisted by long experience. I
hope, therefore, it will be no inexcusable presumption, if, instead of a
tacit submission to his censure, I assert, in my own vindication, that I
have not deviated from the established rules of the senate, that I have
spoken only in defence of merit insulted, and that I have condemned only
such injurious insinuations. I did not, sir, attempt to repeat
expressions, as ought not to be heard without reply.
Then the PRESIDENT said:--I believe the gentleman either heard
imperfectly, or misunderstood these expressions, which he so warmly
condemns, for nothing has been uttered that could justly excite his
indignation. My office obliges me on this occasion to remark, that the
regard due to the dignity of the house ought to restrain every member
from digressions into private satire; for in proportion as we proceed
with less decency, our determinations will have less influence.
Mr. PELHAM spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, the reputation
which the honourable gentleman has acquired by his uncommon knowledge of
the usages of the senate, is too well founded to be shaken, nor was any
attack upon his character intended, when he was interrupted in the
prosecution of his design. To censure any indecent expression, by
whomsoever uttered, is, doubtless, consistent with the strictest
regularity; nor is it less proper to obviate any misrepresentation which
inattention or mistake may produce.
I am far, sir, from thinking that the gentleman's indignation was
excited rather by malice than mistake; but mistakes of this kind may
produce consequences which cannot be too cautiously avoided. How
unwillingly would that gentleman propagate through the nation an opinion
that the merchants were insulted in this house, their interest
neglected, and their intelligence despised, at a time when no aspersion
was thrown upon them, nor any thing intended but tenderness and regard?
And yet such had been the representation of this day's debate, which
this numerous audience would have conveyed to the populace, had not the
mistake been immediately rectified, and the rumour crushed in the birth.
Nothing, sir, can be more injurious to the character of this assembly,
by which the people are represented, than to accuse them of treating any
class of men with insolence and contempt; and too much diligence cannot
be used in obviating a report which cannot be spread in the nation,
without giving rise to discontent, clamours, and sedition.
Those who shall be inclined to reject the petition, may, perhaps, act
with no less regard to the merchants, and may promote their interest and
their security with no less ardour than those who most solicitously
labour for its reception: for, if they are not allowed to be heard, it
is only because the publick interest requires expedition, and because
every delay of our preparations is an injury to trade.
That this is not a proper time for petitions against the bill to be
heard, is universally known; and I can discover nothing in the petition
that restrains it to this particular clause, which is so far from being
specified, that it appears to be the only part of the bill of which they
have had no intelligence.
Let the warmest advocates for the petition point out any part of it that
relates to this single clause, and I will retract my assertion; but as
it appears that there are only general declarations of the inexpediency
of the measures proposed, and the pernicious tendency of the methods now
in use, what is the petition, but a complaint against the bill, and a
request that it should be laid aside.
The practice of impresses, sir, is particularly censured, as severe and
oppressive; a charge which, however true, has no relation to this
clause, which is intended to promote the voluntary engagement of sailors
in the service of the crown; yet it may not be improper to observe, that
as the practice of impressing is, in itself, very efficacious, and well
adapted to sudden emergencies; as it has been established by a long
succession of ages, and is, therefore, become almost a part of our
constitution; and as it is at this time necessary to supply the navy
with the utmost expedition, it is neither decent nor prudent to complain
too loudly against, or to heighten the discontent of the people at a
necessary evil.
We have, sir, examined every part of this bill with the attention which
the defence of the nation requires; we have softened the rigour of the
methods first proposed, and admitted no violence or hardship that is not
absolutely necessary, to make the law effectual, which, like every other
law, must be executed by force, if it be obstructed or opposed. We have
inserted a great number of amendments, proposed by those who are
represented as the most anxious guardians of the privileges of the
people; and it is not, surely, to no purpose that the great council of
the nation has so long and so studiously laboured.
Those who are chosen by the people to represent them, have undoubtedly,
sir, some claim as individuals to their confidence and respect; for to
imagine that they have committed the great charge of senatorial
employments, that they have trusted their liberties and their happiness
to those whose integrity they suspect, or whose understandings they
despise, is to imagine them much more stupid than they have been
represented by those who are censured as their enemies.
But far different is the regard due to the determinations formed by the
collective wisdom of the senate; a regard which ought to border upon
reverence, and which is scarcely consistent with the least murmur of
dissatisfaction.
If we are to hear the present petitioners, is it not probable, that
before we have despatched them, we shall be solicited by others, who
will then plead the same right, supported by a new precedent? And is it
not possible that by one interruption upon another, our measures may be
delayed, till they shall be ineffectual?
It seems to me to be of much more importance to defend the merchants
than to hear them; and I shall, therefore, think no concessions at this
time expedient, which may obstruct the great end of our endeavours, the
equipment of the fleet.
Mr. PULTENEY then spoke as follows:--Sir, notwithstanding the art and
eloquence with which this grant of the merchants' petition has been
opposed, I am not yet able to discover that any thing is asked
unreasonable, unprecedented, or inconvenient; and I am confident, that
no real objection can have been overlooked by the gentlemen who have
spoken against it.
I have spent, sir, thirty-five years of my life in the senate, and know
that information has always, upon important questions, been willingly
received; and it cannot surely be doubted that the petitioners are best
able to inform us of naval business, and to judge what will be the right
method of reconciling the sailors to the publick service, and of
supplying our fleets without injuring our trade.
Their abilities and importance have been hitherto so generally
acknowledged, that no senate has yet refused to attend to their opinion;
and surely we ought not to be ambitious of being the first assembly of
the representatives of the people, that has refused an audience to the
merchants.
With regard to the expedience of delaying the bill at the present
conjuncture, he must think very contemptuously of the petitioners, who
imagines that they have nothing to offer that will counterbalance a
delay of two days, and must entertain an elevated idea of the vigilance
and activity of our enemies, enemies never before eminent for
expedition, if he believes that they can gain great advantages in so
short a time.
The chief reason of the opposition appears, indeed, not to be either the
irregularity or inexpediency of hearing them, but the offence which some
have received from an irreverent mention of the power of impressing, a
power which never can be mentioned without complaint or detestation.
It is not, indeed, impossible that they may intend to represent to the
house, how much the sailors are oppressed, how much our commerce is
impeded, and how much the power of the nation is exhausted, by this
cruel method. They may propose to show that sailors, not having the
choice of their voyages, are often hurried through a sudden change of
climates, from one extreme to another, and that nothing can be expected
from such vicissitudes, but sickness, lameness, and death. They may
propose, that to have just arrived from the south may be pleaded as an
exemption from an immediate voyage to the north, and that the seaman may
have some time to prepare himself for so great an alteration, by a
residence of a few months in a temperate climate.
If this should be their intention, it cannot, in my opinion, sir, be
called either unreasonable or disrespectful, nor will their allegations
be easily disproved.
But it is insinuated, that their grievances are probably such as affect
them only as distinct from the rest of the community, and that they have
nothing to complain of but a temporary interruption of their private
advantage.
I have, indeed, no idea of the _private advantage_ of a legal trader:
for unless, sir, we neglect our duty of providing that no commerce shall
be carried on to the detriment of the publick, the merchant's profit
must be the profit of the nation, and their interests inseparably
combined.
It may, however, be possible, that the merchants may, like other men,
prefer their immediate to their greater advantage, and may be impatient
of a painful remedy, though necessary to prevent a more grievous evil.
But let us not censure them by suspicion, and punish them for a crime
which it is only possible they may commit; let us, sir, at least have
all the certainty that can be obtained, and allow them an audience; let
us neither be so positive as not to receive information, nor so rigorous
as not to listen to entreaties.
If the merchants have nothing to offer, nothing but complaints, and can
propose no better measures than those which they lament, if their
arguments should be found to regard only their present interest, and to
be formed upon narrow views and private purposes, it will be easy to
detect the imposture, and reject it with the indignation it shall
deserve; nor will our proceedings be then censured by the nation, which
requires not that the merchants should be implicitly believed, though it
expects that they should be heard. Let us at least have a _convention_,
though we should not be able to conclude a treaty.
I know not, sir, why we have not taken care to obviate all these
difficulties, and to remove the necessity of petitions, debates,
searches, and impresses, by the plain and easy method of a voluntary
register; by retaining such a number of seamen as may probably be
requisite upon sudden emergencies. Would not the nation with more
cheerfulness contribute half-pay to those who are daily labouring for
the publick good, than to the caterpillars of the land service, that
grow old in laziness, and are disabled only by vice?
Let ten thousand men receive daily a small salary, upon condition that
they shall be ready, whenever called upon, to engage in the service of
the crown, and the difficulty of our naval preparations will be at an
end.
That it is necessary to exert ourselves on this occasion, and to strike
out some measures for securing the dominion of the ocean, cannot be
denied by any one who considers that we have now no other pretensions to
maintain; that all our influence on the continent, at whatever expense
gained and supported, is now in a manner lost, and only the reputation
of our naval strength remains to preserve us from being trampled on and
insulted by every power, and from finding Spaniards in every climate.
Sir William YONGE spoke, in substance, as follows:--Sir, the violence
and severity of impresses, so often and so pathetically complained of,
appears to be now nothing more than a punishment inflicted upon those
who neglect or refuse to receive the encouragement offered, with the
utmost liberality, by the government, and decline the service of their
country from a spirit of avarice, obstinacy, or resentment.
That such men deserve some severities, cannot be doubted, and therefore
a law by which no penalty should be enacted, would be imperfect and
ineffectual. The observation, sir, of all laws is to be enforced by
rewards on one side, and punishments on the other, that every passion
may be influenced, and even our weakness made instrumental to the
performance of our duty.
In the bill before us no punishment is, indeed, expressly decreed,
because the sailors who shall disregard it, are only left to their
former hardships, from which those who engage voluntarily in the service
of the navy are exempted.
Why so many rewards and so much violence should be necessary to allure
or force the sailors into the publick service, I am unable to
comprehend: for, excepting the sudden change of climates, which may,
doubtless, sometimes bring on distempers, the service of the king has no
disadvantages which are not common to that of the merchants.
The wages in the navy are, indeed, less: but then it is to be
remembered, that they are certainly paid, and that the sailor is in less
danger of losing, by a tempest or a wreck, the whole profits of his
voyage; because, if he can preserve his life, he receives his pay. But
in trading voyages, the seamen mortgage their wages, as a security for
their care, which, if the ship is lost, they are condemned to forfeit.
Thus, sir, the hardships of the navy appear not so great when compared
with those of the merchants' service, as they have been hitherto
represented; and I doubt not, that if counsellors were to be heard on
both sides, the measures taken for supplying the fleet would be found to
be reasonable and just.
Sir John BARNARD rose to speak, when Mr. FOX called to order, and
proceeded:
Sir, it is well known to be one of the standing and unvariable orders of
this house, that no member shall speak twice in a debate on the same
question, except when for greater freedom we resolve ourselves into a
committee. Upon this question the honourable gentleman has already
spoken, and cannot, therefore, be heard again without such a
transgression of our orders as must inevitably produce confusion.
Sir John BARNARD spoke thus:--Sir, I know not for what reason the
honourable gentleman apprehends any violation of the order of the house;
for, as I have not yet spoken upon the present question, I have an
undoubted right to be heard, a right which that gentleman cannot take
away.
Sir William YONGE next spoke, to this effect:--Sir, I know not by what
secret distinction the gentleman supports in his own mind this
declaration, which, to the whole house, must appear very difficult to be
defended; for we must, before we can admit it, allow our memories to
have forsaken us, and our eyes and ears to have been deceived.
Did he not, as soon as the clause before us was read, rise and assert
the characters of the petitioners, and their right to the attention of
the house? Did he not dwell upon their importance, their abilities, and
their integrity; and enforce, with his usual eloquence, every motive to
the reception of the petition? How then can he assert that he has not
spoken in the present debate, and how can he expect to be heard a second
time, since, however his eloquence may please, and his arguments
convince, that pleasure and conviction cannot now be obtained, without
infringing the standing orders of the house.
Then the PRESIDENT rose, and spoke to this purport: It is not without
uneasiness that I see the time of the house, and of the publick, wasted
in fruitless cavils and unnecessary controversies. Every gentleman ought
now to consider that we are consulting upon no trivial question, and
that expedition is not less necessary than accuracy. It cannot be
denied, sir, [to sir John BARNARD] that you have already spoken on this
question, and that the rules of the house do not allow you to speak a
second time.
Sir Robert WALPOLE said:--Sir, I am far from thinking the order of the
house so sacred, as that it may not be neglected on some important
occasions; and if the gentleman has any thing to urge so momentous,
that, in his own opinion, it outweighs the regard due to our rules, I
shall willingly consent that he shall be heard.
Sir John BARNARD spoke as follows:--Sir, I am far from being inclined to
receive as a favour, what, in my own opinion, I may claim as a right,
and desire not to owe the liberty of speaking to the condescension of
the right honourable gentleman.
What I have to urge is no less against the bill in general, than the
particular clause now immediately under our consideration, and though
the petition should relate likewise to the whole bill, I cannot discover
why we should refuse to hear it.
Petitions from men of much inferiour rank, and whose interest is much
less closely connected with that of the publick, have been thought
necessary to be heard, nor is the meanest individual to be injured or
restrained, without being admitted to offer his arguments in his own
favour. Even the journeymen shoemakers, one of the lowest classes of the
community, have been permitted to bring their counsel to our bar, and
remonstrate against the inconveniencies to which they were afraid of
being subjected.
Mr. WINNINGTON spoke thus:--Sir, I am always willing to hear petitions,
when respectfully drawn up, and regularly subscribed, but can by no
means discover that this is a real petition, for I have heard of no
names affixed to it; it is, therefore, a request from nobody, and by
rejecting it no man is refused. It may, so far as can be discovered, be
drawn up by the gentleman who offered it, and, perhaps, no other person
may be acquainted with it.
Mr. HAY spoke to the following purport:--Sir, it is, in my opinion,
necessary that a petition in the name of the merchants of London should
be subscribed by the whole number, for if only a few should put their
names to it, how does it appear that it is any thing more than an
apprehension of danger to their own particular interest, which, perhaps,
the other part, their rivals in trade, may consider as an advantage, or
at least regard with indifference. This suspicion is much more
reasonable, when a petition is subscribed by a smaller number, who may
easily be imagined to have partial views, and designs not wholly
consistent with the interest of the publick.
Admiral WAGER then spoke thus:--Sir, if I am rightly informed, another
petition is preparing by several eminent merchants, that this clause may
stand part of the bill; and, certainly, they ought to be heard as well
as the present petitioners, which will occasion great and unnecessary
delays, and, therefore, I am against the motion.
Advocate CAMPBELL answered to this effect:--Sir, I agree with that
honourable gentleman, that if the merchants are divided in opinion upon
this point, one side ought to be heard as well as the other, and hope
the house will come to a resolution for that purpose: for I shall
invariably promote every proposal which tends to procure the fullest
information in all affairs that shall come before us.
[Then the question was put, that the farther consideration of the report
be adjourned for two days, in order to hear the merchants, and it passed
in the negative, ayes, 142; noes, 192.]
[On the report this day, the eleven clauses of severity were given up
without any division, and a clause was added, viz. "Provided that
nothing in this bill shall be construed to extend to any contracts or
agreements for the hire of seamen (or persons employed as such) in
voyages from parts beyond the seas, to any other parts beyond the seas,
or to Great Britain."]
The engrossed bill "for the increase and encouragement of seamen," was
read, according to order, when Mr. DIGBY rose, and spoke as follows:--
Sir, I have a clause to be offered to the house, as necessary to be
inserted in the bill before us, which was put into my hands by a member,
whom a sudden misfortune has made unable to attend his duty, and which,
in his opinion, and mine, is of great importance, and I shall,
therefore, take the liberty of reading it.
"Be it enacted, that every seaman offering himself to serve his majesty,
shall, upon being refused, receive from such captain, lieutenant, or
justice of the peace, a certificate, setting forth the reasons for which
he is refused, which certificate may be produced by him, as an exemption
from being seized by a warrant of impress."
I hope the reasonableness and equity of this clause is so incontestably
apparent, that it will find no opposition; for what can be more cruel,
unjust, or oppressive, than to punish men for neglect of a law which
they have endeavoured to obey. To what purpose are rewards offered, if
they are denied to those who come to claim them? What is it less than
theft, and fraud, to force a man into the service, who would willingly
have entered, and subject him to hardships, without the recompense which
he may justly demand from the solemn promise of the legislature.
Admiral WAGER next spoke to this effect:--Sir, to this clause, which the
gentleman has represented as so reasonable and just, objections may, in
my opinion, be easily made, of which he will himself acknowledge the
force. The great obstruction of publick measures is partiality, whether
from friendship, bribery, or any other motive; against partiality alone
the clause which is now offered, is levelled; and, indeed, it is so
dangerous an evil, that it cannot be obviated with too much caution.
But this clause, instead of preventing private correspondence, and
illegal combinations, has an evident tendency to produce them, by
inciting men to apply with pretended offers of service to those who are
before suborned to refuse them, then make a merit of their readiness,
and demand a certificate.
By such artifices multitudes may exempt themselves from the impress, who
may be known to be able sailors, even by those that conduct it; and may,
under the protection of a certificate, fallaciously obtained, laugh at
all endeavours to engage them in the publick service.
Mr. DIGBY spoke thus:--Sir, if this authority, lodged in the hands of
those who are proposed in the clause to be intrusted with it, be in
danger of being executed, without due regard to the end for which it is
granted, let it be placed where there is neither temptation nor
opportunity to abuse it. Let the admiralty alone have the power of
granting such certificates, the officers of which will be able to judge
whether the sailor is really unfit for the service, and deliver those
whom age or accidents have disabled from the terrour of impresses; for
surely, he that is fit to serve, when taken by violence, is no less
qualified when he enters voluntarily, and he who could not be admitted
when he tendered himself, ought not to be dragged away, when, perhaps,
he has contracted for another voyage.
Mr. WAGER replied:--Sir, it is, doubtless, more proper to place such
authority in the officers of the admiralty, than in any other; but it
does not appear that the benefit which the sailors may receive from it,
to whatever hands it is intrusted, will not be overbalanced by the
injury which the publick will probably suffer.
Sailors are frequently levied in remote parts of the kingdom; in ports
where the admiralty cannot speedily be informed of the reasons for which
those that may petition for certificates have been refused, and
therefore cannot grant them without danger of being deceived by
fraudulent accounts.
The grievance for which the remedy is proposed cannot frequently occur;
for it is not probable that in a time of naval preparations, any man
qualified for the service should be rejected, since the officers gain
nothing by their refusal.
Mr. HAY spoke as follows:--Sir, it is very possible that those instances
which may be produced of men, who have been impressed by one officer,
after they have been rejected by another, may be only the consequences
of the high value which every man is ready to set upon his own
abilities: for he that offers himself, no doubt, demands the highest
premium, though he be not an able sailor; and, if rejected, and
afterwards impressed as a novice, thinks himself at liberty to complain,
with the most importunate vehemence, of fraud, partiality, and
oppression.
[The question being put was resolved in the negative, almost
unanimously.]
Mr. SOUTHWELL offered a clause, importing, "That all sailors who should
take advance-money of the merchants, should be obliged to perform their
agreements, or be liable to be taken up by any magistrate or justice of
the peace, and deemed deserters, except they were in his majesty's ships
of war."
He was seconded by lord GAGE:--Sir, as this clause has no other tendency
than to promote the interest of the merchants, without obstructing the
publick preparations; as it tends only to confirm legal contracts, and
facilitate that commerce from whence the wealth and power of this nation
arises, I hope it will readily be admitted; as we may, by adding this
sanction to the contracts made between the merchants and sailors, in
some degree balance the obstructions wherewith we have embarrassed trade
by the other clauses.
Admiral WAGER replied:--This clause is unquestionably reasonable, but
not necessary; for it is to be found already in an act made for the
encouragement of the merchants, which is still in force, and ought,
whenever any such frauds are committed, to be rigorously observed.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then desired that the clerk might read the act, in
which the clause was accordingly found, and Mr. SOUTHWELL withdrew his
motion.
[Then the question was put, whether the bill "for the increase and
encouragement of sailors" do pass, which was resolved in the
affirmative, 153 against 79.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 13, 1740-1.
[DEBATE ON THE BILL FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF MUTINY AND DESERTION.]
The house being resolved into a committee for the consideration of the
bill for the punishment of mutiny and desertion, and for the better
payment of the army and their quarters, etc. sir William YONGE desired
that the twentieth and twenty-sixth clauses of the late act might be
read, which were read as follows:
XX. It is hereby enacted, that the officers and soldiers, so quartered
and billeted, shall be received by the owners of the inns,
livery-stables, ale-houses, victualling-houses, and other houses in
which they are allowed to be quartered and billeted by this act; and
shall pay such reasonable prices as shall be appointed, from time to
time, by the justices of the peace, in their general and
quarter-sessions of each county, city, or division, within their
respective jurisdictions: and the justices of the peace aforesaid, are
hereby empowered and required to set and appoint, in their general or
quarter-sessions aforesaid, such reasonable rates, for all necessary
provisions for such officers and soldiers, for one or more nights, in
the several cities, towns, villages and other places, which they shall
come to in their march, or which shall be appointed for their residence
and quarters.
XXVI. That the quarters, both of officers and soldiers in Great Britain,
may be duly paid and satisfied, be it enacted, that every officer, to
whom it belongs to receive the pay or subsistence-money, either for a
whole regiment, or particular troops and companies, shall immediately,
upon each receipt of every particular sum, on account of pay or
subsistence, give publick notice thereof to all persons keeping inns, or
other places where officers or soldiers are quartered by virtue of this
act: also appoint them and others to repair to their quarters, within
four days at the farthest, after the receipt of the same, to declare the
accounts or debts (if any shall be) between them and the officers and
soldiers quartered in their respective houses: which accounts the said
officer or officers are hereby required immediately to discharge, before
any part of the said pay or subsistence be distributed to the officers
or soldiers: provided the said accounts exceed not for a commission
officer of horse, under a captain, for _one day's diet and small beer_,
two shillings; for one commission officer of dragoons, under a captain,
one shilling; for one commission officer of foot, under a captain one
shilling; and for hay and straw, for one horse, sixpence; for one
dragoon or light horseman's diet and small beer, each day sixpence, and
hay and straw for his horse, sixpence; and also not to exceed
_fourpence_ a-day, for one _foot soldier's diet and small beer_.
He then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, whether there is any real
difficulty in the clauses which you have now heard read, or whether
there are such passages as may be easily understood by those who have no
interest to mistake them, and which are only clouded by an artificial
obscurity, whether they are in themselves capable of different meanings,
or whether avarice or poverty have produced unreasonable
interpretations, and found ambiguities only because they were determined
not to be disappointed in their search; whether this law is disobeyed
because it is misunderstood, or only misunderstood by those who have
resolved to disobey it, the committee must determine.
It has been for many years understood that innholders and keepers of
publick-houses were obliged by this law to supply soldiers quartered
upon them with diet and small beer, and hay and straw for their horses,
at such rates as are mentioned in the act; nor can I discover that these
clauses admit of any other interpretation, or that any other could be
intended by the senate by which it was enacted. The pay of the soldiers,
sir, was well known to those who gave their consent to this law, it was
intended by them that the soldiers should be supplied with necessaries,
and it could not be meant that they should pay for them more than they
received; they, therefore, established the rate at which they were to be
furnished, and fixed the highest rate which the wages of a soldier allow
him to pay.
This interpretation was, as I suppose, from its apparent consonance to
reason, universally allowed, till the inhabitants of Ledbury, whither
soldiers had been sent to suppress a riot and enforce the laws, found
their apprehensions so sharpened by their malice, that they discovered
in the act an ambiguity, which had, till that time, escaped the
penetration of the most sagacious, and, upon comparison of one
circumstance with another, found themselves under no obligation to give
any assistance to the soldiers.
They therefore, sir, not only refused to afford them victuals at the
accustomed rates, but proceeding from one latitude of interpretation to
another, at length denied them not only the privilege of diet, but the
use of kitchen utensils, to dress the provisions which they bought for
themselves, and at last denied their claim to the fire itself.
The soldiers, exasperated not only at the breach of their established
and uncontested privileges, but at the privation of the necessaries of
life, began to think of methods more speedy and efficacious than those
of arguments and remonstrances, and to form resolutions of procuring by
force, what, in their opinions, was only by force withheld from them.
What might have been the event of this controversy, to what extremities
a contest about things so necessary might have been carried, how wide
the contest might have spread, or how long it might have lasted, we may
imagine, but cannot determine; had not a speedy decision been procured,
its consequences might have been fatal to multitudes, and a great part
of the nation been thrown into confusion.
Having received an account of the affair from the officers who commanded
at that place, I consulted the attorney-general what was the design of
the law, and the extent of the obligation enforced by it, and was
answered by him, that the sums which were to be paid for the diet of the
men, and the hay and straw for the horses, being specified, it must
necessarily be intended, by the legislature, that no higher rates should
be demanded;--that the power granted to the justices of peace was wholly
in favour of the soldier, and that they might lessen the payment at
discretion in places of uncommon cheapness, or years of extraordinary
plenty, but could not increase it on any occasion.
Another dispute, sir, of the like nature was occasioned by the late
scarcity at Wakefield, where the justices, upon the application of the
innkeepers, made use of the authority which they supposed to have been
reposed in them by the act, and raised the price of hay and straw to
eight-pence, which the soldiers were not able to pay, without suffering
for want of victuals.
On this occasion, likewise, I was applied to, and upon consulting the
present attorney-general, received the same answer as before; and
transmitting his opinion to the place from whence I received the
complaint, it had so much regard paid to it, that the additional demand
was thence-forward remitted.
The letters which those two learned lawyers sent to me on this subject I
have now in my hand; and hope their opinion will be thought sufficient
authority for the interpretation of an act of the senate.
Nor is their authority, sir, however great, so strong a proof of the
justness of this interpretation, as the reasonableness, or rather
necessity of admitting it. The only argument that can be produced
against it, is the hardship imposed by it on the innholder, who, as it
is objected, must be obliged by the law, so understood, to furnish the
soldiers with provisions for a price at which he cannot afford them.
But let it be considered, how much more easily the landlord can furnish
them at this price, than they can provide for themselves, and the
difficulty will immediately vanish. If soldiers are necessary, they must
necessarily be supported, and it appears, upon reflection, that their
pay will not support them by any other method. If they are obliged to
buy their victuals, they must likewise buy fire and implements to dress
them; and what is still a greater hardship, they must sell them, and buy
new, at every change of their quarters; if this is impossible, it will
be allowed not to be the meaning of the senate, upon whose wisdom it
would be a censure too severe to suppose them capable of enacting
impossibilities.
But to the innholder, sir, whose utensils are always in use, and whose
fire is always burning, the diet of a soldier costs only the original
price paid to the butcher; and, in years of common plenty, may be
afforded, without loss, at the price mentioned in the act. It cannot,
indeed, be denied, that, at present, every soldier is a burden to the
family on which he is quartered, in many parts of the kingdom; but, it
may be reasonably hoped, that the present scarcity will quickly cease,
and that provisions will fall back to their former value; and even,
amidst all the complaints with which the severity and irregularity of
the late seasons have filled the nation, there are many places where
soldiers may be maintained at the stated rates, with very little
hardship to their landlords.
However, sir, as this interpretation of the act, though thus supported,
both by authority and reason, has been disputed and denied; as some
lawyers may be of a different opinion from those whom I have consulted;
and as it is not likely that the practice, thus interrupted, will now be
complied with as a prescription; I think it necessary to propose, that
the price of a soldier's diet be more explicitly ascertained, that no
room may remain for future controversies.
Mr. SANDYS then rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, I am very far from
thinking the authority of these learned gentlemen, whose letters are
produced, incontrovertible proof of the justness of an interpretation of
an act of the senate, where that interpretation is not in itself
warranted by reason, nor consistent with the preservation or enjoyment
of property. Much less shall I agree to support their interpretation by
a new law; or establish, by an act of the legislature, a kind of
oppression, for which, however tacitly submitted to, nothing could be
pleaded hitherto but custom.
The burden, sir, of a standing army, is already too heavy to be much
longer supported, nor ought we to add weight to it by new impositions;
it surely much better becomes the representatives of the nation to
attend to the complaints of their constituents; and where they are found
to arise from real grievances, to contrive some expedient for
alleviating their calamities.
A heavy and dreadful calamity, sir, lies now, in a particular manner,
upon the people; the calamity of famine, one of the severest scourges of
providence, has filled the whole land with misery and lamentation; and,
surely, nothing can be more inhuman than to choose out this season of
horrour for new encroachments on their privileges, and new invasions of
the rights of nature, the dominion of their own houses, and the
regulation of their own tables.
The honourable gentleman, sir, has mentioned places where provisions, as
he says, are still to be bought at easy rates. For my part, I am fixed
in no such happy corner of the kingdom; I see nothing but scarcity, and
hear nothing but complaints; and shall, therefore, be very far from
admitting now such methods of supporting the army, as were thought too
burdensome in times of plenty; nor will combine in laying a new tax upon
any class of my countrymen, when they are sinking under an enormous load
of imposts, and in want of the necessaries of life.
Sir William YONGE replied, in the manner following:--Sir, nothing is
more easy than outcry and exaggeration; nor any thing less useful for
the discovery of truth, or the establishment of right. The most
necessary measures may often admit of very florid exclamations against
them, and may furnish very fruitful topicks of invective.
When our liberties, sir, are endangered, or our country invaded, it may
be very easy, when it is proposed that we should have recourse to our
swords for security, to bewail, in pathetick language, the miseries of
war, to describe the desolation of cities, the waste of kingdoms, the
insolence of victory, and the cruelty of power inflamed by hostilities.
Yet to what will those representations contribute, but to make that
difficult which yet cannot be avoided, and embarrass measures which
must, however, be pursued.
Such, sir, appear to me to be the objections made to the methods now
proposed of providing necessaries for the soldiers; methods not eligible
for their own sake, but which ought not to be too loudly condemned, till
some better can be substituted; for why should the publick be alarmed
with groundless apprehensions? or why should we make those laws which
our affairs oblige us to enact, less agreeable to the people by partial
representations?
In the discussion of this question, sir, is to be considered whether
soldiers are to be supported, and whether it will be more proper to
maintain them by the method of ascertaining the rates at which they are
to be supplied, or by increasing their pay.
One of these two ways it is necessary to take; the provisions are
already fixed at as high a price as their pay will allow; if, therefore,
they are expected to pay more, their wages must be increased.
For my part, I shall comply with either method; though I cannot but
think it my duty to declare, that, in my opinion, it is safer to fix the
price of provisions, which must sink in their value, than to raise the
pay of the army, which may never afterwards be reduced.
Mr. GYBBON then spoke, to this effect:--Sir, I agree with the honourable
gentleman, that if soldiers are necessary, we must make provision for
their support. This is indisputably certain; but it is no less certain,
that where soldiers are necessary, restraints and regulations are
necessary likewise, to preserve those from being insulted and plundered
by them, who maintain them for the sake of protection.
The usefulness, sir, of this caution seems not to be known, or not
regarded, by the gentleman whose proposal gave occasion to this debate;
for, by enacting laws in general terms, as he seems to advise, we should
leave the unhappy innkeeper wholly at the mercy of his guests, who might
plunder and insult him under the protection of the legislature, might
riot, as in a conquered country, and say, "To this treatment you are
subjected by the determination of the senate."
The unhappy man, sir, could have no prospect, either of quiet or safety,
but by gratifying all the expectations of his masters; returning
civilities for insolence, and receiving their commands with the same
submission that is paid in capitulating towns to the new garrison.
If it be necessary to ascertain the price, is it not necessary, at the
same time, to ascertain the species and quantity of provisions to be
allowed for it? Is a soldier to fatten on delicacies, and to revel in
superfluities, for fourpence a-day? Ought not some limits to be set to
his expectations, and some restraints prescribed to his appetite? Is he
to change his fare, with all the capriciousness of luxury, and relieve,
by variety, the squeamishness of excess?
Such demands as these, sir, may be thought ludicrous and trifling, by
those who do not reflect on the insolence of slaves in authority, who do
not consider that the license of a military life is the chief inducement
that brings volunteers into the army; an inducement which would, indeed,
make all impresses superfluous, were this proposal to be adopted: for
how readily would all the lazy and voluptuous engage in a state of life
which would qualify them to live upon the labour of others, and to be
profuse without expense?
Our army may, by this method, be increased; but the number of those by
whom they are to be maintained, must quickly diminish: for, by exaction
and oppression, the poorer innkeepers must quickly become bankrupts; and
the soldiers that lose their quarters, must be added to the dividend
allotted to the more wealthy, who, by this additional burden will soon
be reduced to the same state, and then our army must subsist upon their
pay, because they will no longer have it in their power to increase it
by plunder.
It will then be inevitably necessary to divide the army from the rest of
the community, and to build barracks for their reception; an expedient
which, though it may afford present ease to the nation, cannot be put in
practice without danger to our liberties.
The reason, for which so many nations have been enslaved by standing
armies, is nothing more than the difference of a soldier's condition
from that of other men. Soldiers are governed by particular laws, and
subject to particular authority; authority which, in the manner of its
operation, has scarcely any resemblance of the civil power. Thus, they
soon learn to think themselves exempt from all other laws; of which they
either do not discover the use, and, therefore, easily consent to
abolish them; or envy the happiness of those who are protected by them,
and so prevail upon themselves to destroy those privileges which have no
other effect, with regard to them, but to aggravate their own
dependence.
These, sir, are the natural consequences of a military subjection; and
if these consequences are not always speedily produced by it, they must
be retarded by that tenderness which constant intercourse with the rest
of the nation produces, by the exchange of reciprocal acts of kindness,
and by the frequent inculcation of the wickedness of contributing to the
propagation of slavery, and the subversion of the rights of nature;
inculcations which cannot be avoided by men who live in constant
fellowship with their countrymen.
But soldiers, shut up in a barrack, excluded from all conversation with
such as are wiser and honester than themselves, and taught that nothing
is a virtue but implicit obedience to the commands of their officer,
will soon become foreigners in their own country, and march against the
defenders of their constitution, with the same alacrity as against an
army of invaders ravaging the coasts; they will lose all sense of social
duty, and of social happiness, and think nothing illustrious but to
enslave and destroy.
So fatal, sir, will be the effects of an establishment of barracks, or
petty garrisons, in this kingdom; and, therefore, as barracks must be
built when innkeepers are ruined, and our concurrence with this proposal
must produce their ruin, I hope it-will not be necessary to prove by any
other argument, that the motion ought to be rejected.
Mr. PELHAM spoke next, in terms to this purpose:--Sir, though I am not
inclined, by loud exaggerations and affected expressions of tenderness,
to depress the courage or inflame the suspicions of the people, to teach
them to complain of miseries which they do not feel, or ward against ill
designs, which were never formed, yet no man is more really solicitous
for their happiness, or more desirous of removing every real cause of
fear and occasion of hardships.
This affection to the people, an affection steady, regular, and
unshaken, has always prompted me to prefer their real to their seeming
interest, and rather to consult the security of their privileges than
the gratification of their passions; it has hitherto determined me to
vote for such a body of troops, as may defend us against sudden inroads
and wanton insults, and now incites me to propose that some efficacious
method may be struck out for their support, without exasperating either
the soldiers or their landlords by perpetual wrangles, or adding to the
burden of a military establishment the necessity of contentions in
courts of law.
I know not with what view those have spoken, by whom the proposal first
made has been opposed; they have, indeed, produced objections, some of
which are such as may be easily removed, and others such as arise from
the nature of things, and ought not, therefore, to be mentioned, because
they have no other tendency than to inflame the minds of those that hear
them against an army, at a time when it is allowed to be necessary, and
prove only what was never denied, that no human measures are absolutely
perfect, and that it is often impossible to avoid a greater evil, but by
suffering a less.
The question before us, sir, is in its own nature so simple, so little
connected with circumstances that may distract our attention, or induce
different men to different considerations, that when I reflect upon it,
I cannot easily conceive by what art it can be made the subject of long
harangues, or how the most fruitful imagination can expatiate upon it.
It is already admitted that an army is necessary; the pay of that army
is already established; the accidental scarcity of forage and victuals
is such, that the pay is not sufficient to maintain them; how then must
the deficiency be supplied? It has been proposed, either to fix the
price of provisions with respect to them, or to advance their wages in
some proportion to the price of provisions. Both these methods seem to
meet with disapprobation, and yet the army is to be supported.
Those who reason thus, do surely not expect to be answered, or at least
expect from a reply no other satisfaction than that of seeing the time
of the session wasted, and the administration harassed with trivial
delays; for what can be urged with any hope of success to him who will
openly deny contradictory propositions, who will neither move nor stand
still, who will neither disband an army nor support it?
Whether these gentlemen conceive that an army may subsist without
victuals till the time of scarcity is over, or whether they have raised
those forces only to starve them, I am not sagacious enough to
conjecture, but shall venture to observe, that if they have such a
confidence in the moderation and regularity of the soldiers, as to
imagine that they will starve with weapons in their hands, that they
will live within the sight of full tables, and languish with hunger, and
perish for want of necessaries, rather than diminish the superfluities
of others, they ought for ever to cease their outcries about the
licentiousness, insolence, and danger of a standing army.
But, not to sink into levity unworthy of this assembly, may I be
permitted to hint that these arts of protracting our debates, are by no
means consistent with the reasons for which we are assembled, and that
it is a much better proof, both of ability and integrity, to remove
objections, than to raise them, and to facilitate, than to retard, the
business of the publick.
The proposal made at first was only to elucidate a law which had been
regularly observed for fifty years, and to remove such ambiguities as
tended only to embarrass the innholders, not to relieve them.
To this many objections have been made, and much declamation has been
employed to display the hardships of maintaining soldiers, but no better
method has been yet discovered, nor do I expect that any will be started
not attended with greater difficulties.
In all political questions, questions too extensive to be fully
comprehended by speculative reason, experience is the guide which a wise
man will follow with the least distrust, and it is no trivial
recommendation of the present method, that it has been so long pursued
without any formidable inconvenience or loud complaints.
Hardships, even when real, are alleviated by long custom; we bear any
present uneasiness with less regret, as we less remember the time in
which we were more happy: at least, by long acquaintance with any
grievance we gain this advantage, that we know it in its whole extent,
that it cannot be aggravated by our imagination, and that there is no
room for suspecting that any misery is yet behind more heavy than that
which we have already borne.
Such is the present state of the practice now recommended to this
assembly, a practice to which the innkeepers have long submitted, and
found it at least tolerable, to which they knew themselves exposed when
they took out a license for the exercise of that profession, and which
they consider as a tax upon them, to be balanced against the advantages
which they expect from their employment.
This tax cannot be denied at present to be burdensome in a very uncommon
degree, but this weight has not been of long continuance, and it may be
reasonably hoped that it will now be made every day lighter. It is,
indeed, true, that no unnecessary impositions ought to be laid upon the
nation even for a day; and if any gentleman can propose a method by
which this may be taken off or alleviated, I shall readily comply with
his proposal, and concur in the establishment of new regulations.
With regard to barracks, I cannot deny that they are justly names of
terrour to a free nation, that they tend to make an army seem part of
our constitution, and may contribute to infuse into the soldiers a
disregard of their fellow-subjects, and an indifference about the
liberties of their country; but I cannot discover any connexion between
a provision for the support of soldiers in publick-houses, in a state of
constant familiarity with their countrymen, and the erection of
barracks, by which they will be, perhaps for ever, separated from them,
nor can discover any thing in the method of supporting them now
recommended that does not tend rather to the promotion of mutual good
offices, and the confirmation of friendship and benevolence.
The advocate CAMPBELL next spoke, in substance as follows:--Sir, whence
the impropriety of raising objections to any measures that are proposed
is imagined to arise I am unable to discover, having hitherto admitted
as an incontrovertible opinion, that it is the duty of every member of
this assembly to deliver, without reserve, his sentiments upon any
question which is brought before him, and to approve or censure,
according to his conviction.
If it be his duty, sir, to condemn what he thinks dangerous or
inconvenient, it seems by no means contrary to his duty, to show the
reason of his censure, or to lay before the house those objections which
he cannot surmount by his own reflection. It certainly is not necessary
to admit implicitly all that is asserted; and to deny, or disapprove
without reason, can he no proof of duty, or of wisdom; and how shall it
be known, that he who produces no objections, acts from any other
motives, than private malevolence, discontent, or caprice?
Nor is it, sir, to be imputed as a just reason for censure to those who
have opposed the motion, that no other measures have been offered by
them to the consideration of the committee. It is necessary to demolish
a useless or shattered edifice, before a firm and habitable building can
be erected in its place: the first step to the amendment of a law is to
show its defects; for why should any alteration be made where no
inconveniency is discovered?
To the chief objection that was offered, no answer has yet been made,
nor has the assembly been informed how the innkeeper shall be able to
discover when he has paid the tax which this law lays upon him. This is,
indeed, a tax of a very particular kind, a tax without limits, and to be
levied at the discretion of him for whose benefit it is paid. Soldiers
quartered upon these terms, are more properly raising contributions in
an enemy's country, than receiving wages in their own.
Is it intended, by this motion, that the innkeepers shall judge what
ought to be allowed the soldier for his money? I do not see, then, that
any alteration is proposed in the present condition of our army; for who
has ever refused to sell them food for their money at the common price,
or what necessity is there for a law to enforce a practice equally to
the advantage of all parties? If it be proposed that the soldier shall
judge for himself, that he shall set what value he shall think fit on
his own money, and that he shall be at once the interpreter and
executioner of this new law, the condition of the innkeeper will then be
such as no slave in the mines of America can envy, and such as he will
gladly quit for better treatment under the most arbitrary and oppressive
government.
Nor will the insolence of the soldier, thus invested with unlimited
authority, thus entitled to implicit obedience, and exalted above the
rest of mankind, by seeing his claim only bounded by his own moderation,
be confined to his unhappy landlord. Every guest will become subject to
his intrusion, and the passenger must be content to want his dinner,
whenever the lord of the inn shall like it better than his own.
That these apprehensions, sir, are not groundless, may be proved from
the conduct of these men, even when the law was not so favourable to
their designs; some of them have already claimed the sole dominion of
the houses in which they have been quartered, and insulted persons of
very high rank, and whom our ancient laws had intended to set above the
insults of a turbulent soldier. They have seen the provisions which they
had ordered taken away by force, partly, perhaps, to please the appetite
of the invader, and partly to gratify his insolence, and give him an
opportunity of boasting among his comrades, how successfully he
blustered.
If it be necessary, sir, to insert a new clause in the act to prevent
lawsuits, which, however advantageous they may sometimes be to me, I
shall always be ready to obviate, it is surely proper to limit the claim
of one party as well as that of the other, for how else is the ambiguity
taken away? The difficulty may be, indeed, transferred, but is by no
means removed, and the innkeeper must wholly repose himself upon the
lenity and justice of the soldier, or apply to the courts of law for the
interpretation of the act.
The question before us is said to be so free from perplexity, that it
can scarcely give occasion for harangues or disputations; and, indeed,
it cannot but be allowed, that the controversy may soon be brought to a
single point, and I think nothing more is necessary than to inquire, if
innholders shall be obliged to provide victuals for soldiers at a stated
price, what, and how much the soldier shall demand.
The power of raising money at pleasure, has been hitherto denied to our
kings, and surely we ought not to place that confidence in the lowest,
that has been refused to the most exalted of mankind, or invest our
soldiers with power, which neither the most warlike of our monarchs
could constrain us, nor the most popular allure us to grant.
The power now proposed to be granted, is nothing less than the power of
levying money, or what is exactly equivalent, the power of raising the
money in their own hands, to any imaginary value. A soldier may, if this
motion be complied with, demand for a penny, what another man must
purchase at forty times that price. While this is the state of our
property, it is surely not very necessary to raise armies for the
defence of it; for why should we preserve it from one enemy only to
throw it into the hands of another, equally rapacious, equally
merciless, and only distinguished from foreign invaders by this
circumstance, that he received from our own hands the authority by which
he plunders us.
Having thus evinced the necessity of determining the soldier's
privileges, and the innkeeper's rights, I think it necessary to
recommend to this assembly an uncommon degree of attention to the
regulation of our military establishment, which is become not only more
burdensome to our fellow-subjects by the present famine, but by the
increase of our forces; an increase which the nation will not behold
without impatience, unless they be enabled to discern for what end they
have been raised.
The people of this nation are, for very just reasons, displeased, even
with the appearance of a standing army, and surely it is not prudent to
exasperate them, by augmenting the troops in a year of famine, and
giving them, at the same time, new powers of extortion and oppression.
Mr. WINNINGTON spoke to this purpose:--Sir, I have heard nothing in this
debate, but doubts and objections, which afford no real information, nor
tend to the alleviation of those grievances, which are so loudly
lamented.
It is not sufficient to point out inconveniencies, or to give striking
representations of the hardships to which the people are exposed; for
unless some better expedient can be proposed, or some method discovered
by which we may receive the benefits, without suffering the
disadvantages of the present practice, how does it appear that these
hardships, however severe, are not inseparable from our present
condition, and such as can only be removed by exposing ourselves to more
formidable evils?
As no remedy, sir, has been proposed by those who appear dissatisfied
with the present custom, it is reasonable to imagine that none will be
easily discovered; and, therefore, I cannot but think it reasonable that
the motion should be complied with. By it no new imposition is intended,
nor any thing more than the establishment of a practice which has
continued for more than fifty years, and never, except on two occasions,
been denied to be legal. It is only proposed that the senate should
confirm that interpretation of the act which has been almost universally
received; that they should do what can produce no disturbance, because
it will make no alterations; but may prevent them, because it may
prevent any attempts of innovation, or diversity of opinions.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, whether the
interpretation of the act which is now contended for, has been
universally admitted, it is impossible to know; but it is at least
certain, that the practice which is founded upon it, has in many places
never been followed, nor, indeed, can it be made general without great
impropriety.
Many of those, sir, who are styled keepers of publick-houses, and on
whom soldiers are quartered under that denomination, have no conveniency
of furnishing provisions, because they never sell them; such are many of
the keepers of livery stables, among whom it is the common method to pay
soldiers a small weekly allowance, instead of lodging them in their
houses, a lodging being all which they conceive themselves obliged to
provide, and all that the soldiers have hitherto required; nor can we
make any alteration in this method without introducing the license and
insolence of soldiers into private houses; into houses hitherto
unacquainted with any degree of riot, incivility, or uproar.
The reason for which publick-houses are assigned for the quarters of
soldiers, is partly the greater conveniency of accommodating them in
families that subsist, by the entertainment of strangers, and partly the
nature of their profession, which, by exposing them to frequent
encounters with the rude and the debauched, enables them either to bear
or repress the insolence of a soldier.
But with regard, sir, to the persons whom I have mentioned, neither of
these reasons have any place; they have not, from their daily
employment, any opportunities of furnishing soldiery with beds or
victuals, nor, by their manner of life, are adapted to support intrusion
or struggle with perverseness. Nor can I discover why any man should
force soldiers into their houses, who would not willingly admit them
into his own.
Mr. COCKS spoke to this effect:--Sir, the practice mentioned by the
honourable gentleman, I know to be generally followed by all those that
keep alehouses in the suburbs of this metropolis, who pay the soldiers
billeted on them a composition for their lodging, nor ever see them but
when they come to receive it; so far are they from imagining that they
can claim their whole subsistence at any stated price.
It is apparent, therefore, that by admitting this motion, we should not
confirm a law already received, but establish a new regulation unknown
to the people; that we should lay a tax upon the nation, and send our
soldiers to collect it.
General WADE rose, and spoke to this purpose:--Sir, I have been long
conversant with military affairs; and, therefore, may perhaps be able to
give a more exact account, from my own knowledge, of the antiquity and
extent of this practice, than other gentlemen have had, from their way
of life; an opportunity of obtaining.
It was, sir, in the reign of king William, the constant method by which
the army was supported, as may be easily imagined by those who reflect,
that it was common for the soldiers to remain for eight or ten months
unpaid, and that they had, therefore, no possibility of providing for
themselves the necessaries of life. Their pay never was received in
those times by themselves, but issued in exchequer bills for large sums,
which the innkeepers procured to be exchanged and divided among
themselves, in proportion to their debts.
Such was the practice, sir, in that reign, which has been generally
followed to this time, and the rates then fixed have not since been
changed; and as no inconveniency has arisen from this method, I can
discover no reason against confirming and continuing it.
Mr. PULTKNEY spoke next, in the manner following:--Sir, those that have
spoken in defence of the motion, have accused their opponents, with
great confidence, of declaiming without arguments, and of wasting the
time of the session in a useless repetition of objections. I do not,
indeed, wonder that the objections which have been raised should have
given some disgust, for who can be pleased with hearing his opponent
produce arguments which he cannot answer? But surely the repetitions may
be excused; for an objection is to be urged in every debate till it is
answered, or is discovered to be unanswerable.
But what, sir, have those urged in defence of their own opinions, who so
freely animadvert upon the reasonings of others? What proofs, sir, have
they given of the superiority of their own abilities, of the depth of
their researches, or the acuteness of their penetration?
They have not produced one argument in favour of their motion, but that
it is founded on custom; they have not discovered, however wise and
sagacious, that it is always necessary to inquire whether a custom be
good or bad; for surely without such inquiry no custom ought to be
confirmed. The motion which they would support, is, indeed, useless in
either case, for a good custom will continue of itself, and one that is
bad ought not to be continued. It is the business of the legislature to
reform abuses, and eradicate corruptions, not to give them new strength
by the sanction of a law.
It has been urged, sir, that the law in reality exists already in that
the act has been interpreted in this sense by the attorney general; and
that his interpretation is generally received. This is then the state of
the question: if the practice, founded upon this sense of the act,
generally prevails, there is no need of a new clause to enforce what is
already complied with; if it does not prevail, all that has been urged
in defence of the motion falls to the ground.
I do not doubt, sir, that this custom has been received without many
exceptions, and therefore think it ought still to remain a custom,
rather than be changed into a law; because it will be complied with as a
custom, where there are no obstacles to the observation of it; and it
ought not to be enforced by law, where it is inconvenient and
oppressive.
While the soldier, sir, is moderate in his demands, and peaceable and
modest in his behaviour, the innkeeper will cheerfully furnish him even
more than he can afford at the stated price; and certainly, rudeness,
insolence, and unreasonable expectations, may justly be punished by the
forfeiture of some conveniencies. Thus, sir, the innkeeper will preserve
some degree of authority in his own house, a place where the laws of
nature give every man dominion, and the soldier will continue a regular
and inoffensive member of civil society.
The absurdity of leaving the soldier at large in his demands, and
limiting the price which the innkeeper is to require, has been already
exposed beyond the possibility of reply; nor, indeed, has the least
attempt been made to invalidate this objection; for it has been passed
in silence by those who have most zealously espoused the motion. The
account given by the honourable gentleman of the reason for which this
regulation was first introduced in the reign of king William, is
undoubtedly just; but it proves, sir, that there is no necessity of
continuing it; for the soldiers are now constantly paid, and therefore
need not that assistance from the innkeeper, which was absolutely
requisite when they were sometimes six months without money.
It has been urged, sir, with great importunity and vehemence, that some
expedient should be proposed in the place of this, which so many
gentlemen who have spoken on this occasion seem inclined to reject, and
which, indeed, cannot be mentioned without contempt or abhorrence. That
the soldiers should know, as well as their landlord, their own rights,
is undoubtedly just, as well as that they should have some certain means
of procuring the necessaries of life; it may, therefore, be proper to
enact, that the innkeeper shall either furnish them with diet at the
established rates, or permit them to dress the victuals which they shall
buy for themselves, with his fire and utensils, and allow them candles,
salt, vinegar, and pepper. By this method the soldiers can never be much
injured by the incivility of their landlord, nor can the innkeeper be
subjected to arbitrary demands. The soldier will still gain, by decency
and humanity, greater conveniencies than he can procure for himself by
his pay alone, and all opportunities of oppression on either side will,
in a great measure, be taken away.
I cannot but express my hopes that this method will be generally
approved. Those that have opposed the establishment of an army will be
pleased to see it made less grievous to the people; and those that have
declared in its favour, ought surely to adopt, without opposition, any
measures, by the pursuit of which it may be borne with fewer complaints,
and less reluctance.
[The consideration of this question was deferred, and the chairman
having moved for leave to sit again, it was resolved to proceed on this
business upon the next day but one, in a committee of the whole house.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 15, 1740-1.
The order of the day being read for the house to resolve itself into a
committee of the whole house, to consider the bill for punishing mutiny
and desertion, and the better paying the army and their quarters,
Sir William YONGE spoke, in substance as follows:--Sir, the last day
which was assigned to the consideration of this bill, was spent in long
altercations, in vague and unnecessary disquisitions, in retrospective
reflections upon events long past, and in aggravating of grievances that
may never happen; much sagacity was exerted, and much eloquence
displayed, but no determination was attained, nor even that expedient
examined, by which those objections might be removed which appeared so
important, or those dangers obviated which were represented so
formidable and so near.
I hope, sir, part of the time which has intervened between that debate
and the present day, has been employed by the gentlemen, whose scruples
were so numerous, and whose caution is so vigilant, in contriving some
methods of maintaining the army without oppressing the victuallers, and
of providing for our defence against foreign enemies without subjecting
us to the evils of discontent and disaffection, which they impute to the
present state of the military establishment.
To object for ever, and to advance nothing, is an easy method of
disputation upon any question, but contributes very little to the
increase of knowledge: an artful and acute objector may confound, and
darken, and disturb, but never assists inquiry, or illustrates truth.
In political questions, sir, it is still more easy and less ingenuous;
for all political measures are in some degree right and wrong at the
same time: to benefit some they very frequently bear hard upon others,
and are, therefore, only to be approved or rejected as advantages appear
to overbalance the inconveniencies, or the inconveniencies to outweigh
the advantages.
It is, sir, the proper province of a senator to promote, not to obstruct
the publick counsels; and when he declares his disapprobation of any
expedient, to endeavour to substitute a better: for how can he be said
to sustain his part of the general burden of publick affairs, who lays
others under the necessity of forming every plan, and inventing every
expedient, and contents himself with only censuring what he never
endeavours to amend?
That every man, who is called forth by his country to sit here as the
guardian of the publick happiness, is obliged, by the nature of his
office, to propose, in this assembly, whatever his penetration or
experience may suggest to him as advantageous to the nation, I doubt not
but all that hear me are sufficiently convinced; and, therefore, cannot
but suppose that they have so far attended to their duty, as to be able
to inform us how the present inconveniencies of this bill may be
remedied, and its defects supplied.
To show, sir, at least my inclination to expedite an affair so
important, I shall lay before the house an amendment that I have made to
the clause, pursuant to a hint offered the last day by an honourable
member, "That all innholders, victuallers, etc. shall be obliged to
furnish soldiers with salt, vinegar, small beer, candles, fire, and
utensils to dress their victuals, and so doing shall not be obliged to
supply the troops with provisions, except on a march."
I am far, sir, from thinking the clause, as it will stand after this
amendment, complete and unexceptionable, being conscious that some
articles in it may require explanation. The quantity of small beer to be
allowed to each soldier must necessarily be ascertained, in order to
prevent endless and indeterminable disputes; for one man, sir, may
demand a greater quantity than another, and a man may be prompted by
malice or wantonness to demand more than health requires; it will,
therefore, be proper to limit the quantity which must be furnished, that
neither the soldier may suffer by the avarice of his landlord, nor the
landlord be oppressed by the gluttony of the soldier.
With regard to this question, sir, I expect to find different opinions
in this assembly, which every man is at liberty to offer and to
vindicate; and I shall take this opportunity of proposing on my part,
that every man may have a daily allowance of three quarts. One quart to
each meal may be allowed in my opinion to be sufficient, and sure no
gentleman can imagine that by this limitation much superfluity is
indulged.
There are some parts, sir, of this kingdom, in which cider is more
plentiful, and cheaper than small beer; consequently, it may be for the
ease of the victualler to have the choice allowed him of furnishing one
or the other; it will, therefore, be a very proper addition to this
clause, that the innkeepers shall allow the soldier, every day, three
quarts of either small beer or cider.
That penal sanctions, sir, are essential to laws, and that no man will
submit to any regulations inconvenient to himself, but that he may avoid
some heavier evil, requires not to be proved; and, therefore, to
complete this clause, I propose that the victualler who shall neglect or
refuse to observe it, shall be subject to some fine for his
non-compliance.
Mr. PELHAM spoke to this effect:--Sir, I cannot omit this opportunity of
observing how much the burden of the army is diminished by the judicious
regulations invariably observed in the late reigns, and how little the
assignment of troops is to be dreaded by the victualler.
In the reign of king William, sir, before funds were established, while
the credit of the government was low, the measures of the court were
often obviated or defeated by the superiority of the discontented party,
and the supplies denied which were necessary to support them, and in
expectation of which they had been undertaken, it was not uncommon for
the towns in which the troops were stationed, to murmur at their guests;
nor could they be charged with complaining without just reasons: for to
quarter soldiers upon a house, was in those days little less than to
send troops to live at discretion.
As all supplies, sir, were then occasional and temporary, and nothing
was granted but for the present exigence, the prevalence of the
opposition, for a single session, embarrassed all the measures of the
court in the highest degree; their designs were at a stand, the forces
were unpaid, and they were obliged to wait till another session for an
opportunity of prosecuting their schemes.
Thus, sir, the soldiers were sometimes five months without their pay,
and were necessarily supported by the innkeeper at his own expense, with
how much reluctance and discontent I need not mention. It cannot but be
immediately considered, upon hearing this account of the soldier's
condition, with how many reproaches he would receive his victuals, how
roughly he would be treated, how often he would be insulted as an idler,
and frowned upon as an intruder. Nor can it be imagined that such
affronts, however they might be provoked, would be borne without return,
by those who knew themselves not the authors of the provocation, and who
thought themselves equal suf-ferers with those who complained. When the
innkeeper growled at the soldier, the soldier, it may be supposed,
seldom failed to threaten or to plunder the innkeeper, and to rise in
his demands as his allowance was retrenched.
Thus, sir, the landlord and his guest were the constant enemies of each
other, and spent their lives in mutual complaints, injuries, and
insults.
But by the present regularity of our military establishment, this great
evil is taken away; as the soldier requires no credit of the victualler,
he is considered as no great incumbrance on his trade; and being treated
without indignities, like any other member of the community, he
inhabits his quarters without violence, insolence, or rapacity, and
endeavours to recommend himself by officiousness and civility.
In the present method of payment, sir, the troops have always one
month's pay advanced, and receive their regular allowance on the stated
day; so that every man has it in his power to pay his landlord every
night for what he has had in the day; or if he imagines himself able to
procure his own provisions at more advantage, he can now go to market
with his own money.
It appears, therefore, to me, sir, that the amendment now proposed is
the proper mean between the different interests of the innkeeper and
soldier; by which neither is made the slave of the other, and by which
we shall leave, to both, opportunities of kindness, but take from them
the power of oppression.
Mr. CAREW next spoke as follows:--Sir, the amendment now offered is not,
in my opinion, so unreasonable or unequitable as to demand a warm and
strenuous opposition, nor so complete as not to be subject to some
objections; objections which, however, may be easily removed, and which
would, perhaps, have been obviated, had they been foreseen by the
gentleman who proposed it.
The allowance, sir, of small liquors proposed, I cannot but think more
than sufficient; three quarts a-day are surely more than the demands of
nature make necessary, and I know not why the legislature should
promote, or confirm in the soldiery, a vice to which they are already
too much inclined, the habit of tippling.
The innkeeper, sir, will be heavily burdened by the obligation to supply
the soldier with so many of the necessaries of life without payment;
and, therefore, it may be justly expected by him, that no superfluities
should be enjoyed at his expense.
But there remains another objection, sir, of far more importance, and
which must be removed before this clause can be reasonably passed into a
law. It is not declared, or not with sufficient perspicuity, that it is
to be left to the choice of the innkeeper, whether he will furnish the
soldier with provisions at fourpence a-day, or with the necessaries
enumerated in the clause for nothing. If it is to be left to the choice
of the soldier, the victualler receives no relief from the amendment, to
whose option, since he must suffer in either case, it ought to be
referred, because he only can tell by which method he shall suffer
least.
Mr. CORNWALL spoke in the manner following:--Sir, it is not without the
greatest diffidence that I rise to oppose the gentleman who offered the
amendment; for his abilities are so far superiour to mine, that I
object without hope of being able to support my objection, and contend
with an absolute certainty of being overcome. I know not whether it may
be allowed me to observe, that the difference between our faculties is,
with regard to strength and quickness, the same as between the cider of
his county and that of mine, except that in one part of the parallel the
advantage is on our side, and in the other on his.
The cider, sir, of our county is one of our most valuable commodities;
so much esteemed in distant places, that our merchants often sell it by
the bottle, for more than the soldier has to give for the provision of a
day; and of such strength, that I, who am accustomed to the use of it,
never was able to drink three quarts in any single day.
If, therefore, sir, the soldier is to have three quarts of this cider,
when small beer is not easily to be procured, not only the innkeeper,
but the army will be injured; for what greater harm can be done to any
man, than to initiate him in a habit of intemperance? and what outrages
and insolencies may not be expected from men trusted with swords, and
kept, from day to day, and from month to month, in habitual drunkenness
by a decree of the senate?
Sir William YONGE replied to this purpose:--Sir, I know not why the
gentleman has thought this a proper opportunity for displaying his
eloquence in the praise of his own cider. That he loves his own county
cannot be wondered, for no passion is more universal, and few less to be
censured;-but he is not to imagine that the produce of his native soil
will be generally allowed to excel that of other counties, because early
habits have endeared it to him, and familiarized it to his particular
palate.
The natives of every place prefer their own fruits and their own liquor,
and, therefore, no inference can be drawn from approbation so apparently
partial. From this prejudice I am far from suspecting myself free, nor
am desirous or industrious to overcome it: neither am I afraid of
exposing myself to all the censure that so innocent a prepossession may
bring upon me, by declaring that, in my opinion, the cider of my native
county is of equal excellence with that which this gentleman has so
liberally extolled.
Mr. CORNWALL answered to the following effect:--Sir, how little I expect
victory in this controversy I have already declared, and I need not
observe of how small importance it is what soil produces cider of the
greatest excellence and value; since, if there be other places where the
cider is equally esteemed, and purchased at the same rate, it is yet
more necessary to provide, by some exception, that the soldier shall not
be entitled to demand, of the victualler, liquor to more than thrice the
value of his pay, nor be allowed to revel in continual drunkenness, and
to corrupt his morals, and enervate his limbs by incessant debauchery.
But since, sir, the preference due to the cider of my county has been
denied, in my opinion, with great partiality and injustice, I think
myself obliged, by all the laws of honour and gratitude, to stand up
once more to vindicate its superiority, and assert its value.
The laws of honour, sir, require this from me, as they oblige every man
to stand forth a vindicator of merit slighted and oppressed; and
gratitude calls loudly upon me to exert myself in the protection of that
to which I have been often indebted for a pleasing suspense of care, and
a welcome flow of spirit and gaiety.
The cider, sir, which I am now rescuing from contemptuous comparisons,
has often exhilarated my social hours, enlivened the freedom of
conversation, and improved the tenderness of friendship, and shall not,
therefore, now want a panegyrist. It is one of those few subjects on
which an encomiast may expatiate without deviating from the truth.
Would the honourable gentleman, sir, who has thus vilified this
wonder-working nectar, but honour my table with his company, he would
quickly be forced to retract his censures; and, as many of his
countrymen have done, confess that nothing equal to it is produced in
any other part of the globe; nor will this confession be the effect of
his regard to politeness, but of his adherence to truth.
Of liquor like this, sir, two quarts is, undoubtedly, sufficient for a
daily allowance, in the lieu of small beer; nor ought even that to be
determined by the choice of the soldier, but of the innkeeper, for whose
benefit this clause is said to be inserted, and from whose grievances I
hope we shall not suffer our attention to be diverted by any incidental
questions, or ludicrous disputes.
Mr. GORE then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, that the allowance of
two quarts a-day is sufficient, and that to demand more is a wanton
indulgence of appetite, is experimentally known, and, therefore, no more
ought to be imposed upon the innkeeper.
Nor is this, sir, the only part of the clause that requires our
consideration; for some of the other particulars to be provided by the
victualler, may easily furnish perverse tempers with an opportunity of
wrangling: vinegar is not to be had in every part, of the kingdom, and,
where it cannot be procured, ought not to be required; for neither
reason nor experience will inform us that vinegar ought to be ranked
among the necessaries of life.
Sir William YONGE made the following reply:--Sir, by the alteration now
made in the clause, the innkeepers are effectually relieved from a great
part of the burden which, in my opinion, this act has hitherto laid upon
them; the necessity of furnishing the soldiers quartered upon them, with
provisions at the stated price, whatever might be the scarcity of the
season or of the country. That this was the intention of the act, is
asserted by those whose reputation and promotion are sufficient
evidences of their ability in the interpretation of our laws.
The innkeeper may now either accept or refuse the limited price, as it
shall appear to him most consistent with his interest; nor will there
be, for the future, any room for murmuring at unreasonable demands,
since he may oblige that soldier whom he cannot satisfy, to please
himself better at his own expense.
The choice of the liquor is, likewise, wholly referred to the innkeeper;
for the words in the clause requiring that he shall furnish three quarts
of small beer or cider, he complies, indisputably, with the law by
supplying either; and, therefore, the value of cider in any particular
county is not of much importance in the question before us; if cider be
more valuable than small beer, it may be withheld; if it be cheaper, it
may be substituted in its place; so that the innkeeper has nothing to
consult but his own interest.
That this is the meaning of the clause, is, I suppose, obvious to every
man that hears it read; and, therefore, I see no reason for any
alterations, because I know not any effect which they can possibly have,
except that of obscuring the sense which is now too clear to be
mistaken.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to the effect following:--Sir, though it
should be granted, that the clause before us is intelligible to every
member of this assembly, it will not certainly follow, that there is no
necessity of farther elucidations; for a law very easily understood by
those who make it, may be obscure to others who are less acquainted with
our general intention, less skilled in the niceties of language, or less
accustomed to the style of laws.
It is to be considered, that this law will chiefly affect a class of men
very little instructed in literature, and very unable to draw
inferences; men to whom we often find it necessary, in common cases, to
use long explanations, and familiar illustrations, and of whom it maybe
not unreasonably suspected, that the same want of education, which makes
them ignorant, may make them petulant, and at once incline them to
wrangle, and deprive them of the means of deciding their controversies.
That both innholders and soldiers are, for the greatest part, of this
rank and temper, I suppose, sir, every gentleman knows, from daily
observation; and, therefore, it will, I hope, be thought necessary to
descend to their understandings, and to give them laws in terms of which
they will know the meaning; we shall, otherwise, more consult the
interest of the lawyers than the innholders, and only, by one
alteration, produce a necessity of another.
I am therefore desirous, sir, that all the difficulties which have been
mentioned by every gentleman on this occasion, should be removed by
clear, familiar, and determinate expressions; for what they have found
difficult, may easily be, to an innholder or soldier, absolutely
inexplicable.
I cannot but declare, while I am speaking on this subject, that in my
opinion, two quarts of liquor will be a sufficient allowance. If we
consider the demands of nature, more cannot be required; if we examine
the expense of the innholder, he ought not to supply soldiers with a
greater quantity for nothing. It is to be remembered, that small beer,
like other liquors, is charged with an excise in publick-houses; and
that two quarts will probably cost the landlord a penny, and as we
cannot suppose that fire, candles, vinegar, salt, pepper, and the use of
utensils, and lodging, can be furnished for less than threepence a-day,
every soldier that is quartered upon a publick-house, may be considered
as a tax of six pounds a-year--a heavy burden, which surely ought not to
be aggravated by unnecessary impositions.
[The committee having gone through the bill, and settled the amendments,
the chairman was ordered to make his report the next day.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 16, 1740-1.
The report was read, and the amendments to the clauses in debate, which
then ran thus:--
That the officers and soldiers to be quartered and billeted as
aforesaid, shall be received, and furnished with diet and small beer by
the owners of the inns, livery stables, alehouses, victualling-houses,
etc. paying and allowing for the same the several rates mentioned.
Provided, that in case the innholder on whom any non-commission officers
or soldiers shall be quartered, by virtue of this act, (except on a
march,) shall be desirous to furnish such officers or soldiers with
candles, vinegar, and salt, and with either small beer or cider, not
ex-ceeding three quarts for each man _a-day gratis_, and to allow them
the use of fire, and the necessary utensils for dressing and eating
their meat, and shall give notice of such his desire to the commanding
officers, and shall furnish and allow them the same accordingly; then,
and in such case, the non-commission officers and soldiers so quartered
shall provide their own victuals; and the officer to whom it belongs to
receive, or that does actually receive the pay and subsistence of such
non-commission officers and soldiers, shall pay the several sums,
payable out of the subsistence-money for diet and small beer, to the
non-commission officers and soldiers aforesaid, and not to the innholder
or other person on whom such non-commission officers or soldiers are
quartered.
The question being put whether this clause should stand thus,
Mr. CAREW spoke to this effect:--Sir, though it may, perhaps, be
allowed, that the circumstances of our present situation oblige us to
support a more numerous army than in former years, surely no argument
can be drawn from them that can show the necessity of a profuse
allowance to our soldiers, or of gratifying their desires by the
oppression of the innholders.
If, sir, the designs of our enemies are so malicious, and their power so
formidable, as to demand augmentations of our troops, and additions to
our natural securities, they ought, surely, to impress upon us the
necessity of frugal measures, that no useless burdens may be imposed
upon the people.
To furnish two quarts of beer, sir, every day for nothing, is,
undoubtedly, an imposition sufficiently grievous; and I can, therefore,
discover no reason for which an allowance of three should be
established; a proposal injurious to the victualler, because it exacts
more than he can afford to allow, and of no benefit to the soldier,
because it offers him more than he can want.
Sir William YONGE spoke next, to this purpose:--Sir, if it is an
instance of misconduct to spend upon any affair more time than the
importance of it deserves, I am afraid that the clause, to which our
attention is now recalled, may expose us to censure, and that we may be
charged with neglecting weighty controversies, and national questions,
to debate upon trifles; of wasting our spirits upon subjects unworthy of
contention; of defeating the expectations of the publick, and diverting
our enemies rather than opposing them.
But, sir, as nothing has a more immediate tendency to the security of
the nation than a proper establishment of our forces, and the regulation
of their quarters is one of the most necessary and difficult parts of
the establishment; it is requisite that we think no question of this
kind too trivial for our consideration, since very dangerous
disturbances have often been produced by petty disputes.
The quantity, sir, of small beer to be allowed by the victualler to
those soldiers who shall provide their own victuals, was disputed
yesterday, and, as I thought, agreed upon; but since this question is
revived, I must take the opportunity to declare, that we ought not to
assign less than three quarts a-day to each man; for it is to be
remembered by those who estimate the demands by their own, how much
their way of life is different from that of a common soldier, and how
little he can be charged with wantonness and superfluity, for drinking
more small liquor than themselves.
There are few members of this house, who do not, more than once a-day,
drink tea, coffee, chocolate, or some other cooling and diluting
infusion; delicacies which the soldier cannot purchase; to which he is
entirely a stranger, and of which the place must be supplied by some
other cheap and wholesome liquors.
If, sir, those gentlemen whose close attention to the interest of the
innholder has, perhaps, abstracted them, in some degree, from any regard
to the necessities of a soldier, will consent to allow him five pints
a-day, I shall contend no longer; for though I cannot agree that it is a
sufficient provision, yet, as other gentlemen, equally able to judge in
this subject with myself, are of a different opinion, I shall show my
regard for their sentiments by desisting from opposition.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I am not able to
discover any necessity of compromising this debate, by taking the mean
between the two different opinions, or for denying to the soldiers what
every labourer or serving-man would murmur to be refused for a single
day.
I believe, sir, every gentleman, who examines the expense of his family,
will find that each of his servants consumes daily at least three quarts
of small beer, and surely it is not to be required that a soldier should
live in a perpetual state of war with his constitution, and a constant
inability to comply with the calls of nature.
General HANDASYD spoke to the following purpose:--Sir, the inclination
shown by several gentlemen for a penurious and scanty provision for the
soldiers, must, in my opinion, proceed from an inattentive consideration
of their pay, and will, therefore, be removed, by laying before them an
account of his condition, and comparing his daily pay with his daily
expenses.
The whole pay of a foot soldier, sir, is sixpence a-day, of which he is
to pay fourpence to his landlord for his diet, or, what is very nearly
the same, to carry fourpence daily to the market, for which how small a
supply of provisions he can bring to his quarters, especially in time of
scarcity, I need not mention.
There remain then only twopence, sir, to be disbursed for things not
immediately necessary for the preservation of life, but which no man can
want without being despicable to others and burdensome to himself.
Twopence a-day is all that a soldier has to lay out upon cleanliness and
decency, and with which he is likewise to keep his arms in order, and to
supply himself with some part of his clothing. If, sir, after these
deductions, he can, from twopence a-day, procure himself the means of
enjoying a few happy moments in the year with his companions over a cup
of ale, is not his economy much more to be envied than his luxury? Or
can it be charged upon him that he enjoys more than his share of the
felicities of life? Is he to be burdened with new expenses lest he
should hoard up the publick money, stop the circulation of coin, and
turn broker or usurer with twopence a-day?
I have been so long acquainted, sir, with the soldier's character, that
I will adventure to secure him from the charge of avarice, and to
promise that whatever he shall possess not necessary to life, he will
enjoy to the advantage of his landlord.
Then the advocate CAMPBELL spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I am far
from intending to oppose this proposal of five pints, though, upon a
rigorous examination, it might appear more than the mere wants of nature
require; for I cannot but declare that this question has too long
engaged the attention of the house, and that the representatives of a
mighty nation beset with enemies, and encumbered with difficulties, seem
to forget their importance and their dignity, by wrangling from day to
day upon a pint of small beer.
I conceive the bill, which we are now considering, sir, not as a
perpetual and standing law, to be interwoven with our constitution, or
added to the principles of our government, but as a temporary
establishment for the present year; an expedient to be laid aside when
our affairs cease to require it; an experimental essay of a new
practice, which may be changed or continued according to its success.
To allow, sir, five pints of small beer a-day to our soldiers, for a
single year, can produce no formidable inconveniency, and may, though it
should not be entirely approved, be of less disadvantage to the publick,
than the waste of another day.
[An alteration was made to five pints, instead of three quarts; and the
bill, thus amended, was ordered to be engrossed, and a few days
afterwards, being read a third time, was passed, and ordered to the
lords, where it occasioned no debate.]
HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 12, 1741.
[DEBATE ON ADDRESSING THE KING.]
A copy of his majesty's speech being read, Mr. CLUTTERBUCK-BUCK rose,
and spoke as follows:--
Sir, the present confusion in Europe, the known designs of the French,
the numerous claims to the Austrian dominions, the armies which are
levied to support them, and the present inability of the queen of
Hungary to maintain those rights which descend to her from her
ancestors, and have been confirmed by all the solemnities of treaties,
evidently require an uncommon degree of attention in our consultations,
and of vigour in our proceedings.
Whatever may be the professions of the French, their real designs are
easily discovered, designs which they have carried on, either openly, or
in private, for near a century, and which it cannot be expected that
they will lay aside, when they are so near to success. Their view, sir,
in all their wars and treaties, alliances and intrigues, has been the
attainment of universal dominion, the destruction of the rights of
nature, and the subjection of all the rest of mankind; nor have we any
reason to imagine that they are not equally zealous for the promotion of
this pernicious scheme, while they pour troops into Germany, for the
assistance of their ally, as when they wasted kingdoms, laid cities in
ashes, and plunged millions into misery and want, without any other
motive than the glory of their king.
But the French are not the only nation at this time labouring for the
subversion of our common liberties. Our liberties, sir, are endangered
by those equally interested with ourselves in their preservation; for in
what degree soever any of the princes who are now endeavouring to divide
among themselves the dominions of Austria, may be pleased with the
acquisition of new territories, and an imaginary increase of influence
and power, it must be evident to all who are not dazzled by immediate
interest, that they are only fighting for France, and that by the
destruction of the Austrian family, they must in a short time fall
themselves.
It is well known, sir, though it is not always remembered, that
political as well as natural greatness is merely comparative, and that
he only is a powerful prince, who is more powerful than those with whom
he can have any cause of contention. That prince, therefore, who
imagines his power enlarged by a partition of territories, which gives
him some additional provinces, may be at last disappointed in his
expectations: for, if this partition gives to another prince already
greater than himself, an opportunity of increasing his strength in a
degree proportionate to his present superiority, the former will soon
find, that he has been labouring for nothing, and that his danger is
still the same.
Such, sir, is the case of the king of Prussia, who, when he has overrun
that part of Germany, to which he now lays claim, will only have
weakened the house of Austria, without strengthening himself.
He is at present secure in the possession of his dominions, because
neither the Austrians would suffer the French, nor the French permit the
Austrians to increase-their power by subduing him. Thus, while the
present equipoise of power is maintained, jealousy and caution would
always procure him an ally whenever he should be attacked; but when, by
his assistance, the Austrian family shall be ruined, who shall defend
him against the ambition of France?
While the liberties of mankind are thus equally endangered by folly and
ambition, attacked on one side, and neglected on the other, it is
necessary for those who foresee the calamity that threatens them, to
exert themselves in endeavours to avert it, and to retard the fatal
blow, till those who are now lulled by the contemplation of private
advantage, can be awakened into a just concern for the general happiness
of Europe, and be convinced that they themselves can only be secure by
uniting in the cause of liberty and justice.
For this reason, sir, our sovereign has asserted the Pragmatick
sanction, and promised to assist the queen of Hungary with the forces
which former treaties have entitled her to demand from him; for this
reason he has endeavoured to rouse the Dutch from their supineness, and
excite them to arm once more for the common safety, to intimidate, by
new augmentations, those powers whose ardour, perhaps, only subsists
upon the confidence that they shall not be resisted, and to animate, by
open declarations in favour of the house of Austria, those who probably
are only hindered from offering their assistance, by the fear of
standing alone against the armies of France.
That by this conduct he may expose his dominions on the continent to
invasions, ravages, and the other miseries of war, every one who knows
their situation must readily allow; nor can it be doubted by any man who
has heard of the power of the Prussians and French, that they may commit
great devastations with very little opposition, the forces of the
electorate not being sufficient to give them battle; for though the
fortified towns might hold out against them, that consideration will
very little alleviate the concern of those who consider the miseries of
a nation, whose enemies are in possession of all the open country, and
who from their ramparts see their harvest laid waste, and their villages
in flames. The fortifications contain the strength, but the field and
the trading towns comprise the riches of a people, and the country may
be ruined which is not subdued.
As, therefore, sir, the electoral dominions of his majesty are now
endangered, not by any private dispute with the neighbouring princes,
but by his firmness in asserting the general rights of Europe; as the
consequences of his conduct, on this occasion, will be chiefly
beneficial to Britain, we ought surely to support him in the prosecution
of this design; a design which we cannot but approve, since our
ancestors have always carried it on without regard either to the danger
or the expense.
In conformity to this maxim of politicks, so clearly founded in equity,
and so often justified by the votes of the senate, has his majesty been
pleased to declare to us his resolution to adhere to his engagements,
and oppose all attempts that may be forming in favour of any unjust
pretensions to the prejudice of the house of Austria. 'Tis for this end
he desires the concurrence of his senate. I hope every gentleman in this
house will agree with me that we ought to declare our approbation of
these measures, in such terms as may show the world, that those who
shall dare to obstruct them, must resolve to incur the resentment of
this nation, and expose themselves to all the opposition which the
senate of Britain can send forth against them. We ought to pronounce
that the territories of Hanover will be considered, on this occasion, as
the dominions of Britain, and that any attack on one or the other will
be equally resented. I, therefore, move, that an humble address be
presented by this house to his majesty,
To return our thanks for his speech; to express our dutiful sense of his
majesty's just regard for the rights of the queen of Hungary, and for
maintaining the Pragmatick sanction; to declare our concurrence in the
prudent measures which his majesty is pursuing for the preservation of
the liberties and balance of power in Europe; to acknowledge his
majesty's wisdom and resolution, in not suffering himself to be diverted
from steadily persevering in his just purposes of fulfilling his
engagements with the house of Austria; also, further to assure his
majesty, that, in justice to and vindication of the honour and dignity
of the British crown, we will effectually stand by and support his
majesty against all insults and attacks, which any prince or power, in
resentment of the just measures which he has so wisely taken, shall make
upon any of his majesty's dominions, though not belonging to the crown
of Great Britain. And that in any future events, which might make it
necessary for him to enter into still larger expenses, this house will
enable him to contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support
of the queen of Hungary, to the preventing, by all reasonable means, the
subversion of the house of Austria, and to the maintaining the
Pragmatick sanction and the liberties and balance of Europe.
Mr. FOX seconded the motion in this manner:--Sir, the expediency, if not
the necessity of the address now moved for, will, I believe, be readily
allowed by those who consider the just measures which are pursued by his
majesty, the end which is intended by them, and the powers by which they
are opposed.
How much it is our duty to support the house of Austria it is not
necessary to explain to any man who has heard the debates of this
assembly, or read the history of the last war. How much it is our duty
to support it, is evident, as soon as it is known by whom it is
attacked; by the ancient enemy of these nations, by the general
disturber of the universe, by the formidable oppressors of liberty,
exulting in new acquisitions, inflamed with the madness of universal
monarchy, and elated with an opportunity of subjecting Germany, by
exalting to the supreme power a prince who shall hold his authority only
by their permission.
The house of Austria, which has so often stood forth in defence of our
common rights, which has poured armies into the field, in confederacy
with Britain, to suppress the insolence of that family which nothing
could satisfy but boundless power, now demands the assistance which it
has so often afforded; that assistance is demanded from us by every
claim which the laws of society can enact, or the dictates of nature can
suggest, by treaties maturely considered, and solemnly confirmed, by the
ties of ancient friendship, and the obligations of common interest.
To violate the publick faith, and to neglect the observation of
treaties, is to sink ourselves below barbarity, to destroy that
confidence which unites mankind in society. To deny or evade our
stipulations, sir, is to commit a crime which every honest mind must
consider with abhorrence, and to establish a precedent which may be used
hereafter to our own destruction.
To forsake an ancient ally only because we can receive no immediate
advantage from his friendship, or because it may be in some degree
dangerous to adhere to him; to forsake him when he most wants our good
offices, when he is distressed by his enemies, and deserted by others
from whom he had reason to hope for kinder treatment, is the most
despicable, the most hateful degree of cowardice and treachery.
The obligations of interest, sir, it is not often needful to enforce,
but it may be observed on this occasion, that a single year of neglect
may never be retrieved. We may, sir, now be able to support those whom,
when once dispossessed, it will not be in our power to restore; and that
if we suffer the house of Austria to be overborne, our posterity,
through every generation, may have reason to curse our injudicious
parsimony, our fatal inactivity, and our perfidious cowardice.
With what views the king of Prussia concurs in the French measures, or
upon what principles of policy he promises to himself any security in
the enjoyment of his new dominions, it is not easy to conjecture; but as
it is easy to discover, that whatever he may propose to himself, his
conduct evidently tends to the ruin of Europe, so he may, in my opinion,
justly be opposed, if he cannot be diverted or made easy.
Nor can we, sir, if this opposition should incite him, or any other
power, to an invasion of his majesty's foreign dominions, refuse them
our protection and assistance: for as they suffer for the cause which we
are engaged to support, and suffer only by our measures, we are at
least, as allies, obliged by the laws of equity and the general compacts
of mankind, to arm in their defence; and what may be claimed by the
common right of allies, we shall surely not deny them, only because they
are more closely united to us, because they own the same monarch with
ourselves.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke to the following purpose:--Sir, with what eagerness
the French snatch every opportunity of increasing their influence,
extending their dominions, and oppressing their neighbours, the
experience of many years has convinced all Europe; and it is evident
that unless some power be preserved in a degree of strength nearly equal
to theirs, their schemes, pernicious as they are, cannot be defeated.
That the only power from which this opposition can be hoped, is the
house of Austria, a very superficial view of this part of the globe,
will sufficiently demonstrate; of this we were long since so strongly
convinced, that we employed all our forces and all our politicks to
aggrandize this house. We endeavoured not only to support it in all its
hereditary rights, but to invest it with new sovereignties, and extend
its authority over new dominions.
Why we afterwards varied in our councils and our measures, I have long
inquired without any satisfaction, having never, sir, with the utmost
application, been able to discover the motives to the memorable treaty
of Hanover, by which we stipulated to destroy the fabrick that we had
been so long and so laboriously endeavouring to erect; by which we
abandoned that alliance which we had so diligently cultivated, which we
had preferred to peace, plenty, and riches, and for which we had
cheerfully supported a tedious, a bloody, and an expensive war.
This conduct, sir, raises a greater degree of admiration, as the authors
of it had exhausted all their eloquence in censuring the treaty of
Utrecht, and had endeavoured to expose those who transacted it to the
general hatred of the nation; as they always expressed in the strongest
terms their dread and detestation of the French; as they animated all
their harangues, and stunned their opponents with declarations of their
zeal for the liberties of Europe.
By what impulse or what infatuation, these asserters of liberty, these
enemies of France, these guardians of the balance of power, were on the
sudden prevailed on to declare in favour of the power whom they had so
long thought it their chief interest and highest honour to oppose, must
be discovered by sagacity superiour to mine. But after such perplexity
of councils and such fluctuation of conduct, it is necessary to inquire
more particularly what are the present intentions of the ministry, what
alliances have been formed, and what conditions are required to be
fulfilled.
If we are obliged only to supply the queen of Hungary with twelve
thousand men, we have already performed our engagements; if we have
promised any pecuniary assistance, the sum which we have stipulated to
furnish ought to be declared; for I suppose, at least, our engagements
have some limits, and that we are not to exert all the force of the
nation, to fight as if fire and sword were at our gates, or an invader
were landing armies upon our coasts.
I have, sir, from my earliest years been zealous for the defence and
exaltation of the house of Austria, and shall be very far from proposing
that any danger or distress should influence us to desert it; but I do
not easily discover by what means we shall be able to afford any
efficacious assistance: for the power of Britain consists chiefly in
naval armaments, which can be of very little use to the queen of
Hungary, and I know not any state that will easily consent to unite with
us on this occasion.
If there be, sir, any states remaining in Europe which the French can
neither intimidate nor bribe, we ought studiously to solicit and
diligently to cultivate their friendship; but whether any, except the
Moscovites, are now independent, or sufficiently confident of their own
strength to engage in such a hazardous alliance, may be justly doubted.
The late grand alliance, sir, was supported at the expense of this
nation alone; nor was it required from the other confederates to exhaust
the treasure of their country in the common cause. I hope the debt which
that war has entailed upon us will instruct us to be more frugal in our
future engagements, and to stipulate only what we may perform without
involving the nation in misery, which victories and triumphs cannot
compensate.
The necessity, sir, of publick economy obliges me to insist, that before
any money shall be granted, an account be laid before the senate, in
particular terms, of the uses to which it is to be applied. To ask for
supplies in general terms, is to demand the power of squandering the
publick money at pleasure, and to claim, in softer language, nothing
less than despotick authority.
It has not been uncommon for money, granted by the senate, to be spent
without producing any of those effects which were expected from it,
without assisting our allies, or humbling our enemies; and, therefore,
there is reason for suspecting that money has sometimes been asked for
one use and applied to another.
If our concurrence, sir, is necessary to increase his majesty's
influence on the continent, to animate the friends of the house of
Austria, or to repress the disturbers of the publick tranquillity, I
shall willingly unite with the most zealous advocates for the
administration in any vote of approbation or assistance, not contrary to
the act of settlement, that important and well-concerted act, by which
the present family was advanced to the throne, and by which it is
provided, that Britain shall never be involved in war for the
enlargement or protection of the dominions of Hanover, dominions from
which we never expected nor received any benefit, and for which,
therefore, nothing ought to be either suffered or hazarded.
If it should be again necessary to form a confederacy, and to unite the
powers of Europe against the house of Bourbon, that ambitious, that
restless family, by which the repose of the world is almost every day
interrupted, which is incessantly labouring against the happiness of
human nature, and seeking every hour an opportunity of new
encroachments, I declare, sir, that I shall not only, with the greatest
cheerfulness, bear my share of the publick expense, but endeavour to
reconcile others to their part of the calamities of war. This, sir, I
have advanced in confidence, that sufficient care shall be taken, that
in any new alliance we shall be parties, not principals; that the
expense of war, as the advantage of victory, shall be common; and that
those who shall unite with us will be our allies, not our mercenaries.
Mr. WALPOLE then spoke, to the following purpose:--Sir, it is not
without reason that the honourable gentleman desires to be informed of
the stipulations contained in the treaty by which we have engaged to
support the Pragmatick sanction; for I find that he either never knew
them or has forgotten them; and, therefore, those reasonings which he
has formed upon them fall to the ground.
We are obliged, sir, by this treaty, to supply the house of Austria with
twelve thousand men, and the Dutch, who were engaged in it by our
example, have promised a supply of five thousand. This force, joined to
those armies which the large dominions of that family enable them to
raise, were conceived sufficient to repel any enemy by whom their rights
should be invaded.
But because in affairs of such importance nothing is to be left to
hazard, because the preservation of the equipoise of power, on which the
liberties of almost all mankind, who can call themselves free, must be
acknowledged to depend, ought to be rather certain, than barely
probable; it is stipulated farther, both by the French and ourselves,
that if the supplies, specified in the first article, shall appear
insufficient, we shall unite our whole force in the defence of our ally,
and struggle, once more, for independence, with ardour proportioned to
the importance of our cause.
By these stipulations, sir, no engagements have been formed that can be
imagined to have been prohibited by the act of settlement, by which it
is provided, that the house of Hanover shall not plunge this nation into
a war, for the sake of their foreign dominions, without the consent of
the senate; for this war is by no means entered upon for the particular
security of Hanover, but for the general advantage of Europe, to repress
the ambition of the French, and to preserve ourselves and our posterity
from the most abject dependence upon a nation exasperated against us by
long opposition, and hereditary hatred.
Nor is the act of settlement only preserved unviolated by the reasons of
the present alliance, but by the regular concurrence of the senate which
his majesty has desired, notwithstanding his indubitable right of making
peace and war by his own authority. I cannot, therefore, imagine upon
what pretence it can be urged, that the law, which requires that no war
shall be made on account of the Hanoverian dominions without the consent
of the senate, is violated, when it is evident that the war is made upon
other motives, and the concurrence of the senate is solemnly desired.
But such is the malevolence with which the conduct of the administration
is examined, that no degree of integrity or vigilance can secure it from
censure. When, in the present question, truth and reason are evidently
on their side, past transactions are recalled to memory, and those
measures are treated with the utmost degree of contempt and ridicule, of
which the greatest part of the audience have probably forgotten the
reasons, and of which the authors of them do not always stand up in the
defence, because they are weary of repeating arguments to those who
listen with a resolution never to be convinced.
How well, sir, those by whom the ministry is opposed, have succeeded in
hardening their minds against the force of reason, is evident from their
constant custom of appealing from the senate to the people, and
publishing, in pamphlets, those arguments which they have found
themselves, in this assembly, unable to support; a practice which
discovers rather an obstinate resolution to obstruct the government,
than zeal for the prosperity of their country, and which, to speak of it
in the softest terms, seems to be suggested more by the desire of
popularity than the love of truth.
Mr. SANDYS spoke to the effect following:--Sir, notwithstanding the
confidence with which this motion has been offered and defended,
notwithstanding the specious appearance of respect to his majesty, by
which it is recommended, I am not ashamed to declare, that it appears to
me inconsistent with the trust reposed in us by our constituents, who
owe their allegiance to the king of Britain, and not to the elector of
Hanover.
It will be urged, sir, by the people, whom we sit here to represent,
that they are already embarrassed with debts, contracted in a late war,
from which, after the expense of many millions, and the destruction of
prodigious multitudes, they receive no advantage; and that they are now
loaded with taxes for the support of another, of which they perceive no
prospect of a very happy or honourable conclusion, of either security or
profit, either conquests or reprisals; and that they are, therefore, by
no means willing to see themselves involved in any new confederacy, by
which they may entail on their posterity the same calamities, and oblige
themselves to hazard their fortunes and their happiness in defence of
distant countries, of which many of them have scarcely heard, and from
which no return of assistance is expected.
Mr. WALPOLE spoke again, to this purpose:--Sir, though it is not
necessary to refute every calumny that malice may invent, or credulity
admit, or to answer those of whom it may reasonably be conceived that
they do not credit their own accusations, I will yet rise, once more, in
vindication of the treaty of Hanover, to show with how little reason it
is censured, to repress the levity of insult, and the pride of
unreasonable triumph.
The treaty of Hanover, sir, how long soever it has been ridiculed, and
with whatever contempt those by whom it was negotiated have been
treated, was wise and just. It was just, because no injury was intended
to any power, no invasion was planned, no partition of dominions
stipulated, nothing but our own security desired. It was wise, because
it produced the end proposed by it, and established that security which
the Austrians and Spaniards were endeavouring to destroy.
The emperour of Germany, sir, had then entered into a secret treaty of
alliance with Spain, by which nothing less was designed than the total
destruction of our liberties, the diminution of our commerce, the
alienation of our dominions, and the subversion of our constitution. We
were to have been expelled from Gibraltar, and totally excluded from the
Mediterranean, the pretender was to have been exalted to the throne, and
a new religion, with the slavery that always accompanies it, to have
been introduced amongst us, and Ostend was to have been made a port, and
to have shared the poor remains of our commerce to foreign nations.
This unjust, this malicious confederacy, was then opposed with the
utmost vehemence by the imperial general, whose courage and military
capacity are celebrated throughout the world, and whose political
abilities and knowledge of the affairs of Europe, were equal to his
knowledge of war. He urged, with great force, that such a confederacy
would disunite the empire for ever from the maritime powers, by which it
had been supported, and which were engaged by one common interest in the
promotion of its prosperity: but his remonstrances availed nothing, and
the alliance was concluded.
When our ancient allies, who had been so often succoured with our
treasure, and defended by our arms, had entered into such engagements;
when it was stipulated not only to impoverish but enslave us; not only
to weaken us abroad, but to deprive us of every domestick comfort; when
a scheme was formed that would have spread misery over the whole nation,
and have extended its consequences to the lowest orders of the
community, it was surely necessary to frustrate it by some alliance, and
with whom could we then unite, but with France?
This is not the only fact on which gentlemen have ventured to speak with
great freedom without sufficient information; the conduct of our allies
in the late war has been no less misrepresented than that of our
ministers in their negotiations. They have been charged with imposing
upon us the whole expense of the confederacy, when it may be proved,
beyond controversy, that the annual charge of the Dutch was five
millions.
Nor did they, sir, only contribute annually thus largely to the common
cause, but when we forsook the alliance, and shamefully abandoned the
advantages we had gained, they received our mercenaries into their own
pay, and expended nine millions in a single year.
Of the truth of these assertions it is easy to produce incontestable
evidence, which, however, cannot be necessary to any man who reflects,
that from one of the most wealthy nations in the world, the Dutch, with
all their commerce, and all their parsimony, are reduced to penury and
distress; for who can tell by what means they have sunk into their
present low condition, if they suffered nothing by the late war?
How this gentleman, sir, has been deceived, and to whose insinuations
his errours are to be imputed, I am at no loss to discover. I hope he
will, by this confutation, be warned against implicit credulity, and
remember with what caution that man is to be trusted, whose pernicious
counsels have endangered his country.
Mr. VYNER spoke thus:--Sir, it is, in my opinion, an incontestable
maxim, that no measures are eligible, which are unjust; and that,
therefore, before any resolutions are formed, we ought to examine not
what motives may be suggested by expedience, but what arguments may be
advanced by equity on one part or the other.
If I do not mistake the true intent of the address now proposed, we are
invited to declare that we will oppose the king of Prussia in his
attempts upon Silesia, a declaration in which I know not how any man can
concur, who knows not the nature of his claim, and the laws of the
empire. It ought, therefore, sir, to have been the first endeavour of
those by whom this address has been so zealously promoted, to show that
his claim, so publickly explained, so firmly urged, and so strongly
supported, is without foundation in justice or in reason, and is only
one of those imaginary titles, which ambition may always find to the
dominions of another.
But no attempt has been yet made towards the discussion of this
important question, and, therefore, I know not how any man can call upon
us to oppose the king of Prussia, when his claim may probably be just,
and, by consequence, such as, if it were necessary for us to engage in
the affairs of those distant countries, we ought to join with him in
asserting.
Lord GAGE spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, as no member of
this assembly can feel a greater degree of zeal for his majesty's honour
than myself; none shall more readily concur in any expression of duty or
adherence to him.
But I have been always taught that allegiance to my prince is consistent
with fidelity to my country, that the interest of the king and the
people of great Britain is the same; and that he only is a true subject
of the crown, who is a steady promoter of the happiness of the nation:
For this reason I think it necessary to declare, that Hanover is always
to be considered as a sovereignty separate from that of Britain, and as
a country with laws and interests distinct from ours; and that it is the
duty of the representatives of this nation, to take care that interests
so different may never be confounded, and that Britain may incur no
expense of which Hanover alone can enjoy the advantage.
If the elector of Hanover should be engaged in war with any of the
neighbouring sovereigns, who should be enabled, by a victory, to enter
into the country, and carry the terrours of war through all his
territories, it would by no means be necessary for this nation to
interpose; for the elector of Hanover might lose his dominions without
any disadvantage or dishonour to the king or people of Britain.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 16, 1741.
DEBATE ON A MOTION FOR SUPPORTING THE QUEEN OF HUNGARY.
His majesty went this day to the house of lords, and after his assent to
several bills, he, in a speech from the throne to both houses of the
senate, acquainted them, that the war raised against the queen of
Hungary, and the various claims on the late German emperour's
succession, might expose the dominions of such princes as should incline
to support the Pragmatick sanction to imminent danger. That the queen of
Hungary required the twelve thousand men stipulated by treaty, and
thereupon he had demanded of the king of Denmark, and of the king of
Sweden, as sovereign of Hesse Cassel, their respective bodies of troops,
of six thousand men each, to be in readiness to march to her assistance.
That he was concerting such farther measures as may disappoint all
dangerous designs forming to the prejudice of the house of Austria,
which might make it necessary for him to enter into still larger
expenses for maintaining the Pragmatick sanction. He, therefore, in a
conjuncture so critical, desired the concurrence of his senate, in
enabling him to contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support
of the queen of Hungary, the preventing, by all reasonable means, the
subversion of the house of Austria, and to the maintaining the liberties
and balance of power in Europe.
The house of commons, in their address upon this occasion, expressed a
dutiful sense of his majesty's just regard for the rights of the queen
of Hungary, and for the maintaining the Pragmatick sanction; they
declared their concurrence in the prudent measures which his majesty was
pursuing for the preservation of the liberties and balance of power in
Europe; they assured his majesty, that, in justice to, and vindication
of the honour and dignity of the British crown, they would effectually
stand by and support his majesty against all insults and attacks, which
any power, in resentment of the just measures which he had so wisely
taken, should make upon any of his majesty's dominions, though not
belonging to the crown of Great Britain. They farther assured his
majesty, that in any future events which might make it necessary for him
to enter into still larger expenses, they would enable him to
contribute, in the most effectual manner, to the support of the designs
he proposed.
His majesty, in his answer to this address, observed their readiness in
enabling him to make good his engagements with the queen of Hungary, and
the assurances given him not to suffer his foreign dominions to be
insulted on account of the measures he was pursuing for the support of
the Pragmatick sanction, etc.
In consequence of this procedure, the house, pursuant to order, resolved
itself into a committee, to consider of the supplies granted to his
majesty.
Upon this occasion, a motion was made by sir Robert WALPOLE for a grant
of three hundred thousand pounds, for the support of the queen of
Hungary, on which arose the following debate:
Sir Robert WALPOLE supported his motion by a speech, in substance as
follows:--Sir, the necessity of this grant appears so plainly from the
bare mention of the purposes for which it is asked, that I can scarcely
conceive that its reasonableness will be disputed. I can discover no
principles upon which an objection to this motion can be founded, nor
the least arguments by which such objection can be supported.
The indispensable obligations of publick faith, the great ties by which
nations are united, and confederacies formed, I cannot suppose any man
inclined to invalidate. An exact performance of national promises, and
inviolable adherence to treaties, is enforced at once by policy and
justice, and all laws both of heaven and earth.
Publick perfidy, sir, like private dishonesty, whatever temporary
advantages it may promise or produce, is always, upon the whole, the
parent of misery. Every man, however prosperous, must sometimes wish for
a friend; and every nation, however potent, stand in need of an ally;
but all alliances subsist upon mutual confidence, and confidence can be
produced only by unlimited integrity, by known firmness, and approved
veracity.
The use of alliances, sir, has, in the last age, been too much
experienced to be contested; it is by leagues well concerted, and
strictly observed, that the weak are defended against the strong, that
bounds are set to the turbulence of ambition, that the torrent of power
is restrained, and empires preserved from those inundations of war,
that, in former times, laid the world in ruins. By alliances, sir, the
equipoise of power is maintained, and those alarms and apprehensions
avoided, which must arise from daily vicissitudes of empire, and the
fluctuations of perpetual contest.
That it is the interest of this nation to cultivate the friendship of
the house of Austria, to protect its rights, and secure its succession,
to inform it when mistaken, and to assist it when attacked, is allowed
by every party. Every man, sir, knows that the only power that can
sensibly injure us, by obstructing our commerce, or invading our
dominions, is France, against which no confederacy can be formed, except
with the house of Austria, that can afford us any efficacious support.
The firmest bond of alliances is mutual interest. Men easily unite
against him whom they have all equal reason to fear and to hate; by whom
they have been equally injured, and by whom they suspect that no
opportunity will be lost of renewing his encroachments. Such is the
state of this nation, and of the Austrians. We are equally endangered by
the French greatness, and equally animated against it by hereditary
animosities, and contests continued from one age to another; we are
convinced that, however either may be flattered or caressed, while the
other is invaded, every blow is aimed at both, and that we are divided
only that we may be more easily destroyed.
For this reason we engaged in the support of the Pragmatick sanction,
and stipulated to secure the imperial crown to the daughters of Austria;
which was nothing more than to promise, that we would endeavour to
prevent our own destruction, by opposing the exaltation of a prince who
should owe his dignity to the French, and, in consequence of so close an
alliance, second all their schemes, admit all their claims, and
sacrifice to their ambition the happiness of a great part of mankind.
Such would probably be the consequence, if the French should gain the
power of conferring the imperial crown. They would hold the emperour in
perpetual dependence, would, perhaps, take possession of his hereditary
dominions, as a mortgage for their expenses; would awe him with the
troops which they sent under a pretence of assisting him, and leave him
only the titles of dominion, and the shadows of empire.
In this state would he remain, whilst his formidable allies were
extending their dominions on every side. He would see one power subdued
after another, and himself weakened by degrees, and only not deprived of
his throne, because it would be unnecessary to dethrone him; or he would
be obliged to solicit our assistance to break from his slavery, and we
should be obliged, at the utmost hazard, and at an expense not to be
calculated, to remedy what it is, perhaps, now in our power to prevent
with very little difficulty.
That this danger is too near to be merely chimerical, that the queen of
Hungary is invaded, and her right to the imperial dignity contested, is
well known; it is, therefore, the time for fulfilling our engagements;
engagements of the utmost importance to ourselves and our posterity; and
I hope the government will not be accused of profusion, if, for three
hundred thousand pounds, the liberties of Europe shall be preserved.
We cannot deny this grant without acting in opposition to our late
professions of supporting his majesty in his endeavours to maintain the
Pragmatick sanction, and of assisting him to defend his foreign
dominions from any injuries to which those endeavours should expose
them; for how can he without forces defend his dominions, or assist his
ally? or how can he maintain forces without supplies?
Mr. SHIPPEN next rose, and spoke thus:--Sir, as I have always
endeavoured to act upon conviction of my duty, to examine opinions
before I admit them, and to speak what I have thought the truth, I do
not easily change my conduct, or retract my assertions; nor am I
deterred from repeating my arguments when I have a right to speak, by
the remembrance that they have formerly been unsuccessful.
Every man, when he is confident himself, conceives himself able to
persuade others, and imagines that their obstinacy proceeds from other
motives than reason; and that, if he fails at one time to gain over his
audience, he may yet succeed in some happier moment, when their
prejudices shall be dissipated, or their interest varied.
For this reason, though it cannot be suspected that I have forgotten the
resentment which I have formerly drawn upon myself, by an open
declaration of my sentiments with regard to Hanover, I stand up again,
with equal confidence, to make my protestations against any
interposition in the affairs of that country, and to avow my dislike of
the promise lately made to defend it: a promise, inconsistent, in my
opinion, with that important and inviolable law, the _act of
settlement!_--a promise, which, if it could have been foreknown, would,
perhaps, have for ever precluded from the succession that illustrious
family, to which we owe such numberless blessings, such continued
felicity!
Far be it from me to insinuate that we can be too grateful to his
majesty, or too zealous in our adherence to him; only let us remember,
that true gratitude consists in real benefits, in promoting the true
interest of him to whom we are indebted; and surely, by hazarding the
welfare of Britain in defence of Hanover, we shall very little consult
the advantage, or promote the greatness of our sovereign.
It is well known how inconsiderable, in the sight of those by whom the
succession was established, Hanover appeared, in comparison with
Britain. Those men, to whom even their enemies have seldom denied praise
for knowledge and capacity, and who have been so loudly celebrated by
many, who have joined in the last address, for their honest zeal, and
the love of their country, enacted, that the king of Britain should
never visit those important territories, which we have so solemnly
promised to defend, at the hazard of our happiness. It was evidently
their design that our sovereign, engrossed by the care of his new
subjects, a care which, as they reasonably imagined, would arise from
gratitude for dignity and power so liberally conferred, should in time
forget that corner of the earth on which his ancestors had resided, and
act, not as elector of Hanover, but as king of Britain, as the governour
of a mighty nation, and the lord of large dominions.
It was expressly determined, that, this nation should never be involved
in war for the defence of the dominions on the continent, and,
doubtless, the same policy that has restrained us from extending our
conquests in countries from which some advantages might be received,
ought to forbid all expensive and hazardous measures, for the sake of
territories from whence no benefit can be reaped.
Nor are the purposes, sir, for which this supply is demanded, the only
objections that may be urged against it, for the manner in which it is
asked, makes it necessary at least to delay it. The ministers have been
so little accustomed to refusals that they have forgot when to ask with
decency, and expect the treasure of the nation to be poured upon them,
whenever they shall think it proper to hint that they have discovered
some new opportunity of expense.
It is necessary, that when a supply is desired, the house should be
informed, some time before, of the sum that is required, and of the ends
to which it is to be applied, that every member may consider, at
leisure, the expediency of the measures proposed, and the proportion of
the sum to the occasion on which it is demanded; that he may examine
what are the most proper methods of raising it, and, perhaps, inquire
with what willingness his constituents will advance it.
Whether any man is enabled by his acuteness and experience, to determine
all these questions upon momentaneous reflection, I cannot decide. For
my part, I confess myself one of those on whom nature has bestowed no
such faculties, and therefore move that the consideration of this supply
may be deferred for a few days; for if it be now pressed upon us, I
shall vote against it, because I do not yet fully discover all the
reasons for it, nor all the consequences which it may produce, and I
think myself obliged to know for what purpose I give away the money
which is not my own.
Mr. VYNER spoke as follows:--Sir, whatever may be the necessity of
maintaining the Pragmatick sanction, or whatever the obligations of
national pacts, of which I hope no man is desirous of countenancing the
neglect, yet they cannot oblige us to arm without an enemy, to embarrass
ourselves with watching every possibility of danger, to garrison
dominions which are not threatened, or assert rights which are not
invaded.
The expediency of maintaining the house of Austria on the imperial
throne, it is not at present necessary to assert, because it does not
appear that any other family is aspiring to it. There may, indeed, be
whispers of secret designs and artful machinations, whispers, perhaps,
spread only to affright the court into treaties, or the senate into
grants; or designs, which, like a thousand others that every day
produces, innumerable accidents may defeat; which may be discovered, not
only before they are executed, but before they are fully formed, and
which, therefore, are not worthy to engross much of our attention, or to
exhaust the wealth of the people.
The Pragmatick sanction is nothing more than a settlement of the
imperial dignity upon the eldest daughter of the late German emperour
and her son; and if she has no son, upon the son of the second daughter;
nor has the crown of Britain, by engaging to support that sanction,
promised any thing more than to preserve this order of succession, which
no power, at present, is endeavouring to interrupt; and which,
therefore, at present, requires no defence.
The dispute, sir, between the king of Prussia and the queen of Hungary,
is of a different kind; nor is it our duty to engage in it, either as
parties or judges. He lays claim to certain territories usurped, as he
alleges, from his ancestors by the Austrian family, and asserts, by
force, this claim, which is equally valid, whether the queen be emperess
or not. We have no right to limit his dominions, or obligation to
examine the justice of his demands. If he is only endeavouring to gain
what has been forcibly withheld from him, what right have we to obstruct
his undertaking? And if the queen can show a better title, she is, like
all other sovereigns, at liberty to maintain it; nor are we necessarily
to erect ourselves into judges between sovereigns, or distributors of
dominions.
The contest seems to have very little relation to the Pragmatick
sanction: if the king of Prussia succeeds, he will contribute to support
it; and if the queen is able to frustrate his designs, she will be too
powerful to need our assistance.
But though, sir, the Pragmatick sanction were in danger of violation,
are we to stand up alone in defence of it, while other nations, equally
engaged with ourselves by interest and by treaties, sit still to look
upon the contest, and gather those advantages of peace which we
indiscreetly throw away? Are we able to maintain it without assistance,
or are we to exhaust our country, and ruin our posterity in prosecution
of a hopeless project, to spend what can never be repaid, and to fight
with certainty of a defeat?
The Dutch, whose engagements and whose interests are the same as our
own, have not yet made any addition to their expenses, nor augmentation
of their troops; nor does a single potentate of Europe, however united
by long alliances to the house of Austria, or however endangered by
revolutions in the empire, appear to rouse at the approach of alarm, or
think himself obliged to provoke enemies by whom he is not yet injured.
I cannot, therefore, persuade myself that we are to stand up single in
the defence of the Pragmatick sanction, to fight the quarrel of others,
or live in perpetual war, that our neighbours may be at peace.
I shall always think it my duty to disburse the publick money with the
utmost parsimony, nor ever intend, but on the most pressing necessity,
to load with new exactions a nation already overwhelmed with debts,
harassed with taxes, and plundered by a standing army.
For what purpose these numerous forces are maintained, who are now
preying on the publick; why we increase our armies by land when we only
fight by sea; why we aggravate the burden of the war, and add domestick
oppressions to foreign injuries, I am at a loss to determine. Surely
some regard should be had to the satisfaction of the people, who ought
not, during the present scarcity of provisions, to be starved by the
increase of an army, which seems supported only to consume them.
As, therefore, part of our present expense is, in my opinion,
unnecessary, I shall not contribute to aggravate it by a new grant, for
purposes of which I cannot discover that they will promote the advantage
of the publick.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied to the following effect:--Sir, the Pragmatick
sanction, which we are engaged to support, is not confined to the
preservation of the order of succession, but extends to all the rights
of the house of Austria, which is now attacked, and by a very formidable
enemy, at a time of weakness and distraction, and therefore requires our
assistance.
That others, equally obliged by treaty and by interest to lend their
help on this occasion, sit reluctive, either through cowardice or
negligence, or some prospect of temporary advantage, may, perhaps, be
true; but is it any excuse of a crime, that he who commits it is not the
only criminal? Will the breach of faith in others excuse it in us?
Ought we not rather to animate them by our activity, instruct them by
our example, and awaken them by our representations?
Perhaps the other powers say to themselves, and to one another, Why
should we keep that treaty which Britain is violating? Why should we
expose ourselves to danger, of which that mighty nation, so celebrated
for courage, is afraid? Why should we rush into war, in which our most
powerful ally seems unwilling to support us?
Thus the same argument, an argument evidently false, and made specious
only by interest, may be used by all, till some one, more bold and
honest than the rest, shall dare to rise in vindication of those rights
which all have promised to maintain; and why should not the greatest
nation be the first that shall avow her solemn engagements? Why should
not they be most diligent in the prosecution of an affair who have most
to lose by its miscarriage?
I am always willing to believe, that no member of this assembly makes
use, in any solemn debate, of arguments which do not appear rational to
himself, and yet it is difficult to conceive that any man can imagine
himself released from a promise, because the same promise is broken by
another, or that he is at liberty to desert his friend in distress,
because others desert him, whose good offices he has equal reason to
expect, and that the more his assistance is needed, the more right he
has to deny it.
Surely such arguments as these deserve not, need not a confutation.
Before we regulate our conduct by that of others, we must either prove
that they have done right, which proof will be a sufficient defence
without the precedent, or own that they are more capable of judging than
we, and that, therefore, we pay an implicit submission to their dictates
and example; a sacrifice which we shall not willingly make to the vanity
of our neighbours.
In the present case it is evident that if other nations neglect the
performance of their contracts, they are guilty of the breach of publick
faith; of a crime, that, if it should generally be imitated, would
dissolve society, and throw human nature into confusion, that would
change the most happy region into deserts, in which one savage would be
preying on another.
Nor are they only propagating an example, which in some distant times
may be pleaded against themselves, but they are exposing themselves to
more immediate dangers; they are forwarding designs that have no
tendency but to their ruin, they are adding strength to their inveterate
enemies, and beckoning invasion to their own frontiers.
Let us, therefore, instead of hardening ourselves in perfidy, or lulling
ourselves in security by their example, exert all our influence to unite
them, and all our power to assist them. Let us show them what they ought
to determine by our resolutions, and teach them to act by our vigour;
that, if the house of Austria be preserved, our alliance may be
strengthened by new motives of gratitude; and that, if it must be that
the liberties of this part of the world be lost, we may not reproach
ourselves with having neglected to defend them.
Mr. PELHAM spoke next to this purpose:--Sir, it is not to be supposed
that such members of this assembly as are not engaged in publick
affairs, should receive very exact intelligence of the dispositions of
foreign powers, and, therefore, I do not wonder that the conduct of the
Dutch has been misrepresented, and that they are suspected of neglecting
their engagements at a time when they are endeavouring to perform them.
The Dutch have now under consideration the most proper methods of
assisting the queen of Hungary, and maintaining the Pragmatick sanction;
it may be, indeed, justly suspected, from the nature of their
constitution, that their motions will be slow, but it cannot be
asserted, that they break their engagements, or desert their
confederates.
Nor is there any reason for imagining that the other princes, who have
incurred the same obligations, will not endeavour to perform their
promises; it may be easily conceived that some of them are not able at a
sudden summons to afford great assistance, and that others may wait the
result of our deliberations, and regulate their conduct by our example.
Not that we ought to neglect our engagements, or endanger our country,
because other powers are either perfidious, or insensible; for I am not
afraid to declare, that if that should happen, which there is no reason
to suspect, if all the other powers should desert the defence of the
Austrian line, should consent to annul the Pragmatick sanction, and
leave the queen of Hungary to the mercy of her enemies, I would advise
that Britain alone should pour her armies into the continent, that she
should defend her ally against the most formidable confederacy, and show
mankind an example of constancy not to be shaken, and of faith not to be
violated.
If it be, therefore, our duty to support the Pragmatick sanction, it is
now the time for declaring our resolutions, when the imperial crown is
claimed by a multitude of competitors, among whom the elector of
Bavaria, a very powerful prince, has, by his minister, notified his
pretensions to the court of Britain.
The ancient alliance between this prince and the French is well known,
nor can we doubt that he will now implore their assistance for the
attainment of the throne to which he aspires; and I need not say what
may be expected from an emperour, whose elevation was procured by the
forces of France.
Nor is this the only prince that claims the imperial crown upon
plausible pretences, or whose claims other powers may combine to
support; it is well known, that even the Spanish monarch believes
himself entitled to it, nor can we, who have no communication with him,
know whether he has not declared to all the other princes of Europe, his
resolution to assert his claim.
It is far from being impossible that the pretensions of the house of
Bourbon may be revived, and that though no single prince of that family
should attempt to mount the imperial throne, they may all conspire to
dismember the empire into petty kingdoms, and free themselves from the
dread of a formidable neighbour, by erecting a number of diminutive
sovereigns, who may be always courting the assistance of their
protectors, for the sake of harassing each other.
Thus will the house by which Europe has been hitherto protected, sink
into an empty name, and we shall be left to stand alone against all the
powers that profess a different religion, and whose interest is opposite
to that of Britain.
We ought, indeed, to act with the utmost vigour, when we see one of the
most powerful of the reformed princes so far forgetful of the interest
of our religion, as to cooperate with the designs of France, and so
intent upon improving the opportunity of distressing the house of
Austria, as to neglect the common cause, and expose himself or his
posterity to the danger of becoming a dependant on the house of Bourbon.
For this reason, I cannot agree that our army, though numerous and
burdensome, is greater than the necessity of affairs requires: if we
cast our eyes on the continent, nothing is to be seen but general
confusion, powerful armies in motion, the dominions of one prince
invaded, of another threatened; the tumults of ambition in one place,
and a panick stillness in another.
What will be the event of these commotions who can discover? And how can
we know what may determine the course of that flood of power, which is
now in a state of uncertain fluctuation, or seems driven to different
points by different impulses? How soon may the Dutch see their barrier
attacked, and call upon us for the ten thousand men which we are obliged
to send them? How soon may the house of Austria be so distressed, as to
require all our power for its preservation?
That we are to leave nothing unattempted for the security of our own
religion and liberty, will easily be granted, and, therefore, unless it
can be proved that we may be equally secure, though the house of Austria
be ruined, it will necessarily follow that we are, with all our power,
to enforce the observation of the Pragmatick sanction.
This is not an act of romantick generosity, but such as the closest
attention to our own interest shows to be necessary; in defending the
queen of Hungary we defend ourselves, and only extinguish that flame, by
which, if it be suffered to spread, we shall ourselves be consumed. The
empire may be considered as the bulwark of Britain, which, if it be
thrown down, leaves us naked and defenceless.
Let us, therefore, consider our own danger, and remember, that while we
are considering this supply, we are deliberating upon nothing less than
the fate of our country.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke next, to the effect following:--Sir, I am on this
occasion of an opinion different from that of the honourable member who
spoke the second in this debate, though on most questions our judgment
has been the same. I am so far from seconding his proposal for delaying
the consideration of this supply, that I think it may justly be
inquired, why it was not sooner proposed.
For the support of the house of Austria, and the assertion of the
Pragmatick sanction, no man can be more zealous than myself; I am
convinced how closely the interest of this nation and that of the
Austrian family are united, and how much either must be endangered by
the ruin of the other, and, therefore, I shall not delay, for a single
moment, my consent to any measures that may reestablish our interest on
the continent, and rescue Germany once more from the jaws of France.
I am afraid that we have lost part of our influence in the neighbouring
countries, and that the name of Britain is less formidable than
heretofore; but if reputation is lost, it is time to recover it, and I
doubt not but it may be recovered by the same means that it was at first
obtained. Our armies may be yet equally destructive, and our money
equally persuasive.
We have not yet suffered, amidst all our misconduct, our naval force to
be diminished; our sailors yet retain their ancient courage, and our
fleets are sufficient to keep the dominion of the ocean, and prescribe
limits to the commerce of every nation. While this power remains
unimpaired, while Britain retains her natural superiority, and asserts
the honour of her flag in every climate, we cannot become despicable,
nor can any nation ridicule our menaces or scorn our alliance. We may
still extend our influence to the inland countries, and awe those
nations which we cannot invade.
To preserve this power let us watch over the disposal of our money;
money is the source of dominion; those nations may be formidable for
their affluence which are not considerable for their numbers; and by a
negligent profusion of their wealth, the most powerful people may
languish into imbecility, and sink into contempt.
If the grant which is now demanded will be sufficient to produce the
ends to which it is proposed to be applied, if we are assured of the
proper application of it, I shall agree to it without hesitation. But
though it cannot be affirmed that the sum now demanded is too high a
price for the liberties of Europe, it is at least more than ought to be
squandered without effect, and we ought at least to know before we grant
it, what advantages may be expected from it.
May not the sum demanded for the support of the queen of Hungary be
employed to promote very different interests? May it not be lavished to
support that power, to which our grants have too long contributed? that
power by which ourselves have been awed, and the administration has
tyrannised without control?
If this sum is really intended to support the queen of Hungary, may we
not inquire how it is to be employed for her service? Is it to be sent
her for the payment of her armies, and the support of her court? Should
we not more effectually secure her dominions by purchasing with it the
friendship and assistance of the king of Prussia, a prince, whose extent
of dominions and numerous forces, make him not more formidable than his
personal qualities.
What may be hoped, sir, from a prince of wisdom and courage, at the head
of a hundred and ten thousand regular troops, with eight millions in his
treasury? How much he must necessarily add to the strength of any party
in which he shall engage, is unnecessary to mention; it is evident,
without proof, that nothing could so much contribute to the
reestablishment of the house of Austria, as a reconciliation with this
mighty prince, and that, to bring it to pass, would be the most
effectual method of serving the unfortunate queen that requires our
assistance.
Why we should despair, sir, of such a reconciliation I cannot perceive;
a reconciliation equally conducive to the real interest of both parties.
It may be proved, with very little difficulty, to the king of Prussia,
that he is now assisting those with whom interests incompatible and
religions irreconcilable have set him at variance, whom he can never see
prosperous but by the diminution of his own greatness, and who will
always project his ruin while they are enjoying the advantages of his
victories. We may easily convince him that their power will soon become,
by his assistance, such as he cannot hope to withstand, and show, from
the examples of other princes, how dangerous it is to add to the
strength of an ambitious neighbour. We may show him how much the fate of
the empire is now in his hands, and how much more glorious and more
advantageous it will be to preserve it from ruin, than to contribute to
its destruction.
If by such arguments, sir, this potent monarch can be induced to act
steadily in defence of the common cause, we may once more stand at the
head of a protestant confederacy; of a confederacy that may contract the
views and repress the ambition of the house of Bourbon, and alter their
schemes of universal monarchy into expedients for the defence of their
dominions.
But in transacting these affairs, let us not engage in any intricate
treaties, nor amuse ourselves with displaying our abilities for
negotiation; negotiation, that fatal art which we have learned as yet
very imperfectly, and which we have never attempted to practise but to
our own loss. While we have been entangled in tedious disquisitions, and
retarded by artful delays, while our commissaries have been debating
about what was only denied to produce controversies, and inquiring after
that which has been hid from them only to divert their attention from
other questions, how many opportunities have been lost, and how often
might we have secured by war, what was, at a much greater expense, lost
by treaties.
Treaties, sir, are the artillery of our enemies, to which we have
nothing to oppose; they are weapons of which we know not the use, and
which we can only escape by not coming within their reach. I know not by
what fatality it is, that to treat and to be cheated, are, with regard
to Britons, words of the same signification; nor do I intend, by this
observation, to asperse the characters of particular persons, for
treaties, by whomsoever carried on, have ended always with the same
success.
It is time, therefore, to know, at length, our weakness and our
strength, and to resolve no longer to put ourselves voluntarily into the
power of our enemies: our troops have been always our ablest
negotiators, and to them it has been, for the most part, necessary at
last to refer our cause.
Let us, then, always preserve our martial character, and neglect the
praise of political cunning; a quality which, I believe, we shall never
attain, and which, if we could obtain, would add nothing to our honour.
Let it be the practice of the Britons to declare their resolutions
without reserve, and adhere to them in opposition to danger; let them be
ambitious of no other elogies than those which may be gained by honesty
and courage, nor will they then ever find their allies diffident, or
their enemies contemptuous.
By recovering and asserting this character, we may become once more the
arbiters of Europe, and be courted by all the protestant powers as their
protectors: we may once more subdue the ambition of the aspiring French,
and once more deliver the house of Austria from the incessant pursuit of
those restless enemies.
The defence of that illustrious family, sir, has always appeared to me,
since I studied the state of Europe, the unvariable interest of the
British nation, and our obligations to support it on this particular
occasion have already been sufficiently explained.
Whence it proceeded, sir, that those who now so zealously espouse the
Austrian interest, have been so plainly forgetful of it on other
occasions, I cannot determine. That treaties have been made very little
to the advantage of that family, and that its enemies have been suffered
to insult it without opposition, is well known; nor was it long ago that
it was debated in this house, whether any money should be lent to the
late emperour.
No publick or private character can be supported, no enemy, sir, can be
intimidated, nor any friend confirmed in his adherence, but by a steady
and consistent conduct, by proposing, in all our actions, such ends as
may be openly avowed, and by pursuing them without regard to temporary
inconveniencies, or petty obstacles.
Such conduct, sir, I would gladly recommend on the present occasion, on
which I should be far from advising a faint, an irresolute, or momentary
assistance, such supplies as declare diffidence in our own strength, or
a mean inclination to please contrary parties at the same time, to
perform our engagements with the queen, and continue our friendship with
France. It is, in my opinion, proper to espouse our ally with the spirit
of a nation that expects her decisions to be ratified, that holds the
balance of the world in her hand, and can bestow conquest and empire at
her pleasure.
Yet, sir, it cannot be denied that many powerful reasons may be brought
against any new occasions of expense, nor is it without horrour and
astonishment that any man, conversant in political calculations, can
consider the enormous profusion of the national treasure. In the late
dreadful confusion of the world, when the ambition of France had set
half the nations of the earth on flame, when we sent our armies to the
continent, and fought the general quarrel of mankind, we paid, during
the reigns of king William and his great successour, reigns of which
every summer was distinguished by some important action, but four
millions yearly.
But our preparations for the present war, in which scarcely a single
ship of war has been taken, or a single fortress laid in ruins, have
brought upon the nation an expense of five millions. So much more are we
now obliged to pay to amuse the weakest, than formerly to subdue the
most powerful of our enemies.
Frugality, which is always prudent, is, at this time, sir,
indispensable, when war, dreadful as it is, may be termed the lightest
of our calamities; when the seasons have disappointed us of bread, and
an universal scarcity afflicts the nation. Every day brings us accounts
from different parts of the country, and every account is a new evidence
of the general calamity, of the want of employment for the poor, and its
necessary consequence, the want of food.
He that is scarce able to preserve himself, cannot be expected to assist
others; nor is that money to be granted to foreign powers, which is
wanted for the support of our fellow-subjects, who are now languishing
with diseases, which unaccustomed hardships and unwholesome provisions
have brought upon them, while we are providing against distant dangers,
and bewailing the distresses of the house of Austria.
Let us not add to the miseries of famine the mortifications of insult
and neglect; let our countrymen, at least, divide our care with our
allies, and while we form schemes for succouring the queen of Hungary,
let us endeavour to alleviate nearer distresses, and prevent or pacify
domestick discontents.
If there be any man whom the sight of misery cannot move to compassion,
who can hear the complaints of want without sympathy, and see the
general calamity of his country without employing one hour on schemes
for its relief; let not that man dare to boast of integrity, fidelity,
or honour; let him not presume to recommend the preservation of our
faith, or adherence to our confederates: that wretch can have no real
regard to any moral obligation, who has forgotten those first duties
which nature impresses; nor can he that neglects the happiness of his
country, recommend any good action for a good reason.
It should be considered, sir, that we can only be useful to our allies,
and formidable to our enemies, by being unanimous and mutually confident
of the good intentions of each other, and that nothing but a steady
attention to the publick welfare, a constant readiness to remove
grievances, and an apparent unwillingness to impose new burdens, can
produce that unanimity.
As the cause is, therefore, necessarily to precede the effect, as
foreign influence is the consequence of happiness at home, let us first
endeavour to establish that alacrity and security that may animate the
people to assert their ancient superiority to other nations, and restore
that plenty which may raise them above any temptation to repine at
assistance given to our allies.
No man, sir, can very solicitously watch over the welfare of his
neighbour whose mind is depressed by poverty, or distracted by terrour;
and when the nation shall see us anxious for the preservation of the
queen of Hungary, and unconcerned about the wants of our
fellow-subjects, what can be imagined, but that we have some method of
exempting ourselves from the common distress, and that we regard not the
publick misery when we do not feel it?
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied, to the following effect:--Sir, it is always
proper for every man to lay down some principles upon which he proposes
to act, whether in publick or private; that he may not be always
wavering, uncertain, and irresolute; that his adherents may know what
they are to expect, and his adversaries be able to tell why they are
opposed.
It is necessary, sir, even for his own sake, that he may not be always
struggling with himself; that he may know his own determinations, and
enforce them by the reasons which have prevailed upon him to form them;
that he may not argue in the same speech to contrary purposes, and weary
the attention of his hearers with contrasts and antitheses.
When a man admits the necessity of granting a supply, expatiates upon
the danger that may be produced by retarding it, declares against the
least delay, however speciously proposed, and enforces the arguments
which have been already offered to show how much it is our duty and
interest to allow it; may it not reasonably be imagined, that he intends
to promote it, and is endeavouring to convince them of that necessity of
which he seems himself convinced?
But when the same man proceeds to display, with equal eloquence, the
present calamities of the nation, and tells to how much better purposes
the sum thus demanded may be applied; when he dwells upon the
possibility that an impolitick use may be made of the national treasure,
and hints that it may be asked for one purpose and employed to another,
what can be collected from his harangue, however elegant, entertaining,
and pathetick? How can his true opinion be discovered? Or how shall we
fix such fugitive reasonings, such variable rhetorick?
I am not able, sir, to discern, why truth should be obscured; or why any
man should take pleasure in heaping together all the arguments that his
knowledge may supply, or his imagination suggest, against a proposition
which he cannot deny. Nor can I assign any good purpose that can be
promoted by perpetual renewals of debate, and by a repetition of
objections, which have in former conferences, on the same occasion, been
found of little force.
When the system of affairs is not fully laid open, and the schemes of
the administration are in part unknown, it is easy to raise objections
formidable in appearance, which, perhaps, cannot be answered till the
necessity of secrecy is taken away. When any general calamity has fallen
upon a nation, it is a very fruitful topick of rhetorick, and may be
very pathetically exaggerated, upon a thousand occasions to which it has
no necessary relation.
Such, In my opinion, sir, is the use now made of the present scarcity, a
misfortune inflicted upon us by the hand of providence alone; not upon
us only, but upon all the nations on this side of the globe, many of
which suffer more, but none less than ourselves.
If at such a time it is more burdensome to the nation to raise supplies,
it must be remembered, that it is in proportion difficult to other
nations to oppose those measures for which the supplies are granted; and
that the same sum is of greater efficacy in times of scarcity than of
plenty.
Our present distress will, I hope, soon be at an end; and, perhaps, a
few days may produce at least some alteration. It is not without reason,
that I expect the news of some successful attempts in America, which
will convince the nation, that the preparations for war have not been
idle shows, contrived to produce unnecessary expenses.
In the mean time it is necessary that we support that power which may be
able to assist us against France, the only nation from which any danger
can threaten us, even though our fleets in America should be
unsuccessful.
If we defeat the Spaniards, we may assist the house of Austria without
difficulty, and if we fail in our attempts, their alliance will be more
necessary. The sum demanded for this important purpose cannot be
censured as exorbitant, yet will, I hope, be sufficient: if more should
hereafter appear necessary, I doubt not but it will be granted.
The question passed without opposition.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, DECEMBER 1, 1741.
[DEBATE ON CHOOSING A SPEAKER.]
The new house of commons being met, the usher came from the house of
lords, with his majesty's commands for their immediate attendance, when
they were ordered to choose a speaker; and being returned, Mr. PELHAM
addressed himself in the following manner to the clerk of the house:
Mr. HARDINGE,
As we are here assembled, in pursuance of the imperial summons, it is
necessary, in obedience to his majesty's commands, and the established
custom of this house, that we proceed immediately to the choice of a
person qualified for the chair.--Gentlemen, it is with no common degree
of satisfaction, that I observe this assembly so numerous on the first
day; because whatever is transacted by us, must necessarily be
considered by the nation with more regard, as it is approved by a
greater number of their representatives; and because the present affair,
which relates particularly to this house, must be more satisfactorily
conducted, as our number is greater; since every man must willingly
abide by his own choice, and cheerfully submit to that authority, of
which he has himself concurred to the establishment.
The qualifications required in the person who shall fill the chair, to
his own reputation, and the advantage of the house, it is not necessary
minutely to recount; it being obvious to every gentleman who hears me,
that he must possess such an equality of temper, as may enable him
always to preserve a steady and impartial attention, neither discomposed
by the irregularities into which some gentlemen, unacquainted with the
forms of this assembly, may easily fall, nor disconcerted by the heat
and turbulence to which, in former parliaments, some of those whose
experience might have taught them the necessity of decency, have been
too often hurried by the eagerness of controversy. That he must add to
his perpetual serenity, such a firmness of mind, as may enable him to
repress petulance and subdue contumacy, and support the orders of the
house, in whatever contrariety of counsels, or commotion of debate,
against all attempts of infraction or deviation. That to give efficacy
to his interpositions, and procure veneration to his decisions, he must,
from his general character and personal qualities, derive such dignity
and authority, as may naturally dispose the minds of others to
obedience, as may suppress the murmurs of envy, and prevent the
struggles of competition.
These qualifications were eminently conspicuous in the gentleman who
filled the chair in the earlier part of my life, and who is now one of
the ornaments of the other house. Such were his abilities, and such his
conduct, that it would be presumptuous in any man, however endowed by
nature, or accomplished by study, to aspire to surpass him; nor can a
higher encomium be easily conceived, than this house bestowed upon that
person, who was thought worthy to succeed him.
The office which we have now to confer, is not only arduous with regard
to the abilities necessary to the execution of it, but extremely
burdensome and laborious, such as requires continual attendance, and
incessant application; nor can it be expected that any man would engage
in it, who is not ready to devote his time and his health to the service
of the publick, and to struggle with fatigue and restraint for the
advantage of his country.
Such is the gentleman whom I shall propose to your choice; one whose
zeal for the present imperial house, and the prosperity of the nation,
has been always acknowledged, and of whom it cannot be suspected that he
will be deterred by any difficulties from a province which will afford
him so frequent opportunities of promoting the common interest of the
emperour and the people.
What success may be expected from his endeavours, we can only judge from
his present influence; influence produced only by his private virtues;
but so extensive in that part of the nation which lies within the reach
of his beneficence, and the observation of his merit, that it sets him
not only above the danger, but above the fear of opposition, and secures
him a seat in this assembly without contest.
Thus deputed by his country to many successive senates, he has acquired
an unrivalled degree of knowledge in the methods of our proceedings, and
an eminent dexterity in digesting them with that order and perspicuity
by which only the transaction of great affairs can be made expeditious,
and the discussion of difficult questions be disentangled from
perplexity; qualities which are now made particularly necessary by the
importance of the subjects to be considered in this senate: so that I
doubt not but you will unanimously concur with me in desiring that the
chair may be filled by a person eminently distinguished by his
knowledge, his integrity, his diligence, and his reputation; and
therefore I move, without scruple, that the right honourable Arthur
ONSLOW, esquire, be called to the chair.
Then Mr. CLUTTERBUCK seconded the motion in this manner:--That I am not
able to add any thing to the encomium of the right honourable gentleman
nominated to the president's chair, gives me no concern, because I am
confident, that in the opinion of this assembly, his name alone includes
all panegyrick, and that he who recommends Arthur ONSLOW, esquire, will
never be required to give the reason of his choice. I therefore rise now
only to continue the common methods of the house, and to second a motion
which I do not expect that any will oppose.
[Here the whole assembly cried out, with a general acclamation, ONSLOW,
ONSLOW.]
Mr. ONSLOW then rose up and said:--Though I might allege many reasons
against this choice, of which the strongest is my inability to discharge
the trust conferred upon me in a manner suitable to its importance, yet
I have too high an idea of the wisdom of this assembly, to imagine that
they form any resolution without just motives; and therefore shall think
it my duty to comply with their determination, however opposite to my
own opinion.
Mr. PELHAM and Mr. CLUTTERBUCK then led him to the chair, where, before
he went up to it, he desired, That the house would consider how little
he was qualified for the office which they were about to confer upon
him, and fix their choice upon some other person, who might be capable
of discharging so important a trust.
The members calling out, The chair, chair, chair, he ascended the step,
and then addressed himself thus to the house:--Gentlemen, since it is
your resolution, that I should once more receive the honour of being
exalted to this important office, for which it is not necessary to
mention how little I am qualified, since I may hope that those defects
which have hitherto been excused, will still find the same indulgence;
my gratitude for a distinction so little deserved, will always incite me
to consult the honour of the house, and enable me to supply, by duty and
diligence, what is wanting in my knowledge and capacity.
DECEMBER 4, 1741.
[DEBATE ON THE ADDRESS.]
The king came again to the house of lords, and the commons being sent
for, his majesty approved their choice of a president, and made a speech
to both houses, in which he represented to them, That their counsel was
in a particular manner necessary, as they were engaged in a war with
Spain, as the affairs of all Europe were in confusion, by the
confederacy of many formidable powers for the destruction of the house
of Austria; that both houses of the preceding session had come to the
strongest resolutions in favour of the queen of Hungary, but that the
other powers who were equally engaged to support her, had not yet acted
according to their stipulations; that he had endeavoured to assist her
ever since the death of the emperour Charles, and hoped that a just
sense of common danger would induce other nations to unite with him; but
that in this uncertain situation, it was necessary that Britain should
be in a condition of supporting itself and its allies, as any exigency
might require. He therefore ordered the estimates for the ensuing year
to be laid before the commons.--This speech being under the consideration
of the house of lords, lord MILTON spoke in the following manner:
My lords, though the present perplexity of our affairs, the contrariety
of opinions produced by it, and the warmth with which each opinion will
probably be supported, might justly discourage me from proposing any of
my sentiments to this great assembly, yet I cannot repress my
inclination to offer a motion, in my opinion, regular and seasonable,
and which, if it should appear otherwise to your lordships, will, I
hope, though it should not be received, at least be forgiven, because I
have never before wearied your patience, or interrupted or retarded your
consultations.
But I am very far from imagining that by this motion I can give any
occasion to debate or opposition, because I shall propose no innovation
in the principles, or alteration of the practice of this assembly, nor
intend any thing more than to lay before your lordships my opinion of
the manner in which it may be proper to address his majesty.
To return him our humble thanks for his most gracious speech from the
throne, and, at the same time, to present unto his majesty our sincere
and joyful congratulations on his safe and happy return into this
empire.
To observe with the utmost thankfulness the great concern which his
majesty has been pleased to express for carrying on the just and
necessary war against Spain, which we hope, by the divine blessing upon
his majesty's arms, will be attended with success equal to the justice
of his cause, and the ardent wishes of his people. That,
His majesty has so truly represented the impending dangers to which
Europe is exposed, in the present critical conjuncture, as must awaken,
in every one, an attention suitable to the occasion: and we cannot but
be fully sensible of the evil consequences arising from the designs and
enterprises, formed and carrying on for the subversion or reduction of
the house of Austria, which threaten such apparent mischiefs to the
common cause.
To acknowledge his imperial goodness in expressing so earnest a desire
to receive, and so high a regard for, the advice of his parliament: his
majesty, secure of the loyalty and affections of his people, may rely
upon that, with the best-grounded confidence; and to assure his majesty,
that we will not fail to take the important points, which he has been
pleased to mention to us, into our most serious consideration; and, in
the most dutiful manner, to offer to his majesty such advice as shall
appear to us to be most conducive to the honour and true interest of his
crown and kingdoms. To assure his majesty that we have a due sense, how
much the present posture of affairs calls upon us for that unanimity,
vigour, and despatch, which his majesty has so wisely recommended to us;
and to give his majesty the strongest assurances, that we will
vigorously and heartily concur in all just and necessary measures for
the defence and support of his majesty, the maintenance of the balance
and liberties of Europe, and the assistance of our allies.
That as duty and affection to his majesty are, in us, fixed and
unalterable principles, so we feel the impressions of them, at this
time, so strong and lively in our breasts, that we cannot omit to lay
hold on this opportunity of approaching his imperial presence, to renew
the most sincere professions of our constant and inviolable fidelity:
and to promise his majesty, that we will, at the hazard of all that is
dear to us, exert ourselves for the defence and preservation of his
sacred person and government, and the maintenance of the protestant
succession in his imperial house, on which the continuance of the
protestant religion, and the liberties of Britain, do, under God,
depend.
My lords, as this address will not obstruct any future inquiries, by any
approbation of past measures, either positive or implied, I doubt not
but your lordships will readily concur in it, and am persuaded, that it
will confirm his majesty's regard for our councils, and confidence in
our loyalty.
Lord LOVEL spoke next, to this effect:--My lords, the dangers which have
been justly represented by his majesty, ought to remind us of the
importance of unusual circumspection in our conduct, and deter us from
any innovations, of which we may not foresee the consequences, at a time
when there may be no opportunity of repairing any miscarriage, or
correcting any mistake.
There appears, my lords, not to be at this time any particular reason
for changing the form of our addresses, no privileges of our house have
been invaded, nor any designs formed against the publick. His majesty
has evidently not deviated from the practice of the wisest and most
beloved of our British monarchs; he has, upon this emergence of
unexpected difficulties, summoned the senate to counsel and assist him;
and surely it will not be consistent with the wisdom of this house to
increase the present perplexity of our affairs, by new embarrassments,
which may be easily imagined likely to arise from an address different
from those which custom has established.
The prospect which now lies before us, a prospect which presents us only
with dangers, distraction, invasions, and revolutions, ought to engage
our attentions, without leaving us at leisure for disputations upon
ceremonies or forms. It ought to be the care of every lord in this
house, not how to address, but how to advise his majesty; how to assist
the councils of the publick, and contribute to such determinations, as
may avert the calamities that impend over mankind, and stop the wild
excursions of power and ambition.
We ought to reflect, my lords, that the expectations of all Europe are
raised by the convocation of this assembly; and that from our
resolutions, whole nations are waiting for their sentence. And how will
mankind be disappointed when they shall hear, that instead of declaring
war upon usurpers, or imposing peace on the disturbers of mankind,
instead of equipping navies to direct the course of commerce, or raising
armies to regulate the state of the continent, we met here in a full
assembly, and disagreed upon the form of an address.
Let us, therefore, my lords, lay aside, at least for this time, all
petty debates and minute inquiries, and engage all in the great attempt
of reestablishing quiet in the world, and settling the limits of the
kingdoms of Europe.
Then lord CARTERET spoke, in substance as follows:--My lords, there is,
I find, at least one point upon which it is probable that those will now
agree whose sentiments have hitherto been, on almost every occasion,
widely different. The danger of our present situation is generally
allowed; but the consequences deduced from it are so contrary to each
other, as give little hopes of that unanimity which times of danger
particularly require.
It is alleged by the noble lord who spoke last, that since we are now
involved in difficulties, we ought only to inquire how to extricate
ourselves, and, therefore, ought not to leave ourselves the right of
inquiring how we were entangled in them, lest the perplexity of
different considerations should dissipate our attention, and disable us
from forming any useful determinations, or exerting any vigorous efforts
for our deliverance.
But, in my opinion, my lords, the most probable way of removing
difficulties, is to examine how they were produced, and, by consequence,
to whom they are to be imputed; for certainly, my lords, it is not to be
hoped that we shall regain what we have lost, but by measures different
from those which have reduced us to our present state, and by the
assistance of other counsellors than those who have sunk us into the
contempt, and exposed us to the ravages of every nation throughout the
world.
That this inquiry, my lords, may be free and unobstructed, it is
necessary to address the throne, after the manner of our ancestors, in
general terms, without descending to particular facts, which, as we have
not yet examined them, we can neither censure nor approve.
It has been objected by the noble lord, that foreign nations will be
disappointed by hearing, that instead of menaces of vengeance, and
declarations of unalterable adherence to the liberties of Europe, we
have wasted our time at this important juncture in settling the form of
an address.
That little time may be wasted on this occasion, I hope your lordships
will very speedily agree to an address suitable to the dignity of those
who make it, and to the occasion upon which it is made; for I cannot but
allow, that the present state of affairs calls upon us for despatch: but
though business ought, at this time, undoubtedly to be expedited, I hope
it will not be precipitated; and if it be demanded that the most
important questions be first determined, I know not any thing of greater
moment than that before us.
How we shall gratify the expectations of foreign powers, ought not, my
lords, to be our first or chief consideration; we ought, certainly,
first to inquire how the people may be set free from those suspicions,
which a long train of measures, evidently tending to impair their
privileges, has raised; and how they may be confirmed in their fidelity
to the government, of which they have for many years found no other
effects than taxes and exactions, for which they have received neither
protection abroad, nor encouragement at home.
But, my lords, if it be necessary to consult the inclinations, and
cultivate the esteem of foreign powers, I believe nothing will raise
more confidence in our allies, if there be any who are not now ashamed
of that name, or more intimidate those whose designs it is our interest
to defeat, than an open testimony of our resolution no longer to approve
that conduct by which the liberty of half Europe has been endangered;
and not to lavish praises on those men, who have in twenty years never
transacted any thing to the real benefit of their country, and of whom
it is highly probable that they have in the present war stipulated for
the defeat of all our attempts, and agreed, by some execrable compact,
to facilitate the exaltation of the house of Bourbon.
Upon what facts I ground accusations so atrocious may justly be inquired
by your lordships; nor shall I find any difficulty in answering your
demand. For, if we extend our view over the whole world, and inquire
into the state of all our affairs, we shall find nothing but defeats,
miscarriages, and impotence, with their usual consequences, contempt and
distrust. We shall discover neither any tokens of that fear among our
enemies, which the power of the nation, and the reputation of our former
victories, might naturally produce; nor any proofs of that confidence
among those whom we still continue to term our allies, which the vigour
with which we have formerly supported our confederacies, give us a right
to expect. Those whom we once trampled, insult us; and those whom we
once protected, give us no credit.
How reasonably, my lords, all nations have withdrawn from us their
reverence and esteem, will appear by a transient examination of our late
conduct, whether it regarded Europe in general, or influenced only the
particular affairs of the British nation; for it will appear beyond
possibility of doubt, that whoever has trusted the administration,
whether their own country, or any foreign powers, has trusted only to be
betrayed.
There is among our allies none whom we are more obliged to support than
the queen of Hungary, whose rights we are engaged, by all the
solemnities of treaties, to defend, and in whose cause every motive
operates that can warm the bosom of a man of virtue. Justice and
compassion plead equally on her side, and we are called upon to assist
her by our own interest, as well as the general duty of society, by
which every man is required to prevent oppression.
What has been the effect of all these considerations may easily be
discovered from the present state of the continent, which is ravaged
without mercy by the armies of Spain and France. Why all succours have
been denied the queen of Hungary, and why the inveterate and hereditary
enemies of our nation, are suffered to enlarge their dominions without
resistance; why the rivals of our trade are left at full liberty to
equip their squadrons, and the persecutors of our religion suffered to
overrun those countries from whence only we can hope for assistance,
when the hatred which the difference of opinions produces, shall
threaten us with invasions and slavery, the whole world has long asked
to no purpose, and, therefore, it is without prospect of receiving
satisfaction that I engage in the same inquiry.
Yet, since it is our duty to judge of the state of the publick, and a
true judgment can be the result only of accurate examination, I shall
proceed, without being discouraged by the ill success of former
attempts, to discover the motives of our late measures, and the ends
intended to be produced by them.
Why the queen of Hungary was not assisted with land-forces, I shall, at
present, forbear to ask; that she expected them is, indeed, evident from
her solicitations; and, I suppose, it is no less apparent from treaties,
that she had a right to expect them; nor am I able to conceive, why
subsidies have been paid for troops which are never to be employed, or
why foreign princes should be enriched with the plunder of a nation
which they cannot injure, and do not defend.
But I know, my lords, how easily it may be replied, that the expenses of
a land war are certain, and the event hazardous, and that it is always
prudent to act with evident advantage on our side, and that the
superiority of Britain consists wholly in naval armaments.
That the fleets of Britain are equal in force and number of ships to the
united navies of the greatest part of the world; that our admirals are
men of known bravery, and long experience, and, therefore, formidable
not only for their real abilities and natural courage, but for the
confidence which their presence necessarily excites in their followers,
and the terrour which must always accompany success, and enervate those
who are accustomed to defeats; that our sailors are a race of men
distinguished by their ardour for war, and their intrepidity in danger,
from the rest of the human species; that they seem beings superiour to
fear, and delighted with those objects which cannot be named without
filling every other breast with horrour; that they are capable of
rushing upon apparent destruction without reluctance, and of standing
without concern amidst the complicated terrours of a naval war, is
universally known, and confessed, my lords, even by those whose interest
it is to doubt or deny it.
Upon the ocean, therefore, we are allowed to be irresistible; to be able
to shut up the ports of the continent, imprison the nations of Europe
within the limits of their own territories, deprive them of all foreign
assistance, and put a stop to the commerce of the world. It is allowed
that we are placed the sentinels at the barriers of nature, and the
arbiters of the intercourse of mankind.
These are appellations, my lords, which, however splendid and
ostentatious, our ancestors obtained and preserved with less advantages
than we possess, by whom I am afraid they are about to be forfeited. The
dominion of the ocean was asserted in former times in opposition to
powers far more able to contest it, than those which we have so long
submissively courted, and of which we are now evidently afraid.
For that we fear them, my lords, they are sufficiently convinced; and it
must be confessed, with whatsoever shame, that their opinion is well
founded; for to what motive but fear can it be imputed, that we have so
long supported their insolence without resentment, and their ravages
without reprisals; that we have fitted out fleets without any design of
dismissing them from our harbours, or sent them to the sea only to be
gazed at from the shores, by those whose menaces or artifice had given
occasion to their equipment, and in whom they raised no other emotions
than contempt of our cowardice, or pity of our folly?
To what, my lords, can it be attributed, that the queen of Hungary has
yet received no assistance from allies thus powerful; from allies whose
fleets cover the sea, whose commerce extends to the remotest part of the
world, and whose wealth may be justly expected to be proportionate to
their commerce. To what can we ascribe the confidence with which the
house of Bourbon threatens the ruin of a princess, who numbers among her
allies the emperour of Britain?
Nothing is more evident, my lords, than that the queen of Hungary has
been disappointed of the advantages which she expected from her
friendship with this nation, only by a degree of cowardice too
despicable to be mentioned without such terms, as the importance of this
debate, and the dignity of this assembly, do not admit; nor is it less
certain, from the conduct of her enemies, that they knew what would be
our measures, and confided for security in that cowardice which has
never yet deceived them.
It cannot, my lords, be asserted, that our ally, however distressed, has
yet received the least assistance from our arms; neither the justice of
our cause has yet been able to awaken our virtue, nor the inseparable
union of her interest with our own, to excite our vigilance.
But, perhaps, my lords, we have had no opportunity of exerting our
force; perhaps the situation both of our enemies and ally was such, that
neither the one could be protected, nor the other opposed, by a naval
power; and, therefore, our inactivity was the effect not of want of
courage, but want of opportunity.
Though our ministers, my lords, have hitherto given no eminent proofs of
geographical knowledge, or of very accurate acquaintance with the state
of foreign countries, yet there is reason to believe that they must at
some time have heard or read, that the house of Austria had territories
in Italy; they must have been informed, unless their disbursements for
secret service are bestowed with very little judgment, that against
these dominions an army has been raised by the Spaniards; and they must
have discovered, partly by the information of their correspondents,
partly by the inspection of a map, and partly by the sagacity which
distinguishes them from all past and present ministers, that this army
was to be transported by sea from the coast of Spain to that of Italy.
This knowledge, my lords, however attained, might have furnished minds,
which have always been found so fruitful of expedients, with a method of
hindering the descent of the Spanish troops, for which nothing more was
necessary than that they should have ordered admiral Haddock, instead of
retiring before the Spanish fleet of war, and watching them only that
they might escape, to lie still before Barcelona, where the transports
were stationed, with a convoy of only three men of war, and hinder their
departure.
I hope it will be observed by your lordships, that though the road of
Barcelona is open and indefensible, though the fleet was unprotected by
ships of force, and though they lay, as I am informed, beyond the reach
of the guns on the fortifications upon the shore, I do not require that
Haddock should have destroyed the army and the ships.
I am too well acquainted, my lords, with the lenity of our ministers to
the enemies of their country, and am too well convinced of the prudence
and tenderness of the restrictions by which the power of our admirals is
limited, to expect that our guns should be ever used but in salutations
of respect, or exultations on the conclusion of a peace. I am convinced,
that our ministers would shudder at the name of bloodshed and
destruction, and that they had rather hear that a thousand merchants
were made bankrupts by privateers, or all our allies deprived of their
dominions, than that one Spanish ship was sunk or burnt by the navies of
Britain.
But, my lords, though they are willing to spare the blood of their
enemies, yet surely they might have obstructed their enterprises; they
might have withheld those whom they were unwilling to strike, and have
endeavoured to fright those whom they determined never to hurt.
To speak in terms more adapted to the subject before us: that the fleet
of Spain, a fleet of transports with such a convoy, should lie three
weeks in an open road, professedly fitted out against an ally united to
us by every tie of nature, and of policy, by the solemnity of treaties,
and conformity of interest; that it should lie undisturbed almost within
sight of a British navy; that it should lie there not only without
danger, but without apprehension of danger, has raised the astonishment
of every nation in Europe, has blasted the reputation of our arms,
impaired the influence of our counsels, and weakened the credit of our
publick faith.
There may be some, my lords, that will impute this absurdity of our
conduct, this disregard of our interest, this desertion of our
alliances, and this neglect of the most apparent opportunities of
success, not to cowardice, but treachery; a cause more detestable, as
more atrociously criminal.
This opinion, my lords, I think it not necessary to oppose, both because
it cannot be charged with improbability, and because I think it may be
easily reconciled with my own assertions; for cowardice abroad produces
treachery at home, and they become traitors to their country who are
hindered by cowardice from the prosecution of her interest, and the
opposition of her enemies.
It may however be proper to declare, my lords, that I do not impute this
fatal cowardice to those who are intrusted with the command of our
navies, but to those from whom they are obliged to receive their
instructions, and upon whom they unhappily depend for the advancement of
their fortunes.
It is at least reasonable to impute miscarriages rather to those, who
are known to have given, formerly, such orders as a brave admiral
perished under the ignominious necessity of observing, than to those of
whom it cannot be said that any former part of their lives has been
stained with the reproach of cowardice; at least it is necessary to
suspend our judgment, till the truth shall be made apparent by a rigid
inquiry; and it is, therefore, proper to offer an address in general
terms, by which neither the actions or counsels of any man shall be
condemned nor approved.
It would be more unreasonable to charge our soldiers or our sailors with
cowardice, because they have shown, even in those actions which have
failed of success, that they miscarried rather through temerity than
fear; and that whenever they are suffered to attack their enemies, they
are ready to march forward even where there is no possibility of
returning, and that they are only to be withheld from conquest by
obstacles which human prowess cannot surmount.
Such, my lords, was the state of those heroes who died under the walls
of Carthagena; that died in an enterprise so ill concerted, that I
ventured, with no great skill in war, and without the least pretence to
prescience, to foretell in this house that it would miscarry.
That it would, that it must miscarry; that it was even intended only to
amuse the nation with the appearance of an expedition, without any
design of weakening our enemies, was easily discovered; for why else, my
lords, was the army composed of men newly drawn from the shop, and from
the plough, unacquainted with the use of arms, and ignorant of the very
terms of military discipline, when we had among us large bodies of
troops long kept up under the appearance of a regular establishment;
troops of whom we have long felt the expense, but of which the time is
not, it seems, yet come, that we are to know the use.
These men, my lords, who have so long practised the motions of battle,
and who have given in the park so many proofs of their dexterity and
activity, who have at least learned to distinguish the different sounds
of the drum, and know the faces and voices of the subaltern officers, at
least, might have been imagined better qualified for an attempt upon a
foreign kingdom, than those who were necessarily strangers to every part
of the military operations, and might have been sent upon our first
declaration of war, while the new-raised forces acquired at home the
same arts under the same inspection.
But, my lords, whether it was imagined that new forces would be long
before they learned the implicit obedience necessary to a soldier;
whether it was imagined that it would not be easy on a sudden to collect
troops of men so tall and well proportioned, or so well skilled in the
martial arts of curling and powdering their hair; or whether it would
have been dangerous to have deprived the other house of the counsels and
votes of many worthy members, who had at the same time a seat in the
senate, and a commission in the army, it was thought necessary to send
out raw forces to attack our enemies, and to keep our disciplined troops
at home to awe the nation.
Nor did the minister, my lords, think it sufficient to obstruct the
expedition to America by employing new-raised troops, unless they were
likewise placed under the command of a man, who, though of undoubted
courage, was, with respect to the conduct of an army, as ignorant as
themselves. It was therefore determined, my lords, that all those
officers who had gained experience in former wars, and purchased
military knowledge by personal danger, should be disappointed and
rejected for the sake of advancing a man, who, as he had less skill, was
less likely to be successful, and was, therefore, more proper to direct
an expedition proposed only to intimidate the British nation.
That the event was such as might be expected from the means, your
lordships need not to be informed, nor can it be questioned with what
intentions these means were contrived.
I am very far, my lords, from charging our ministers with ignorance, or
upbraiding them with mistakes on this occasion, for their whole conduct
has been uniform, and all their schemes consistent with each other: nor
do I doubt their knowledge of the consequence of their measures, so far
as it was to be foreseen by human prudence.
Whether they have carried on negotiations, or made war; whether they
have conducted our own affairs, or those of our ally the queen of
Hungary, they have still discovered the same intention, and promoted it
by the same means. They have suffered the Spanish fleets to sail first
for supplies from one port to another, and then from the coasts of Spain
to those of America. They have permitted the Spaniards, without
opposition, to land in Italy, when it was not necessary even to withhold
them from it by any actual violence; for had the fleet, my lords, been
under my command, I would have only sent the Spanish admiral a
prohibition to sail, and am sure it would have been observed.
They have neglected to purchase the friendship of the king of Prussia,
which might, perhaps, have been obtained upon easy terms, but which they
ought to have gained at whatever rate; and, to conclude, we have been
lately informed that the neutrality is signed.
Such, my lords, is the conduct of the ministry, by which it cannot be
denied that we are involved in many difficulties, and exposed to great
contempt; but from this contempt we may recover, and disentangle
ourselves from these difficulties, by a vigorous prosecution of measures
opposite to those by which we have been reduced to our present state.
If we consider, without that confusion which fear naturally produces,
the circumstances of our affairs, it will appear that we have
opportunities in our hands of recovering our losses, and reestablishing
our reputation; those losses which have been suffered while we had two
hundred ships of war at sea, which have permitted three hundred
merchant-ships to be taken; and that reputation which has been destroyed
when there was no temptation either to a compliance with our enemies, or
to a desertion of our friends.
It is well known, my lords, that we make war at present rather with the
queen than the people of Spain; and it is reasonable to conclude, that a
war carried on contrary to the general good, and against the general
opinion, cannot be lasting.
It is certain that the Spaniards, whenever they have been attacked by
men acquainted with the science of war, and furnished with necessary
stores for hostile attempts, have discovered either ignorance or
cowardice, and have either fled meanly, or resisted unskilfully.
It is, therefore, probable, my lords, that either our enemies will
desist from the prosecution of a war, which few of them approve; or that
we shall, by vigorous descents upon their coasts, and their colonies,
the interruption of their trade, and the diminution of their forces,
soon compel them to receive peace upon our own terms.
But these advantages, my lords, are only to be expected from a change of
conduct, which change can never be produced by a seeming approbation of
the past measures. I am therefore of opinion, that we ought to address
the throne in general terms, according to the ancient practice of this
house.
In considering the address proposed, I cannot but conclude that it is
too much diffused, and that it would be more forcible if it was more
concise: to shorten it will be no difficult task, by the omission of all
the clauses that correspond with particular parts of his majesty's
speech, which I cannot discover the necessity of repeating.
In the congratulation to his majesty upon his return to his once
glorious dominions, no lord shall concur more readily or more zealously
than myself; nor shall I even deny to extend my compliments to the
ministry, when it shall appear that they deserve them; but I am never
willing to be lavish of praise, because it becomes less valuable by
being prodigally bestowed; and on occasions so important as this, I can
never consent to praise before I have examined, because inquiry comes
too late after approbation.
Lord CHOLMONDELEY rose next, and spoke to this effect:--My lords, if the
dangers that threaten our happiness and our safety be such as they have
been represented; if ambition has extended her power almost beyond a
possibility of resistance, and oppression, elated with success, begins
to design no less than the universal slavery of mankind; if the powers
of Europe stand aghast at the calamities which hang over them, and
listen with helpless confusion to that storm which they can neither
avoid nor resist, how ought our conduct to be influenced by this
uncommon state of affairs? Ought we not to catch the alarm while it is
possible to make preparation against the danger? Ought we not to
improve, with the utmost diligence, the important interval? to unite our
counsels for the protection of liberty, and exert all our influence
against the common enemies of society, the unwearied disturbers of the
tranquillity of mankind?
To what purpose, my lords, are the miseries that the present
distractions of Europe may bring upon us, so pathetically described, and
so accurately enumerated, if they are to produce no effect upon our
counsels? And what effect can be wished from them, but unanimity, with
that vigour and despatch which are its natural consequences, and that
success with which steadiness and expedition are generally rewarded?
It might be hoped, my lords, that those who have so clear a view of our
present embarrassments, and whose sagacity and acuteness expose them to
a sensibility of future miseries, perhaps more painful than would be
excited by any present and real calamities, should not be thus tortured
to no purpose. Every passion, my lords, has its proper object by which
it may be laudably gratified, and every disposition of mind may be
directed to useful ends. The true use of that foresight of future
events, with which some great capacities are so eminently endowed, is
that of producing caution and suggesting expedients. What advantage, my
lords, would it be to navigators, that their pilot could, by any
preternatural power, discover sands or rocks, if he was too negligent or
too stubborn to turn the vessel out of the danger?
Or how, my lords, to pursue the comparison, would that pilot be treated
by the crew, who, after having informed them of their approach to a
shoal or whirlpool, and set before them, with all his rhetorick, the
horrours of a shipwreck, should, instead of directing them to avoid
destruction, and assisting their endeavours for their common safety,
amuse them with the miscarriages of past voyages, and the blunders and
stupidity of their former pilot?
Whether any parallel can be formed between such ill-timed satire, and
wild misconduct, and the manner in which your lordships have been
treated on this occasion, it is not my province to determine. Nor have I
any other design than to show that the only proper conduct in time of
real danger, is preparation against it; and that wit and eloquence
themselves, if employed to any other purpose, lose their excellence,
because they lose their propriety.
It does not appear, my lords, that the address now proposed includes any
approbation of past measures, and therefore it is needless to inquire,
on this occasion, whether the conduct of our ministers or admirals
deserves praise or censure.
It does not appear, my lords, that by censuring any part of our late
conduct, however detrimental to the publick it may at present be
imagined, any of our losses will be repaired, or any part of our
reputation retrieved; and, therefore, such proceedings would only retard
our counsels, and divert our thoughts from more important
considerations; considerations which his majesty has recommended to us,
and which cannot be more strongly pressed upon us than by the noble lord
who opposed the motion; for he most powerfully incites to unanimity and
attention, who most strongly represents the danger of our situation.
Of the good effects of publick consultations, I need not observe, my
lords, that they arise from the joint endeavour of many understandings
cooperating to the same end; from the reasonings and observations of
many individuals of different studies, inclinations, and experience, all
directed to the illustration of the same question, which is, therefore,
so accurately discussed, so variously illustrated, and so amply
displayed, that a more comprehensive view is obtained of its relations
and consequences, than can be hoped from the wisdom or knowledge of any
single man.
But this advantage, my lords, can only be expected from union and
concurrence; for when the different members of a national council enter
with different designs, and exert their abilities not so much to promote
any general purposes, as to obviate the measures, and confute the
arguments of each other, the publick is deprived of all the benefit that
might be expected from the collective wisdom of assemblies, whatever may
be the capacity of those who compose them. The senate thus divided and
disturbed, will, perhaps, conclude with less prudence than any single
member, as any man may more easily discover truth without assistance,
than when others of equal abilities are employed in perplexing his
inquiries, and interrupting the operations of his mind.
Thus, my lords, it might be safer for a nation, even in time of terrour
and disorder, to be deprived of the counsels of this house, than to
confide in the determinations of an assembly not uniform in its views,
nor connected in its interests; an assembly from which little can be
hoped by those who observe that it cannot, without a tedious debate,
prolonged with all the heat of opposition, despatch the first and most
cursory part of publick business,--an address to his majesty.
It has been for a long time a practice too frequent, to confound past
with present questions, to perplex every debate by an endless
multiplication of objects, and to obstruct our determinations by
substituting one inquiry in the place of another.
The only question, my lords, now before us is, whether the address which
the noble lord proposed, implies any commendation of past measures, not
whether those measures deserve to be commended; which is an inquiry not
at present to be pursued, because we have not now before us the means of
attaining satisfaction in it, and which ought, therefore, to be delayed
till it shall be your lordships' pleasure to appoint a day for examining
the state of the nation, and to demand those letters, instructions, and
memorials, which are necessary to an accurate and senatorial
disquisition.
In the mean time, since it is at least as expedient for me to vindicate,
as for others to accuse those of whose conduct neither they nor I have
yet any regular cognizance, and I may justly expect from the candour of
your lordships, that you will be no less willing to hear an apologist
than a censurer, I will venture to suspend the true question a few
moments, to justify that conduct which has been so wantonly and so
contemptuously derided.
That the preservation of the house of Austria, my lords, ought to engage
the closest attention of the British nation, is freely confessed. It is
evident that by no other means our commerce, our liberty, or our
religion can be secured, or the house of Bourbon restrained from
overwhelming the universe. It is allowed that the queen of Hungary has a
claim to our assistance by other ties than those of interest; that it
was promised upon the faith of treaties, and it is demanded by the
loudest calls of honour, justice and compassion. And did it not appear
too juvenile and romantick, I might add, that her personal excellencies
are such as might call armies to her assistance from the remotest
corners of the earth; that her constancy in the assertion of her rights
might animate every generous mind with equal firmness; and her
intrepidity in the midst of danger and distress, when every day brings
accounts of new encroachments, and every new encroachment discourages
those from whom she may claim assistance from declaring in her favour,
might inspire with ardour for her preservation all those in whom virtue
can excite reverence, or whom calamities unjustly inflicted can touch
with indignation.
Nor am I afraid to affirm, my lords, that the condition of this
illustrious princess raised all these emotions in the court of Britain,
and that the vigour of our proceedings will appear proportioned to our
ardour for her success. No sooner was the true state of affairs
incontestably known, than twelve thousand auxiliary troops were hired,
and commanded to march to her assistance, but her affairs making it more
eligible for her to employ her own subjects in her defence, and the want
of money being the only obstacle that hindered her from raising armies
proportioned to those of her enemies, she required, that instead of
troops, a supply of money might be sent her, with which his majesty
willingly complied.
The British ministers in the mean time endeavoured, by the strongest
arguments and most importunate solicitations, to animate her allies to
equal vigour, or to procure her assistance from other powers whose
interest was more remotely affected by her distress: if the effects of
their endeavours are not yet manifest, it cannot be imputed to the want
either of sincerity or diligence; and if any other powers should be
persuaded to arm in the common cause, it ought to be ascribed to the
influence of the British counsels.
In the prosecution of the war with Spain, it does not appear, my lords,
that any measures have been neglected, which prudence, or bravery, or
experience, could be expected to dictate. If we have suffered greater
losses than we expected, if our enemies have been sometimes favoured by
the winds, or sometimes have been so happy as to conceal their designs,
and elude the diligence of our commanders, who is to be censured? or
what is to be concluded, but that which never was denied, that the
chance of war is uncertain, that men are inclined to make fallacious
calculations of the probabilities of future events, and that our enemies
may sometimes be as artful, as diligent, and as sagacious as ourselves?
It was the general opinion of the British people, my lords, if the
general opinion may be collected from the clamours and expectations
which every man has had opportunities of observing, that in declaring
war upon Spain, we only engaged to chastise the insolence of a nation of
helpless savages, who might, indeed, rob and murder a defenceless
trader, but who could only hold up their hands and cry out for mercy, or
sculk in secret creeks and unfrequented coasts, when ships of war should
be fitted out against them. They imagined that the fortifications of the
Spanish citadels would be abandoned at the first sound of cannon, and
that their armies would turn their backs at the sight of the standard of
Britain.
It was not remembered, my lords, that the greatest part of our trade was
carried on in sight of the Spanish coasts, and that our merchants must
be consequently exposed to incessant molestation from light vessels,
which our ships of war could not pursue over rocks and shallows. It was
not sufficiently considered, that a trading nation must always make war
with a nation that has fewer merchants, under the disadvantage of being
more exposed to the rapacity of private adventurers. How much we had to
fear on this account was shown us by the late war with France, in which
the privateers of a few petty ports, injured the commerce of this
nation, more than their mighty navies and celebrated admirals.
My lords, it would very little become this august assembly, this
assembly so renowned for wisdom, and for justice, to confound want of
prudence with want of success; since on many occasions the wisest
measures may be defeated by accidents which could not be foreseen; since
they may sometimes be discovered by deserters, or spies, and sometimes
eluded by an enemy equally skilful with ourselves in the science of war.
That any of these apologies are necessary to the administration, I am
far from intending to insinuate, for I know not that we have failed of
success in any of our designs, except the attack of Carthagena, of which
the miscarriage cannot, at least, be imputed to the ministry; nor is it
evident that any other causes of it are to be assigned than the
difficulty of the enterprise; and when, my lords, did any nation make
war, without experiencing some disappointments?
These considerations, my lords, I have thought myself obliged, by my
regard to truth and justice, to lay before you, to dissipate those
suspicions and that anxiety which might have arisen from a different
representation of our late measures; for I cannot but once more observe,
that a vindication of the conduct of the ministry is by no means a
necessary preparative to the address proposed.
The address which was so modestly offered to your lordships, cannot be
said to contain any more than a general answer to his majesty's speech,
and such declarations of our duty and affection, as are always due to
our sovereign, and always expected by him on such occasions.
If our allies have been neglected or betrayed, my lords, we shall be
still at liberty to discover and to punish negligence so detrimental,
and treachery so reproachful to the British nation. If in the war
against Spain we have failed of success, we shall still reserve in our
own hands the right of inquiring whether we were unsuccessful by the
superiority of our enemies, or by our own fault; whether our commanders
wanted orders, or neglected to obey them; for what clause can be
produced in the address by which any of these inquiries can be supposed
to be predetermined?
Let us, therefore, remember, my lords, the danger of our present state,
and the necessity of steadiness, vigour, and wisdom, for our own
preservation and that of Europe; let us consider that publick wisdom is
the result of united counsels, and steadiness and vigour, of united
influence; let us remember that our example may be of equal use with our
assistance, and that both the allies and the subjects of Great Britain
will be conjoined by our union, and distracted by our divisions; and let
us, therefore, endeavour to promote the general interest of the world,
by an unanimous address to his majesty, in the terms proposed by the
noble lord.
Lord TALBOT spoke in the following manner:--My lords, after the display
of the present state of Europe, and the account of the measures of the
British ministers, which the noble lord who spoke against the motion has
laid before you, there is little necessity for another attempt to
convince you that our liberty and the liberty of Europe are in danger,
or of disturbing your reflections by another enumeration of follies and
misfortunes.
To mention the folly of our measures is superfluous likewise, for
another reason. They who do not already acknowledge it, may be justly
suspected of suppressing their conviction; for how can it be possible,
that they who cannot produce a single instance of wisdom or fortitude,
who cannot point out one enterprise wisely concerted and successfully
executed, can yet sincerely declare, that nothing has been omitted which
our interest required?
The measures, my lords, which are now pursued, are the same which for
twenty months have kept the whole nation in continual disturbance, and
have raised the indignation of every man, whose private interest was not
promoted by them. These measures cannot be said to be rashly censured,
or condemned before they are seen in their full extent, or expanded into
all their consequences; for they have been prosecuted, my lords, with
all the confidence of authority and all the perseverance of obstinacy,
without any other opposition than fruitless clamours, or petitions
unregarded. And what consequences have they produced? What but poverty
and distractions at home, and the contempt and insults of foreign
powers? What but the necessity of retrieving by war the losses sustained
by timorous and dilatory negotiations; and the miscarriages of a war, in
which only folly and cowardice have involved us?
Nothing, my lords, is more astonishing, than that it should be asserted
in this assembly that we have no ill success to complain of. Might we
not hope for success, if we have calculated the events of war, and made
a suitable preparation? And how is this to be done, but by comparing our
forces with that of our enemy, who must, undoubtedly, be more or less
formidable according to the proportion which his treasures and his
troops bear to our own?
Upon the assurance of the certainty of this practice, upon the evidence,
my lords, of arithmetical demonstration, we were inclined to believe,
that the power of Britain was not to be resisted by Spain, and therefore
demanded that our merchants should be no longer plundered, insulted,
imprisoned, and tortured by so despicable an enemy.
That we did not foresee all the consequences of this demand, we are now
ready to confess; we did not conjecture that new troops would be raised
for the invasion of the Spanish dominions, only that we might be reduced
to the level with our enemies. We did not imagine that the superiority
of our naval force would produce no other consequence than an inequality
of expense, and that the royal navies of Britain would be equipped only
for show, only to harass the sailors with the hateful molestation of an
impress, and to weaken the crews of our mercantile vessels, that they
might be more easily taken by the privateers of Spain.
We did not expect, my lords, that our navies would sail out under the
command of admirals renowned for bravery, knowledge, and vigilance, and
float upon the ocean without design, or enter ports and leave them,
equally inoffensive as a packet-boat, or petty trader.
But not to speak any longer, my lords, in terms so little suited to the
importance of the question which I am endeavouring to clear, or to the
enormity of the conduct which I attempt to expose; the success of war is
only to be estimated by the advantages which are gained, in proportion
to the loss which is suffered; of which loss the expenses occasioned by
the war are always the chief part, and of which it is, therefore, usual,
at the conclusion of a peace, for the conquered power to promise the
payment.
Let us examine, my lords, in consequence of this position, the success
of our present war against Spain; let us consider what each nation has
suffered, and it will easily appear how justly we boast of our wisdom
and vigour.
It is not on this occasion necessary to form minute calculations, or to
compute the expense of every company of soldiers and squadron of ships;
it is only necessary to assert, what will, I hope, not be very readily
denied, even by those whom daily practice of absurd apologies has
rendered impregnable by the force of truth, that such expenses as have
neither contributed to our own defence, nor to the disadvantage of the
Spaniards, have been thrown away.
If this be granted, my lords, it will appear, that no nation ever beheld
its treasures so profusely squandered, ever paid taxes so willingly, and
so patiently saw them perverted; for it cannot, my lords, be proved,
that any part of our preparations has produced a proportionate effect;
but it may be readily shown how many fleets have been equipped only that
the merchants might want sailors, and that the public stores might be
consumed.
As to our ill success in America, which has been imputed only to the
chance of war, it will be reasonable, my lords, to ascribe to other
causes, so much of it as might have been prevented by a more speedy
reinforcement of Vernon, or may be supposed to have arisen from the
inexperience of our troops, and the escape of the Spaniards from Ferrol.
If our fleets had been sent more early into that part of the world, the
Spaniards would have had no time to strengthen their garrisons; had our
troops been acquainted with discipline, the attack would have been made
with greater judgment; and had not the Spaniards escaped from Ferrol, we
should have had no enemy in America to encounter. Had all our ministers
and all our admirals done their duty, it is evident that not only
Carthagena had been taken, but that half the dominions of Spain might
now have owned the sovereignty of the crown of Britain.
This, my lords, may be observed of the only enterprise, which it is
reasonable to believe was in reality intended against the Spaniards, if
even of this our ministers had not before contrived the defeat. But of
all the rest of our armaments it does not appear that any effect has
been felt but by ourselves, it cannot be discovered that they even
raised any alarms or anxiety either in our enemies or their allies, by
whom perhaps it was known that they were only designed as punishments
for the merchants of Britain.
That our merchants have already been severely chastised for their
insolence in complaining of their losses, and their temerity in raising
in the nation a regard for its commerce, its honour, and its rights, is
evident from a dreadful list of three hundred ships taken by the
Spaniards, some of which were abandoned by their convoys, and others
seized within sight of the coasts of Britain.
It may be urged, my lords, that the Spaniards have likewise lost a great
number of vessels; but what else could they expect when they engaged in
a war against the greatest naval power of the universe? And it is to be
remembered, that the Spaniards have this consolation in their
misfortunes, that of their ships none have been deserted by their
convoys, or wilfully exposed to capture by being robbed of their crews,
to supply ships of war with idle hands.
The Spaniards will likewise consider, that they have not harassed their
subjects for the protection of their trade; that they have not fitted
out fleets only to amuse the populace. They comfort themselves with the
hope, that the Britons will soon be reduced to a state of weakness below
themselves, and wait patiently for the time in which the masters of the
sea shall receive from them the regulation of their commerce and the
limits of their navigation.
Nor can it be doubted, my lords, but that by adhering to these measures,
our ministers will in a short time gratify their hopes; for whatsoever
be the difference between the power of two contending nations, if the
richer spends its treasures without effect, and exposes its troops to
unhealthy climates and impracticable expeditions, while the weaker is
parsimonious and prudent, they must soon be brought to an equality; and
by continuing the same conduct, the weaker power must at length prevail.
That this has been hitherto the state of the war between Britain and
Spain, it is not necessary to prove to your lordships; it is apparent,
that the expenses of the Spaniards have been far less than those of
Britain; and, therefore, if we should suppose the actual losses of war
equal, we are only wearing out our force in useless efforts, and our
enemies grow every day comparatively stronger.
But, my lords, let us not flatter ourselves that our actual losses have
been equal; let us, before we determine this question, accurately
compare the number and the value of our ships and cargoes with those of
the Spaniards, and see on which side the loss will fall.
And let us not forget, what in all the calculations which I have yet
seen on either part has been totally overlooked, the number of men
killed, or captives in the British and Spanish dominions. Men, my lords,
are at once strength and riches; and, therefore, it is to be considered,
that the most irreparable loss which any nation can sustain is the
diminution of its people: money may be repaid, and commerce may be
recovered; even liberty may be regained, but the loss of people can
never be retrieved. Even the twentieth generation may have reason to
exclaim, How much more numerous and more powerful would this nation have
been, had our ancestors not been betrayed in the expedition to
Carthagena!
What loss, my lords, have the Spaniards sustained which can be put in
balance with that of our army in America, an army given up to the
vultures of an unhealthy climate, and of which those who perished by the
sword, were in reality rescued from more lingering torments?
What equivalent can be mentioned for the liberty of multitudes of
Britons, now languishing in the prisons of Spain, or obliged by
hardships and desperation to assist the enemies of their country? What
have the Spaniards suffered that can be opposed to the detriment which
the commerce of this nation feels from the detention of our sailors?
These, my lords, are losses not to be paralleled by the destruction of
Porto Bello, even though that expedition should be ascribed to the
ministry. These are losses which may extend their consequences to many
ages, which may long impede our commerce, and diminish our shipping.
It is not to be imagined, my lords, that in this time of peculiar
danger, parents will destine their children to maritime employments, or
that any man will engage in naval business who can exercise any other
profession; and therefore the death or captivity of a sailor leaves a
vacuity in our commerce, since no other will be ready to supply his
place. Thus, by degrees, the continuance of the war will contract our
trade, and those parts of it which we cannot occupy, will be snatched by
the French or Dutch, from whom it is not probable that they will ever be
recovered.
This, my lords, is another circumstance of disadvantage to which the
Spaniards are not exposed; for their traffick being only from one part
of their dominions to another, cannot be destroyed, but will, after the
short interruption of a war, be again equally certain and equally
profitable.
It appears, therefore, my lords, that we have hitherto suffered more
than the Spaniards, more than the nation which we have so much reason to
despise; it appears that our fleets have been useless, and that our
troops have been only sent out to be destroyed; and it will, therefore,
surely be allowed me to assert, that the war has not been hitherto
successful.
I am, therefore, of opinion, my lords, that as the address now proposed,
cannot but be understood both by his majesty and the nation, to imply,
in some degree, a commendation of that conduct which cannot be
commended, which ought never to be mentioned but with detestation and
contempt, it will be unworthy of this house, offensive to the whole
nation, and unjust to his majesty.
His majesty, my lords, has summoned us to advise him in this important
juncture, and the nation expects from our determinations its relief or
its destruction: nor will either have much to hope from our counsels,
if, in our first publick act, we endeavour to deceive them.
It seems, therefore, proper to change the common form of our addresses
to the throne, to do once, at least, what his majesty demands and the
people expect, and to remember that no characters are more inconsistent,
than those of a counsellor of the king, and a flatterer of the ministry.
Then lord ABINGDON spoke to this effect:--My lords, I have always
observed that debates are prolonged, and inquiries perplexed, by the
neglect of method; and therefore think it necessary to move, That the
question may be read, that the noble lords who shall be inclined to
explain their sentiments upon it, may have always the chief point in
view, and not deviate into foreign considerations.
[It was read accordingly.]
Lord CARTERET spoke next, to the purpose following:--My lords, I am
convinced of the propriety of the last motion by the advantage which it
has afforded me of viewing more deliberately and distinctly the question
before us; the consideration of which has confirmed me in my own
opinion, that the address now proposed is only a flattering repetition
of the speech, and that the speech was drawn up only to betray us into
an encomium on the ministry; who, as they certainly have not deserved
any commendations, will, I hope, not receive them from your lordships.
For what has been the result of all their measures, but a general
confusion, the depression of our own nation and our allies, and the
exaltation of the house of Bourbon?
It is universally allowed, my lords, and therefore it would be
superfluous to prove, that the liberties of Europe are now in the utmost
danger; that the house of Bourbon has arrived almost at that exalted
pinnacle of authority, from whence it will look down with contempt upon
all other powers, to which it will henceforward prescribe laws at
pleasure, whose dominions will be limited by its direction, and whose
armies will march at its command.
That Britain will be long exempted from the general servitude, that we
shall be able to stand alone against the whole power of Europe, which
the French may then bring down upon us, and preserve ourselves
independent, while every other nation acknowledges the authority of an
arbitrary conqueror, is by no means likely, and might be, perhaps,
demonstrated to be not possible.
How long we might be able to retain our liberty, it is beyond the reach
of policy to determine, but as it is evident, that when the empire is
subdued, the Dutch will quickly fall under the same dominion, and that
all their ports and all their commerce will then be in the hands of the
French, it cannot be denied that our commerce will quickly be at an end.
We shall then lose the dominion of the sea, and all our distant colonies
and settlements, and be shut up in our own island, where the continuance
of our liberties can be determined only by the resolution with which we
shall defend them.
That this, my lords, must probably, in a few years, be our state, if the
schemes of the house of Bourbon should succeed, is certain beyond all
controversy; and therefore it is evident, that no man to whom such a
condition does not appear eligible, can look unconcerned at the
confusion of the continent, or consider the destruction of the house of
Austria, without endeavouring to prevent it.
But, my lords, though such endeavours are the duty of all who are
engaged in the transaction of publick affairs, though the importance of
the cause of the queen of Hungary be acknowledged in the speech to which
we are to return an address, it does not appear that the ministers of
Britain have once attempted to assist her, or have even forborne any
thing which might aggravate her distress.
The only effectual methods by which any efficacious relief could have
been procured, were that of reconciling her with the king of Prussia, or
that of prevailing upon the Muscovites to succour her.
A reconciliation with the king of Prussia would have been my first care,
if the honour of advising on this occasion had fallen to my lot. To have
mediated successfully between them could surely have been no difficult
task, because each party could not but know how much it was their common
interest to exclude the French from the empire, and how certainly this
untimely discord must expose them both to their ancient enemy.
As in private life, my lords, when two friends carry any dispute between
them to improper degrees of anger or resentment, it is the province of a
third to moderate the passion of each, and to restore that benevolence
which a difference of interest or opinion had impaired; so in alliances,
or the friendships of nations, whenever it unhappily falls out that two
of them forget the general good, and lay themselves open to those evils
from which a strict union only can preserve them, it is necessary that
some other power should interpose, and prevent the dangers of a
perpetual discord.
Whether this was attempted, my lords, I know not; but if any such design
was in appearance prosecuted, it may be reasonably imagined from the
event, that the negotiators were defective either in skill or in
diligence; for how can it be conceived that any man should act contrary
to his own interest, to whom the state of his affairs is truly
represented?
But not to suppress what I cannot doubt, I am convinced, my lords, that
there is in reality no design of assisting the queen of Hungary; either
our ministers have not yet recovered from their apprehensions of the
exorbitant power of the house of Austria, by which they were frighted
some years ago into the bosom of France for shelter, and which left them
no expedient but the treaty of Hanover; or they are now equally afraid
of France, and expect the _pretender_ to be forced upon them by the
power whom they so lately solicited to secure them from him.
Whatever is the motive of their conduct, it is evident, my lords, that
they are at present to the unfortunate queen of Hungary, either
professed enemies, or treacherous allies; for they have permitted the
invasion of her Italian dominions, when they might have prevented it
without a blow, only by commanding the Spaniards not to transport their
troops.
To argue that our fleet in the Mediterranean was not of strength
sufficient to oppose their passage, is a subterfuge to which they can
only be driven by the necessity of making some apology, and an absolute
inability to produce any which will not immediately be discovered to be
groundless.
It is known, my lords, to all Europe, that Haddock had then under his
command thirteen ships of the line, and nine frigates, and that the
Spanish convoy consisted only of three ships; and yet they sailed before
his eyes with a degree of security which nothing could have produced but
a passport from the court of Britain, and an assured exemption from the
danger of an attack.
It may be urged, that they were protected by the French squadron, and
that Haddock durst not attack them, because he was unable to contend
with the united fleets; but my lords, even this is known to be false: it
is known that they bore no proportion to the strength of the British
squadron, that they could not have made even the appearance of a battle,
and that our commanders could have been only employed in pursuit and
captures.
This, my lords, was well known to our ministers, who were afraid only of
destroying the French squadron, and were very far from apprehending any
danger from it; but being determined to purchase, on any terms, the
continuance of the friendship of their old protectors, consented to the
invasion of Italy, and procured a squadron to sail out, under pretence
of defending the Spanish transports, that their compliance might not be
discovered.
All this, my lords, may reasonably be suspected at the first view of
their proceedings; for how could an inferiour force venture into the way
of an enemy, unless upon security that they should not be attacked? But
the late treaty of neutrality has changed suspicion into certainty, has
discovered the source of all their measures, and shown that the invasion
of Italy is permitted to preserve Hanover from the like calamity.
There is great danger, my lords, lest this last treaty of Hanover should
give the decisive blow to the liberties of Europe. How much it
embarrasses the queen of Hungary, by making it necessary for her to
divide her forces, is obvious at the first view; but this is not, in my
opinion, its most fatal consequence. The other powers will be incited,
by the example of our ministry, to conclude treaties of neutrality in
the same manner. They will distrust every appearance of our zeal for the
house of Austria, and imagine that we intend only an hypocritical
assistance, and that our generals, our ambassadors, and our admirals,
have, in reality, the same orders.
Nothing, my lords, is more dangerous than to weaken the publick faith.
When a nation can be no longer trusted, it loses all its influence,
because none can fear its menaces, or depend on its alliance. A nation
no longer trusted, must stand alone and unsupported; and it is certain
that the nation which is justly suspected of holding with its open
enemies a secret intercourse to the prejudice of its allies, can be no
longer trusted.
This suspicion, my lords, this hateful, this reproachful character, is
now fixed upon the court of Britain; nor does it take its rise only from
the forbearance of our admiral, but has received new confirmation from
the behaviour of our ambassador, who denied the treaty of neutrality,
when the French minister declared it to the Dutch. Such now, my lords,
is the reputation of the British court, a reputation produced by the
most flagrant and notorious instances of cowardice and falsehood, which
cannot but make all our endeavours ineffectual, and discourage all those
powers whose conjunction we might have promoted, from entering into any
other engagements than such as we may purchase for stated subsidies. For
who, upon any other motive than immediate interest, would form an
alliance with a power which, upon the first appearance of danger, gives
up a confederate, to purchase, not a large extent of territory, not a
new field of commerce, not a port or a citadel, but an abject
neutrality!
But however mean may be a supplication for peace, or however infamous
the desertion of an ally, I wish, my lords, that the liberty of invading
the queen of Hungary's dominions without opposition, had been the most
culpable concession of our illustrious ministers, of whom it is
reasonable to believe, that they have stipulated with the Spaniards,
that they shall be repaid the expense of the war by the plunder of our
merchants.
That our commerce has been unnecessarily exposed to the ravages of
privateers, from which a very small degree of caution might have
preserved it; that three hundred trading ships have been taken, and that
three thousand British sailors are now in captivity, is a consideration
too melancholy to be long dwelt upon, and a truth too certain to be
suppressed or denied.
How such havock could have been made, had not our ships of war concluded
a treaty of neutrality with the Spaniards, and left the war to be
carried on only by the merchants, it is not easy to conceive; for surely
it will not be pretended, that all these losses were the necessary
consequence of our situation with regard to Spain, which, if it exposed
the Portugal traders to hazard, did not hinder us from guarding our own
coasts.
And yet on our own coasts, my lords, have multitudes of our ships been
taken by the Spaniards; they have been seized by petty vessels as they
were entering our ports, and congratulating themselves upon their escape
from danger.
In the late war with France, an enemy much more formidable both for
power and situation, methods were discovered by which our trade was more
efficaciously protected: by stationing a squadron at the mouth of the
Channel, of which two or three ships at a time cruized at a proper
distance on the neighbouring seas, the privateers were kept in awe, and
confined to their own harbours, or seized if they ventured to leave
them.
But of such useful regulations in the present war there is little hope;
for if the publick papers are of any credit, the king of Spain considers
the captures of our merchants as a standing revenue, and has laid an
indulto upon them as upon other parts of the Spanish trade.
It is, therefore, to little purpose that measures are proposed in this
house, or schemes presented by the merchants for the preservation of our
commerce; for the merchants are considered as the determined enemies of
our minister, who therefore resolved that they should repent of the war
into which he was forced by them, contrary to those favourite schemes
and established maxims, which he has pursued till the liberties of
mankind are almost extinguished.
There are, indeed, some hopes, my lords, that new measures, resolutely
pursued, might yet repair the mischiefs of this absurd and cowardly
conduct, and that by resolution and dexterity, the ambition of France
might once more be disappointed. The king of Prussia appears, at length,
convinced that he has not altogether pursued his real interest, and that
his own family must fall in the ruin of the house of Austria. The king
of Sardinia appears firm in his determination to adhere to the queen of
Hungary, and has therefore refused a passage through his dominions to
the Spanish troops. The States of Holland seem to have taken the alarm,
and nothing but their distrust of our sincerity can hinder them from
uniting against the house of Bourbon.
This distrust, my lords, we may probably remove, by reviving, on this
occasion, our ancient forms of address, and declaring at once to his
majesty, and to all the powers of Europe, that we are far from approving
the late measures.
There is another reason why the short addresses of our ancestors may be
preferred to the modern forms, in which a great number of particular
facts are often comprehended. It is evident, that the addresses are
presented, before there can be time to examine whether the facts
contained in them are justly stated; and they must, therefore, lose
their efficacy with the people, who are sufficiently sagacious to
distinguish servile compliance from real approbation, and who will not
easily mistake the incense of flattery for the tribute of gratitude.
With regard to the propriety of the address proposed to your lordships,
which is, like others, only a repetition of the speech, there is, at
least, one objection to it too important to be suppressed.
It is affirmed in the speech, in what particular words I cannot exactly
remember, that since the death of the late German emperour, the interest
of the queen of Hungary has been diligently and invariably promoted; an
assertion which his majesty is too wise, too equitable, and too generous
to have uttered, but at the persuasion of his ministers.
His majesty well knows, that no important assistance has been hitherto
given to that unhappy princess; he knows that the twelve thousand men,
who are said to have been raised for the defence of the empire, those
mighty troops, by whose assistance the enemies of Austria were to be
scattered, never marched beyond the territory of Hanover, nor left that
blissful country for a single day. And is it probable that the queen
would have preferred money for troops, had she not been informed that it
would be more easily obtained?
Nor was even this pecuniary assistance, though compatible with the
security of Hanover, granted her without reluctance and difficulty; of
which no other proof is necessary, than the distance between the promise
and the performance of it. The money, my lords, is not yet all paid,
though the last payment was very lately fixed. Such is the assistance
which the united influence of justice and compassion has yet procured
from the court of Britain.
Our ministers have been, therefore, hitherto, my lords, so far from
acting with vigour in favour of the house of Austria, that they have
never solicited the court of Muscovy, almost the only court now
independent on France, to engage in her defence. How wisely that mighty
power distinguishes her real interest, and how ardently she pursues it,
the whole world was convinced in her alliance with the late emperour;
nor is it unlikely, that she might have been easily persuaded to have
protected his daughter with equal zeal. But we never asked her alliance
lest we should obtain it, and yet we boast of our good offices.
Our governours thought it more nearly concerned them to humble our
merchants than to succour our allies, and therefore admitted the
Spaniards into Italy; by which prudent conduct they dexterously at once
gratified the house of Bourbon, embarrassed the queen of Hungary, and
endangered the effects of the British merchants, lying at Leghorn;
effects which were lately valued at six hundred thousand pounds, but
which, by the seasonable arrival of the Spaniards, are happily reduced
to half their price.
I hope, therefore, I need not urge to your lordships the necessity of
confining our address to thanks and congratulations, because it is not
necessary to say how inconsistent it must be thought with the dignity of
this house to echo falsehood, and to countenance perfidy.
Then the duke of NEWCASTLE spoke to the following effect:--My lords, the
manner in which the noble lord who spoke last expresses his sentiments,
never fails to give pleasure, even where his arguments produce no
conviction; and his eloquence always receives its praise, though it may
sometimes be disappointed of its more important effects.
In the present debate, my lords, I have heard no argument, by which I am
inclined to change the usual forms of address, or to reject the motion
which has been made to us.
The address which has been proposed, is not, in my opinion, justly
chargeable either with flattery to the ministers, or with disingenuity
with respect to the people; nor can I discover in it any of those
positions which have been represented so fallacious and dangerous. It
contains only a general declaration of our gratitude, and an assertion
of our zeal; a declaration and assertion to which I hope no lord in this
assembly will be unwilling to subscribe.
As an inquiry into the propriety of this address has produced, whether
necessarily or not, many observations on the present state of Europe,
and many animadversions upon the late conduct, it cannot be improper for
me to offer to your lordships my opinion of the measures which have been
pursued by us, as well in the war with Spain, as with regard to the
queen of Hungary, and to propose my conjectures concerning the events
which may probably be produced by the distractions on the continent.
This deviation from the question before us, will at least be as easily
pardoned in me as in the noble lords who have exhibited so gloomy a
representation of our approaching condition, who have lamented the
slavery with which they imagine all the states of Europe about to be
harassed, and described the insolence and ravages of those oppressors to
whom their apprehensions have already given the empire of the world. For
surely, my lords, it is an endeavour no less laudable to dispel terrour,
than to excite it; and he who brings us such accounts as we desire to
receive, is generally listened to with indulgence, however unelegant may
be his expressions, or however irregular his narration.
That the power of the family of Bourbon is arrived at a very dangerous
and formidable extent; that it never was hitherto employed but to
disturb the happiness of the universe; that the same schemes which our
ancestors laboured so ardently and so successfully to destroy, are now
formed afresh, and intended to be put in immediate execution; that the
empire is designed to be held henceforward in dependence on France; and
that the house of Austria, by which the common rights of mankind have
been so long supported, is now marked out for destruction, is too
evident to be contested.
It is allowed, my lords, that the power of the house of Austria, which
there was once reason to dread, lest it might have been employed against
us, is now almost extinguished; and that name, which has for so many
ages filled the histories of Europe, is in danger of being forgotten. It
is allowed, that the house of Austria cannot fall without exposing all
those who have hitherto been supported by its alliance, to the utmost
danger; and I need not add, that they ought, therefore, to assist it
with the utmost expedition, and the most vigorous measures.
It may be suggested, my lords, that this assistance has been already
delayed till it is become useless, that the utmost expedition will be
too slow, and the most vigorous measures too weak to stop the torrent of
the conquests of France: that the fatal blow will be struck, before we
shall have an opportunity to ward it off, and that our regard for the
house of Austria will be only compassion for the dead.
But these, my lords, I hope, are only the apprehensions of a mind
overborne with sudden terrours, and perplexed by a confused survey of
complicated danger; for if we consider more distinctly the powers which
may be brought in opposition to France, we shall find no reason for
despairing that we may once more stand up with success in defence of our
religion and the liberty of mankind, and once more reduce those
troublers of the world to the necessity of abandoning their destructive
designs.
The noble lord has already mentioned the present disposition of three
powerful states, as a motive for vigorous resolutions, and a
consideration that may, at least, preserve us from despair; and it is no
small satisfaction to me to observe, that his penetration and experience
incline him to hope upon the prospect of affairs as they now appear;
because I doubt not but that hope will be improved into confidence, by
the account which I can now give your lordships of the intention of
another power, yet more formidable, to engage with us in the great
design of repressing the insolence of France.
A treaty of alliance, my lords, has been for some time concerted with
the emperour of Muscovy, and has been negotiated with such diligence,
that it is now completed, and I doubt not but the last ratifications
will arrive at this court in a few days; by which it will appear to your
lordships, that the interest of this nation has been vigilantly
regarded, and to our allies, that the faith of Britain has never yet
been shaken. It will appear to the French, that they have precipitated
their triumphs, that they have imagined themselves masters of nations by
whom they will be in a short time driven back to their own confines, and
that, perhaps, they have parcelled out kingdoms which they are never
likely to possess.
It was affirmed, and with just discernment, that applications ought to
be made to this powerful court, as the professed adversary of France;
and if it was not hitherto known that their assistance had been
assiduously solicited, our endeavours were kept secret only that their
success might be more certain, and that they might surprise more
powerfully by their effects.
Nor have the two other princes, which were mentioned by the noble lord,
been forgotten, whose concurrence is at this time so necessary to us:
and I doubt not but that the representations which have been made with
all the force of truth, and all the zeal that is awakened by interest
and by danger, will in time produce the effects for which they were
intended; by convincing those princes that they endanger themselves by
flattering the French ambition, that they are divesting themselves of
that defence of which they will quickly regret the loss, and that they
are only not attacked at present, that they may be destroyed more easily
hereafter.
But it is always to be remembered, my lords, that in publick
transactions, as in private life, interest acts with less force as it is
at greater distance, and that the immediate motive will generally
prevail. Futurity impairs the influence of the most important objects of
consideration, even when it does not lessen their certainty; and with
regard to events only probable, events which a thousand accidents may
obviate, they are almost annihilated, with regard to the human mind, by
being placed at a distance from us. Wherever imagination can exert its
power, we easily dwell upon the most pleasing views, and flatter
ourselves with those consequences, which though perhaps least to be
expected, are most desired. Wherever different events may arise, which
is the state of all human transactions, we naturally promote our hopes,
and repress our fears; and in time so far deceive ourselves, as to quiet
all our suspicions, lay all our terrours asleep, and believe what at
first we only wished.
This, my lords, must be the delusion by which some states are induced to
favour, and others to neglect the encroachments of France. Men are
impolitick, as they are wicked; because they prefer the gratification of
the present hour to the assurance of solid and permanent, but distant
happiness. The French take advantage of this general weakness of the
human mind, and by magnificent promises to one prince, and petty grants
to another, reconcile them to their designs. Each finds that he shall
gain more by contracting an alliance with them, than with another state
which has no view besides that of preserving to every sovereign his just
rights, and which, therefore, as it plunders none, will have nothing to
bestow.
This, my lords, is the disadvantage under which our negotiators labour
against those of France; we have no kingdoms to parcel out among those
whose confederacy we solicit; we can promise them no superiority above
the neighbouring princes which they do not now possess; we assume not
the province of adjusting the boundaries of dominion, or of deciding
contested titles: we promise only the preservation of quiet, and the
establishment of safety.
But the French, my lords, oppose us with other arguments, arguments
which, indeed, receive their force from folly and credulity; but what
more powerful assistance can be desired? They promise not mere negative
advantages, not an exemption from remote oppression, or an escape from
slavery, which, as it was yet never felt, is very little dreaded; they
offer an immediate augmentation of dominion, and an extension of power;
they propose new tracts of commerce, and open new sources of wealth;
they invite confederacies, not for defence, but for conquests; for
conquests to be divided among the powers by whose union they shall be
made.
Let it not, therefore, be objected, my lords, to our ministers, or our
negotiators, that the French obtain more influence than they; that they
are more easily listened to, or more readily believed: for while such is
the condition of mankind, that what is desired is easily credited, while
profit is more powerful than reason, the French eloquence will
frequently prevail.
Whether, my lords, our seeming want of success in the war with Spain
admits of as easy a solution, my degree of knowledge in military
affairs, does not enable me to determine. An account of this part of our
conduct is to be expected from the commissioners of the admiralty, by
whom, I doubt not, but such reasons will be assigned for all the
operations of our naval forces, and such vindications offered of all
those measures, which have been hitherto imputed too precipitately to
negligence, cowardice, or treachery, as will satisfy those who have been
most vehement in their censures.
But because it does not seem to me very difficult to apologize for those
miscarriages which have occasioned the loudest complaints, I will lay
before your lordships what I have been able to collect from inquiry, or
to conjecture from observation; and doubt not but it will easily appear,
that nothing has been omitted from any apparent design of betraying our
country, and that our ministers and commanders will deserve, at least,
to be heard before they are condemned.
That great numbers of our trading vessels have been seized by the
Spaniards, and that our commerce has, therefore, been very much
embarrassed and interrupted, is sufficiently manifest; but to me, my
lords, this appears one of the certain and necessary consequences of
war, which are always to be expected, and to be set in our consultations
against the advantages which we propose to obtain. It is as rational to
expect, that of an army sent against our enemies, every man should
return unhurt to his acquaintances, as that every merchant should see
his ship and cargo sail safely into port.
If we examine, my lords, the late war, of which the conduct has been so
lavishly applauded, in which the victories which we obtained have been
so loudly celebrated, and which has been proposed to the imitation of
all future ministers, it will appear, that our losses of the same kind
were then very frequent, and, perhaps, not less complained of, though
the murmurs are now forgotten, and the acclamations transmitted to
posterity, because we naturally relate what has given us satisfaction,
and suppress what we cannot recollect without uneasiness.
If we look farther backward, my lords, and inquire into the event of any
other war in which we engaged since commerce has constituted so large a
part of the interest of this nation, I doubt not but in proportion to
our trade will be found our losses; and in all future wars, as in the
present, I shall expect the same calamities and the same complaints. For
the escape of any number of ships raises no transport, nor produces any
gratitude; but the loss of a few will always give occasion to clamours
and discontent. For vigilance, however diligent, can never produce more
safety than will be naturally expected from our incontestable
superiority at sea, by which a great part of the nation is so far
deceived as to imagine, that because we cannot be conquered, we cannot
be molested.
Nor do I see how it is possible to employ our power more effectually for
the protection of our trade than by the method now pursued of covering
the ocean with our fleets, and stationing our ships of war in every
place where danger can be apprehended. If it be urged, that the
inefficacy of our measures is a sufficient proof of their impropriety,
it will be proper to substitute another plan of operation, of which the
success may be more probable. To me, my lords, the loss of some of our
mercantile vessels shows only the disproportion between the number of
our ships of war, and the extent of the sea, which is a region too vast
to be completely garrisoned, and of which the frequenters must
inevitably be subject to the sudden incursions of subtle rovers.
The disposition of our squadrons has been such, as was doubtless
dictated by the most acute sagacity, and the most enlightened
experience. The squadron which was appointed to guard our coasts has
been ridiculed as an useless expense; and its frequent excursions and
returns, without any memorable attempt, have given occasion to endless
raillery, and incessant exclamations of wonder and contempt. But it is
to be considered, my lords, that the enemies of this nation, either
secret or declared, had powerful squadrons in many ports of the
Mediterranean, which, had they known that our coasts were without
defence, might have issued out on a sudden, and have appeared
unexpectedly in our Channel, from whence they might have laid our towns
in ruin, entered our docks, burnt up all our preparations for future
expeditions, carried into slavery the inhabitants of our villages, and
left the maritime provinces of this kingdom in a state of general
desolation.
Out of this squadron, however necessary, there was yet a reinforcement
of five ships ordered to assist Haddock, that he might be enabled to
oppose the designs of the Spaniards, though assisted by their French
confederates, whom it is known that he was so far from favouring, that
he was stationed before Barcelona to block them up. Why he departed from
that port, and upon what motives of policy, or maxims of war, he
suffered the Spaniards to prosecute their scheme, he only is able to
inform us.
That the Spaniards have not at least been spared by design, is evident
from their sufferings in this war, which have been much greater than
ours. Many of our ships have, indeed, been snatched up by the rapacity
of private adventurers, whom the ardour of interest had made vigilant,
and whose celerity of pursuit as well as flight, enables them to take
the advantage of the situation of their own ports, and those of their
friends. But as none of our ships have been denied convoys, I know not
how the loss of them can be imputed to the ministry; and if any of those
who sailed under the protection of ships of war have been lost, the
commanders may be required to vindicate themselves from the charge of
negligence or treachery.
But this inquiry, my lords, must be, in my opinion, reserved for another
day, when it may become the immediate subject of our consultations, with
which it has at present no coherence, or to which, at least, it is very
remotely related. For I am not able, upon the most impartial and the
most attentive consideration of the address now proposed to your
lordships, to perceive any necessity of a previous inquiry into the
conduct of the war, the transaction of our negotiations, or the state of
the kingdom, in order to our compliance with this motion, by which we
shall be far from sheltering any crime from punishment, or any doubtful
conduct from inquiry; shall be far from obstructing the course of
national justice, or approving what we do not understand.
The chief tendency of his majesty's speech is to ask our advice on this
extraordinary conjuncture of affairs; a conduct undoubtedly worthy of a
British monarch, and which we ought not to requite with disrespect; but
what less can be inferred from an alteration of our established forms of
address, by an omission of any part of the speech? For what will be
imagined by his majesty, by the nation, and by the whole world, but that
we did not approve what we did not answer?
The duke of ARGYLE spoke to the following purpose:--My lords, it is with
great reason that the present time has been represented to us from the
throne as a time of uncommon danger and disturbance, a time in which the
barriers of kingdoms are broken down, in contempt of every law of heaven
and of earth, and in which ambition, rapine, and oppression, seem to be
let loose upon mankind; a time in which some nations send out armies and
invade the territories of their neighbours, in opposition to the most
solemn treaties, of which others, with equal perfidy, silently suffer,
or secretly favour the violation.
At a time like this, when treaties are considered only as momentary
expedients, and alliances confer no security, it is evident that the
preservation of our rights, our interest, and our commerce, must depend
only on our natural strength; and that instead of cultivating the
friendship of foreign powers, which we must purchase upon
disadvantageous conditions, and which will be withdrawn from us whenever
we shall need it; we ought, therefore, to collect our own force, and
show the world how little we stand in need of assistance, and how little
we have to fear from the most powerful of our enemies.
Our country, my lords, seems designed by nature to subsist without any
dependence on other nations, and by a steady and resolute improvement of
these advantages with which providence has blessed it, may bid defiance
to mankind; it might become, by the extension of our commerce, the
general centre at which the wealth of the whole earth might be collected
together, and from whence it might be issued upon proper occasions, for
the diffusion of liberty, the repression of insolence, and the
preservation of peace.
But this glory, and this influence, my lords, must arise from domestick
felicity; and domestick felicity can only be produced by a mutual
confidence between the government and the people. Where the governours
distrust the affections of their subjects, they will not be very
solicitous to advance their happiness; for who will endeavour to
increase that wealth which will, as he believes, be employed against
him? Nor will the subjects cheerfully concur even with the necessary
measures of their governours, whose general designs they conceive to be
contrary to the publick interest; because any temporary success or
accidental reputation, will only dazzle the eyes of the multitude, while
their liberties are stolen away.
This confidence, my lords, must be promoted where it exists, and
regained where it is lost, by the open administration of justice, by
impartial inquiries into publick transactions, by the exaltation of
those whose wisdom and bravery has advanced the publick reputation, or
increased the happiness of the nation, and the censure of those, however
elate with dignities, or surrounded with dependants, who by their
unskilfulness or dishonesty, have either embarrassed their country or
betrayed it.
For this reason, my lords, it is, in my opinion, necessary to gratify
the nation, at the present juncture, with the prospect of those
measures, without which no people can reasonably be satisfied; and to
pacify their resentment of past injuries, and quiet their apprehensions
of future miseries, by a possibility, at least, that they may see the
authors of all our miscarriages called to a trial in open day, and the
merit of those men acknowledged and rewarded, by whose resolution and
integrity they imagine that the final ruin of themselves and posterity
has been hitherto prevented.
That the present discontent of the British nation is almost universal,
that suspicion has infused itself into every rank and denomination of
men, that complaints of the neglect of our commerce, the misapplication
of our treasure, and the unsuccessfulness of our arms, are to be heard
from every mouth, and in every place, where men dare utter their
sentiments, I suppose, my lords, no man will deny; for whoever should
stand up in opposition to the truth of a fact so generally known, would
distinguish himself, even in this age of effrontery and corruption, by a
contempt of reputation, not yet known amongst mankind.
And indeed, my lords, it must be confessed that these discontents and
clamours are produced by such an appearance of folly, or of treachery,
as few ages or nations have ever known; by such an obstinate
perseverance in bad measures, as shame has hitherto prevented in those
upon whom nobler motives, fidelity to their trust, and love of their
country, had lost their influence.
Other ministers, when they have formed designs of sacrificing the
publick interest to their own, have been compelled to better measures by
timely discoveries, and just representations; they have been criminal
only because they hoped for secrecy, and have vindicated their conduct
no longer than while they had hopes that their apologies might deceive.
But our heroick ministers, my lords, have set themselves free from the
shackles of circumspection, they have disburdened themselves of the
embarrassments of caution, and claim an exemption from the necessity of
supporting their measures by laborious deductions and artful reasonings;
they defy the publick when they can no longer delude it, and prosecute,
in the face of the sun, those measures which they have not been able to
support, and of which the fatal consequences are foreseen by the whole
nation.
When they have been detected in one absurdity, they take shelter in
another; when experience has shown that one of their attempts was
designed only to injure their country, they propose a second of the same
kind with equal confidence, boast again of their integrity, and again
require the concurrence of the legislature, and the support of the
people.
When they had for a long time suffered our trading vessels to be seized
in sight of our own ports, when they had despatched fleets into the
Mediterranean, only to lie exposed to the injuries of the weather, and
to sail from one coast to another, only to show that they had no hostile
intentions, and that they were fitted out by the friends of the
Spaniards, only to amuse and exhaust the nation, they at length thought
it necessary to lull the impatience of the people, who began to discover
that they had hitherto been harassed with taxes and impresses to no
purpose, by the appearance of a new effort for the subjection of the
enemy, and to divert, by the expectations which an army and a fleet
naturally raise, any clamours at their past conduct'.
For this end, having entered into their usual consultations, they
projected an expedition into America, for which they raised forces and
procured transports, with all the pomp of preparation for the conquest
of half the continent, not so much to alarm the Spaniards, which I
conceive but a secondary view, as to fill the people of Britain with
amusing prospects of great achievements, of the addition of new
dominions to this empire, and an ample reparation for all their damages.
Thus provided with forces sufficient, in appearance, for this mighty
enterprise, they embarked them after many delays, and dismissed them to
their fate, having first disposed their regulations in such a manner,
that it was impossible that they should meet with success.
I can call your lordships to witness, that this impossibility was not
discovered by me after the event, for I foretold in this house, that
their designs, so conducted, must evidently miscarry.
Nor was this prediction, my lords, the effect of any uncommon sagacity,
or any accidental conjecture on future consequences which happened to be
right; for to any man who has had opportunities of observing that
knowledge in war is necessary to success, and experience is the
foundation of knowledge, it was sufficiently plain that our forces must
be repulsed.
The forces sent into America, my lords, were newly raised, placed under
the direction of officers not less ignorant than themselves, and
commanded by a man who never had commanded any troops before; and who,
however laudable he might have discharged the duty of a captain, was
wholly unacquainted with the province of a general.
Yet was this man, my lords, preferred, not only to a multitude of other
officers, to whom experience must have been of small advantage, if it
did not furnish them with knowledge far superiour to his, but to five
and forty generals, of whom I hope the nation has no reason to suspect
that any of them would not gladly have served it on an occasion of so
great importance, and willingly have conducted an expedition intended to
retrieve the honour of the British name, the terrour of our arms, and
the security of our commerce.
When raw troops, my lords, with young officers, are to act under the
command of an unskilful general, what is it reasonable to expect, but
what has happened--overthrow, slaughter, and ignominy? What but that
cheap victories should heighten the insolence, and harden the obstinacy
of our enemies; and that we should not only be weakened by our loss, but
dispirited by our disgrace; by the disgrace of being overthrown by those
whom we have despised, and with whom nothing but our own folly could
have reduced us to a level.
The other conjecture which I ventured to propose to your lordships, with
regard to the queen of Hungary, was not founded on facts equally evident
with the former, though experience has discovered that it was equally
true. It was then asserted, both by other lords and myself, that money
would be chosen by that princess as an assistance more useful than
forces; an opinion, which the lords who are engaged in the
administration vigorously opposed. In consequence of their
determination, forces were hired, for what purpose--let them now
declare, since none but themselves have yet known.
That at least they were not taken into our pay for the service for which
they were required, the succour of the house of Austria, is most
evident, unless the name of armies is imagined sufficient to intimidate
the French, as the Spaniards are to be subdued by the sight of fleets.
They never marched towards her frontiers, never opposed her enemies, or
afforded her the least assistance, but stood idle and unconcerned in the
territories of Hanover; nor was it known that they existed by any other
proof than that remittances were made for their pay.
Such, my lords, was the assistance, asked with so much solicitude, and
levied with so much expedition, for the queen of Hungary; such were the
effects of the zeal of our illustrious ministers for the preservation of
that august house, to whose alliance we are perhaps indebted for the
preservation of our religion and our liberties, and to which all Europe
must have recourse for shelter from the oppression of France.
When this formidable body of men was assembled, my lords, and reviewed,
they were perhaps found too graceful and too well sorted to be exposed
to the dangers of a battle; and the same tenderness that has so long
preserved our own forces from any other field than the park, might
rescue them from the fatigues of accompanying the active hussars in
their incursions, or the steady Austrians in their conflicts.
Whatever was the reason, my lords, it is certain that they have been
reserved for other opportunities of signalizing their courage; and they
slept in quiet, and fattened upon the wealth of Britain, while the
enemies of our illustrious, magnanimous, and unfortunate ally, entered
her territories without opposition, marched through them uninterrupted,
and rather took possession than made conquests.
That in this condition of her affairs, the queen would refuse an offer
of twelve thousand men; that when she was driven from one country to
another, attended by an army scarcely sufficient to form a flying camp,
she would not gladly have accepted a reinforcement so powerful, let
those believe, my lords, who have yet never been deceived by ministerial
faith.
The real designs of the ministry, my lords, are sufficiently obvious,
nor is any thing more certain, than that they had, in requiring this
mock assistance for the queen of Hungary, no other design than that of
raising her expectations only to deceive them; and to divert her, by
confidence in their preparations, from having recourse to more
efficacious expedients, that she might become, without resistance, the
slave of France.
For this purpose they determined to succour her with forces rather than
with money, because many reasons might be pretended, by which the march
of the forces might be retarded; but the money, my lords, when granted,
must have been more speedily remitted.
At last the queen, weary with delays, and undoubtedly sufficiently
informed of those designs, which are now, however generally discovered,
confidently denied, desired a supply of money, which might be granted
without leaving Hanover exposed to an invasion. With this demand, which
they had no pretence to deny, they have yet found expedients to delay
their compliance. For it does not appear that the whole sum granted has
yet been paid; and it would well become those noble lords, whose offices
give them an opportunity of observing the distribution of the publick
money, to justify themselves from the suspicions of the nation, by
declaring openly what has been remitted, and what yet remains to be
disbursed for some other purpose.
Is it not, therefore, evident, my lords, that by promising assistance to
this unhappy princess, the ministry intended to deceive her? That when
they flattered her with the approach of auxiliary forces, they designed
only to station them where they might garrison the frontiers of Hanover?
And that when they forced her to solicit for pecuniary aid, they delayed
the payment of the subsidy, that it might not be received till it could
produce no effect?
This, my lords, is not only evident from the manifest absurdity of their
conduct upon any other supposition, but from the general scheme which
has always been pursued by the man whose dictatorial instructions
regulate the opinions of all those that constitute the ministry, and of
whom it is well known, that it has been the great purpose of his life to
aggrandize France, by applying to her for assistance in imaginary
distresses from fictitious confederacies, and by sacrificing to her in
return the house of Austria, and the commerce of Britain.
How then, my lords, can it be asserted by us, that the house of Austria
has been vigilantly supported? How can we approve measures, of which we
discover no effect but the expense of the nation? A double expense,
produced first by raising troops, which though granted for the
assistance of the Austrians, have been made use of only for the
protection of Hanover, and by the grant of money in the place of these
troops, which were thus fallaciously obtained, and thus unprofitably
employed!
For what purpose these forces were in reality raised, I suppose no man
can be ignorant, and no man to whom it is known can possibly approve it.
How then, my lords, can we concur in an address by which the people must
be persuaded, that we either are deceived ourselves, or endeavour to
impose upon them; that we either dare not condemn any measures, however
destructive, or that, at least, we are in haste to approve them, lest
inquiry should discover their tendency too plainly to leave us the power
of applauding them, without an open declaration of our own impotence, or
disregard for the welfare of the publick.
The complaints of the people are already clamorous, and their discontent
open and universal; and surely the voice of the people ought, at least,
to awake us to an examination of their condition. And though we should
not immediately condemn those whom they censure and detest, as the
authors of their miseries, we ought, at least, to pay so much regard to
the accusation of the whole community, as not to reject it without
inquiry, as a suspicion merely chimerical.
Whether these complaints and suspicions, my lords, proceed from real
injuries and imminent dangers, or from false accusations and groundless
terrours, they equally deserve the attention of this house, whose great
care is the happiness of the people: people equally worthy of your
tenderness and regard, whether they are betrayed by one party or
another; whether they are plundered by the advocates of the
administration, under pretence of supporting the government, or
affrighted with unreasonable clamours by the opponents of the court,
under the specious appearance of protecting liberty. The people, my
lords, are in either case equally miserable, and deserve equally to be
rescued from distress.
By what method, my lords, can this be effected, but by some publick
assurance from this house, that the transactions of the nation shall no
longer be concealed in impenetrable secrecy; that measures shall be no
longer approved without examination; that publick evils shall be traced
to their causes; and that disgrace, which they have hitherto brought
upon the publick, shall fall for the future only upon the authors of
them.
Of giving this assurance, and of quieting by it the clamours of the
people; clamours which, whether just or not, are too formidable to be
slighted, and too loud not to be heard, we have now the most proper
opportunity before us. The address which the practice of our ancestors
requires us to make to his majesty, may give us occasion of expressing
at once our loyalty to the crown, and our fidelity to our country; our
zeal for the honour of our sovereign, and our regard for the happiness
of the people.
For this purpose it is necessary that, as we preserve the practice of
our ancestors in one respect, we revive it in another; that we imitate
those in just freedom of language whom we follow in the decent forms of
ceremony; and show that as we preserve, like them, a due sense of the
regal dignity, so, like them, we know likewise how to preserve our own,
and despise flattery on one side, as we decline rudeness on the other.
A practice, my lords, has prevailed of late, which cannot but be allowed
pernicious to the publick, and derogatory from the honour of this
assembly; a practice of retaining in our address the words of the
speech, and of following it servilely from period to period, as if it
were expected that we should always adopt the sentiments of the court;
as if we were not summoned to advise, but to approve, and approve
without examination.
By such addresses, my lords, all inquiries may be easily precluded; for
the minister by whom the speech is compiled, may easily introduce the
most criminal transactions in such a manner, as that they may obtain the
approbation of this house; which he may plead afterwards at our bar,
when he shall be called before it, and either involve us in the disgrace
of inconsistency, and expose us to general contempt, or be acquitted by
our former suffrages, which it would be reproachful to retract, and yet
criminal to confirm.
It is not necessary, my lords, on this occasion to observe, what all
parties have long since acknowledged, when it did not promote their
interest to deny it, that every speech from the throne is to be
considered as the work of the minister, because it is generally written
by him; or if composed by the king himself, must be drawn up in
pursuance of the information and counsel of the ministry, to whom it is,
therefore, ultimately to be referred, and may consequently be examined
without any failure of respect to the person of the prince.
This ought, however, to be observed, my lords, that it may appear more
plainly how certainly this practice may be imputed to the artifices of
ministers, since it does not promote the honour of the prince, and
manifestly obstructs the interest of the people; since it is a practice
irrational in itself, because it is inconsistent with the great purpose
of this assembly, and can, therefore, serve no other purpose than that
of procuring indemnity to the ministers, by placing them out of the
reach of future animadversion.
Let not, my lords, the uninterrupted continuance of this practice for
some reigns be pleaded in its defence; for nothing is more worthy of the
dignity of this house, than to prevent the multiplication of dangerous
precedents. That a custom manifestly injurious to the publick has
continued long, is the strongest reason for breaking it, because it
acquires every year new authority and greater veneration: if when a
nation is alarmed and distracted, a custom of twenty years is not to be
infringed, it may in twenty years more be so firmly established, that
many may think it necessary to be supported, even when those calamities
are incontestably felt, which, perhaps, now are only feared.
I shall, therefore, my lords, propose, that of the address moved for,
all be left out but the first paragraph; it will then be more consistent
with the honour of your lordships, with our regard for the people, and
with our duty to the crown, and hope no lord will refuse his
concurrence.
Lord HARDWICKE rose next, and spoke to the following effect:--My lords,
upon an attentive consideration of the address now proposed, I am not
able to discover any objections which can justly hinder the unanimous
concurrence of this assembly, since there is not any proposition
contained in it either dangerous or uncertain.
The noble lords who have opposed this motion with the most ardent
vehemence, are very far from denying what is asserted in it; they
readily grant that designs are concerted by many formidable powers
against the house of Austria, and that the consequences of the ruin of
that family must extend to the utmost parts of Europe, and endanger the
liberties of Britain itself; that the power of France will then be
without a rival, and that she may afterwards gratify her ambition
without fear and without danger.
Nor is it, my lords, less obvious in itself, or less generally allowed,
that this is a time which demands the most active vigour, the most
invariable unanimity, and the most diligent despatch; that nothing can
interrupt the course of our common enemies but the wisest counsels, and
the most resolute opposition; and that upon our conduct at this great
conjuncture may probably depend the happiness and liberty of ourselves,
our allies, and our posterity.
All this, my lords, is allowed to be apparently and indisputably true; I
am, therefore, at a loss to conceive what can be the occasion of the
debate in which some of your lordships have engaged. As the causes of
the calamities which are said to threaten us are not assigned in the
address, we shall leave ourselves at full liberty to charge them upon
those who shall appear from future inquiries to deserve so heavy an
accusation.
If the ministers of the court have, by any inconstancy in their
measures, or folly in their negotiations, given an opportunity to the
enemies of Europe to extend their influence, or endangered either our
own interest, or that of our allies; if they have by oppression or
negligence alienated from his majesty the affections of his people, or
the confidence of his confederates, nothing that is contained in the
address now before us can be produced by them in justification of their
conduct, or secure them from accusation, censure, and punishment.
If the war, my lords, has been hitherto carried on with clandestine
stipulations, or treacherous compacts; if our admirals have received
orders to retire from the coast of Spain, only to give our enemies an
opportunity of invading the dominions of the queen of Hungary, or have,
without directions, deserted their stations, and abandoned the
protection of our commerce and our colonies; we shall, notwithstanding
this address, retain in our hands the privilege of inquiring into their
conduct, and the power, if it be found criminal, of inflicting such
penalties as justice shall require.
I know not, therefore, my lords, upon what motives the debate is
continued, nor what objections they are which hinder our unanimity, at a
time when all petty controversies ought to be forgot, and all nominal
distinctions laid aside; at a time when general danger may justly claim
general attention, and we ought to suspend the assertion of our
particular opinions, and the prosecution of our separate interests, and
regard only the opposition of France, the support of our allies, and the
preservation of our country.
The noble lords who have offered their sentiments on this occasion, have
very diffusely expatiated on the miseries that impend over us, and have
shown uncommon dexterity and acuteness in tracing them all to one
source, the weakness or dishonesty of the British ministry.
For my part, my lords, though, perhaps, I believe that many
circumstances of the present distress are to be imputed to accidents
which could not be foreseen, and that the conduct of the ministry,
however sometimes disappointed of the effects intended by it, was yet
prudent and sincere, I shall at present forbear to engage in their
defence, because the discussion of a question so complicated must
necessarily require much time, and because I think it not so useful to
inquire how we were involved in our present difficulties, as by what
means we may be extricated from them.
The method by which weak states are made strong, and by which those that
are already powerful, are enabled to exert their strength with efficacy,
is the promotion of union, and the abolition of all suspicions by which
the people may be incited to a distrust of their sovereign, or the
sovereign provoked to a disregard of his people. With this view, my
lords, all addresses ought to be drawn up, and this consideration will
be sufficient to restrain us from any innovations at a time like this.
If it should be granted, my lords, that the ancient method were better
adapted to the general intention of addresses, more correspondent to the
dignity of this house, and liable to fewer inconveniencies than that
which later times have introduced, yet it will not follow that we can
now safely change it.
Nothing in the whole doctrine of politicks is better known, than that
there are times when the redress of grievances, inveterate and
customary, is not to be attempted; times when the utmost care is barely
sufficient to avert extreme calamities, and prevent a total dissolution;
and in which the consideration of lighter evils must not be suffered to
interrupt more important counsels, or divert that attention which the
preservation of the state necessarily demands.
Such, my lords, is the present time, even by the confession of those who
have opposed the motion, and of whom, therefore, it may be reasonably
demanded, why they waste these important hours in debates upon forms and
words?
For that only forms and words have produced the debate, must be
apparent, even to themselves, when the fervour of controversy shall have
slackened; when that vehemence, with which the most moderate are
sometimes transported, and that acrimony, which candour itself cannot
always forbear, shall give way to reflection and to reason. That the
danger is pressing, and that pressing dangers require expedition and
unanimity, they willingly grant; and what more is asserted in the
address?
That any lord should be unwilling to concur in the customary expressions
of thankfulness and duty to his majesty, or in acknowledgments of that
regard for this assembly with which he asks our assistance and advice, I
am unwilling to suspect; nor can I imagine that any part of the
opposition to this proposal can be produced by unwillingness to comply
with his majesty's demands, and to promise that advice and assistance,
which it is our duty, both to our sovereign, our country, and ourselves,
to offer.
That those, my lords, who have expressed in terms so full of indignation
their resentment of the imaginary neglect of the queen of Hungary's
interest, have declared the house of Austria the only bulwark of Europe,
and expressed their dread of the encroachments of France with emotions
which nothing but real passion can produce, should be unwilling to
assert their resolution of adhering to the Pragmatick sanction, and of
defending the liberties of the empire, cannot be supposed.
And yet, my lords, what other reasons of their conduct can be assigned
either by the emperour, or the people, or the allies of Britain; those
allies whose claim they so warmly assert, and whose merits they so
loudly extol? Will it not be imagined in foreign courts, that the
measures now recommended by the emperour, are thought not consistent
with the interest of the nation? Will it not be readily believed, that
we propose to abandon those designs of which we cannot be persuaded to
declare our approbation?
What will be the consequence of such an opinion artfully propagated by
France, and confirmed by appearances so likely to deceive, may easily be
foreseen, and safely predicted. The French will prosecute their schemes
with fresh ardour, when they dread no longer any interruption from the
only nation able to resist them; and it is well known, my lords, how
often confidence, by exciting courage, produces success.
Nor, indeed, can the success of their endeavours, thus animated and
quickened, be easily doubted, since the same appearances that encourage
them will intimidate their enemies. Our allies will then think no longer
of union against the general enemy; they must imagine their united force
insufficient, and the only emulation amongst them will quickly be, which
shall first offer his liberty to sale, who shall first pay his court to
the masters of the world, and merit mercy by a speedy submission.
Thus, my lords, will the house of Austria, that house so faithful to
Britain, and so steady in its opposition to the designs of the French
ambition, be finally sunk in irrecoverable ruin, by those who appear to
please themselves with declamations in its praise, and resolutions for
its defence; and who never speak of the French without rage and
detestation.
If on this occasion, my lords, we should give any suspicion of unusual
discontent, what could be concluded but that we are unwilling any longer
to embarrass ourselves with remote considerations, to load this nation
with taxes for the preservation of the rights of other sovereigns, and
to hazard armies in the defence of the continent? What can our allies
think, but that we are at present weary of the burdensome and expensive
honour of holding the balance of power in our hands, are content to
resign the unquiet province of the arbiters of Europe, and propose to
confine our care henceforward to our immediate interest, and shut up
ourselves in our own island?
That this is the real design of any of those noble lords who have
opposed the motion, I do not intend to insinuate; for I doubt not but
they believe the general interest both of this nation and its allies,
most likely to be promoted by the method of address which they
recommend, since they declare that they do not think our state
desperate, and confess the importance of the affairs on which we are
required by his majesty to deliberate, to be such, that nothing ought to
repress our endeavours but impossibility of success.
Such is the knowledge and experience of those noble lords, that the
hopes which I had formed of seeing the destructive attempts of the
French once more defeated, and power restored again to that equipoise
which is necessary to the continuance of tranquillity and happiness,
have received new strength from their concurrence, and I shall now hear
with less solicitude the threats of France.
That the French, my lords, are not invincible, the noble duke who spoke
last has often experienced; nor is there any reason for imagining that
they are now more formidable than when we encountered them in the fields
of Blenheim and Ramillies. Nothing is requisite but a firm union among
those princes who are immediately in danger from their encroachments, to
reduce them to withdraw their forces from the countries of their
neighbours, and quit, for the defence of their own territories, their
schemes of bestowing empires, and dividing dominions.
That such an union is now cultivated, we have been informed by his
majesty, whose endeavours will probably be successful, however they may
at first be thwarted and obstructed; because the near approach of danger
will rouse those whom avarice has stupified, or negligence intoxicated;
thus truth and reason will become every day more powerful, and sophistry
and artifice be in time certainly detected.
When, therefore, my lords, we are engaged in consultations which may
affect the liberties of a great part of mankind, and by which our
posterity to many ages may be made happy or miserable; when the daily
progress of the enemies of justice and of freedom ought to awaken us to
vigilance and expedition, and there are yet just hopes that diligence
and firmness may preserve us from ruin, let us not waste our time in
unnecessary debates, and keep the nations of Europe in suspense by the
discussion of a question, the decision of which may be delayed for
years, without any manifest inconvenience. Let us not embarrass his
majesty by an unusual form of address, at a time when he his negotiating
alliances, and forming plans for the rescue of the empire.
Nothing, my lords, is more remote from the real end of addresses, than a
representation of them as made only to the minister; for if there be any
commerce between a prince and his subjects, in which he is the immediate
agent, if his personal dignity be interested in any act of government, I
think it is not to be denied, that in receiving the addresses of the two
houses, he assumes a peculiar and distinct character, which cannot be
confounded with his council or ministry.
The duke of ARGYLE rose again, and spoke to this effect:--My lords, if
there was now any contest amongst us for superiority of regard to his
majesty, of zeal for his honour, or reverence of his person, I should
not doubt of proving that no lord in this house can boast of more
ardour, fidelity, or respect than myself; and if the chief question now
amongst us related to the terms in which he deserves to be addressed by
us, I should be unwilling that any man should propose language more
submissive and reverend, or more forcible and comprehensive than myself.
But addresses, however they may for present purposes be represented as
regarding the personal character of the king, are in reality nothing
more than replies to a speech composed by the minister, whose measures,
if we should appear to commend, our panegyrick may, in some future
proceeding, be cited against us. Every address, therefore, ought to be
considered as a publick record, and to be drawn up, to inform the
nation, not to mislead our sovereign.
The address now proposed, is, indeed, equally indefensible to whomsoever
it may be supposed to relate. If it respects the people, it can only
drive them to despair; if it be confined to the sovereign, our advice,
not our panegyrick, is now required, and Europe is to be preserved from
ruin, not by our eloquence, but our sincerity. Respect to his majesty,
my lords, will be best shown by preserving his influence in other
nations, and his authority in his own empire. This can only be done by
showing him how the one has been impaired, and how the other may be in
time endangered.
By addresses like this which is now proposed, my lords, has his majesty
been betrayed into an inadvertent appro bation of measures pernicious to
the nation, and dishonourable to himself, and will now be kept ignorant
of the despicable conduct of the war, the treacherous connivance at the
descent of the Spaniards upon the dominions of the queen of Hungary, and
the contempt with which every nation of the continent has heard of the
neutrality lately concluded. By addresses like this, my lords, have the
rights of the nation been silently given up, and the invaders of
liberty, and violators of our laws, preserved from prosecution; by such
addresses have our monarchs been ruined at one time, and our country
enslaved at another.
Lord HARRINGTON spoke next, in the following manner:--My lords, it is
necessary to explain that treaty of neutrality which has been mentioned
by some lords as an act to the last degree shameful, an act by which the
nation has been dishonoured, and the general liberties of Europe have
been betrayed; a representation so distant from the truth, that it can
only be imputed to want of information.
This treaty of neutrality, my lords, is so far from being reproachful to
this nation, that it has no relation to it, being made by his majesty
not in the character of emperour of Britain, but elector of Hanover, nor
is any thing stipulated by it but security of the dominions of Hanover,
from the invasion of the French for a single year.
What part of this transaction, my lords, can be supposed to fall under
the cognizance of this assembly? Or with what propriety can it be
mentioned in our debates, or produce an argument on either side? That
the dominions of Britain and Hanover are distinct, and independent on
each other, has often been asserted, and asserted with truth; and I hope
those who so studiously separate their interest on all other occasions,
will not now unite them only to reflect maliciously on the conduct of
his majesty.
I do not, indeed, charge any lord with a design so malignant and unjust;
having already asserted it as my opinion, that these reproaches were
produced only by ignorance of the true state of the affair, but cannot
with equal readiness allow that ignorance to be wholly blameless.
It is necessary, my lords, in common life, to every man who would avoid
contempt and ridicule, to refrain from speaking, at least from speaking
with confidence, on subjects with which he has not made himself
sufficiently acquainted. This caution, my lords, is more necessary when
his discourse tends to the accusation or reproach of another, because he
can then only escape contempt himself by bringing it, perhaps unjustly,
on him whom he condemns. It is more necessary still, to him who speaks
in the publick council of the nation, and who may, by false reflections,
injure the publick interest; and is yet more indispensably required in
him who assumes the province of examining the conduct of his sovereign.
Lord ISLAY spoke in substance as follows:--'My lords, it appears that
all those who have spoke on either side of the present question, however
they may generally differ in their opinions, agree at least in one
assertion, that the time which is spent in this debate might be far more
usefully employed, and that we, in some degree, desert the great cause
of liberty, by giving way to trifling altercations. This, indeed, is an
argument of equal force for a concession on either side; but, as in
affairs of such importance, no man ought to act in a manner contrary to
the convictions of his own reason, it cannot be expected that we should
be unanimous in our opinions, or that the dispute should be determined
otherwise than by the vote.
I have, indeed, heard no arguments against the motion, which require
long consideration; for little of what has been urged, has, in my
opinion, been very nearly connected with the question before us, which
is not whether the ministers have pursued or neglected the interest of
the nation, whether the laws have been violated or observed, the war
timorously or magnanimously conducted, or our negotiations managed with
dexterity or weakness, but whether we shall offer to his majesty the
address proposed.
In this address, my lords, it has never yet been proved that any
assertions are contained either false or uncertain in themselves, or
contrary to the dignity of this assembly; that any act of cowardice or
treachery, any crime, or any errour, will be secured by it from
detection and from punishment.
That this, my lords, may appear more plainly, I move that the motion may
be read; nor do I doubt but that the question will, by a closer
examination, be speedily decided.
[The motion being again read, in order to put the question.]
Lord BATHURST spoke to the effect following:--My lords, I know not why
the noble lord should expect, that by reading the motion, a more speedy
determination of the question would be produced; for if the repeated
consideration of it operates upon the minds of the lords that have
opposed it, in the same manner as upon mine, it will only confirm their
opinion, and strengthen their resolution.
We are required, my lords, to join in an address of thanks to his
majesty for his endeavours to _maintain_ the balance of power; in an
address, that implies a falsehood open and indisputable, and which will,
therefore, only make us contemptible to our fellow-subjects, our allies,
and our enemies.
What is meant, my lords, by the balance of power, but such a
distribution of dominion, as may keep the sovereign powers in mutual
dread of each other, and, by consequence, preserve peace; such an
equality of strength between one prince, or one confederacy and another,
that the hazard of war shall be nearly equal on each side? But which of
your lordships will affirm, that this is now the state of Europe?
It is evident, my lords, that the French are far from imagining that
there is now any power which can be put in the balance against their
own, and therefore distribute kingdoms by caprice, and exalt emperours
upon their own terms.
It is evident, that the continuance of the balance of power is not now
to be perceived by its natural consequences, tranquillity and liberty;
the whole continent is now in confusion, laid waste by the ravages of
armies, subject to one sovereign to-day, and to-morrow to another: there
is scarcely any place where the calamities of war are not felt or
expected, and where property, by consequence, is not uncertain, and life
itself in continual danger.
One happy corner of the world, indeed, is to be found, my lords, secured
from rapine and massacre, for one year at least, by a well-timed
neutrality, of which, on what terms it was obtained, I would gladly
hear, and whether it was purchased at the expense of the honour of
Britain, though the advantages of it are confined to Hanover.
But as I am not of opinion, my lords, that the balance of power is
preserved by the security of Hanover; or that those territories, however
important, will be able to furnish forces equivalent to the power of
France, I cannot agree to promise, in an address of this house, to
assist his majesty in _maintaining_ the balance of power, though I shall
cheerfully give my concurrence in every just and vigorous effort to
_restore_ it.
But, as it may be urged, that any direct expressions of discontent may
be too wide a deviation from the common forms, which for a long time
have admitted nothing but submission and adulation, I shall only venture
to propose that we may, at least, contract our address, that if we do
not in plain language declare all our sentiments, we may, however,
affirm nothing that we do not think; and I am confident, that all the
praises which can be justly bestowed on the late measures, may be
comprised in a very few words.
It has been insinuated, that this change of our style may, perhaps,
surprise his majesty, and raise in him some suspicions of discontent and
disapprobation; that it may incline him to believe his measures, either
not understood by us, or not applauded, and divert him from his present
schemes, by the necessity of an inquiry into the reasons of our dislike.
And for what other purpose, my lords, should such a change of our style
be proposed? Why should we deny on this occasion the encomiastick
language which has been of late so profusely bestowed, but to show that
we think this time too dangerous for flattery, and the measures now
pursued, such as none but the most abject flatterers can commend?
I should hope, that if it be asked by his majesty to what cause it is to
be imputed, that the address of this house is so much contracted, there
would be found some amongst us honest enough to answer, that all which
can be said with truth is contained in it, and that flattery and
falsehood were not consistent with the dignity of the lords of Britain.
I hope, my lords, some one amongst us would explain to his majesty the
decency as well as the integrity of our conduct, and inform him that we
have hinted our discontent in the most respectful manner; and where
there was sufficient room for the loudest censure, have satisfied
ourselves with modest silence, with a mere negation of applause.
Should we, my lords, in opposition to the complaints of our countrymen,
to the representations of our allies, and all the conviction which our
reason can admit, or our senses produce, continue to act this farce of
approbation, what can his majesty conceive, but that those measures
which we applaud, ought to be prosecuted as the most effectual and safe?
And what consequence but total ruin can arise from the prosecution of
measures, by which we are already reduced to penury and contempt?
Lord CHOLMONDELEY spoke next to the following purpose:--My lords, it is
never without grief and wonder that I hear any suspicion insinuated of
injustice or impropriety in his majesty's measures, of whose wisdom and
goodness I have so much knowledge, as to affirm, with the utmost
confidence, that he is better acquainted than any lord in this assembly
with the present state of Europe; so that he is more able to judge by
what methods tranquillity may be reestablished; and that he pursues the
best methods with the utmost purity of intention, and the most incessant
diligence and application.
That the justest intentions may be sometimes defeated, and the wisest
endeavours fail of success, I shall readily grant; but it will not
follow, that we ought not to acknowledge that wisdom and integrity which
is exerted in the prosecution of our interest, or that we ought not to
be grateful for the benefits which were sincerely intended, though not
actually received.
The wisdom of his majesty's counsels, my lords, is not sufficiently
admired, because the difficulties which he has to encounter are not
known, or not observed. Upon his majesty, my lords, lies the task of
teaching the powers of the continent to prefer their real to their
seeming interest, and to disregard, for the sake of distant happiness,
immediate acquisitions and certain advantages. His majesty is
endeavouring to unite in the support of the Pragmatick sanction those
powers whose dominions will be enlarged by the violation of it, and whom
France bribes to her interest with the spoils of Austria; and who can
wonder that success is not easy in attempts like this?
In such measures we ought, doubtless, to endeavour to animate his
majesty, by an address, at least not less expressive of duty and respect
than those which he has been accustomed to receive; and, therefore, I
shall concur with the noble lords who made and supported the motion.
[The question, on a division, passed in the affirmative, Content, 89.
Not Content, 43.]
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