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THE

POLITICAL PROGRESS

BRITAIN ;

OR, AN

IMPARTIAL HISTORY

ABUSES in the GOVERNMENT

OP THE

MiXi^ CmpCte,

EUROPE, ASIA, AND AMERICA,

FROM THE

REVOLUTION IN 1688,

TO THE

PRESENT TIME.
The tubole tending to proi/s the ruinous Confequences of the popular Syjient

TAXATION, WAR, and CONQUEST.

W THE world's mad BUSI^TfiSS.*'

i<a I iiMid^ <>■■

s=r:

. PHILADELPHIA:

PRINTED FOR J. T. CALLSNPSK.

•I

€

ADVERTISEMENT.

X HE Firfl Edition of Tkc Political Pi ogrc/s oj Bnta'in
was publilhcd at Edinburgh and London, in Autumn, jyga.
The fale was lively, and the profptcl of future fuccefs flatter-
ing. The plan was, to give an iuparlial hifl jry of the abufcs
in government, in a fcrics of pam[)!ilets. But while the au-
thor was preparing for the prefs, a fecond number, along wiih
a new edition of the firfl:, he was, on the 2a of January, 1793,
iipprehended, and with fome difficulty made his efcape. Two
b jokfellers, who a6lcd as his editors, were profccutcd ; and
after a very arbitrary trial, they were condemned, the one to
three, months, and the other to fix months of imprifonment,
A revolution will take place in Scotland before the Kipfc of ten
years at farthefl:, and moft likely much fooner. The Scots
nation will then certainly think itfelf bound, by every tic of
wifdom, of gratitude, and of juflice, to make reparation to
thefe two honefl men, for the tyranny which they have en-
countered in the caufe of truth. In Britain, authors and
editors of pamphlets have long condu6led the van of
every revolution. They compofe a kind of forlorn hope on
the (kirts of battle : and though they may often want experi-
ence, or influence, to marfhal the main body, they yet enjoy
the honour and the danger of the firft rank, in ftorming the
ramparts of opprefllon.

A copy of the firfl: edition was handed to Mr. JefFerfon,
late American Secretary of State. He fpoke of it, on difi^e-
rent occafions, in lefpedful terms. He faid that it contained
'* the mofl: afl:onifhing concentration of abufcs that he had
" ever heard of in any government." He inquired, why it
was not printed in America ? and faid, that he, for one, '
would gladly become a purchafer. Other gentlemen have
delivered their opinions to the fame eflTe^l: ; and their encou-
ragement was one caufe for tht appearance of this Ameri-
«ajo edition.

The

,'i

C 4 ]

The work is inlcnclcJ for tliat clafs of people who hai
not much time to f'pfind in reading, and who wants a plain
but fiiblhiiitial meal of political intormaiion. The facls are,
theicforc, crowded together as ciofciy as polTiblc. All the co-
quciry til atitliorniip has been avoided. The ambition of th«
writer was to be candid, unaft'c<^ed, and intelligible; be-
caufc truth is the balis of found argument, fimplicity the foul
of elegance, and j^erfpieuity the fuprenie touch-ltone of accu-
rate coippofition.

A report was circulated, and believed, in Scotland, that this.'
production came, in reality, from the pen of one of the judges
of the court of f ilion. The charge was unjuiL His lordlhip
did not write a fmgle page of it ; but he faid openly, that its
contents were authentic, and unanfwerable; and that the pub-
lic were welcome to call if his.

For the extreme ralhnefs of his plan, the writer can-
not olFcr an apology that prudence will accept. A fliort flory
may, perhaps convey the motives of his condudl. In 1758,
tliL Duke ()f Marlborough, with eighteen thoufand men landed
on tiic coaft of I ranee. The troops, when difembarking, werft
oppofed by a French battery, which was immediately filenced,
for it conliltcd only of an old man, armed with two mufkets;
he was (liglitly wounded in the leg, and made prifoner. The
Englifii afked him, whether he expeeled that his two mufkets
were to filcncc the fire of their fleet r *' Gentlemen," he replied,
*' I have done only my duty, and if all my countrymen here
** had a£led like me, you would not this day have landed at
«' Concale."

JAMES THOMSON CALLENDER,
An Exile for vjrit'ing this Pamphlet,

Philadelphia.^ March %\^ I79S*

le who has
nts a plain
ic facls are.
All the co-
)ition of th«
igible; be-
:ity the foul
)ne of accu-

id, that this
f the judges
Ih lord (hip
dy, that its
lat the pub-

I'riter can-

fliort Rorj

In 1758,

nen landed

king, weift

ly filenced,

o mufkets;

ner. The

vo mufkets

he replied,

ymen here

landed at

^DER,

i^hlet.

INTRODUCTION.

WITHIN the lafl: hundred years of our hiftory, Britain ha«
been five times at war with France, and fix times at war
with Spain. During the fame period, fhe has been engaged in
two rebellions at home, befules an cndlefs catalogue of mafla-
cres in Afia and America. In Europe, the common price which
Ave advance for a war, has extended from one to three hundred
thoufand lives, and from fixty to an hundred »nd fifty millions
fierling. From Africa, we import annually between thirty and
forty thoufand (laves, which rifes in the courfe of a century to
at lead three millions of raurthcrs. In Bengal only, we de-
ftroyed or expelled, within the fliort period of fix years, no lefs
than five millions of induftrious and harmlefs people * ; and as
we have been foe reigns in that country, for above thirty-five
years, ic may be reafonably computed that we have ftrewed the
plains of Indoftan with fifteen or twenty millions ofcarcafes.
If we combine the diverfified ravages of famine, peftilence, and
the fword, it can hardly be fuppofed, that in thefe tranfaftions
lefs than fifteen hundred thoufand of our countrymen have pe-
Ti(hed ; a number equal to that of the whole inhabitants of Bri-
tain who are at prefent able to bear arms. In Europe, the ha-
vock of our antagonifts has been at leaft not inferior to our own,
fo that this quarter of the world alone has loft by oui quarrels,
three millions of men in the flower of life; whofe defcendants,
in the progrefs of domeftic fociety, would have fwelled into
multitudes beyond calculation, The perfons pofitively deftroyed
muft, in the whole, have exceeded twenty millions, or two hun-
dred thoufand afts of homicide /<»>• annum, Thefe viftims have
been facrificed to the balance of power, and the balance of trade,
the honour of the Briti(h flag, theuniverfal lupremacy of par-

■«•»•■<•«.«><

* hiit^ chap.

liaracat.

[ 4 ]

llamcnti anvl the fcciulty of the ProtcHant fucccfllon. If wc nte
to proceed at this rate for another icntury, we ina}', uhich is
natur.il to mankiml, atimire ourfclvcs, and our atchievcments,
but every other nation in the worlil mull have a right to wifh
that an earthquake or a volcano may firft hury both iflands to-
getlier in the centre of the globe ; that a finglc, but decifire ex-
ertion of Almighty vengeance m^y terminate the progrcfs and
the remembrance of our crimes.

In the fcalc of juft calculationi the jnofl valuable commodity, ^
next to human blood, is money. Having made a ^rofs eltimate
of the dcftruc^ion of the former, let us endeavour to compute
the confumption of the latter. The war of i68g coft fixty mil-
lions of public money, and at the end of it, tjie public debts
Amounted to twenty millions, or by another account*, to be
feventecn millions and a half; fo that not more than one third
part of the expences were borronved^ In Queen Anne's war,
forty or fifty millions fterllngwere alfo funk in the fame man-
ner, befidcs about thirty millions, which were added to the
former public debt. Very large fums have fince been abforbed
in other wars, over and above thofe which were placed to the
national credit. In 1783, by the report of the commiflionera
of public accounts, the total debts of Britain extended to two
hundred and fcvcnty-nin« millions, fix hundred and ninety-
eight thoufand pounds, though mar\y millions ha:c been paid
off in time of peace, by what is called the finking fund. Hence
_ we fee, that this fum oi iiuo hundred and fenjentj-nine millions is
much inferior to the a(n:ual charges c*" thcfe wars. ITic total
amount may be fixed fomewhere perhaps between four and fix
hundred millions. To this wc mull fubjoin the value of fix-
teen or twenty thoufand merchant (hips taken by the enemy,
. This diminutive article of fixty or an hundre4 millions would
have been fufiicient for tranfporting and fettling eight or twelve
hundred thoufand farmers, with their families, on the banks of
the Potownaack or the Mifliflipi, By the report above quoted,
we learn, that in 1783, the intcrcfl: of our public debts ex-

Memoirs of Britain and Ireland, vol, ii.

fended

Fwc arc
hich is
cments,
to wi(h
inds to-

flTC C3t-

cfs and

moditr. \
;(tiniate
omputc
cty mil-
c debts
S to be
nc third
:*s war,
me man-
to the
bforbcd
to the
iflioners
to two
ninety-
;en paid
Hence
il/ions is
ic total
and fix
of fix-
enemy,
s would
twelve
anks of
quoted,
:bts ex-

Icndcd

, [ 5 ]

tended to nine millions, and five hundred thoufand pounds,
which is cqiiivalt-nt to an annual tax of twenty fhillings />ir
head, on every inhabitant of Britain. The friends of our intel-
ligent and rcfpectable minifler, Mr. Pitt, make an infinite bullle
about the nine millions ol debt which his in^'.ei.uity has dif-
charged. They ought to arrange, in an oppofite column, a lid
of the additional taxes which have been hue )Ilu, and of the
myriails of families, whom fur.li nxe/, have ruined. At boft,
we are but as a perfon transferring his nv:;fy i 'ii' the right
pocket to the lefr. Perhaps a Chancellir of the Exchequer
might as well propofe to empty the Baltick with a tobacco-
pijxr. Had the war with America lallcd for two years longer,
Britain would not at this day have owed a (hilling; and if we
(hall perfift in rufliing into carnage, with our former contempt
of all feeling and retkftion, it may ilill be expeded that, ac-
cording to the pradice of crther nations, a fpongc or a bonfire
will finifli the game of funding.

What advantage has refulted to Britain from fuch inccflant
fcenes of prodigality and of bloodfiicd ? In the wars of 1689,
and 1702, this country was neither more nor lefsthan an hobby
horfe for the Emperor and the Dutch. The rebellion in 171 r
was excited by the defpotic infold 'j jf the Whigs. The pur-
t hafc of Bremen and Verden produced the Spanifli war of i ) 1 8,
and a fquadron difpatched for fix different years to the Baltick,
Such exertions coft us an hundred times more than thefc quag-
mire Dutchics are worth, even to the Eleftor of Hanover; a
diftindion which on this bufinefs becovies neccffary, for as to
Britain, it was never pretended, that we could gain a farthing
by fuch an acquifition. In 1727, the nation forced George the
Firft into a war with Spain, which ended as ufual with much
mifchief on both fides. The Spanilh war of the people in
1739, and the Auftrian fubfidy war of th;; crown, which com-
menced in 1741, were abfurd in their principles, and ruinous
in their confequences. At fea, we met with nothing but hard
blows. On the continent, we began by hiring the Queen of
Hungary to fight her own battles againft the King of Pruffia ;
pad ten years after the war ended, we hired the King of Pruffia

with

I 6 ]

With fix hunJrcil and fcventy-one thoiifaiul pounds />ff anvuirit
to fight liis own battles againft her. If this be not folly, u hat
lire we to call it ? As to the quarrel of 17^41 " It was rc-
" marked by all Europe," fays Frederick, •« that in her difputc
«' with France, every lurong Jii-p ivas on the fide of Engltind,'*
By nine years of butchery, and an additional debt of feventy
millions ftcrling, we fecured Canada ; but had Wolfe and hia
army been driven from the heights of Abraham, our grandfons
might have come too early to hear of an American revolution*
As tL this event, the circumftanccs arc too (hocking for reflect
tion. At that time an Englifli woman ha.d difcovcred a remedy
for the canine madnefs, and Frederick advifes a French cor-
refpondent to recommend this medicine to the itfe of the Parliament
ftf "England^ as they mttji certainh have been bitten by a mad dog.

In the quarrels of the Continent we (hould concern ourfelvcs
but little ; for in a dcfenfivc war, we may fafely defy all the
nations of Europe. When the whole civilized world was em-
bodied under the banners of Rome* her Didator, at the head of
thirty thoufand veterans, difembarked for a fecond tune on the
coaft of Britain. The face of the country was covered with a
foreft, and the folitary tribes were divided upon the old quef*
tion, Whojhall be king ? The ifland could hardly have attained
to a twentieth part of its prefcnt population, yet by his own
nccount, the invader found a retreat prudent, or perhaps necef-
fary. South Britain was afterwards fubjefted, but this acquifi-
tion was the talk of centuries. Every village was bought with
the blood of the legions. We may confide in the moderation
of a Roman Hiftorian, when he is to defcribe the difafters of
his countrymen. In a fingle revolt, eighty thoufand of the
pfurpers were extirpated ; and fifty, ori as others affirm, feventy
thoufand foldiers perilhed in the courfe of a Caledoniar cam-
j)aign. Do the n^afters of modern Europe underftand the art of
war better than Severus, and Agricola, and Julius Cxfar ? Is
pny combination of human poi^'er to be coniparcd with the ta-
lents and refouroes of the Roman empire ? If our naked an-
ceftors refilled and vanquifhed tlv: conquerors of the fpeciesj
what have we to fear ffora an^^ ;wita^omft gf this ^7 • O" ^'^

iiionthj

^fv anvumt
i)lly, what
It was re-
\ct difputc
England,'*
of fevcnty
fc and Ilia

grandfons
revolution,
for reflec*
1 a remedy
rcnch cor-
Parliament
mad dog,
1 ourfelvcs
efy all the
Id was em-
he head of
inie on the
red with a
: old quef*
ve attained
y his own
laps nccef-
lis acqulfi-
3Ught with
node ration
difafters of
md of the
m, feventy
tniar cam-
1 the art of
'aefar ? Is
ith the ta-

naked an->
he fpeciesi
' On fix
months

f 7 }

Tttonthi warning we coiild mufter ten or twelve hundtcd thou-
fand militia. Yet, while the dcfpots of Germany were fight-
ing about :i In^urb, the nation lias condcTcendcd to tremble fof
its CAidcncc, and the blolfoms of domclHc happinefs have been
hl.illcd by fulifirics, ami tidi"-w;\itcrs, and prcfs-gangs, and ex
tiromen. Our p' litical niid coinnKrcial fyftcms arc evidently
nonrcnft*. We pufiofs within this fingle ifland, every produc-
tion, both of art and nature, which is neccffiiry for the moft
comfortable enjoyment of life ; )ct for the fake of tea, and Tu-
gar, and tobacco, and a few otlicr lirlpicable luxuric^» ue have
ruOicd into an abyfs of blood and taxt'^. 'Jhe boallcd extent of
our trade, and the ijuarrcls and puhlir dibts which attend it,
have raifed the price of bread, and even of grafs, at Icall three
Hundred per cmt.

This pamphlet confifts not of fluent declamation, but of curious
authenticated and important fads, with a few fliort obfcrvations
interfperfed, which feemcd ncccifary to explain them. The
reader will meet with no mournful periods to the memory of
annual or /r/<r««/fl/ parliaments ; for while the members are men
fuch as their predeccflbrs have almoft always been, it is but of
fmall concern whether they hold their places for life, or but for
a fingle day. Some of our projetlors are of opinion, that to
ihortcn the duration of parliament would be an ample remedy
for all our grievances. The advantages of a popular election
have likewife been much extolled. Yet an acquaintance w ith
Thucydides, or Plutarch, or Guicciardini, or Machiavel, may
tend to calm the raptures of a republican apoftlc. The plan of
nniverfal fuffrages has been loudly recommended by the Duke
of Richmond ; and, on the i6th of May 1782, that nobleman,
feconded by Mr. Home Tooke, and Mr. Pitt, was fitting in a
tavern, compofiug advertifementsx)f reformation for the ncwf-
papers. Mutantub Tempora. But had his plan been
adopted, it is poflible that we (hould at this day, have looked
back with regret, on the humiliating yet tranquil defpotifm of
ft Scots, or a Cornifli borough.

The ftyle of this work is concife and plain ; and it is hoped
tjiat it wiU be found- /ufficicntly refpcftfyl to all parties. The

qucftion

I 8 ]

tjueftlon to be decided is) are we to procbed with the war fyftcm ?
Are wc, in the progrefs of the nineteenth century, to embrace
five thovifand frelh taxes, to fquander a fecond five hundred
saillions llerling) and to extirpate twenty milliom of pc6pie ?

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THE

POLITICAL PROGRESS

O F

BRITAIN.

CHAPTER I.

Dutch provvefs) Danilli wit, and Britllh polIcy>

Great NOTHING ! mainly tend to thee. Rochester.

THE people of Scotland are, on all occafions, foolifh enough
to intereft themfelves in the good c - bad fortune of an
Englifh niiniftcr; though it does not appear that we have more
influence with fuch a luinifter, than with the cabinet of japan.
To England we were for many centuries a lioftile, and we are
ftill confidered by chem as a foreign, and in efFeft a conquered
nation. It is true, that we eleft very near a twelfth part of the
Britifh Houfe of Commons; but our reprefentarivcs have no
title to vote, or aft in a feparate body. Every ftatute proceeds
upon the majority of tiie voices of the whole compound aflem-
bly : What, therefore, can forty-five perfons accomplifh, when
oppofed to five hundred and thirte' ? They feel the total in-
fignificancc of their fituation, and beliave accordingly. An
equal number of elbow chairs; placed once for all on the minif-
terial benches, would be lefs expenfive to government, and jufl
about as raanagezble. I call thefe, and every minifterial tool of
the fame kind, expenfive, becaufe thofe who are obliged to

i .

[ .0 ] • ••

l^uy, mufl be undenlood to /■//*; and thofe who range them-
felves unicr the banners of oppofition, can only be confidered,
as having rated their roices too high for a purchafer in the par-
liamentary audtlon f .

There is a fafhionable phfafe, the politics of the county^ wh^'clt
I can never hear pronounced without a gUnv of indignation ;
compared with fuch politics, even pimping is refpcdable. Our
fupren^e court have, indeed, with infinite proprietj', interpofed
to extirpate what are called in Scotland, parchment barons, and
have thus prevented a crowd of unhappy wretches from plung-
ing into an abyfs of perjury. But, in other refpeifts, their de-
ciuon is of no confequencc, fince it moft certainly cannot be of
the finallell concern to this country, who are our elec'lors, and
reprefentatives ; or, indeed, whether we are reprcfented at all.
Our members are, moft of them, the mere fateUites of the mi-
niftcr of the day ; and forward to fcrve his moft oppreflive and
criminal purpofes.

It feems to have been long a maxim of the monopolizing di*
reilors of ourfouthern maftcrs, to extirpate, as quickfy as pof-
fible, every manufadure in this country, that interferes with
their own. Mas aiiy body forgotten the fcandalous breach of
national faith,, by which the Scottidi diftillorics have been
brou<j:ht to deftruittion ? Has not the manufacture of ftarch alfo
been driven, by every engine of judicial torture, to the laft pang
of its cxiftcnce ? Have not the manufadurers of paper, printed
callicoes, malt liquors and glafs, been harrafled by the moft
vexatious methods of exafling the revenue ? ipethods equivalent
to an addition often, or fometiraes an hundred /.,'»- ceut. of the
duty payable. Let us look around this infulted country, and
fay, on what manufacture, except the linen,, governnient has not
faftened its bloody fangs. . . >

* " Daii^n you and your inftru^ftions too, I have bought
" you, and I will sell you^" faid a ^worthy reprefentative to
his conlUtucnts, when they rcquetted him to attend to their in-
tcreft in parliament. Political Dijr^nijitions, vol. i. p. 280.

+ To this general cenfure we can produce a few exceptions,
but the individual are fo well known^ that it would be neediefs
to nanie them. ^

ange them-
confidered,
in the par-

oi/j, wlu'v-h

idignation ;

able. Our

interpofed

baronSf and

om plung-

, their de-

annot be of

edors, and

nted at all.

of the mi-

)reflive and

)olIzing dl-
kfy as pof-
rferes with
breach of
have been
ftarch alfo
le laft pang
er, printed
y the moft
equivalent
eut. of the
untry, and
;nt has not

BOUGHT

ntative to
) their in-
!8o.

xceptions,
e needle fs

In tlic F,xclfc annals of S<:othnd, that year which expired on.
the 5th of July 1790, produced for the duties on foap, Jixty-
fi've tkoufavd pounds. On the 5th of July i79i> the annual
amount of thcl'e duties was oi\\y forty -five thoufand pounds; and
by the fame hopeful progrefs, in three years more at farthcf>,
our niinifters will enjoy the pleafurc of extirpating a branch of
Trade, once flourifhing and extenfive. Two men were fome years
ago executed at Edinburgh for robbing the Excifc Office of
twenty-feven pounds ; but offenders may be named, who ten
thoufand times better deferv'e the gibbet. We have fcen that
opprelTive llatutcs, and a method of enforcing them, the moft
tyrannical, have, in a finglc year, deprived the revenue of
twenty thoufand pounds, in one line only, and have driven a
crowd of induflrious families out of the country ; and then our
Icgiflators, to borrow the honeft language of George Rous, Efq,
<' have the infolencc to call this GOVERNMENT," ,

By an oriental monopoly, we have obtained the unexampled,
privilege of buying a pound of the fame tea, for fix or eight
ftiillings, with which other nations would eagerly fupply us for
twenty-pence j nay, we have to thank our prefect illuftrious
minifter, that this trifling vegetable has been reduced from ^
price flill more extravagant. His popularity began by the
commutation aft. Wonders were promifed, wonders were ex-
pefted, and wonders have happened ! A nation, confifting of
men who call themfelves enlightened^ have confcnted to build
up their windows, that they might enjoy the pcrmillion of fip-
ping in the dark a cup of tea, ten per cent, cheaper than for-
merly ; though not Icfs than three hundred /-fr cent, dearer than
its intrinfic price.

Such are the glorious confequenccs of ourftupid veneration for
a minifter, and our abfurd fubmiflion to his capricious didates !

At home Englifhmen admire liberty ; but abroad, they have
always been harlh mafters. Edward the Firft conquered Wales
and Scotland ; and at the diftancc of five hundred years, his name
^s yet remembered in both countries with traditionary horror.
His aftions are fhadedby a degree of infamy uncommon eveq
in the ruffian catalogue of Englifh kintjs.

^ z Til© ■

The rap.idty of the black Prince, as he has been emphati-
cally termed, drove him out oF France. At tliii day, there are
Englilh writers who pretend to he proud of the unprovoked
malfacres committed by his father and himfelf in that country ;
but on the other hand, Philip de Comines afcribcs the civil
wars of York and Lancafter, which followed the death of Hen-
ry the Fifth, to the indignation of divine julHce.

Ireland, for many centuries, groaned under the moft opprcflive
and abfurd dcfpotifin ; till, in defiance of all confequenccs, the
immortal SvvilV, like anoih.-r Ajax,

•' Broke- the Jatk phalnnxy and let in the light,"

He taught his country to underlland her importance. At laft
fhe r';fol\ed to aficrt it, and, as a neceflary circumftance, Ihe
arofc in arms. England faw the hazard of contending with %
brave, an injured, and an indignant nation. The fabric of ty-
ranny fell without a blow ; and a fliort time will extinguifh the
laft veftige of a fupremacy, difnonourable and pernicious to
both kingdoms.

In the Eaft and Weft Indies, the condndl of Britain may be
fairly contrafted with the murder of Atabaliba, and will prove
equally ruinous to the dotefted conquerors*.

When our fublime politicians exult in the viftory of Seringa-
patam, and the butchery of the fubjefts of a prince, at the dif-

* *' The civil wars to which our violent defire of creating
<* Nabobs gave rife, were attended with tragical events, Ben*
*' gal was dejiopulatcd by every fpecies of public diftrefs. In
" the ipace ofy?.v years, half the great cities of this opulent
" kingdom were rendered defolate ; the moft fertile fields in the
" world lay wafte ; and five millions of harmlefs and in-
«' duftrious people were either expelled or deftroyed. Want of
« forefight became more fatal than irmate barbarifm ; and men
" found themfelves wading through blood and ruift, when their
«« only objeft was fpoil" Doiv's Hifiaty of Indojiatty vol. iii,
p. 70. This book was publilbed in 17721 and the prefent quo-
tation refers to our condudi: at that period.

In this dreadful fcene, the moft diftinguiftied aftor was Lord
Clive. But neither four millions tterling, nor even immenfe
quantities of opium could ftifle in his bofom the agonies of re«
flectioa. In 1 774, he cut his own throat,

tance

:n emphati-
y, there are
unprovoked
at country ;
:s the civil
uh of Hcii-

ft opprcfllve
[uenccs, tlie

;. At laft
fiance, fhe
ing with a
brie of ty-
inguifh the
nicious to

in may be
will proYc

f Scringa-
at the dif-

creating

>ts, Sen-.

trefs. In

opulent

^ld6 in the

and in^

Want of

and men

len their

» vol. iii,

fent Quo-

vas Lord
imn>enfe
es of re«

tance

[ >3 ]

fance of fix thoufand leagues, I am convinced from tlic bottom
of my he;irt, and To will the majority of my countrymen bc»
long before this century has clapied, that it would be an event,
the mod aufpicious both for Bengal and for Britain, ifCorn-
wallis and all liis myrmidons could be at once driven out of
India.

But what quarter of the globe has not been convulfed by our
ambition, our avarice, and our bafencfs ? The tribes of the
Pacific ocean are polluted by the moft loathfomc of difeafes;
our brandy has brutalized or extirpated the Indians of the weft-
cm continent ; and we h3"e hired by thoufands the wretched
furvivors to the talk of bloodfhed. On the fhores of Africa,
we bribe whole nations by drunkenncfs, to robbery and mur*
dcr ; while in the face of earth and heaven, our fenatoio aflena*
ble to fanftify the pradice. .. '

Our North American colonies were eftablinied, defended,
and loft, by a fucccffion of long and bloody wars, and at a re-
corded cxpence of at leaft two or three hundred miU'ons fte»»
ling *. We ftill retain Canada, at an annual charge of fix or
feven hundred thoufand pounds. This fum is wrcfted from ut
by an excife, which revels in the dcftruftion of manufa(^urei,
and the beggary of ten thoufand honed families +. From tho
province itfelf wc never raifed, nor hope to raife, a HiiHing of
revenue ; and the fole reafon why its inhabitants endure out
dominion for a month longer is, to fccure the money wc fpend
among them.

* In the war of 177 j;, Britifli officers pilfered books from a
public library, which had been founded at Philadelphia by an
individual more truly eftimable than many of the whole profef*
fjon put together ; I need hardly fubjoin the name of Franklin*

+ Look into Kearfely's or Robertfon's tax^tables ; What
concife ! what treraenduous volumes ! When our political
writers boaft of Britifti liberty, they remind us of Smollct's cob-
ler in Bedlam bombarding Conftantinople. If the viftims who
groan under our yoke, were acquainted with the con&fion and
ilavery which our avarice or mad ambition have inflifted on
ourfelves, a very confiderable fliare of their abhorrence would
be converted into coittempt or pitj',

,-■:•'' , ' chap;

■|

I I

[ H 1

CHAP II.

•r ;

*Tis time to take enormity by the forehead and brand It.

Ben Johnson,

»* "TXURING the reigns of Charles and James the Second,
•' -*-^ above fixty thoufand Nonconformilh futFcred, of
" whom^i;!' thoufand died in prison. On a moderate com-
« putation, thefe pcrfons were pillaged of fourteen mii.li-
•• ons of property. Such was the tolerating, liberal, candid
*' f|MrIt of the Church of England**" This eftimate cannot
be intended to include Scotland, for it is likely that here alone,
Epifcopacy facrificed fixty thoufand vidims. Of all forts of fol-
lies, the records of the Church form the moft outrageous bur-
Jifque on the human underftanding. As to Charles the Second,
it is full time that we ftiould be fpared from the hereditary in-
fblt of a holiday, for what Lord Gardcnftone has juftly termed

"his BANEFUL RESTORATION."

It is vulgarly underftood that our political millenium com-
menced with " the glorious Revolution," Let the reader judge
frohi what follows.

« Two hundred thoufand pounds a year hejioiued upon the
«* parliametiiy have already (1693) drawn out of the pockets
«' of the fubjefts more money than all our kings Jlnce the Cott"
** quefl 'have had from the nation ! — The King (William) has
« about fix fcore members, whom I can reckon, who arc ia
«' places, and are thereby fo entirely at his devotion, that though
** thfcy have mortal feuds, luhen out e/"/^-? //o«/^, and though
«* they are violently of oppofiie parties, in their notions of go-
«* vefnment, yet they vote as lumpingly as the laivn Jleeves,
f* The Houfe isfoq^f^r^^by thofe who have places and pen-

* Fide Flower on the French Conftitutioni p. 437* andhij
Authorities,

t '5 J

and it.

OHNSONf

the Second f
"uffered, of
derate com-

;EN MILLI-

cral, candid

mate cannot

here alone,

forts of fol-

■ageous bur-

the Second,

rreditary in-

illly termed

'J - . . ■' ' I.

enium com-
eaderjudgCr

ed upon the
ae pockets
ice the Can"
illiani} has
who are ia
that though
and though
ions of go-
'swn Jleeves,
s and pen-

37, andhij
f< fionS|

" ftonst that the King can baffle any bill, quafli aU grievanccsy
" and ftiHc all accompts *."

A pawnbroker defccnding from the pillory would not be
fiiffercd to refumc his profeflion. A porter convided of theft,
tvould be f* prived of his ticket. We might be tempted to ima-
gine, that a folicitudc to embrace pollution, can hardly exift
even in the mcanelt and moft worthlefs rank of mankind. Ic
feems incredible, that an aflcmbly confining of Gentlemeftt (hall
fird by a folemn vote difcharge one of their members as a raf-
ealy and in a fhort time Vihtx^ place him at their head. That fucb
a cafe has actually happened, appears upon record.

In the year 171 1, the Houfe of Commons refolved, " That
« Robert Walpoley Efquire^ having been this fcffion of parlia.-
" liamcnt committed aprifoner to the Tower, and expelled this
*' Houfe for a breach of truji in the execution of his office, and
« NOTORIOUS CORRUPTION, whcn Secretary at War, was,
« and is incapable of being eledled a member to ferve in this
" prefent parliament." Such an expulfion would for ever have
bolted him out of any fociety but a Britifh fenate. In 171 5'»
when a new parliament was called, he refumed his feat. He
rofe fuperior to competition ; and the end of his career was
worthy of his outfet. Yet his charafter can lofe nothing by a
comparifon with that of his conftituents, theburgelTes of Lynn,
^ho attempted inftautly upou his expulfion, to return him a fe-
cond time as their reprefentative, but their choice was rejefted.
Nor was it becaufe Walpole had pilfered five hundred guineas
that he was expelled and fent to the Tower. He was a Whig%
and at that time the majority in the Houfe of Commons were
Tories. This was regarded as the true caufe of his fentencc f.

* Burgh's Political Dilquifitions, vol. i, p. 405.

+ George the Second, on his acceffion, had refolved to dif-
mifs Walpole. The minifter offered on condition of keeping his-
place, to obtain an addition of an hundred thoufand pounds /^r
annum to the civil lift, and a jointure of an hundred thoufand
pounds to Queen Caroline. His terms were accepted. It is
impoflible for the human mind to conceive a more fordid tranf-
aftion. Edmund Burke, in what he calls an appeal to the old
whigs, has gravely aflured us, that " Walpole was an honour-^
<' able man, and z. found whig. He was not a prodigal and car'*
*< rupt luiniiter. He was far from governing by corruption.'*

The

r '6 ]

The Earl of Wharton, «;/<?//'<»/• wmc, was fined in a thoufand
pounds for an outrat;c too groCs to be repeated. This did ntt
deprive him of his feat in the Houfe of Peers, nor impede his
progrefsto the go\ernmcnt of Ireland, where his conduft rivalled
that of Rumbold in Bengal, or Verres in Sicily. — About the
year 1770, General Burgoyne was lined in a thoufand pounds
for bribery at an election for Prefton. He enjoys a feat in the
prefent j: 'liamcnt. %

On the .ubjcft of parliamentary corruption, no writer has
fpoken with more franknefs and pcrfpicuity, than Mr. Dodding-
ton, in his celebrated Diary. In a converfation with the Duke
of Newcaftle, in 1753, about aneleftionfor Bridgcwatcr, there
is the following curious paffage : " I recommended my two
" parfons, Burroughs and Franklin. The Duke entered into
" it very cordially, and anfwered me, that they fhould have
•< the firft crown livings that Ihould be vacant in their parts, if
« we would look out and fend him the firil intelligence." And
again, " Mr. Pclham declared, that I had a good deal of
" marketable nuarey parliamentary tnterest, and that if
<* I would empower him to offer it all to the King, ^without
** condiihtiSi he would be anfwerable to bring the affair to a good
«« account. — The Duke of Newcaftle faid, that what I did was
« very grmty that he often thought with furprifc, at the eafc
« and cheapiiefs of the eledion at Weymouth, ihnt they had
*' NOTHING like it. I faid, I believed there were few who
<' could give his Majefty six members for mihing. — The elec-
*< tion coft me three thoufand four hundred pounds. I was
" fairly chofen, nor would the returning officer have dared not
<' to return me, had ' , not been encouraged by the fervants of
<' adminiftration. The borough was loft, and loft folely by a
«* Lord ot the Bed-chamber, and the Cuftom-houfc Officers.'*
(Var mhile fratrum ! ) " Lord Bute had told Anfon, that
«< room muft be made for Lord Parker ; who replied^ that all
«* was engaged. Bute faid. What, my Lordy the King's Admi-
**■ ratty boroughs fully and the King not acquainted luith it I An-
« fon feemed quite difconcerted, and knew not what to fay*,"

f Doddington's Diary, 3d ed. p, 256, 283, 293, 309, etfeq»

This

t 17 ]

in a thoufand
This did net
ix impede bis
•nduft rivalled
^ — About the
oufand pounds
s a feat in the

110 writer has
Mr. Dodding-
vith the Duke
gcwatcr, there
?nded my two
e entered into
ey fhould have
their parts, if
ligence." And

good deal of
3T, and that if
King, nuithout
iffair to a good
what 1 did was
il'c, at the eafc
, that they had
were few who
'/^. — The elec-
jounds. I was
have dared not
the fcrvants of
loft folely by a
loufc OiBccrs."
d Anfon, that
eplied^ that all
King's Admi"

nuith it! An-
what tofay*."

This

Yhl? agrecf; cvatniy with the account givon l)y Mr. CourtneVi
in a late debate in the Hovfc of Commons, when* he oljferved,
tli.it members came into p:irlianient with a label at their moutlis,
infcribed, Yt^ or Ao. 'I'he ftatc of Britifli reprefentation has
been often examined and ceni'ured. A few particulars may fcrve
as a fpecimcu of the reft. , ,- .

J'ingland is find to contain eight millions of inhabitants^ who
frnd to the Iloufe of Commons five hundred and thirteen mem-
bers. At this rate, every million ought, upon an aver:ige, to
chufe fixty-four reprefcntatives. The cities of London and
Weftmjnftcr contain between them, about a million of peoplt:*!
who elcdfl not Jivtj-four, buty/.v members for parliament. The
borotigli of Old Sarum, which contains only onf inhabitant,
fends two members.

On this topick, a fhort cxtraft from Mr. Burgh's Political
Difquifitions, may entertain the reader. — " Two hundred and
" fifty-four members are elected by five thoufand feven hundred
" and twenty-three votes ; now, the moft numerous meeting of
« the Commons ever known, was on occafion of the debate
«< about Walpole, A. D. 1741. There were then five hundred
" and two in the Houfe. Therefore, two hundred and fifty-
" four comes very rfear a majority of the Houfe, or the tvhole
<* aiii/ig and ejpciefit number. And the greateft part of thefe
'* illuftrious five thoufand feven hundred and twenty-three,
" who have the power of corftituting lawgivers over the pro-
" }x;rty of the nation, are themfelves perfons of no property*."

The writer has here committed a flight inaccuracy; for, in
the debate about Walpole, thefe two hundred and fifty-four
members, who are not, in fa<fl, elefted by a two hundredth part
of the nation, would have feemed an adtual majority of fiji
votes againft the whole other reprefcntatives in the Houfe. In
the year 1770, the Englifh nation became jealous that their
liberties were in danger, becaufc Government had interfered in
the election of Mr. Wilkes, as a member for the county of Mid-
dlefex. The letters of Junius are chiefly employed upon this

Political Difquifitions, vol, i, p. 45,

topic.

top'c. Junuis, with all his merit, rcfc-inblcd a hafhrr, who
plucks out a fingic hair, when he ought to be fliaving your
btaril. It could not be of the leall confcqui-nce to the ct)unty
of Middk'fcx, nor is it of any concern to any other county in
I'.Mghinvl, who arc their ivprcfcntativcs, fincc the two hundred
and fifty-four members who arc oloftod by a two hun-
dredth PART ofthr^ nation, and the forty-five mako-wcight
Scotch mt.'mbcrs, are alone fuflicicnt to infure a majority^ The
fubjcil is too abfurd to ad.nit of an argument, and too dctrfta-
ble for declamation. If Government were candidly to fend
two hundred and fifty- four excifcmen, or clerks from the Bank
of England, into parliament, in place of thefc two hundred and
lifty-four members, it would fave the cxpence of election, and
a great part of the ncccffary cxpence of corruption. It is truc>
that the maftcrs of rotten boroughs arc often inrolled in the
ranks of oppofition ; and among others, the Earl of Chatham,
began his progrefs as a member for Old Sarum. But an oppo-
fition alv/ays confifts, in part, of adventures, wl)o, as Dr. John-
fon obfcrves, « having clUmattd themfelves at two high a price*
*' are only angry that they are liot bought *." There is a cant
expreflion in this countrj', that our Government is defervedly
the ivotidcr and emy of the ivorlJ. With better rcafon it may W.
faid, that Parliament is a mere outwork of the court, a pha-
lanx of mercenaries embattled againft the reafon, the happinefsj
;ind the liberty of mankind. The game laws, the dog a6t, the
{hop tax, the window tax, the pedlars tax, the attorney taxj.
and a thoufahd others, give us a right to v/ifli tlut their au*
thors had been hanged.

nil lb M il , »■ , »

♦ /'/</«■ Falfc Alarm.

': * .' -'f

J,' 'V \t.yi u<

•r ^' •.•

CHAr.

t '9 ]

)arlirr, whrj
laving your
tl'.f loiinty
r county in
wo Iiundred
rvvo HUN-
lake -weight
)rity» The
too tlctr da-
ily to fend
in the Bank
lundred and
Icition, and
It is truc^
L)lled in the
:>f Chatham.
Jut an oppo-
IS Dr. John-
ligh a price*
lere is a cant
,s defervedly
"on it may W.
ourt, a pha-
le happinefsj
dog ad> the
ttomey taxy
lut their 3U*

CHAP. Ill,

.* ■ .|4' ;, , . ^6

. -' ■ J' >

-Felicior cflTem

• ■

Angullis opihus : malleni tolcrare Sabmo?, ,

Et Vcjos : brev ior duxi fccurius x-v urn.

Ipfa nocet moles. . . Claudiaw.

IT is now ciglity-eight years finc^r * wr furprifed Gibraltar.
Wc have retained this barren, ufelefs rock, umler the pre-
tence yfprotc(5Ung our trade in the Mediterranean; audit is
even a forry conceit in Britain that we are thus mafters of a kind
of toll-bar to the entrance of tbat fea. Had the pafTagc been
only five hundred yards wide, this fancy would have had fomc
foundation. But, unfortunately, the S/raif, as we call it, is
/ive»fy miles \\\ breadth ; fo that all the (hips in the world may
pafs it every day, in contempt of all our batteries. As to the
protedion of our merchants, it is equally fuperfluous, for our
commerce to that part of Europe was far more extcnfive, long
before we polTefled Gibraltar, than it is at this moment + ; and
this unqueltionable faft proves the abfolute impertinence of the
whole fcheme. A plain comparifon from domeftic life will il-
luftrate what I fay. Let us put the cafe, that a private gentle-
man is like Britain, overwhelmed with debt. He builds and
furnifhes a handfome inn on the road to his country feat, and
he gives the premifes to his butler, with a penfion of five hun-
dred pounds, on condition, that in dirty weather, he fliall be
fuffered to pull off his boots in the kitchen. But were even the
port cf Gibraltar funk to the centre of the earth, we can have
no want of fhelter at the Ihorteft diftance. There are three
jiorts on the oppofite fide of the Strait. Bcfides, we cannot re-
tain this fortrefs, unlefs we preferve a fuperiority at fea, and as

* In 1704^

+ This circumftance has been fully explained by Dr. Adam
Bipith, in lys Jncjuiry, book 4, chap. 7.

C a , long

CHAP*

I ! I

•i I

'■ II

[ 20 ]

lon-^ an we prcfcrve that fii|KTiorlfyi Gihniltar is of nn coiife-
ijuttJico. For the mrmoraMe proi^irfs of Admiral I'lake on the
load of Barhary pro>'c > that while vc can laumh a viiitorlMus
tiavyi nviimcci a; it i. l)y a race of vctorans heyoiul all praife,
we can always commaml a free navi^^atiou in every harbour oi
thcj^lohe. tio much for the importance of thiK boalled acijiii-
fition. Let us now confulcr its expence ; and on this head the
reader may, if he thinks prop:;r, prepare himftlf for altoniili-
im-nt. "^rhe fortrefsj for a long period pall, has colt us live hun-
dred thoufand pounds a } car, befidcs the extraordinary advances
i'l time of wari and the Aims which the garrifon, by foher in-
UuHry, might have earned at home in time of peace. For the
fake of moderation, let us compute that Gibraltar, during the
wliolc fpacc of our p(»ircirion, has recjuired, upon an average,
only tvvq hundred thoufand pounds /nr annum ; on multiplying
irhis fum by eighty-ci^ht, we are prcfented with an amount of
i'jventeen millions and fix hundred thoufand j)ounds flcrling.
Could the prcmifcs be difputcd, the total expence would ex-
ceed cre.libility ; for at the rate of five />cf cent, of compound
intereft, a fura doubles itfelf in fourteen years; «ind, confe-
qucntly, in the courfe of eighty-four years, from 1704, to 1788,
the /irlt payment of two hundred thoufand pounds will increafe
to twelve millions and eight hundred thoufand. The fimplc
intercit of this fum, for the four additional years, from 1788 to
1792 ii.'clufive, amounts to two millions five hundred and fixtw
thoufand pounds, and the whole arifcs to fifteen millions three
hundred and fixty thoufand pounds. This, however, concerns
only one year of our conqueft. The firil four years extend in
the whole to fifty-feven millions and fix hundred thoufand pounds
jlerling. Another lofs alfo muft be taken into this unfathom-
able accompt. 'I'he garrifon of this fortrefs confifts always of
at leaft fou^ thoufand men, and fometimcs of more than twice
that number. An ordinary workman can earn ten (hillings a
week, and the labour of four thoufand fuch workmeti is worth
to the public above an hundred thoufand pounds per annum.
This adds one third part more of additional lofs. The total
expence therefore, which this acquifition exhaufted in the firft

]

oK 110 confc-
Mlake on the
1 a \iCtori'ius
hI all praifr,
y harbour oi
)allfd iii'ijiii-
this head the
(or altonifl;-
us live hui)-
ary advances
by fobcr in-
[cc. For the
r, during the
an average,
multiplying
in amount of
inds ftcrling,
:e would ex-
jf compound
; and, confc-
704, to 1788,
will increafc
The fimplc
from 1788 to
red and fixtw
millions three
^er, concerns
irs extend in
mjand pounds
is unfathom-
fts always of
c than twice
a (hillings a
nen is worth
per annum,
, ■ The total
d in the firft

four yrsir.. (»nly» iiuluding the legal interoft of our monfv d' y<
to tliis dayi cannot have been lofs than righiy-fix ,tilliunt
four hundred thoiifiwd pounds. We arc likrwife cntitleil to
compute not only what we have pofitively loft, but what wo
mi!!;ht with eipial certainty have j^aincd. Britain and frclaiul
ct)ntain about an hundf'd ;ind (bur thoufand fquarc miles, and
if this fum of ei.i;hty-lix millions four hundred thoufand pounds
hail l»een expanded on the jnirpofes of agriculture, it would
have funplied a fu:id of eight hundred and thirty poouds ftcr-
ling for every f^uare mile. Hence, inllrad of an inten-ll of
five per cent, the funds thus einplo; cd would have returned a
profit o\' ten or tiuentv, or perhaps ^iS. fifiy per cent.

'I'he reader may profecute, and contemplate the fequd of
this calculation. All the current calh in Europe, or in the
world, would come infinitely fliort of difcharging fuch a reck-
oning. Britain may be fuppofcd at this time to contain about
fifteen hundred thoufand families, befides thofc who arc fup-
ported upon charity. Now, dividing the prcfent annual cx-
pcncc of five hundred thoufand pounds equally among them, it
amounts to a ihare of fix Hiillings and eight pence /rr family.
The money ought to be '•aifed under adiftrncl title, fuch as the
Gibraltar additional Jhillmg of land tax^ the Gibraltar malt tax,
ihe Gibraltar cxci/e on tobacco^ the Gibraltar game licence, the
Gibraltar hoife licence, tho Gibraltar attorney licence, or the Gib-
t\.i\VAV Jiamp duty on legacies. In that cafe, the nation would
inftantly confider what they are about, and caft off fuch a
prepofterous burden. The payment of fix (hillings and eight:
pence is frequently the fmallcll part of the grievance. By the
exper/'e of excifemen, of profccutions, and of penalties, five
(liillings of revenue may often coft a lidrSSh freeman ten times

iis many pounds llerling *« ' "

Before

* I (hall mention an example in point, which occurs while I
am now writing. An old woman had been in the prafticc of
I'upplying her neighbours with halfpennyworths of inuff. She
was ordered, under a penalty oi fifty pounds^ to pay fi've JhilVmgs
for a licence, and (he did fo. Had (he been able to buy from
the mai;xufa(iliirer four pounds of fnufF »t a tiraa> thje bufineft
- ^ , might

■

[

Befcirc t}ie acqu'ifitlon of Gibraltar, Englaml, in the wliole
courfc of her hillory, had only three wars with Spain. 'I'iic firf^
in ijSS, was produced by the piracies of Drake and other&»
and by the alliftancc which Eli/.abeth alForded to the Dutch re-
volters. The fccond war was likovvife unprovoked on the part
ol'Spainv Cromwell ^bund it nccefTary to vent the turbulence
of his fubjofts in a foreign quarrel, and Jamaica was invade4
and feized witliout even a pretence of juftice. On this conqueit
chiefly has England founded that hopeful branch of her com-
merce, t\iz Sla\e-Tradc, while the climate has annually extir-
pated, by thoufands, the vagrants from Europe. The third Spa-
nifli war had an origin worthy of its predeceflbrs. The King
of Spain, by his will, transferred his dominions to a Prince of
the houfe of Bourbon. His fubjefts confented or fubmitted to
the choice, and England, with a degree of infolence unmatched
in hillory, interfered in favour of an Aufcrian candidate. The
conteft ended with our acquifition of Minorca, nd Gibraltar i
'an injury to Spain of the moll ofFenfive nature. Since that
pciiod her court has always been forward to contend with usj
and five wars*, begun and terminated in the fhort fpace of
fixty-five years, allures us of their indelible indignation, Noy
can we be furprifed at their animofity ; for what would an Eng-
Jhhman fay or feel, were Plymouth and Dover fortified by a
French garrifon ? Happily for the fpecies, our countrymen at
Gibraltar have been but feldom attacked. Hence, in a time of
war, they have commonly inflifted and fuffered far lefs mifchief
ihan mull have been committed on both fides in a piratical ex^

might have refted there ; but as thL was beyond her power, it
was required by the terriers of taxation, that fhe fhould make
oath, once a year, to the quantity (he fold. Her memory failed,
and fhe is now, with a crowd of other vidlims, in an excife
court, which will very poffibly bring her to beggary. This is
like a drop in the ocean of excife. The very found of the word
announces utter deftrudlion ; for it is derived from a Latin verb,
which fignifies to cut up by the roots.

What « our moft excellent conftitution" may be In theory, I
neither know nor care. In practice, it is altog'^ther a conspi-
racy OF THE RICH AGAINSt THE POOR.

* Viz, in, i-ji^t i" 17271 ia 173^1 in 1762, a^id in 1779.

:" . \-:'. peditioB

_j»i

. in the whole
ain. 'I'jic firf^
:c and others,
the Dutch re-
ed on the part
the turbulence
a w as invadc4
1 this conquell
1 of her com-
nnually extir-
rhe third Spa-
I. The King
I a Prince of
lubmitted to
e unmatched
didate. The
id Gibraltar;
Since that
'^ nd with us •
10 rt fpace of
ation. Nor
)uld an Eng,
ortified by a
untrymen at
in a time of
lefs mifchief
nratical ex,

power, it
lould make
nory failed,
1 an excife
This is
3f tlie word
Latin verb,

n theory, I

a CONSFI-

1779. "
peditloa

[ 23

pedition to the coaft of Peru, in defolating the pla'hs of Hlrt-
doftan, in burning the fhipping at bt. Maloes, or in ftorming the
peftilcntial ramparts of the Havannah *. "■ ''

In lyo^t we captured Minorca, and after what has beei>
(aid as to Gibraltar, it is unneccfTary to expatiate on the mon-
fterous cxpences which it mull have c.oft us d'jring half a cen-
tury, till it was in 1756 furrendercd to the French. On this
event the whole EngliHi nation fccmed to have run out of their
fenfec. Yet to the lofs of this fortrefs, we may in fome mca-
fure attribute our fuccefsy as it was called, in that war ; for the
charge of fupporting Minorca rauft have been felt as a dead
weight upon our ether operations. It was rcftored in 1765, and
in 1781, it was a fecond time, and I hope for ever, feparated
from the Britifh dominions. By the lofs of this fortrefs we
fave an inceflant and extravagant expence. With me it is an
object of regret, that the brave Elliot and his garrifon had not
been forced to capitulate by the firfl bomb difcharged againH:
them. The individuals, afting as they did, from the moft ge-
nerous and honourable principles, have acquired and deferved
our warmed gratitude ; and, as it may be expefted that liach
events will hereafter become lefs frequent, their glory will de-
fend with increafmg luftre to the laft generations of mankind.
But their efforts were fatal to this country ; for it is felf-evidenC
that we had much better have wanted this mock appendage of
empire. The fiege itfclf produced fcenes of fuch flupenduous
dcftruclion, that they cannot be perufed without horror. Nine
years of peace have fincc elapfed, and, in that time, including
file endlefi expence of fortifications, it is probable that Gib-
raltar has coft us at leail five millions ilerling j befides, wc have
been again on the verge of a war with Spain, which has added
a comfortable item of four millioiis to the debts of the nation.
If the amvjal expence of Gibraltar amounts to five hundred
ihoufand pounds, this is about one thirty-fecond part of our

* The Mnjor of a Brltifh regiment who fcrved at that ficge,
had in his company, on his arrival at Cuba, an hundred and nine
healthy men. Of tH~fe, as he himfelf told me, five only re-
turned to Europe.

^ - public

CT^

■•'

l! II

(

■

I H 1

|»ubllc rctenne. Nothing hut the power of its dirpoHil can ob-
tain for a Britifti minifter a majority in the Houfe of Commonsi
Three hundred and twenty members are about the ufual num-
ber under his influence * ; and therefore the patronage of Gib-
raltar may be conjeftured to purchafe ten votes in the market
of St. Stephen's chapel +i

Though writers have prcfumcd to fpecify the annual charge
ofGibraltar> an exaft eftimate cannot poflibly be obtained*
The public accounts are prefented to parliament in a (late of in-
extricable confufion. Indeed^ their immenfe bulk would alone
be fufficient to place them far beyond the teach of any human
comprchenfion; A finglc circumftance may ferve to Ihbw thd
way in which parliamentary bufmefs is commonly performed.
A ftatute was pafled and printed fome years agoj containing
three fucceffne references to the //>/>/>•- first dayof November^

For a foreign conteft, our government is moft wretchedly
adapted. In the war of 17 561 Frederick, that Shakefpcare of
kings, fought and conquered five different nations. In the
courfe of his miraculous campaigns, he neither added a fmgle
import, nor attempted to borrow a fmgle (hilling. At the fame
time our boafted Earl of Chatham was overwhelming this coun-
try with taxes, and contrafting an annual debt of fifteen or
twenty millions fterling. With a more deftruftive minifter no
nation was ever curfcd. Yet this man we prefer to Sir Robert
Walpolct a ftatefman, whofe maxim it was to keep us, if pof-
fible, at peace with all the world. i •„ y.

• In. 1662, Dunkirk, then poffeflcdby England, coft an annual

* When the whole ftrength of each party is called forth, a
minority are commonly within an hundred voices of the minifter,
which correfponds with tolerable accuracy to the computation in
tlie text. In the regency queftion, Mr. Pitt, with the whole
nation at his back, muftered only two hundred and fixty-nine
members. " ; "

+ In the Spanilh negociation in 17 5:7, 'the Earl of Chatham
(then Mr. Pitt) propofed to cede Gibraltar to Spain, and again,
in 1761, he offered it as the price of the Faanly CompaS, Vide
His Life i in two large volumes jufl publiflied. This propofal
evinces, that the fortrcfs was not, in Mr. Pitt's opinion, of much
importance to Britain,

- ^;;---' c-^'^i'- . cxpencc

. ■' f ^

fpoGil can ob-
df Commonsi
le ufual num-
nage of Gib-
n the market

. S V, - \

innual charge

be obtainedi

n a ftate of in-

k would alone

of any human

e to {ht>w the

ily performed,

^oj containing

of November^

ft wretchrdly

)hakefpeare of

tions. In the

dded a fmgle

At the fame

ing this coun-

of fifteen or

e minitter no

to Sir Robert

ep us, if pof-

coft an annual

ailed forth, a
f the minifter,
omputation in
ith the whole
ind fixty-nine

:1 of Chatham
in, and again^
mpaa. Vide
This propofal
lion, of much

expencc

t ^5 ]

fcxperice of an hundred and twenty thoufand pounds. At the
fame period the whole revenues of the nation did not amount to
eleven hundred thoufand pounds. The retention of the town
muft have proved a hot-bed of future wars with France. Charles
the Second, at this time fold it to Lewis the Fourteenth, for the
fum of four hundred thoufand pounds. This was, I believe, the
only wife, laudalilc, or even innocent aftion of his tcign. It had
almoft produced a rebtlion ; and, as Mr. Hume obferves, " has
«< not had the good fortune, to be juftificd by any J-iatty."

Domeftic improvement is, in all cafes, more advantageous
than military acquifition. Yet in the great outlines of out
hiftory, wc have inccflantly forfaken the formcr> to purfue the
latter. James the Fir{t» though in private, and even in public
life, univerfally delpifed, was one of the beft fovercigns that
ever fat on the Britilh throne. Without a fmgle quality which
could recommend him to our efteem, he preferved the Engliib.
nation, though much againft their will, in peace, during his en-
tire reign of twenty-two years. Hence both iflr-.nds made ra-
pid advances in wealth and profperity. " Never," fays
Stowe, *' was there any people, lefs confiderate, and lefs thank-
" ful than at this time, being not i^illing to endure the memory of
" their prefent hapbiiie/s," On the fame principles of rapine,
which didated the retention of Dunkirk, James has been fe-
rerely blamed for delivering back to the Dutch three of their for-
tified towns, which had been put into the pofTcflion of Eliza-
beth. Mr. Hume has, with much propriety, 'ndicated his con-
duct. Had it been pofiible that the life of fuch a prince, and the
tranquillity of this country, could have been prolonged to the pre-
fent day, it is beyond the power of Britilh vanity to conceive the
accumulated progrefs of Britifli opulence. Both iilands would,
long before this time, have advanced to a ftata of cultivation, not
inferior to that of China. The produftions of the foil, and the
number of inhabitants, might have exceeded, by tenfold, their
prefent amount. Public roads, canals, bridges, and buildings of
every defcription, muft have multiplied far beyond what our moft
fanguine wilhes are capable of conceiving. A ftiort review of the
deftrudion committed by foreign wars within the laft hundred
-:^ ' . M ' -' ' year* ,

[ 26 ]

years of our hiftory, can hardly fail to amufe, and may perfiap*
inllruft the reader. . . .

CHAP. IV.

facilis ejl de/ccvfus Averni,

*Tis eafy into hell to fall ;
But to get out again is all.

ViRC.

'•'f.

npHE ground 01 the firft war," fays Dr. Swift, " after
-*- th'j Revolution, as to the part we had in it, was t9
make France acknowledge the late king, and to recover Hud.
*■ fort's Bay. But during that whole war the fea was almofl:
entirely negledlcd, and the greateft part of fix millions annu^
allji employed to enlarge the frontier of the Dutch. For the
king was a general, but not an admiral ; and although king
of England, was a native of Holland.

" After ten years of fighting, to little purpofc, after the lofe
of above an hundred thou [and meny and a debt remaining of
tnf'.uiy millionsy we at length hearkened to the terms of
Peace, whicJi was concluded with great advantages to the
Empire and Holland, but none at all to us *."
This account does not give us much encouragement to fend
for a fecond fovereign from Holland. Dutch generofity ap-
pears to have proved a very miferable bargain. It is hardly
poflibie that jamer., with all Jiis priefts and dragoons, could
have committed one hundredth part of this havock. So much
for a Proteilant hero, and a glorious Revolution. :• :.v . -

William afcended and fupported h's throne by a feries of tl>e
meancft and moll difgraceful expedients. He excited Argylc
and Monmouth to rebellion. He bribed the fervants of Jame»
to betray to himfclf the fecrets of their mafter. He inftrufted

* 'J'he Conduct Qf the Allies.

thcfo

d may pcriiap*

a5=55E

Vjrc.

Swift, " after

in it, was t9
o recover Hud.
ea was almoJSt

millions atmu^
^utch. For the

although king

?, after the lofe
)t remaining of
) the terms of
vantages to the

>ement to fend

generofity ap-

It is hardly

ragoons, could

Dck, So much

' a feries of tl>e

jxcited Argyle

rvants of James

He inftrufted

thefe

'fi

[ ^7 ]'

tliefc miniftcrs to drive the King of England into thofe very
nieafures vvhieli forced a Revolution* lie was bafe enough iQ
deny the ligitimacy of the Prince of Wales ; he taught two
thanklcfs daughters to forfake, and ruin^ and infult their father*
VVhen embarking for this country, <' he took Heaven to wit-
*< nefs, that he had not the leall intention to invade or fubdue
« the kingdom of England, much lefs to make himfclf mailer
*' thereof, or to invert or prejudi-ce the lawful fucceflion *.'*
James had quarfeilcd with die Church of England, and this was
one of the chief c. »cs of his deftrudlion. Yet all the bifliops,
except eight, as well as many temporal peers, refufed to ta':e
the oaths to the new government ; and Bancroft, Archhifhop of
Canterbury, who had been at the head of the oppofition to
James, was, along with five otlier bifliops, depofed lor liis re-
fufal. The convention parliament who made William King of
England, were ele3cd by hiw.felfi and contained, belides other
extraordinary materials, y5/9>> members of the Com?non Council of
London, With this very parliament he was immediately on the
worft terms ; and Sutherland, Marlborough, and Admiral Ruf-
{<{, with many other chiefs of his party, entered into a confpi-
racy for his expulfion. The Irilh rebels had forfeited lands to
the value of three millions three hundred and twenty thoufand
pounds. This inimenfe property William divided alraoft alto-
gether among his Dutch favourites, and the Countefs of Ork*
ney, an Englilh concubine, whofe fervices were rewarded with
an eftate of twenty-fix thoufand pounds a year ; while, at the
fame time, with the moll fordid ingratitude, he turned his back
on the family of Monmouth, who had been his tool and his vic-
tim. Thefe afts of robbery were rcverfed by parliament. I
pafs over the tragedies of Glencoe und Darien, for on fuch a
charader, they relle(^ no peculiar reproach. William was the
father of our public debt, which he multiplied as much as pof-
fible, that befides other me:m purpofes, he might attach to his
jperfonal fafety the creditors of the natioi^. As to parliament,
an 1690, the Speaker " promifed to the king to manage hijj

* Macpheffon's Hiftory of Britain, vol. i, chap. 8.

II '■',-

r 28 ]

" own party, fro'vld/d he V'{^fji br fnrnljbcd nviih moftry to pnr-
<* rhnfe I'otcs*." His majcfty confonted. In the pro^jn-fs of
tliis confpiracy, his agent was expelled rrom i!)e lioufe ot'Comr
mons, for accepting from the City of l,ondon a liribc of a,
thoufand guineas. A bribe of ten thoufand poimds, from the
J''aft. India Company, " was traced to the king+ ;" a magiftrate,
whofe ofiice it was to fign the warrant for executing a pick-
pocket. William cxtinguifhcd this inquiry by a prorogatioHt
<« Thus ended," fays the hillorian, « a ivreh/jed farce, in which
*' the feeble efforts fop obtaining juftice were fcarce lefs dif-
f< graceful than venality itfelf," On the 2Qth December 1697*
the Commons granted William feven hundred thoufand pounds
a year for the fupport of the civil lift. This comprehended
fifty thoufand pounds a year, which he promifed to pay to
King James's queen as her jointure^, and fifty thoufand pounds
a year, which he dcx •'.nded as neceffary to eftablifti the houfe-
hold of the Duke of Gloucefter. To the queen he never paid
a farthing, and to the Duke only fifteen thoufand pounds a
year. This prince died on the 24th of July 1700, and in 1701
the Commons, after a violent debate with the adherents of the
pourt, compelled William to refund the fifty thoufand pounds,
which he had engaged to pay to the exiled queen ; and abo^•e
twenty thoufand pounds, which the Duke of Gloucefter had
left behind himij:. Mr. Pitt complains of authors who publifti

* Macphcrfon's Hiftory of Great Britain, vol, i, chap. 10,

f Ibid. vol. 2, cliap. 2.

Ij; Macphcrfon, vol. ii, chap. 3 and 4. The hiftorian has re-
lated this anecdote in fuch a manner, that we cannot learn what
fums the exiled queen ought to have received. When her join-
ture is twice mentioned in chapter 3, he calls it fifty thoufand
pounds a year, Eut alter four years, in chapter 4, he contra-
d'l'^h this ftatement, by informing as, that William had retained
th' fifty thoufand pounds diie to lier, which, with the reverfion
by the death of the Duke of Gloucefter, amounted to " nearaxi
f hundred thoufand pounds." By the account ;n chapter 3,,
^he whole fums, including intereft, (hould have been about two
hundred and fifty thoufand pounds.

This miftake is hardly worth notice here, but is mentioned
jnercly to fliew that one may fometimes be forced to feek a
way through very difcordant mateyiaJs,

' 7no»ry to pNr-
he j^rojjrrfs of
Dufc oFCop.;-
a bribe of ^
ids, from the
' amagiftrate,
uting a pick-
i prorogation,
jrcet in which
irce lefs dif-
cember 1697,
ufand pounds
omprehended
d to pay to
ufand pounds
li the houfe-
le never paid
nd pounds a
, and in lyoi
erents of the
fand poundsi
I J and above
louccfter had
who pubJifh

, chap. 10,

orian has rc-
•t learn what
hen her ioin-
hy thoufand
, he contra-
had retained
the reverfion
to " near an
I chapter 3,,
n about two

5 mentioned
1 to feck a

Jihcl^

[ 29 ]

libels on the Revolution. To forbid a perfon from pubUfliing
his fcntimcnts on a hillorical event which happened above an
hundred years ago, is in itlelf an example of the utmoft info-
knee of dcfpotifni. To dcpofe one tyrant was highly proper j
but it was.not lefs fooiifh to exalt another *,

Morf cr)fiinorc honour^ fays the ]irovcrb ; and by this rule th«
Revolution was certainly a more fplcndid tranfadlion than the
ration had ever feen. " The expences of England, from th«
'< landing of the Prince of Orange on the 5th of November
*< 1688, to the agth of September 1691, had amounted .0 neai
♦< EIGHTEEN MiLLioxs. Bcfules, great arrears were owing
f* to the army in Ireland, the navy was drjiittftc ofjiorcsy and the
f' /kips lucre out of repair \." In 1693, a bill pafled both
Houfes, providing for annual fcfilons of parliament, and a new
eleftion once in three years. I'o this bill, the founder of
ENGLISH freedom rcfufcd his aifcnt, which in 1694 was ob-
tained by coinpulfion. After having told all tlie world for ten
years, that James had impofcd a fpurious prince upon the na-
tion, he engaged in 1697, to obtain that prince to be declared
his fucceffor i. A man of common fpirit would rather have
been a chimney fweeper than fuch a fovcrcign.

As for the inferior aftors in the Revolution, wc may inquire
nuhat ha-ve they done ? They did not transfer the load of taxes
from the ;■ )orto the rich. They did not extirpate entails, and

* SmoUet's charader of William is a curious jumble.

" He was religious, temperate, ^^(f»^m//)'y2z/i?andy/;/f^r<'. — He
<' involved thefe kingdoms in foreign connexions, which, in all
« probability, will \.c produBi-ve of their rtiin^ He fcrupled not
*< to tm^Xoy all the engines of corruption. He entailed upon the
<' nation a growing debt, and a fyftem of politics big with
f< mifery, dcfpair, and deftrudion." The reft of this paifagc is
too long for infertion \ but the author's inference appears to be,
that William was the moft ruinous fovereign who ever fat on
the throne of England,

f Macpherfon, vol, ii. chap, i. All our continental wars an4
fubfidies, from 1688, to this day, muft be af(;ribed to the Re-,
■volution,

I Ibid. vol. ii. chap. 3. The author adds, « The fuccef-r
*< ibrs provided by the aft of fettlement, he either defpifed ot
♦< ftbhorrcd,'* Thefe were the iUuftrious Houfe of Brunfwick.

rotten

I ,'■

r 30 ]

rotten boroughs. Thr) Vi 1 not cftahlifli an iimvcrfal right of
confcience, and an univfrHil right of titizcnfliip. Thtydidnot
advance even a finglc llcp towards exalting the inotely parliament
rf Kngland into the adiial reprefentatives of a free people. They
did not avoid a niofldclhiKilivc and endlefs quarrel en the con-
tinent. They did not reduce the civil lill even to the prodigal
ellablithmcnt of Charles the Second *. They did not extirpate
■ the moft abfurd and extravagant prerogatives of the fovereign,
to adjourn or dilTolvc a parliament at plcafure, to baftardi/.e a
peerage with the puppets of defpotirm, to interpofe a rcfufal
to the moil neceflary laws, and to plunge at his will three na-
tions into blood and bankruptcy. H'hat then did they do .^ They
obtained for their countrymen a right to petithn the crown +,
They fctf'^d the fuccefrion on a family whom their hero, for
what reafon he bell knew, defpij'ed and abhorred. The whole
work was a change, not of mcafures, but of mailers. Where
then (lands the diiFerence between the trimmer Halifax, and the
trimmer Thurlow ; between Sutherland the traitor to all parties,
and our Hibernian panegyrill of the Bailile ? The Duke of

* Fiz. Four hundred and fixty thoufand pounds. The fetf
tlement of feven hundred thoufand pounds is no doubt one of
tliofe ivipimdinvholcfcmc provisions fo gratefully referred to
in Mr. Pitt's late proclamation. There can be no queftion, that
in the courfe of an hundred years, the civil lift has reduced many
hundred thoufands of his Majefty's ^^ fuithful and louing fub-
** jetts" to l>eggary. That the njoeahji come alnvays to the nxsorfti
is a trite obfervation. The principal hardlhips of every tax
tnuft in the lalt refort fall upon the poor. At this day the civil
lijl, with all its abyfs of appendages, abforbes above ele\ en
hundred thoufand pounds per annum of Englifh money. This
expence would, at lealt in Scotland, be more than fufficient to
maintain two hundred and fifty thoufand paupers, for thofe in
the poor's houfe of the parifh of St. Cuthbert's, near Edin,-
burgh, coft but about four pounds each per a»nunt.

Hence it follows, that the royal eftabliihment is in fadl equal
to an eftabliihment of many myriads of beggars. As to the
ELECTORAL HOARD, wc havc curious and authentic informal
tion, but this fubjeft deferves a chapter by itfelf.

+ They might as well have fpoke about the right of blowing
one's nofe. Yet this miferable ftipulation, extraded from the
very dregs of flavery, has been thought of infinite confequence,

Marlborough

^rfal right of
They (lid not
:ly parliament
'ocplc. They
1 ( M the con-
' the prodigal
not extirpate
he fovc reign,
baflardi/c a
ofc a rcfufal
ill three na-
•ydoi' They

IE CROWN +,

eir hero, for
The whole
ers. Where
ifax, and the
o all parties,
'he Duke of

s. The fet..
oubt one of
r referred to
[ueftion, that
:duced many

loving fuh-
to the ivor/ff
f every tax
lay the ci'vil
bove ele\ en
)ney. This
fufficient to
for thofe in

near Edin,-

n faft equal
^ As to the
ic informaf.

of blowing
d from the
ifeqnence.

arlborougll

[ 3» ]

Marlborough g;ivc a jud account both of the Whigs and Torletj
« I do not believe," faid hi-, " that cither party is fwayed by
«« any true principles ofconfcicncc or honeily. Their profcf-
" fions arc always different ; their views precifely the fame*
" They both ^^rafp at the poflcllion of power; and the Prince
" who gives them the moft is their greatod favourite *." Were
farther evidence wanting, Burnet, himfelf both a whig and a
courtier, tells us that the v\ higs Jet e'very thing to J'ale. Ha
complained of the praftice of bribing parliament to the king,
and William afiured him, that it nvas not pojjible to help it.

As a p:irtial defence of our anccftors it may be urged, that in
the end of the laft ccntur)', the nation was unripe for a rational
conftitution. But fince we know this to be true, why are we
difturbcd with rhapfodics on one of the moft queftionable com-
binations that ever deformed hiftory ? Does any body compare
the packed convention parliaments of the two kingdoms, in
i68g, with the democratical members of the firft national affem-
bly of France ? As well might we parallel Charles Jenkinfoa
with the Duke of Sully, or the aflaffm ofCulloden with the
conqueror at Bannockburn. Did the philofophical and concife
decrees of the French patriots grovel in the feudal jargon of
fubjcdling a people and their pofterity forever to the afllgnees
of a Dutchman who was univerfally detefted ? As well might
we fancy a refemblance between the daubing of a fign-poft, and
the pencil of Reynolds, or the exercife of a fchool-boy and
the ftanzas of Buchanan.

Upon the whole, as William betrayed James into feveral of
thofe crimes by which a revolution became neceffary, his me-
mory is an objeft not of refpeft but abhorrence. His conduft
was like that of an incendiary who firft fets fire to your houfe»
and then claims ten times the worth of the whole building for
liis fervice in quenching it. To praife him and his revolution,
difcovers an ignorance of hiftory, or a contempt of common
honefty. It is as much a burlefque upon reafon, as when a
King of England calls himfelf King of France ; or as when a

* Macpherfon, volt ii, chap, 8,

pcrfon,

t 3^ 3

JJerfon, like llcnry the Kitilitli, whofc word is triiftcd by no*
body, affiiines for his title Diftmler of the Faith.

But fince the authors ot" the revohition did not furpafs the di"
minutivc lUndard of Court integrity, why has our temple of
venality * for folong a time rcfoundcd with the wretched larum
of whig families and whig virtues ? Why Ihould eommon men
ivandcr from their natural and jull progrefs to obfcurity, and
mock the attention of future ages ? Had Archimedes been only
the bcft archer at the ficge of Syraeufe, had Columbus lived
and died but the moll exjK*rt pilot in the port of Genoa, had
the eloquence of Shakcfpcare flirunk to a level with the drama-
tick mulhrooms of this day, thefe memorable bencfaftors of
mankind had vanilhed into inilant oblivion. Had Thomas Paine
been nothing fuperior to a vagabond feamen, a bai ' rupt ftay*
maker, a difcarded excifemi'n, a porter in the ftreets of Phila-
delphi, or whatever elfe the infanity of Grub-ftreet chufes to
call him, an hundred thoufand copies of his writings had never
announced his name in every village on the globe, where the
Englifh language is fpoken, nor would the rays of royal indig-
xution have illuminated that charaflei which they cannot fcorch.

CHAP. V.

Nulla unquam de morte hominis cunSIalio louga rJJ»
No delay as to the death of a man is ever too long, j u venal,

TN the war which ended by the peace of Ryfwick, feven hun-
-*• dred millions fterling were fpent, and eight hundred thou-
fand men periHied, yet none of the parties gained one penny of

* In the Anecdotes of Lord Chatham, we are told that Mr.
Pelham was intrufted with nx>hat is uj'ally called rm pocket
LIST OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ; and Mr. Pitt fometimes
faid to his friends, " I was obliged to bohrow the Duke of
Newcaftle's " 7najoritji to carry on the public bufmcfs."

money,

lifted by no*

iirpafs the di*
ur temple of
!tchcd larum
:oininon men
)fcurityi and
Ics been only
iimbus lived
Genoai had
h the drama-
cncfaflors of
"homas Paine
u ' Tupt ftay»
:ct8 of Phila-
et chufes to
gs had never
if where the
royal indig-
innot fcorch.

JUVENAL,

feven hun-
mdred thou-
)ne penny of

old that Mr.

HB POCKET

tt fometimes
he Duke of
Kk,"

moneyi

[ 33 1

tnoncvi or'almud one foot of territory. In 1693, Lewis macle
very ample offers ft)r peace which William refuft-d. Had WiU
liam acctptf d tlicA- offers of Lewis, •• the war of the firit grand
«< alliance would have ended /our ytan fooncrtluiN it ilUly and the
<« war of the fccond grand alliance might have bnti prenjintcd*,^
«♦ During fume years previous to the peace of Ryfwick, the
<• price of corn in Knglaiid was double^ and in Scotland qua-
«< litttpU'm ordinary rate ; and in one of thofe years, it ^vas be*
«< licvcd that in Scotland eighty thou/and peoph- diedofn.vaut\,**

The war which followed the Revolution coll England y/>/f
millions jlerling \. Let us fuppofc that an equal (liare of this fuin
was fpent in each of the nine years, during which it lafted, and
at lix/fr cent, the rompound intercft of the fums advanced annu-
ally up to the peace of Ryfwick in 1697, amounts to y^/iTiTt
tnillions Jlerling, Four thoufand merchantmen were taken by
the enemy § ; and De-Foe, in one of his pamplets, tells usj that
the damage in this way had been computed at twenty millionsi
The intercft of this fum, ertimated in the fame manner with that
pf the public expences up to the peace, will produce five mil-
lions. But that our calculations may be perfedly fafe, let us
bring down both principal and intereft to fifteen millions^ and wei
Ihall pafs over the expence of at lead four thoufand bankruptciesi
and ten times that number ol lawfuits. The different fuma
above fpecified extend to ninety millions fterling. Let us next
put the cafe that this money had been placed at a compound in-
tereft of five per cent, || At the end of ninety-eight years from

* Memoirs of Great Britain and Irelam', partiii* booL 10*

"H Ibid, part iii. book ^.

X Ibid. Part iv. book I. * • ■ ' ' '

^ Macpherfon, vol. ii, chap4 7;

II The legal intereft of money was not reduced from fix pet
tent, to five, till the twelfth year of Queen Anne. The writer
of the Memoirs of Great Britain obferves, that in thofe days,
parliament found more difficulty in borrowing at eight per cent*
than we do now in getting money at four. Lord North paid,
and we have ftill the fatisfaftion of paying fix ot/e^rn per cent,
for the money that fupported his American war ; and this is
known to all mankind, with it feems a fingle exception. At
/cur per tent, we could not raife a fmglc fhilling,

» the

r 34 ]

ihr peace of Ryfwicl'.i that is to fay in f7q7» thcfo ninety
millions would have lioublcil fhcmfclvcs I'x.iiilly fcven tiinr«r
and the final produce would have hern ei,kven i housaxd-
Fivr HUN'IJRED AND IWENTY MILLIONS STFRLINC, Of

a dividend o^ eLven hutrired ami J/fty-tnvo poiimli to evt-ry indi-
vidual inhai)itant of Britain. This fum is equal to the difchargc
of our national debts forty-eight times ovrr, and is five hun-
dred and fcventy-five times greater than the whole gold and
filver coin at prefcnt in the three kingdoms. Such has becnr
the price of ^ DutcS) frontier^ and of Hud/on' s Bay, As Britain
and Ireland are faid to contain an hundred and four thoufand
fquare miles, if the money had been employctl in the improve-
ments of agriculture, it would have fupplied a fund of an huti~
tln'd and one thoujund one hundred and fifty-three pounds ff teen
/hillings and elerjen pcnccj and fe^en thirteenth parts of a penny for
each fquare mile. This fum is much more than upon an average
the whole landed property of both iflands is worth *.

An objcftion may be advanced to this ftatement, that a great
part of the fixty millions thus expended by government wzsem-
hfzzJcd among onrflvcsy and that as it never aftually went out
of the country, luc are not at this day a farthing poorer than if the
money had never been raiftd. If we might oppofe the language
of common fcnfe to the jargon of political fophiftry, I would
anfvvcr, that when a grazier in Yorklhirc has been knocked
down and robbed, he cares but little whether his guineas are to
be ftaked at the gaming tables of Paris or of London. But wc
flijill admit that the Dutch adminiftration like all thofc which
have come after i'o was a fccne of inexprelfible infamy; that thirty;
millions out of ihc fixty were pilfered in their road to the fer-
vice of tlie public j and that the peers and others who ftole this
money applied their plunder to ends as honeft as could have been '
devifed by the farmers and tradefmen who were ftripped oFit»
This is not very feafible, for what is won in a bad way is com-*

* In the Memoirs of Great Britian and Ireland, the author
eftimates the mere lofs of labour to the contending nations during
the nine years of war, at ninety millions Sterling, exclufive of
the addition^ lofs of labour/or life^ by the mutual flaughter.

monly

thcfo ninety
)' fcven UrAcur

NJ 1H01TSAKI>
TFRLINn, or

to cvrry indi-
tlic iliTchargc
I is fivt' hun-
loli- golil and
5iich hn, beciT
As Britaiit
four thoiifand
the itiiprove-
d of n» huu'
pounds ffteen
ofaptiiny for
)n an average

that a great
nent was em-
Hy went out
er than if the
the language
try, I would
!en knocked
uineas are to
)n. But wc
thofc which
'•J that/>6/>A|*
I to the fer-
Jio dole this
d have been
■ipped of k^
vixy is com-*

the author
ions during
:xclufive of
aughter.

inonl/

f 85 3

inonly fpcnt in a worfc one ; but let us proccctl. In cftiinatlng
till* cxponces of the war, there was r^w///f</;in artiile of lufs at
\v.y[\ cquivalinl to thelc thirty millions. It has been obfcrvcil,
th:it ;i worlirnan can, upon an avcrane, earn about ti-n (liillin^i
a-'vcek, which in London is at prermt about half tlie cumnioii
wages of a journt*yinan taylor. Reduce this to twenty-live
pounds /<'rfl////«//T, and his life may be clUmatcd at twelve yc.ir»
purchafe, or three hundred pounds in value to the public. In
the war in queflion, wc loft au hundred thoufand men, and b/
this moderate and fiinplo computation, the price of their blood
to Hrit. in was not wortli Icfs than thirty million:. Sterling. Evea
this number of an liumlrcd thoufand lives is moll likely far Icfji
than the adlual dcftrudion. Four tiioufand merchant (hips wcrq
taken by the French privateen, and thefe alone nuiR have rc-
tjiiircd, ojic with another, twelve or thirteen mariners, which
gives us an amount of fifty thoufand prifoners; of whom, be-
fjdes the numbers killed, at Icall ten or rilteen thoufand would
pcrilh of jail diftcmpers, of their wounds, of cold or hunger,
and above all, of a broken heart.

As the pillage of public money \& one of the worft confe-
quenccs of war, I Ihall here fay fomcthing farther on that fub-
jeft. In 1695;, Knight and Duncombe, two members of the
Houfe of Commons, weie expelled for having forged indorfe-
jincnts on Exchequer bills. Duncombe confcffed the chargci
and his fliare of the booty had extended to four hundred thoum
fand pounds. I am not informed what was the amount of
Knight's plunder ; or that ot feveral others who were concerned.
The Coraipons, in a fit of purity, palTed a bill to fine Duncombe
in half his eftate. By the flatute laws of England, he IhoulcJ
have fuffercd death. The bill for hi? fine was rejeded in the
houfe of Lords *, by the cafting vote of the Duke of Leeds,
who was himfelf a fwindler of the firft diftinftion. The Farl
of Chefterfield had fome reafon for terming that houfe an !iof»
pital of Incurables, Salmon tells us, that the miniftry gave
ivhatever intereft and premiums w ere demanded for the loan of

rr' • • ' . . ., , , ' ' ■»

f Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland; part iii, book 4»

£ a money

[ 35 ]

money, and that provifions and naval ftorcs were taken up at
an advance of thirty, forty, -"nd fometimes fifty per c,nt»
above their proper price. Bur, Indeed, after the dimiflion of
Mr. Diincombe, 'with his four hundred thoufnnd pounds in hit
pocket, every charge of this kind becomes perfectly credible.

Whether in the prefent age, matters have been much mcndcuj
there was nobody better able to inform us than the laf" Earl of
Chatham. " Tlicrc is a fet of men," fays' he, " in the city of
«' London, who are known to live in riot and luxury, upon the
♦« plunder of the ignorant, the innocent, and the nclplefs, upon
«< that part of the community, which ftands mod in need of,
" and beft dcferves the care and proteftion of the legiflature,
*' To me, my Lords, whether tliey be miferable jobbers of
" Change Alley, or the lofty Afiatic plunderers of Leadenhall
" Street, they are all equally deteftable. I care but little
** whether a man walks on foot, or is drawn by eight horfes,
*' or by fix horfes ; if his luxury be fupported by the plunder
*' of his country, I defpife and abhor him. My Lords, while
<« I had the honour of fcrving his Majefty, / never ventured to
«' look at THE TREASURY, but from a dijiance ; it is a bufinefs
" I am unfit for, and to which I never could hav^e fubmitted,
" The little I know of it> has not ferved to raife my opinion
*< of what is vulgarly called the monied intereji ; I mean that
*' BLOODSUCKER, that MUCKWORM, which calls itfclf the
« friend of Government, which pretends to ferve this or that
« -.dminiftratlon, and may be purchafed on the fame terms by
*♦ any admi/iij} ration. Under this defcription I include the
«< whole race of commiflioners, jobbers, contraftors, clothiers,
f* and remitters*."

1 he war of 1 689 is at this day almoft forgotten, in the blaze
of more recent and Itupendous follies. Yet the prefent (hort
Iketch of thofe calamities which it produced, cannot fail of

* Vide his fpeech in the debate on Falkland's lilands, which
has been re-printed in the Anecdotes.

This quarrel ended like others, in our difappointn;ent, and
perhaps difgrace. Befides much expence and trouble ^'o indi-
viduals, the nation fqua:idered between three and four millions
'ft?f|ing, ^id-vi: infanef

leading

[ 37 ]

K^acling «s info fomc melancholy refleftlonr, on the general ten-
dency of ri.e milifiry fyfteni. War may produce advantage to
a race of barbarians, who have nothing to do, and nothing to
lofe ; ))ut for a commefcial nation, it can be no better than an
alderman doferting his ledger, to bet in a cock-pit. Of thia
fyltem there is no part more injurious than that which enjoins
the capture of merchant fhip.s. An honcft mariner has by the
labr.ur of half his life earned a thoufand pounds, and embarks
his whole property in a veflel freighted f'om Leith or Dunkirk.
He is boarded by an enemy'f. privateer ; his cfFefts are for-
feit-.'d ; and e himfelf is to rot for fix, or twelve, or eighteen
months in a French or Englifli jail ; while his wile, his chil-
dren, or pcrhaos his father — but this part of the pidlure becomes
too fhocking for the contemplation of humanity. Of thefc
matters, kings or courtiers almofl never think. At a certain
elevation, the human heart feems to contraft 'A/roJi more impe-
netrable than the fummit of the Alps or the Andes. It would
be an aufpicous event for mankind, if all the Ihips of war in
the world could be reducf d to afhes in one day.

We have adopted a fancy, that frequent hoftilities are una-
voidable. Yet the Swifs, a nation of foldiers, and placed in the
midft of contending tyrants, have hardly been thrice at war in
the courfe of three centuries. The reafon is, that their go-
vernments are founded on wifdom, benevolence, and integrity ;
while ours brea'he only maxims of a lefs amiable nature*.
Other inftances from the hiitory of our own ifland may be ad-
duced to the lame purpofe. " For more than a century after the
*« memorable year 1 189, there was no national quarrel* nor na*
*< tional war between the two kingdoms +." This circumftance

* « The republics of Europe are all, and we may fay always
«* in peace. Holland and Switzerland are without wars, foreign
♦' or domeftic ; monarchial governments, it is f'e, are never
«' long at reft ; the crown itfelf is a temptation to enterprifing
«« ruffians at home ; ana that degree of pride and infolence, ever
«* attendant on regal authority, fwellsinto a rupture with foreign
«' powers* in inftances where a republican government! by being
" formed on more natural principles, would negociate the
»• miilake." CommoK Senfe,

t Annals of Scotlandj by Lord Hjolesi vol, i. p* 133.

becomes

[ 38 ]

it'

I
it

becomes the more remarkable, becaufe, at that time our an-
(ceftors were fit for almoft nothing elfe but fighting. The fatal
conteft that began '\n the end of the thirteenth ccntur}-, fprung
from the ambition of Edu-ard the Firft. The refpeftive na-
tions lived in a profound peace, and were alike folicitous to
preferve it,

From the year 1403, to the battle of Flodden, in 1513, be-
ing a fpace of an hutidr-ed and ten years, peace was maintained
between the two kingdoms, with V2ry little interruption ;
though fometimes there was a war which hardly lafted above a
fingle campaign, Durin<; the long and bloody ftruggle between
the houfcs of York and Lancafter, the Scots interfered only
once or twice at moft, and that was at the earned defire of
the Englilh exiles ; but they formed no ungenerous and im-
j>radicable plans of conqueft. Even to Flodden they were
driven by the temerity of their fovereign ; and his fortunate
death put an inftant end to hoftilities. Our anceftors, w l:om we
confider as barbarians, were unacquainted with the deliberate
fyftematic thirft of blood which marks a modern politician ; and
"what quarrels they had, arofe from the folly of their feveral
monarchs. We have not enjoyed ten years of peace together
fince the Revolution. Even when we ceafe to fight in Europe,
a war muft imm idiately commence in Afia, or Africa, or Ame-
rica, and in the face of all this work, we call ourfelves the hap-
pieft people in the world,

Peace may be confidered as the univerfal parent of human
happinefs. Induftry cannot long thrive without it, and to thi$
we are indebted for a great part of our comforts, our enjoy^
uents, and our refources. Spain has long been envied for hes
gold and filver mines, which, by Dr. Robertfon's accoimt, have
in two centuries and a half, produced above two thoufand mil-
lions fterling. But fober induftry is vaftly more valuable than
all the mines in the world. • If we can forbear butchery, we
need uot defpair of difcharging every penny of our public debt|
witii eafe, in lefs than a century ; or if we Should not, ftill the
property of the nation would increafe with fuch rapidity, that
the debt itfelf muft be hardly felt, To make this truth evi,.

t 39 1

^ent, let ns attend to what follows* As a counterpart to t^rf
bubble of Falkland's Iflands, four millions fterling have lately
been expended on a Spanilh convention. Had they been placed
out at five per cent, of compound intereft, they would in ninety-
right years have produced five hundred and twelve millions
fterling, and at prefent one half of this latter fum would be
more than fufficient to difcharge all our incumbrances, and
m?.ke us as free of debts as oar grandfathers were when the
Prince of Orange landed. It is true, that the job government
of Britain cannot, like that of a Swifs canton, place money at
intereft, but from calculations of this fort, we may form a con-
jefture, as to what we aie capable of faving, by confidering
what we have fpent. The American war alone added about
One hundred and fifty millions to our public debt, and yet we
are in reality a richer nation than when that war began *. Our
funds, as we call them, have not hitherto recovered the (hock,
but that is, in fpite of common prejudice, a happy circumftance.
Had THE YOUNG MAN been able to borrow money with equal
facility as his father, we (hould certainly have been fcourged
into a Spanifh war. Now, though the country has recovered^
and though our commerce is greatly fuperior to what it had
ever before been, it is evident, that if we had not poffefTed an
almoft inexhauftible vital principle of reproduftion and accumu-
lation, fo great a havock of property as an hundred and fiftyr
or even an hundred millions flerling, muft have reduced whole
t»rovinces of this ifland to a defart. Such a complete recovery
from the lofs of more than an hundred millions in lefs than tci»
y»ars, prefents ui with a regular annual overplus of at lealV (ix

* On the fubjeft of national improvement, the reader may
confult with advantage Dr. Campbell's Political Survey of Bri-
tain ; ^n Eftimate of the Comparative Strength of Britain, dur-
, ing the prefent and two preceding reigns, by George C'ialmersr
• ilfq. and a continuation of this latter workr by the fame ele-
gant and profound writer, pi\ jliflied about fix months ago. Our
preffes are groanin^nder controverfial divinity, heraldy, blank
verfe, commentaries on Shakefpeare, and every other imagin-
able fpecifs of nonfenfe, while the books here referred to, have
net in thij country been honoured, as I am informed, with cvea
a fcgond editioni

... . , Ql

[ 40 ]

tit eight millions. But tliAt we may not ovcrdioot the marki
let us rate the clear annual profits of Britifh commerce and agri-
culture at only five millions. We (hall find that this yearly
accumulation of fl;ocks with the legal compound intcreft only,
amounts, in twenty-eight years, to three hundred millions. So
that by a peace of twenty-eight years, we fnall become a more
opulent nation, than we would be at this moment were all our
debts paid off to the laft farthing.

Before we call this profpedl extravagant, let us confider what
has adlually happened* The moft fanguine projedor, thirty
years ago, would not have prefumed to believe that four mil-
lions fterling were by this time to be employed in extend-.ng
and adorning a fmgle city in Scotland. Yet this progrefs of
elegance continu> f vi^c upon us like enchantment. Who in
the laft century wuv- ave fufpefted that hy this time our
North American colonies were to contain four millions of in-
habitants ? It muft be owned, that befides other evils, Gib-
raltar, Canada> Nova Scotia, Botany Bay, the Eaft India Com-
pany, and the civil lift, are a fort of political millftones hang-
ing at the neck of Britilh profperity. Yet fuch are our re-
fources, that if we chufe to defift from the war fyftem, our
wealth muft in the courfe of fifty years extend beyond all cal-
culation. Mr. Fox, if providence fhall continue t ) blefs u»
with his abilities till that period, will not then have the fmalleft
difficulty in obtaining a penfion of forty thoufand pounds a year
for every defcendant of the royal family. Three ungrateful
nations will then ccafe to affirm, that for his conduft in a cer-
tain debate *, any other man would have deferved a flogging at

every

* f''t^e his fpeeches in parliament on the fettlement of the
Duke of York. If the clerk of a counting-houfe were to lofc at
the gaming-table a thoufand pounds of his mafter's money, or
even of his own, he would be difcharged as unworthy of truft*
There is a man, who is faid to have loft five hundred thoufand
pounds in that way, and when he had thus reduced himfelf to
bankruptcy, we have fcen him preferred to the management of
an annual revenue of fixtecn millions fterling. It is difficult to
conceive a more gigantic inftance of ftuoidity and depravity than
fuch a choice. That a Houfc of Commons (hovjld adopt a mi,

.nitter

[ 41 J

every whipplng-poft in England. At that liappy perlot!^ we
ftiall fupport, without winching, an hundred Lords of" the Bed-
chamber, and as many Lords of the NccefTary Houfc. With
thefe crumbs of comfort, I proceed to the war of the Spanifii
fucccflion, a legacy from our Dutch benefador.

CHAP. VL

England has been the prey of jobs ever fmce the Revolution.

Paine;

/^ HARLES the Second King of Spain had no children ; he
^-^ was of declining years, and a feeble conftitution. There
were three candidates for the inheritance of his dominions, the
Emperor, the Dauphin of France, and the Eleftoral Prince of
Bavaria. The Emperor claimed right as male reprefentative

nifter of this fort, is quite in charaSler; but that individuals, who
hive the happinefs of their Country at heart, fhould applaud fuch
a feleftion,- muft fill every fober man with aftonilhment. To
fweep off large fums at the gaming-table, is a difhonourable
dirty praftice. Mr. Fox, in the boundlefs diverfity of his <.d-
venturesi muft have ruined many a family, and fent many a
helplefs woman with forrow to the grave.

In the manufcript of a tour in Switzerland^ which I have feeni
the following paffage deferves peculiar attention. « At Bern,
«* a heavy penalty is impofed upon any perfon, who in one day
** fliall lofe more than two pounds five fliillings iterling by gam-
« ing 5 and every member of government, and officer in public
*' fcrvice, is obliged to take an oath, not only that he (hall faith-
" fully and honourably obferve this law, but that he Ihall zea-
** loufly maintain it, and that he (hall freely and impartially give
« information againft all perfons who to his knowledge fhall
« offend againll it. The prefence of fome of thofe diftinguifh-
« ed perfons in all good companies, proves in faft an in\incible
«« bar to immoderate play." With what contemptuous pity
would a Swifs hear us prattling, that our government is \X\?.
fw-ry of the world !

V la

[ 42 J

•BJ

■«

P r.

•If

to t1»e family of Auftria. Philip the Fourtl-, prcdcccflbr ancf
fa'her to Charles, had left behind him two daughters by dif-
ferent marriages. The cldelt was mother to the Dauphin; the
youngcil had efpoufcd the Emperor, and their daughter, an only
furviving child, had been married to tlic Eledor of Bavaria, to
whom Ihe had born that Prince who was at prefent a candidate.
It fecms that the Dauphin of France, a& defccnding from the
eldefl daughter of Phillip the Fourth, had the neareft right; but
as the other nations of Europe were extremly jealous of Franccy
it was early forefeen that the Dauphin's claim would meet with
2 dangerous oppofition.. On the ift of Odlober 1698, the King
of France, the King of England, and the Republic of Holland,
engaged in a contract as to this fuccefiion. Their bargain was,
that the Dauphin (hould fuccecd to the kingdoms of Naples and
Sicilly, and a certain portion of the provinces of Spain itfelf.
The other two candidates were to niare the reft of tl?e domi-
nions, and this agreement hath fince been called thcfiji treaty
of partition. So vaft an acceftion of territory would have ren-
dered France a moft formidable neighbour to the Dutch, and
on their part the treaty feems to have be- i aft of imprudence.
The fecrct of this combination having" come to light, Charles
in a rage inftantly made a teftament, by which he transferred the
whole dominions of Spain, to the young Prince of Bavaria*
But as the latter died foon after, he made a fecond will, by
which he bequeathed the fucceffion, alfo entire, to the Arch-
duke Charles, the Emperor's fecond fon, by a marriage which
he had entered into after the death of his Spanifh emprefs,
Tlie former parties, on the 14th March 1700, engaged in z/e-
cond treaty of partition, by which the Dauphin was to receive a
large addition to his fliare, and the remainder was refcrvcd for
the Emperor. This tranfaftion alfo reached Charle?, before it
was clofed ; and in Augull 1 699, his ambaflador at London de-
livered to the Englilh miniftry an interefting appeal on the con-
duft of William. He remarked, that ^^fuch proceedings were
allowed, no people, no dominion could be fafe againft the am-
bition of the ftrongeft, and the deceits of the moft malicious ;
that Ihould ftrangera be fufFered to put their hands into the lines

[ 43 1

of faccclTion of kings, no ftatutcs, no munklpal laws would he
obfervcd ; that no crown could be free from the attempts ot*
aliens ; and the crown of England lefs than any crown ; and that
were men to lie watching for the ficknefs of fovereigns, no
health could be conftant, and no life fccure. He alfo reminded
them, that the cxpenccs of a war, and the deftrudion of com-
merce, mud be the certain confequcnce of fuch adventurer.

For this lioneft produdion, the ambaffador was forced to
leave England. On the 2d of Odobcr 1700, the King of
Spain, by the advice of the Pope, made a third teltament. To
|)ut an end to all projects of a pirtition, he left the whole em-
pire, undivided, to the Duke of Anjou, the fecond fon of the
l^auphin of France, and grandfon to Lewis the Fourteenth,
By this choice, he attempted to avert the calamities of a dif-
jputed fucccflionl' For as the Duke of Anjou was not heir to
the crown of France, that circumlbmcc removed the objcftiore
of making a hazardous augmentation to the French domini-
ons. This meafure was more limbic, juft, and practicable, than
that adopted by William and the Dutch. On the 25th No-
vember 1 700, Charles died ; and though he bequeathed fuch a.
fplendid legacy to the houfe of Bourbon, he had been one of
William's allies in his laft long and bloody war againft France ;
a fad which evinces the mutability of the political world.

On the death of their fovereign, the Spanilh nation deter-
tnined that a confpiracy of foreigners fliould not be fuffered to
partition their provinces. They difpatched a courier to the
court of France with the teftament of their late fovereign, and
if Lewis Ihould refufe to accept the monarchy for his grand-
fon, they gave him orders to proceed to Vienna, and make an
offer of the univerfal fucceflion to the Archduke. Thus Lewis
had his choice of two meafures. If he accepted the teftament
of Charles, his grandfon was at once, and without oppofition*
put into poffeffion of the Spanifh dominions, at the hazard of a
quarrel with the Dutch and England, If he refufed this offer>
the Auftrian Archduke was with equal certainty to afcend the
throne, and Lewis was to depend on the very doubtful friend-
iliip of his old enemies, the Dutch and England, for their affift-

r 41 1

ance to conquer a flmrc of vSpain, in oppofition to the Emperor
and that nation. But as Lewis hinifclt' was feared and hated
both i }lollana and England, there is not the Icaft probabilit}>
I ^t he " uld '.lavc obtained any ferioiis aid in his pretcnfions,
.ron UiZ two countries. We cannot therefore with reafoii
condemn him, when he accepted for the Duke of Anjou the
offer of the SpaniO^ crown. The reader is requei\ed to pay par-
ticular attention to this concife and candid llatc of the cafe ;
for even at prefent, it is the vulgar opinion that Lewis adleJ
upon this occafion with treachery. It woidd be more proper
to fay, that William enga;!;ed in an enterprife far above hi^
power, and that he Ihcwed an utter indifference to the intefell
of his Iviiu;d()nir,. '^I'hc preference v/hich the Spaniih n;uion be-
ftowcd upon the Yhikc of Anjou, was in the moral fenfe an am-
ple vindication of the acceptance of Lewis. If there be fuch a
thing as equity upon earth, it muft begin with this maxim, that
a people are at all times entitled to their choice of a mailer.

Oil the 17th of April 1701, William acknowledged the Duke
of Anjou, as the lawful fovereign of Spain, by a letter under
his own hand. 'I'he Dutch alfo recognized his right. On the
7th of September thereafter, William, with his wonted confift-
cncy, entered into an alliance with the Emperor and Holland
to attack the young monarch. The defign avowed in the ar-
ticles was, to obtain the Dutchy of Milan from the crown of
Spain, as a compenfation to the Emperor ; and Flanders, oy
part of it, as a barrier for Holland. What England was to ob-
tain, we are not informed. On the 6th of September 1701*
James the Second expired^ and Lewis, on his death, acknow-
ledged his fon as King of England. Though this was but an
empty form, William employed it as a pretence to feduce the
nation into a fecond waf. His projeft was embraced with exuU
fation by all parties.

Yet though Lewis was to blame, we oqrfelves had behavetl
tut little better. Our affumed title as Kivg of France^ is not
only adiihonourable untruth, but a wanton infult to a refpedlabl^
tjeople, Williaiii prepared for a campaign, but happily botjj

' [ 45 ]

for others and himfclf, a fall fiom his horfc put an end to hli
brurl'M ami his treaties, on the 8th of Marcli 1702*.

Before wc enter into the events of this war, it may not be
vrpr:>\M'r to illudratc, by an exail and intcrcfting parallel, what
D»'. 'nvift calb " our infamous treaty of partition." Let ut
fuppofi , that ior fome years before the death of Queen Eliza-
beth', ;\ll fuiropc had forefecn that (lie was to die thildlefs, that
Janies the Sixth of Scotland was to be her fucceflbr, and that by
fuch an increafe of dominion, England was to cnfure a decifive
Addition of power and importance. " No," exclaimed the
Dutch, the French, and the Aullrlans, " we cannot, Elizabethi
*< permit you and your people to chufe a fovercign for Eng-
*< land. We ail know that Mnjler\ James is a fool. He ha«
f married a daughter of the King of Denmark j and hence
« the Britilb Empire would become but a province to the
f< court of Copenhagen, We have formed a much better plan,
" and you muft adopt it. Jerfey, Guernfey, and Plymouth,
f* Dover caftle, and the county of Kent, are to compofe a
«* frontier in the hands of his Moft Chriftian Majefty. The

— ' ....■II . ■- ■ — ,1 ..I II ■ ■ ■ I. ■ ■■! ■■ ■ ■ .■■l■■^ I ■■! »y

* In drawing up this ftatement, Mr. Macpherfon has been
chiefly followed, v^ith fome additions from the Memoirs of
Creat Britain and Ireland, printed in 1788, In this laft work,
- William is every where reprefented as a virtuous and fublime
pharafter. The ftory of the Countefs of Orkney, and the trite
cataftrophe of Darien, with many others of the fame fort, arc
completely explained away. The partition treaties are de-
fended, as pre^ant with future blemngs to England ; for the
hiftorian feeras to fancy that the Allies could have divided the
provinces of Sp.iin, with the exaftnefs jind tranquillity of a grocef
cutting a pound of cheefe. The fequcl fufficiently proved the
abfurdity of fuch a fuppofuion,

This writer has affigned a remarkable reafon foi fending into
jhe world his fecond volume, " But feeing England lately, as
« I thought, on the brink of ruin, becaufe (he was on the brink
•f< of a continental nuart I thought that the piftares of mifery,
«< even amid fuccefs, which the continental wars of the two
«< grand alliance? pjrefent, might make the public attend to /^«
f profpea before them"

It is impolfible to publifh from more honourable motives, or
yo atteft a more important truth. , >"

-(- Henry Uic Fourth of France ufed to c^U hiip fo.

r ic^

1
J

«< iflcs of Wight, Anglcfca, ami Man, inuft be clrlivcrcd up to
*< tlu'ir Hij»h Mij^litinclTo!; for the convcnk'ncc of importing
•• gin ; and you mu;t Hkewifc permit them to catcli and cure
«• pilcliards on the ccail of Cornvv.ill. '^I'o I rv land you never
** had any title but tliut of a r(/bbcr, and as you are detailed
♦• by the whole nation, to the very lall man, it is neceffar)-, for
•* prcfcrving ihe baluncf of p'/xver, to dcilarc tlieni independent.
** As for the rod of your dominituis, we have hroui'.ht you a
«• German maftcr, born at the diilance of a thoufand miles,
*< a Itrangcr to your country, } our laws, jour n^anncrs, and
« your language. In defence of his right, wc have difem-
*' barked on the co;iil of Yorklliirc two hundred thoufand
«' armed rulHans ; and unlefs you inltantly aeknowlcd^^e him
" as fucceflTor, we fl^all fpread defolation from Caithnef;; to the
« land's end. If his Danilh majefty declines to aflift us in
*• overwhelming his fon-'n-law, oar admirals have orders to
** beat Copenhagen about his ears. Wc are perfedly deter.
« minted ; and before we give up the point, we ihall fpond the
" laft drop of our blood, and the lall farthing of ou.- money ;
•« befidcs diving into more debt than our polterity can pay off
*< in an hundred generations." .

On the 4th of May 1702, hc.lilities were declared againft
Spain. *' We haftily engaged in a war," fays Swift, " which
«* hath coft us sixTV millions, and after repeated, as well as
•« unexpefFed {accc{s in arms, hath put us and our pofterity in a
" worfe condition, not only than any of our allies, but than
*< even eur conquered enemies them/elves *," The two firft cam-
paigns efcaped without any decifive event. On the 25th of
November 1 702, the Commons, in confequence of a mendicant
ineffage from the Court, afligned the yearly fum of an hundred
thoufand pounds to the Prince of Denmark, her Majefty's

♦ The Conduft of the Allies. This is the cafe at the end of
almoft every war, and reminds me of a remark made by Lord.
Monboddo. Somebody once aflced him, Whether Europe ot
America had profited moft hy the difcoveries of Columbus ?
»* The balance," replied his Lordfhip, " is pretty equal. We
" I .ve them brandy and the fmall-^ox i and they gave us rum
n mCi the great f9K»\

hufband>

.■;i-;- *»

r 47 !

l\u(l)anJ, in cafe he ftiould furvivc her. So extravagant a pen-
fion confirms the remark of Mihon, that the trappings of a nn-
fiarchy ivould Jet up an ordinary commonivealth. On the 2Hth d
Ortolx't 1 70S, the Prince died, and as he was a pcrfon of the
moft innocent charader, it founds hardily to fay, that his exit
was defirablo. Yet had he outlived Anne, twenty thoufanJ
ncceiiitoiis fanulics muft each have paid five pounds a year of
their pittance to fupport him. And t'.iis finglc impofition
would, while it lafted, have comprehended more fubftantiai
injuftice and oppreflion than all the other thcfti* and robberies
in the country.

In September 1703, Charles, the fecond fon of the Emperor
Lcopoldr was declared King of Spain, and as fuch» was acknow-
ledged by all the Ailifs, including the Dutch and England^
who liad both formerly recognized the title of the French
Prince. It is needlefs to expatiate on the jufticc or decency of
fuch a meafurc. In Auguft 1704, Marlborough won the battle
of Blenheim. In Odober 1706 Lewis offered better terms of
pacification than nvere afterguards excepted. With what pro--
priety then are we to blame his ambition ? " The Whigs," faya
Mr, Macpherfon, " who were now poffeffed of the whole
** power of government in England, itifulted common fenfet in the
*' reafon which thev gave for rejetling thq propofed peace.
" They faid, that the ^etms offered by France were too guod»
*< to be the foundation for a lafling tranquillity, and therefore
•< tlicy ought not be admitted." — Had Lewis engaged to
reflore Normandy to England, that, upon Whig principles^
would have been a ftill better reafon for rcfufing an agreement.
Such were the political heroes whofe 'virtues we vaunt of adopt-
ing, and by whom Europe was condemned to remain for fix
years and five months longer, a fcene of confaiion, diilrcfs, and
carnage I This infolence very foon met with its reward. On
the 25th of April 1707, an entire Whig army was difperfed,
taken, or extirpated, at Almanza, by the Duke of Berwick.
Sixteen thoufand of the vanquifhed were killed or made pri-
foners. In this campaign, the Duke of Marlborough atchieved
nothing worthy of his former fame. Prince Eugene, with forty
, • • ' ' thoufand

[ 48 ]

tVnufarnl men, invaded Provence, nnd invL-nod Toulon. Hi*
forces were in danger of being Airroiinded, and his efcapc or
flight was marked with the iifual and heroic circiiniftances of
flaiighter and dcvallation. Four Knglilh men of war, with Ad-
miral Shovel, a perfon whofc abilities had raifed him from the
rank of a common failor, foundered on the rocks of Scilly, In
lliort, the difadcrs of the Allies were fo numerous and fevere,
that Lewis might at this time have turned the chafe, if his
counfels had not been governed hy an old woman. The Scots>
by a bargain Aifiiciintly quellionablc had been w/z/W with
England. The whole nation were inllamcd into a degree of
madnefs. The Pretender's birth dny was publicly celebrated at
Jsdinbnrgh ; and a memorial was tra.ifuiitted to France by a
number of nobility ai .: gentry, who proioifed to embody in his
favour five thoufand horfe and twenty-five thoufand foot. The
piopofal was rcjeiled. In 1708, the Allies were more fuccefs-
fujj and among other bleffed events, they gained Lifle, with
the lofs of eighteen or twenty thoufand men. For what no-
table purpofes have we dra^'ged the fmith from his anvil, and
the farmer from hir> plow! In 1709, the Government bor-
rowed from the Bank of England four hundred thoufand pounds^
at fix per cent, bcfidcs granting them feveral advantages^
which may have raifed the real intcrcft to ten or twelve pef
critt. and all this for the plcafure of making a German King
of Spain. The pradicc of advancing money to the public
was at that time, and has been ever fmce, a very profitable
tralHck to t'aofe gentlemen of whom Lord Chatham has made
fuch honourable mention. Lewis, in the beginning of this
year, had renewed his offers of peace. He attempted, as
Tore}' relates, to bribe the Duke of Marlboroughj by a condi-
tional prefent of four millions of livres; but his Grace, after
due confide ration, declined the propofal. The aged and un-
■fortunate King promifed to yield the nvbole Spanijh monarchy t§
the Hoiijc of Aiijlria n.vithoiit any equivalent*. He confentcd tO
a feries of the moft degrading demands which his enemies v^ould

M-. ^herfon, vol, ii, chap. 7,

invent^

_ t '19 ]

Invent, but tliey left him no ch(jlic between rcfillance and Je-
ftnitflion. France was in the mean time ravajjcil hy a tcrriblt- l";i-
ininci which fcrvcd to fill up the moafuiv of univcrfal wretth-
cclncfs. Whatever we may thinic of Levis himfcif, and even a
defpot may deffrvc our pity, one mull have the nerves of ;•
Dutchman or a tf'hig, if he dors not Kcl for tl»e m^fcries of
twenty millions of people. On the loih of Sepfcmhcr 1709,
thcfc conferences were fucccedcd by the virtory of Mulplaquet,
which Marlborough purchafcd with the lives of twenty thoufand
men, while the Frenchi though deftated^ left but eig*^ «noufand
dead on the Held*

In tyio, Lewis made freJh offers of fubmlfTibn. " He prd-
" mifed even a fubfidy of a million of livrcs monthly to the
« Allies, till King Philip y55o//A/A^</>7f^» out of Spain*," But
mark what follows : — They required that Lewis fliould aflill
them imlh all hit furces^ to expel his grandfon from the throne
of that kingdom. We need not enlarge upon the bafenefs of
trampling a fallen adverfary, fince our ilhuUious ancedors might
have improved their morality from a boxing ftage* A ring of
chairmen would be afhamed oi fuch confummate barbarity.
Whether Lewis would have fubmitted to this laft aft of degra-
dation is doubtful, for Eugene and Marlborough obftrufteJ the
progrefs of explanation, and commenced the campaign. —
*< They gained three places of impirtance* and conquered
«< tv»^elvc leagues of a fine country. But they loft twenty-fix
«* thoufand men by the fword. Half their infantry nuas ruined
« by wounds, difeafes, and fatigue +." In Spain, we obtained
during this year two viAories. Stanhope, the Englifh general^
entered Madwd . " The army lived at large upon the people,
« without order, without moderation, and without difcipline.
** They raifed contributions on private perfons. They pillaged
" the churches t and fold publicly the utenJiU of the altar f."
Nobody can be forry to hear that on the 8th of December 17109
thefe rufH^s were defeated. Stanhope himfelf was taken pri-
fonefi with five thoufand firitilh troops.

* Macpherfonj vol. ii. chap. 7. t Ibid, % Ibid.

[ 50 J

5y this time the nation were ahnofl: tired with the cxpencc of
this war, and had begun to fufpcA the abfurdity of its firft
principles. But as t)^c Cabinet was comletely garrifoned by the
partifans of Marlborough, to reverfe the fyftem, required both
a ftrong and dexterous handr A circumftance in itfelf trifling
contributed to this event ; and the friends of mankind muft
acknowledge^ that fo/ once at leaft, public happinefs has been
promoted by public fuperftition» On the 3d of November
1709, Henry Sac'.cverell, a Tory parfon, preached at St..
Paul's a fermon, in which he enforced, with much virulence*
the nonfcnfe about paflivc obedience and non-refiilance. la"
this performance, the Earl of Godolphin, Lord High Treafurer
of England, and one of the chief leaders of the Whigs, wa»
perfonally attacked, and the whole party were eager to punilh
the man who hnd thus contefted their darling doftrines. They
brouglit him to a trial before the Houfe of Peers ; and this mea-.
fare gave the Tories an opportunity for aflerting that the ChurcH.
ivas in danger. The great body of the people broke into a '
tranfport of rage. " The current, which had been long chang-
*' ing, ran d-^wn with a force, that levelled every thing before-, '
it*." Duruig the trial, the pews of fiv diflenting meeting;-", -
houfes were burnt in the ilreets. The outrages of the rabble'
were direfted by perfons of higher rank, who attended at their
lieels in hackney coaches ; the wrich word was — The Church
CTjd Sache'vcreli. Thofe who joined not in the fliout were
infultcd and knocked down ; and Burnet tells us, that at hi*
door one man got his flcuU clefi with a fia.de, for his refufalf.
The fcrnion was ordered to be burnt by the hangman, but the
public fiame was kept up with much addrefs by the lories*
Saclieverell made a journey into Wales, and was every where
received with raptures of admiration. The Queen, by de-
grees, embraced this opportunity -to free herfelf from the ty-
ranny of an infoknt fadion. On the 8th of Auguft 17 10, Goi-

(.»

dolphin was difmifled. A new parliament was fummoned to
meet on the 25th of November thereafter. The frenzy of the

H
h

MacpKerfon; vol, ii. chap, S...

\"T ,/r }-r!:'ry:f'

vxoh

[ 5> J "

tno^ was fupported by the fubftantial logic of the Treafur)-; and
a majority was 'cturned of Tor members. Harley, the new
miniiler, aad his affociates, had too much fenfe to dilcovcr

' abruptly their defigns to the people. The fum of fourteen mil-
lions f/c hundred and feventy-three thoufand, three hundred
and nineteen pounds, nineteen fhillings and eight pence haif-

■ penny, was voted to difcharge the arrears in the navy and otaer
offices, and the fervices of the current year. At this critical
moment, a fecond ftroke of fortune advanced the pacific vi( vvs

v of the Tories. On the ift of May 1705, the Emperor Leopold
• had died ; and on the 6th of April 17 11, his eldeft fon and fuc-
ceffor, Jofepli, died alfo ; and without regarding his own two
daughters, left his brother Charles, our intended King of Spaing
his univerfal heir, " His death fuddenly changed the nuhole
*^ ftate of affam. The war undertaken by the grand alliance
«< for preferving the balance of Europe, was now likely to ic~
*^Ji"ojitfore'ver; and men who judged of the future by the
'•pad, began to dread the irreljlUble power of the Emperor

• *« Charles the Fifth, in the perfonof a prince of his family*.'*
' iitViCCt even upon our onvi. mad principles^ it bocame jull as ne-

peflfary to oppofe the fucceflionof our candidate Charles, as that
of the Duke of Anjou. Yet with the moft aftonjfhing impu-

• 4ence, the Whigs and our Allies, Charles and the Dutch, were
anxious to continue the war. The German princes, and among

» others, the Eleftof of Hanover +, expreffed their higheft difap-
probation of the projected peace. The arguments of George,
if fuch they may be called, are too frivolous for confutation
or infertion here, Portugal and Savoy feconded the German
chorus. *' The emolunients derived from war were greater
** than their expectations from peace, — The monpy of the ma-
** ritime powers, and chiefly that of England, more than the
•* territories of the Hoyfe of ^ourbon, was the grand objeft of
<* thofe petty tyrants^ w\iofed on the blood of fuhjeili <whom they

* 'Macpherfon, vol. :. chap. 8.

+ In a Memorial printed by his envoy, and a letter from him-
, fcjf to Harley, dated November 7, 17 1 1,

--'" Q % ■:--^; ■ ■-:-,■.'. « let

[ 52 ]

«* let outforjlatighter *," Compared with merchants of this At-'
fcrlption, an ordinary offender is a paragon of innocence. When
a nation fends for fovercigns from fuch a fchool, there appears
but a melancholy prefage of the profped before it.

The campaign of 171 ii clapfed without effort on either
fulc. The furrender of Bouchain on the 1 3th of September,
clofed the military exploits of the Duke of Marlborough. The
new rainifter of England had been engaged in attempting to re-
concile the demands of the contending powers. But the States
of Holland were fo much exafpcrated by the conduA of Queen
Anncj that they were at no pains in concealing their defign to
treat her as they had treated her father. They propofed « to
*« fit out a fleet to aflift the Eleftor of Hanover to ftrike the
<' fceptre from her hand+," On the 7th of December, parlia-
ment met, Harley had fecured a Tory majority in the Houfe
of Commons ; but his party was fomewhat inferior in the Houfe
of Peers, Affairs had now come to a crifis. The leaders of
the Whigs were fufpedled of intfnding an immediate appeal to
arms. It became therefore neceffary to difmifs the Duke of
Marlborough from his military command j and on the laft day
of December, Harley produced what is now called a batch of
peers. Twelve gentlemen devoted to the court were created
members of the Upper Houfe. Anne had the very fame right
to have created twelve thoufand. The conftitutioa of Britain^
like the fword of Dionyfiusi hangs by a fingle hair.

On the 1 7th of January 1712, Mr, Walpole was committed
to the Tower. He had received five hundred guineas, and 4
pote for five hundred more, for two contradls when fecretary at
war, for fupplying the forces in Scotland with forage. « A
*• member," fays Burnet, ♦* who was a Whig, was expelled
f < the Houfe ; and a profecution was ordered aga^nil him : — h\x\
«* tht abufe goes on JUlU as avonvedly as ever" The Duke of
Marlborough's cont'"ft underwent a fevcre cenfure, and Car^

* Macpherfon, vol. ii. chap, 8, Seventeen thoufand of thefc
•miferable victims were at one time furnilhed by the Court of
Hanover. Macpherfon s State Paperst vol. ji. p. 497.

t Macpherfon; vol, iif cha|;, St

^oni^eU

f 53 3

donncif lus fecrctary, wa& expelled by the Commons. The
campaign of 1712 was unfortunate on the part of the Allies.
The Briti(h forces under the command of the Duke of Ormonsi
remained inaftive ; and even the abfence of the abilities of Marl-
borough fecms to ha\e been feverely felt. The peace was not
finally fettled till March 1713. The Whig faftion, to their
eternal irfamy» drained every nerve to prevent it. By this
peace, beiides the iflands of Minorca and St. Chriftopher's, and
the fortrofs of Gibraltar, for ourfelves, we obtained the ifland
of Sicily for the Duke of Savoy, which produced the Spanifli
war in 171 8, a partial right for our merchants of trading to
South America, wnich began the Spanifh war of 1739, and
Nova Scotia, which gave rife to the French war in 1756.
This war was more deftruilive than that of 1689, as it
Jaded for eleven campaigns, Dr, Swift computes that each
of them cod us fix or feven millions derling. The lofs of
Jives and of (hipping could be hardly, if at all inferior to
that of the former war, as our battles were numerous, and
as the protedion of our commerce was altogether neglefted.
In a word, the nation fquandered feventy or eighty millionSf
that Marlborough might pilfer one.

To Dr. Swift we are much indebted for the tc rmination of
this war. His pamphlet on The Condud of the Allies, excited
a fort of political earthquake, and more tl. all his admirable
verfes mud endear him to didant poderity, A lew paifages
may fcrve as a fpecimen of the red, " It will appt u," fays
he, " by plain matters of fadl, that no nation was ever fo i >ng,
** or fo fcandaloufly abufed, by the folly, the temerity, the
<( corrQption, and the ambition of its domedic enemies ; or
f< treated with fo much infolence, injudice, and ingratitude, by
|( its foreign friends.— ^We ire dedroying many thoufand lives*
f and exhauding our fubdance, not for our own interedi whi^h
f< would be but common prudence; not for a thing indifferenti
«< which would be fuSicient folly ; but perhaps ta our own de-
ft driiftiOn, which is perfeft madncfs. — The common quedio^
*f is, if we mud pqw fu^ren4ci' Spain, what have we been fight*
f* ing for all this while ? The anfwer is ready. We have be^ii
♦f fighting for the r«in of the public intered. and the advanc?-

it ment

r 54 ]

« mcnt of a private. We have been fighting to raife the
« wealth and grandeur of a particular family ;" (that of Marl-
boiough,) " to enrich ufurcrs and ftockjobbers, and to culti-
« vate the pernicious defigns of a fadion, by dcftroying the
« landed intereft. — Since the monied men are (o fond of war»
•< I Ihould be glad if they would fumifli out one campaign at
•* their ovu'tt charge. It is not above fix or feven millions ; and
«< I dare engage to make it out, that, tohen they have done thist
« inftead of contributing equal to the landed men, they will
^* have their full principal and intereft at fix per cent, remaining
<* of all the money they ever lent to the government."

Even at this day, we are deafened about the glorious viftories
of the Duke of Marlborough, and though by the death of the
Emperor Jofeph, the objeA of difpute was utterly extinguiflied,
& Cfowd of authors perfift in lamenting that our commander
was checked in the career of pillage and butchery, Happy
might it have been for this country, had Marlborough, with
all his forces, perifhed on the field of Blenheim ; fince it may
be fuppofed, that fuch a ftroke would at once have blafted our
Crufades upon the continent. As if his Grace had not enjoyed
fufficient opportunities of plundering the treafury of the nation,
as if the manor of Woodftock, the palace of Blenheim *, and an
hundred thoufand pounds a year +, had not been adequate to
the ferviees of himfelf and his Duch'fs, we are faddled with
an annual payment of five thoufand pounds to his family for
ever. When a conftitution, deferving that name, (hall fucceed
our prefent political anarchy, it is not difficult to forefee fome
of the firft objefts of reformation. The Earl of Chatham en»
joys four thoufand pounds a year, becauf<- his father added fe-
venty millions to the national debt. The Duke of Richmond
raifes from the city of London an annual revenue, faid to be

(- ■ I

* Dr. Swift eftimates Woodftock at forty thoufand founds,
and adds, that Blenheim Houfe had coft two hundred thoufand
pounds, and was at the time of his writing unfnijhed^ Ther^
can be no wonder, that we muft now pay nme-pence per pound
of importation duty for Peruvian bark, and three gi neas fot
leave to fhoot a partriage worth two-pencci.
+ The fum has been ftated higher^ but fuch computations are
always in part random*

twentjf

C 55 ]

ifi

fsvcnty thoufand pounds, becaufe he is defcen'kd from the fon
of a criminal *, vyho deferved an hundred tines over to have
been flogged out of human fociety.

As a commentary on the preceding narrative, we may con-
Cult a quotation from Dr. Johnfon's pamphlet on Falkland's
Iflands. The reflexions which it contains have more than once
extorted, in my hearing, the admiration of the late Dr. Adam
Smith, who was far from being a general advocate for this Au« :
thor. . . ,. '^

" It is wondierful, with what coolnefs and indifference the
«* greater part of mankind fee war commenced. Thofc who
« hear of it at a diftance, or read of it in books^ but have never
« prefented its evils to their itiinds, cohfider it as little more
" than a fplendid game, a proclamation, an army> a battle, and
** a triumph. Some mdecd mud perifh in the nK)ft fuccefsful
« field, but they die upon the bed of honour, njtg^n their livet^
«• amidft the joys of conqueji^ andy filled njoith EnglantPi glory tf mile [^
*• in death, ..^^ •

« The life of a modem foldier is ill repnefented by heroic -^

« fi^lion. War has means of deftruftion more formidable than ^''

« the cannon and the fword. Of the thoufands and ten thou- \^
•< fands who perifhed in our late contefls with France and Spainy.;!
** a very fmall part ev*r felt the flroke of an enemy ; the reft
<( languifhed in tents and (hips, amidft damps and putrefafUon j^'
*< pale, torpid, fpiritlefs, and helplefs; gafping and groaning^ •,
« unpitied among n)en, made obdurate by a long continuance '
•* of hopelefs mifery ; and were at laft whelmed in pits, or
•* heaved into the ocean, without notice, and without remem-^.j
<( brance. By incommodious encampments, and unwholefomd
« flations, where courage is ufelefs, and enterprife impraftica-*' *
•< ble, fleets are iilently difpeopled+, and armies fluggilhl^/
" melted away. ;-)«

♦Charles II,

^'c.

\ The nianning of a fleet has often produced Almoft as much'
mifchief as its depopulation. On this fubjeft there is here fubjoin- . \
cd a Ihort but {hocking ^oryt which happened about the time

t . - . •■.,'■•''-'''4.. — ' ' ■■-'■' ' wheti ""

r 56 ]

♦« Thus is a pebple gradually fckliauftcd, for ttie moft: pari '
** with little efFeft* The wars of civilized nations make very

flow

when Dr. Johnfon's pamphlet was firft printedi and which can
harbly be regarded as a digreifion) fince it refleds additional hot*
lor on the war fyftem.

A work'man, in London, was apprehended by a prefs gang*
His wife and child wei'e turned to the door by their fandlord.
Within a few days after Ihe was delivered of a fecond child in '
a garret. On her recovery, (he was driven to the fti^eets
as a. con[imon beggar. She went into a (hop, and attempted to
cafrry offa fmafi piece of linc^n. She was feized, tried, and
condemned to be hanged. In her defence ihe faid, that (he '
had lived creditably a^id happy, till a ptefs gang robbed her of >
her hufljand, an.^. In him, of all means to fupport herfclf and^^f.,
fainily ; and that in att!empiing to clothe her new born ihl^nt,
fhe perhaps did wroftg, aS fne did not, at that tinie, know what"
ihe did. The parilh officers, and other witneifes, bore tefti-'
mony to thC' truth of her averment, but all to no purppfe. flie
was ordered for Tyburn. The hangman dragged her funking iw ,
font from her breajfj <when he Jirained the cord about' htr neck*
On the 1 3th May i777> Sir WilRiiA Meredith mcntioried' this
aflaffination in the Houfe of Commons. " Neveri" faid hi,
** was there a fouler murder committed againfl the law, th^n that .,
<* of this woriiain by the law."— Such were the fruits ofwhat
^x\^\^iRCtiCvX\ their ineflimable priviUge of atrial by tniy.

It wo^Jd not be difficult tq fill ^ large volume with decifions
<)fthis (lamp, though there is not perhaps any fmglecafe, which
is in all its' ci^cumrtarices fo' aWdlutely Infernal. The reider
may compak-e the guiltt as it was termed, bf Marjr Jorieff, With "
the progrefs of thofe noble patriots ^ whofe hiftory is recbtded ift '*
the next chapter, and who axe at this <iay ;held, up a? ^thc fa- '
viours of 'Britain, ana then fay which of the two parties befi d^p -j
ferved a' halter. ■ ■■ -. ..v,^--.-o ... . ..^..- ......^

General Gunning, a man who is not worth a iliiilihg, wii "
lately fined in five thouf^nd poulids for fed«cing,>a dqxy whb *
was as forward as himfelf ; and Mr. Tattgrfal, the editor pf ..
a London riew'ipapef has'juft now been fined in four thoiifand
pounds for a paragraph which afTerted, that alady had' i^ '
amouf with her footman. It was proved that Mr. Tatterfal
was at a .^nt diflanc e-from tondoir, when this "ftoiyivas~prinT-
ed ; and confequently, that had it been even a forgery "orith%
Bank ^ of j^nglandj the . law could not ^ay p touched a hidr- of, hif
headt' /^rftcan be ap dd^bt that thp liuJy wiB accept the.laffc ,,
fartliing afllgried py this verdift, and fuch an accep^an^e can ,
leave ho Unking impfcffion of female gerieroTity, Another

fplendid'

[ 57 i

t part

; very

flow

:h can

gang«
Sord.
lild in '
dreets
ted to
I) and
at fhe *
her, of '
ndji^r..
infant,
r whit"
: teftl-'
(. Ihe .
ing ia- ,
•r neci*
ed'tWs
aid ht, • •
m that .,

wliat

cifions '
which .>
reider ,

With "

ded iti '*
he fa-
eft de^

t»

y wh6 '*
tor p£ *>
)u{and
ad^ ^ "
tterfal
^rintir- '
)ri ih%
ofthiy

te can, .

lotKec

Undid'

" flow changes in the fyftem of empire. The public perceives
" fcarccly any alteration but an increafe of debt ; and the few
« individuals who are benefited, are not fuppofed to have the
« cleareft right to their advantages. If he who (hared the
« danger enjoyed the profit, and after bleeding in the battle
'* grew rich by the viftory, he might (hew his gains without i
" envy. But at the conclufion of a ten year's war, how are we
** recompenfed for the death of multitudes, and the expence of
« millions, but by contemplatmg the fudden glories of pay-
** mailers and agents, contradlors and commiflaries, whofc equi.
« pages Ihine like meteors, and whofe palaces rife like exhala-
« tions.

" The are the men who, without virtue, labour, or hazard,
« are growing rich as their country is impoveriflied j they re-
« joice when obftinacy or ambition adds another year to
" flaughter and devaftation; and laugh from their delks at
" bravery and fcience, while they are adding figure to figure,
** and cipher to cipher, hoping for a new contrail from a new
** armament, and computing the profits of a ii'^ge or a tern*
" pcft,"

fplendid fpecimen of an Englifli jury fhall conclude this long
note.

Some years ago, Mr. Cooper, of London, was accufed of
being the printer and publifher of a performance deemed a
libel. Upon ftrifl inquiry, it was found, that it had been
printed at nis ofiice ; but it was proved, that at the time when
this was done, he wus in fo dangerous a ftate of health, as to be
given up by the phyfician who attended him, and that for fe-
veral months before the publication, as well as at that period, he
had been entirely difabled by ficknefs from either attending his
ofHce, or knowing what was doing in it. Notwithftanding
thefe circumftances, a Middlefex jury found him guilty ; and, as
foon as he had recovered from his ficknefs, he was placed on the
pillory, and, no doubt, would have been pelted by minillerial
hirlings, had not a number of refpeilable gentlemen prevented
it by their perfonal attendance. — So much fcr the liberty of the
prcfs, when proteftcd by a Middlefex jury.

CHAP.

t 68 ]

CHAP. VII.

I
I III

Where I have treated high life with freedom, I hope T fi^all not
be iindcrllood to propagate the doftrine of levellers. — I have
no fuch intention. — I mean to give a juft pi(fture of human
life* according to my own knowledge of it, and according to
niv fenfe of truth, without ceremony or difguife. — I do not
wiili, ill any degree, to diminilh the refpeil which is juftly
due to perfons and families of diftinftion.

Letter to the People of Laurencekirk,

nr^HERE is not in hiffory a more fignal example of ingrati-
-■- tude, than the conduft of the Emperor, the Dutch, and
Marlborough, to the Queen of England. She had fought for
ten years the battles of her Allies. She had advanced her ge-
neral to be the firft fubjeft in Europe. When (he refufed to
complete the ruin of her country for the caprice of the former,
when the infolence of the latter compelled her to difmifs him,
loaded with the plunder of nations, from her prefence, thefe
worthy afibciates confpired for the deftruftion of their bene-
faftrefs. It is not certain that William himfelf had ever pro-
ceeded into fuch a climax of bafenefs. Though his partition
treaties were abfurd in a Britifli fovereign, we may forgive, in
his hoftilities with Lewis, the refentment of a Dutchman. When
we perufe the plan of Eugene for fetting fire to the (treets of
London, and the palace of St. James's *, even his tranfcendant
behaviour at the Revolution almoft fades before it.

By the prudence and firmnefs of Harlcy, the plots of Eugene
Were difcovered and difappointed ; and on the 17th of March
1712, he was obliged to embark with fome precipitation for
the Continent. The neutrality of the Englifli forces in the
next campaign, with the final termination of the war, has al-
ready been mentioned. It does not appear that the EleAor of
Hanover was engaged in the fcheme of dethroning Anne. Hi*

I f

f Macpherfon, voU 2> chap, 9,

beg&arlx

[ 59 ]

beggarly condition may have contributed to tlic moderation of
his feniimcnts. In 171 3, he folicited from the Englirti Crown
a pcnfion for his mother the Princcfs; Sophia. « In the prefent
*< fituation of his aflfairsj a frcfh fiipply of revenue was much
** wanted. His agents every where complained of their too
" fcanty allowance. The Whigs, with all their patriotifm,
•* <voere foliciting for pevjiofti. Some Lordst who were zealous
" for the Proteftant fucccflion, were, it fecms, '■' j)oor tofollouu
** their canfciences, They had fold their votes to the Mi»ijirj\
«» But — they 'would take fmaller fumi from His electoral
** HIGHNESS. The Earl of Sunderland, in his attachment to
«' the family of Brunfwick, had advanced three hundred pounds
<f to one of thcfe poor cotfcientious Lords. The Earl widied td
" fee thisfum repaid. Though the Eleftor might be willing to
« gratify fuch faithful friends, he had reafon to cxped> that
« they luonld help to ferve themfelves. They were, therefore
" defired to promote, with all their influence, the jienfion dc-
*< manded for the Princefs. His Highnefs was no ftranger,
*< upon the prefent occafion, either to the abilities or poverty of
** the Duke of Argylc. The whole world knew his love of
« money. He defired that nobleman, and his brother i\\h Earl'
« of Hay, to promote the allowance to the Eleftrefs, as they-
** might expeSl good penftons to them felves from that fund*," This
penfion was never obtained ; and the Eleftrefs herfelf died about
fixteen months after, on the 28th of May 17 14. " The Eleftor
«* himfelf feems to have become indifferent concerning the fuc-
«* ceflion of his family to the throne. Teazed by the unmean-
" ing profeflions of the Tories, a-^d haraffed by the demands of
«< the Whigs, he dropped all correfpondence with both parties.
" He fufFered his fervants to continue their intrigues in Lon-
«< don. He liftened to theif intelligence. But to the requifi-
«* tions of his Whiggifh friends for money, he turned a deaf
« ear. He was however perfuaded at length, to order fix hur-
** died pounds to the Lord Fitzwalter, to en^ible that needy

♦ Macpherfon, • jl, ii, chap. 9* and Hanover Papers, Ja-
Duar/27, 1 71 3.

Ha *sER

[ 6o ]

•

« PEER to pay a debt of three hundred pounds to Sunderland.

" He nlloiui'd forty poundt to the author of a titivf paper, for con-

*< "viying to the puhlic, paragraphs ft/i'curah/e /o the proten-

«« r A N T 8 u c c E 88 1 o N, He addcd ten pounds to that fimmenff)

«< Ann, after 'various reprrfentatious from his council and fer-

«< 'vanti*.** — " The excluded party in Britain harafled, at the

«* fame time» the Elector, with propofals for his invading the

*« kingdom ivith a body of troops. They fuggeftedt that fliould

" the Dutch refufc a fquadron of men of war, fome (hips of

« force might be obtained from Denmark. But the Eledor

« rejc^ed the fcheme, as utterly improper and impradlicable +."

On the 9th of April 1 7 1 Ji the Q^een opened a feflion of

parliament. The ftream of popularity had now turned againft

the Whigs. " In this diftrefsful fituationi they implored

" Krcyenbeg to lay their humble felicitations at the feet of the

«< Eledor. They entreated his Highnefs, for the fake of Hea-

<« ven, to fend over the Eledioral Prince. Without the^ prc-

" fence of one of the family, they folemnly averred, that the

«* fucceflion muft inevitably be deteated %»'* All this canting ■'■ "■ ^

had very little foundation in faA. The bulk of the nation ^

were determined in favour of the Proteftant fucceflion. But

thefe fycophants wiihed to make themfelves of importance with

George the Firft. The followii\g palfage will fet the nature

and motives of their condu£l in a proper light.

-J " The Whigs had, in the beginning of the year (1713) ha-

** raffed the Eledor with demands oi pen/ions for poor lords.

« They had perpetually teazed his Highnefs for money to po.

« litical writers, and for fpies planted round the Pretender.

« Though their folicitations on thefe fubjefls had been at- .

« tended with little fuccefs» they continued to make applica-

« tions of the fame difagreeable kind. When the feflion was

* Macpherfon, vol, ii. chap, 9.

+ Ibid. This was about the z i ft of March 1 7 1 ^» a full year
after the departure of Prince Eugene. Their objefts were to
prevent the peace, which was figned about this time, to recover
their places, and ruin the Miniflry.

^ MacpherfoHj vol. ii. chap. io«

« drawins:

I 6i ]

** drawing to a concluflorii and a dilToIution was forereeni they
<' manded oftf hundred thou/and poundt from the Elc^of} /•
«* corrupt boroughst Jo influence eleflionSi and to return men of can-
« ftitutional and Wh I G G 1 8 H principlet to the cnfuing parliament.
« The magnitude of the fum left no room for hefitation in re-.
<• jeding their requeft. One repulfe, howeveri was not fuffici.
« ent either to intimidate or difcourage a party fo eager in the
« purfi.it of their defigns. They diminifhed their demand to
" ff'y th0u/and pounds. The Elcftor plainly told them, that
** he could not fpare the money. That he had done the greateft*
** fervice confident with his own particular fttuationi and the
** ftate of Europe in general, to the well affcAcd irt Britain.
« That he had engaged the Emperor and Empire to continue the
•* nvar againji France, That he had employed yJ-Tfa/^^-w thou-
« /and of his troops againft that kingdom. That this circuin-
" ftance had deprived the French King of the power offending
« an army into Britain with the Pretender. That could he
<* even advance the money, which was Lr from being the cafe,
« the fee ret could never be kept ; and that a difcovery might
« be dangerous, from the offence that the meafure was likely
« to give to the Britifti nations*."

Within a few pages, we meet with iirelh applications of the
fame kind. « The Whigs again Jirged the Elcftor to invade
« the kingdom* They promifed to furnifh him with fums, upon
« his credit, to fave their countryt and to execute his own de-
<* figns; but with an inconfiftence ^pugnant to thefe large
«* promifes, they reverted to their former demands of money
" from his Highnefs. They alked penfions/or poor canfcientiout
** Lordi nuho ivere in want of Juhjifience, They demanded, with
« the mod vehement entreaties, ttjao thou/and poundst to carry
«* the eledlions for the Common Council of London, They repre-
« fented, that, with that fum, they could chufe their own crea<-
« tures, and terrify the Q^een and parliament with remon-
" ftrances and addreffes throughout the winter f ." It is not
furprifing that Mr. Macpherfon is a mofl unpopular hiftorian.

Macpherfon, yo}« ii. chap. lo. t Ibid,

Sut

[ C2 ]

But the f.KTls which he hnn advanced are iinqucflionably tnir.
The original corrcfpomlencc of the parties is ilill extant in their
own hand ivriting. Let us proceed, therefore, with a few far-
ther extratfts from this authentic and inllruAivc author. " A
" propofal made by the Baron de BernftorfF, Prcfidcnt of tlic
*< Ele(J^or's Council, was received by Marlborough and Cado-
" gan with eagcrnefs and joy. He iMfinuated, that his Elc«Jh)raI
•* Highnefs might be induced to borrow to the extent of /atr;//^
«' thouf and pound i from his friends in Britain. This fum was
•* to be laid out on the foar Lords^ and the Common Council of
«« London^ during tlic three years the parliament was to fit.
«' The firft would be thus enabled to vote according to their
« principles ; the latter might ply the Govermnent, and hari'fs
«• the Queen and her minillers with remonftrances in favour of
« civil liberty and the Protijlant J'uccejjion* Marlborough and
" Cadogan undertook to furnifli the money on the obligation
" of his Eleftoral Highnefs, provided the intereft of fivt per
" cent./hould be regularly paid. But his Highnefs would give
*' no obligation either for the principal or intereft. He how-
«* ever fignificd to his agents, that his friends fliould advance
" the money, as they might be certain of being rcimburfed as
" foon as his Highnefs, ^r the Eledrefs his mother, (houl4
" come to the throne*." It does not appear that his friends
" chofe to advance their money on this promife. On the 20th
of March 17 14, George made anfwer to fome frefh demands
« of money for poor Lords, Common Councils, bribery of
" members, and private penfions, that he nuouldhear no more
« OF THAT AFFAIR. That, from the narrownefs of his own
** income, he could not enter upon thefe heads, into any com-
« petition with his antagonift, the Lord Treafurer. But that,
** except in the article of^xpencesy he was willing to fupport, to
" the utmoft, their party +." It would be idle to fuppofc that
one part of the ifland was lefs corrupted than another. In July
1 71 3, " the Duke of Argyle told Halifax, that nuith tiventy
" thou/and pounds, he would anfwer for all ilie eleftions in

* iVJacphcrfon, vol, ii, chap, iq.

+ Ibid.

«< Scotland,'!

[ h ]

'< Scotland •." The reafon afllgncd for refufing thefe applica-
tions, was dear and fatisfaftory, A letter from the Court of
Hanover contiiiis thefe v ords : — " The Eledor cannot give the
« money demanded fur the clet^ions. ficfidesi he Ihouid fail
« infallibly, as the Court niou/J a/wnjt have the hea'viefi
** pur/e\."

Nothing is more furprifmg, than the inaccuracy which
aboundii in many, even of our I) "ft hillorians. There cannot
be ftrongcr proofs imagined of the corruption of both Houfe*
of Parliament, than what have been jull now produced. Yet|
with this blaze of evidence before his eyes, the writer of the
Memoirs of Britajn has advanced a very ftrangc aflTcrtion. —
When fpeaking of Mr. Duncombc's acquittal in the Houfc of
Peers, in 1695, he adds, " For the honour of the Houfe of
<* Lords, this is the only ittjiavce in EiigUjh hiftoryt in which
•' the diftribution of private money was fufpe^cdto have had
♦* influence with a number of Peers J."

After fuch a fpccimen of the honefty of the Whigs ^t would
be unneceflary to enumerate all the other methods which the/
fell upon to embarafs their unfortunate Queen. One of their
fchemeswas, to bring over the EleAor Prince, under the title
of the Duke of Cambridge, as a head to their party. But un-
luckily this projeA was equally difagrceable to the Eleftor of
Hanover and to the Queen. In a letter to George, dated 30th
May 1714, " I am determined," Cays Anne, " to oppofe a
«' projeft fo contrary to my royal authority, however fatal the
<' confequenccs may be§." And George himfelf abfolutely rc-
fufed G\cty propofal of this kind. ** His refufal was fo peremp-
** tory, that the Whigs, and even his fervantsj made no fcruple
« of afcr^bing his conduA to « jealoufy of his oivn/ofi\\." It
has bt :n faid, a thoufand times over, that George the Firft en-
tertained the moil violent fufpicion as to the legitimacy of his

-i-fl-

• Macpherfon's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 498.

+ Ibid. p. 497.

^ Memoirs of Britain, vol. ii. part 3d, Book iv,

I State Papers, vol. ii. p. 62 k

I Macpherfon;^ vol. ii. chap. 10.

Ton I

r 64 ]

81 l!

I'il ..

fon ; and that hii jcaloufy was fatal to the life of a Swedilh no-
bleman. His wife, the Princcfs of Zell, was at this ver)' time
in confinement for her amours ; and in this fituatiun the unhappy
woman died, after a melancholy captivity of thirty-fix years.

Another modeft contrivance to harafs the Queen, deferves
peculiar notice. On the 8th of April 1714, "it was propofed
«« to requeft her Majefty to iffue a proclamation, fetting a price
" on her brother's henit. The Tory Lords reprcfentcd, that the
•'< motion was as inconfiftent with common humanity, as it was
*< repugnant to the Chriftian religion ; that to fet a price on
*' any man's head, was to encourage afTaffmation by public au-
*• thority ; and that (hould ever the cafe come before them, as
" peers and judges, they wouH think themfelves bound, in
" juftice, honour, and confcience, to condemn fuch an adion
*« as murther. The Whigs argued upon the.gmvr.i cf fxpedn
''*ENcvV* The motion was rcjefted.

The Whigs did not always confine their operations to bribery.
We may comprehend from what follows, the genuine charafter
of feme cf their principal leaders. In 1694, William planned
an expedition againft Breft. The particulars were betrayed to
James the Second, in a letter from Marlborough, where he com-
plains that Admiral Ruffel was not fufficiently hearty in the
caufe of the exiled. In confequence of this aft of treachery,
the Englifh forces w!;re repulfed on their landing at Breft. Six
hundred were (lain, and many wounded ; one Dutch frigate was
funk after lofing almoft her whole crew. Another example
may fervc to fhow ^he charafter of thefe leaders in a proper
light. In 1695. Sir John Fenwick, a Major-General, had been
engaged with I'enn, the founder of Philadelphia, and others,
in a projeft for a rebellion in England, and had, on its dif^
covery, fled. Some time after he returned, was found out, and
arretted. To fave his life, he tranfraitted to the King an ac-
count of the treafonable correfpondence of Godolphin, Marl-
borough, Ruffel, and many other Whigs of diftinakn with
James. His accufation «< is now known to have been in all

Macpherfon, vol. ii, chap. 10.

points

]

«' points tfue;" and] as there was only one evidence a^ainll
him> « he could not be conviAed in a court o/iinv, which rc-
« quire' two." iJut the perfons whom he had accufed, ** be-
" lieved that they could not be fafc a: long as he li-ved." A
bill of attainder was therefore brought in againft him, and
Ruffel appeared at the head of the profccution. The fequei
produced a crowd of proceedings « which exceeded the injuf-
*' tice of the worft precedents in the worft times of Charles the
« Second and his fucceffor j" and the whole were vindicated by
Burnet) in a long fpeech. The bill paffedboth honfes by a nar-
row majority ; and on the a 8th of January iS^St Fenwick was
beheaded on Tower- hill, " n^ithout evidence or laio." Lady
Fenwick attempted to bribe a perfon whofe teftiraony flic
dreaded) to fly the kingdomi The accufers prevailed on this
wretch to place people behind a curtain to overhear the offer ;
•« and this attempt of a wife to fave her hufband'slife from dan-
« ger, nuns turned into an evidence of his guilt *." Thefe are the
tvords of a hifl:orian, who is himfelf a profeffed Whig, who has
been a lawer, and is now a Judge. It is difficult to fay, whe-:
ther the conduft of the parliament, ,^'ho pafTed fuch a fentence^
or of his Majefty who iigned it> was moft compktcly inde-
jeacible.

On the ift of Aiiguft 1714, Queen Anne died ; and as much
Jias be^n faid in praife of her virtues, a (hort account of a tranf^
aflion condufled by her Tory parliament ii here inferted, which
in part is abridged from the Anecdotes of the Earl of Chatham.

It has been told by many hiftorians, that for four years^
.Queen Anne gave an hundred thoufand pounds per annum out
.of her civil lift, to fupport the war againit France ; and henc«
.they deduce: an argument of the oeconomy and patriotifm of that
Princefsi— -But, on the 25th of June 1713) her Majefty ac-
.({uainted the Commons that the had contrafted a very large
debt upon the revenues of the civil lift ; and (he fgecified that
this deficiency amounted in Aoguft 1710, to four hundred thou-
fand pouiids. — Mr Smith, one of the tellers in the Exchequer^

* Memoirs of Britain, vol. ii. part 3. book 7.

\*hg[

fi ,■

|rt

:( '

f 66 ]

who fcems to have been too honcft a man for his office, aroftf
and Ir formed the Houfe, that the eftimate of this debt was to
him al'onifhing j as at the time pointed out, he could affirm,
that the debt amounted to little more than an hundred thoufand
pounds. Other members undertook to prove, that the funds
afllgned to her Majefty for feven hundred thoufand pounds /^r
cnnHTtii had produced eight hundred thoufand pounds, fo that ia
the courfe of eleven years, her Majefty had rcceivec^ eleven hun-
dred thoufand pounds of an overplusj and after deducing the
pretended gift of four hundred thoufand pounds, (he had ftill
fet'en hundred thoufand pounds Jierlhig of the public money in her
pocket. Though this was the fame virtuous affembly which
had expelled Walpole from bribery, thefe obfcrvations could not
obtain attention ; fmce the very next day the Houfe voted fiv«i
hundred and ten' thousand pounds for payment of this debt.
" This," adds the hiftorian, « is the truth, and the whole truth
*' of that generous exploit of the daughter of James the Se-
« cond. It was a mean trick, by which the nation was cheated
" of four hundred thoufand pounds*," He Ihould have faid»
five hundred and ten thoufand pounds, for that was the exadt
fum granted.

It is entertaining to remark the ftylc in which a Gourtierf
fometimes talks of his fovereign. When William, in a fit of
defpondency, had once threatened to refign the crown of Eng-
land, " Does he fo ?" faid Sunderland, " there is Tom of
" Pembroke," (meaning Lord Pembroke) " who is as good a
" block of wood ai a king can be cut out of. We will fend for'
" him, and make him our KiNdf." To the fame purpofe the
Princefs of Wales, in 1753, exprefled herfelf as to George the
Second, in a converfation with Mr. Dodington. ■" She faid»
" with great warmth, that when they talked to her of the
" King, (he loft all patience, for fhc knew // ivas nothing : that
" in thefe great points (he reckoned the King no more than oiee
*f of the trees nue nualked bj, or fomething more inconfiderable
" which (he named, but that it was their pufillanimity ivhic^

* Anecdotes of the Earl of Chadiam, vol. ii. p. ro.
+ Memoirs of Great Britain, vol, ii. part 3. booK 7.

wou/j

[ 67 ]

« nuoulJ make an end of them." — " She faid, that if they talked
«* of the King) (he Mas out of patience ; it was as if they Ihoqld
« tell her, that her little Harry below would not do what
f* was proper for him ; that juft fo the King would /putter and
«* make a bujilet but when they told him that it muji be done
** from the neceflity of his fervice, he mufl: do it, as little ilarrv
** mujfi when flic came down *,'*

CHAP. VIII.

I am no orator as Brutus is,
To Itir men's blood ; I only fpeak right on,
/ telljou thct <v hichjouj/our/elves do knonv.
.■ Shakespeare,

' J 'HE hiftory of England has been continued in the Lift
-*• chapter, to the beginning of the difaftrous but memorable
reign of George the Firft, We fliall clofe this part of the work
with fome general obfervations on the civil lift.

" There we find places piled on places, to the height of the
« tower of Babel. There we find a mafter of the houfehold,
« treafurer of the houfehold, comptroller of the houfehold,
" cofferer of the houfehold, depoty-cofl^ercr of the houfehold,
»* clerks of the houfehold, clerks coniptrollers of the houfehold,
« clerks comptrollers deputy-clerks of the houfehold, office
" keepers, chamber-keepers, neceffary-houfe-keepers, purvey-
« ors of bread, purveyors of wine, purveyors of fifti, purvey-
'* ors of butter and eggs, pr^rveyors of confoftionary, deli-
« verers of greens, coffee-women, fpicery-menj fpicery men's
♦< affiftant-clerks, ewry-men, ewry-men's aififtai\t-clerks, kitch*
*f en-clerks - comptrollers, kitchen - clerk - comptroller's firft
'' clerks, kitchen clerk-comptroller's junior clerks, yeomen

* Dodington's Diary, p, 205, and ^ 13,

<« of

[ 68 ]

i i

ii;

f* of the mouthi under yeomen of the moutli, groonwj grooms
*' childrePi paftry-yeomen, harbingers, harbingers yeomen,
'« keepers of ice houfes, cart-takers, cart-takers grooms, bell-
«' ringers, code rndrryer, taole -deckers, water engine tprners,
" ciftern cleaness, keeper of fire buckets, and a thoufand or
«< two more of the fame kinu, which if I were to fet down, I
« know not who would take the trouble of reading them over.
« Will any man fay, and keep his countenance, that one in one
" hundred of thefe hangers-on is of any real ufe? — Cannot our
" King h^vc 4 poached egg for his fupper, unlefs he keeps a
f< purveyor of eggs, and his clerks? and his clerk's deputy-
*♦ clerks, at an expence of jool. i year ? while the nation is
" finking in a bottomlefs ocean of debt ? Again, who are they,
" the yeomen of the mouth ? and who are the under-yeomen
•* of the mo\}th ? What is their bufmefs ? W|iat is it
" to yeoman a King's mouth ? What is the neccffity for a
« cQfFerer, where there is a treafurcr ? And, where there is
" a cofferer, what occafion for a deputy-cofferer ? Why a
*< ncceffary-houfe keeper ? cannot a King have a water-clofct,
*< ant/ keep the key of it in his onjon pocket ? Ana my little cock
<f and cryer, what can be his poft ? Does he come under th^
" King's chamber window, and call the hour, mimicking the
*f crowing of the cock ? This might be of ufe before clocks
«f and watches, efpecially rape^tcrs, were invented ; but feems
*' as fuperfiuous qow, as the deliverer of greens, the coffee^
<' women, fpicery men's affiftaqt-clerks, the kitchen-comptrol-
*' ler's fi:rft clerks and junior clerks, the groom's child^^en, the
*f harbinger's yeomen, ^c. Does the maintaining fuch a muL
" titude of idlers fuit the prefent l^ate of our finances ? When
" will frugality be neceffary^ if not now ? Queen Anne gave
** an hundred thoufand pounds a ye^r to the public fervice *,
»^ We pay debts on the civil lift of fix hundred thoufand pounds
'* in one article^ luithout ojking h<^nji} there comes to be a defi^
<f ciency f ."

* The reader is already acquainted with the progrefs and ter-
iniriation of this art of royal munificence.
T f ol^tical Difquifitioiisj vol, ii. p. 128.

]

The following converfations on the fame fubje^, between
the late Princefs of Wales and Mr. Dodington, cannot fail to
excite the attention and furprlfe of every reader. « She," the
Princefs, " faid> that notwithftanding what I had mentioned of
(f the King's kindnefs to the children and civility to her, thofy
^ things did not impofe upon her — that there were other things
*f which ihe could not get over, (he wilhed the King was lefs
« civil, and that he put lefs of their money into bis own pocket :
" that he got full thirty thoufand pounds per annum j by the
«« poor Prince's death. — If he would but have given them the
*f Dutchy of Cornwall to have paid his debts, it would have
w been fomething. Sould refentments be carried beyond the
« grave ? Should the innocent fuffer ? Was it becoming fo
M great a King to lea've his Jons debts unpaid ? and fuch incon-r
« fiderable debts ? I aflced her, what (he thought they might
*f amount to ? She anfwered, ihe had endeavoured to know as
«< near as a perfon could properly inquire, who, not having it
«f in her power, could not pretend to pay them, She thought^
*f that to the tradefmen and fervants they did not amount to
*« ninety thoufand pounds ; that there was fome money owing to
*f the Earl of Scarborough, and that there was, abroad, a debt of
«f about feventy thoufand pounds. That this hurt her exceed-
f< ingly, though (he did not (hew it. I faid that it was im->
*f poiEble to new-raake people ; the King could not, now, be,
« altered — ."

« We talked of the King'$ accumulation of treafure, which
f< (he reckoned at four millions. I told her, that what was
« become of it, how employed, where and what wa$ left, I did
** not pretend to guefs ; but that I computed the accumulation
<f to be from twelve to fifteen millions. That thefe things,
« within a moderate degree, perhaps lefs than a fourth part
« could ht i^xostdi beyond all pq//ibility of a denial ; and, when
f the cafe (hould exifl, would be publilhed in controver(ial
« pamphlets*.'*

* Dodington's Memoirs, p. 167 and a90» T^iefc debts of
the Prince of Wales are iUll unpaidi

r 70 ]

1.1

■

In 1 7551 Mr. Pitt httd a conference with the Duke of New^
caftie, which has been recorded by Mr. Dodington. A fliort
fpecimen may fcrve to (how how the Britiih nation has been
bubbled by Government. « The Duke mumbUJ iha the Saxon
^« and Bavarian fubfidies were offered and prrffedy but there
<( was nothing done in them : that the Heflian was pcrfe(ited»
«< hut the Ruffian was not concluded. — Whether the Duke
•<« meant unfigned} or unratified, \/e cannot tell, but we under-
*< (land it is iigned. When his Grace dwelt fo much upon the
« King's hoHOUTi Mr. Pitt alked him — ^what, if out of the f i f-
« TEEN MILI4ION8 nvhick the King had faniedt he Ihould give
<* his kinfman of Hefle one hundred thoui^md pounds, and the
^ Czarina one hundred and fifty thoufand pounds to be off
« from thefe bad bargains, and not fuflfer the fuggciUors, fo
« dangerous to his own quiet and fafety of his family, to l)S
«« thrown out, which would, and muft be, infilled upon in a
« debate of this nature ? Where would be the harm of it ?
" The Duke had nothing to fay, but defired they might talk it
« over ag^in with the Chancellor. Mr. Pitt replied, he was at
<* their command, though nothing could alter hit opinion *,"

The reader will here obferve, that thirty-feven years have
elapfed fmce George the Second had faved fifteek mil-
l^ioNt from the civil lifl. It has been faid above, that a fum
at five per cent, of compound intereft doubles itfelf in fourteen
years. This is not perfeftly exaft, but as my former calcu-
lations did not require ftri^ minutenefs, the conclufions remain
unlhaken. Where a topick fo delicate as the civil lift is con*
cemed« the utmoft accuracy may be expe^ed, and therefore it'
muft hete be premiied, that in fourteen years, an hundred
pounds produce about a fiftieth part lefs than a fecond hundred
pounds* that is to fay, nimty-fe'oen pounds nineteen Jhillings and
eig/^ pence. Of m decim^ fra^ions *97995 16 parts of an integer,
Ko.w, at this rate, thefe fifteen milUona would, in thirty-feven
years, have multiplied to more than ninety-one millions and an
half. It is indeed true, as Mr. Dodington, foys, that we can.

5 Dodington's Mcmoin, p. ^73,

nor

C 7' 3

not tell nvhat hat become ofity or ho<w it has been em^hjeJ, biit
We know that no part of it has been applied to the fervicc of
the nation* We have fiuce paid feveral large arrears into which
the civil lid had fallen) and an hundred thoufand pounds /^r
annumt have been added to the royal falary. At the fame time,
the nation has been borrowing money to pay that falary > the
expences of Gibraltar and Canada, for the fupport of the war-
fyftemi and other matters, nominally at three and a half, or four
per cent, but in reality, as (hall be explained hereafter, at fix or
3ight per cent* Hence, by the way, the calculations as to Gib-
raltar are one third part lower in point of compound intereft
than theyjhould have been, and the fifteen millions of George the
Second, inllead of increafing to ninety-one millions and a half»
would, at feven and an half fir cent, have extended to about
an hundred and thirty millions, feven hundred and fifty thoufand
pounds ; which would at prefent buy out more than one half of
Our national debt, and fave the country from an annual burden
of perhaps yo;/r millions and an halffierling*

The mod miferable part of the (lory (lill remains to be told \
but the particulars muft be deferred to fome future opportunity.
The civil lift is a gulf yawing to abforb the whole property of
the Briti(h empire. We look back without fatisfa^on^ and
forward without hope.

Lord Chefterfield informs us, that George the Firft was
exceedingly hurt even by the weak oppofitioa which he met in
parliament, on account of fubfidies ; and could not help com*
plaining to his moft intimate friends, that he had come over to
England to be a begging King. His vexation was, that he could
not command money without the farce of aiking it ; for in his
reign, as at prefent, the debates of parliament were but a farce.
Such were the liberal fentiments of the firft fovcreign of the
Proteftant fucce(rion.

F I N I S.