Complete Works of Samuel Johnson

by Samuel Johnson

  Whenever the bill was passed, or how hastily soever the law was enacted, it was, I believe, rather the effect of necessity than of inadvertency; of the same necessity which now presses, and which is very ill consulted by tedious debates.

  They were then involved in a war, and were not so distracted by private interests as not to unite in the most vigorous opposition of their enemies. They knew that the publick good is often promoted by the temporary inconveniencies of individuals; and when affairs of the highest importance demanded their attention, when the security of the whole nation and the happiness of their posterity were the subject of their inquiries, they wisely suffered less considerations to pass, without superfluous and unseasonable solicitude.

  How justly they reasoned, sir, and what vigour their resolutions gave to the military operations, our victories are a sufficient proof: and if experience be the surest guide, it cannot be improper to imitate those who, in the same circumstances with ourselves, found means to raise the honour, and improve the commerce of their country.

  That our circumstances are the same with those of the senate by which this law was made, is obvious beyond dispute; or where they vary, the difference is, perhaps, to our disadvantage. We have, sir, the same enemies, or, at least, have reason to apprehend the same; but have little hope of the same allies. The present war is to be carried on at a greater distance, and in more places at the same instant; we cannot, therefore, supply our ships occasionally, but must raise great numbers in a short time.

  If, therefore, it was then concluded, that the method under our examination was useful; if measures, not eligible in themselves, may be authorized by necessity, why may not we, in compliance with the same exigencies, have recourse to the same expedients?

  Sir William YONGE then spoke: — Sir, how much weight is added to the determinations of the senate, by the dignity of their procedure, and the decency of their disputations, a slight knowledge of mankind is sufficient to evince. It is well known that government is supported by opinion; and that he who destroys the reputation, destroys the authority of the legislative power. Nor is it less apparent, that he who degrades debate into scurrility, and destroys the solemnity of consultation, endeavours to sink the senate into contempt.

  It was, therefore, sir, with indignation and surprise, that I heard the clause before us censured with such indecency of language, and the authors of it treated with contumelies and reproaches that mere errour does not deserve, however apparent, but which were now vented before any errour was detected.

  I know not, sir, why the gentlemen, who are thus indecently attacked, have suffered such reproaches without censure, and without reply. I know not why they have omitted to put the honourable gentleman in mind of the respect due to this assembly, or to the characters of those whom he opposes; gentlemen equally skilled with himself in the subject of our inquiries, and whom his own attainments, however large, or his abilities, however comprehensive, cannot give him a right to charge with ignorance or folly.

  To reproach men with incapacity, is a cheap method of answering their arguments; but a method which the rules of this house ought to exclude from our debates, as the general civility of the world has banished it from every other place of concourse or conversation.

  I, for my part, sir, shall always endeavour to confine my attention to the question before us, without suffering my reason to be biassed, or my inquiries diverted by low altercations, or personal animosities; nor when any other man deviates into reproachful and contemptuous language, shall I be induced to think more highly of either his arguments or capacity.

  Sir John BARNARD replied: — Sir, I have always heard it represented as an instance of integrity, when the tongue and heart move in concert, when the words are representations of the sentiments; and have, therefore, hitherto, endeavoured to explain my arguments with perspicuity, and impress my sentiments with force; I have thought it hypocrisy to treat stupidity with reverence, or to honour nonsense with the ceremony of a confutation. As knavery, so folly, that is not reclaimable, is to be speedily despatched; business is to be freed from obstruction, and society from a nuisance.

  Nor, sir, when I am censured by those whom I may offend, by the use of terms correspondent with my ideas, will I, by a tame and silent submission, give reason to suspect that I am conscious of a fault, but will treat the accusation with open contempt, and show no greater regard to the abettors, than to the authors of absurdity.

  That decency is of great use in publick debates, I shall readily allow; it may sometimes shelter folly from ridicule, and preserve villany from publick detection; nor is it ever more carefully supported, than when measures are promoted that nothing can preserve from contempt, but the solemnity with which they are established.

  Decency is a proper circumstance; but liberty is the essence of senatorial disquisitions: liberty is the parent of truth; but truth and decency are sometimes at variance: all men and all propositions are to be treated here as they deserve; and there are many who have no claim either to respect or decency.

  Mr. WINNINGTON then rose: — Sir, that it is improper in its own nature, and inconsistent with our constitution, to lay any man under an obligation to accuse himself, cannot be denied; it is, therefore, evident, that some amendment is necessary to the clause before us.

  I have, for this reason, drawn up an amendment, sir, which, if approved by the committee, will, in my opinion, remove all the objections to this part of the bill, and, by reconciling it with our natural and legal rights, I hope, induce those to approve it, who have hitherto opposed it.

  I therefore propose, that these words should be substituted instead of those which are the subject of the debate; or some other to this purpose: That no person shall be liable to be fined by virtue of this act, unless a witness, being examined, shall make oath of the misdemeanour or neglect.

  Thus the necessity of examining men upon oath in their own cause will be entirely taken away; and, as the clause will then stand, there will remain no suspicion of injustice, or oppression, because none can be practised without the concurrence of many persons of different interests.

  [This clause, though agreed to in the committee, was at last rejected.]

  Mr. Horace WALPOLE spoke next, to this effect: — Mr. Chairman, it does not yet appear that the gentlemen who have engaged in this debate, have sufficiently attended to the exigence of our affairs, and the importance of the question. They have lavished their oratory in declaiming upon the absurdity of the methods proposed, and discovered their sagacity, by showing how future navies may be supplied from charity schools, but have substituted no expedients in the place of those which they so warmly condemn, nor have condescended to inform us, how we may now guard our coasts, or man our fleets for immediate service.

  There are some circumstances, sir, of the present war, which make our necessity of raising sea forces greater than in those of William, and Anne that succeeded him. The chief advantages that we gained over the French, in their wars, were the consequences of our victories by land.

  At sea, sir, the balance was almost equal, though the Dutch fleet and ours were united; nor did they quit the sea because their fleets were destroyed, but because they were obliged to recruit their land forces with their sailors. Should they now declare war against us, they would be under no such necessity of defrauding the sea service, for they have now on foot an army of one hundred and sixty thousand men, which are maintained at no greater expense than forty thousand, by the British government; as they are, therefore, sir, so formidable by land, we have no way of opposing them but by our sea forces.

  Nor is their navy so contemptible as some have, either by conjecture or misinformation, represented it. The fleet which they have despatched to America, consists not of fewer than twenty ships, of which the least carry sixty guns, and they are fitting out now an equal number in their own ports; besides, their East India company is obliged to furnish ten ships of the line, at the demand of the government.

  Thus it appears that we
have neighbours sufficiently powerful to alarm us with the sense of immediate danger; danger which is made more imminent by the expeditious methods by which the French man their fleets, and which we must imitate if we hope to oppose them with success.

  I need not say how little we can depend upon any professions of neutrality, which will be best observed when they cannot be securely violated; or upon the pacifick inclination of their minister, which interest, persuasion, or caprice, may alter, and to which it is not very honourable to trust for safety. How can that nation sink lower, which is only free because it is not invaded by its neighbours; and retains its possessions, only because no other has leisure or inclination to take them away?

  If it be asked, what can provoke the French to interrupt us in the prosecution of our designs, and in the punishment of those who have plundered and insulted us, it is not only easy to urge the strict alliance between the two crowns, the ties of blood, the conformity of interests, and their equal hatred of the Britons, but another more immediate reason may be added. It is suspected, that under pretence of vindicating our own rights, we are endeavouring to gain the possession of the Spanish dominions, and engross the wealth of the new world; and that, therefore, it is the interest of every power, whose subjects traffick to those countries, to oppose us.

  Thus, whether we succeed or fail in our attempts upon America, we have the French power to apprehend. If we make conquests, they may, probably, think it necessary to obviate the torrent of our victories, and to hinder the increase of our dominions, that they may secure their own trade, and maintain their own influence.

  If we should be defeated, of which no man, sir, can deny the possibility, the inclination of all to insult the depressed, and to push down the falling, is well known; nor can it be expected that our hereditary enemies would neglect so fair an opportunity of attacking us.

  How they might ravage our coasts, and obstruct our trade; how they might triumph in the Channel, and block us up in our own ports, bombard our towns, and threaten us with invasions, I hope I need but barely mention, to incite this assembly to such despatch in manning our fleets, as may secure us at once from insults and from terrour.

  It is, undoubtedly, sir, in our power to raise a naval force sufficient to awe the ocean, and restrain the most daring of our enemies from any attempts against us; but this cannot be effected by harangues, objections, and disputations.

  There is nothing, sir, more frequently the subject of raillery or declamation, than the uselessness or danger of a standing army, to which I declare myself no otherwise inclined than by my concern for the common safety; I willingly allow that not one soldier ought to be supported by the publick, whose service is not necessary; but surely none of those who declare so warmly for the honour and privileges of their country, would expose it to the insults of foreign powers, without defence. If, therefore, they think the danger of land forces more than equivalent to the benefit, they ought unanimously to concur in the increase of our naval strength, by which they may be protected, but cannot be oppressed: they ought willingly to give their assistance to any propositions for making the fleet, formidable, that their declarations against the army may not be thought to proceed from a resolution to obstruct the measures of the government, rather than from zeal for the constitution. For he that equally opposes the establishment of the army, and the improvement of the navy, declares in effect against the security of the nation; and though, perhaps, without design, exposes his countrymen to the mercy of their enemies.

  Mr. PULTENEY spoke next: — Sir, I cannot discover for what reason the bill before us is so vigorously supported, but must observe, that I have seldom known such vehement and continued efforts produced by mere publick spirit, and unmingled regard for the happiness of the nation. Nothing, sir, that can be urged in favour of the measures now proposed has been omitted. When arguments are confuted, precedents are cited; when precedents fail, the advocates for the bill have recourse to terrour and necessity, and endeavour to frighten those whom they cannot convince.

  But, perhaps, sir, these formidable phantoms may soon be put to flight, and, like the other illusions of cowardice, disappear before the light. Perhaps this necessity will be found only chimerical; and these dangers appear only the visions of credulity, or the bugbears of imposture.

  To arrive at a clear view of our present condition, it will be necessary, sir, not to amuse ourselves with general assertions, or overwhelm our reason by terrifying exaggerations: let us consider distinctly the power and the conduct of our enemies, and inquire whether they do not affright us more than they are able to hurt us.

  That the force of Spain alone, sir, is much to be dreaded, no man will assert; for that empire, it is well known, has long been seized with all the symptoms of declining power, and has been supported, not by its own strength, but by the interests of its neighbours. The vast dominions of the Spaniards are only an empty show; they are lands without inhabitants, and, by consequence, without defence; they are rather excrescences, than members of the monarchy, and receive support rather than communicate. In the distant branches of their empire the government languishes, as the vital motion in an expiring body; and the struggles which they now make, may be termed rather agonies than efforts.

  From Spain, therefore, unassisted, we have nothing to apprehend, and yet from thence we have been threatened with insults and invasions.

  That the condition of the French is far different, cannot be denied; their commerce flourishes, their dominions are connected, their wealth increases, and their government operates with full vigour: their influence is great, and their name formidable. But I cannot allow, sir, that they have yet attained such a height of power as should alarm us with constant apprehensions, or that we ought to secure ourselves against them by the violation of our liberties. Not to urge that the loss of freedom, and the destruction of our constitution, are the worst consequences that can be apprehended from a conquest, and that to a slave the change of his master is of no great importance, it is evident, that the power of the French is of such kind as can only affect us remotely, and consequentially. They may fill the continent with alarms, and ravage the territories of Germany, by their numerous armies, but can only injure us by means of their fleets. We may wait, sir, without a panick terrour, though not without some degree of anxiety, the event of their attempts upon the neighbouring princes, and cannot be reduced to fight for our altars and our houses, but by a second armada, which, even then, the winds must favour, and a thousand circumstances concur to expedite.

  But that no such fleet can be fitted out by the united endeavours of the whole world; that our navy, in its present state, is superiour to any that can be brought against us, our ministers ought not to be ignorant: and, therefore, to dispirit the nation with apprehensions of armies hovering in the air, and of conquerors to be wafted over by supernatural means, is to destroy that happiness which government was ordained to preserve; to sink us to tameness and cowardice; and to betray us to insults and to robberies.

  If our danger, sir, be such as has been represented, to whom must we impute it? Upon whom are our weakness, our poverty, and our miseries to be charged? Upon whom, but those who have usurped the direction of affairs which they did not understand, or to which their solicitude for the preservation of their own power hindered them from attending?

  That the Spaniards, sir, are now enabled to make resistance, and, perhaps, to insult and depopulate our colonies; that the French have despatched a fleet into the American seas, to obstruct, as may be conjectured, the progress of our arms, and that we are in danger of meeting opposition which we did not expect, is too evident to be concealed.

  But, sir, is not the spirit of our enemies the consequence rather of our cowardice than of their own strength? Does not the opposition to our designs, by whatever nation it shall be made, arise from the contempt which has been brought upon us by our irresolution, forbearance, and delays? Had we resented the first insult, and repaired our earliest losses by vigorous reprisals, ou
r merchants had long ago carried on their traffick with security, our enemies would have courted us with respect, and our allies supported us with confidence.

  Our negotiations, treaties, proposals, and concessions, not only afforded them leisure to collect their forces, equip their fleets, and fortify their coasts; but gave them, likewise, spirit to resist those who could not be conquered but by their own cowardice and folly. By our ill-timed patience, and lingering preparations, we encouraged those to unite against us, who would, otherwise, have only hated us in secret; and deterred those from declaring in our favour, whom interest or gratitude might have inclined to assist us. For who will support those from whom no mutual support can be expected? And who will expect that those will defend their allies, who desert themselves?

  But, sir, however late our resentment was awakened, had the war been prosecuted vigorously after it was declared, we might have been now secure from danger, and freed from suspense, nor would any thing have remained but to give laws to our enemies.

  From the success of Vernon with so inconsiderable forces, we may conjecture what would have been performed with an armament proportioned to his undertaking; and why he was not better supplied, no reason has yet been given; nor can it be easily discovered why we either did not begin the war before our enemies had concerted their measures, or delay it till we had formed our own.

  Notwithstanding some opportunities have been neglected, and all the advantages of a sudden attack have been irrecoverably lost; notwithstanding our friends, sir, have learned to despise and neglect us, and our enemies are animated to confidence and obstinacy, yet our real and intrinsick strength continues the same; nor are there yet any preparations made against us by the enemy, with views beyond their own security and defence. It does not yet appear, sir, that our enemies, however insolent, look upon us as the proper objects of a conquest, or that they imagine it possible to besiege us in our own ports, or to confine us to the defence of our own country. We are not, therefore, to have recourse to measures, which, if they are ever to be admitted, can be justified by nothing but the utmost distress, and can only become proper, as the last and desperate expedient. The enemy, sir, ought to appear not only in our seas, but in our ports, before it can be necessary that one part of the nation should be enslaved for the preservation of the rest.