Complete Works of Samuel Johnson

by Samuel Johnson

  But this inquiry, my lords, must be, in my opinion, reserved for another day, when it may become the immediate subject of our consultations, with which it has at present no coherence, or to which, at least, it is very remotely related. For I am not able, upon the most impartial and the most attentive consideration of the address now proposed to your lordships, to perceive any necessity of a previous inquiry into the conduct of the war, the transaction of our negotiations, or the state of the kingdom, in order to our compliance with this motion, by which we shall be far from sheltering any crime from punishment, or any doubtful conduct from inquiry; shall be far from obstructing the course of national justice, or approving what we do not understand.

  The chief tendency of his majesty’s speech is to ask our advice on this extraordinary conjuncture of affairs; a conduct undoubtedly worthy of a British monarch, and which we ought not to requite with disrespect; but what less can be inferred from an alteration of our established forms of address, by an omission of any part of the speech? For what will be imagined by his majesty, by the nation, and by the whole world, but that we did not approve what we did not answer?

  The duke of ARGYLE spoke to the following purpose: — My lords, it is with great reason that the present time has been represented to us from the throne as a time of uncommon danger and disturbance, a time in which the barriers of kingdoms are broken down, in contempt of every law of heaven and of earth, and in which ambition, rapine, and oppression, seem to be let loose upon mankind; a time in which some nations send out armies and invade the territories of their neighbours, in opposition to the most solemn treaties, of which others, with equal perfidy, silently suffer, or secretly favour the violation.

  At a time like this, when treaties are considered only as momentary expedients, and alliances confer no security, it is evident that the preservation of our rights, our interest, and our commerce, must depend only on our natural strength; and that instead of cultivating the friendship of foreign powers, which we must purchase upon disadvantageous conditions, and which will be withdrawn from us whenever we shall need it; we ought, therefore, to collect our own force, and show the world how little we stand in need of assistance, and how little we have to fear from the most powerful of our enemies.

  Our country, my lords, seems designed by nature to subsist without any dependence on other nations, and by a steady and resolute improvement of these advantages with which providence has blessed it, may bid defiance to mankind; it might become, by the extension of our commerce, the general centre at which the wealth of the whole earth might be collected together, and from whence it might be issued upon proper occasions, for the diffusion of liberty, the repression of insolence, and the preservation of peace.

  But this glory, and this influence, my lords, must arise from domestick felicity; and domestick felicity can only be produced by a mutual confidence between the government and the people. Where the governours distrust the affections of their subjects, they will not be very solicitous to advance their happiness; for who will endeavour to increase that wealth which will, as he believes, be employed against him? Nor will the subjects cheerfully concur even with the necessary measures of their governours, whose general designs they conceive to be contrary to the publick interest; because any temporary success or accidental reputation, will only dazzle the eyes of the multitude, while their liberties are stolen away.

  This confidence, my lords, must be promoted where it exists, and regained where it is lost, by the open administration of justice, by impartial inquiries into publick transactions, by the exaltation of those whose wisdom and bravery has advanced the publick reputation, or increased the happiness of the nation, and the censure of those, however elate with dignities, or surrounded with dependants, who by their unskilfulness or dishonesty, have either embarrassed their country or betrayed it.

  For this reason, my lords, it is, in my opinion, necessary to gratify the nation, at the present juncture, with the prospect of those measures, without which no people can reasonably be satisfied; and to pacify their resentment of past injuries, and quiet their apprehensions of future miseries, by a possibility, at least, that they may see the authors of all our miscarriages called to a trial in open day, and the merit of those men acknowledged and rewarded, by whose resolution and integrity they imagine that the final ruin of themselves and posterity has been hitherto prevented.

  That the present discontent of the British nation is almost universal, that suspicion has infused itself into every rank and denomination of men, that complaints of the neglect of our commerce, the misapplication of our treasure, and the unsuccessfulness of our arms, are to be heard from every mouth, and in every place, where men dare utter their sentiments, I suppose, my lords, no man will deny; for whoever should stand up in opposition to the truth of a fact so generally known, would distinguish himself, even in this age of effrontery and corruption, by a contempt of reputation, not yet known amongst mankind.

  And indeed, my lords, it must be confessed that these discontents and clamours are produced by such an appearance of folly, or of treachery, as few ages or nations have ever known; by such an obstinate perseverance in bad measures, as shame has hitherto prevented in those upon whom nobler motives, fidelity to their trust, and love of their country, had lost their influence.

  Other ministers, when they have formed designs of sacrificing the publick interest to their own, have been compelled to better measures by timely discoveries, and just representations; they have been criminal only because they hoped for secrecy, and have vindicated their conduct no longer than while they had hopes that their apologies might deceive.

  But our heroick ministers, my lords, have set themselves free from the shackles of circumspection, they have disburdened themselves of the embarrassments of caution, and claim an exemption from the necessity of supporting their measures by laborious deductions and artful reasonings; they defy the publick when they can no longer delude it, and prosecute, in the face of the sun, those measures which they have not been able to support, and of which the fatal consequences are foreseen by the whole nation.

  When they have been detected in one absurdity, they take shelter in another; when experience has shown that one of their attempts was designed only to injure their country, they propose a second of the same kind with equal confidence, boast again of their integrity, and again require the concurrence of the legislature, and the support of the people.

  When they had for a long time suffered our trading vessels to be seized in sight of our own ports, when they had despatched fleets into the Mediterranean, only to lie exposed to the injuries of the weather, and to sail from one coast to another, only to show that they had no hostile intentions, and that they were fitted out by the friends of the Spaniards, only to amuse and exhaust the nation, they at length thought it necessary to lull the impatience of the people, who began to discover that they had hitherto been harassed with taxes and impresses to no purpose, by the appearance of a new effort for the subjection of the enemy, and to divert, by the expectations which an army and a fleet naturally raise, any clamours at their past conduct’.

  For this end, having entered into their usual consultations, they projected an expedition into America, for which they raised forces and procured transports, with all the pomp of preparation for the conquest of half the continent, not so much to alarm the Spaniards, which I conceive but a secondary view, as to fill the people of Britain with amusing prospects of great achievements, of the addition of new dominions to this empire, and an ample reparation for all their damages.

  Thus provided with forces sufficient, in appearance, for this mighty enterprise, they embarked them after many delays, and dismissed them to their fate, having first disposed their regulations in such a manner, that it was impossible that they should meet with success.

  I can call your lordships to witness, that this impossibility was not discovered by me after the event, for I foretold in this house, that their designs, so conducted, must evidently miscarry.
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  Nor was this prediction, my lords, the effect of any uncommon sagacity, or any accidental conjecture on future consequences which happened to be right; for to any man who has had opportunities of observing that knowledge in war is necessary to success, and experience is the foundation of knowledge, it was sufficiently plain that our forces must be repulsed.

  The forces sent into America, my lords, were newly raised, placed under the direction of officers not less ignorant than themselves, and commanded by a man who never had commanded any troops before; and who, however laudable he might have discharged the duty of a captain, was wholly unacquainted with the province of a general.

  Yet was this man, my lords, preferred, not only to a multitude of other officers, to whom experience must have been of small advantage, if it did not furnish them with knowledge far superiour to his, but to five and forty generals, of whom I hope the nation has no reason to suspect that any of them would not gladly have served it on an occasion of so great importance, and willingly have conducted an expedition intended to retrieve the honour of the British name, the terrour of our arms, and the security of our commerce.

  When raw troops, my lords, with young officers, are to act under the command of an unskilful general, what is it reasonable to expect, but what has happened — overthrow, slaughter, and ignominy? What but that cheap victories should heighten the insolence, and harden the obstinacy of our enemies; and that we should not only be weakened by our loss, but dispirited by our disgrace; by the disgrace of being overthrown by those whom we have despised, and with whom nothing but our own folly could have reduced us to a level.

  The other conjecture which I ventured to propose to your lordships, with regard to the queen of Hungary, was not founded on facts equally evident with the former, though experience has discovered that it was equally true. It was then asserted, both by other lords and myself, that money would be chosen by that princess as an assistance more useful than forces; an opinion, which the lords who are engaged in the administration vigorously opposed. In consequence of their determination, forces were hired, for what purpose — let them now declare, since none but themselves have yet known.

  That at least they were not taken into our pay for the service for which they were required, the succour of the house of Austria, is most evident, unless the name of armies is imagined sufficient to intimidate the French, as the Spaniards are to be subdued by the sight of fleets. They never marched towards her frontiers, never opposed her enemies, or afforded her the least assistance, but stood idle and unconcerned in the territories of Hanover; nor was it known that they existed by any other proof than that remittances were made for their pay.

  Such, my lords, was the assistance, asked with so much solicitude, and levied with so much expedition, for the queen of Hungary; such were the effects of the zeal of our illustrious ministers for the preservation of that august house, to whose alliance we are perhaps indebted for the preservation of our religion and our liberties, and to which all Europe must have recourse for shelter from the oppression of France.

  When this formidable body of men was assembled, my lords, and reviewed, they were perhaps found too graceful and too well sorted to be exposed to the dangers of a battle; and the same tenderness that has so long preserved our own forces from any other field than the park, might rescue them from the fatigues of accompanying the active hussars in their incursions, or the steady Austrians in their conflicts.

  Whatever was the reason, my lords, it is certain that they have been reserved for other opportunities of signalizing their courage; and they slept in quiet, and fattened upon the wealth of Britain, while the enemies of our illustrious, magnanimous, and unfortunate ally, entered her territories without opposition, marched through them uninterrupted, and rather took possession than made conquests.

  That in this condition of her affairs, the queen would refuse an offer of twelve thousand men; that when she was driven from one country to another, attended by an army scarcely sufficient to form a flying camp, she would not gladly have accepted a reinforcement so powerful, let those believe, my lords, who have yet never been deceived by ministerial faith.

  The real designs of the ministry, my lords, are sufficiently obvious, nor is any thing more certain, than that they had, in requiring this mock assistance for the queen of Hungary, no other design than that of raising her expectations only to deceive them; and to divert her, by confidence in their preparations, from having recourse to more efficacious expedients, that she might become, without resistance, the slave of France.

  For this purpose they determined to succour her with forces rather than with money, because many reasons might be pretended, by which the march of the forces might be retarded; but the money, my lords, when granted, must have been more speedily remitted.

  At last the queen, weary with delays, and undoubtedly sufficiently informed of those designs, which are now, however generally discovered, confidently denied, desired a supply of money, which might be granted without leaving Hanover exposed to an invasion. With this demand, which they had no pretence to deny, they have yet found expedients to delay their compliance. For it does not appear that the whole sum granted has yet been paid; and it would well become those noble lords, whose offices give them an opportunity of observing the distribution of the publick money, to justify themselves from the suspicions of the nation, by declaring openly what has been remitted, and what yet remains to be disbursed for some other purpose.

  Is it not, therefore, evident, my lords, that by promising assistance to this unhappy princess, the ministry intended to deceive her? That when they flattered her with the approach of auxiliary forces, they designed only to station them where they might garrison the frontiers of Hanover? And that when they forced her to solicit for pecuniary aid, they delayed the payment of the subsidy, that it might not be received till it could produce no effect?

  This, my lords, is not only evident from the manifest absurdity of their conduct upon any other supposition, but from the general scheme which has always been pursued by the man whose dictatorial instructions regulate the opinions of all those that constitute the ministry, and of whom it is well known, that it has been the great purpose of his life to aggrandize France, by applying to her for assistance in imaginary distresses from fictitious confederacies, and by sacrificing to her in return the house of Austria, and the commerce of Britain.

  How then, my lords, can it be asserted by us, that the house of Austria has been vigilantly supported? How can we approve measures, of which we discover no effect but the expense of the nation? A double expense, produced first by raising troops, which though granted for the assistance of the Austrians, have been made use of only for the protection of Hanover, and by the grant of money in the place of these troops, which were thus fallaciously obtained, and thus unprofitably employed!

  For what purpose these forces were in reality raised, I suppose no man can be ignorant, and no man to whom it is known can possibly approve it. How then, my lords, can we concur in an address by which the people must be persuaded, that we either are deceived ourselves, or endeavour to impose upon them; that we either dare not condemn any measures, however destructive, or that, at least, we are in haste to approve them, lest inquiry should discover their tendency too plainly to leave us the power of applauding them, without an open declaration of our own impotence, or disregard for the welfare of the publick.

  The complaints of the people are already clamorous, and their discontent open and universal; and surely the voice of the people ought, at least, to awake us to an examination of their condition. And though we should not immediately condemn those whom they censure and detest, as the authors of their miseries, we ought, at least, to pay so much regard to the accusation of the whole community, as not to reject it without inquiry, as a suspicion merely chimerical.

  Whether these complaints and suspicions, my lords, proceed from real injuries and imminent dangers, or from false accusations and groundless terrours, they equally deserve the atte
ntion of this house, whose great care is the happiness of the people: people equally worthy of your tenderness and regard, whether they are betrayed by one party or another; whether they are plundered by the advocates of the administration, under pretence of supporting the government, or affrighted with unreasonable clamours by the opponents of the court, under the specious appearance of protecting liberty. The people, my lords, are in either case equally miserable, and deserve equally to be rescued from distress.

  By what method, my lords, can this be effected, but by some publick assurance from this house, that the transactions of the nation shall no longer be concealed in impenetrable secrecy; that measures shall be no longer approved without examination; that publick evils shall be traced to their causes; and that disgrace, which they have hitherto brought upon the publick, shall fall for the future only upon the authors of them.

  Of giving this assurance, and of quieting by it the clamours of the people; clamours which, whether just or not, are too formidable to be slighted, and too loud not to be heard, we have now the most proper opportunity before us. The address which the practice of our ancestors requires us to make to his majesty, may give us occasion of expressing at once our loyalty to the crown, and our fidelity to our country; our zeal for the honour of our sovereign, and our regard for the happiness of the people.

  For this purpose it is necessary that, as we preserve the practice of our ancestors in one respect, we revive it in another; that we imitate those in just freedom of language whom we follow in the decent forms of ceremony; and show that as we preserve, like them, a due sense of the regal dignity, so, like them, we know likewise how to preserve our own, and despise flattery on one side, as we decline rudeness on the other.