The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 10

But now, sir, when some of the difficulties are surmounted, some expedients luckily struck out, some objections removed, and the great design brought nearer to execution, we are on a sudden informed, that all our labour is superfluous, that we are amusing ourselves with useless consultations, providing against calamities that can never happen, and raising bulwarks without an enemy; that, therefore, the question before us is of no importance, and the bill ought, without farther examination, to be totally rejected.

I suppose, sir, I shall be readily believed, when I declare that I shall willingly admit any arguments that may evince our safety; but, in proportion as real freedom from danger is to be desired, a supine and indolent neglect of it is to be dreaded and avoided; and I cannot but fear that our enemies are more formidable, and more malicious, than the gentlemen that oppose this bill have represented them.

This bill can only be opposed upon the supposition that it gives a sanction to severities, more rigorous than our present circumstances require; for nothing can be more fallacious or invidious than a comparison of this law with the demand of ship-money, a demand contrary to all law, and enforced by the manifest exertion of arbitrary power.

How has the conduct of his present majesty any resemblance with that of Charles the first? Is any money levied by order of the council? Are the determinations of the judges set in opposition to the decrees of the senate? Is any man injured in his property by an unlimited extension of the prerogative? or any tribunal established superiour to the laws of the nation?

To draw parallels, sir, where there is no resemblance; and to accuse, by insinuations, where there is no shadow of a crime; to raise outcries when no injury is attempted; and to deny a real necessity because it was once pretended for a bad purpose; is surely not to advance the publick service, which can be promoted only by just reasonings, and calm reflections, not by sophistry and satire, by insinuations without ground, and by instances beside the purpose.

Mr. LITTLETON answered:—Sir, true zeal for the service of the publick is never discovered by collusive subterfuges and malicious representations; a mind, attentive to the common good, would hardly, on an occasion like this, have been at leisure to pervert an harmless illustration, and extract disaffection from a casual remark.

It is, indeed, not impossible, sir, that I might express myself obscurely; and it may be, therefore, necessary to declare that I intended no disrespectful reflection on the conduct of his majesty; but must observe, at the same time, that obscure or inaccurate expressions ought always to be interpreted in the most inoffensive meaning, and that to be too sagacious in discovering concealed insinuations, is no great proof of superiour integrity.

Wisdom, sir, is seldom captious, and honesty seldom suspicious; a man capable of comprehending the whole extent of a question, disdains to divert his attention by trifling observations; and he that is above the practice of little arts, or the motions of petty malice, does not easily imagine them incident to another.

That in the question of ship-money necessity was pretended, cannot be denied; and, therefore, all that I asserted, which was only that the nation had been once terrified without reason, by the formidable sound of necessity, is evident and uncontested.

When a fraud has once been practised, it is of use to remember it, that we may not twice be deceived by the same artifice; and, therefore, I mentioned the plea of necessity, that it may be inquired whether it is now more true than before.

That the senate, sir, and not the judges, is now applied to, is no proof of the validity of the arguments which have been produced; for in the days of ship-money, the consent of the senate had been asked, had there been any prospect of obtaining it; but the court had been convinced, by frequent experiments, of the inflexibility of the senate, and despaired of influencing them by prospects of advantage, or intimidating them by frowns or menaces.

May this and every future senate imitate their conduct, and, like them, distinguish between real and pretended necessity; and let not us be terrified, by idle clamours, into the establishment of a law at once useless and oppressive.

Sir William YONGE replied:—Sir, that I did not intend to misrepresent the meaning of the honourable gentleman, I hope it is not necessary to declare; and that I have, in reality, been guilty of any misrepresentation, I am not yet convinced. If he did not intend a parallel between ship-money and the present bill, to what purpose was his observation? and if he did intend it, was it not proper to show there was no resemblance, and that all which could be inferred from it was, therefore, fallacious and inconclusive?

Nor do I only differ, sir, in opinion with the honourable gentleman with relation to his comparison of measures, which have nothing in common with each other; but will venture to declare, that he is not more accurate in his citations from history. The king did not apply to the judges, because the senate would not have granted him the money that he demanded, but because his chief ambition was to govern the nation by the prerogative alone, and to free himself and his descendants from senatorial inquiries.

That this account, sir, is just, I am confident the histories of those times will discover; and, therefore, any invidious comparison between that senate and any other, is without foundation in reason or in truth.

Mr. BATHURST spoke as follows:—Sir, that this law will easily admit, in the execution of it, such abuses as will overbalance the benefits, may readily be proved; and it will not be consistent with that regard to the publick, expected from us by those whom we represent, to enact a law which may probably become an instrument of oppression.

The servant by whom I am now attended, may be termed, according to the determination of the vindicators of this bill, a seafaring man, having been once in the West Indies; and he may, therefore, be forced from my service, and dragged into a ship, by the authority of a justice of the peace, perhaps of some abandoned prostitute, dignified with a commission only to influence elections, and awe those whom excises and riot-acts cannot subdue.

I think it, sir, not improper to declare, that I would by force oppose the execution of a law like this; that I would bar my doors and defend them; that I would call my neighbours to my assistance; and treat those who should attempt to enter without my consent, as thieves, ruffians, and murderers.

Lord GAGE spoke to this effect:—Sir, it is well known that by the laws of this nation, poverty is, in some degree, considered as a crime, and that the debtor has only this advantage over the felon, that he cannot be pursued into his dwelling, nor be forced from the shelter of his own house.

I think it is universally agreed, that the condition of a man in debt is already sufficiently miserable, and that it would be more worthy of the legislative power to contrive alleviations of his hardships, than additions to them; and it seems, therefore, no inconsiderable objection to this bill, that, by conferring the power of entering houses by force, it may give the harpies of the law an opportunity of entering, in the tumult of an impress, and of dragging a debtor to a noisome prison, under pretence of forcing sailors into the service of the crown.

Mr. TRACEY then said:—Sir, that some law for the ends proposed by the bill before us, is necessary, I do not see how we can doubt, after the declarations of the admirals, who are fully acquainted with the service for which provision is to be made; and of the ministry, whose knowledge of the present state of our own strength, and the designs of our enemies, is, doubtless, more exact than they can acquire who are not engaged in publick employments.

If, therefore, the measures now proposed are necessary, though they may not be agreeable to the present dispositions of the people, for whose preservation they are intended, I shall think it my duty to concur in them, that the publick service may not be retarded, nor the safety of a whole nation hazarded, by a scrupulous attention to minute objections.

Mr. CAMPBELL spoke as follows:—Sir, I have often, amidst my elogies on British liberty, and my declarations of the excellence of our constitution, the impartiality of our government, and the efficacy of our laws, been reproached by foreigners with the practice of impresses, as a hardship which would raise a rebellion in absolute monarchies, and kindle those nations into madness, that have, for many ages, known no other law than the will of their princes. A hardship which includes imprisonment and slavery, and to which, therefore, no aggravations ought to be added.

But if justice and reason, sir, are to be overborne by necessity; if necessity is to stop our ears against the complaints of the oppressed, and harden our hearts at the sight of their misery, let it, at least, not destroy our memories, nor deprive us of the advantages of experience.

Let us inquire, sir, what were the effects of this hateful authority when it was formerly consigned to the magistrates. Were our fleets manned in an instant? were our harbours immediately crowded with sailors? did we surprise our enemies by our expedition, and make conquests before an invasion could be suspected? I have heard, sir, of no such consequences, nor of any advantages which deserved to be purchased by tyranny and oppression. We have found that very few were procured by the magistrates, and the charge of seizing and conveying was very considerable; and, therefore, cannot but conclude that illegal measures, which have been once tried without success, should, for a double reason, never be revived.

Sir John BARNARD spoke to this effect:—Sir, it is not without regret that I rise so often on this occasion: for to dispute with those whose determinations are not influenced by reason, is a ridiculous task, a tiresome labour, without prospect of reward.

But, as an honourable gentleman has lately remarked, that by denying the necessity of the bill, instead of making objections to particular clauses, the whole design of finding expedients to supply the sea service is at once defeated; I think it necessary to remind him, that I have made many objections to this bill, and supported them by reasons which have not yet been answered. But I shall now no longer confine my remarks to single errours, but observe that there is one general defect, by which the whole bill is made absurd and useless.

For the foundation of a law like this, sir, the description of a seaman ought to be accurately laid down, it ought to be declared what acts shall subject him to that denomination, and by what means, after having once enlisted himself in this unhappy class of men, he may withdraw into a more secure and happy state of life.

Is a man, who has once only lost sight of the shore, to be for ever hunted as a seaman? Is a man, who, by traffick, has enriched a family, to be forced from his possessions by the authority of an impress? Is a man, who has purchased an estate, and built a seat, to solicit the admiralty for a protection from the neighbouring constable? Such questions as these, sir, may be asked, which the bill before us will enable no man to answer.

If a bill for this purpose be truly necessary, let it, at least, be freed from such offensive absurdities; let it be drawn up in a form as different as is possible from that of the bill before us; and, at last, I am far from imagining that a law will be contrived not injurious to individuals, nor detrimental to the publick; not contrary to the first principles of our establishment, and not loaded with folly and absurdities.

Mr. VYNER then spoke:—Sir, a definition of a seaman is so necessary in a bill for this purpose, that the omission of it will defeat all the methods that can be suggested. How shall a law be executed, or a penalty inflicted, when the magistrate has no certain marks whereby he may distinguish a criminal? and when even the man that is prosecuted may not be conscious of guilt, or know that the law extended to him, which he is charged with having offended.

If, in defining a seaman on the present occasion, it be thought proper to have any regard to the example of our predecessors, whose wisdom has, in this debate, been so much magnified; it may be observed, that a seaman has been formerly defined, a man who haunts the seas; a definition which seems to imply habit and continuance, and not to comprehend a man who has, perhaps, never gone more than a single voyage.

But though this definition, sir, should be added to the amendments already proposed, and the bill thereby be brought somewhat nearer to the constitutional principles of our government; I cannot yet think it so much rectified, as that the hardships will not outweigh the benefits, and, therefore, shall continue to oppose the bill, though to some particular clauses I have no objection.

[The term seafaring man was left out, and the several amendments were admitted in the committee, but the clauses themselves, to the number of eleven, were given up on the report.]

HOUSE OF COMMONS, MARCH 10, 1740-1

The commons resolved their house into a committee, to consider the bill for the encouragement of sailors, when admiral WAGER offered a clause, by which it was to be enacted, "That no merchants, or bodies corporate or politick, shall hire sailors at higher wages than thirty-five shillings for the month, on pain of forfeiting the treble value of the sum so agreed for;" which law was to commence after fifteen days, and continue for a time to be agreed on by the house: and then spoke to the following purpose:—

Sir, the necessity of this clause must be so apparent to every gentleman acquainted with naval and commercial affairs, that as no opposition can be apprehended, very few arguments will be requisite to introduce it.

How much the publick calamities of war are improved by the sailors to their own private advantage; how generally they shun the publick service, in hopes of receiving exorbitant wages from the merchants; and how much they extort from the merchants, by threatening to leave their service for that of the crown, is universally known to every officer of the navy, and every commander of a trading vessel.

A law, therefore, sir, to restrain them in time of war from such exorbitant demands; to deprive them of those prospects which have often no other effect than to lull them in idleness, while they skulk about in expectation of higher wages; and to hinder them from deceiving themselves, embarrassing the merchants, and neglecting the general interest of their country, is undoubtedly just. It is just, sir, because in regard to the publick it is necessary to prevent the greatest calamity that can fall upon a people, to preserve us from receiving laws from the most implacable of our enemies; and it is just, because with respect to particular men it has no tendency but to suppress idleness, fraud, and extortion.

Mr. Henby FOX spoke next:—Sir, I have no objection to any part of this clause, except the day proposed for the commencement: to make a law against any pernicious practice, to which there are strong temptations, and to give those whose interest may incite them to it, time to effect their schemes, before the law shall begin to operate, seems not very consistent with wisdom or vigilance.

It is not denied, sir, that the merchants are betrayed by that regard to private interest which prevails too frequently over nobler views, to bribe away from the service of the crown, by large rewards, those sailors whose assistance is now so necessary to the publick; and, therefore, it is not to be imagined that they will not employ their utmost diligence to improve the interval which the bill allows in making contracts for the ensuing, year, and that the sailors will not eagerly engage themselves before this law shall preclude their prospects of advantage.

As, therefore, to make no law, and to make a law that will not be observed, is in consequence the same; and the time allowed by the clause, as it now stands, may make the whole provision ineffectual; it is my opinion, that either it ought to begin to operate to-morrow, or that we ought to leave the whole affair in its present state.

Then sir Robert WALPOLE spoke as follows:—Sir, nothing has a greater appearance of injustice, than to punish men by virtue of laws, with which they were not acquainted; the law, therefore, is always supposed to be known by those who have offended it, because it is the duty of every man to know it; and certainly it ought to be the care of the legislature, that those whom a law will affect, may have a possibility of knowing it, and that those may not be punished for failing in their duty, whom nothing but inevitable ignorance has betrayed into offence.

But if the operation of this law should commence to-morrow, what numbers may break it, and suffer by the breach of it involuntarily, and without design; and how shall we vindicate ourselves from having been accessory to the crime which we censure and punish?

Mr. FOX replied:—Sir, I shall not urge in defence of my motion what is generally known, and has been frequently inculcated in all debates upon this bill, that private considerations ought always to give way to the necessities of the publick; for I think it sufficient to observe, that there is a distinction to be made between punishments and restraints, and that we never can be too early in the prevention of pernicious practices, though we may sometimes delay to punish them.

The law will be known to-morrow, to far the greatest number of those who may be tempted to defeat it; and if there be others that break it ignorantly, how will they find themselves injured by being only obliged to pay less than they promised, which is all that I should propose without longer warning. The debate upon this particular, will be at length reduced to a question, whether a law for this purpose is just and expedient? If a law be necessary, it is necessary that it should be executed; and it can be executed only by commencing to-morrow.

Lord BALTIMORE spoke thus:—Sir, it appears to me of no great importance how soon the operation of the law commences, or how long it is delayed, because I see no reason for imagining that it will at any time produce the effects proposed by it.

It has been the amusement, sir, of a great part of my life, to converse with men whose inclinations or employments have made them well acquainted with maritime affairs, and amidst innumerable other schemes for the promotion of trade, have heard some for the regulation of wages in trading ships; schemes, at the first appearance plausible and likely to succeed, but, upon a nearer inquiry, evidently entangled with insuperable difficulties, and never to be executed without danger of injuring the commerce of the nation.

The clause, sir, now before us contains, in my opinion, one of those visionary provisions, which, however infallible they may appear, will be easily defeated, and will have no other effect than to promote cunning and fraud, and to teach men those acts of collusion, with which they would otherwise never have been acquainted.

Mr. LODWICK spoke to this effect:—Sir, I agree with the honourable gentleman by whom this clause has been offered, that the end for which it is proposed, is worthy of the closest attention of the legislative power, and that the evils of which the prevention is now endeavoured, may in some measure not only obstruct our traffick, but endanger our country; and shall therefore very readily concur in any measures for this purpose, that shall not appear either unjust or ineffectual.

Whether this clause will be sufficient to restrain all elusive contracts, and whether all the little artifices of interest are sufficiently obviated, I am yet unable to determine; but by a reflection upon the multiplicity of relations to be considered, and the variety of circumstances to be adjusted in a provision of this kind, I am inclined to think that, it is not the business of a transient inquiry, or of a single clause, but that it will demand a separate law, and engage the deliberation and regard of this whole assembly.

Sir John BARNARD said:—Sir, notwithstanding the impatience and resentment with which some men see their mistakes and ignorance detected; notwithstanding the reverence which negligence and haste are said to be entitled to from this assembly, I shall declare once more, without the apprehension of being confuted, that this bill was drawn up without consideration, and is defended without being understood; that after all the amendments which have been admitted, and all the additions proposed, it will be oppressive and ineffectual, a chaos of absurdities, and a monument of ignorance.

Sir Robert WALPOLE replied:—Sir, the present business of this assembly is to examine the clause before us; but to deviate from so necessary an inquiry into loud exclamations against the whole bill, is to obstruct the course of the debate, to perplex our attention, and interrupt the senate in its deliberation upon questions, in the determination of which the security of the publick is nearly concerned.

The war, sir, in which we are now engaged, and, I may add, engaged by the general request of the whole nation, can be prosecuted only by the assistance of the seamen, from whom it is not to be expected that they will sacrifice their immediate advantage to the security of their country. Publick spirit, where it is to be found, is the result of reflection, refined by study and exalted by education, and is not to be hoped for among those whom low fortune has condemned to perpetual drudgery. It must be, therefore, necessary to supply the defects of education, and to produce, by salutary coercions, those effects which it is vain to expect from other causes.

That the service of the sailors will be set up to sale by auction, and that the merchants will bid against the government, is incontestable; nor is there any doubt that they will be able to offer the highest price, because they will take care to repay themselves by raising the value of their goods. Thus, without some restraint upon the merchants, our enemies, who are not debarred by their form of government from any method which policy can invent, or absolute power put in execution, will preclude all our designs, and set at defiance a nation superiour to themselves.

Sir John BARNARD then said:—Sir, I think myself obliged by my duty to my country, and by my gratitude to those by whose industry we are enriched, and by whose courage we are defended, to make, once more, a declaration, not against particular clauses, not against single circumstances, but against the whole bill; a bill unjust and oppressive, absurd and ridiculous; a bill to harass the industrious and distress the honest, to puzzle the wise and add power to the cruel; a bill which cannot be read without astonishment, nor passed without the violation of our constitution, and an equal disregard of policy and humanity.

All these assertions will need to be proved only by a bare perusal of this hateful bill, by which the meanest, the most worthless reptile, exalted to a petty office by serving a wretch only superiour to him in fortune, is enabled to flush his authority by tyrannising over those who every hour deserve the publick acknowledgments of the community; to intrude upon the retreats of brave men, fatigued and exhausted by honest industry, to drag them out with all the wantonness of grovelling authority, and chain them to the oar without a moment's respite, or perhaps oblige them to purchase, with the gains of a dangerous voyage, or the plunder of an enemy lately conquered, a short interval to settle their affairs, or bid their children farewell.

Let any gentleman in this house, let those, sir, who now sit at ease, projecting laws of oppression, and conferring upon their own slaves such licentious authority, pause a few moments, and imagine themselves exposed to the same hardships by a power superiour to their own; let them conceive themselves torn from the tenderness and caresses of their families by midnight irruptions, dragged in triumph through the streets by a despicable officer, and placed under the command of those by whom they have, perhaps, been already oppressed and insulted. Why should we imagine that the race of men for whom those cruelties are preparing, have less sensibility than ourselves? Why should we believe that they will suffer without complaint, and be injured without resentment? Why should we conceive that they will not at once deliver themselves, and punish their oppressors, by deserting that country where they are considered as felons, and laying hold on those rewards and privileges which no other government will deny them?