1751. PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. 451 ing this would be to return to our ancient method, which was to defire our Speaker to draw up fuch an addrefs as he thought proper for the occafion; for if you, Sir, were to draw up our addrefs for us, I am very fure it would not be drawn up A according to the direction of any minifter, nor would it be crammed with fullome panegyricks upon our late measures. It would be fuch an one as would be worthy of a British parliament to prefent, and a British fovereign to receive. B As to the addrefs now under confideration, Sir, it cannot well be fuppofed to be the work of any one minifter, for it is well known, that at present we have two fets of minifters; and tho' they do not always fo cordially concur, yet they have, C I believe, concurred in this, and confequently, I must look on it as the joint production of the two fets, contending which fhall treat us the moft haughtily, which fhall render us the most fervile; for if it be fervility to applaud measures we know D nothing of, to applaud measures we have great reafon to condemn, our agreeing to this addrefs will, I think, be as ftrong an inftance of it as we can give. I have already faid, Sir, that the oppofition to this address is chiefly founded upon our want of know. E ledge, by which I mean, parliamentary knowledge, which is certainly the only proper foundation for any parliamentary refolution; but this cause of oppofition must be rendered ftill much stronger, when all the other forts of knowledge we F have, operate against the refolution propofed; and this is really the case at prefent. When the people without doors read that fentence in the addrefs propofed, by which we exprefs our warmeft acknowledgments for his majesty's unwearied endea. G vours to establish the prefent happy tranquillity upon the fureft foundation, will they not fuppofe, that we not only knew what the foundation aimed at was, but also that we thought the foundation aimed at, the fureft that could be thought of? Yet neither of these fuppofitions will be right: We have no proper knowledge of the foundation aimed at ; and from the imperfect knowledge we have, we must judge it to be the election of an infant for king of the Romans, which, in my opinion, is more likely to difturb than cftablish the prefent happy tranquillity; because it will be a ftep towards overturning the prefent conftitution of the empire, by rendering the imperial dignity hereditary inftead of being elective. The conftitution of Germany has provided vicars for the government of it, during a vacancy of the imperial throne, but it has provided no regents, protectors, or guardians for a minor emperor, because it was never fuppofed that a minor would be chofen; and if fuch an one were to be chofen, there are fo many things to fettle both before and after the election, that I doubt if it be poffible to bring it about. The attempt to chufe an infant for king of the Romans will therefore, I fear, raise difturbances; and should it be poffible to fucceed, it will be found but a fandy foundation, in cafe the emperor fhould die before that infant's coming of age. Therefore this is a meafure which I do not think worth the rifk, the pains, and the expence of the execution; and confequently I cannot, in my prefent way of thinking, agree to bestow any encomium upon it. Now, Sir, with regard to our treaty with Spain, I was furprised to hear an Hon. gentleman lay, that by the breaking out of the war the obligations were cancelled, which the crown of Spain lay under to repair the loffes of our South-Sea company, and of our plundered merchants: It is the first time I ever heard, that a man's refufing to do juftice cancelled the obligation he lay und r** do justice, or that a man's f payment of a bond canc PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. O&. A 452 B our being drove not only from those bays, but from the Mufquetto fhore, where we have had fettlements, and where the inhabitants have acknowledged themselves fubjects of GreatBritain for many years. And as to the article of no fearch in the open feas, I muft ftill, Sir, think it an article of great confequence: I muft ftill think, that the parliament was in the right to advise its being infifted on as a preliminary to any treaty of peace; and an Hon. gentleman's having altered his opinion, or faying that he is now ten years older, will not convince me that the advice is wrong. I have confidered it coolly as well as he, and the more I do confider it, I am the more fully convinced of its being abfolutely neceffary for us to infift upon it. Great quantities of what the Spaniards call contraband goods are often brought to Jamaica and our other fettlements, by permiffion of the Spanish governors, in exchange for provifions carried to them, and I doubt much if our merchants will D without which their fettlements would fay fo; at leaft, I think, we fhould have their opinion, before we congratulate upon the conclufion of this treaty. Befides, Sir, from what we know of this treaty, we must fuppofe, that all the particular differences between E the two nations are not fettled, un-. lefs it be understood that all our other claims are thereby given up, which I fufpect the court of Spain will infift on; and that they inferted in this treaty the article relating to Tortuga for this very purpose. From that F article they will infift, that every claim not mentioned in this treaty was by us given up, and confequently, that we have given up our right to cut logwood in the bays of Honduras and Campechey, and our right established by former treaties, to G trade with the natives in every part of America, where the Spaniards have no forts or fettlements. I fhall therefore expect very foon to hear of fometimes be in danger of ftarving: Shall we allow our fhips to be feized and confifcated for bringing those goods from our own fettlements to Great-Britain? We therefore ought to infift upon it, that no fhip fhall be feized and confifcated without a full proof of her having been carrying on a prohibited trade, nor any fhip fearched at fea, unless from her papers or otherwise there appears a ftrong fufpicion of her having been concerned in fuch a trade. Vifiting we may admit of, but not fearching; for even in time of war, fearching without full grounds of fufpicion, is never allowed for preventing the carrying of warlike ftores, or other contraband goods, to an enemy; and the. manner of vifiting is by many treaties between nations prefcribed, which may be made the ground-work of an explanation between the Spaniards and us; for fome new explanation is certainly necessary for us, tho' not for them.. 1751. PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. 453 them. Our right to a free navigation the Hon. gentleman, who first spoke in favour of it, furnished me with an unanswerable argument againft it, which is that of the fubfidy's being more than we can fpare; for unless we continue the land-tax at 4s. in the pound, I will venture to say, we cannot fpare a fhilling to any prince in Germany, without facrilegioufly feizing upon the finking fund; and when our landed gentlemen have so long paid 4s. in the pound, when the impofition of 1s. in the pound has raifed fuch a combuftion in France, will any gentleman dare to propose the continuance of 4s. in the pound here, for the fake of bribing the princes of Germany to do what? To preferve the freedom and independency of their native country. CI fay, princes of Germany, Sir, because this fubfidy to Bavaria will fignify nothing, unless we take half a fcore more of them into our pay; and when we have done fo for feven years of peace, they may give us the flip, as others have done, as foon as Da war breaks out. The Hon. gen Sir, we are in the fame cafe with regard to the French: They are daily incroaching upon us, they are daily disturbing us in poffeffions that have been yielded to us by the most folemn treaties; and while we allow them to go on, they will certainly continue to negotiate with us as long as we pleafe. The Spanish minifters may cajole us with affurances of their fincere dif- E pofition to restore the ancient friendfhip between the two nations: The French may cajole us with declarations of their fincere inclination to preferve the peace; but do not their actions every day indicate the contrary? A British minifter may have F his reafons for fuffering himself to be fo cajoled; but what reasons can a British parliament have? Will not the whole world laugh us to fcorn, if by our addrefs upon this occafion we seem to put any faith in the affurances of the former, or the de- G clarations of the latter? Lafly, Sir, as to this treaty with Bavaria, as I have fome reafon to believe it to be a fubfidy treaty, I fhall confider it accordingly; and tleman may talk of princes purfuing their present intereft at the risk of ruining their pofterity: I am forry to fay, that too many private men do fo, as well as princes; but if the princes of Germany will, we must even let them do fo, and refolve to take care of ourselves; for it would be madness in us to ruin our own pofterity for the sake of preserving theirs. To conclude, Sir, we have no proper knowledge, on which to found the refolution propofed, and all the knowledge we have must militate strongly against it. The fpeech from the throne can be no foundation for our paffing any compliments upon past measures; becaufe fuch fpeeches always have been, and always ought to be, by this houfe, looked on as the speeches of the minifters; and we know, that minifters have not always such a strict regard to truth, as can warrant our taking the real ftate of our affairs from the glofs they may be pleased to put upon them; therefore I fhall be for agreeing to the amendment propofed by my noble friend. [This Journal to be continued in our next. H I 454 HISTORY of a GARRET. HISTORY of a GARRET. From the RAMBLER, O. 1. SIR, OU have formerly obferved, that cu Yrofity very often terminates in bar ren knowledge, and that the mind is It is not easy to difcover how it concerns him that gathers the produce or receives the rent of an estate, to know thro' what families the land has paffed, who is registered in the Conqueror's furvey as its poffeffor, how often it has been forfeited by treason, or how often fold by prodigality. Nor can the power or wealth of the prefent inhabitants of a country be much encreased by the knowledge of the names of those Barbarians, who deftroyed one another 20 centuries ago, in contests for the shelter of woods or convenience of pafturage. Yet we fee that no man can be at reft in the enjoyment of a new purchafe, till he has learned the hiftory of his grounds from the ancient inhabitants of the parish, and that no nation omits to record the actions of their ancestors, however bloody, favage and rapacious. The fame difpofition, as different opportunities call it forth, difcovers itself in B Oct. I had not flept many nights in my new apartment, before I began to enquire after my predeceffors, and found my landlady, whose imagination is filled only with her own affairs, very ready to give me information. Curiofity, like all other defires, produces pain, as well as pleafure. Before the began her narrative, I had heated my head with expectations of adventures and difcoveries, of elegance in disguise, and learning in diftrefs, and was therefore fomewhat mortified, when I heard, that the first tenant was a taylor, of whom nothing was remembered, but that he complained of his room for want of light, and, after having lodged in it a month, in which he only paid a week's rent, pawned a piece of cloth which he was trufted to cut out, and was forced to make a precipitate retreat from this quarter of the town. The next was a young woman newly arrived from the country, who lived for 5 weeks with great regularity, and became by frequent treats very much the favourite of the family; but at laft received vifits fo frequently from a coufin in Cheapfide, that he brought the reputation of the house into danger, and was therefore dif miffed with good advice. The room then stood empty for a fortnight, fo that my landlady began to think that he had judged hardly, and often great or in little things. I have always D wished for fuch another lodger. At laft, confidered it as unworthy of a wife man Many of thefe narratives my industry has been able to extend to a confiderable length; but the woman with whom I now lodge has lived only 18 months in the house, and therefore can give no account of its ancient revolutions, the plaifterer having, at her entrance, obliterated by his white-wash, all the fmoky memorials which former tenants had left upon the ceiling, and perhaps drawn the veil of oblivion over politicians, philofophers and poets. F When I first cheapened my lodgings, the landlady told me, that the hoped I was not G an author, for the lodgers on the first floor had ftipulated that the upper rooms fhould not be occupied by a noify trade. I very readily promifed to give no disturbance to her family, and foon dispatched a bargain on the ufual terms. an elderly man, of a very grave afpect, read the bill, and bargained for the room at the very first price that was asked. He lived in very clofe retirement, feldom went out till evening, and then returned early, fometimes chearful, and at other times dejected. It was remarkable, that whatever he purchased, he never had small money in his pocket, and tho' cool and temperate on other occafions, was always vehement and ftormy till he had received his change: He paid his rent with great exa&ness, and feldom failed once a week to requite my landlady's civility with a fupper. At last, fuch is the fate of human felicity! the houfe was alarmed at midnight by the conftable, who demanded to fearch the garrets. My landlady affuring him that he had miftaken the door, conducted him up ftairs, where he found the tools of a coiner; but the tenant had crawled along the roof to an empty house, and escaped, very much to the joy of my landlady, who declares him a very honest man, and wonders why any body should be hanged for making money, when fuch numbers are in want of it. She however confeffes, that fhe fhall for the future always question the character of those, who take her garret without beating down the price. The 1751. Letter of Diogenes to The bill was then placed again in the window, and the poor woman was teazed for 3 weeks by innumerable passengers, who obliged her to climb with them every hour up 5 ftories, and then difliked the profpect, hated the noife of a publick street, thought the ftairs too narrow, objected to a low ceiling, required the walls to be A hung with fresher paper, afked questions about the neighbourhood, could not think of living fo far from their acquaintance, wifhed the window had looked to the fouth rather than the weit, told how the door and the chimney might have been better difpofed, bid her half the price that the afked, or promised to give her earnest the next day, and came no more. B At last, a short meagre man, in a tarnished waistcoat, defired to fee the garret, and when he had ftipulated for two long helves and a larger table, hired it at a low price. When the affair was compleated, he looked round him with great fatisfaction, and repeated fome words, which the woman did not understand. In two days he C brought a great box of books, took poffeffion of his room, and lived very inoffenfively, except that he frequently disturbed the inhabitants of the next floor by unfeasonable noifes. He was generally in bed at noon, but from evening to midnight he fometimes talked aloud with great vehemence, fometimes stamped as in rage, sometimes threw down his poker, then clattered his chairs, then fat down in deep thought, and again burst out into loud vociferations; fometimes he would figh as oppreffed with mifery, and fometimes thake with convulfive laughter. When he encountered any of the family, he gave way or bowed, but rarely fpoke, except that as he went up stairs he often repeated, -'0: Uniplala Suala válsi, -hard words, to which h's neighbours liftened fo often, that they learned them without understanding them. What was his employment she did not venture to ask him, but at last heard a printer's boy enquire for the author. D E My landlady was very often advised to beware of this ftrange man, who, tho' he was very quiet for the prefent, might, F perhaps, become outrageous in the hot months; but as fhe was punctually paid, the could not find any fufficient reason for difmiffing him, till one night he convinced her by fetting fire to his curtains, that it was not fafe to have an author for her inmate. She had then for fix weeks a fucceffion of tenants, who left the houfe on Satur- G day, and instead of paying their rent, rated their landlady: At last he took in two filters, one of whom had spent her Little fortune in procuring remedies for a lingering difeafe, and was now fupported and attended by the other; the climbed with difficulty to the apartment, where the languished for 8 weeks without impatience or lamentation, except for the expence and fatigue which her fifter fuffered, and then calmly and contentedly expired. The fifter followed her to the grave, paid the few debts which they had contracted, wiped away the tears of ufelefs forrow, and returning to the bufinefs of common life, refigned to me the vacant habitation. Such, Mr. Rambler, are the changes which have happened in the narrow space where my prefent fortune has fixed my refidence; fo true is it, that amusement and inftruction are always at hand to those who have skill and willingness to find them; and fo juft is the obfervation of Juvenal, that a fingle houfe will fhew whatever is done or fuffered in the world. Diogenes the Cynick, to Alexander the Great, reproaching bis ambitious Proceedings. HAVE already written to Dionyfius, I to Perdiccas, and even to you Alexander, who fince you wage war continually with all mankind, think you have obtained univerfal dominion. However, give me leave to tell you, your proceedings can deferve no better title than that of mere madrefs. Confider what you do, and fince your brain is fo diftempered, commit yourfelf to the care of fome fkilful physician, that may restore your fenfes, and deliver you from that contagion, which you have contracted by your obftinacy. You have all along hitherto contended to do ill; neither, if you were now difpofed, do I think it in your power to do otherwise, fince you have fo long been vitiated by a bad habit. Moreover, remember that fovereignty and power are not the fame thing; neither can they warrant your converfing with bad men, to employ them in worse actions. This the veriest brutes will not do, neither does the wolf or tyger come near you in this particular. They only fatisfy their own private appetites, whereas you hire wicked people, and place them in power, that they may have the greater authority to do ill, wherein, nevertheless, you are far more blameable than they. Repent at last of these heavy crimes, for what can all this pomp and greatness fignify to you, fince they are acquired by fo many ill actions? What benefit can all thefe violent proceedings bring you? Do not, while you continue in this course, believe yourself better than all men, but ra ther imagine you are worfe. Do you think that what you bufy yourself about can occafion you any quiet? Ought not you to apprehend rather the greatest of dangers, and |