Complete Works of Samuel Johnson, page 199
Such, sir, is the power of the king on particular emergencies, and such power the nature of human affairs must, sometimes, require; for all forms of government are intended for common good, and calculated for the established condition of mankind, but must be suspended when they can only obstruct the purposes for which they were contrived, and must vary with the circumstances to which they were adapted. To expect that the people shall be consulted in questions on which their happiness depends, supposes there is an opportunity of consulting them without hazarding their lives, their freedom, or their possessions, by the forms of deliberation.
The necessity of extending the prerogative to the extremities of power, is, I hope, at a very great distance from us; but if the danger of the exportation of victuals be so urgent as some gentlemen have represented it, and so formidable as it appears to the whole nation, it is surely requisite that the latent powers of the crown should be called forth for our protection, that plenty be secured within the nation, by barring up our ports, and the people hindered from betraying themselves to their enemies, and squandering those blessings which the fertility of our soil has bestowed upon them.
Sir Robert WALPOLE replied in the following manner: — Sir, it is so unusual among the gentlemen who have opposed my opinion to recommend an exertion of the regal authority, or willingly to intrust any power to the administration, that, though they have on this occasion expressed their sentiments without any ambiguity of language, or perplexity of ideas, I am in doubt whether I do not mistake their meaning, and cannot, without hesitation and uncertainty, propose the motion to which all their arguments seem necessarily to conduct me; arguments of which I do not deny the force, and which I shall not attempt to invalidate by slight objections, when I am convinced, in general, of their reasonableness and truth.
The necessity of that despatch which I have endeavoured to recommend, is not only universally admitted, but affirmed to be so pressing, that it cannot wait for the solemnity of debates, or the common forms of passing laws. The danger which is every moment increasing, requires, in the opinion of these gentlemen, to be obviated by extraordinary measures, and that pernicious commerce, which threatens the distress of the community, is to be restrained by an immediate act of the prerogative.
If this be the opinion of the house, it will be necessary to lay it before his majesty, by a regular address, that the nation may be convinced of the necessity of such extraordinary precautions, and that the embargo may be imposed, at once, with the expedition peculiar to despotick power, and the authority which can be conferred only by senatorial sanctions.
Whether this is the intention of the members, from whose declarations I have deduced it, can only be discovered by themselves, who, if they have any other scheme in view, must explain it in clearer terms, that the house may deliberate upon it, and reject or adopt it, according to its conformity to the laws of our country, and to the present state of our affairs.
Mr. PULTENEY spoke thus: — Sir, whatever may be the meaning of other gentlemen, who must undoubtedly be left at full liberty to explain their own expressions, I will freely declare, that I am sufficiently understood by the right honourable gentleman, and that, in my opinion, no remedy can be applied to the present distemper of the nation, a distemper by which it is hourly pining away, by which its vitals are impaired, and the necessary nourishment withdrawn from it, that will operate with sufficient efficacy and speed, except an embargo be imposed by the prerogative.
That this opinion, if received by the house, must be the subject of an address, is in itself manifest, and the reason for which an embargo is required, proves that an address ought not to be delayed.
I cannot omit this opportunity of remarking, how plainly it must now appear that many of us have been unjustly charged with obstructing the progress of the bill for pernicious purposes, with views of raising discontents in the nation, of exposing the administration to publick hatred, of obstructing the measures of the government, or hindering the success of the war, when we have receded from our general principles, and suspended the influence of our established maxims, for the sake of facilitating an expedient which may promote the general advantage, by recommending his majesty to the affections of his people.
Mr. PELHAM here replied, to this effect: — Sir, I am far from blaming any gentleman for asserting, on all occasions, the integrity of his designs, or displaying the reasonableness of his conduct; and of what I do not disapprove I shall not decline the imitation.
It is not uncommon, in the heat of opposition, while each man is convinced of his own honesty, and strongly persuaded of the truth of his own positions, to hear each party accused by the other of designs detrimental to the publick interest, of protracting debates by artful delays, of struggling against their own conviction, and of obscuring known truth by objections which discover themselves to be without force.
These accusations, which are on both sides frequent, are, I hope, on both sides generally false; at least, it must appear on this occasion, that those who press the bill had no views of strengthening their party by a victory, of wearying their opponents by obstinacy, or of promoting any private purposes by a new law; since an expedient, by which time may be gained, and the avowed end of hastening this necessary bill secured, is no sooner proposed on one part, than received on the other.
At the close of the debate, a form of an address was proposed by Mr. CLUTTERBUCK; which, being approved by the house, was presented to his majesty: and an embargo was laid on all provisions accordingly.
On the 17th day of sitting the house proceeded on the bill for preventing exportation; and ordered an account of the corn which had been exported for six years last past to be laid before the committee.
The house also addressed his majesty to take off the embargo on ships laden with fish or rice, which his majesty had before ordered to be done.
On the 21st the corn bill was again the subject of deliberation, and some amendments were offered by Mr. SANDYS, containing not only exceptions of rice and fish, which had been before admitted, but likewise of butter, as a perishable commodity, which, if it were not allowed to be exported, would corrupt and become useless in a short time.
He proposed, likewise, that the two islands of Jersey and Guernsey might continue to be supplied, with certain restrictions, from the port of Southampton.
It was proposed, likewise, in favour of some other colonies, that they might receive provisions from Britain, lest there should be a necessity for the inhabitants of those provinces to abandon their settlements.
The penalties of this law, and the manner in which they should be recovered and applied, were likewise settled on this day.
NOVEMBER 25, 1740.
The consideration of the corn bill was resumed; and it was particularly debated from what time it should commence, which some of the members were inclined to fix on the 9th day of the session, on which occasion Mr. CAMPBELL spoke as follows:
Sir, that the laws may be observed by the nation without daily violence and perpetual compulsion, that our determinations may be received with reverence, and the regulations which we establish confirmed by the concurrence of our constituents, it is necessary that we endeavour to preserve their esteem, and convince them that the publick prosperity may be safely trusted in our hands.
This confidence is to be gained as well in high stations, as in lower conditions, by large assemblies, as by individuals, only by a constant practice of justice, and frequent exertion of superiour wisdom. When any man finds his friend oppressive and malicious, he naturally withdraws his affections from him; when he observes him advancing absurd opinions, and adhering to them with obstinacy incapable of conviction, he falls unavoidably into a distrust of his understanding, and no longer pays any deference to his advice, or considers his conduct as worthy of imitation.
In the same manner, sir, if the legislative powers shall, in making laws, discover that they regard any motives before the advantage of their country, or that they pursue the publick good by measures inadequate and ill-concerted, what can be expected from the people, but that they should set up their own judgment in opposition to that of their governours, make themselves the arbiters in all doubtful questions, and obey or disregard the laws at discretion?
If this danger may arise from laws injudiciously drawn up, it may surely be apprehended from a compliance with this proposal; a proposal that the operation of the law should commence eleven days before the law itself is in being.
I have, hitherto, sir, regarded it as a principle equally true in politicks as in philosophy, that nothing can act when it does not exist; and I did not suspect that a position so evident would ever stand in need of a proof or illustration.
We live, indeed, in an age of paradoxes, and have heard several notions seriously defended, of which some would, not many years ago, have condemned their abetter to a prison or a madhouse, and would have been heard by the wisest of our ancestors with laughter or detestation; but I did not expect that the most hardy innovator would have shocked my understanding with a position like this, or have asserted that a law may operate before it is made, or before it is projected.
That where there is no law there is no transgression, is a maxim not only established by universal consent, but in itself evident and undeniable; and it is, sir, surely no less certain, that where there is no transgression there can be no punishment.
If a man may be punished, sir, by a law made after the fact, how can any man conclude himself secure from the jail or the gibbet? A man may easily find means of being certain that he has offended no law in being, but that will afford no great satisfaction to a mind naturally timorous; since a law hereafter to be made, may, if this motion be supposed reasonable, take cognizance of his actions, and how he can know whether he has been equally scrupulous to observe the future statutes of future senates, he will find it very difficult to determine.
Mr. PELHAM rose, and spoke thus: — Sir, notwithstanding the absurdity which the honourable gentleman imagines himself to have discovered in this proposal, and which he must be confessed to have placed in a very strong light, I am of opinion, that it may, with very little consideration, be reconciled to reason and to justice, and that the wit and satire that have been so liberally employed, will appear to have been lost in the air, without use and without injury.
The operation of the law may, very properly, commence from the day on which the embargo was laid by his majesty’s proclamation, which surely was not issued to no purpose, and which ought not to be disobeyed without punishment.
Sir John BARNARD spoke next, to this effect: — Sir, I cannot but be somewhat surprised, that a gentleman so long conversant in national affairs, should not yet have heard or known the difference between a proclamation and a penal law.
By a proclamation, his majesty may prevent, in some cases, what he cannot punish; he may hinder the exportation of our corn by ordering ships to be stationed at the entrance of our harbours; but if any should escape with prohibited cargoes, he can inflict no penalties upon them at their return.
To enforce this prohibition by the sanction of punishments is the intention of the present bill, but a proclamation can make nothing criminal, and it is unjust and absurd to punish an action which was legal when it was done.
The law ought, sir, in my opinion, not to commence till time is allowed for dispersing it to the utmost limits of this island; for as it is unreasonable to punish without law, it is not more equitable to punish by a law, of which, they who have unhappily broken it, could have no intelligence.
A future day was agreed to.
HOUSE OF COMMONS, DEC. 2, 1740.
DEBATE RELATING TO A SEDITIOUS PAPER OF THE SAME KIND
WITH THE CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EMBARGO ON PROVISIONS.
Lord THOMSON took notice of a paper which he had in his hand, and said he received it at the door, where it was given to the members as they came in, and, complaining of it as an indignity offered to the house, desired that it might be read. Which being done, he rose up, and spoke in substance as follows:
Sir, the crime of exasperating the people against their governours, of raising discontent, and exciting murmurs in a time of general danger, and of attempting to represent wise and salutary measures, which have received the approbation of the whole legislature, as mean artifices, contrived only to raise the fortunes of some favourites of the minister, and aggrandize the officers of state, by the miseries of the people, is a crime too enormous to require or admit any aggravation from rhetorick, and too dangerous to hope for any excuse from candour and lenity.
To read or hear this paper is sufficient for a full conviction of its pernicious tendency, and of the malice of its author; a charge not fixed upon particular expressions capable of a doubtful meaning, and which heat or inadvertency might casually have produced, but supported by the general design of the whole paper, and the continued tenour of the argument, which is evidently intended to show, that an act of government, which cannot but appear necessary and seasonable in the present state of our affairs, an act ratified by the concurrence of all the powers of the legislature, is nothing but a scheme of avarice to grow rich by oppression.
Nor is this scandalous libel written with more confidence and insolence than it is dispersed. Not content, sir, with vilifying the proceedings of the state, the author has industriously published his calumny at our door: the time has been when defamation skulked in secret, and calumnies against the government were dispersed by whispers or private communication; but this writer adds insults to his injuries, and at once reproaches and defies us.
I beg leave to move, therefore, that the house do censure this paper as “a malicious and scandalous libel, highly and injuriously reflecting upon a just and wise act of his majesty’s government, and also upon the proceedings of both houses of senate; and tending to create jealousies in the minds of the people.” I also move, “that the author may be ordered to attend, to be examined at our bar.”
[This was unanimously agreed to by the house. The doorkeeper was called in, and, being shown the paper, was asked from whom he received it? who answered, that he believed the person who delivered it to him, was then detained in one of the committee rooms, upon which he was ordered to look for, and fetch him to the bar.]
Mr. SANDYS, taking notice that the person was already in custody, said, that he should be glad to know by what authority. It was not reasonable to punish first, and judge afterwards.
Upon which sir William YONGE replied, that he had caused him to be detained, in order to know the pleasure of the house; and that he thought it his duty to secure so enormous an offender from escaping.
Soon after, the doorkeeper brought the man in, when he declared, upon examination, his name and his profession, which was that of a scrivener, and owned with great openness, that he was the author of the paper. He was then asked who was the printer, and answered that he printed it himself. Which he explained afterwards, by saying, that as he had carried it to the printer’s, he might be said, in the general acceptation of the term, as applied to an author, to be the printer. He then discovered the printer, and was asked, where was the original manuscript, which he said he had destroyed, as he did any other useless paper.
It having been observed by some of the members, that it was printed in one of the daily papers, he was asked, who carried it thither? and answered, that he carried it himself. It was then demanded, what he gave for having it inserted, and he answered that he gave nothing.
[After many questions, Mr. Henry ARCHER desired that he might be asked, whether on the Friday before he was in the gallery; at which some of the members expressed their disapprobation, and the man being ordered to withdraw, the following debate ensued upon the propriety of the question.]
Mr. SANDYS spoke first, in substance as follows: — Sir, those who are intrusted by their country with the authority of making laws, ought, undoubtedly, to observe them with the utmost circumspection, lest they should defeat their own endeavours, and invalidate, by their example, their own decrees.
There is no part, sir, of our civil constitution more sacred, none that has been more revered by those that have trampled upon other forms of justice, and wantoned in oppression without restraint, than that privilege by which every Briton is exempted from the necessity of accusing himself, and by which he is entitled to refuse an answer to any question which may be asked, with a view to draw from him a confession of an offence which cannot be proved.
Whether this great privilege, sir, is not violated; whether the unalienable right of a free subject is not infringed, by the question put to the person at our bar, the house must decide. The punishment to which intruders are subject by the orders of this house, proves that his presence in the house is considered as a crime, of which, as we have no proof of it, a confession ought not to be extorted by an artful and insidious question, of which he may not discover the intention or the consequence. Such treatment, sir, is rather to be expected by slaves in the inquisition of Spain, than a Briton at the bar of this house; a house instituted to preserve liberty, and to restrain injustice and oppression.
Mr. CAMPBELL spoke next, to this effect: — Sir, I cannot but concur with the opinion of the honourable gentleman, that, in requiring an answer to this question, we shall expose a man to a punishment against whom we have no evidence, but what is extorted from himself; and, consequently, no knowledge of his crime upon which we can proceed to inflict censures or penalties, without the manifest infraction of our constitution.
It cannot be imagined, sir, that he intends to confess himself guilty of a crime of which no proof has been brought, or that he will voluntarily subject himself to punishments. It must, therefore, follow, that he is entrapped in his examination, by an artifice, which, I hope, will never find any countenance in this house.
