Right is fubject to all Accidents and Contingencies, becaufe if that Surplus fhould be by any Accident diminished, the Parliament is not obliged to make it good: Now, Sir, among the many Accidents to which that Surplus in its own Nature remains liable, furely A this is one, That it may hereafter become neceffary for the Welfare, perhaps for the Prefervation of the Nation, to prevent or put a Stop to the Confumption of fome Commodities, the Duties upon which contribute towards the producing of this Surplus: Would the Parlia ment be obliged in fuch a Cafe to make that Surplus good; or to eftablifh any other Fund B for compenfating the Lofs the Civil Lift might fuftain by fuch an Accident? No, Sir, it certainly would not; unless that Lofs fhould become fo heavy, as to reduce the Surplus, and even diminish the Establishment; then indeed a Demand would arife upon the Parliament, and we fhould be obliged to make the Eftablishment good. Suppofe, Sir, that France, C Spain, Portugal, and the greatest Part of Italy, fhould be united in an Alliance against us, which by our late Management may happen to be the Cafe; would it not then be abfolutely neceffary for us to prohibit the Importation or Confumption of all French, Spanib, Portuguese, and Italian Wines? Would not this very probably almoft quite annihilate D the Whole of what I have called the Surplus of the Civil Lift? Yet will any Gentleman fay, that the Parliament could not prohibit the Importation or Confumption of thofe Wines, without making good to the Civil Lift its Share in the Duties upon them, to be computed at a Medium of the Produce for the preceding feven or eight Years, when perhaps the Con- E fumption of them was at a higher Pitch than was confiftent with the Good of the Nation, or the Health of the People? Surely, Sir, no Man will pretend to fay any fuch Thing; the Parliament would not be obliged to make good any Part of the Lof the Civil Lift (hould fuftain by fuch Prohibition, unless the Produce of the Duties appropriated to that Re-F venue fhould be fo far reduced as not to amount to 800,000 1. yearly, and even in that Cafe, the Parliament would be obliged only to make the 800,000l. good, they would not be obliged to make good any Part of that Surp'us, which the Crown had formerly received and enjoyed by Means of Duties upon those Wines.- -Is not the Cafe now before us the very fame? Our People have by Accident lately taken fuch a Turn, that it is become neceflary for their Prefervation to prohibit the Confumption of fpirituous Liquors by Retaile. Is not this, as well as the one I have mentioned, one of thofe Accidents to which the Crown's Right to the Surplus of the Civil Lift Revenue always was, and itill is fubjected? And can any Gentleman with Reason say, that we cannot prohibit the Retaile of fuch Liquors, wi hout making good to the Civil Lift the whole Surplus that has accrued to it, computed at a Medium of the Produce of thofe very Years when the Abuse of thofe Liquors

was at its higheft Pitch? The other Queftion, Sir, is, Whether, if by the fame Regu. lation by which the Civil Lift's Sha e in fome Duties is diminished, its Share in other Duties be increased, the Advantage occafioned by that Regulation in one Cafe, ought not in Juftice and Honour to be admitted, fo far as it will amount, as a Compenfation for the Damage occafioned in the other? This, Sir, is a fair and a true State of the Queftion, without putting it into the Difguife of compenfating a Right which we actually take away, by a Right which we do not give: And after having thus ftated the Queftion in its proper Light, I fhall make ufe only of a familiar Parallel in private Life, for fhewing that it ought to be refolved in the Affirmative. Suppofe a Gentleman in my Neighbourhood has a very large Marth or Stagnation of Water in his Eftate, every Year increafing fo as to threaten his Eitate with almoft entire Ruin, and that the Water from that Marsh, after running through a Part of his Eftate, falls upon a Part of mine, and there makes a new Marth or Stagnation, by which a great Part of my Estate is rendered ufelefs, and the whole brought into Danger Suppofe that upon furveying my Neighbour's Marfh, and the feveral Fields round it, I find that, by a Cut through another Part of his Eftate and a Part of mine, his Marth may be thoroughly drained, and that the Water, by being carried into a new Channel, will be prevented from overflowing any Part of my Eftate, and will very much improve my Neighbour's: Suppose again, that upon a fair and juft Survey, it appears, that the Rents of his Eftate will, by the Cut or Water-drain to be made, be diminished to the Value of 20l. a Year, but that by the draining of his Marth and rendering it good Pafture or arable Land, the Rents of his Eftate will be augmented to the Value of 50l. a Year, fo that upon the whole he will be a Gainer to the Amount of 30l. a Year. In this Cafe I must ask every Country Gentleman that hears me, If my Neighbour ought in Prudence, to prevent may making that Cut or Waterdrain through his Eftate at my own Expence ; or if he could either in fuftice or Honour pretend, that I ought to give him 201. a Year out of my Eftate in Compenfation for the 201 a Year he pretends he is to lufe by making the Cut or Water-drain through his Eftite? GI believe no Gentleman will fay he could in Prudence refuse the one, or in Juftice infift upon the other. Yet in this Cafe the Compenfation he receives for the Right I take away from him, arifes from a Right I do not give, a Right he was entitled to before I took the other from him.Having now, I think, Sir, demonftrated, that, if the Lofs the Civil Litt may fuftain by the prefent Regulation be made good by the Increafe in the Excife on Beer and Ale occafioned by the prefent Regulation, we are neither in Juftice nor Honour obliged to give any other Compenfation, I may give up the other Queftion, and admir, that we are obliged to grant a Compenfation, Fitf

H

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B

fuch Liquors has got in among the commen People, Men, Women and Children, I believe this Number will not be reckoned too large.

Let us next fuppofe, Sir, that if the Retaile of fuch Liquors were entirely prohibited, and thefe Drinkers of Gin fhould return te the Ufe of Malt Liquors, that each of the exceflive Drinkers of Gin would for the future drink a Pint of ftrong Beer a Day, one Day another, and that each of the moderate Drinkers of Gin would for the future drink half a Pint of ftrong Beer a Day, one with another, more than they drink at prefent; we may from thence fee how greatly the Confumption of Beer and Ale would be hereby increated; for 400,000 Pints and 400,000 half Pints makes 600,000 Pints, or 75,000 Gallons a Day, which makes 27,375,000 Gallons, or 805,147 Barrels in a Year: The Excife at 4. 6 d. per Barrel upon this Increase in the Confumption, would produce an Increafe in the Excife upon Beer and Ale of 181,1587. yearly, one half of which being 90,5791. would belong to the Civil Lift; fo that even in the moft modeft Way of Computation, and according to all the Ways of Computation, the Civil Lift will get more by the Incrcafe in the Excife upon Beer and Ale, than it can be fuppos'd to lofe, according to the highest Computation, by taking from it the Duties on fpirituous Liquors, and that my Computation of Gin-drinkers is within Bounds appears from hence; that the fuppofed 400,000 exceffive Drinkers at half a Pint a Day, and the 400,000 moderate Drinkers at half a Quartern a Day, according to this Computation, confume but 31,250 GalElons a Day, which is 11,396,250 Gallons in a Year, the Duties upon which, at 34. a Gallon, amount to but 142,453!. per Annum ; whereas the Duties upon thefe Liquors for this laft Year, amounted to 154,0941. and we cannot fuppofe but that there are fome Frauds with refpect to the collecting of thefe Duties, as well as in most others.I have chofen this new Method of Calculation, Sir, not becaufe I think the other Way falfe or deceitful, but to fhew, that from whatever Method we chufe, and from the most modeft Calculations we can make, this general Truth will always appear, That by prohibiting the Retaile of fpirituous Liquors, the Civil Lift will get more by the Increase of the Excife on Beer and Ale, than

in cafe the Lofs is not made good by the In-
crease of the Excife on Beer and Ale, because,
notwithstanding what the Hon. Gentleman
has faid, I am still of Opinion, that it is not
only probable, but apparent, that the Lofs in A
one Way will be fufficiently made good by
the Advantage in the other. The very Ná-
ture of the Thing is to me a fufficient Proof;
for granting, that the greatest Part of the pre-
fent Amount of the Excife proceeds from the
Debauches and Extravagancies of the People,
it is well known, that thofe who once get into
the Way of committing Debauches in Gin,
can have no Relith even for the ftrongest Malt
Liquors; and I am convinced there are very
few Inftances, if any, that ever a Club of
exceffive Gin-drinkers went from a Gin-fhop,
either to finish their Debauch, or empty their
Pockets, by drinking common Beer at an Ale-
houfe; because even to quench their Thirst
they generally take fmall Beer or Water, and
mix it up with Gin; and many of them con-
tinue at the Gin-fhop till they cannot find
the Way to an Alehoufe, or even to their
own Beds, if they have any, but content
shemselves with the clean Straw, which at
fome of thofe Places they have for nothing;
fo that even from the Nature of the Thing we D
muft conclude, that thofe who have once ta-
ken to the exceffive drinking of Gin, give o
ver almost entirely the drinking of Beer or Ale,
and if we can lay thofe People under a Neceffi
ay of returning to drinking of ftreng Beer or
Ale, we must neceffarily very much increase
Confumption. By the Report, Sir, of his
Majefty's Justices of the Peace at Hick's-hall
in the Month of January laft, we find, there
were then within Weftminster, Holborn, the
Tower, and Finsbury Divifion (exclufive of
London and Southwark) 7044 Houfes and
Shops, wherein Geneva and other fpirituous
Liquors were publickly fold by Retaile, of
which they had got an Account, and that they
believed it was very far fhort of the true
Number; from whence, Sir, if we include
London, Southwark, and the other Places with-
in & Bills of Mortality, I may modeftly compute
there are 20,000 Houfes and Shops within the
Bills of Mortality, where Geneva and other
fpirituous Liquors are fold by Retaile; and
tho' the People within the Bills of Mortality
are computed to be but a fifth, or a fixth
Part of the People of England, yet I fhall
reckon but 20,000 Houfes and Shops in all
the other Parts of England, where fpirituous
Liquors are fold by Retaile, the Whole being
.40,000. Now to each of thefe Houses I fhall
allow but ten Cuftomers who are exceffive
Drinkers of Gin, fuch I call thofe who may
drink about half a Pint a Day, one Day with
another; and ten Cuftomers who are mode-
rate Drinkers of that Liquor, fuch I call
thofe who do not drink above half a Quar-
tern a Day, one Day with another.
This makes in all England 400,000 ex-
ceffive Drinkers, and 400,000 moderate
Drinkers of fpirituous Liquors; and confider
ing how univerfally the Custom of drinking

Git can lofe by the Decrease of the Duties upon fuch Liquors: And now with refpect to the Obfervations made upon the other Method, I muft fay, that the Gentlemen of the other Side treat us as Free-thinkers are treated by fome of their Antagonists: They ftate a weak er a falfe Argument for us, answer it, and then triumph in the Victory they have obHtained. I have never heard it faid, Sir, in this Houfe, nor in any other Place, that as the Duties upon fpirituous Liquors decrease or increafe, the Excife upon Beer and Ale must always increafe or decrease in an exa& Proportion: That if the Duties upon the former decreafe or increafe one fifth, one fixth, or one tenth, the other muft increase or decrease ex

actly

in the prefent Parliament, 1736. Seff. 2.

595

fition now made to us is exactly conform to the Nature of the prefent Etablishment of the Civil Lift; and that if it were not, it is become neceffary, by the Demand now made upon us in favour of the Civil Lift; fo that in no fuppofable Cafe I can find any Reafon for taking fuch a large Sum as 70,000l. a Year from that facred Fund appropriated for relie ving the People, and efpecially the poor Labourers, Artificers, and Manufacturers, from the heavy Taxes they are now charged with, and therefore I cannot agree that this Claufe, in the Form in which it is at prefent, fhould ftand Part of this Bill.

The Queftion being then put, to agree with the Committee in the Amendments made to this Claufe, it was, upon a Divifion, carried in the Affirmative by 183 to 110.

To be continued in our next.

actly one fifth, one fixth, or one tenth, and
neither more nor lefs. No, Sir, we know there
are many other Accidents may contribute to
the Increafe or Decreafe of the Excife on Beer
and Ale, and therefore this Proportion cannot
be exact: Yet I cannot allow, that the Acci-
dent mentioned by the Hon. Gentleman, could
have any great Influence upon the Excife in
the Year 1729; for the Price of Malt was
not, fo far as I remember, fo high that Year,
as to put our Brewers out of the common Way
of brewing; and befides, we know that the
strong Drink brewed for common Draught B
from whence the greateft Part of the Excife
is raifed, is never defigned to be kept a great
many Years, fo that in fuch Sort of Drink the
Brewers never think of laying, up a great
Stock, in order to provide for a Year of Scar-
city: But I fhalf mention one Accident,
which, I will take upon me to fay, has great-
ly contributed to keep up the Excife thefe laft
two Years, and yet has contributed nothing
towards raifing the Produce of the Duties, at
leaft on Home-made Spirits; I mean, Sir, the
late general Election for this Parliament, and
the many very extraordinary difputed Electi-
ons that have been fince; for it is certain that
thefe Elections and Difputes have added great-
ly to the Confumption of Beer and Ale, tho' ID
have never yet heard of aCandidatelwho treat-
ed his Voters or his Witneffes with Gin.-And
laftly, Sir, with refpect to the Propofition this
Day made to us, I am furprifed to hear the
Hon. Gentleman fay, that it alters the Na-
ture of the prefent Eftablishment of the Civil
Lift; for upon the contrary, it purfues ex-
actly the Nature of that Eftablishment: With
refpect to the prefent Civil Lift, fo far as the
Parliament ftands obliged to make it good,
his Majefty is accountable; for he cannot
make any Demand upon the Parliament, till
he has laid an Account of the Civil Lift Re-
venues before them, in order to fhew them the
Deficiency: By the Propofition now before
us, we are to enlarge that Eftablishment, we F
are to oblige ourfelves to make a further Sum
yearly good to his Majefty, and I hope the
Hon. Gentleman would not have us lay our
felves under fuch an Obligation, and at the
fame Time put it in the Power of any future
Minifter to come and tell us whenever
he pleafes, that there was a Deficiency as to
that further Sum, and that therefore he infift- G
ed upon our making it good, without laying
any Account before us from whence that De-
ficiency might appear. To conclude, Sir,
from the whole that has been faid upon this
Subject, it appears evident to me, that if the
Surplus of Civil Lift fhould be diminished by
what we are now about, we are not obliged to
make it good: if we were obliged to make
Lofs good, it ought not to be computed at
70,000l. per Annum: That if it fhould be
computed at 70,000 l, per Annum, it is appa-
rent that it will be made good by the Increase
of the Excife: That if this were not appa-
rent, the Propofition now made to us will ful-
ly anfwer that Uncertainty: That the Propo- my

Account, tho' he was not a minute Infpector

of every Action; and that as we believe it in his Power, to place every Incident of our Lives at once in our View; that as our Hearts A were always open to him,and all Time inftant, it was prepofterous to think an Action could be corceal'd from him, tho' he did not record it when committed; and that it was not pof fible for him to be ignorant of any of our Actions, when he pleas'd to know then, tho' at the Inftant of their Performance, they were not Objects of the Divine Mind.

Thefe 3 difmif'd, that I may be Rectus in Curia, I will examine the other 7.

1. Divery conceiving implies not Freethinking in the ill Senfe of the Word.

2. The Maze of the Attributes had reference to W. .'s Manner of Reafoning upon them: But if you have declared your unfeigned Affent, you are out of Character when you find fault with the Term Inexplicable. It becomes not you to fay that nothing in them is inexplicable; fhould you toil to reconcile every eccentric Appearance to one plain Syftem, of which the Attributes, as we conceive them, were the Laws,

of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate, and reafon high, D Fixt Fate, Free-Will, Foreknowledge abfolute, Tou'd find no End, in wand'ring Mazes loft.

tho' to us manifefted in Succeffion, were by him ordain'd from the Beginning.

Thefe are fuch Specimens of a bold and lucky Genius, that your Good Judges muft pronounce you a Man not to delpair of pi k- A ing out Words, which may countenance the Opinion, that the Moon is made of Green Cheese.

7. You charge me with holding, that Human Pride gives Rife to fome Doctrines of the Church. Were you not a Conjurer, you could not have known my Thoughts: My Words import no fuck Thing. Sift them again, Sir.

Now, Sir, Solvuntur-Tabula, ego miffus. Convicted fo oft of bearing falfe Witness, you muft fubmit to the Charge of Falfehood; and been educated at Billingsgate, vou had you could not have deny'd, that skulking Freethinker, bungling Sceptic, Heretic and Blafphemer, are fcurrilous Terms: That thefe are empty Lines and idle Words, you fhall fatisfy yourfelf. Try to form an Argument with the Words of the 1ft Paragraph (P. 328) which deftroys my Pofition at the Head of it; and to deftroy that Pofition is their Bufinefs.

I want not your Indulgence to the Senforim: The Thought was Sir Ifaac Newton's, applauded by Addifon, appeal'd to by W. J. alluded to by me, with the Mark of Difapprobation. But there is a Thought of yours about it, which I do not underftand, Nothing is without or beyond the Effence of GOD: If by that you mean, that Place and Space are not predicable of God, we are agreed; but then you renounce Pythagoras: And if Nothing is without the Effence of GoD may be render'd Nikil or nullum Ens eft extra Deum, the Confequence of which must be, Omne Ens eft in tra, then Quid cenfes Diabolum? Intra, an Non Ens? Ah! Quanta labor as Mifer in Charybdi?

you

you I never thought it: I adore him animating and informing innumerable Worlds by the Almighty Fiat, not by Infufion.

In your other Paragraphs you wrangle with me from Miitakes real or affected, which, to fet right, would be too tedious: But I cannot conceal my Surprize, that you should drop t your own Thefis with fo Buffoon an Air; it carries not in it the Evidence of first Principle, and therefore will admit the Forms of Arguing: When I recollect Procacia Plebis ingenia, impigra lingue, ignavi animi; I am Bapt to fufpect you a Mechanic in Masquerade: But whoever you be, Sir, we are ill-match'd Difputants. To you my Stile is obfcure; and in your Snip Snap I cannot find the Argument; moreover your Confcience is much too fupple, and therefore I'll urge you no farther: Add to that, you have treated me like a Boy, and I confider you as my Top: you have flept charmingly, and now are down: Lie ftill; for if you are fet up, you are rais'd to the Lafh: Remember the Scourge in the Hand of IGNOTO SEE 1737-P-16.

D

I cannot agree with you, that the Anima Mundi, even in the Primitive Simplicity of Pythagoras, is a Scripture Doctrine: I will give you the Words of Tully for a Comment upon thofe cite from the Poet: They are F in the Epicurean's Part, and not being contradicted by the Stoic or Academic, may furnih us with the Primitive Doctrine of the Philofopher. Pythagoras, qui cenfuit Animum effe per Naturam rerum omnem intentum &commeantem, Ex Quo noftri Animi caperentur, non vidit diftractione humanorum animorum difcerpi dilacerari Deum, & cum G Miferi Animi effent, quod plerifque contingeret, tum Dei partem effe miferam, quod fieri non poteft: Cur autem quicquam ignoraret animus hominis fi effet Deus? Quomodo porro Deus ifte, fi nihil effet nifi Animus, aut infixus aut Infufus effet in Mundo?

Ex Quo and Infufus explain the Inde and Mifcet of the Poet, who himself fpeaks as fully, Geor. 1. 4. v. 221. Effe Apibus partem Divine Mentis,

Wake, wake, Sir; is this a Scripture Doctrine? Not only the Race of Man and Spirits, Good and Bad, but all the Brute Creation of One Subitance with the Father ?-I affure

Old Whig, Sept. 30. N° 82. Remarks on the Altar-Piece in the Parish Church of St James's Clerkenwell (See Vol. V. p. 651, 665, 679.) with a fhort Extratt of the Bibop of Lincoln's Cafe.

IN

N the Year 1683 the Parishioners of Moulton, Lincoln/bire, upon Pretence of beautifying the Church, and by virtue of an Order from the Deputy Chancellor, fet up the Images of 13 Apoftles, St Paul being one, and the Holy Ghoft in Form of a Dove over them. After this they Petition Dr Barlow the Bp of the Dieceje for his Approbation. He denied their Petition, hereupon the Chancellor annulls the Order of his Deputy, and the Images were remov'd or defaced. Upon which the Perfons concern'd, appeal to the Prerogative Court, the Bp was cited by the Dean of the Arches to thew Caufe why he fuffer'd fuch Images to be defaced. On this Occafion his Lordlhip wrote a Breviate of the Cafe, wherein he fully prov'd from many Authentick Records, Injunctions and Statutes, of Edw. VI. Q. Elizabeth, K. James, &c. and alfo from the Book of Homilies, That Images in Churches painted on Cloth or Wall are unlawful, repugnant to the Chriftian Religion, and contrary to the Articles of the Church of England, to which, all the Clergy, Graduates in the Univerfities, Chancellors, Commiffioners, &c. are ex animo to affent, approve and fubfcribe, without any Gloffes of their own. Upon reading this Cafe the Profecution against the Bp was immediately ftopped.

Hence it appears, that any genuine Son of Hour Proteftant eftablished Church, who knows any thing of her Doctrine and Conftitution, could not want either Right or Reafon to complain of the Altar-Piece lately fet up at the Parish Church of St James, Clerkenwell, * Sce Article 35 •

1

as