only expose their own Ignorance, for fure it will not be difputed, that, in order to make a War, there must be Hoftilities on both Sides, and Master Ulrick very well obferves, that we effectually binder'd a War from breaking out on our Side, by ordering our Fleets to commit no Hoftilities, and fo this Point was

gain'd.

I

But the Difaffected wou'd cavil, tho' we had twenty Ulricks employ'd in our Affairs, and every Ulrick as great a Politican as the prefenthave heard fome of them affert, that a Sea War with Spain must be fhort, and muft certainly end in our Advantage; that we need not fear Spain, tho' ftrengthened by the Naval Power of the Emperor;

that Fleets fitted out to commit no Hoftilities, are full as expenfive as if they did commit Hoftilities; that, if we fhou'd take now and then a Galleon, or other rich Ship, from the Spaniards, or any other Nation, while they are taking ours, it wou'd do us no Harm, with a Hundred Abfurdities of the like Nature, not worth anfwering. Sorry I am that I have not Room to fhew all the excellent Reasoning in this Pamphlet, I hope, however Mafter Ulrick will go on to harangue and write in the fame excellent Manner he has hitherto done, that we may be all convinced, that the whole World may fee, how little Reason there has been for the publick Clamour and Difaffection which has fhew'd itself against certain wife and able Minifters.

SATUR

I

SATURDAY, May 22, 1731.

N Two Difcourfes which we lately gave the Publick, we endeavour'd to fet forth the Artifices of the Perfons who have diftinguifh'd themfelves by their Difaffection to our prefent wife and able Ministers; and, fince no Perfon has replied to thofe Arguments, in their Defence, we flatter ourselves, that we have gain'd a compleat Victory.

If any Gentlemen fhould feem to wonder at this our Change, and enquire what it is that has induced us to act a Part fo contrary to our former Profeffions and Principles, we are ready to give him all reafonable Satisfaction upon that Head.

In the first Place, I have obferved, that the Party which I fhall now call the Difaffected are for impofing great Restraints upon all Writers, not ex¬ cepting thofe of their own Side of the Question. They demand rational Inferences and Conclufions to be drawn from all Points, and they are fo very ftrait-laced, that, where any Facts are afferted, they expect the Writer fhould keep religiously to Truth; otherwife, they are fo petulant, they are apt to throw him by with Difdain;

and, therefore, it is evidently more for the Eafe and Conveniency of an Author to go over to that Party which lays no fuch Confinements upon the Genius of those who engage on their Side.

Befides, I find that thofe Films which were fpread over my Eyes, and hinder'd me from feeing my

Own

own Intereft, and the excellent Talants of our prefent wife and able Ministers, are not fo thick and adherent but they may be removed by proper Application, and I begin to apprehend, that a Man will never make his Fortune by sticking to the beaten Party; moreover, I am now of Opinion, that it is a pretty Thing to bask under the Shade of Power, and therefore fome pretty little Employment, with a very large Salary, and Nothing at all to do, will exactly hit my prefent Humour; Something I fay, that wou'd furnish a Man French Wine, and Wenches, and Opera's, and Masquerades, and Knaves, Fools, and Flatterers about him, for when I am a great Man I must do like fome others, and keep good Company.

It will be altogether indifferent to me, whether I am made an Admiralof the Fleet, a General of the Army, or a Secretary of State; or, indeed, a good fat Bishoprick would content me; for, like fome other Gentlemen, I hold myfelf equally qualified for them all; but if none of thefe fhould happen to be vacant, I don't much care if an Office of three or four thousand Pounds a Year fhould be erected on Purpose for me, or a Penfion of the fame Value, which will make me eafy 'till Something better offers.

It might, perhaps, intimidate fome Perfons from engaging on this Side the Queftion, when it is obferved with what Scorn and Neglect thofe two great Wits and profound Politicians, Meffieurs Osborn and Walfingham, have been treated by the Publick; and it might, in particular, have that Effect upon one who is confcious to himfelf, that his Qualifications for this Province are infinitely fhort of theirs; for I am ready to confefs my own Weakness, and that I am much afraid, I fhall not be able immediately to affert Right to be Wrong, and Black to be White; yet there may be Hopes, that a Quarter or two

Penfion,

Penfion, and the keeping of good Company in the mean Time, may, by Degrees, bring me to it.

But, fince I have named thofe two ingenious Gentlemen, I think it will not be improper to take Notice of fome of the Cavils which are daily made to their Writings, and alfo to fhew the little Weight there is in thofe Cavils; because their Cafe may fhortly become our own.

Some Perfons have objected to thofe Gentlemen, that they frequently affert Facts contrary to Demonftration, draw Conclufions from them without any Reafon, as if they had an undoubted Right of being always in the Wrong; and Liberty itself, as they feem to understand it, is Nothing but a Licenfe for thofe who write for Men in Power of afferting the most palpable Falfhoods.

This, perhaps, may found like a heavy Charge in fome People's Ears; but, when thorougly examined, it will be found to have very little Weight; for allowing it to be true, that thefe Gentlemen, in the Course of their Writings, fhew no Regard to Demonstration; my Anfwer is, why fhould they? Certainly, thofe who write in Favour of Men in Power ought to enjoy fome Privileges beyond other Authors. We fee, that the meanest Domestick of a Peer of Parliament, or Member of the House of Commons, is protected from Arrefts, out of Refpect to his Mafter, and must a Person who holds the Rank of a Gentleman, and who lifts himfelf in the Service of a Minifter of State, poffefs no Distinction, that may give him a little Advantage over the meaneft Inhabitant of GrubStreet? Certainly, the Thing fpeaks itself; the very People who argue against this Practice will not deny, I believe, but Minifters of State themselves, and publick Ambafadors, may LIE, upon fome Occafions, and it is a Maxim, that there is Nothing which a Man may legally act himself, VOL. II.

T

but

but he may also act by his Attorney, which plainly proves, that thefe Gentlemen have done Nothing but what they might fairly do by Law, or, at least, by Cuftom, which has the Force of Law.

Befides, Writers, beyond Men of any other Profeffion, feem to have a Right, [fui Juris] as we call it, of being indulged in the Liberty of afferting what the ignorant are pleas'd to call Falfhoods; for Authors of all Kinds bear fome Relation to Poets, and how often do you meet in the Works of the Poets the diminutive Part of a Thing afferted to be the whole! how frequently do you fee a Molehill fwell'd up to a Mountain, by the Ufe of a certain Machine which they call an Hyperbole! which Machine is defcrib'd in a few Lines by an excellent Poet, which I fhall here quote, taking the Liberty to alter two or three Words, in order to make it the more applicable to my prefent Purpofe.

Hyperboles, fo daring and so bold,

Difdaining Bounds, are by no Rules controul'd;
Above the Clouds, and far beyond our Sight,
They mount aloft, and make a touring Flight,
Prefenting Things impoffible to View,
They wander through incredible to true;
Falfhoods, thus rais'd, like Metals, are refin'd,
While Truth, that useless Drofs, is left behind,

A Poet, fpeaking of his Mistress, afferts pofitively, that

her pure and eloquent Blood Spoke in her Cheeks, and fo diftinctly wrought, That one would almoft fay, her Body thought.

I would here defire to know, whether any Man ever heard the Blood fpeak; I would appeal to the

Sur