pofitions, and which, I am perfuaded, he would not have been at the pains to have done, had he confidered the words of my motion, which mention exprefly this time of publick tranquillity: Now fuppofing this adA drefs agreed to, and fuppofing that the emperor fhould die foon after the clofe of this feffion, with all the other fuppofitions which the noble lord was pleafed to fuppofe, is it not evident that the force of this addrefs would then be at an end; for tho' war might not then be declared, yet furely it could not be called a time of publick tranquillity, and confequently the advice given by this addrefs, could not be fuppofed to relate to that time; therefore his majetty, without any previous application to parlament, might engage to grant the fubfidies demanded, and the next feffion would certainly enable him to make that engagement good.

Of the Laws relating to DEBTORS.

B

1753.
any oppofition in parliament. My
lords, if this want of inclination in
the people proceeded from a general
approbation of all the measures that
have been lately purfued by the ad-
miniftration, I fhould rejoice in it;
but I am afraid that the difappoint. A
ment they met with from a late fa-
mous oppofition, has made them too
generally form an opinion, that they
can expect no relief from parlia
ment; and fuch an opinion, if long
continued among the people, would
be of the most dangerous confequence
to our conftitution, because it would
bring parliaments into contempt:
Nay, it might be of dangerous con-
fequence to our prefent happy efta-
blishment; becaufe the people might
at laft begin to think of feeking relief
fomewhere else. Therefore, that fu- C
pinity with regard to publick affairs,
which at prefent prevails but too
much among the people, fhould make
every man, who has the honour of a
feat in parliament, the more zealous
in oppofing and cenfuring every pub-
lick measure, which he thinks wrong; D
and confequently, if there were any
cenfure implied in the addrefs which
I have propofed, this popular in-
difference is rather an argument for
than against our agreeing to the ad-
drefs, and muft be thought fo by
every lord, who has the fame opinion
that I have, of the fubfidy, which by
this new treaty has been granted to
Saxony.

169

fection in any thing; nor can indeed any mortals be truly called wife, but only fo comparatively. All human actions must wear the mark of human weakness, and all human laws muft therefore be liable to error, and bear the ftamp of mortality. Tho' the laws of this land are perhaps the wifeft in the whole world, yet, as there is no picture fo perfect, but has fome blemish; no ftatue so true, but has fome defect; fo even they are not entirely free from faults. The law, which I think is not adequate to the wifdom of our ancestors, nor at all adapted to a free commercial people, and therefore merits amend ment, is that which gives individuals the power of confining one another prifoners for life. Every nation or people, who would be profperous and happy, fhould hold it as a conftant and unerring rule, that no indi viduals fhould have the power of purfuing their refentment against one another fo far, as to prejudice both If inthemfelves and the publick. deed the confining fuch perfons for debt during their lives, who are willing and defirous of delivering up their all to their creditors, was truly juftice, even the unfortunate would not have found an advocate in me : But it is not juftice; it is paffion, it is refentment, it is revenge; and is as as exprefsly contrary to the laws of God, as it is repugnant to the interefts of individuals, and the general welfare of the kingdom, It is hurtful to individuals, because, inftead of procuring them justice, does Fit not prevent it? How often does one obdurate creditor wrong the reft, by preventing them from receiving their fhare of the debtor's effects? If the confinement of the debtor could poffibly pay his creditors, there would indeed be fome reafon in it; Juv. G but it is the reverfe; it obliges the debtor to spend what effects he has left, and which ought to be divided amongst his creditors, upon his own fubfiftence in prifon.

[This JOURNAL to be continued in our next.]

From the LONDON-EVENING POST,
April 5.

To the AUTHOR, &c. -quippe minuti Semper et infirmi eft animi, exiguique voluptas

Ultio

SIR,

T is not in the power of human nature to arrive at abfolute perApril, 1753.

E

Y

The

B

The laws concerning debtors do indeed feem to be greatly inconfiftent and contradictory; for if thofe, who are indebted thousands of pounds, can be cleared by delivering up their whole effects to their creditors, by and according to the bankrupt act; is it reafon, is it justice, that thofe, who owe but small fums, and are A alfo willing and defirous of furrendering up their whole effects, fhould notwithstanding be pent up for life in loathsome prifons, and rot in wretchedness ?-But the lofs and detriment which the publick receives by the confinement of fo many thoufands of its members, and who might otherwise be usefully employed, is great beyond conception. How many men are now pining away in prifon, who, if they had their liberty, could provide fufficiently for their wives and children, who are at prefent obliged to be kept and maintained by their feveral parishes? How many feamen, manufacturers and artificers, are there now filed from their native land, only for fear of a loathfome goal; and who, instead of being useful members of their mother country, are now employed by foreigners to rival us in commerce, and to raife navies that may endanger the nation? Men naturally love their native place; and it cannot be doubted but most, if not all, of these fugitives would gladly return home, if the dread of imprisonment was once remov. D ed. Is it not therefore highly neceffary at this juncture to make the trial? There hardly ever was a time, when fo many ufeful and excellent bills were under the confideration of the legislative power, as at prefent; among which, there is one in particular that may very probably lay the foundation of many great and national E advantages; I mean, the bill for registering the number of perfons in Great-Bri

have become fureties for others, and are now suffering for their faults. Do not fuch men as thefe demand our pity? Nay, have they not indeed a right to our relief? Yet thefe unhappy men, who have fo juft a claim to our compaffion, are not treated even fo favourably as felons; for it is certainly much more preferable to be transported to the farthest part of the globe, than to endure hunger, fickness, and all the miseries of a goal, and to die by degrees in a ftinking dungeon.There can be no acts, which mortals can perform, more proper, or more perfect, than thofe in which both juftice and mercy join; and furely, to release those from prifon, and to recal fuch as have voluntarily banished themselves for fear of it, and to fet them free, upon their delivering up the whole of their effects to their creditors, would be doing an act of juftice to the one, and mercy to the other.

Since therefore juftice and mercy join hand in hand in requiring the release of thefe unhappy men, let the humane and just arife and act; and let them be affured, that no action will redound more to their true honour, or to the real intereft of the trade and commerce of this kingdom. BRITANNICUS.

We only take Occafion from the Affair of MARY SQUIRES the Gypfy, and ELIZA BETH CANNING, of which we gave a particular Account in our laft, to infert the following; not quith any Defign to prejudice the Publick against SQUIRES: For whatever she may dejerve to fuffer as a Gypfy, he ought not to fuffer for what fhe is not guilty of. But whether he is or not, must be left to the future intended Examination into that intricate Affair.

GYPTIANS (Egyptiani) common

tain. But it is greatly to be hoped, that Ely called gypfies, are by our laws and

I when the royal eye fhall fee the number of his people, his benevolent godlike heart may not be grieved and wounded, by finding that fo many thousands of his faithful and loving fubjects are loft to his and the publick's fervice by being pent up in prifons.

It is well known, that many of thofe miferable men, who now pine away in prifon, are fuch as have once lived well in the world, and have not brought themselves into their misfortunes thro' any misconduct of their own, but by decay of trade, or fuch accidental loffes, as no human prudence could forefee or avoid Nay, there are fome who have made themfelves miferable, even by their virtues; men, who, by an excess of humanity and love for their fellow-creatures,

F

ftatutes a counterfeit kind of rogues, who, difguifing themfelves in ftrange habits, fmearing their faces and bodies, and framing to themselves a canting unknown language, wander up and down under pretence of telling fortunes, curing difeafes, and fuch like; and abuse the ignorant common people, by stealing and pilfering every thing from them that is not too heavy for their carriage, and which they may go off with undifcovered: There are fever al ftatutes for fuppreffing those impoftors, viz.

Stat. 22. H. 8. Cap. 1o. Sec. 2. OutGlandish people, calling themselves Egyptians, ufing no craft nor feat of merchandize, and going from place to place in companies, deceiving the people, bearing them in hand that they by palmeftry can tell fortunes, and committing felonies and robberies

1753.

Authentick Hiftory of KOULI KHAN.

robberies, fhall not be fuffered to come within this realm; and if they do, they fhall forfeit to the king all their goods, and be commanded to avoid the realm within 15 days upon pain of imprifonment; and it fhall be lawful to every sheriff, juftice of peace and efcheator, to feize to the use of the king all fuch goods A as they fhall have, and thereof to make account in the exchequer.

Sect. 4. If any juftice of peace, sheriff or efcheator, feize the goods of any fuch Egyptians, every fuch juftice, &c. fhall have to his own use the moiety of all fuch goods.

Stat. 1 and 2 Phil. & Mary, Cap. 4. B Sect. 2. If any perfon fhall attempt to bring into this realm any fuch perfons calling themselves, or commonly called Egyptians, he shall forfeit 401.

Sect 3. If any of the faid perfons called Egyptians, which fhall be conveyed into this realm, remain within the fame one month, they fhall be deemed felons, and fuffer death, lofs of lands and goods, C as in cafes of felony, and fhall lofe the benefit of the clergy.

Sect. 6. If any perfon fhall fue for any paffport for Egyptians to abide within this realm contrary to this act, every person fo fuing fhall forfeit 401. and every fuch licence fhall be void.

Stat. 5 Eliz. Cap. 20. Sect. 3. Every D perfon which fhall be feen in any company of vagabonds, commonly called, or calling themselves Egyptians, or difguifing themselves by their apparel, fpeech or behaviour, like fuch vagabonds, and fo fhall continue in the fame, either at one time or at feveral times, by the space of one month, the fame perfon fhall be a felon, and shall fuffer death, lofs of lands E and goods, as in cafes of felony, and fhall lofe the benefit of the clergy.

As Mr. HANWAY, in his fourth Volume of an Hiftorical Account of the BRITISH TRADE Over the CASPIAN SEA, bas given a fuller and more authentick Narrative of the famous Perfian Ufurper, KOULI KHAN, than bas ever yet been F publifbed, the following Extracts from bim, concerning that extraordinary and furprizing Adventurer, will not, we prefume, be unacceptable to our Readers.

T

HE real name of this ufurper was Nadir Koul, or Nadir Kouli; but he changed his name as he changed the

171

fituations of his fortune. When Shah
Tahmas made him a Khan, he honoured
him with the addition of his own name,
and he was then Tehmas Kouli Khan.
Afterwards, when he became the fovereign
of Perfia, he reaffumed his name Nadir
with the addition of Shah, which fignifies
a king, and fo he was called Nadir Shah;
tho' the name by which he has been
moft known, and probably will continue
to be known, is Tæhmas Kouli Khan.

Nadir Kouli was born in 1687, at a
village, or more probably in a tent, a
few days journey to the fouth-east of
Mefched, not far from Kælat. He was
tribe of Tartars, and fubjects of Perfia:
defcended from the Affhahs, who are a
They live for the moft part by husbandry,
and fupply the Perfians with horfes and
cattle. The name of Nadir's father was
Imam Kouli, whofe fituation of life was
fuch, that he earned his bread by making
caps and sheep-fkin coats, which is the
apparel of the loweft of the common
people in Perfia. Nadir himself was bred
up to no other employment than that of
a fhepherd, and being only thirteen years
of age when Imam Kouli died, he was
left in fo poor a condition, that he was
obliged to gather sticks in the woods, for
the fupport of himself and his mother,
and carry them to market on an afs
and a camel, which were his only pa
trimony.

It is recorded of him, that when he was returning in triumph from his conquest of India, he happened to pafs near the place of his nativity, where he Imade a fet fpeech to his chief captains, in which he related in what manner he had paffed the early part of his life; and, in particular, mentioned the feeding his father's camel, concluding to this effect: "You now fee, to what a height it has pleased the Almighty to exalt me; from hence learn not to despise men of low eftate."

About the year 1704, when he was 17 or 18 years of age, the Oufbeg Tartars made an irruption into Khorafan, where they put many of the inhabitants to the fword, and carried others into slavery ; among the last were Nadir Kouli and his mother: She died in captivity, but he made his escape in 1708, and returned to Khorafan. From this time we hear no more of him, till with fome of his comY 2 panions

In proof of this I was told an anecdote, pretty remarkable, and much to his honour. After be was exalted to the throne and fovereignty of Perfia, a perfon named Saidar, zuho had been bis companion and fellow labourer in ranging the words, was created a Khan, and granted the privilege of wearing the black beron's feathers on the left fide. Nadir, upon cenferring those bonours upon him, spoke theje swords, "Do not grow proud, but remember the ass, and ib picking of flicks.

panions he robbed a flock of sheep; the
money which this produced, enabled
him to retire into the mountains: How-
ever, we do not find he continued the
profeffion of a robber for any length of
time, but entered into the fervice of a
Beg, by whom he was employed as a
courier. He was once charged with dif- A
patches of importance to the Perfian
Court at Isfahan, and fent in company
with another courier, as is frequently
practifed in Perfia. Whether Nadir was
ambitious of being the fole carrier of
thefe difpatches; or whether his fellow-
courier did not travel fast enough; or for
fome other fecret reafon, he killed him.
After his arrival at Isfahan, he told his ftory
fo well, that he procured admittance to
the minifters of Shah Sultan Huffein, to
whom he affigned fuch plauûble reasons
for his conduct on the road, that he was
not only acquitted, but received prefents,
and was fent back with anfwers to the
letters he had brought. His mafter, how-
ever, received him with fuch a counte-
nance, as gave reafon to fufpect that he
meditated his deftruction.
Nadir per-

Nadir

fkirmishes with the Tartars of Khieva and Bokhara, who frequently made inroads on the frontiers of Khorafan. Ezadallah being already master of Herat, and the Kourds in the weft making incurfions into Irac Agemi; thefe Tartars, who are generally called Oufbegs, in 1719, came in a body of above 10,000 men, and began to lay waste the most fertile plains of Khorafan, plundering the inhabitants, and carrying many thousands into captivity. In this emergency Babulu Khan collected all his forces, which did not exceed 6c00 men, and of these part were infantry. His officers fhewed a reluctance to try their fortune with fo Bunequal a force, against a people of fuch known bravery as the Tartars. Kouli, however, had different sentiments of the matter, and from his experience of the valour of the Khan's troops, he offered his fervice to march at their head against these ravagers; declaring at the fame time, that he would engage his Clife upon the event. Nadir's military virtues were evidently fuperior to thofe of the officers about the Khan, though he was not then above 33 years of age. The Khan was fo fenfible of this, that he had already given him the command of 1000; and not having the least doubt of his fidelity, he accepted the offer, and conferred upon him the command of his troops, during the intended expedition, whilft himself remained in the city, to keep good order, and prevent the inhabitants from following the example of thofe of Herat, who had revolted three years before. Several of the officers refufed to act under this new general, but their place was foon supplied by others, whom Nadir approved of.

ceiving this, refolved to kill his mafter;
to which he was the more induced, from
a violent paffion he had conceived for his
daughter, whom he had demanded in
marriage, but was refufed. After the
murder was perpetrated, he took the lady
away, and retired into the mountains. D
One effect of this enterprize was the birth
of Riza Kouli Myrza, whofe genius and
difpofition had fo great a resemblance
with his father's. This defperate action
having acquired him a reputation for
courage, fome of the domefticks of his
late mafter, the Beg, joined him, and
they became robbers: In this ftation they E
continued for fome time, as favourable
opportunities occurred Nadir at length
offered his fervice to Babulu Khan gover-
nor of Khoralan, by whom he was
accepted in the capacity of gentleman
uther.

He behaved fo well in this new fervice, that he won the heart of his mafter; and, under the fpecious pretence of defiring to please, he concealed his ambition. The fatisfaction he expreffed in his prefent fituation, induced his companions to believe, that to be faithful in the caufe he efpoufed, was the virtue he aspired at moft; however, he affected a particular zeal for fome, whilst he shewed a coldness for others, as they feemed more or lefs inclined to please him.

The diftreffes of Perfia increafing, he had not been long in the fervice of Babulu Khan, before a command in the army was given him, in which he behaved with great intrepidity, in feveral

F

The Oufbegs were already advanced to the banks of the river Tedjen, within a few days march of Mefched. Nadir having with great application provided what was neceffary for the expedition, marched at the head of his troops in search of the enemy, who were pillaging at large; however, the news of the approach of a Perfian army brought them together, and they prepared for battle; their numbers being almoft double to thefe under Nadir's command. We have no particular account of this action, but in general terms, that the Tartars, aocording to their ordinary cuftom, charged with great fury. Nadir having felected Ga proper ground, and encouraged his men, ftood the fhack; and when the Tartars by their own impetuolity were in fome diforder, the Perfian troops made a general discharge of their fire arms, then fal ling on with their fabres and battle-axes,

put