And upon this occasion I must allow myself to have been justly rebuked by one of my weekly monitors, for pretending, in a former paper, to hope that law would be repealed; * wherein the Commons being disappointed, took care, however, to send many of the Palatines away, and to represent their being invited over as a pernicious counsel. The qualification-bill, incapacitating all men to serve in parliament, who have not some estate in land,† either in possession or certain reversion, is perhaps the greatest security that ever was contrived for preserving the constitution, which otherwise might in a little time lie wholly at the mercy of the monied interest. And since much the greatest part of the taxes is paid either immediately from land, or from its productions, it is but common justice, that those, who are the proprietors, should appoint what portion of it ought to go to the support of the public; otherwise the engrossers of money would be apt to lay heavy loads on others, which themselves never touch with one of their fingers. The public debts were so prodigiously increased by the negligence and corruption of those who had been managers of the revenue, that the late ministers, like careless men who run out their fortunes, were so far from any thoughts of payment, that they had not the courage to state or compute them. The parliament found that thirty-five millions had never been accounted for; and that the debt on the navy, wholly unprovided for, The bill for repeal of that act was, however, again brought in, and passed next session in both Houses. + Namely, L. 600 yearly for a knight of the shire, and L. 300 for a burgess. The late chancellor of the amounted to nine millions. exchequer,* suitable to his transcendent genius for public affairs, proposed a fund, to be security for that immense debt; which is now confirmed by a law, and is likely to prove the greatest restoration and establishment of the kingdom's credit. Not content with this, the legislature has appointed commissioners of accompts to inspect into past mismanagements of the public money, and prevent them for the future. I have in a former paper mentioned the act for building fifty new churches in London and Westminster, with a fund appropriated for that pious and noble work. But while I am mentioning acts of piety, it would be unjust to conceal my lord high treasurer's concern for religion, which has extended even to another kingdom: his lordship having some months ago obtained of her majesty the first-fruits and tenths to the clergy of Ireland, as he is known to have before done to that reverend body here. The act for carrying on a trade to the South Sea, proposed by the same great person, whose thoughts are perpetually employed, and ever with success, on the good of his country, will, in all probability, if duly executed, be of mighty advantage to the kingdom, and an everlasting honour to the present parliament. I might go on farther, and mention that seasonable law against excessive gaming; and putting a stop to that scandalous fraud of false musters in the guards;† the di *Earl of Oxford. + Which had been formerly very numerous; the officers conniving at trades men, and others, who enlisted merely for the purpose of securing their persons from their creditors, and, as they did no duty, were contented that the officers should draw their pay. These inefficient recruits were called Romans, because they served their country without pay. ligent and effectual inquiry made by the Commons into several gross abuses. I might produce many instances of their impartial justice in deciding controverted elections, against former example, and great provocations to retaliate. I might show their cheerful readiness in granting such vast supplies; their great unanimity, not to be broken by all the arts of a malicious and cunning faction; their unfeigned dúty to the queen; and lastly, that representation made to her majesty from the House of Commons, discovering such a spirit and disposition in that noble assembly to redress all those evils which a long mal-administration had brought upon us. It is probable, that, trusting only to my memory, I may have omitted many things of great importance; neither do I pretend farther in the compass of this paper, than to give the world some general, however imperfect, idea, how worthily this great assembly has discharged the trust of those who so freely chose them; and what we may reasonably hope and expect from the piety, courage, wisdom, and loyalty, of such excellent patriots, in a time so fruitful of occasions to exert the greatest abilities. And now I conceive the main design I had in writing these papers is fully executed. A great majority of the nation is at length thoroughly convinced that the queen proceeded with the highest wisdom in changing her ministry and parliament; that under a former administration the greatest abuses of all kinds were committed, and the most dangerous attempts against the constitution for some time intended. The whole kingdom finds the present persons in power directly and openly pursuing the true service of their queen and country; and to be such, whom their most bitter enemies cannot tax with bribery, covetousness, ambition, pride, insolence, or any pernicious principles in religion or government. For my own particular, those little barking curs, which have so constantly pursued me, I take to be of no farther consequence to what I have written, than the scoffing slaves of old, placed behind the chariot to put the general in mind of his mortality; which was but a thing of form, and made no stop or disturbance in the show. However, if those perpetual snarlers against me had the same design, I must own they have effectually compassed it; since nothing can well be more mortifying than to reflect, that I am of the same species with creatures capable of uttering so much scurrility, dulness, falsehood, and impertinence, to the scandal and disgrace of human nature. No. XLV. THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1711. Melius non tangere clamo. WHEN a general has conquered an army, and reduced a country to obedience, he often finds it necessary to send out small bodies, in order to take in petty castles and forts, and beat little straggling parties, which are otherwise apt to make head, and infest the neighbourhood. This case exactly resembles mine. I count the main body of the Whigs entirely subdued; at least, till they appear with new reinforcements, I shall reckon them as such; and, therefore, do now find myself at leisure to examine inferior abuses. The business I have left is, to fall on those wretches that will be still keeping the war on foot, when they have no country to defend, no forces to bring into the field, nor any thing remaining, but their bare good will toward faction and mischief: I mean the present set of writers, whom I have suffered, without molestation, so long to infest the town. Were there not a concurrence from prejudice, party, weak understanding, and misrepresentation, I should think them too inconsiderable in themselves to deserve correction. But as my endeavour has been to expose the gross impositions of the fallen party, I will give a taste, in the following petition, of the sincerity of these their factors, to show how little those writers for the Whigs were guided by conscience or honour, their business being only to gratify a prevailing interest. "To the Right Honourable the present Ministry, the humble Petition of the Party Writers to the late Ministry; "HUMBLY SHEWETH, "That your petitioners have served their time to the trade of writing pamphlets and weekly papers, in defence of the Whigs, against the church of England, and the Christian religion, and her majesty's prerogative, and her title to the crown: That, since the late change of ministry, and meeting of this parliament, the said trade is mightily fallen off, and the call for the said pamphlets and papers much less than formerly; and it is feared, to our farther prejudice, that the Examiner may discontinue writing, whereby some of your petitioners will be brought to utter distress, forasmuch as, through false quotations, |