AN ANSWER TO THE L
d H
sham's SPEECH.
By
Daniel D' Foe.
HAD the Subject of this Paper, been able to stay but one Week more, it had not been a Digression; the determin'd Course of the
Reviews,
being then to Review to the Subject of Trade, and the general State of things; and as the daily Flux of Subject for this Paper is such, that I dispair to return yet a great while to my Original Design, as to
France
; I shall turn this Paper for the Present to be a
Review
of the State of the Nation; and I do not oblige my self that the next Volume may not bear that Title.
I find a Paper Cry'd about Town, with an Unusual Earnestness; Entituled, the Lord
H
sham
's Speech, in the House of Peers—I think my self oblig'd, before I enter upon the Particulars, to make a short Introduction, relating to my manner of Treating the Case I am upon, which is expected to be an Answer to that Paper.
I am going to Answer my Lord
H
sham
's Speech; but if I may say any thing to certain Points, hinted at in the Paper, call'd by that Title; they are welcome to call mine an
Answer,
or what else they please.
That the Lord
H
sham,
made a Speech in the House of Lords, is no part of my Enquiry, nor shall I meddle with what was Transacted there, I know the Duty of an Author, with Respect to what is done or said in that Assembly.
The Paper Publish'd, I think, shows it self in a double Capacity,
as a Speech, and as a Pamphlet
; as a Speech I have nothing to say to it; but as a Pamphlet with no Author's Name to it, it may be any bodies, and may be Answer'd by any body; 'tis an Appeal to the People, a Challenge to every Reader; and I am at liberty, as well as another, to Remark upon it.
As a Pamphlet, I say, I may be concern'd with it, and no otherwise; the Anonymous Author is nothing to me, be it a Lord or a Tinker; there is no Name to it, to Vouch the Particulars; and I believe indeed, no Man would ever set his Name to it, that valu'd the Reputation of his Character; either for Truth, Understanding, or Good Manners.
Let the Speech be what it will, and whose it will, I must confess, the Publication of it seems to me, to have something in it, that I cannot allow, to be the Noble Lords doing; whatever has an Air in its Countenance, Calculated or screw'd up to a pitch of Malecontent and Chagrin, as if it was done on purpose to sower the Nation, cannot be Publish'd with a good design; let the Saying, or Speaking this any where, be done with what design it will, the Printing of it, can, in my Poor Opinion have no Meaning, but what is Mischievous and Unpeaceable.
Having thus stated the Case, between the
Review
and the
Pamphlet
I speak of, I shall lead my Reader no farther about.
I shall endeavour to speak as plain, as the Deference and Regard due to Dignity and Quality of Persons will permit; I wish the Noble Lord, who they say made this Speech, would give me leave to Answer, Paragraph by Paragraph every Article, without taking the Advantages, Laws and Power furnishes him with, upon any reasonable Penalty, if I did not give, what even the whole House of Lords should determine a full Answer.
But Limited by that Article of Quality, I shall refrain an Answer, as an Answer to this Speech, and only handle the Subject, without pointing at the Person.
The first Paragraph, in the Paper above, which is all I shall recite, makes the Author Address in the First Person
My Lords,
as Introductory to something he has to say, Relating to the State of the Nation; and Nothing, that
the best way of Preserving the Liberty of Speech, is to make use of it
; tells them, he will speak to three or four Generals very plainly; if he had said Coursly, he
had said
Four Heads are treated of in this Paper; and I also purpose to treat of the same four Heads among many other; if my Lord
H
sham
's Opinion and mine differ, I hope neither this Paper nor its Author, are bound to Sacrifice his Judgment to his Manners; I shall treat the Name the Speech is call'd by, in no Terms beneath his Quality, and have nothing to ask his Lordship's Pardon for, but for discoursing of the same Points, with himself; which I hope his Lordship will allow me the Liberty to do; the Particulars are,
1. The Consederate War.
2. The Trade of
England.
3. The Right of Princes, to take Notice of things done in Parliament, but not brought to their Knowledge, in a Parliamentary manner.
4. The bringing over the Presumptive Heir of the Crown to reside here.
I begin with the last of these, and I shall no more take Notice, that these have been the Subject of any Speech; nor do I know they have been; I know this Article has been started in Print before now, by an Author, whose Principle is as well known as his Paper; and as his Proposal I shall speak to it, and of him I must say; as an Old Man said to his Poor Nephew; who waited for his Death to come to his Estate; The
young Fellow,
Advis'd him to Remove to a certain Place in the Country for his Health, which, as he said, was a better Air;
I believe 'tis a better Air,
says the Old Man,
but I do not fansie the Place: Why so, Sir,
says the Nephew—
Because you Propose it,
says he;
for what can you get by my Livi
g?
Now, Mr.
Politicus,
as this Author would be call'd, we could be glad to see the Heir of the Crown among us, but we cannot fancy the Proposal, because you make it; for what can your Party get by it? What Advantage can it be to your Party, to bring those over, that we know you hate? And how can you think but we must suspect your Integrity? An Old Lyon, that by his Age and Infirmities was grown heavy, and could hardly get his Living as he used to do; his Joynts stiff with the Excesses of his Youth, his Claws broke, and his Teeth rotten, just as it fares with Mr.
Mercurius Politicus
's Party. To supply the Defects of his Power, with the Helps of his Cunning, feigns himself very sick; and being near the point of Death, invites all his Subjects of the Horn and the Hoof, to come and visit him; pretends he had great need of their Assistance; and withal, that it was very convenient to have them near him; and that he had several things to tell them for the publick Safety. Away comes the Inhabitants of the adjacent Woods, out of their Holes and secure places, where they were far enough out of his Reach, to Visit this Old Devourer. When he had thus got them into his Power, he watches his Opportunity, flies upon them, and Devours them all.
These old Stories, and Fifty more such I could tell them, might give us very good Caution when these Foxes preach to beware of the Geese; but of that by the way. The Proposal of bringing over the Princess of
Hannover,
is specious, and seems to lay a Difficulty in the way of a great many honest subjects, as if not complying with it, should be taken for a Disrespect to that Illustrious House, which will best appear, when a little farther Examin'd into; for all things are not to be judged of by their Outsides.
No Man more sincerely joins in the Satlement of the Succession, and rejoyces in the Safety of
England
on that head, than the Author of this Paper; and when we talk of Inviting the Princes of the Line Royal hither, all that desire their Peaceable Enjoyment of the Crown would without doubt bid them welcome, and be glad to see them round the Throne, as some call it.
But when we talk of the Respect due to the Illustrious Branches of our Succession, 'tis one thing; and when we talk of the Security and Safety of
England,
'tis another: and in this Case, with all manner of Duty and Respect to the Successors of the
English
Crown, I freely say,
We are as secure without them as with them.
To say it would be a fine Court, or a pleasant thing; if all the House of
Hannover
was here, a great deal of Gallantry and some Trade might be the Consequence; this has something in it, and not much: But when we talk of Safety and Danger, 'tis not the Distance of our Princes can influence the Matter; an
English
Parliament is the Security of
England,
against all the intervening Accidents, and how easy is all that Pretence fallen to the Ground now, in one Vote of the House of Lords?
Publick Safety is a fine gilded Pretence, and Sounds very popular; but it is not always meant most, where it is most talk'd of; and Security of the Queen, from the Heirs being at her Elbow; I cannot foresee the Security of the Queen consists in the hearts of her People, which I believe no Prince for some Ages has more intirely possess'd; and I cannot say the Queen had been more secure in the Life of the Duke of
Glocester
; it had been a Joy and Comfort both to the Queen and the whole Nation, if it had pleased God to have spared that Prince, whose Loss is a Grief to all that reflect on it, and who have any value for their Sovereign.
But still as to Safety, as to the Publick Security, it consists not in Persons, but in things; if God for our sins should take away every Branch of that Illustrious Stock, from whence we hope for such a Succession of Princes; I am of Opinion, and think 'tis plain, the Foundation of the
English
Crown and Government stands too fast to be shaken: 'Tis built upon this Fundemental Maxim of State, recorded in Parliament, and which all the Nation concurs in,
That we will not have
a Popish Prince
to Reign over us.
The Parliament of
England
is our Security for the making this good; and it can neither add nor diminish to this Security, how or to what extent it may please God to lengthen the Lives of the Successors to the Crown.
Nor does it seem to me a matter of any great Moment, the acquainting the Heir with the
English
Prelates; in our Case the present Presumtive Heir being very unlikely to succeed; her Majesty, God be praised, is in good Health, and much more likely to reign 30 or 40 years; God forbid I should stint her Majesty, than a Princess of above 70 is to succeed; and in this Case I would fain ask Mr.
Politicus,
Who would you have brought over? if you examine the Heirs to the
English
Crown, 'tis three to one against all the three alternately wi
shall enjoy it; I mean as to respect of Age and natural Probabilities: 'Tis 20 to one against the old Lady, the immediate Presumtive Heir; to what purpose then would they bring that Princess over in her old Age, but to shortten her Days by changing the Air and her manner of Living? 'Tis then at least an even Wager against the Elector Regent, and I know no body so weak to talk of his Highness coming over, to quit his Soverign Dominion, and the Administration of his Affairs, to come hither to live in the Quality of an
English
Nobleman, and wait for the Queen Shoes who is, God be thank'd, likely to live as long as himself.
Then
ere is that young Elector Prince, and of him it is perhaps odds six to four, that some time
he may enjoy it; but 'tis at least three to two that he does not enjoy it next to the Queen; and on what pretence can it be moved to send for this Prince over? if he were here when the Queen should happen to die, he could be no Security, he could not act but by Commission from his Father or Grandmother, unless by Name establish'd in Parliament, as Lord Justice, or Commiss
, or some other Title; and that's done already in naming seven or eight Lord Justices to act in
: so that any of these ways this Proposal signifies just nothing,
Suspicio
, that some Snake lies hid in the Grass; of which hereafter.
LONDON
: Printed in the Year, 1705.