1752. PROCEEDINGS of the found his ancestor. The Hon. gentleman next fuppofed, Sir, that if the Embden company ftood their own infurers, they would be foon undone. That this is poffible, Sir, I fhall grant; but I must infift, that it is highly improbable; for if an inquiry were to be made into the hiftory of the Eaft-India trade, I believe, it would appear, that of all the fhips that have been fent thither from Europe, within the last 50 years, 19 out of 20 have returned fafe and without any damage; and, I believe, it will be granted, that if but ten of that company's fhips return fafe before they lofe one, they will be fully enabled to bear the lofs of that one. But this is not all: We must not only fuppofe it impoffible for the Embden company to ftand their own infurers, but we muft fuppofe, that if we prevent their infuring here, it will be impoffible B E POLITICAL CLUB, &c. 547 for them to find insurers any where elfe for fuch a large fum; and to fuppofe that all the infurers in Holland and France, are not able to infure 100,000l or will not be will ing to infure fuch a fum at fuch an extravagant price as has been already paid here, is, I think, as unreafonable a fuppofition as ever was fuppofed. I have faid, Sir, an extravagant price; because, if for so years paft not above one fhip out of 20 has been lost or damaged, the infurance, according to the doctrine of chances, ought not to exceed 51. per cent, and confequently if our insurers received 16,000l. for infuring 100,000l. upon the first Embden fhip bound to India, they had 11,000l. clear profit. Sir, I do not trouble my head. about the queftion, whether the infurance be cheaper and fafer here than in any other part of Europe: If the fact be true, that commiffions for infurance are fent here from all parts of Europe, more frequently than to any other place, (which, by, the by, ftands unfupported by any. proof) I fhall grant that it may be true. But whether it be true or not, can be of no weight in the prefent debate; for if the Embden company can ftand their own infurers, or if they can infure, tho' at a higher. price, any where else, this bill can no way contribute towards prevent-> ing their establishment; and their having infured their firft fhip is no proof of their being refolved always to infure: It was prudent and cauF tious in them to infure their firft adventure, which, as it is already. done, we cannot prevent; but if their first hip returns fafe, and makes a good voyage, their profits upon her will enable them to ftand their own infurers upon the next; and if G two or three more of their fhips return fafe before they lofe one, they will probably refolve to ftand always their own infurers. But 548 PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. Deo. A B But these I have mentioned, Sir, are not all the improbable fuppofiti. ons that must be fuppofed for rendering this bill neceflary or ufeful. We muft next fuppofe, that this Embden company will, by underfelling us, beat us out of the Hambourg mar. ket. This, 1 fhall grant, is not very improbable, confidering the extravagant profits which our monopoly company have always infilled on; but to give any weight to this fuppo fition, we must add another which is highly improbable, and that is, that if we prevent the establishment of the Embden company, no other company can beat us out of that market. Now, as the French already carry on a very great trade to Hambourg, and as the paffage from Gottenburg or Copenhagen is but a mere trifle C more expensive than that from Embden to Hambourg, I will fay, that if the Embden company could beat us out of the Hambourg market for the fale of Eaft-India goods, the French, Danish, or Swedish companies will do the fame, and the two latter lie D more convenient for the markets at Petersburgh, Dantzick, and all the other ports in the Baltick, than that of Embden. Confequently, either the Embden company can do no injury to our trade, fhould it be eftablished, or if it could, our trade will equally fuffer from fome other company, fhould that at Embden be demolished. ftock of goods, fignifies nothing, unless you can procure cuftomers By our law against infuring French ships during the war, we not only forced them to open a fhop for infurance, but we drove a great number of our own cuftomers to their fhop, and by this bill we are to drive a new number of our own caftomers thither; for if this bill paffes into a law, not only the Embden company, but all the merchants at Embden will refort to the French fhops for infurance: By this means they may gain fuch a credit, that in a few years France may become the chief market in Europe for infurance; for I very much fear that, notwithftanding the late increase of our publick debts, which now find is be deemed a national advantage : I fay, I very much fear, that the number of rich men is in the wane in England, and in France upon the increase. to In fhort, Sir, I cannot fuggeft to myself any, one reafon for the introduction of this bill, but a felfifh humour in our Eaft India company, who cannot bear being obliged to fell at 40, or perhaps 301. per cent. thofe goods which they have for fo many years fold at sol. per cent. profit; and a filly pettifh E humour in fome others against a great prince, only becaufe he fhews a proper refentment of fome projects that were formed against him not many years ago, and fome that are now upon the anvil. But neither of these reafons will, I hope, be fo far adopted by this houfe, as to induce us to pass fuch an unneceffary, ineffectual, and mischievous bill. On the contrary, thete reafons fhould induce us to reject the bill with indignation, and to fet on foot two inquiries of a very different nature. One, in order to difcover why our Eaft India company are fo much afraid of the fetting up of other Eat India companies in Europe; for if they fold all Euro This bill is therefore, Sir, either abfolutely unneceffary, or it will be abfolutely ineffectual: Nay, what is much worse, it is mifchievous; for F if the Embden company continue to infure their fhips, we are by this bill to give up a certain clear profit of 10 or 12,000l. a year, perhaps double that fum, without fo much as a profpect of any compenfation; and it will be a fecond step towards driv- G ing from this country the whole bufinels of infuring. An infurance of fice, Sir, is of the fame nature with a hop: Aftock of ready money, a pean 1752. Unreasonableness of INFIDELITY... pean goods in India, and all Indian goods phefy, that if we do not foon put our 549 The chriftian truths will stand the keeneft teft; the inquifitive reafoner is confounded with conviction; he fees that thefe are innocently pure, whofe foundation no, crafty fophift's art, no human force can ever thake. And will objections be made, because fome things are not within our reach? We know enough to make us journ here, perhaps, would make us mihappy, and to know more while we foferable. Our fhort lived fenfes, our feeble intellects, however confiderable they may feem to us, muft die away before the fplendor of celeftial majefty; and must be ever unable, while in this body, truly to reafon upon the nature of fpiritual exwill be ever teeming with new discoveries; Bistence. Immortality in another state which it is as impoffible for us to arrive at the knowledge of here, as it is for the infect of a day to compafs human reafon, In the infinite blaze of fyftems that furround us, there may be fome, whofe inhabitants are far inferior to us in fenfihabited by beings, whofe intuitive knowtive knowledge: Others there may be inledge as far exceeds ours, as ours does the dull fenfation of the most inactive animal. How then does it happen that fome amongst us wil daringly refufe divine affistance, when we find ourselves fo impotent in our acuteft reafonings ?The facred record of truth ftill exifts Dunfalfified and unimpeach'd. That facred perfon, the fubject of it, is there painted in fuch a vivid glow of fpiritual majefty, that while we gaze we must needs admire, and while we admire we surely cannot but believe we fee. Infinite rewards for poor finite duties are fuch an advantage, that to reject the offer of the The other inquiry, Sir, which this bill ought to put us upon, is that of inquiring how it comes, that one of the greatest princes in Germany is now fo closely linked with France; tho' his ancestors, for a great number of years paft, were always among the firft to enter into, C and to fupport with all their might, a confederacy against that nation. Both thefe inquiries, 1 fay, Sir, ought to be the confequence of our having such a bill as this offered to our confideration; but whatever we may do in either of thefe refpects, I hope, this houfe will not fhew itself fo like a Turkish divan, as to be governed by the selfish humour of a company of merchants, or by an infignificant pettish humour of a few courtiers; and therefore, in order to manifeft our honour and independency, I hope, this bill will be rejected with difdain. [This JOURNAL to be continued in our Ap- E one must be totally to deny the great pendix.] As all the SPEECHES made in the POLITICAL CLUB are not inferted in their journal book, any gentleman may fend a copy or extract of wh he faid upon any important debate, to the publisher of this MAGAZINE, and it shall be inferted by itself, or in its propar place. From the LONDON GAZETTEER. WHAT are all the little cavils of defign of the other, and to take away the adoration due to God, by deifying It is difficult our own imperfections. to fay, how we came to rely fo much upon our frail abilities; it is hard to account for this in man, unless we fay it fprings from the pride of being thought the moft fignificant being in the univerfe. F But, alas! are our intelectual capacities more perfect than thofe of the ages that have lived before us? Has heaven vouchfafed us in this age new and more amazing communications of grace than ever were yet bestowed? Are the venerable names of Milton, Boyle, Addison, remembered now no more ?They gloried in the chriftian fcheme; it was their pride to acknowledge their own infirmities, and that heaven's counfels are If the not within the reach of man. chriftian duties are acknowledged to be founded upon eternal reafon, furely the faith of chriftians has the greatest authorities 4 A infidelity, when examined by the 550 The true CHRISTIAN described. thorities for its fupport. The whole account of Chriflianity is fo engaging, fo unartful, fo unexceptionably attested, that human reafon must be its own adverfary, if we do not believe in that facred perfon, in all he ever did, in all he ever faid. Α B The religious man, whofe intellectual profpe& is unbounded in the Chriftian faith, fears not the frowns of men, nor dreads the wrath of heaven. In him the true patriot, the focial friend, the generous bencfactor, are all united. It is not the gloomy afpect, the four untractable temper, the rigid feverity of heart, the frequent appearance at publick worship, that conftitute religion. No; it is cheatfulness of temper, univerfal benevolence, the practice of moral duties, that are the effence of true chriflianity: And tho' publick acts of worship are reafonable, yet they ought always to be poftponed to the tender confiderations of my family's wants, or my neighbours's good. Such will be the tenor of his actions who paffes his C life here with honeft freedom, and who in every circumflance of it pays his pious debts to heaven. In the cool fhades of folitude and retirement, the religious man has no idle time to fpare, he ufes every moment. When amidst the bufy fwarm of vain images he is engaged in his country's fervice, every aft of duty in him is truly an act of religion. It is not fo D with many, who yet in human eftimation are thought worthy. To rife in the world's esteem by little fordid arts, is the ambition, not of a vituous mind, but of a cunning felfishness. If we are influenced by worldly motives, it is the fear of loting fome natural good that keeps us fteady : Whereas if we act from principle, the fear E of doing ill will always rife in proportion to the love we have for doing well. The boundaries of religious morality and ethnick duties have ever been thus afcertained. The former is true religion, the latter wordly wifdom: And indeed the courfe of human affairs is fuch, that where we fee them fometimes feparated, it is but to remind us that they are more frequently united: Nay, moft often the latter rides triumphant, and the former is trampled under foot. The religious man then confiders his duty only as the end of his creation; and frequently falls in the world's cftcem, that he may rife in the cfteem of his Creator. Though ftorms may attack him from without, the peaceful calm with G. in will ever enable him to outride the tempeit. We must not retire from the bufy fcene of life too foon. There are fome who place the whole of religion in a retired life, in continual addrefes to the dety, when they are far removed from the F Dec. city's noife, and the whirl of faction. The chain of exiftence must be preserved, and not one link fhould be removed, till it is become no longer ferviceable. Our several ftations have their respective provinces, and though our fhare of action may be but small and inconfiderable, the welfare of the whole fpecies cannot well exist without it; no more than a machine can be faid to be in order, when the smallest wheels do not perform their office. The true Chriftian will never quit the scene of action, till he finds himself worn out in the fervice; and then retirement will be not only feasonable but neceffary. This world is but the antichamber of heaven; where the evils, misfortunes, and uneven paffages are the furniture we must expect to meet with, fince the accommodations of life at firft were the best in kind, and we have abufed them by our own ill management. Perhaps the evils we complain of, are but the creatures of peevishness and difcontent. Who fees not that the Chriftian road is a smooth and even furface, whofe various paths all lead to happincfs; yet the fmalleft deviation brings us into the rapid ftream of affliction, which we might, if we would, have cafily avoided. The paths to Chriftian perfection are certain, plain and easy, and he who travels with ferenity of temper, is not, cannot be unhappy. Such fixed, fecure, and unalterable rules of conduct, the light of nature never as yet afforded. By fufferance we muft, we ought to learn, that refignation to the will of heaven is, next to acts of virtue, the greateft duty. When the gales of life are propitious, the fmiles of virtue should never favour of the leaft arrogance: When they fwell into a tempeft, the virtuous mind will still befpeak a calm, confcious that prefent evils are the pledges of a future good. Such is the Chriftian's rule of action, who with uniform and unwearied diligence moves on fecurely to the realms of blifs, where all is concord, harmony, and peace. 1 1752. On CHASTITY, and the Matrimonial State. 1746, p. 309; and a paper on Routs in An ESSAY on CHASTITY, and the I T is very feldom, and with the greatest nicety, I prefume to touch on the A reigning virtues or vices of our age, becaufe it is fo difficult even for the moft established writers long to maintain their ground, after they profeffedly engage in this fruitful and beaten field. This, poffibly, is one of the many reafons, why novels in every shape have of late years ingroffed the whole tafte of the publick, of all which (except a few) I fhall chufe to fay very little, only this, that as few books as men are to be found, in which there is not such a mixture of virtue and vice as requires fome pains to separate; which Mr. Addison beautifully treats of in that admirable paper, No. 564, of the Spectator. B Encouraged by this and fome other C eminent moderns, I fhall fubmit the following quotation from a very virtuous author, to the cenfure or applaufe of the publick, with a few obfervations thereon, adapted to our times, and, I fear, too apropos to every age. Cornelius Tacitus, in his curious Tract, entitled, De Moribus Germanorum, Chap. 18 and 19, of the Dutch edition, by Blaeu, has thefe beautiful obfervations on the virtues of that ancient people in the connubial state. D "Matrimony is moft ftrictly, and above all other virtues, obferved amongst them; for very few (except only their nobility) have more than one wife. Wives carry no fortunes to the hufband there, but he to them. The next of kin are E prefent at the nuptials, when prefents are made by the man, not fuch effeminate toys as the Romans ufe, but a yoke of oxen, a horfe properly furnished, and a fuit of armour. Thefe are the mutual tokens between husband and wife, this the pledge and bond, and, as it were, the fanction of the marriage compact. The meaning hereof is, that women do not think themselves exempt from all the changes and chances of life, either in war or peace; of which the oxen yoked, the horfe and furniture, are proper emblems. F 551 mitted are punished by the husband, who cuts off the wife's hair, and turns her our of doors in prefence of her kindred and all the neighbours; nor is fhe ever pardened, or to have another husband. No one there makes fport of his vices, or complains in general of the age, as we do. This is of all most commendable, that both men and women marry but once; as they have one life only, fo they marry but once; and good manners there have the force of good laws in other countries." To compare thefe genuine and moral remarks of a heathen hiftorian with these refined ages of chriftianity, is a task which no confideration could render agreeable, but the hopes thereby of fhaming chrif tians into a far fuperior practise of these virtues of the poor unenlightened heathers. And is it credible, that we who have for fo long a courfe of ages enjoyed the glorious gospel, fhould be put out of all countenance by thefe poor ancient people of Germany? Thus they are to live and die, and their pofterity after them. Hence they obServe the ftricteft chastity, untainted with G the modith vices of this age, and every gay amusement, and bufy not themselves with over nice studies. Hence adulterios are seldom known there, and when com Alas! it is too true; for all the pious care of education, the fanctity of the best parents and preceptors, are not a fufficient bulwark against the pregnant vices of thefe corrupt times. Look on the young people of both fexes, who are now entering into polite life, and you will fcarce find, even among the best, any who are not bewitched with the idle fashions of the town in all its foolish and ridiculous entertainments. The debaucheries and impudence of players, the trifling airs and more ridiculous impertinencies of fops of all degrees, and the empty fhews of pomp and titles, (however mean and polluted within) catch the eyes of the young and innocent, before they have spent the morning of their lives; and the country, with all the amiabie fcenes of that fweet retirement, are abandoned for the falfer pleafures of the town. But after all the power of ill example and effrontery, which the amazing progrefs of vice is now grown to, even in the most exalted station, I fhall beg leave to apply to the fair idea of virtue, what the wife man fays of a word fitly spoken, that it is like apples of gold fet in pictures of filver. Who then but would cry out with Cicero in thofe charming words, O vita philofophia dux, virtutis indagatrix, expultrixque vitiorum; unus enim dies benè & ex præ• ceptis tuis actus peccanti immortalitati efi anreponendus ! Wootton, Somersetshire, 4A 2 EUGENIO, Frem |