of his cause, without considering that those gentlemen have reverted to us again. The case is thus: He never would have praised them, if they had remained firm, nor should we have railed at them. The one is full as honest, and as natural as the other: However, Mr. Steele hopes (I beg you Mr. Bailiff to observe the consequence) that notwithstanding this pamphlet's reflecting on some Tories who opposed the treaty of commerce, "the ministry will see Dunkirk effectually demolished." 1 Mr. Steele says something in commendation of the Queen ; but stops short, and tells you (if I take his meaning right) that he "shall leave what he has to say on this topic; till he and Her Majesty are both dead." Thus, he defers his praises as he does his debts, after the manner of the Druids, to be paid in another world. If I have ill interpreted him, it is his own fault, for studying cadence instead of propriety, and filling up niches with words before he has adjusted his conceptions to them. One part of the Queen's character is this, "that all the hours of her life, are divided between the exercises of devotion, and taking minutes of the sublime affairs of her government." Now, if the business of Dunkirk be one of the "sublime affairs of Her Majesty's government," I think we ought to be at ease, or else she "takes her minutes" to little purpose. No, says Mr. Steele, the Queen is a lady, and unless a prince will now and then get drunk with his ministers, "he cannot learn their interests or humours : " but this being by no means proper for a lady, she can know nothing but what they think fit to tell her when they are sober. And therefore "all the fellow-subjects" of these ministers must watch their motions and "be very solicitous for what passes beyond the ordinary rules of government; " " For while we are foolishly "relying upon Her Majesty's virtues ;" These ministers are "taking the advantage of increasing the power of France." There is a very good maxim, I think it is neither Whig 1 P. 60. 2 P. 61. 3 Ibid. Ibid. 5 Queen Anne was, however, rather more fortunate in this matter than might have been expected. For, though she could not drink with her ministers, yet, if her own word could be taken, Oxford used to attend her councils in a state of intoxication. [S.] 6 P. 61. nor Tory, "that the prince can do no wrong; " which I doubt is often applied to very ill purposes. A monarch of Britain is pleased to create a dozen peers, and to make a peace; both these actions are, (for instance,) within the undisputed prerogative of the crown, and are to be reputed and submitted to as the actions of the prince: But as a king of England is supposed to be guided in matters of such importance, by the advice of those he employs in his councils; whenever a parliament thinks fit to complain of such proceedings, as a public grievance, then this maxim takes place, that the prince can do no wrong, and the advisers are called to account. But shall this empower such an individual as Mr. Steele, in his tatling or pamphleteering capacity, to fix "the ordinary rules of government," or to affirm that "her ministers, upon the security of Her Majesty's goodness, are labouring for the grandeur of France?" What ordinary rule of government is transgressed by the Queen's delaying the demolition of Dunkirk? Or what addition is thereby made to the grandeur of France? Every tailor in your corporation is as much a fellow-subject as Mr. Steele, and do you think in your conscience that every tailor of Stockbridge is fit to direct Her Majesty and her ministers in "the sublime affairs of her government?" 1 But he "persists in it, that it is no manner of diminution of the wisdom of a prince, that he is obliged to act by the information of others." " The sense is admirable; and the interpretation is this, that what a man is forced to "is no diminution of his wisdom: " But if he would conclude from this sage maxim, that, because a prince "acts by the information of others," therefore those actions may lawfully be traduced in print by every fellow-subject; I hope there is no man in England, so much a Whig, as to be of his opinion. Mr. Steele concludes his letter to you with a story about King William and his "French dog-keeper, who gave that prince a gun loaden only with powder, and then pretended to wonder how His Majesty could miss his aim: Which was no argument against the King's reputation for shooting very finely." This he would have you apply, by allowing Her Majesty to be a wise prince, but deceived by wicked 3 Ibid. 1 P. 62. 2 Ibid. counsellors, who are in the interest of France. Her Majesty's aim was peace, which, I think, she hath not missed; and, God be thanked, she hath got it, without any more expense, either of shot or powder. Her dog-keepers, for some years past, had directed her gun against her friends, and at last loaded it so deep, that it was in danger to burst in her hands. You may please to observe, that Mr. Steele calls this dogkeeper a "minister," which, with humble submission, is a gross impropriety of speech. The word is derived from Latin, where it properly signifies a servant; but in English is never made use of otherwise, than to denominate those who are employed in the service of church or state: So that the appellation, as he directs it, is no less absurd, than it would be for you, Mr. Bailiff, to send your 'prentice for a pot of ale, and give him the title of your envoy; to call a petty constable a magistrate, or the common hangman a minister of justice. I confess, when I was choquedat this word in reading the paragraph, a gentleman offered his conjecture, that it might possibly be intended for a reflection or a jest : But if there be any thing further in it, than a want of understanding our language, I take it to be only a refinement upon the old levelling principle of the Whigs. Thus, in their opinion, a dog-keeper is as much a minister as any secretary of state: And thus Mr. Steele and my lord treasurer are both fellow-subjects. I confess, I have known some ministers, whose birth, or qualities, or both, were such that nothing but the capriciousness of fortune, and the iniquity of the times, could ever have raised them above the station of dog-keepers; and to whose administration I should be loth to entrust a dog I had any value for: Because, by the rule of proportion, they who treated their prince like a slave, would have used their fellow-subjects like dogs; and how they would treat a dog, I can find no similitude to express; yet I well remember, they maintained a large number, whom they taught to fawn upon themselves, and bark at their mistress. However, while they were in service, I wish they had only kept Her Majesty's dogs, and not been trusted with her guns. And thus much by way of comment upon this worthy story of King William and his dog-keeper. 1 The word is now spelt " shocked." [T. S.] I have now, Mr. Bailiff, explained to you all the difficult parts in Mr. Steele's letter. As for the importance of Dunkirk, and when it shall be demolished, or whether it shall be demolished or not, neither he, nor you, nor I, have any thing to do in the matter. Let us all say what we please, Her Majesty will think herself the best judge, and her ministers the best advisers; neither hath Mr. Steele pretended to prove that any law ecclesiastical or civil, statute or common, is broken, by keeping Dunkirk undemolished, as long as the Queen shall think it best for the service of herself and her kingdoms; and it is not altogether impossible, that there may be some few reasons of state, which have not been yet communicated to Mr. Steele. I am, with respect to the borough and yourself, SIR, Your most humble and most obedient servant, &c. |