• * * Numb, 17 The EXAMINER. From Thursday November 16, to Thursday November 23. 1710. Qui sunt boni crves ? qui belli, qui domi de patria bene merentesi nisi qui patriae beneficia meminerunt ? I Will employ this present Paper upon a Subject, which of late hath very much affected me, which I have consider'd with a good deal of Application, and made several Enquiries about, among those Perfons who I thought were best able to inform me ; and if I deliver my Sentiments with some Freedom, I hope it will be forgiven, while I accompany it with that Tenderness which so nice a Point requires. I said in a former Paper ( Numb. 14.) that one specious objection to the late removals at Court, was the fear of giving Uneasiness to a General, who has been long successful abroad: And accordingly, the common Clamour of Tongues and Pens for some Months past, has run against the Baseness, the Inconstancy and Ingratitude of the whole Kingdom to the Duke of M in return of the most eminent Services that ever were perform'd by a Subject to his Country ; not to be equal'd in History. And then to be sure some bitter stroak of Detraction againft Alexander and Caesar, who never did us the least Injury. Besides, the People that read Plutarch come upon us with Parallels drawn from the Greeks and Romans, who ungratefully dealt with I know not how many of their most deserving Generals: While the profounder Politicians, have seen Pamphlets, where Tacitus and Machiavel have been quoted to shew the danger of too resplendent a Merit. Should a Stranger hear these furious Out- cries of Ingratitude against our General, without knowing the particulars, he would be apt to enquire where was his Tomb, or whether he were allow'd Christian Burial ? Not doubting but we had put him to some ignominious Death. Or, has he been tried for his Life, and very narrowly escap'd ? Has he been accus'd of High Crimes and Misdemeanors ? Has the Prince seiz'd on his Estate, and left him to starve ? Has he been hooted at as he passed the Street by an ungrateful Mob ? Have neither Honours, Offices nor Grants, been confer'd on Him or his Family ? . Have not he and they been barbarously stript of them all ? Have not he and his Forces been ill pay'd abroad ? And does not the Prince by a scanty, limited Commission, hinder him from pursuing his own Methods in the conduct of the War? Has he no Power at all of disposing Commissions as he pleases ? Is he not severely us'd by the Minis t r y or Parliament, who yearly call him to a strict Account? Has the Senate ever thank'd him for good Success, and have they not always publickly censur'd him for the least Miscarriage ? Will the Accusers of the Nation join issue upon any of these Particulars, or tell us in what Point, our damnable Sin of Ingratitude lies ? Why, ' tis plain and clear; For while he is Commanding abroad, the Queen Dissolves her Parliament, and changes Her Ministry at home: In which universal Calamity, no less than two Persons allied by Marriage to the General, have lost their Places. Whence came this wonderful Simpathy between the Civil and Military Powers ? Will the Troops in Flanders refuse to Fight, unless they can have their own Lord Keeper, their own Lord President of the Council, their own chief Governor of Ireland, and their own Parliament ? In a Kingdom where the People are free, how came they to be so fond of having their Councils under the Influence of their Army, or those that lead it ? who in all well instituted States, had no Commerce with the civil Power, further than to receive their Orders, and obey them without Reserve, When a General is not so Popular, either in his Army or at Home, as one might expect from a long course of Success ; it may perhaps be ascribed to his Wisdom, or perhaps to his Complexion. The possession of some one Quality, or a defect in some other, will extremely damp the Peoples Favour, as well as the Love of the Souldiers, Besides, this is not an Age to produce Favourites of the People, while we live under a Queen who engrosses all our Love, and all our Veneration ; and where, the only way for a great General or Minister, to acquire any degree of subordinate Affection from the Publick,' must be by all Marks of the most entire Submisson and Respect, to Her Sacred Person and Commands; otherwise, no pretence of great Services, either in the Field or the Cabinet, will be able to skreen them from universal Hatred. But the late Ministry was closely join'd to the General, by Friendship, Interest, Alliance, Inclination and Opinion, which cannot be affirm'd of the present j and the Ingratitude of the Nation, lies in the People's joining as one Man, to with, that such a Ministry should be changed. Is it not at the same time notorious to the whole Kingdom, that nothing but a tender regard to the General, was able to preserve that Ministry so long, ' till neither God nor Man could suffer their continuance ? Yet in the highest Ferment of Things, we heard few or no Reflexions upon this great Commander, but all seem'd unanimous in wishing he might ( till be at the Head of the Confederate Forces; only at the same time, in case he were resolv'd to resign, they chose rather to turn their Thoughts somewhere else, than throw up all in Despair. And this I cannot but add, in defence of the People, with regard to the Person we are speaking of, that in the high Station he has been for many Years past, his real Defects ( as nothing Human is without them) have in a detracting Age been very sparingly mention'd, either in Libels or Conversation, and all his Successes very freely and universally applauded. There is an active and a passive Ingratitude ; applying both to this Occasion, we may say, the first is,' when a Prince or People returns good Services with Cruelty or ill Usage : The other is, when good Services are not at all, or very meanly rewarded. We have already spoke of the former ; let us therefore in the second place, examine how the Services of our General have been rewarded j and whether upon that Article, either Prince or People have been guilty of Ingratitude ? Those are the most valuable Rewards which are given to us from the certain Knowledge of the Doner, that they fit our Temper best : I shall therefore say nothing of the Title of Duke, or the Gartert which the Queen bestow'd the General in the begining of her Reign ; but I shall come to more Substantial Instances, and mention nothing which has not been given in the Face of the World. The Lands of Woodstock, may, I believe, be reckoned worth 40000 /. On the building of Blenheim Castle 20oooo /. have been already expended, tho' it be not yet near finish'd. The Grant of 5000/. per Anon the Post- Office, is richly worth 100000/. His Principality in Germany may be computed at 30000 /. Pictures, Jewels, and other Gifts from Foreign Princes, 6oooo/. The Grant at the Pall- mall, the Rangership, & c. for want of . more certain Knowledge, may be call'd 10000 l. His own, and his D u t c h e s s ' s Employments r at five Years Value, reckoning only the known and avow'd Sallaries, are very low- rated at 10oooo/. Here is a good deal above half a Million of Money, and I dare say, those who are loudest with the Clamor of Ingratitude, will readily own, that all this is but a Trifle in comparison with what is untold. The reason of my stating this Account is only to convince the World, that we are not quite so ungrateful either as the Greeks or the Romans. And in order to adjust this matter with all Fairness, I shall confine my self to the latter, who were much the more generous of the two. A Victorious General of Rome in the Height of that Empire, having entirely subdued his Enemy, was rewarded with the larger Triumph; and perhaps a Statue in the Forum, a Bull for a Sacrifice, an embroidred Garment to appear in : A Crown of Lawrel, a Monumental Trophy with Inscriptions, sometimes five hundred or a thousand Copper Coins were struck on occasion of the Victory, which doing Honour to the General, we will place to his Account ; And lastly, sometimes, tho' not very frequently, a Triumphal Arch. These are all the Rewards that I can call to mind, which a victorious General received after his return from the most glorious Expedition, conquered some great Kingdom, brought the King himself, his Family and Nobles to adorn the Triumph in Chains, and made the Kingdom either a Roman Province, or at best a poor depending State, in humble Alliance to that Empire. Now of all these Rewards, I find but two which were of real Profit to the General j The Lawrel Crown, made and sent him at the Charge of the Publick, and the Embroidred Garment; but I cannot find whether this last were paid for by the Senate or the General: However, we will take the more favourable Opinion, and in all the rest, admit the whole Expence as if it were ready Money in the Geral's Pocket. Now according to these Computations on both sides, we will draw up two fair Accounts, the one of Roman Gratitude, and the other of British Ingratitude, and set them together in ballance. A Bill of Roman Gratitude /. s. J. Imprimis. For> Franckincense / and Earthen > 4 1 0 0 Pots to burn \ it in A Bull for Sacrifice J An Embroi- 7 dred Garment • » ' A Crown of 8 0 0 o 0 o 1 o 0 100 o o A Bill of British Ingratitude. Woodstock} 4° o o o ' °° Blenheim 200000 o o Post- office- Grant Mildenheim— 30000 o Poi ctures } , 0 0 0 0 00 grant, Sec. i Employ- | I O O O O O OO ments • » 1100000 o o Sum Tot. j 40000 o o Lawrel • A Statue— 100 o o A Trophy 80 o o A thousand Copper Medals value halfpence a piece A T r i u m p h a l A Triumphal Carr, valu'd as a Modern Coach Casual Char- 7 ges at theTri umph — 3 Sum Total 994 n 10 This is an Account of the visible Profits on both sides; and if the Roman General had any private Perquisites, they may be easily discounted, and by more probable Computations, and differ yet more upon the Ballance. If we consider, that all the Gold and Silver for Saufguards and Contributions, also all valuable Prices taken in the War were openly expos'd in the Triumph, and then lodged in the Capitol for the Publick Service. So that upon the whole, we are not yet quite so bad at worst, as the Romans were at best. And I doubt, those who raise this hideous Cry of Ingratitude, may be mightily mistaken in the Consequence they propose from such Complaints. I remember a saying of Senaca, Multos ingratos invenimus, plures facimus; We find many ungrateful Persons in the World, but we make more, by letting too high a Rate upon our Pretensions, and undervaluing the Rewards we receive. When unreasonable Bills are brought in, they ought to be Taxed, or cut off in the middle. Where there have been long Accounts between two Persons, I have known one of them perpetually making large Demands and pressing for Payments, who when the Accounts were cast up on both sides, was found to be Creditor for some Hundreds. I am thinking if a Proclamation were issued out for every Man to send in his Bill of Merits, and the lowest Price he set them at, what a pretty Sum it would amount to, and how many such Islands as this must be s o ld to pay them. I form my Judgment from the Practice of those who sometimes happen to pay themselves, and I 20.002 dare affirm, would not be so unjust to take a farthing more than they think is due to their Deserts. I will instance only in one Article. A Lady of my Acquaintance, appropriated twenty six Pounds a Year out of her Allowance, for certain uses, which her Woman received, and was to pay to the Lady or her Order, as it was called for. But after eight Years, it appeared upon the strictest Calculation, that the Woman had paid but four Pound a Year, and sunk two and twenty for her own Pocket 5 ' tis but supposing instead of twenty six Pound, twenty six thoufand, and by that you may judge what the Pretentions of Modern Merit are, where it happens to be its own Paymaster. M0rning Gowns for Men and Women, of all sorts of rich Brocaded Silks, Japan'd Sattins, and great variety of other rich Silks, Stuffs and Callicoe's, ( being a fresh Parcel of choice Goods of Sam. Edwards and Richard Hocbett, Mercers, who left of Trade) are to be sold at very low Rates, at the Golden Sugar- Loaf up one pair of Stairs, over aginst the Horse at Charing- Cross, the Price being set on each Gown• Catalogues of the above said Gowns to be had at the place of Sale. A D V E R T I S E M E N T S . Just Publish'd, TH E Second Volume of M E M O I R S of E U R O P E , towards the Close of the Eighth Century. Written by Eginardus, Secretary and Favorite to Charlemagne : And Done into English by the Aufhor of the N E W A T A L A N T I S . Printed for John Morphew near Stationers- Hall: Where may be had the Second Edition Corrected, of the F I R ST VOLUME of the faid MEMOIRS. SIR THOMAS DOUBLE at Court, and in High Preferments. In Two Dialogues, between Sir THOMAS DOUBLE and Sir RICHARD COMOVER, alias Mr. WHIGLOVE: On the 17th of September, 1710. Written by the Author of Tom Double, or the True Picture of a Modern Whig. Price 1 s. Speedily will be Publish'd, MO S T Faults on one Side : Or, the shallow Politicks, foolish Arguing, and Villanous Designs of the Author of a late Pamphlet, entituled Faults on both Sides, Consider'd and Expos'd, in an Answer to that Pamphlet: Shewing that the many Truths in Modern History related by the Author of it, do not make amends for his many Falshoods in Fact, and Fallacies in Reasoning- A Letter out of the Country, to the Author of the Managers Pro and Con, in Answer to his Account of what is said at Child's and Tom's in the Case of Dr. Sacheverell, Article by Article. All Sold by John Morphew, near Stationers- Hall. L O N D O N : Printed for J o h n M o r p h e w , near Stationers- Hall, 1710. _