The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 10: Parlimentary Debates IJohnson, Samuel
History
The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 10: Parlimentary Debates I
Johnson, Samuel
Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons -- History -- 18th century
By this incorporation, sir, our new-levied troops will be no longer
distinguished from our veterans; they will be equally acquainted with
discipline, and will learn, from the conversation of their associates, a
spirit of enterprise, and a contempt of danger; we may then employ
forces equally formidable in all parts of the publick service, and
invade the dominions of our enemies, without leaving our own country
desolate.
The arguments which the honourable gentleman has offered in defence of
sending our younger troops to America, which may likewise be used
against an incorporation, is, in my opinion, sir, far from being
conclusive; for it supposes, what will not be granted, that a cold
climate may be changed for a hotter with more safety by a young than an
old man. I have been told, on the contrary, that superabundant heat is
the great disease of youth, and that the want of it produces most of the
infirmities of age; and every one has known the lives of persons
languishing with age, prolonged by a removal into warm countries. I am,
therefore, of opinion, that the honourable gentleman's argument is
defective in all its parts, and hope that I shall not be charged with
obstinacy or perverseness for dissenting from him.
Mr. HOWE spoke next, in substance as follows:--Sir, before I engage in a
discussion of the question, I cannot but think it necessary to observe,
that the honourable gentleman who spoke the second in this debate, has
been very far from consulting either policy or justice in his
declamation, and that he deviated from the subject only to ridicule his
country, to exalt our enemies, and depress our efforts.
He has described, sir, the British youth, the sons of noble families,
and the hopes of the nation, in terms too contemptuous to be heard
without indignation; he has amused himself with displaying their
ignorance and their effeminacy, and has indulged his imagination in a
malignant kind of gaiety, which, however it may divert himself, is very
far from contributing either to the reformation or prevention of those
practices which he censures.
I believe, sir, it will be granted, that nothing ought to please but in
proportion to its propriety and truth; and, if we try the satire that we
have lately heard, by this test, it will be found to have very little
claim to applause; for our armies must be composed of the youth of the
nation; and, for my part, I cannot discover what advantage we shall gain
over the Spaniards, by informing them how little our troops are
accustomed to danger, how short a time they have been acquainted with
fatigue, how tenderly they have been nursed, how easily they may be
frighted, and how certainly they will be conquered, if they but meet
with opposition.
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