The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 11.: Parlimentary Debates II.Johnson, Samuel
History
The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Volume 11.: Parlimentary Debates II.
Johnson, Samuel
Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons -- History -- 18th century
That they are intended for the support of the queen of Hungary has
been, indeed, asserted; and this contract has been produced as an
instance of the zeal of our ministers for the assertion of the
Pragmatick sanction, the preservation of the liberties of Europe, and
the suppression of the ambitious enterprises of the house of Bourbon;
but surely, my lords, had the assistance of that illustrious princess
been their sole or principal intention, had they in reality dedicated
the sum which is to be received by the troops of Hanover, to the
sacred cause of publick faith and universal liberty, they might have
found methods of promoting it much more efficaciously at no greater
expense. Had they remitted that money to the queen, she would have
been enabled to call nations to her standard, to fill the plains of
Germany with the hardy inhabitants of the mountains and the deserts,
and have deluged the empire of France with multitudes equally daring
and rapacious, who would have descended upon a fruitful country like
vultures on their prey, and have laid those provinces in ruin which
now smile at the devastation of neighbouring countries, secure in the
protection of their mighty monarch.
By this method of carrying on the war, we might have secured our ally
from danger which I cannot but think imminent and formidable, though
it seems, at present, not to be feared. By so large an addition to her
troops, she would have been enabled to frustrate those designs, which
her success may incline the king of Prussia to form against her; for
with whatever tranquillity he may now seem to look upon this general
commotion, his conduct gives us no reason to imagine, that he has
changed his maxims, that he is now forgetful or negligent of his own
interest, or that he will not snatch the first opportunity of
aggrandizing himself by new pretensions to the queen of Hungary's
dominions.
At least, my lords, it may without scruple be asserted, that the hopes
which some either form or affect of engaging him in a confederacy for
the support of the Pragmatick sanction, are merely chimerical. He who
has hitherto considered no interest but his own, he who has perhaps
endangered himself by attempting to weaken the only power to which he,
as well as the other princes of the empire, can have recourse for
protection from the ambition of France, and has, therefore, broken the
rules of policy only to gratify a favourite passion, will scarcely
concur in the exaltation of that family which he has so lately
endeavoured to depress, and which he has so much exasperated against
him. If he is at length, my lords, alarmed at the ambition of the
house of Bourbon, and has learned not to facilitate those designs
which are in reality formed against himself, it cannot be doubted,
that he looks with equal fear on the house of Austria, that he knows
his safety to consist only in the weakness of both, and that in any
contest between them, the utmost that can be hoped from him is
neutrality.
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