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
Every man immediately marks out a trader thus infatuated, as on the
brink of bankruptcy and ruin; every one will easily foresee, that his
servants will take advantage of his credulity, and proceed hourly to
grosser frauds; that they will grow rich by betraying his interest, that
they will neglect his affairs to promote their own, that they will
plunder him till he has nothing left, and seek then for employment among
those to whom they have recommended themselves by selling their trust.
His neighbours, who easily foresee his approaching misery, retire from
him by degrees, disunite their business from his, and leave him to fall,
without involving others in his ruin.
Such must be the fate of a trader whom idleness, or a blind confidence
in the integrity of others, hinders from attending to his own affairs,
unless he rouses from his slumber, and recovers from his infatuation.
And what is to be done by the man who, having for more than twenty years
neglected so necessary an employment, finds, what must necessarily be
found in much less time, his accounts perplexed, his credit depressed,
and his affairs disordered? What remains, but that he suffer that
disorder to proceed no farther, that he resolutely examine all the
transactions which he has hitherto overlooked, that he repair those
errours which are yet retrievable, and reduce his trade into method;
that he doom those servants, by whom he has been robbed or deceived, to
the punishment which they deserve, and recover from them that wealth
which they have accumulated by rapacity and fraud.
By this method only can the credit of the trader or the nation be
repaired, and this is the method which the motion recommends; a motion
with which, therefore, every man may be expected to comply, who desires
that his country should once more recover its influence and power, who
wishes to see Britain again courted and feared, and her monarch
considered as the arbiter of the world, the protector of the true
religion, and the defender of the liberties of mankind.
Mr. PHILLIPS spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I am so far from
believing that there is danger of exposing the spies of the government
to the resentment of foreign princes, by complying with this motion,
that I suspect the opposition to be produced chiefly from a
consciousness, that no spies will be discovered to have been employed,
and that the secret service for which such large sums have been
required, will appear to have been rather for the service of domestick
than of foreign traitors, and to have been performed rather in this
house than in foreign courts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account