14 PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. Jan. I fay, an actual discovery was made; I am far from fuppofing, Sir, that any fuch practices have been, or are intended at prefent, because the fa, vour proposed to be granted them cannot be thought equal to fuch an expence. I am really of opinion, that it will do them an injury. The fending of any of his majefty's troops thither will of courfe draw the crown into all the contefts they have happened, or may hereafter happen to have with the fovereign princes in the Eaft-Indies, which, I think, cannot redound to the profit of the company, and may, I fear, fome time or other, bring difhonour upon the crown of Great-Britain for if in the perfons of those troops the crown fhould be affronted by the great Mogul, or any of his Na bobs, I do not fee how we could vindicate the honour of the nation, by compelling them to make fatif faction for any fuch affront. If a breach fhould enfue upon any fuch occafion, furely you would not accept of fuch a phirmaund, fuch a treaty as the company called it, as the company accepted of from the great Mogul a little before the Revo.. lution, which put an end to the war that had been carried on between him and the company, and which was really nothing but a pardon in fuch a haughty tile, that it was fcandalous even for the company to accept of it. Surely, I fay, the crown could not put an end to any war with that prince in such a manner; and I doubt if it could ever be ended in any other. It is for this reafon, that the French court have wifely taken care not to fend any of their king's troops to the Eaft-Indies; for all the troops they have fent thither, are fent and kept up there in the name of the company, tho, perhaps, at the expence of the crown; because it is impoffible ever to treat in the name of the crown with any of thofe Eastern princes, who are haughty even to a degree B of ridicule, For this reafon, Sir, I look upon the prefent measure of fending fome of the king's troops to the Eaft Indies, to be a measure of the most dangerous confequence, not only to the company, but to our trade to C the Eaft-Indies, whatever new foot ing it may, or can hereafter be put on; and befides this, it will in feve ral refpects be found inconvenient. By the bill now before us, the commander in chief of his majesty's forces, wherever any of them are D employed, is to have the fole power of appointing courts martial, not only to try any of his own officers or foldiers, but also any of the company's officers or foldiers that are fent upon the fame command. Whether this be right or no, I shall not at prefent difpute; but can we imagine, that it will not occafion dangerous, difputes between the company's governors or officers, and his majesty's officers in that country? As these, two corps are upon a different footing, and of a quite different character, a jealoufy will naturally arife between them: The company's troops will naturally be patronised by, the company's governors, and his majefty's troops will as naturally and probably more defervedly be patroG nifed by his majefty's commander in chief. I fay more defervedly, Sir, because, if I am rightly informed, there are fome of the company's officers of a very low character. One E F of POLITICAL CLUB, &c. B 1755. PROCEEDINGS of the Having mentioned the characters 15 an argument in favour of the bill, The next Speaker was Quintus Mucius, Mr. Prefident I Do not rife up to follow the noble lord thro' the whole of his long argument; for, in my opinion, the most of what he faid was quite foreign to the present queftion, which is plainly and in fhort this. Are our East-India company to have troops in any of their forts or fettle. ments in that country, or no? And I could not observe, that the noble Glord faid one word against this quef tion. Indeed, it is fo evident, that if the company must have forts, they muft have garifons to defend thofe forts, that it is impoffible for the wit W M of 16 T PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. A Jan. any cafe, beyond its just bounds, that he never will make ufe of it, when there is the leaft doubt to be made, whether or no it be agreeable to our conftitution. As the whole tenor of his conduct has been according to the known and established laws of the kingdom, fo in every doubt ful cafe he chufes to apply to his parlia ment for a new law when it becomes neceffary, rather than to act by virtue of prerogative. It is, this laudable moderation in his majesty that has given occafion for the bill now under our confideration; for if his majefty had by his prerogative impowered the company to exercise martial law, with refpect to their troops in St. Helena and the Eaft Indies, espécially at this prefent time, I doubt if any of our lawyers would have given it as their opinion, that it was contrary to our antient conftitution; for before the Revolu tion it was always held as a maxim, that when the king had occafion to fend or to keep regular troops any where beyond. C fea, even in Ireland, he might impower the commander to exercife martial law, and establish articles of war for that purpofe; and fo tenacious was the crown of this prerogative, that in the mutiny act of the 7th of queen Anne, and all the following mutiny acts of her reign, there was a clause inferted, for providing that the act should not abridge the power of the crown, as to the making of articles of war, and appointing courts martial, as might have been done before by the authority of the crown in places beyond. fea in time of war. of man to invent an argument against it. D E F From there examples, Sir, we may fee how abfolute and arbitrary the martial law of the Romans was, and from many examples, both antient and modern,, I could fhew, that there never was an army any where kept up without martial law. It is indeed impoffible to govern an army without martial law; and the only reason why we of old had no martial law in time of peace, was because we had then no army kept up; nor can it be faid that either Charles cr James II. governed their armies without martial law; for it is well known, that both of them exercifed martial law by the fame authority by G which they kept up armies, that is, by an illegal and ufurped ufe of prerogative; and the bill now before us plainly fhews how happy, how fafe we are, under the government of his prefent majefty, who is fo far from ftretching prerogative, in Upon this maxim, Sir, is founded that power which all our colonies in America now enjoy; for every one of them has a power in time of danger to raise troops, and to proclaim martial law, f r any time they think neceffary, during which time the old maxim takes place, inter arma filent leges: Their civil laws from that moment give place to the martial, to which every man in the colony, able to bear arms, becomes liable, and why his majefty might not give a power to a number of his fubjects fettled in the Eaft-Indies, as well as to a number of them fettled in the Weft-Indies, tohave regular troops in their fervice, and to exercife martial law over those troops, 1 believe, it will be pretty hard to find a fatisfactory reason; therefore if we had now a prince upon the throne as fond of prerogative, and of exercising it upon every occafion, as most of our princes were before the acceffion of our prefent royal and illuftrious family, I am convinced, we should not have been troubled with the bill now before us, because the whole' that is propofed by this bill would have 1755. PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. been done by virtue of his majesty's prerogative, and without asking the advice or confent of either houfe of parliament. I hope it will now appear, Sir, that with regard to every place beyond sea, which has been included in any mutiny bill fince the Revolution, it is fo far from being an extension of the martial law, A that it may very properly be called an addition to the privileges of the people; for no British fubject, let him be fettled where he will, can now be subjected to martial law, whilst he remains under the protec tion of the crown of Great-Britain, without his own confent. Nay, even our militia cannot now be fubjected, I believe, to martial law, no not even in the cafe of B an invasion or rebellion, without an act of parliament for that purpofe. At least we may be well affured, that his prefent majefty will never attempt it, as no fuch thing was thought of during the late rebellion, notwithstanding the imminent danger we should have been in, had his royal highness and the troops from Flan-C ders been detained but a few weeks by contrary winds. Then, Sir, as to the crimes and perfons that have in any degree been fubjected to martial law, fince the paffing of the first mutiny bill in 1689, neither of them can properly be called an extenfion of the martial law, but only a fupplying of the defects that were in the firit mutiny act, which, from the weak- D nefs of human wifdom must always be expected, when a new law is to be made for regulating any affair of so complicated a nature; and I am fure, it cannot be faid, that any person, or any offence, has fince been fubjected to martial law, but what has an immediate relation to, or connection with the military. E F But, Sir, however much our martial Jaw may have been extended fince the first mutiny act, furely what is now propofed cannot be faid to be an extension of it with respect to this kingdom, nor can our constitution or liberties ever be in danger from the exercife of martial law in the Eaft-Indies; and as the noble lord did not fo much as infinuate, that it was unneceffary for the company to keep any troops in their fettlements there, he must allow that it is now become necessary to enable them to keep thofe troops under proper difcipline. It is true, Sir, their troops have lately behaved very gallantly: Confidering what fort of troops they are, they have really done wonders; but we G know that many of their common men have lately deferted; and we know that they have a near neighbour who will not only receive but encourage every deferter from them in particular. When we know January, 1755 17 that they are so powerfully attacked, can As to the character of the company's [This JOURNAL to be continued in cur next.] 181 New Contrivances for HOT-BEDS. A new Contrivance for making Hot-Beds by the Steam of Boiling Water, having been fome Years fince invented by M. Triewald, Fellow of the Royal Society, and of the Academies of Stockholm and Upfal; and a Defcription of it having been lately publibed in French, we shall give it our Readers in English as follows, viz. T A HAT learned English gentleman, Dr. Stephen Hales, fays our author, has by feveral ingenious experiments hewn, that what contributes the moft to the vegetation and growth of trees, plants, and herbs, is a very fubtle vapour, exhaled by the heat of the fun and earth from water, which penetrates the fibres B of the roots, and afcends into all the parts of plants and trees, but after having given them their nourishment turns again into water, and evaporates through their fteins, branches, and leaves. Being at Edinburgh, feveral years before Dr. Hales published this discovery, I made a like difcovery, and contrived a a fort of hot-beds which were heated by fteam; but having given my word of ho mour to a noble lord of Scotland, not to communicate my invention to any one for ten years from that time, I could not till now make it publick. Jan. times a day, the moisture of the water continually destroyed the cement of the bricks. One may eafily conceive all the troublesome confequences of these two inconveniences; therefore without touching on them, I proceed to speak of my own proper work. At a little distance from the hot-beds, I caufed to be built of bricks in a proper place, a little round tower, (Fig. 2) an ell and a half in heigth, the room of which within was a foot in diameter towards the top T, and 16 inches at bottom E. At the fame time I caused to be made by a potter a lid L, adapted to close up the top of the tower, and which might be afterwards calked with clay; then I filled the tower with billets placed upright, or with charcoal. At the bottom of the tower were two fquare mouths or openings, one of which, b, was above the iron grate H, by which the wood or charcoal might be set on fire; and the other below the iron grate at Ca, by which the afhes might be taken out. Over against the mouth at b, was another mouth or opening, by which the flame of fire was conveyed under the alembick A †, and from thence turned round it in a fcrew fashion, or fpirat line, by the pipes, r, r,r, r, before going out at the chimney S. By this means a very little fire ferves to make the water boil, and to keep it boiling, The advantage this nobleman acquires from my invention, which perfected in his garden, induced him likewife to keep the fecret; for by means of thefe: hot-beds he was enabled to have, during the whole time of winter, ferved up at his table, coily-flowers, afparagus, fafads, and all forts of greens of an excellent flavour, A great many of the English are too delicate for having any inclination to eat E melons, or other fuch fruits, produced by the ufual hot beds of dung and straw, being perfuaded that the dung gives the fruit a dilagreeable taste. It was for this reafon, if 1 minake.not, that the learned and famous Mr. Bradley contrived another fort of hot-beds which were constructed in this manner: By the fide of this hot bed he caufed to be built an oven, from whence went a little vault, which fupposted his hot bed, and extended from one end of it to the other, fo that the heat of the fire, and of its flames, played always along the vault, and at laft the fmoak went out at a little chimney built at the farther end of the hot bed. But this contrivance was fubject to great inconveniences. They could not always govern the fire as they would; and the vault often fell in; for as it was neceffary, on account of the great heat, to fprinkle the hot-beds two or three F The mouth b, has an iron fhutter which fhuts it up clofe, and is to be carefully that as foon as the fire upon the grate H, is fully lighted. By the fide of the alembick A (Fig. 1.) is placed a cftern, or little refervoir, covered with lead B, C, D, E. At the bottom of this refervoir, there is, at the end of the leaden or brafs pipe R p, well foldered, and of an inch diameter, a valve V. The pipe extends from the valve to the alembick, wherein it enters below the head, and is carried down almoft within an inch of the bottom, being foldered to the alembick at p. Upon the edge of the refervoir D, E, ftands a pott, which fupports the beam of a balance, having at the end of each arm, the two little arches K, H. From the arch H, hangs a little brafs chain having at the end of it a hook, by which hangs a brats wire, the other end of which wire is fixt to the valve V. At the end of the chain which hangs down from the other Glittle arch K, there hangs likewife a' strong brass wire, which enters by a little hole into the alembick, and at the lower end of this wire there is a piece of wood cut in the shape of a buoy b, which fwims upon the water in the alembick, whilft it This fert of furnace is known by the name of Athanor. ↑ A fort of difilling vessel. |