The clause, sir, now before us contains, in my opinion, one of those visionary provisions, which, however infallible they may appear, will be easily defeated, and will have no other effect than to promote cunning and fraud, and to teach men those acts of collusion, with which they would otherwise never have been acquainted.

Mr. LODWICK spoke to this effect:—­Sir, I agree with the honourable gentleman by whom this clause has been offered, that the end for which it is proposed, is worthy of the closest attention of the legislative power, and that the evils of which the prevention is now endeavoured, may in some measure not only obstruct our traffick, but endanger our country; and shall therefore very readily concur in any measures for this purpose, that shall not appear either unjust or ineffectual.

Whether this clause will be sufficient to restrain all elusive contracts, and whether all the little artifices of interest are sufficiently obviated, I am yet unable to determine; but by a reflection upon the multiplicity of relations to be considered, and the variety of circumstances to be adjusted in a provision of this kind, I am inclined to think that, it is not the business of a transient inquiry, or of a single clause, but that it will demand a separate law, and engage the deliberation and regard of this whole assembly.

Sir John BARNARD said:—­Sir, notwithstanding the impatience and resentment with which some men see their mistakes and ignorance detected; notwithstanding the reverence which negligence and haste are said to be entitled to from this assembly, I shall declare once more, without the apprehension of being confuted, that this bill was drawn up without consideration, and is defended without being understood; that after all the amendments which have been admitted, and all the additions proposed, it will be oppressive and ineffectual, a chaos of absurdities, and a monument of ignorance.

Sir Robert WALPOLE replied:—­Sir, the present business of this assembly is to examine the clause before us; but to deviate from so necessary an inquiry into loud exclamations against the whole bill, is to obstruct the course of the debate, to perplex our attention, and interrupt the senate in its deliberation upon questions, in the determination of which the security of the publick is nearly concerned.

The war, sir, in which we are now engaged, and, I may add, engaged by the general request of the whole nation, can be prosecuted only by the assistance of the seamen, from whom it is not to be expected that they will sacrifice their immediate advantage to the security of their country.  Publick spirit, where it is to be found, is the result of reflection, refined by study and exalted by education, and is not to be hoped for among those whom low fortune has condemned to perpetual drudgery.  It must be, therefore, necessary to supply the defects of education, and to produce, by salutary coercions, those effects which it is vain to expect from other causes.