|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 23
It is, true there is a Council consisting of a great Number of Persons,
in whose Name all great Affairs relating to the Civil Government are
transacted, the Members of which Council are call'd _Bable-Cypherians_;
but it is no Secret, that the first Minister causes whom he pleases to
sit in this Council, as well as turns out any Person he dislikes; and
while I was amongst them, there happen'd some Instances of what I
maintain; and he contrived to have several whom he suspected of being
Enemies to his Family, or to his Administration, to be disgraced from
the said Council, and others appointed in their Places: Nay, I have
often seen several worthless Birds paying their Court to the first
Minister, and solliciting him to be admitted into the Great Council,
in the same manner that they begg'd for an Employment; yet at the same
time, if you were to talk to a _Cacklogallinian_, he wou'd pretend to
persuade you, that no Fowl of any Rank or Quality whatsoever can ever
sit in the said Council, but by the Majority of free Voices of Persons
who are his Equals. But as I oserv'd before, they are so possess'd with
a Spirit of boasting, that when they talk of themselves, there is no
Regard to be had to any thing they say.
What is most remarkable is, that Hens as well as Cocks frequently stand
Candidates to be Members of the said Council, and especially those who
are distinguish'd by the Name of _Squabbaws_; and tho' the important
Affairs of managing their Amours takes up so much of their Time, that
they have but little Leisure to attend such publick Affairs, yet they
very much influence what passes there, especially the Court _Squabbaws_,
whom I have frequently seen to receive Presents from Persons who had
Matters to lay before the said Council. When this happened, it was their
Custom to send for my Friend the first Minister, and instruct him how
they would have the thing done; upon which Occasions they designedly
absented themselves from the said Council, that by their not appearing
to favour or oppose such things, the Bribery might not be suspected; and
it generally pass'd as well without them, for my good Patron who carried
it so loftily to the rest of the World, was nevertheless extreamly their
Slave.
As to their Laws, which they pretend to be the best and wisest of any
in the World, they are, in Effect, a Source of continual Plague and
Vexation to the Subject, which is owing to many Causes, but principally
to this, that when a new Law is agreed to pass, the great Council
generally appoint such amongst them as are Lawyers by Profession, to
word it, or (as we say) to draw it up, who always, in Order to promote
the Business of their own Profession, contrive it in ambiguous Terms; so
that there is a double Meaning runs thro' every Sentence. This furnishes
eternal Matter of Dispute betwixt Party and Party, and at the same time
gives the _Caja_ (for so they call a Judge) a Power of putting what
Construction he pleases upon the Law. I have my self been frequently
present, when the _Caja_ has been sitting to hear and determine Causes,
and have observ'd, that when the _Cacklogallinian_ Advocates have been
setting forth the Merit of their Cause, and one of them has produced a
Precedent, to shew, that such a _Caja_ in former Times, put such a
Construction upon such a Law, yet the _Caja_ then presiding has
determined the thing quite otherwise, giving for a Reason, _That
might be his Opinion, but this is ours._
Upon the whole, the Property of private Birds, which they would make you
believe was much safer amongst them, than under any other Government in
the World, appeared to me to stand upon a very precarious Foot, since it
was always at the Mercy of the Law, and the most cunning and sagacious
amongst them could never pretend to be sure what Law was: Nay, it was
often found by Experience, that what was Law one Day amongst them, was
not so another; so that I could not help thinking, that whenever Party
and Party differr'd concerning Matters of Property, the least expensive,
and most prudent Method would have been, to have referr'd the Decision
of the Cause to some Game of Hazard.
This Ambiguity of the Law makes a corrupt _Caja_ a terrible Plague to
the Subject; and it is a Plague which they have often felt, as I found,
by consulting their Annals; for frequently, under bad Ministers, Birds
have been chosen out for _Caja_'s, not for their Integrity or Knowledge,
but for their Obsequiousness to the Commands of those who chose them;
and my Patron, the first Minister, was censured for endeavouring to
corrupt, and making them as bad as he could. By which Means, and by
retaining Spies in the Houses of all Fowl of great Interest and Figure
in their Country, it was reported he awed them from attempting any
Measures against his Interest, or that of his Family, and that he had
threaten'd several with Confiscation and Banishment, when he found them
attempting to introduce better Schemes than his own, because such
Proceedings might tend to overthrow him.
But this I speak from common Report; for I cannot give any Instances of
Corruption in any of the _Caja_'s from my own personal Knowledge; for I
conceived so dreadful a Notion of their Laws, that I endeavoured to
avoid all Converse with any who belong'd to it.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|