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' %y ) \l \ \ ■'^ , ■^m^^'^^^ 1^ / % SPEECH • ' ■ OF .•;'■' ■ ■' ''"■ BDMUND BURKE, Esq, At tHe GviLDHAit, in BRISf dlii - \. * ■ *' . ■■ ■ i,"- . f RSVZ0U8 TO THB LATE ELSCTION IH THAT CITY* i b |[ Price IS. 6d. J -.i#' it).- ^ [ cy, ^/f^J^c^^ '.-?'X>^Hi-^>1 \ X ,. ■■ '.J 'i / ..- . ' rf .., -^...,p. .;:■;•*; «:iw *^- ■*'■ V \ .;m \ T'THipiT'^'^^^^ r^BjR^ "'^■^IfWPT^'T' -"^^^mmnmir^m^mm^mmmitm^ ■PIMnM^^SWHMPmH .( A' r- I S F E E C H o F EDMUND BURKE, Es(u AT THE GyiLDHALi:.! IN BRISTOL, Previous to the late Eleftion in that City, * UPON CERTAIN POINTS RELATIVE TO HIS PARLIAMENTARY CONDUCT. ■ ■ .-■ / LONDON; 1, [NTBD roR J. DODSLEY, ih Pall-mali; V M.pCC.LXli^X, « ^ ...,.,.,..^-'^; ' . , •" '.''"' i.' I'l: " ! 'i •■-■.>«., ;/ ,=-^-v.. ■ -Mr +1 • " ' ■ —viwi . • ^lii^ite / -z:*!!::'*; -r>» r r ^ >^^ 'X ','{/■<- J'f'^ ^^1-^/ ^^y.e^ C^ . ^ ^*-«-4j'->'i-(^ yv^ \^iz.^ ^^(^^4, (c/^<^^ pX,4^^. ^i^y , ^'y-t-- .^ />yi< ^ <^ ^€-^ j^-^^-i^- '•^ ^ygi^r,^ A^/^A-^ ^/Y-'^>i ^(<^' ^yl/^^^y Uy> ^*-,*»-y' -^ ''''^ ^^ :'^^ /^ /t -^^ ■^ ' I I ■> « SPEECH, &c.. •<{ ?^. Mr. Mayor, and Gentlemen, I Am extremely pleafed at the appearance of this large and refpedbable meeting. The fteps I may be obliged to take will want the fandlion of a confiderable authority ; and in ex- plaining any thing which may appear doubtful in my public condudl, I muft naturally defire a very full audience. I have been backward to begin my canvafs, Ifhe diffolution of the Parliament was uncertain j and it did not become me, by an unfcafonable importuriity, to appear diffident of the efFedl of my fix years endeavours to pleafe you, I had fervcd the city of Briftol honourably •, and the city of Briftol had no reafon to think, that the tneans of honourable fervice to the public, were become indiflferent to me. I found on my arrival here, that three gen- tlemen had been long in eager purfuit of an 'obje(51: which but two of us can obtain. I found, that they had ail met with encouragement. A ■ v.contefted eledbion in fuch a city as this, is no light thing. I paufed on th e_brink of thc^ precipice. Thefe three gentlemen, by varioua B . merits, y^ C^^^^^. si. % N eA.^^-7^-^ ^ t^^ r^^ ^^v^ ^, ,yt^^^ >r-^ 'A-v ./fl^^<^ ^yg-^;^^^ tr I ■*i- [ « 1 merits, and on various titles, I made no doubt, were worthy of your favour. I (hall never attempt to raife myfelf by depreciating the merits of my competitors. In the complexity and confufion of thefe crofs purfuits, I wilhed to take the authentic public fenfe of my friends upon a bufinefs of fo much delicacy. I wilhed to take your opinion along with me ; that if I fhould give up the conteft at the very beginning, my furrender of my poll may not feem the effe^l of inconftancy, or timidity, or anger, or difguft, or indolence, or any other temper un- becoming a man who has engaged in the public fervice. If, on the contrary, I Ihould under- take the eledbion, and fail of fuccefs, I was full as anxious, that it Ihould be manifeft to the whole world, that the peace of the city had not been broken by my raihnefs, prefumption, or fond conceit of my own merit. I am not come, by a falfe and counterfeit fliew of deference to your judgment, to feduce it in my favour. I alk it ferioufty and un- affededly. If you wilh that I fhould retire, I {hall not confider that advice as a cen- fure upon my condudl, or an alteration in your fentiments •, but as a rational fubmiflion to the circumftances of affairs. If, on the contrary, you ihould think it proper for me to proceed on my canvafs, if you will rifque the trouble on your part, I will rifque it on mine. My pre- tenfions are fuch as you cannot be afliamed of,. w,hc|hcr they fucceed or fail, ♦ m^ .,,./ 7'S»,t If t i 1 If you call upon me, I fliall folicit the fyVoitf of the city upon manly ground. I come before you with the plain confidence of an honeft fer- vant in the equity of a candid and difcerning mafter. I come to claim your approbation not to amufe you with vain apologies, or with profef- fions ftill more vain and fenfelefs. I have lived too long to be fcrved by apologies, or to fland in need of them. The part I have afted has been in open day^ and to hold out to a con- du(5bj which flands in that clear and Heady light for all its good and all its evil, to hold out to that conduft the paltry winking tapers of excufes and promifes— **I never will do it.— They may obfcure it with their fmoke ; but they never can illumine funlhine by fuch a flame as theirs. I am fenfible that no endeavours have beent left untried to injure me in your opinion. But the ufe of charafter is to be a fliield againft ca- lumny. I could wifh, undoubtedly (if idle wilhes were not the moft idle of all things) to make' every part of my condu6t agreeable to every one of my conftituents. But in fo great a city, and fo greatly divided as this, it is weak ta €Xpe£t it. In fuch a difcordancy of fentiments, it is better to look to the nature of things than to* the humours of men. The very attempt towards pleafmg every body^ difcovers a temper always flafhy, and often falfe and infmcere. Therefore, as I have proceeded ilrait onward in my condu^^ f B 2 IW^ C 4 1 (6 I will proceed in my account of thofe parts of it which have been mod excepted to. But I muft firft beg leave jull to hint to you, that we may fufFer very great detriment by being open to every talker. It is not to be imagined, how much of fcrvice is loft from fj^rits full of adivity and full of energy, who are prefT- ing, who are rulhing forward, to great and ca- pital objefts, when you oblige them to be conti- nually looking back. Whilil they are defend- ing one fervice, they defraud you of an hundred. Applaud us when we run j confole us when we fall ; cheer us when we recover -, but let us pafs on — for God*s fake, let us pafs on. Do you think, Gentlemen, that every public aft in the fix years fince I ftood in this place be- fore you— that all the arduoiis things which have been done in this eventful period, which has crowded into a few years fpace the revolutions of an age, can be opened to you on their fair grounds in half an hour's converfation ^ But it is no reafon, becaufe there is a bad mode of enquiry, that there fliould be no exa- mination at all. Moft certainly it is our duty to examine ; it is our intereft too.— But it muft be with difcretion ; with an attention to all the circumflances, and to all the motives ; like found judges, and not like cavilling pettyfoggers and quibbling pleaders, prying into flaws and hunt- ing for exceptions. Look, Gentlemen, to th^ whole tenowr of your member*s conduit. Try whether [ 5 ] whether his ambition or his avarice have jufllcd him out of the ftrait line of duty; or whether that grand foe of the offices of adlive life, that mafter-vice in men of bufincfs, a degenerate and inglorious floth, has made him flag and langiiifli in his courfe ? This is theobjed of our enquiry. If our member's condud can bear this touch, mark it for (teriing. He may have fallen i.ito errors •, he mud have faults ; but our error is greater, and our fault is radically ruinous to ourfelves, if we do not bear, if we do not even applaud, the whole compound and mixed mafs of fuch a charader. Not to adl thus is folly ; I had almoft faid it is impiety. He cenfures God, who quarrels with the imperfedions of man. , ^^^ Gentlemen, we muft not be peevifh with thofc who ferve the people. For none will ferve us whilft there is a court to ferve, but thofe who are of a nice and jealous honour. They who think every thing, in comparifon of that honour, to be duft and alhes, will not bear to have ic foiled and impaired by thofe, for whofe fake they make a thoufand facrifices, to preferve it immaculate "nd whole. We fhall either drive fuch men from the public ftage, or we fhall fend them to the court for proteftion ; where, if they muft facrifice their reputation, they will at leaft fecure their intereft. Depend upon it, that the lovers of freedom will be free. None will violate their confcience to pleafe us, in ord^r afterwards to difcharge that confcience, which they B 2 ^^^^ i [ 6 ] have violated, by doing us faithful and affedion^ ate fervice. If we degrade and deprave their minds by fervility, it will be abfurd to expeft, that they who are creeping and abjecfl toward us, will ever be bold and uncorruptible aflertors of our freedorp, againft the moft feducing and the moft formidablp of all powers. No 1 humap na- ture is not lb formed j nor Ihall we improve the faculties, or better the morals of public rnen, by qur poffeflion of the moft infallible receipt in the world for making cheats and hypocrites, X.et me fay with plainnefs, I who am no longer in a public charader, that if by a fair, by an in- jdulgent, by a gentlernanly behaviour to our re- prefentatives, we do not give confidence to their minds, and a liberal fcppe to their underftand- ings i if we do not permit our members to adt upon a very enlarged view of things ; we fliall at length infallibly degrade our national repre- fentation into a confufed and fcuffling buftle of local agency. When the popular membpr is narrowed in his ideas, and rendered timid in his proceedings, the fervice of the crown will be the fole nurfery of ftatefmen. Among the frolics of the court, it may at length take that of attending to its bufinefs. Then the monopoly of mental power will be added to the power of all other kinds it poflefles. On the fide of the people there will be nothing but impotence : for ig- norance is impotence -, narrownefs of mind is impotence; timidity is itfclf impotence, and mak^ U i )f le le >y le U i ( 7 1 makes all other qualities that go along with it, impotent and ufelefs. At prefent, it is the plan of the court to make its fervants infignificant. If the people Ihoiild fall into the fame humour, and fliould cboofe their fervants on the fame principles of mere obfequioufnefs, and flexibility, and total vacancy or indifference of opinion in all public matters, then no part of the ftate will be found -, and it will be in vain to think of faving of it. I thought it very expedient at this time to give you this candid counfel j and with this counfel I would willingly clofe, if the matters which at various times have been objefted to me in this city concerned only myfelf, and my own cledion. Thefe charges, I think, are four in number ;— my negledt of a due attention to my conftituents ; the not paying more frequent vifits herej— my condudton the affairs of the firft Irifli trade a6i:s •,— my opinion and mode of proceed- ing on Lord Beauchamp's Debtors Bills j-— and my votes on the late affairs of the Roman Ca- tholics. All of thefe (except perhaps the firft) relate to matters of very confiderable public concern ♦, and it is not left you Ihould cenfvire me improperly, but left you Ihould form im- proper opinions on matters of fome moment to you, that I trouble you at all upon the fub- je6t. My conduct is of Imall importance. With regard to the firft charge, my friends have fpoken to me of it in the ftyle of amicable !e;(C|)oftulation J not fo much blaming the thing. *i, i [ 8 ] as lamenting the cfFcds. — Others, lefs partial tq me, were lefs kind in afTigning the motives. I admit, there is a decorum and propriety in j^ member of parliament's paying a refpedtful court to his conftituents. If I were confcious to my- felf that pleafure or diflipation, or low unworthy occupations, l>ad detained me from perfonal attendance on you, I would readily admit my fault, and quietly fubmit to the penalty. But, jr Gentlemen, I live at an hundred miles diftance from Briftol ; and at the end of a feflion I ♦ come to my own houfe, fatigued in body and ^ 1^ in mind, to a little repofe, and to a very little attention to my family and my private concerns. A vifit to Briftol is always a fort of canvafs ; elfe it will do more harm than good. To pafs from the toils of a feflion tc the toils of a canvafs, is the furtheft thing in the world frorn repofe. I could hardly ferve you as I have done, and court you too. Moft of you have heard, that I do not very remarkably fpare myfelf in public bu'nefs-, and in the private bufinefs of my con- I llituents I have done very near as much as thofe who have nothing elfe to do. My canvafs of you was not on the Change, nor in the county meetings, nor in the clubs of this city. It was in the Houfe of Commons j it was at the Cuftom- 4 houfe ; it was at the Council j it was at the Trea- fury •, it was at the Admiralty. I canvafled you through your affairs, and not your perfons, I was not only your reprefentative as a body •, J was the agent, the folicitor of individuals y I.raq ■-#"■-■;■;,■ ' ■:- =-^ ■ • •• abou^ [ 9 1 gbout wherever your affairs could call me ; an4 in a£ting for you I often appeared rather as a (hip- broker, than as a member of parliament. There was nothing too laborious, or too low for me to undertake. The meannefs of the bufmefs was raifed by the dignity of the object. If fome lefTer matters have (lipped through my fingers, it was becaufe I filled my hands too full ; and in my eagernefs to ferve you, took in more than ^ny hands could grafp. Several gentlemen ftand round me who are my willing witnefles ; and there are others who, if they were here, would be ftill better; becaufe they would be unwilling witnefles to the fame truth. It was in the mid- dle of a fummer refidence in London, and in the middle of a negociation at the Admiralty for your trade, that I was called to Briilol ', and this late vifit, at this late day, has been poflibly in prejudice to your affairs. Since I have touched upon this matter, let me fay, Gentlemen, that if I had a difpofition, or a right to complain, I have fome caufe of complaint on my fide. With a petition of this city in my hand, pafled through the corporation without a diflenting voice, a petition in unifon with almoft the whole voice of the kingdom, (with wiiofe formal thanks I was covered over) whilft I la- boured on no lefs than five bills for a public re- form, and fought, againft the oppofition of great abilities, and of the greateft power, every claufc, and every word of the largelt of thofe bills, al- moft to the very'Jaft day of a very long feflion ; fL\\ this %ivf\c a canvafs in Briilol was as calmly carried i i i If' t 10 3 carried on as if I were dead. I was confidercd as a man wholly out of the queftion. Whilft I watched, and faded, and fweated in the Houfe of Commons— by the moft eafy and ordinary arts of eledlion, by dinners and vifits, by " How do you do's," and, *' My worthy friends," I was to be quietly moved out of my feat— and pro- mifes were made, and engagements entered into, without any exception or referve, as if my labo- rious zeal in my duty had been a regular abdi- cation of my trull. To open my whole heart to you on this fub- je6b, I do confefs, however, that there were other times belides the two years in which I did vifit you, when I was not wholly without leifure for repeating that mark of my refped. But I could not bring my mind to fee you. You remem- ber, that in the beginning of this American war (that aera of calamity, difgrace and downfall, an sera which no feeling mind will ever mention with- out a tear for England) you were greatly divided 5 and a very ftrong body, if not the ftrongeft, op- pofed itfelf to the madnefs which every art and every power were employed to render popular, in order that the errors of the rulers might be loft in the general blindnefs of the nation. This cppofition continued until after our great, but moft unfortunate vidtory at Long Ifland. Then all the mounds and banks of our conftancy were borne down at once j and the phrenfy of the American war broke in upon us like a deluge. This victory, which feemed to put an immediate end to all difficulties, perfected us in that fpirit .^ I of ^ ^. [ .1 1 of domination, which our unparalleled profperity had but too long nurtured. We had been fo very- powerful, and fo very profperous, that even the humblett of us were degraded into the vices and follies of kings. We loft all meafure between pieans and ends ; and our headlong defires be- came our politics and our morals. All men who wifhed for peace, or retained any fentiments of moderation, were overborne or filenced ; and this city was led by every artifice (and probably with the more management, becaufe I was one of your members) to diftinguifh itfelf by its zeal for that fatal caufe, In this temper of yours and of my mind, I Ihould footer have fled to the ex- tremities of the earth, than have Ihewn myfelf here. I, who faw in every American vi<5lory (for you have had a long feries of thefe misfortunes) the germ and feed of the naval powers of France and Spain, which all our heat and warmth a- gainft America was only hatching into life,-— I fhould not have been a welcome vifitant with the brow and the language of fuch feelings. When afterwards, the other face of your cala- mity was turned upon you, and Ihewed itfelf in defeat and diftrefs, I fliunned you full as much. I felt forely this variety in our wretchednefs *, and I did not wifh to have the leaft appearance of infulting you with that fhcw of fuperiority, which, though it may not be aflumed, is gene- rally fufpedted in a time of calamity, from thofe yfhok previous warnings have been defpifcd. I cpuld lt>ii r V*' [ n ] cculd not bear to (hew you a reprcfentative whofe face did not refledl that of his conftituents -, a face that could not joy in your joys, and forrow in your forrows. But time at length has made us all of one opinions and we have all opened our eyes on the true nature of the American war, to the true nature of all its fuccefles and 9II its failures. In that public ftorm too I had my private feelings, I had feen blown down and proftrate on the ground feveral of thofe houfes to whom 1 was chiefly indebted for the honour this city has done me. I confefs, that whiift the wounds of thofe I loved were yet green, I could not bear to (hew myfelf in pride and triumph in that place into which their partiality had brought me, and to appear at feafts and rejoicings, in the midft of the grief and calamity of my warm friends, my zealous fupporters, my generous benefadloj-s. This is a true, unvarnilhed, un- difguifed ftatc of the affair. You will judge of it. This is the only one of the charges in which I am perfonally concerned. As to the other matters objedted againft me, which in their turn I fhall mention to you, remember once more I do not mean to extenuate or excufe. Why Ihould I, when the things charged are among thofe upon which I found all my reputation ? What would be left to me, if I myfelf was the man, who foftened, and blendejd, and diluted, and weakened, all the diftinguifhing colours of my life, (0 a^ 5 tQ [ 13 ] to leave nothing diftindt and determinate in my whole condiifl ? It has been faid, and it is the fecond charge, that in the queftions of the Irifh trade, I did not conuilt the intereft of my conftituents, or, to fpeak out ftrongly, that I rather adted as a na- tive of Ireland, than as an Englifh member of parliament. 1 certainly have very warm good wifhes for the place of my birth. But the fphere of my duties is my true country. It was, as a man attached to your interefts, and zealous for the confervation of your power and dignity, that I adted on that occafion, and on all occafions. You were involved in the American war. A new world of policy was opened, to which it was neceflary we Ihould conform whether we would or not ; and my only thought was how to con- form to our fituation in fuch a manner as to unite to this kingdom, in profperity and in affedion, whatever remained of the empire. I was true to my old, (landing, invariable principle, that all things, which came from Great Britain, fliould n, iflue as a gift of her bounty and beneficence, ra- ther than as claims recovered againft a ftruggling ' litigant i or at leaft, that if your beneficence ob- tained no credit in your conceflions, yet that they (hould appear the falutary provifions of your wifdom and forefight ; not as things wrung from you with your blood, by the cruel gripe of a rigid neceffity. The firft conceflions, by being (much againft my will) mangled and ftripped of the i the parts which were ncccflary to make out their juft correfpondence and connexion in trade, were of no ufe. The next year a feeble attempt was made to bring the thing into better Ihape. This attempt (countenanced by the minifter) on the very firfl appearance of fome popular uneafinefs, was, after a conIJ.d'"-able progrefs through the houfe, thrown out b^ him. What was the confequence ? The whole king- dom of Ireland was inftantly in a flame. Threat- ened by foreigners, and, as they thought, infultcd by England, they refolved at once to refift the power of France, and to cafl oflf yours. As for us, we were able neither to proteft nor to reftrain them. Forty thoufand men were raifed and dif- ciplined without commiflion from the crown. Two illegal armies were feen with banners dif- played at the fame time, and in the fame coun- try. No executive magiftrate, no judicature, in Ireland, would acknowledge the legality of the army which bore the king's commiflion ; and no law, or appearance of law, authorifed the army commiflioned by itfelf. In this unexampled ftate of things, which the leaft error, the leafl: trefpafs on the right or left, would have hurried down the precipice into an abyfs of blood and confufion, the people of Ireland demand a freedom of trade with arms in their hands. They interdift all com- merce between the two nations. They deny all new fupply in the Houfe of Commons, although in time of war. They fliint the trufl: of the old revenue, given for no years to all the king's ' predeceHbrs, ^ [ 15 ] prcdcceflbrs, to fix months. TheBritifhParliamcnt,' in a former feflion frightened into a limited con- cefTion by the menaces of Ireland, frightened out of it by the menaces of England, was again frightened back again, and made an univerfal furrender of all that had been thought the pe- culiar, referved, uncommunicable rights of Eng- land i — The exclufive commerce of America, of Africa, of the Weft-Indies — all the enumerations of the afts of navigation — all the manufactures, —iron, glafs, even the laft pledge of jealoufy and pride, the intereft hid in the fecret of our hearts, the inveterate prejudice moulded into the conftitution of our frame, even the facred fleece itfelf, all went together. No referve; no ex- ception-, no debate i no difcuflion. A fudden light broke in upon us all. It broke in, not through well-contrived and well-difpofed win- dows, but through flaws and breaches ; through the yawning chafms of our ruin. We were taught wifdom by humiliation. No town in England prefumed to have a prejudice ; or dared to mutter a petition. What was worfe, the whole Parlia- ment of England, which retained authority for no- thing but furrenders, was defpoiled of every fiia- dow of its fuperintendance. It was, without any qualification, denied in theory, as it had been trampled upon in praftice. This fcene of fliame and difgrace, has, in a manner whilft I am fpeaking, ended by the perpetual eftablilh- ment of a military power, in the dominions of this crown, without confenc of the Britilh Jcgiflature, [ i6 1 Icgiflature *, contrary to the policy of the cori- ftitution, contrary to the declaration of right j and by this your liberties are fwept away along with your fuprcmc authority— and both, linked together from the beginning, have, I am afraid, both together pcrilhed for ever. What ! Gentlemen, was I not to forefee, of forefeeing, was 1 not to endeavour to fave you from all thefe multiplied mifchiefs and difgraces ? Would the little, filly, canvafs prattle of obey- ing inftrudions, and having no opinions but yours, and fuch idle fenfelefs tales, which amufe the vacant ears of unthinking men, have faved you from " the pelting of that pitilefs ftorm,** to which the loofe improvidence, the cowardly ralhnefs of thofe who dare not look danger in the face, fo as to provide againft it in time, have expofed this degraded nation, beat down and proftrate on the earth, unlheltered, un- armed, unrefifting ? Was I an Irifliman on that day, that I boldly withftood our pride ? or on the day that I hung down my head, and wept in fhame and filence over the humiliation of Great Britain ? I became unpopular in England for the one, and in Ireland for the other. What then ! What obligation lay on me to be popular ? 1 was bound to ferve both kingdoms. To be pleafed with my fervice, was their affair, not mine. I was an Irifliman in the Irifli bufinefs, juft as much as I was an American, when on the fame Irilh perpetual matlny a£l. principles, I t '7 1 principles, I wilhed you to concede to Annerica,' ar a time when ftie prayed concelTion at our feet. Juft as much was I an American when I wifhcd Parliament to offer terms in vidory, and not to wait the well-chofen hour of defeat, for making good by weakntfs, and by fupplication, a claim of prerogative, pre-eminence, and authority. Inftead of requiring it from me, as a point of duty, to kindle with your paflions, had you all been as cool as I was, you would have been faved difgraces and diftrefles that are unutterable. Do you remember our commiflion ? We fent out a folemn embafly acrofs the Atlantic ocean, to lay the Crown, the Peerage, the Commons of Great Britain, at the feet of the American Congrefs. That our difgrace might want no fort of brighten- ing and burnifhing, obferve who they were that compofed this famous embafly. My Lord Car- lifle is among the firft ranks of our nobility. He is the identical man who but two years be- fore, had been put forward, at the opening of a feflion in the Houie of Lords, as the mover of an haughty and rigorous addrefs againft America. He was put in the front of the embafly of fub- mifllon. Mr. Eden was taken from the of- fice of Lord Suflx)lk, to whom he was then un- der fecretary of flatej from the oflice of that Lord Suffolk, who but a few weeks before, in his place in parliament, did not deign to enquire where a Cons;refs of vagrants was to be found. This Lord Suffolk fent Mr. Eden to find thefe vagrants, without knowing where his King's C ' Generals ', i> If.,* m f 1 [ i8 ] Gfnerals were to be founti, who were joined in the fame commifllon of ( pplicating thofc whom they were fcnt to fiibduc. They enter the capi- tal of America only to abandon it •, and thefe aflertors zn\ reprelentatives of the dignity of England, at the tail of a flying army, let fly their Parthian fliafts of memorials and rcmon- ftrances at random behind them. I'heir pro- jnifes and their offers, their flatteries, their menaces, were all defpifed j and we were faved the difgracc of their formal reception, only becaufe the Congrcfs fcorned to receive them ; whilft the State-houfe of independent Phila- delphia opened her doors to the public entry of the ambafliador of France. From war and blood, we went to fubmiflion ; and from fub» miflion plunged back again to war and blood i to defolate and be defolated, without mea- i'ure, hope, or end. I am a Royaliil, I blufli- cd for this degradation of the Crown. I am a Whig, I bluflied for the dilhonour of Parlia- ment. I am a true Englifhman, 1 felt to the quick for the difgrace of England, I am a Man, I felt for the melancholy reverfe of human af- fairs, in the fall of the firft power in the world. To read what was approaching in Ireland, in the black and bloody characters of the Ameri- can war, was a painful, but it was a neceflTary part of my public duty. For, Gentlemen, it is not your fond defires or mine that can alter the nature cf things ; by contending againft which what have we got, or fliall ever get, but defeat and t 19 1 and ihahic ? I did not obey your inftruftion: No. I conformed to the ihftruftions of truth and nature, and maintained your intereft, againft your opinions, with a conftancy that became me. A i-eprefcntative worthy of you< ought to be a per- fon of (lability. I am to look, indeed, to your opinions •, but to fuch opinions as you and 1 inufl have five years hence. I was not to look to the fiafh of the day. I knew that you chofe tne, in my place, along with others, to be a pillar of the (late, and not a weathercock on the top of the edifice, exalted for my levity and ver- fatility, and of no ufe but to indicate the (hift- ings of every falhionable gale. Would to God, the value of my fcntiments on Ireland and on America had been at this day a fubjedl of doubt and dircu(rion I No matter what my fufferings had been, fo that this kingdom had kept the authority I wilhed it to maintain, by a grave forefight, and by an equitable temperance in the ufe of its power. The next article of charge on my public condufli and that which I find rather the moft prevalent of all, is Lord Beauchamp's bill. I mean his bill of laft fefTion for reforming the law- procefs concerning imprifonment. It is faid, to aggravate the offence, that I treated the petition of this city with contempt even in prefenting it to the Houfe, and expreflfed myfelf in terms of marked difrcfpeft. Had this latter part of the charge been true, no merits on the fide of the queftion which I took, could poflibly excufe C 2 me* M : I m i] i C 20 1 me. But I am incapable of treating this city with difrefpedt. Very fortunately, at this minute . (if my bad eyefight docs not deceive me) * the worthy gentleman deputed on this bufmefs ftands direftly before me. To him I appeal, whether I did not, though it militated with my oldeft and my moft recent public opinions, deliver the pe- tition with a ftrong, and more than ufual recom- mendation to the confideration of the Houfe, on account of the character and cunfequence of thofe who figned it. I believe the worthy gentleman will tell you, that the very day I received it, I applied to the Solicitor, now the Attorney Ge- neral, to give it an immediate confideration •, a d he moft obligingly and inftantly confented to em- ploy a great deal of his very valuable time, i^ write an explanation of th? bill. I attended the Committee with all poflible care and diligence, in order that every objedlion of yours might meet with a folution j or produce an alteration. I en- treated your learned Recorder (always ready in bufinefs in which you take a concern) to attend. But what will you fay to thofe who blame me for fupporting Lord Beauchamp's bill, as a difre- fpedful treatment of your petition, when you hear, that out of refped to you, I myfelf was the caufe 6f the lofs of that \ ery bill ? for the no- ble Lord who brought it in, and who, I muft fay, has much merit for this and fome other meafures, at my requeft confented to put it off for a week, which the Speaker's illnefs hngthened to a fort- night 5 and then the frantic tumult about Popery, • Mr. Williams, » .: drove ■PH" [ 41 ] drove that and every rational bufinefs from the Houfe. So that if I chofe to make a de- fence of myfelf, on the little principles of a culprit pleading in his exculpation, I might not only fecure my acquittal, but make merit with the oppofers of the bill. But I (hall do no fuch thing. The truth is, that I did occafion the lofs of the bill, and by a delay caufed by my refped to you. But fuch an event was never in my contemplation. And I am fo far from taking credit for the defeat of that meafure, that I cannot fufficiently lament my misfortune, if but one man, who ought to be at large, has paflcd a year in prifon by my means. I am a debtor to the debtors. I confefs judgment. I owe, what, if ever it be in my power, I fhall moft certainly pay,— ample atonement, and ufu- rious amends to liberty and humanity for my unhappy lapfe. For, Gentlemen, Lord Beau* champ's bill was a law of juftice and policy, as far as it went; I fay as far as it went, for its fault was its being, in the remedial part, mifera- bly defedive. There are two capital faults in our law with relation lo civil debts. One is, that every man is prefumed folvent. A prefumption, in innume- rable cafes, direftly againft truth. Therefore the debtor is ordered, on a fuppofition of ability and fraud, to be coerced his liberty until he makes payment. By this means, in all cafes of civil in- folvency, without a pardon from his creditor, he is to be imprifoned for life :— and thus a 'i- C ^ milerable m lit lit r m [ 22 ] miferable miflaken inveution of artificial fciencei operates to change a civil ihto a criminal judgr irent, and to fconrge mjsfortune or indifcretion ^vith a punifhn^ent which the law does not inr Aid on the greateft crimes. The next fault is, thj^t the infliding of that punifhment is not on the opinion of an equal and public judge; but is referred to the arbitrary difcrction of ^ private, nay interefted, and irri- tated, individual. He, who formally is, and fubftantially ought to be, the judge, is in rea- lity no more than minifterial, a mere executive inftrument of a private man, who is at once judge a^id party. Every idea of judicial order 13 fubverted by this procedure. If the i^^folvency be no crime, why is it punifhed with arbitrary jmprifonment I If it be a crime, why is it delir vered into private hands to par -' and, a:" t 37 ] and, fcldom feeing the feat of his anccftors, he is always in Parliament to ferve hfs country, or ]f\ the field to defend it. But in all well-wrouaht compofitions, fome particulars (land out more eminently than the reft ; and the things which will carry his name to pofteri^y, are his twof bills; 1 mean that for a limitation of the claims Of the crown upon landed eftates; and this fof the relief of the Roman Catholics. By the former, he has emancipated property ; by the latter, he has quieted confcience ; and by both, he has taught that grand leflbn to government and fub- jeA,— no longer to regard each other as adverfe parties. -tJi -■.?^^ -• i^^iul iiv. .••-.• j,:.-^-;,, j^m jute's' <«?*4» ' Such was the mover of the afl that is com- plained of by men, who are not quite fo good as he is ; an ad:, moft afTu redly not brought in by him from any partiality to that fed which is the object of it. For, among his faults, I really cannot help reckoning a greater degree of pre- judice againft that people, thaiv becomes fo wife a man. I know that he inclines to a fort of dilguft, mixed with a confiderable degree of afperity, to the fyftem ; and he has few, or rather no habits with any of its profeflbrs. What he has done was on quite other motives. The motives were thele, which he declared in his excellc^nt fpeech on his motion for the bill ; namely, his extreme zeal to the Proteftant religion, which he thought utterly difgraced by the a<5t of 1699 > ^"<^ his rooted hatred to all kind of oppreffion, under 3py colour or vpon any pretence whatfoever. - ^ .^. P 3 The \ ! [ ^8 ] The feeondcr was worthy of the mover, and the motion. I was not the leconder -, it was Mr. Dunning, Recorder of this city. I Ih^ll fay the lefs of him, becaufe his near relation to you makes you more particularly acquainted with his merits. But I fhouid appear little acquainted with them, or little fenfible of them, if I could utter his name on this occafion without expref- fing my elleem for his charadler. I am not afraid of offending a moft learned body, and moft jeali V of its reputation for that learning, when I fay s the firfl: of his profeflion. It is a point fettled by thofe who fettle every thing elfej and I muft add (what I am enabled to fay from my own long and clofe obfervation) that there is not a man, of any profeflion, or in arty fitu-* ation, of a more ered and independent fpirit j of a more proud honour ; a more manly mind j a more firm and determined integrity. Aflure yourfelves, that the names of two fuch men wiU bear a great load of prejudice in the other fcale, before they can be entirely outweighed, iT -f ' With this mover, and this feconder, agreed the whole Houfe of Commons ; the whole Houfe of Lords •, the whole Bench of Bifliops j the King j theMiniftryj theOppofition-, all thediftinguiflicd Clergy of the Eftablifhmenti all the eminent lights (for they were confulted) of the Diflent- ing churches. This according voice of national wifdom ought to be liftened to with reverence. To fay that all thefe defcriptions of Englifh- men unanimoufly concurred in a fcheme for - ■ jfe 4i:t introducing • 10 [ 39 1 introducing the Catholic religion, or that none of them underftood the nature and cffedts of whac they were doing, fo well as a few obfcure clubs of people, whofe names you never heard of, is (hamelefsly abfurd. Surely it is paying a miferable compliment to the religion we pro- fefs, to fuggeft, that every thing eminent in the kingdom is indifferent, or even adverfe to that religion, and that its fecurity is wholly aban- doned' to the zeal of thofe, who have nothing but their zeal to diftinguifli them. In weighing this unanimous concurrence of whatever the nation has to boaft of, I hope you will recoiled, that all thefe concurring parties do by no means love one another enough to agree in any pointy which was not both evidently, and importantly, right.Lii-.^aii <: \i' ■.,■:■ .u,:irnS^::iV JB.^'HT^iiS -iu . To prove this ; to prove, «:hat the mcafure was both clearly and materially proper, I willi next lay before you (as I promifed) the political grounds and reaforjs for the repeal of that pe- nal (latute ; and the motives to its repeal at that particular time. Gentlemen, America— -—-When the Englifli nation fcemed to be dangcroufly, if not irreco- verably divided ; when one, and that' the moft growing branch, was torn from the parent ftock, and engrafted on the power of France, a great terror fell upon this kingdom. On a fudden we awakened from our dreams of conqueft, and faw aurfclvcs threatened with an immediate invafion ;■ which wc were, at that time, very ill prepared to rcfift. You remember the cloud that gloomed ..^.< D 4 over r 40 ] over us all. In that hour of our difmay, from the bottom of the hiding-places, into which the indifcriminate rigour of our ftatutcs had driven them, came out the body of the Roman Catho- lics. They appeared before the ft^ps of a tot- tering throne, with one of the moft fobcr, mea- fured, fteady, and dutiful addrefles, that was ever prefented to the crown. It was no holiday cere- mony ; no anniverfary compliment of parade and ihow. It was figned by almoft every gentleman of that perfuafion, of note or property, in Eng- land, At fuch a crifis, nothing but a decided refolution to iland or fall with their country could have didtated fuch an addrefs ; the diredt tendency of which was to cut off all retreat i and to render them pecu? y obnoxious to an in-» vader of their own c jmmunion. The addrefs fhewed, what I long languiflied to-fee, that all the fubjefts of England had call off all foreign views and cor.nexions, and that every man looked for his relief from every grievance, at the hands only of his own natural government. It was neceffary, on our part, that the natu- ral government (hould Ihew itfelf worthy of that name. It was neceffary, at the crifis I fpeak of, that the fupreme power of the ftate fhould meet the conciliatory difpofitions of the fubjeft. To delay proteftion would be to reject allegiance. And why fhould it be rejeded, or leven coldly and fufpicioufly received ? If any independent Catholic ftate fhould choofe to take part with this kingdom in a war with France and Spain, |:hat bigot (if fuch a bigot could be found) ^ would f •< i: t 41 J would be heard with little refped, who could dream of objefting his religion to an ally, whom the nation would not only receive with its frtx(\: thanks, but purchafe, with the lad remains of its exhaufted treafure. To fiich an ally we (hould not flare to whiiper a fmgle fyllable of thofe bafe and invidious topics, upon which, fome un- happy men would perfuade the (late, to rejedt the duty and allegiance of its own members. Is it then, becaufe foreigners are in a condition to fet our malice at defiance, that with ihem^ we are willing to contrail engagements of friend fhip, and to keep them with fidelity and honour i but that, becaufe we conceive, fome defcriptions of our countrymen are not powerful enough to punifh our malignity, we will not permit them to fupport our common interefl: ? Is it on that ground, that our anger is to be kindled by their offered kindnefs, and that they are to be fubjefted to penalties, becaufe they are willing, by adual merit, to purge themfelves from im- puted crimes ? Left by an adherence . o the caufe of their country they Ihould acquire a title to fair and equitable treatment, are we refolved t > furnifli them with caufes of eternal enmity *, and rather fupply them with juft and founded motives jto difaff^edion, than not to have that difaffc^lion in exiftence to juftify an oppreffion, which, not from policy but difpofition, we have determined toexercife? - .. What fliadow of reafon could be afllgned, >hy, at a time, when the moft Proteftant part of A ■,: . -. , ,.,--.-- ■ -...,.' this - \ - ■ ■ iiirenience as they had imagined. Thefe, Gentlemen, were the reafons why we left this good work in the rude unfinifhed flate, in v;hich r;? -^r'M*: fV ■v. t 5' ] , . k}^. )|) which good v/orks are commonly left, through the tame circu'nfpedion with which a timid prudence fo frequently enervates beneficence. In doing good, we are generally cold, and languid, and fluggifh ; and of all things afraid of being too much in the right. But the works of malice and injuftice are quite in another ftyle. They are finifhed with a bold mafterly hand •, touched as they are with the fpirit of thofe vehement paflions that call forth all our energies whenever we op- prefs and perfecute. Thus this matter was left for the time, with a full determination in Parliament, not to fuffef other and worfe ftatutes to remain for the purpofe of counteradbing the benefits propofed by the re- peal of one penal law ; for nobody then dreamed of defending what was done as a benefit, on the ground of its being no benefit at all. We were not then ripe for fo mean a fubterfuge. I do not wilh to go over the horrid fcene that was afterwards afted. W Id to God it could be expunged for ever from the annals of this coun- try ! But fince it muft fubfift for anr fliame, let it fubfift for our inftru6lion. In the year i ^ S'o there were found in this nation men deluded enough (for I give the whole to their delufion) on pre- tences of zeai and piety, without any fort of pro-' vocation whatfoever, real or pretended, to make i defperate attempt, which would have confun all the glory and power of this country in the flames of London ; and buried all law, order, and re- ligion, under the ruins of the metropolis of the ' • • ■. — E 2 Prouftant ■ I 5^ 1 ,, iProteftant world. Whether all this mifchief done, or in the dired train of doing, was in their original fcheme, I cannot fay ; I hope it was not ; but this would have been the unavoidable confequence of their proceedings, had not the flames they had lighted up in their fury been cxtinguiflied in their blood. All the time that this horrid fcene was afting, or avenging, as well as for fome time before, and ever fince, the wicked infligators of this unhappy multi- tude, guilty, with every aggravation, of all their crimes, and fcreened in a cowardly darknefs from their punifhment, continued, without interruption, pity, or remorfe, to blew up the blind rage of the populace, with a continued blafl: of peftilential libels, which infeded and poifoned the very air we breathed in. " ^" '" * ■ ' "" * '' : ;';:• ' The main drift of all the libels, and all the riots, was, to force Parliament (to perfuade us was hope- lefs) into an ad of national perfidy, which has no example. For, Gentlemen, it is proper you fhould all know what infamy we efcaped by re- fufing that repeal, for a refufal of which, it feems, I, among others, ftand fomewhere or other accufed. When we took away, on the motives which I had the honour of dating to you, a few of the innumerable penalties upon an opprefled and injured people, the relief was not abfolute, . but given on a ftipulation and compad between them and U9 •, for we bound down the Roman Ca- tholics with the moft folemn oaths, to bear true allegiance to this government , to abjure all fort of t , : ii temporal s 1 t r s V d n a- le al t 53 3 temporal power in any other ; and to renounce, under the fame folemnr' ligations, the do(5trines of fyftematic perfidy, with which they flood (I con- ceive very unjuftly) charged. Now our modeft petitioners came up to us, mod humbly praying nothing more, than that we fhould break our faith without any one caufe whatfoever of forfeituic af- figned i and when the fubjeds of this kingdom had, on their part, fully performed their engagement, we fhould refufe, on our part, the benefit we had ftipu- lated on the performance of thofe very conditions that were prefcribed by our own authority, and taken on the fandion of our public faith — That is to fay, when we- had inveigled them with fair pro- mifes within our door, we were to fhut it on them 5 and, adding mockery to outrage — to tell them. Now we have got you faft— your confciences are bound to a power refolved on your deftruc- tion. We have made you fwear, that your reli- *' gion obliges you to keep your faith ; fools as you are ! we will now let you fee, that our reli- gion enjoins us to keep no faith with you." They who would advifcdly call upon us to do fuch things, muft certainly have thought us not only a convention of treacherous tyrants, but a gang of the loweft and dirtieft wretches that ever difgraced humanity. Had we done this, we fhould have indeed proved, that there were feme in the world whom no faith could bind ; and we fhould fiave convi^ied ourfelves of that odious principle pf which Papifts flood accufed by thofe very favages, -■-.;,:-- "^-.:i ;^y::. > ..-^^. E 3 v^ -, who c« C( ic cc C( I ,54 ] who wifhed us, on that accufation, to deliver them over to their fury. In this audacious tumult, when our very name and charafttT, as gentlemen, was to be cancelled for ever along with the faith and honour of the nation, I, who had exerted myfelf very little on the quiet palling of the bill, thought it neceflary then to come forward. I was not alone ; but though fome diftinguifhed members on all fides, and par- ticularly on ours, added much to their high reputa- tion by the part they took on that day, (a part which will be remembered as long as honour, fpi- rit, and eloquence have eftimation in the world) I may and will value myfelf fo far, that yielding in abilities to many, I yielded in zeal to none. With warmth, and with vigour, and animated with a juft and natural indignation, I called forth every fa^ cuky that I pofTefled, and I directed it in every way which I could poflibly employ it. I laboured night and day. I laboured in Parliament : I la^ boured out of Parliament. If therefore the refolu- tion of the Houfe of Commons, refufing to coms- mit this a(5t of unmatched turpitude, be a crime, I am guilty among the foremoft. But indeed, whatr ever the faults of that Houfe may have been, no one member was found hardy enough to propofe fo infamous a thing •, and on full debate we pafled the refolution againft the petitions with as much unanimity, as we had formerly pafled the law of which thefe petitions demanded the repeal. There was a cjrcumftance (juftice will not fufFer me t 55 1 mc to pafs It over) which, if any thing could enforce the reafons I have given, would fully juftify the aft of relief, and render a repeal, or any thing like a re- peal, unnatural, impoflible. It was the behaviour of the perfecuted Roman Catholics under the ads of violence and brutal infolence, which they fuffered. I fuppofe there are not in London lefs than four or five thoufand of that perfuafion from my country, who do a great deal of the moft laborious works in the metropolis-, and they chiefly inhabit thofe quar*^ ters, which were the principal theatre of the fury of the bigotted multitude. They are known to be men of (Irong arms, and quick feelings, and more remarkable for a determined refolution, than clear ideas, or much forefight. But though provoked by every thing that can ftir the blood of men, their houfes and chapels in flames, and with the moft atrocious profanations of every thing which they hold facred before their eyes, not a hand was moved to retaliate, or even to defend. Had a conflict once begun, the rage of their perfecutors would have redoubled. Thus fury encreafmg by the reverberation of outrages, houfe being fired for houfe, and church for chapel, I am con- vinced, that no power under heaven could have prevented a general conflagration ; and at this day London would have been a tale. But I am well informed, and the thing fpeaks it, that their clergy exerted their whole influence to keep their people in fuch a ftate of forbearance and qv.iet, as, when I look back, fills me with afl:onilh- ynenti but not with aftonifliment only. Their 'l^' • • '■- E 4 . merits t 56 ] merits on that occafion ought not to be forgoir ten ; nor will they, when Englifhmen come to recolleft themfelvcs. I am fure it were far more proper to have called them forth, and given them the thanks of both Houfes of Parliament, than to have fuffered thofe worthy clergymen, and excel- lent citizens, to be hunted into holes and corners, whilft we are making low-minded inquiHtions into the number of their people j as if a tolerating prin- ciple was never to prevail, unlefs we were very fure that only a few could poffibly take advantage of it. But indeed we are not yet well recovered of our fright. Our reafon, I truft, will return with our lecurity -, and this unfortunate temper will pafs over like a cloud. Gentlemen, I have now laid before you a few of the reafons for taking away the penalties of the aft of 1699, and for refufing to eftablifh them on the riotous requifition of 1780. Becaufe I would not fufFer any thing which may be for your fatisfacr tion to efcape, permit me juft to touch on the ob- jeftions urged againft our a6t and our refolves, and intended as a juftification of the violence offered to both Houfes. " Parliament," they aflert, " was too hafty, and they ought, in fo eflential and alarming a change, to have proceeded with a " far greater degree of deliberation." The di- reft contrary. Parliament was too flow. They took fourfcore years to deliberate on the repeal of an a£t whiph ought not to have furvived a fecond feflfion. When at length, after a procraf- tination of near a century, the bufinefs was taken up, it proceeded in the rnoft public manner, by the cc cc [ 57 ] the ordinary ftages, and as flowly as a law (o evi- dently right as to be refiftcd by none, would na- turally advance. Had it been read three times in one day, we Ihould have Ihewn only a becoming readinefs to recognife by protedion tht undoubted dutiful behaviour of thofe whom we hnd but too long puniihed for offences of prefumption or con- jedure. But for what end was that bill to linger beyond the ufual period of an unoppofed meafure ? Was it to be delayed until a rabble in Edinburgh ihould didate to the Church of England what meafure of perfecution was fitting for her fafety ? Was it to be adjourned until a fanatical force could be coUefted in London, fufficient to frighten us out of all our ideas of policy and juftice ? Were we to wait for the profound leftures on the rea- fon of ftate, ecclefiaftical and political, which the Proteftant Affociation have fince condefcended to read to us ? Or were we, feven hundred Peers and Commoners, the only perfons ignorant of the rib- bald invedives which occupy the place of argu- ment in thofe .\imonftrances, which every man of common obfervation had heard a thoufand times over, and a thoufand times over had defpifed ? All men had before heard what they have to fay j and all men at this day know what they dare to do ; and I truft, all honeft men are equally influenced by the one, and by the other. But they tell us, that thofe our fellow-citizens, whofe chains we have a little relaxed, are enemies to liberty and our free conftitution.-r-Not enemies, } prefume, to their own liberty. And as to the conftitution, w^!..-J- [ 58 ] conftitution, until we give them fomc Ihare in it, I do not know on what pretence we can examine into their opinions about a bufinefs in which they have no intcreft or concern. But after all, are we equally fure, that they are adverfe to our confti- tution, as that our ftatutes are hoftile and deftruc- tive to them ? For my part, I have reafon to be- lieve, their opinions and inclinations in that refpedt arc various, exaftly like thofe of other men ; and if they lean more to the Crown than I, and than many of you think we ought, we muft remember, that he who aims at another's life, is not to be furprifed if he flies into any fanftuary that will receive him. The tendernefs of the executive power is the natural afylum of thofe upon whom the laws have declar^^d war \ and to complain that men are inclined to favour the means of their own fafety, is fo abfurd, that one forgets the injuftice in the ridicule. I muft fairly tell you, that fo far as my prin- ciples are concerned, (principles, that I hope will only depart with my iaft breath) that I have no idea of a liberty unconneded with honefty and juftice. Nor do I believe, that any good conftitutions of government or of freedom, can find it neceflary for their fecurity to doom any part of the people to 9 permanent flavery. Snchaconftitution of freedom, if fuch can be, is in effed no more than another name for the tyranny of the ftrongeft fadionj and fadions in republics have been, and are, full as capable as monarchs, of the moil cruel oppreffion and in- juftice. It i§ but too true, that the love, and ever\ thQ [.59 1 the very idea, of genuine liberty, is extremely rare. It is but too true, that there are many, whofe whole fcheme of freedom, is made up of pride, pervcrfc- nefs, and infolence. They feel themfelves in a ftate of thraldom, they imagine that their fouls are cooped and cabbined in, unlefs they have fome man, or fome body of men, dependent on their mercy. This dcfire of having fome one i}elow them, defcends to thofe who are the very loweli: of all,— and a Proteftant cobler, debafed by his poverty, but exalted by his fhare of the ruling church, feels a pride in knowing, it is by his generofity alone, that the peer, whofe footman's inftep he meafures, is able to keep his chaplain from a jail. This difpofition is the true fource of the paflion, which many men in very humble life, have taken to the American war. Our fubjed^s in America \ eur colonies ; our dependants. This luft of party-power, is the liberty they hunger and thirft for ; and this Syren fong of ambition, has charmed ears, that one would have thought were never organifed to that fort of mulic. This way, oi profcribing the citizens hy denomina- fions and general defcn^^tionSj dignified by the name of reafon of ftate, and fecurity for conftitutions and commonwealths, is nothing better at bottom, than the miferable invention of an ungenerous ambition, which would fain hold the facred truft of power, without any of the virtues or any of the energies, that give a title to it ; a receipt of policy, made up of a deteftable compound of ma^ lice, cowardice, and floth. They would govern 2 men t 6o ] men againft their will ; but in tb^t government they would be difcharged from the excrcife of vigi- lance, providence, and fortitude -, and therefore, that they may flcep on their watch, they confent to take fome one divifion of the focicty into partner- Ihip of the tyranny over the reft. But let govern- ment, in what form it may be, comprehend the whole in its juftice, and reftrain the fufpicious by its vigilance -, let it keep watch and ward ; let it difco- ver by its fagacity, and punifh by its firmnefs, all delinquency againft its power, whenever delin- quency exifts in the overt a6ls -, and then it will be as fafe as ever God and nature intended it (hould be. Crimes are the adbs of individuals, and not of deno- minations } and therefore arbitrarily to clafs men under general defcriptions, in order to profcribe ' and punifh them in the lump for a prefumed delinquency, of which perhaps but a part, perhaps none at all, are guilty, is indeed a compendious method, and faves a world of trouble about proof ; but fuch a method, inftead of being law, is an a6t of unnatural rebellion againft the legal dominion of reafon and juftice ; and this vice, in any conftitu- tion that entertains it, at one time or other will certainly bring on its ruin. We are told, that this is not a religious perle- cution, and its abettors are loud in difclaiming all feverities on account of confcience. Very fine indeed ! then let it be fo -, they are not perfecu- tors ♦, they are only tyrants. With all my heart. I am perfeftly indifferent concerning the pretexts upon which we torment one another ; or whether , it he for the conftitution of the Church of England, or t 6i 1 or for tfie conftitution of the State of England, > that people choofe to make their fellow-crea- tures wreuhcd. When we were fcnt into a place of authority, you that fcnt us had yourfelves but one comniiflion to give. You could give us none to wrong or opprefs, or even to fufFer any kind of oppreflion or wrong, on any grounds whatfoever % not on political, as in the affairs of America } not ' on commercial, as in thofe of Ireland •, not in civil, as in the laws for debt -, not in religious, as in the ftatutes againft Proteftant or Catholic Diflcnters.* The diverfified but connefted fabric of univerfal juftice, is well cramped and bolted together in all ^ its parts*, and depend upon it, I never have em- ' ployed, and I never Ihall employ, any engine of power which may come into my hands, to wrench it afunder. All ihall fland, if I can help it, and all (hall fland conneded. After all, to complete this work, much remains to be done ; much in the Eaft, much in the Wefl. But great as the work is, if our will be ready, our powers are not deficient. . . / . ' ' . "^ . , ^ -r^ Since you have fufTered me to trouble you fo much on this fubjedl, permit me, Gentlemen, to detain you a little longer. I am indeed mofl foli- citous to give you perfeA fatisfadion. I find there are fome of a better and fofter nature than the , perfons with whom I have fuppofed myfelf in de^ • bate, who neither think ill of the aft of relief, nor by any means defire the repeal, not accufing but lamenting what was done, on account of the con- , fequcnces, have frequently expreiTed their wifh, ,^ that [ 62 ] that thfi late aft had never been made. Some of this dcfcription, and perfons cf worth, I have met with in this city. They conceive, that the prejudices, whatever they might be, of a large part of the people, ought not to have been fhock- cd J that their opinions ought to have been pre- vioufly taken, and much attended to; and that thereby the late horrid fcenes might have been pre- vented. I confefs, my notions are widely different; and I never was lefs^ forry for any aftion of my life. I like the bill the better, on account of the events of all kinds that followed it. It relieved the real fufferers ; it ftrengrhened the (late ; and, by the diforders that enfued, v/c had clear evidence, that chere luriced a temper fomewhere, which ought not to be foftered by the laws. No ill confequencti whatever could be attributed to the aft itfelf. We knew before-hand, or we were poorly inftrufted, that toleration is odious to the intolerant ; freedom to oppreffors •, property to robbers ; and all kinds and degrees of profperity to the envious. We knew, th?\t all thefe kinds of men would gladly gratify their evil difpofitions under the fanftion of law and religion, if they could : if they couM not, yet, to make way to their objefts, they would do their utnioft to fubvert all religion and all law. This we certainly ^.;new. But knowing this, is there any reafon, becaufe thieves break in and (leal, and thu": bring detriment to you, and draw ruin on themfeh s, that I am to be forry that you are in po(re{rion of fliops, and of warehoufes, and of wholefomc Y t 63 1 wholcfome laws toprotedtthem? Areyoutobuildno houfes, becaufe defperate men may pull them down upon their own heads ? Or, if a malignant wretch will cut his own throat, becaufe he fees you give alms to the ncceflitous and deferving ; (hall his deftrudion be attributed to your charity, and not to his own deplorable madnefs ? If we repent of our good adions, what, I pray you, is left for our faults and follies ? It is not the beneficence of the laws, ic is the unnatural temper which beneficence can fret and four, that is to be lamented. It is this temper which, by all rational means, ought to be fweetened and corredted. If froward men fhould refufe this cure, can they 'vitiate any thing but thtmfelves ? Does evil fo readt upon good, as not only to retard its motion, but to change its nature ? If it can fo operate, then good men will always be in the power of the bad -, and virtue, by a d.^adful reverfe of order, muft lie un- der perpetual fubjedlion and bondage to vice. As to the opinion of the people, which fome think, in fuch cafes, is to be implicitly obeyed j near two ye?rs tranquillity, which followed the adl, and its inftant imitation in Ireland, proved abundantly, that the late horrible fpirit was, in a great meafure, the effedt of infidious art, and per- vcrfc induftry, and grofs mifreprefentation. But fuppofe that the diflike had been much more delibe- rate, and much more general than I am perfuadcd it was—When we know, that the opinions of even thegreateft multitudes, are the ftandard of reditu de,, I fliall think my felf obliged to make thofe opinions ' "-' . the t ^4 1 the maftcrs of my confcience. But if it may be doubted whether Omnipotence itfclf is competent to alter the cflential conftitution of right and wrong, fure I am, that fueh things^ as they and T, are poflefled of no fuch power. No man carries further than I do the policy of making govern- ment pleafmg to the people. But the wideft range of this politic complaifance is confined with- in the limits of juftice. I would not only confult the intereft of the people, but I would chearfully gratify their humours. We are all a fort of chil- dren, that muft be foothed and managed. I think I am not auftere or formal in my nature. I would bear, I would even myfelf play my part in, any innocent buffooneries, to divert them. But I ne- ver will adt the tyrant for their amulement. If they will mix malice in their fports, I (hall never confent to throw them any living, fentient, creature whatfoever, no not fo much as a kitling, to tor- ment. " But if I profefs all this impolitic ftubbornnefs, *' I may chance never to be eledlcd into Parliament." It is certainly not pleafing to be put out of the public fervice. But I wifti to be a member of Parliament, to have my (hare of doing good, and refifting tvil. It would therefore be abfurd to re- nounce my objeds, in order to obtain my feat. I deceive myfelf indeed mofr grofsly, if I had not much rather pafs the remainder of my life hidden in the recefles of the deepeft obfcurity, feeding my mind even with the vifions and imaginations of fuch things, than to be placed on the moft fplendid ^ ^ '^ ^ * throne \' <\ \ ^ PHiPl^^iPVPIi^m^lHwn^iiu ,i.iJi. . . ^-*f L 65 1 throng of the univerfe, tantalized with a denial of the pradtice of all which can make the greateft ifituation any other than the greateft curfe. Gen^ demert, I have had my day A I can never fuffici- ently exprefs my gratitude to you, for having fet me in a place, wherein I could lend the flighteil help to great and laudable dcfigns. If I have had my fhare, in any meafure giving quiet to private property, and private confcience •, if by my vote I have aided in fecuring to families the beft poflef- fion, peace ; if I have joined in reconciling kings to their fubjefls, and fubjefts to their prince; if I have aflifted to loofen the foreign holdings of the citizen, and taught him to look for his protedion to the laws of his country, and for his comfort to the goodwill cf his countrymen ;— if I have thus taken my part with the beft of men in the beft of their anions, I can (hut the book -j-^*-! might wilh to read a page or two more— but this is enough for my meafure." — I h ave not lived in va in. And now, Gentlemen, on this ferious day, when 1 come, as it were, to make up my account with you, let me take to myfelf fome degree of honeft pride on the nature of the charges that are . againft me. I do not here ftand before you ac- cufed of venality, or of negledl of duty. It is not faid, that, in the long period of my fervice, I have, in a fingle inftance, facrificed the flighteft of your interefts to my ambition, or to my for- tune. It is not alledged, that to gratify any anger, or revenge of my own, or of my party^ I have had a Ihare in wronging or opprcfling tvC V*; -.F- »■ '*'' :'-»i' %** I 66 1 any defcription of men, or any one man in any dcfcriptian. No ! the charges againft me, are all of one kind, that I have pufhed the principles of general juftice and benevolence too far ; further than a cautious policy would warranty and further than the opinions of many would go along with me. ' *— In every accident which may happen through life, in pain, in forrow, in depreflion, and diftrefs— I will call to mind this accufatlon -, and be com- forted. Gentlemen, I fubmit the whole to your judg- ment. Mr, Mayor, I thank you for the trouble you have taken on this occafion. In your (late of health, it is particularly obliging. If this company fhould think it advifeable for me to withdraw, T fhall refpedtfully retire ; if you think otherwifc, 1 ihall go diredly to the Council-houfe 4nd to the Change, and without a moment's de« lay, begin my canvafs. ; - 'h •■4-: ■: - J, ^M -ite THE END, '•^ '.. :' ,'i- VfA ^ .;----^* 'j^ >■ ■> *■••''* \' ;• » ^^^nt-S-^-^l^v iiiliiiliiik^ \\ :■ * •?Si